A/N: So I said there was one more chapter. Well.... I lied. It's now going to be one more chapter. After this one. I just couldn't have one chapter at nearly 10,000 words. Thanks, Jen, for looking through and helping with suggestions. Any further grammatical errors are completely mine. I was too excited to get this up to have her go through it one more time with a fine tooth comb. So, here you are. Enjoy and please review. And warning in advance: Next chapter will be M, HARD M.

Two and a half months later…

"Damn it, Calleigh, what the hell is going on with you?" Eric yelled, forcefully closing the door behind him. Even angry, he had the presence of mind and the courtesy to let her pass through the door of his condo first. They'd just come back from dinner, a dinner in which Calleigh had been distant all night. Again.

Calleigh breezed past him, barely allowing her shoulder to graze his chest on her way into the living room. She was just as agitated as he was, evidenced by the short, jerky movements of her body as she walked into the kitchen. She dropped her clutch onto the counter and resisted the urge to turn and face him. She knew she had been distant lately, she realized how she had pulled back, but she couldn't describe why. Something inside was pushing him away, even when the majority of her wanted to pull him close. Tonight had been the same as the last couple of weeks, little conversation and what small amount was said was anything but meaningful. It was like she was in a cotton-covered bubble and everything outside, including Eric, was insignificant. And she didn't know why she was feeling like this.

Eric followed her, knowing she was trying to avoid the conversation and that wasn't something he was willing to allow. She'd been pulling away from him for the greater part of the past two weeks and he was sick of it. This evening had been the last straw. It was so damn frustrating. She hadn't really talked to him for the last several weeks and had rebuffed each attempt to start a conversation and identify what was going on. She was scaring him. The last time she was like this…

"Are you breaking up with me? Do you want out of this relationship?" Eric voiced his worst fear, his heart hammering in his chest, stomach tight and queasy with dread of her answer. Sweat beaded on his forehead slightly, face hot with tension.

Calleigh whirled around, her hand drawn up over the base of her throat. "No, no, that's not what I want. I don't know Eric. I don't know what or why I've been doing, acting like I have lately. I can't explain… I've had this feeling in the pit of my stomach, anxiety, and I don't know why."

"You've been pushing me away, Calleigh. What else am I to think? You've been so distant the last two weeks and…" Eric didn't want to voice the next few words because he was afraid of what they could imply. "The last time you were like this…a week later you broke up with me. Don't, Calleigh. Don't make that decision for us again," Eric pled.

Calleigh gasped. "That's it. That's why… It's… Almost a year ago we broke up, I broke us up. I've been pulling back, thinking about that time, not realizing it." It made so much sense. She'd been subconsciously pulling back, distancing herself from him in an attempt to remain aloof and protect herself from hurt if, when, they broke up. Because she still wasn't truly convinced they were in it for the long haul.

Past experience, first with her parents and then later with the stellar examples of men she'd dated and their lack of commitment (or in the case of one – sanity), had colored her perceptions of relationships. Her mother had been lost in her own world for much of Calleigh's childhood and adolescence, content to shop and push the world away, only to re-emerge briefly when her husband's chronic drinking interrupted her appointments. When things were good, they were great, but when they were bad, they were horrible. Growing up in a household where you never knew if you would bear witness to laughter or soft whispers or tension-filled silence or screams between your parents…They were a volatile couple, everything perfectly fine for weeks at a time, and with one well-placed barb, from either party, they were back on the outs, each threatening to divorce and take Calleigh and the money. As if she were a possession to be fought over. A commodity to be used in the effort to hurt the other party. They finally split for good when Calleigh was almost an adult, exiting her teen years and no one had breathed a bigger sigh of relief than she.

Then there were the few relationships she'd been in. John, Peter, and Jake. John Hagen had been far too possessive, to the point of 'time to obtain a restraining order.' He was stifling and even at the very beginning, something about him had sent up red flags internally that she had steadfastly ignored, wanting to give him a chance. After they broke up and he was suspended due to 'back problems,' things had worsened and culminated in his suicide in front of her. Possessive and crazy-depressed to boot.

