Twenty Five:

Horatio wasn't too surprised when he saw his name on a large banner. He kind of figured that the party would end up being for him anyways. But he wasn't upset or anything. More touched really, that the lab would go through so much trouble for him.

Alana had been dropped off at her big brother, Kyle's house. He volunteered to watch her for the night, saying that he wanted to take her out anyways. They needed a day together. And of course that wasn't a problem to Horatio or Ryan. Kyle didn't even need to be asked if he would watch Alana.

Horatio was a little upset when Ryan told him that they couldn't drive to the party together. Horatio texted Ryan asking him where he went after work. Then we he didn't answer, he called Ryan. This also went unanswered. But when Ryan finally called him back, he told him that he was picking up the cake. Ryan also let it slip that he had wanted to stop to buy Horatio something special. So, Horatio figured that was the reason his text and call went unanswered.

So Ryan told him that he would just meet Horatio at the party, because if he drove all the way home first then they'd both be late. And he definitely didn't want Horatio to be late to his own party.

When Horatio arrived, people immediately starting cheering and clapping. They expressed that they missed him and was glad to see him again. This was very nice, and it definitely moved Horatio to know that so many people loved and cared about him.

He approached Calleigh first and was met with a soft hug, her being careful to not crush him or squeeze too hard. She didn't want to hurt him. Eric was next, he first shook Horatio's hand before bringing him into a hug, too. Mostly the others just shook his hand or pat him on the back, but it was still nice. For the first half hour of the party, it was spent with Horatio making rounds and thanking people for coming. An hour into it, was spent with Horatio dancing a little bit with Valera.

The party had been going on for an hour and a half.

A hour and a half and Ryan still hadn't shown up yet.

Calleigh and Eric thought that was strange, too. Eric had initially thought that he had missed Ryan and that he was already there. But when he asked Horatio where Ryan was, he was told that he didn't know either. The couple frowned, Eric put his arm around her waist as Calleigh checked the time on her wristwatch.

"The cake shop is only about 20 minutes away. He should definitely be here by now." Calleigh concluded. But Eric shrugged it off. "He said he was stopping somewhere else, right? And there could be traffic. It is a Friday night, after all."

Horatio shook his head. "I don't know, just seems weird. Last party we went to, I got abducted. And no one knows where Ron Saris is now, so he could be back here in Miami. I'll call him again."

Walter had made his way over to the rest of the gang, having heard most of the conversation. "You guys are looking for Ryan, right?" He pointed to the stairs on the other side of the room. "I saw him and Rick go upstairs a few minutes ago. He said hi to me. Weird that Rick's here, knowing Horatio probably wants to kill him." He laughed.

Eric and Calleigh suddenly got quiet. Horatio definitely noticed the shift in the mood. Walter, realizing that he had just put his foot in his mouth, excused himself and went to talk to other people.

"Why would I want to kill Rick?"

Calleigh shrugged and chuckled. "Well we all know how you guys get when you're together. You fight tooth and nail with each other."

Eric just nodded. "I'm, uh, just going to go greet Ryan and Rick." He released Calleigh's waist and started up the stairs, looking back to make sure Horatio wasn't following. Eric shook his head and continued up the stairs of Calleigh's place. It was practically his home too, as he was here almost every single day. So because of that, he knew where everything was.

As soon as he got up the stairs, he could go left or right. On the left was Calleigh's bedroom, and a bathroom. On the right, was a guest bedroom, and a room that Calleigh had converted to her office. So, Eric went left. All of the doors were shut, but once upstairs there was nowhere else to go.

He knocked first before entering the bathroom. Nothing. The room was dark and no one was in it. He knew that no one would be in Calleigh's bedroom but he tried anyways. He was right; Calleigh had her door locked, so no one could get in there anyways. So, Eric continued on, walking to the office room. That door was locked, too. Which made sense, really. Everyone here at the party were all friends and Calleigh trusted them. But still, her office was filled with expensive stuff. So of course she locked it. That only left the guest room.

