A/N: So here we go with Part 2 of Allyson & Tim's story. If you haven't read Part 1 (aka Breathe Your Life Into Me), you'll probably still be okay reading this one, but you might not pick up on some of the subtleties and references from the first one. If you did read Breathe, thank you :-) I know there was a fair amount of interest in that piece, and I'm hoping for the same with this one. I do want to ask, though, that if you read please review. I'd like to hear all (polite and constructive) opinions about the story so I know what I'm doing well, what was confusing, what was so cute you squealed like a worn out brake pad, lol. And, as always, enjoy!
Chapter 1: To Meet or Not to Meet
Eric was working in the Layout Room when Tim pushed the door open, a small smile perched on his lips, his brown eyes bright. Looking up from the watch he was examining, Eric noticed the look on his friend's face and couldn't resist a little teasing.
"Hey Speed," he started nonchalantly.
Tim nodded in reply, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. "Hey." He glanced over the light table at the spread of evidence and reached for a belt. "This looks promising—same width as the ligature marks on the victim's neck. I bet if we test it, we'll find some blood or skin on it."
Eric grinned at the optimism in Tim's voice. "You're very upbeat today."
Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "Upbeat?"
"Yeah," Eric chuckled. "Upbeat, positive…you're in a good mood. And I know why."
Tim's head swiveled toward the table for a moment, then back to Eric before he spoke. "You do?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"I do," Eric confirmed confidently. "You," he pointed a finger at his colleague, "were with Allyson again."
"That's your conclusion?" Tim scoffed. "Based on one ten-second observation of my mood?"
The chuckled blossomed into light laughter. "Based on three months of observations of your mood. Some days you're your grouchy normal self, but a lot of the time I can tell you're actually pretty happy, even though you try to hide it—you don't even yell at me like you used to. And I know you spend all your free time with Allyson." He shrugged and smiled, going back to the watch he was still holding. "It's a logical inference."
"Well," Tim conceded, continuing to study the belt in his hands, "at least you thought it through."
Eric laughed again. "I said it once and I'll say it again. I think she's been good for you." His expression relaxed and his voice softened. "I'm glad you found someone you can feel close to. I know how hard that is."
Tim was silent a moment before giving Eric a small nod. "Thanks."
"So are you bringing her to the party?" Eric asked, his smile returning.
Tim pressed his lips together. "Your housewarming party?" He gave a sarcastic snort. "You've lived in that condo for a year now."
"Better late than never," Eric grinned. "So are you bringing Allyson?"
Replacing the belt on the table, Tim shook his head. "No."
"Why not?" Eric persisted. "I know you're not bringing anyone else, and it would be a good chance to introduce her to your friends. We'd, uh, y'know, like to meet her."
"You mean you'd like to judge her," Tim corrected, a little of his irritation showing in his voice.
"No," Eric replied, making sure to look Tim in the eye, "we just want to get to know her—she's obviously important to you. Look, man, bring her to the party next weekend and see how it goes. If things get uncomfortable you guys can leave early and I won't be offended."
Tim considered the idea a moment before responding. "I'll talk to her about it," he decided. "If she wants to come, then we'll see. But just for the record," he continued reaching for another piece of evidence from the light table, "I'm leaving when I want to."
Eric laughed again. "I wouldn't expect anything else."
"You're sure you want to do this?" Allyson asked, noting the unease in Tim's eyes.
He nodded, placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked across the parking lot. "Yeah," he replied.
"It's high school football," she reminded him, "and you don't really like sports. I could have come with some of the other teachers or with Amanda."
"But it's a nice night, and what am I gonna do at home by myself?" he smiled. "I can handle a little football. Besides, Delko's always telling me how great the sport is, and how I should 'broaden my horizons'. The playoffs seem like a good time to do that."
She grinned, leading him into the stands beside the football field. "Well my students will appreciate the gesture," she told him, her eyes sparkling under the bright flood lights. "And so do I."
Tim's small smile grew in response as he followed Allyson through the crowd in search of a place to sit, turning over in his mind his earlier promise to Eric. "Speaking of Delko, he, uh, he's having a party next weekend," he told her, figuring he might as well get it out of the way, "a housewarming party, at his place."
"Did he move?" Allyson asked, finding an empty patch in the bleachers and sitting down, glancing out onto the field before training her eyes back on Tim.
He sat down beside her and chuckled. "Yeah, a year ago. I think he just wanted an excuse to eat, drink, and crank up his new stereo. But he invited some of his friends and people we work with."
"Sounds like fun," she smiled.
"I'm glad you think so," he told her, his eyes following hers out to the field, "because he invited you, too."
"He did?"
He heard the pure surprise in her voice and nodded once. "Yeah. Said he wanted to meet you."
"Him…and the rest of your coworkers?"
"Yeah," he repeated, fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve.
Her eyes met his and held his gaze. "And what do you think about that?"