Next had been Peter. An acquaintance turned good friend through their shared investigations, Calleigh had liked the man and finally made a move when she found out about ADA Monica West. Even with the stellar example of her parents' relationship, or rather, lack of one, she had a core of values that she refused to cross the line for and one of those was cheating. Watching her parents' indiscretions and their blatant knowledge and ignorance had led her to adopt the belief in monogamy. She had no respect for those who cheated on their significant other, regardless of whether or not they were married. And Peter had led her to believe he was still single. He was still interested. He had commitment issues that, if she had not found out quite by accident about his fiancée, she believed they might have pursued their flirtation and taken it to the next level.

And then there was Jake. When they were in the Academy, he was dedicated to her, yes, but he was also married to his job, and she always got the feeling she came in second. An adrenaline junkie at his core, he hadn't then and to some extent, still couldn't commit to anyone, including her, as much as he had protested back then. Playing second fiddle to a career, no matter how lucrative, was not something Calleigh wanted for her life. She wanted, no, needed stability.

Eric came along and suddenly everything she'd been looking for, she found. In one man. Damn, that had scared the hell out of her, her best friend, always there beside her, but never really seen…Now he was her lover and they were great together. And thinking back now, she acknowledged reluctantly she had been holding a part of herself back. Because that was what was the norm. Past experience taught her to never give all of yourself to a person and she hadn't. She kept a part of herself closed off, and out of fear, she ended it. And then the unthinkable happened and Eric lost his memory of them. And a voice inside said, See, this is why you don't give everything. Protect yourself at all costs. (Never mind the rational part of her brain told her that she couldn't have foreseen the circumstances of Eric's shooting and the subsequent memory loss.)

Old habits die-hard and now that they were back together, she couldn't help but think, just wait for it. The other shoe will be dropping anytime now. Nothing this good could possibly last. That kind of love was rare and she wasn't convinced something that incredible could happen to her. To them. Love like that came once in a lifetime, if it did at all, and why would it happen to her? No, she concluded, even now, she wasn't sure if they would last.

Eric saw the truth in her eyes as she realized it herself. His mouth turned downward in dismay. How could she believe he wasn't committed to her? After all they'd been through, everything they'd dealt with since his shooting? The incredible struggle he'd gone through to remember their time together? If there was one thing that had convinced him they were supposed to be together, it was the struggle they'd gone through in order to come to where they were now. What was happiness without strife to make it all worth it? Make you appreciate what you had?

"Do…do you want to let this go? Do you want to stop this now, before either of us get hurt more than we're going to if we continue?" Eric asked quietly, seriously, reading the expression on her face and understanding her thoughts. He was already so invested, but he could let her go. He could.

Maybe.

"No, Eric, I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose this…us," she said in a whisper, her throat aching as she said the words.

"Then you need to trust me, Calleigh. You need to trust this…us," he remarked. "Don't let your insecurities get in the way of something that could mean everything. I love you, you know that. I think this, we could be…" his voice trailed off, and Eric had to start again. "This means something, what we have. I don't know how to define what's between us, I don't know if there are even words adequate enough to describe it, but what we have is special, Calleigh. I can feel it, in my bones." He emphasized his words by tapping his chest. "I feel it in my heart."

"I know. I feel something too. It's hard to describe. But it's hard to turn off the fear, the insecurity," she replied truthfully. She did love him, want him, but her past experiences with office romances had not left her receptive to them.

Eric approached her and grasped her hands with his. "No one's asking you to, sweetheart. All I'm asking is that you try to push past it and remember what's waiting on the other side for you. Me. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere," he said steadily, his heart beating a solid rhythm now, hands no longer shaking and instead assuredly and warmly holding hers. "I'm not leaving you, Calleigh. If you run again, I'm following you this time. I won't let you go. I'm not losing you again. You're too damn important," he asserted. He couldn't lose her again. He didn't think he could take it. It was one thing if she let her fear lead her; it was quite another if she genuinely wanted out. He could swallow his pain if she wanted to leave because she didn't love him anymore. But he wouldn't let her go if she let insecurity rule their relationship.

