eep! it's Christmas eve & i've only got the 2nd chapter done! anyways, without further ado, here it is. :D

oh. btw. i just found out that CaRWash meant Calleigh and Ryan Wolfe addicted shippers... i just thought they took the initials & made a word that had all the letters in it. genius work for whoever thought of that. :D

December 13th

Calleigh fought off a yawn; a yawn meant tears and tears were not good. She wanted so badly to rub her eyes and force them awake but that would smudge her eye makeup. She had no intention of admitting to anyone that she had lost precious hours of sleep over Ryan.

Or rather, over what Ryan told her. She thought of him too, but it wasn't like it was anything new. Neither of them was completely aware that thinking of him was what made her sleep so soundly each night.

And so her deprivation of sleep gave her unattractive eye bags – with which she slathered concealer on – and got her jacked up on coffee. The Sandman, when ignored for a night, was clearly not a good Santa Claus replacement.

She was so confused. What did he mean by 'I'll help you remember them'? She stopped in front of the Crime Lab's glass doors, suddenly afraid. Was Ryan going to play the song over and over again over the intercom until it drilled a hole into her brain? Calleigh narrowed her eyes and peeked inside. Nobody seemed to be covering their ears so it must not be his plan.

Then again, they could have all just stolen some earplugs from her Ballistics Lab.

But since she still had to work, Calleigh took a deep breath and anticipated the holiday song to go through one ear and out the other as she stepped into the foyer.

…

Nothing. Well, nothing but the soft shuffle of feet and the occasional keyboard tapping from the receptionist.

Great. Now she could work in peace. But first, a trip to the break room for another cup of java wouldn't hurt.

--

Mm. There's nothing like a nice cup of office sludge to wake someone up. Calleigh always wondered how that black lumpy…thing could be called coffee. But it was free and she needed to have open eyes if she didn't want to shoot at herself while processing guns all day.

She took a sip, immediately regretting pulling an all-nighter. Her face scrunched up in disgust and she wanted to spit the half-liquid, half-unknown substance into the sink. Instead she swallowed everything; it may have tasted horrible, but it has caffeine.

Before leaving, a white envelope caught her eye. Turning her head to bring it into focus, she saw that it was addressed to her.

She set down her mug and walked towards the Christmas tree the team had put up the other day (it was yet to be decorated, but at least they had half the job done). Squatting down, she picked up the envelope, which was attached to a perfectly wrapped box.

There was something odd about the way her name was written on the white paper, like someone was trying hard to disguise their writing. Calleigh briefly wondered whether there was a Secret Santa game they had organized that she forgot about… Nope, no game.

Her present was the only one under the tree. Yes, she believed in 'don't open your gifts until Christmas morning', but she could hardly contain her excitement as she sat on the sofa to make herself more comfortable.

Besides, it was a box. She could probably just rewrap it and pretend she never opened the thing.

The card cover was a snowman and a winter mountain backdrop. She paid little attention to the cover and went straight into the message inside.

Calleigh,

If I know you as well as I know peanut butter from jelly, then you opened this card way before Christmas morning. And I think I know which one's the peanut butter and which is the jelly in my sandwiches pretty well.

She smiled. Immediately after reading the first few lines she knew who had written her the card. Though they gave up trying to hide their writing, she still would have figured it out, considering that the humor of the first sentence could only belong to one genius brain.

Ryan Wolfe.

Calleigh continued reading.

So don't put this away just yet. It's a good thing curiosity overpowered tradition, because we'll be throwing out old-fashioned habits this year.

Today marks the first day of my teachings. The student becomes the master here. Let's start simple.

Open the gift before you keep reading.

The delicately wrapped gift looked so adorable that she almost couldn't bear tearing the wrapper. Almost. Unraveling the tape slowly to salvage as much as possible, it was a while until the bare box was in her hands.

How did that song go again? A partridge. Yeah, that was the first thing the song said. She opened the box.

What the hell? Inside the box was a bird. A stuffed bird. Its head was tiny compared to the massive body. Gray feathers blended expertly with the white, black, and brown feathers across its neck, wings, and tail. The beak was a bright red. Beady eyes stared at Calleigh. She titled her head quizzically.

She had expected some sort of fragile ornament, not a bird. Who was the mastermind that thought of hanging an animal on a tree? This true love wasn't very smart. Calleigh referred back to the letter in hopes that it would clear some stuff up.

On the first day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

A partridge in a pear tree

Who knew a partridge was a bird? I certainly didn't; I had to Google it to make sure. Hang it up on the tree if you'd like. You can be the first to put a decoration on it.

- Ryan

PS. I certainly hope I didn't keep you awake with my somewhat vague answer yesterday at the elevator. In any case, open the microwave for a nice surprise.

PPS. I promise it's not another stuffed bird.

PPPS. You don't need to cover the eye bags, or drink the crap they call coffee. You'll still look just as lovely. You just won't be as lively. Haha get it?

Calleigh felt a warm tickle run across her veins. He was so incredibly sweet. She took the partridge and placed it right on top of the tree. She had a feeling those beady eyes would never let her forget what the first verse of the song was. Then she made her way to the microwave to be (hopefully) pleasantly surprised.

The appliance bounced open to reveal a steaming mug of proper coffee. The wonderful smell of the brewed coffee beans filled the room instantly. Her smile grew wider as she took the mug out of the microwave and poured the other down the sink.

Calleigh thought of something that made her day: he really did know her.

reviews, please! & thanks for the ones who put my story on alert; review me too, guys! :P