He looked at her for a long moment before answering. "Honestly? I'm actually not sure what I think about it."
"You don't want me to meet your colleagues," she deduced, reading his expression.
He frowned, trying to find the words to articulate his thoughts. "No," he said slowly. "It isn't that I don't want you to meet them, or that I don't want them to know you, it's more like…like my work life would be colliding with my private life."
"And that's weird for you," she finished for him.
He pursed his lips and kept searching for the right words. "That, and I'm not entirely sure how my friends will react to you, since we actually met while I was on the job."
The crowd went crazy at that moment, cheering and screaming when one of the home team players broke loose and ran halfway down the field before being chased down and tackled by the opposing team. Allyson clapped and yelled along with the rest of the spectators, laughing a little at Tim's semi-annoyance. Looping her arm through his, she scooted closer and grinned.
"That's the price of conversation at a sporting event," she quipped lightly.
His smile returned at her obvious excitement. "You really like this kind of thing, don't you?"
"What kind of thing? Sports?" When he nodded she continued, "Yeah, I like sports. I'm not a junkie like my cousin Emily, but I like football and hockey, a little baseball."
"Something you have in common with Eric," Tim observed. "And I bet you could talk guns and bullets with Calleigh half the night, too."
"From what you've told me about her," Allyson smiled, "she could give me quite an education."
His lips curved upward, the image of Calleigh and Allyson having an animated discussion flashing across his mind.
Allyson caught the expression. "You're starting to like the idea of me knowing your friends, aren't you?"
"Maybe." He huffed a sigh. "Do you even want to go to this party?"
"What am I gonna do at home by myself?" she teased, using his earlier words. "You came here with me tonight…and it really does kinda sound like fun. If you're ready for me to meet the CSI family, then I'm game."
He placed his hand over hers as it rested on his arm, running his thumb over her smooth skin. "Then we're on for next Saturday night."
The next day was a Saturday and, with Tim working, Allyson was spending the day with her childhood best friend Amanda Parker. The two women chatted cheerily as they moved from store to store at the mall, checking out clothes, CDs, DVDs, shoes, and anything else that caught their eyes. Spying the latest iPod model, Allyson ducked into an electronics store with Amanda close on her heals.
"Don't you already have an iPod?" she asked her friend.
Allyson nodded absently, studying the device through the security case glass. "Yeah, but Tim's always borrowing it. I was thinking of getting him one for Christmas so he'd have his own…and stop rearranging my playlists."
Amanda laughed. "You two are so cute. I bet you have plans for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks, too, don't you?"
"Nothing definite," Allyson responded, feeling the warmth creep into her cheeks. "But I know what you're thinking and it's not like that, Manda."
"I'm thinking that the two of you care very much about each other," Amanda answered. "And that you spend a lot of time together…and that he was your knight in shining armor when you were attacked, and you're grateful to him for it."
Allyson shook her head. "You're only partially right. We do care about each other, and yeah, we spend a lot of our time together. And yes, I'm really grateful to him for his role in the investigation after my attack and the way he's treated me—but not in the way you think."
"Come on," Amanda prodded with a grin. "You mean to tell me you've never thought about him as more than just a friend?"
"Of course he's more than just a friend—next to you he's my best friend in the world," Allyson told her.
"Who you don't find at all attractive," Amanda grinned. When Allyson didn't answer, Amanda animatedly stabbed an index finger in her direction. "I knew it! Oh, I knew there was something else there!"
Allyson shook her head again. "Look, I'm not going to deny that Tim's good looking—I have eyes for God's sake. I see what you see, and yes, I like what I see. But that doesn't mean there's anything romantic going on between us."
"Yet," Amanda interjected.
"I'm not going to deny that possibility, either," Allyson decided coolly. "Because I don't know what will happen in the future, with him or with anyone else." She made sure to look her friend in the eye as she spoke the next sentence. "But my relationship with Tim is strictly platonic."
Amanda waggled her eyebrows suggestively and turned her attention to a rack of CDs. "If you say so."
"I do," Allyson told her
Amanda tried a different tactic. "So you wouldn't mind if I asked him out?"
That produced a response in Allyson neither woman expected. "If you really want to," she said, the amusement evident in her face, her voice.
"Now why is that funny?" Amanda wondered, puzzled.
"Tim's just a little…" Allyson wracked her brain for the right word. "…tame for you."
"Tame?"
Allyson nodded. "Yes, definitely. You're so ADD when it comes to guys that I think you'd be bored with him. And I don't know if he'd even go out with you."
Amanda smiled slyly, going back to the rack of CDs. "So it's okay for me to ask him out because you know he won't accept, and if he did I wouldn't want to go out with him a second time. You don't have to worry about competing with me." Allyson ignored the comment, so Amanda replied to it herself. "That's right, because there is no competition. Tim only has eyes for you, doesn't he?"
"Now that," Allyson responded, "you'd have to ask him."
Amanda's smile widened. "Maybe I will."