Eric was starting to wonder if maybe Rick and Ryan had gone downstairs already and Walter had just missed them. But he decided anyways to check the guest room, expecting that room to be locked too. For some reason, Eric decided to knock on the door. Now, he'd spoken to Ryan about the incident, a little bit. And Ryan made it clear that nothing had happened. But still, Eric for some reason felt a need to knock. Then he opened the door and looked inside.

The room was dark so at first he couldn't see anything. But then he heard Ryan's voice.

"Eric?"

"Wolfe? Is Stetler in here with you?" Eric touched the wall, trying to find the light switch. When he found it and flicked the switch, he saw Rick laying down flat on his back on the bed. His feet were dangling off of the side, touching the ground. Ryan was sitting down on the bed next to Rick, his body facing him. "What's going on in here?"

"He's drunk." Ryan said. "He's completely hammered. He decided he wanted to come and then convinced me to stop at the store first to buy alcohol. Well, guess who drank all the alcohol before we even got here? Here's a hint; not the pregnant guy. I didn't want to take him home cuz one, I'd be even more late and two, he freaked out on me when I suggested it."

Eric came over to the bed and looked at Rick. His eyes were a little glossy and his skin felt cool. All he needed to do was get Rick to talk and he'd know he was drunk. But that was unnecessary, as Eric could smell the alcohol on him the moment he got close to them.

"Go get him some water and some food." Eric instructed. "Oh, and tell Horatio you're here. He was worried."

Ryan looked at Eric. "He's worried about me?"

"Yeah, you're more than an hour late. He thought maybe Ron Saris…"

Ryan just nodded and got off of the bed. He made his way down the hall and down the stairs. He saw both Calleigh and Horatio look at him. He decided to make talking to Horatio his number one priority. Calleigh was all smiles when Ryan approached them. Ryan tried not to look stressed out after dealing with the drunk man-child that is Rick. He smiled too. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late. We had a little problem."

Calleigh looked scared. "Oh no, is the cake messed up? Or did you forget it?"

"No, no the cake's fine. It's in the kitchen already." Ryan answered. "Rick and I had a little problem but I think it's being handled."

"Eric is handling it?" Calleigh asked, skeptical because, well, she knew Eric. Ryan nodded. "Yeah, actually I'm just getting something for him so I have to go back."

Ryan noticed Horatio's eyes were dead-set on him, studying him. He knew that look all too well- it was his half sympathetic, half curious face. That face usually happened before Horatio revealed he knew something was up. Ryan grabbed Horatio's hand. "I'm okay. I'm sorry I'm late. But I'll come back and tell you all about it. You might think it's funny, actually."

Horatio smiled a little. "Okay, you go handle the situation."

Ryan nodded and released Horatio's hand. Then he was off again. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a small bag of chips and a bottled water. He then went back up the stairs and into the guest room where he saw a very angry looking Eric.

"Something happen?" Ryan cautiously asked.

Eric shook his head. "He's just more annoying drunk."

Rick leaned up. His hair looked a mess and his face was pretty slack. "I'm annoying? You're annoying! You come down so hard on me for trying to do my job as if I'm not supposed to do it. You act like you're big and bad and all mighty toward me for no reason. You get in trouble because you get yourself in trouble. I wouldn't ever have to talk to you if you would just stay out of trouble." Rick answered, his speech was face paced and slurred but he definitely got his point across.

Ryan had to admit that for the most part, Rick was just doing his job. They did sometimes get mad at him, but he was doing his job.

Eric looked very mad. He just shook his head and stood up. "Why don't you deal with this, Ryan?" Eric walked past him and out of the room. "You can probably handle him anyways."

Ryan watched Eric leave before turning back to Rick. Rick was lying down again, his head was turned though, facing Ryan. Ryan handed him the bottled water first and told him to drink it as he sat down on the edge of the bed again. "Your date is supposed to meet you here. She's probably already here, wondering where you are."

"Oh, I should go down there, then."