Some small part of Calleigh's psyche and heart calmed at his steady and slow words, the conviction of his beliefs evident in his tone, the smooth cadence of his voice. He meant what he said. He would follow her. He wouldn't let her fears jeopardize their relationship. He would protect her, even from herself.

She squeezed his hands back, feeling the slow rhythm of his thumbs running back and forth, back and forth across the back of her hands. "I'll try, Eric. Not to let my past interfere with our present, our future. I'm sorry, for making you feel insecure about your place in my life these last few weeks. I've just been hurt in the past by office romances… Early on in my career, when I was working for West Carroll Parish sheriff's department, I became involved with a co-worker," she told him haltingly.

"It didn't end well. After several attempts to put it out gently, I finally had to be direct. The guy...he didn't take it too well. He was a senior investigator and for the next several months after all I heard in the office were the snickers and speculative glances, the sly, sneaky occasional comment that while innocuous to some, led me to believe he'd told personnel about our intimate life to humiliate me. It worked very well. Within weeks it was rumored I'd slept with him for a promotion and he'd turned me down and I was working my way through upper management," she said with disgust. "I finally couldn't take anymore and left. It's one of the biggest reasons I came to Miami. Warm climate, similar to Louisiana, but as different from backwater as a city can get.

"So that's why I pulled away. Past experience has taught me it isn't a good idea to get involved with a co-worker. It's instinctual for me to protect myself."

"That's the thing, baby," Eric said, releasing her hands to reach up and cup her face, bringing his close to hers, capturing her gaze with his intense brown eyes, attempting to convey his intentions by action and look, instead of only by words. "You don't need to protect yourself against me. I'm never going to hurt you, not like him and not like any other man in your past. I'm not going to say we're not going to argue, fight, not with both of our tempers." His lips quirked up in a small smile. "But we'll work it out, because we mean more to each other than just a casual relationship.

"The son of a bitch deserves whatever hell comes to him, whether it's earthly or heavenly, but that's in the past. Don't let it color your reactions, Calleigh. Don't let him win. I'm not like him. I never will be. I love you," he murmured before capturing her lips in a tender, but passionate kiss. He reluctantly broke away and pressed his forehead against hers, their noses brushing teasingly. "C'mon, let's go to bed. Let me show you just how much I love you."

Calleigh's response was a light laugh as he swept her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom.

****

Two weeks later….

It was all about the numbers. Six months after reconstituting their relationship. It was hard to believe six months had passed since he blurted out he loved her and they agreed to try again. Incredible to believe that they'd rebuilt a trust that had been shattered on both sides by so much anger, dishonesty, pain, and hurt when six months ago Eric hadn't even been sure if they would make it. Five months, twenty days since their 'first' kiss after agreeing to try again. She had tasted like candy canes on a winter day, cool and sweet in his mouth. Five months and three days since their first hot and heavy make-out session. He would never look at his couch the same again.

Three months since they first made love again after breaking up. Thinking about that night was enough to get him hot and hungry for more. Two months since they completed the all-important ritual of any successful relationship: the exchanging of keys. Another bit of trust had been exchanged symbolically with the passing of those keys. Another piece of his heart now belonged to Calleigh and he knew he had another of hers as well. And now, one month since they began to lightly flirt in the office, although not with anyone within eye or hearing distance. Calleigh was adamant about that, to keep things (mostly) professional when they were in the office.

Since she had told him haltingly of the office romance in Louisiana that had soured and he understood her reticence about 'outing' themselves to their co-workers, they had taken things slow at the department. Calleigh's experience there had kept them restrained in the office, only trading knowing glances every now and then, speaking with their eyes what their lips could not in such crowded and close quarters. Though Eric didn't like not being able to acknowledge her publicly in front of their colleagues and friends, he did like a bit of the thrill that came with the territory. It was a bit exciting to have whole conversations with nothing but your eyes meeting covertly over meetings, feet tangling beneath the oak table.

And now, finally, Eric was feeling like he was back on solid ground whereas before it had felt like the floor was going to crumble beneath him and the ceiling was making those tell-tale groaning sounds as if it would cave in. Fighting with Calleigh for those awful weeks had been some of the worst of his life. He was damned glad that was behind them. Instead, they were in sync, at work and at home. Especially at work. Everyone had pretty much breathed a collective silent sigh of relief when their tension-filled fights had stopped and they got back into the swing of things. If anyone made a good team, it was Eric and Calleigh. Most of the time.

"Eric, what are you doing? If you spill that on the shirt, it'll ruin the evidence," Calleigh said anxiously, watching her boyfriend of six months mix two solutions together to create a deep purple color.

"Relax, Cal. Don't you trust me?" he said, a small smile playing across his lips, glancing at his girlfriend standing not two feet away. He caught and held her eyes for several long moments to cover his lapse in judgment. His mind had wandered for a few minutes and he didn't want it to be obvious to his sharp and keen-eyed partner, so he intended to distract her for a second and get her mind off of his lapse in judgment. It was damn hard to concentrate with her not six inches from his body, giving off heat from her form, the light scent of lilacs perfuming the air.

"Eric, you know I do," she said softly, alluding to a much deeper trust than that of colleagues. "But that doesn't mean I can't question your methods." They were in the lab, processing a shirt, retrieved from their latest victim, spattered in blood and other bodily fluids.

"Is there a problem here?" Horatio asked, standing in the doorway of the glass-encased room. He was passing by on his way to the garage when he heard the anxious voice of one of his female investigators.

"No. Just making sure Eric knows what he's doing," Calleigh replied sweetly, pointedly looking at her partner.

"I will have you know—" Eric began, a teasing smile on his lips, eyes lit warmly on her.

"Looks like everything's under control. I'm going to a call-out. Mr. Wolf and Ms. Boavista are accompanying me. Calleigh, you're acting supervisor until I return," Horatio interrupted, satisfied all was right with the situation and his two investigators weren't fighting. Calleigh nodded in acknowledgment, and he glided out the door and left them to their light and bantering argument. A smile curved his lips slightly as he removed his glasses from his coat pocket and played with the rims speculatively. His investigators' relationship had changed drastically in the last seven months. From half a month of sniping at each other like snarling dogs to a tentative dance of circling, feeling each other out, to what they were now: obviously together.

Horatio had never been one for tattling. What his investigators did in their spare time was their business, as long as it didn't interfere in their jobs.

And if by keeping Eric and Calleigh's relationship a secret allowed him to thumb his nose in Stetler's unknowing face, well, then that was just an added bonus.

****

Later that morning, Calleigh was processing and comparing striations from two bullets from two different crime scenes, lost in her work, when her concentration broke suddenly, her senses alight and dancing at a familiar stimulus at her back. "Hey," a deep voice murmured from behind her, almost directly into her ear, stimulating the sensitive and delicate hairs that adorned the curvature of that surface.

"Hey," she repeated back, barely repressing a shiver. "One sec. Let me finish comparing these striations and then I'll join you for lunch." It was damn hard to concentrate with Eric right behind her. She was vividly aware of his every move, shuffle, and sigh. She could feel him moving around her space, fingering different objects, curious about what she was working on. Concentrate, she told herself sternly. A few precious moments later, Calleigh sighed in frustration and backed away from the microscope.

"Is that a good sigh or a bad one?" Eric asked teasingly.

Calleigh smiled briefly, and shrugged on a light cardigan after removing her lab coat. "The bullets didn't match. I thought for sure I'd have the evidence. This guy has been knocking over gas stations for the better part of a month, but we haven't been able to connect him to even one."

"Don't worry. You'll get him. I know it," Eric said confidently, leading Calleigh through Firearms with a gentle hand at the small of her back. "So, where do you want to go for lunch?"

"Hmm, I'm not too hungry. Whatever you pick will be fine," she said noncommittally.

Eric gave her a look at the indecisiveness of her reply and added, "Then let's get some Cuban food. I haven't seen my buddy Tony in months."

Calleigh smiled. "Fine by me. I'd like to meet some of your friends out of work."