"I'm worried you're going to make an ass out of yourself." Ryan told him, opening the bottle for Rick after watching him fumble with it for a while. "Just stay up here for a little while and try to sober up. I can probably get you some coffee if you want. It won't make you sober but it'll trick your body into thinking you are."

Rick reached out and touched Ryan's arm gently. Probably because he couldn't grip it. "No, no. Stay with me."

Ryan chuckled. "I have to go back downstairs. Horatio was worried about me so I have to make sure he knows I'm okay."

Rick smiled. "Stay and make sure I'm okay."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Then my job is done." Ryan stood up and touched Rick's forehead and then his cheek. "You seem fine, really. But I'll be back in a little while to check on you. Tell me what this girl looks like so I can keep an eye out for her."

Rick, still touching Ryan's arm started to move his hand, grazing his arm up and down. "Hmm, she has long black hair. Green eyes. Pale skin. She's just beautiful. Stunning. You'd know it was her immediately." Rick paused for a moment. "Her name's Holly."

Ryan nodded and left the room again, shutting the door behind him. So far this wasn't going too well. Ryan made his way back downstairs, and saw Horatio sitting down with Walter. They were both drinking and laughing about something. When Horatio saw Ryan, he waved him over to them.

"Everything okay?" Horatio asked Ryan.

He nodded. "Yeah, kind of. Rick's drunk." Ryan told him. "On our way here he asked me to stop at the store. He said he wanted to bring something to 'make a good impression'. But then he got nervous and decided one beer would calm him. Then a second beer would. Then by the time we went to go pick up the cake he could barely get out the car."

"Why didn't you take him home?" Walter laughed.

"I tried but he kept saying he was fine and that if I took him home he'd 'never forgive me'." Ryan laughed. "Really, he didn't seem that bad until we actually got here. When he opened the car door he just… fell out. I had to get him upstairs so he's there waiting to sober up a little bit. At least to the point where he can walk by himself."

Horatio cracked a small smile and Ryan heard him chuckle. He was sure he was imagining Rick falling out of the car. Which, Ryan thought was hilarious at the time. He definitely laughed before he helped him up and into the house. "Are you having fun?" Ryan asked Horatio.

He nodded and wrapped his arm around Ryan's shoulder, bringing him closer. Ryan breathed in deeply, smelling Horatio's cologne. He always liked the way it smelled. Walter took a drink of his beer. "Walter, have you seen a girl here you don't recognize? Black hair, green eyes, and pale skin?"

Walter scanned the room before shaking his head. "No, why; who is she?"

"Rick's date. We're waiting for her to show up."

"Rick has a date?" Horatio inquired. Ryan nodded and hummed in response. "Apparently she's beautiful. Stunning., as he describes it."

He heard Walter laugh. "Why'd you say it like that; like you already hate her?"

"Did I?"

Horatio agreed, smiling. "You kind of did."

Ryan just shrugged. "I don't think so. Anyways if you see her just let me know please."

"Is that her?" Horatio pointed. "Over there talking to Valera and Calleigh?"

Ryan turned around and he swear his breathing stopped and his heart skipped. There was a girl there he'd never seen before. Her eyes were so incredibly green. Ryan suddenly wondered how dull his eyes were compared to his. His eyes were hazel in the center, but green around the edges. Not as vibrant as hers. Even from across the room he could see them. Her hair was indeed long and black, but it was up in a ponytail. And she wore a red dress that was skin tight, with sleeves and the hem went down to her knees. It looked classy. She looked classy. And beautiful.

Then she looked right at Ryan. She smiled at him and then nodded to Valera and Calleigh. She started walking over toward him. Ryan practically stared at her the whole time. She got close and spoke. Even her voice was sweet. "Hi, are you Ryan? I'm Holly; Rick told me to find you." She held her hand out which Ryan took as he stood up.

"Yeah, hi. I'm Ryan. Ryan Wolfe. You're here for Rick." He felt idiotic for saying that.

"I am." She glanced at Horatio and Walter. Walter waved from his seat, as did Horatio.