They walked down to the bay, as it wasn't that far from the main office. As they turned down Havana Street, Calleigh's gait slowed a bit, and Eric had to prod her to move a bit faster. They only had an hour for lunch and fifteen minutes had already been taken walking there. Eric and Calleigh entered La Terisita and got into the long line already formed at the front of the store. Slowly, they made it to the counter and Eric was greeted by Mr. Suarez.

"Eric, long time no see, mi amigo! How you been?" he asked, shaking Eric's hand firmly over the counter.

"Fine. Great actually. Hey, I'd like to intro—" Eric started.

"Calico! Hola, my little chica! Como estas? I see Eric finally brought you back to see me," Antonio greeted Calleigh, coming from behind the counter to hug the blonde.

Calleigh ducked her head a bit self-consciously. "Hi, Mr. Suarez, how have you been?"

Eric was confused as hell. "Wait, you two know each other?"

Calleigh watched Eric as Antonio replied, "Remember several months ago? I asked if you were going to bring back the little blonde chica. Tu novia."

Eric remembered that day.

"Hey, by the way, are you still seeing that pretty blonde you used to bring by? The pretty green-eyed chica?"


Eric's face twisted into a frown. "Calleigh? She's—We're not dating. We never were. She's just a friend," he denied.

Antonio gave him a look, but didn't say anything aloud, although he did mutter something under his breath. Sounded suspiciously like, "Yeah, right. And I'm Jesus."

"Yeah, I do remember that day. I thought you were crazy," Eric said, smiling a bit, remembering those moments.

"Who had the last laugh? Knew you two were together. You used to bring this pretty green-eyed chica to see me all the time. I thought the two of you would get married, have some babies," Mr. Suarez added, hinting strongly.

Calleigh blushed and moved on down the line, leaving Eric to fend for himself.

"Uh, yeah, well…" he flushed and ducked his head shyly, at a loss for words.

Mr. Suarez laughed heartily, enjoying the speechlessness from a normally cool and talkative Eric. He decided to cut the young man a break and changed the subject. "So, what can I get for you and your chica?"

Eric smiled gratefully and placed their orders: Vallejo steak and two orders of yellow rice and black beans with tostones. Damn, he loved south Florida. Nothing like Cuban food. Eric gathered their tray, paid for the food, and joined Calleigh at a back table. She had secured one of a few tables still left open. After all, it was lunch time. As Eric walked up, he caught her tracing something on the table absentmindedly, a small smile on her face, what little of it he could see as it was turned down. "What put that smile on your face?" Eric asked lightly, as he sat and placed the tray down on the table in front of her.

Calleigh pulled back to make room for their food. The tables were smaller than average and so Eric had to remove the plates and then set aside the tray before they could enjoy their lunch. Calleigh waited patiently for the few seconds it took him to do that before responding. Once his eyes were back on her, she replied, "We used to come here a lot, you know, before."

A flash of regret shone in his eyes, and then was gone. No use crying over spilt milk. What was done was done, simple as that. He wanted to focus on the present and look toward the future, not linger on the past.

"Mr. Suarez pretty much kept this table open for us. It kinda became ours," she said quietly, a small smile playing on her lips, "and we christened it."

Eric's mouth opened in shock at her words and his eyes widened in surprise. When had they-Wh—?

"Not that kind of 'christened,'" she chided and gestured to the scarred table. Eric's brain took a few seconds to process her words, his mind still lost in the gutter, before he leaned forward to read the small writing in the wooden surface. There, in his and her handwriting, were a small "E" and "C" neatly and stylishly carved into the grain of the wood side by side.

"I-I don't remember this, but it does seem very familiar," Eric said softly, fingertips tracing over the small letters, meeting Calleigh's halfway through the design. He snared her fingers, curving his over hers so they intertwined and brought their hands up to his lips where he tenderly placed a kiss on the soft skin of her knuckles.

Even now, weeks and weeks after they began anew, Eric still had this…power, Calleigh thought, her eyes glued to his lips, focused on the attention he was bestowing upon her fingertips. She had to suppress a light tremor that wanted to run through her body as she felt the sharp edge of his teeth and the gentle scrape of those surfaces across her flesh.

Eric's eyes flared hotly at the subtle signs of her reaction to him, the slight tremble in her fingers, the widening of her eyes, the dilation of her pupils indicating interest, the rush of her pulse against her wrist he could feel, the delicate skin pulsing erratically with her charged thoughts. She may have thought she'd suppressed the response of her body to his attentions, but he knew her almost better than he knew himself.

Things between them had the power to flare up suddenly, the fires that were always gently stoked, quickening to a conflagration that could consume them, and everything around them, if they weren't careful. More than once over the last several months had they almost been caught by their fellow brothers in blue on patrol in the park. Eric would hate to have to explain to their boss why they were arrested for public indecency, and so he pulled back slowly from Calleigh, allowing her body to adjust to the lack of touch.

Within minutes the haze faded from her eyes and clarity returned, and with it, a faint blush. Eric had to suppress a smile at the honest reaction and pretended he didn't notice. Instead, he returned her focus to their lunch by handing her a fork and knife. Lunch went relatively quickly and smoothly once the sexual tension seeped from the forefront to simmer in the background as it had most of the day.

Mr. Suarez watched the fireworks from his front row seat at the counter. He knew he had been right all those months ago when Eric had come in, looking slightly puzzled. He had thought at the time the couple had broken up because of Eric's condition, but looking at them now, he realized it must have been something more. The easy way they were together, the teasing and laughter apparent even from his vantage, showed Mr. Suarez his speculations had not been correct on that front. It was obvious they were in love—something must have come between them—but now that they were clearly back together, he could hear the church bells ringing in the not too distant future. And, if he wasn't mistaken, the glow around the young woman's face wasn't just that of a woman in love.

"Hey, what do you say to a picnic dinner in the park tonight? We can sit, watch the sunset, and relax?" Eric asked Calleigh as they walked back to the department.

She grasped his hand and squeezed his fingers before swinging their combined hands back and forth playfully. "That sounds wonderful. As long as we get off on time tonight, that will be great," she said, referring to the several instances in the past months either one of them had been called in to work overtime because a case had been caught at the tail end of a shift.

"Oh, don't you worry about that. All taken care of. I asked Ryan and Natalia to cover any unforeseen circumstances," Eric reassured. "We're in the clear."

Calleigh's response was a bright smile and a light laugh that tinkled on the balmy Florida air.

Eric finished getting dressed, cursing under his breath. They had separated after work to go home and get freshened for tonight. He had given them two hours to do so, and yet somehow, he was just barely finishing, and he still had to go pick up Calleigh. It had taken him half an hour alone to find what he'd been looking for, the small box lost among his vast possessions. Now that it was in his coat pocket, he could breath a sigh of relief. Somewhat. He was going to be late, he knew that, but it would be worth it. It had to be.

Calleigh had just straightened the straps on her green and white flowered summer dress when the knock on her door came. "Eric, just come on in," she called, exasperated. Goodness, considering he had her key… but he had always been a gentleman. By now, she knew his knock, which was the only reason she didn't go to the door and check it really was him. There was just something distinctive about his presence…

Eric whistled low as he walked into her bedroom. "Wow," he said, eyes raking her petite form, from the soft curls framing her face to the sleek lines of the summer dress that hugged every curve in her body and emphasized the complexities that made up his lover – femininity and strength, power and passion. A simple sundress combined with sandals. Why was it such a simple outfit had the power to bring a man to his knees? Eric's silent question was answered by the warmth in Calleigh's eyes. It was her. It had always been her.

Huskiness raked his voice as he tried to speak and so he had to clear his throat before attempting again, "So, you ready? I've got the basket and blanket in the car and all we need is a bottle of wine. Your choice."

Calleigh lightly kissed him in greeting before moving beyond him back into the main living area. She snagged a bottle of Chianti on the way out. "Coming?" she asked provocatively, one eyebrow teasingly rose as she opened the front door and posed in the frame.

Not yet, Eric thought wickedly, swiftly moving to follow her out the door.