"Hi, I'm Walter."

"I'm Horatio."

Holly smiled again. "Horatio Caine the lieutenant. It's very nice to meet you. You too, Walter."

Ryan knew the look Walter was giving her. He definitely thought she was attractive. Even Horatio looked at her the same way with admiration in his eyes. "I'll go get Rick for you. He's just upstairs." Ryan said, breaking the silence and causing Horatio to look at him again. Walter didn't. He just stared at Holly. Ryan started walking off but noticed Holly was following behind him. So obviously she wanted to go to Rick, too.

They went up the stairs and into the room where he last left Rick. He was leaning up on the bed and staring at the mirror across from him. Holly spoke before Ryan even had a chance to. "Hey Rick." She said. Rick turned around and a smile was planted on his face. "Hi. Wow, you look great."

Ryan frowned as Holly walked closer to Rick.

He's not slurring anymore, he thought.

"I'll just leave you two alone then." Ryan said.

Rick shook his head as he stood up and took Holly's hand. "No, we're coming downstairs. Thanks Ryan." He told him.

Holly and Rick walked out of the room and Ryan walked behind them. Holly kept glancing at Rick and then giggling at nothing. It was pretty annoying, Ryan had thought. But Rick seemed to like it. He continued walking until he was with Horatio and Walter again, noticing that Eric, Valera and Calleigh were sitting with them, too. "She's so pretty." Valera said.

"Oh my god, she's gorgeous." Calleigh agreed.

Walter nodded. "Rick got her? Where did they even meet cuz I need to go there!" He said, causing Eric, Calleigh and Valera to laugh. But Horatio didn't laugh. He only smiled and moved over on the couch, making room for Ryan to sit down. So he did.

"So Wolfe, heard you got Horatio a gift?" Eric grinned. "Trying to outdo us?"

"No. I can't do that anyways. You're the ones that threw the party for him."

"Where are these gifts? We got him some stuff, too." Calleigh said.

Ryan groaned. "Oh, I left them in my car. I'll go-."

Horatio stopped him. "It's okay, there's no rush. I'll just look at them at home."

Ryan nodded as Calleigh giggled at something. "We got him some white undershirts. They're upstairs though. I'll get them before you leave."

After about thirty minutes of them all talking, Ryan noticed Rick was walking around, looking very confused. He waited as Rick made his way toward their group. "Have you guys seen Holly? She said she was going to the bathroom but she's been gone a while. I checked and there's nobody up there."

"Think she came to her senses and ditched you?" Eric asked. His tone said it was a joke, but they all knew better. They knew he was being serious. Rick didn't even bother to look in his direction. "Ryan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Ryan looked at Horatio, as if asking for permission. Which he kinda was, really. He hadn't been able to spend much time with Horatio today, and it was his party. He was late and then he spent time taking care of Rick first. Horatio nodded and pat his shoulder lightly. Ryan got up and walked with Rick to the other side of the room.

"What's up?"

"Her car is still outside but she's gone. I checked all over this place but I can't find her. It's just weird and no one else has seen her."

Ryan did think that was weird. Now that he thought about it, he did see Holly go up the stairs. She was alone and he didn't think anything of it. That was maybe ten or fifteen minutes ago. But he hadn't seen her come back downstairs. But also, Ryan hadn't seen anyone else go up the stairs either.

"Have you called her?"

"Yeah, twice but it went straight to voicemail. So maybe her phone died?" Rick suggested.

As they were talking, they noticed the front door was opened and some people were exiting. But they had stopped suddenly and screamed. Ryan was startled, and Rick was definitely just as shocked. Horatio and Eric immediately sprung up and into action, going through the people starting to crowd the door. Eric was yelling telling everyone to get out of the way. Some listened, others didn't so he started to push people. He was the first out, followed by Horatio.

They both just stood there wondering what the hell was going on when they heard Eric yell out "someone call an ambulance; she's not breathing!"

.

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So sorry I've been gone guys. I hope you're still reading!

-V