CHAPTER 28: TENSION

He had caught her looking longingly at her guitar several times in the last week, so he knew she missed playing with her friends in the evening. That was how the idea had come to him. After all, Jim owed him…

-Ronnie? A friend of me, who owns a bar, is looking for bands who play live… would you be interested?-, he had asked her one evening in front of a plate of stuffed zucchini. The girl's eyes had lit up at the offer, and she had immediately started firing questions.

Jim had been auditioning bands for a month now, and was close to making up his mind. He had agreed, though, to let Ronnie perform the following Saturday, provided that she had a band to play with. When Horatio had broken the new to her she had squealed in delight, hugging the redhead tight before reaching for her phone.

-I must call Reggie! He'll be enthusiastic!-, she had said. Horatio had smiled, bringing such joy to the sweet girl was wonderful, and had occupied only ten minutes of his busy schedule. Their joy lasted but a few minutes; Kyle had returned home already worn out by the meeting with his mother, and the discovery that Ronnie had called Reggie before even thinking about him was the straw that broke the camel's back.

His tantrum had not been pretty, Horatio had to admit. His son had accused the girl like a betrayed boyfriend would, had Ronnie had obviously been taken aback by such vehemence. After all, it was a trivial matter, and he was spending precious time with his mother, trying to help her recover from her mental traumas, and it wasn't as if he were her boyfriend!

The two of them had fought long and hard, Kyle accusing Ronnie of only being exploiting him and his father, Ronnie accusing Kyle of being immature and childish. In the end she left, guitar on her back; Kyle had sent her daggers, following her with his eyes until she had disappeared from sight.

-Go to him…-, he had spat angrily, storming upstairs.

Truth be told, Horatio missed the warmth and the comfort that could be felt during the meals the three of them shared. From that moment on, in fact, Ronnie and Kyle did not speak to each other, and only talked a little with him, asking for the salt or the salad. Ronnie cooked for the two Caine men, did the dished, then ran outside to do her rehearsals, while usually his son moped in front of the TV until the girl returned home. There were three of them, but the house had never been so quiet in Horatio's opinion.

A couple of days later, Ronnie surprised the redheaded man by asking him for Calleigh's telephone number.

-What for?-, he wondered. Ronnie blushed a bit, averting her gaze.

-I want to ask her to play with us Saturday night. This way she'll play the guitar and I'll play the drums and Reggie…-, the girl halted, not sure herself of what she was really trying to say. –I kinda wanted to dedicate a song to Kyle, and I thought he'd have preferred… he'd have preferred it that way…-, she confessed, trying at the same time not to reveal too much. After all, she was still talking to the boy's father.

She should have known. She should have known that Horatio would have smiled at her embarrassment, and found the idea really sweet. He gave the girl his mobile phone, a clear sign he trusted her to handle it sensibly, patted her cheek affectionately then walked away.

The following day, Horatio and Calleigh talked briefly about the upcoming event, to which the blonde had enthusiastically agreed to take part in, in the break room. Calleigh exited the room as soon as the conversation between them had died out, while Horatio lingered inside. Briefly after the blonde's exit, Eric entered the room, a pissed look on his face.

-She's just told me the three of us will be busy this Saturday night. -, he stated, and there was no mistaking who she was. Horatio smiled patiently at the Cuban, hoping his tone of voice would sound conciliatory.

-Clearly she wants to surprise you. Eric, I promise you Saturday night I will not be there for her, but for someone else. -, he assured the Cuban. His serious and steady tone seemed to do the trick, for suddenly the tension broke, and a small smile forced his way through Eric's deep scowl.

-Go find her, Eric. I heard she's got to pay a visit to Alexx, I'd like for you to keep a close eye on her. -, Horatio instructed the younger colleague softly, pointing with his soulful eyes to the way Calleigh had previously retreated. Eric's eyes narrowed.

-Is there something I should know?-, he inquired. Horatio chuckled at his perceptiveness and tried to answer as best as he could.

-Again, you'll have to wait for her to tell you in her own time. And again you'll have to trust me, for I discovered… what there is to know… by chance, and before her, so she didn't tell me anything. –

Watching Eric's retreating back, Horatio sighed in relief. Once again, his diplomacy in dealing with his colleagues' emotions had not betrayed him. Honestly, though, he was getting too old, he was getting tired of being soft and tactful with everybody's feelings, he just wished to live what remained of his life more spontaneously, happily, with fewer restraints. He wanted people to respect him, too.

The tension between Kyle and Ronnie finally snapped Friday evening. The girl was laying out the plates in front of the boy and his father; Horatio smiled his thanks, while his son just pushed the plate away from him. At both Ronnie and his father's questioning looks, he shrugged.

-I'm going out with Jennifer. We'll eat together. -, he said, watching Ronnie's face intently.

Horatio had to give the girl credit, she didn't flinch, didn't show any sign of emotion, no anger, no despise, not even surprise. She just sat down and started eating, not raising her eyes when the doorbell rang and Kyle sprinted towards the door.

Once Kyle had closed it behind his back, Horatio and Ronnie kept silent for several minutes, both feigning concentration on the meal. Once the redhead dared raising his head, he discovered with horror that the girl was crying silently, her meal untouched; before he could utter a single word of comfort, Ronnie stopped him.

-Don't. Thanks anyway. I don't even know why I'm crying. -, she said, standing abruptly from the chair. –I'm not hungry… I'll just go to my room… which isn't even mine to begin with…-, she babbled, trying to cover her eyes. Before she could run away, Horatio caught her by the wrist and pressed a apple into her hands.

-That will be your room for as long as you'll want it to be. -, he assured her gently before letting her go.

-Thanks. -, she replied, voice thick with emotion. She hugged Horatio briefly, then retreated at a slow pace to her room.

When Kyle returned home later that night, he was met by silence. That took him aback slightly. He'd thought Ronnie would make a tantrum, that his father would give him the third degree, anything but silence.

The night had seen its highest and its lowest. Jennifer was friendly and obviously very interested in him – proof of that was the fact that they had kissed several times, and every time it had been her who had initiated the contact -, and the sight of her huge boobs provided by her impossibly low cut top had turned him on more than he'd care to admit, but on the other hand she had been overly clingy and expressed a passion for all those girly things, romantic comedies, candies, puppets and flowers, that he despised.

He sighed. Ronnie was oh so different. She liked all those things he himself loved, such as sports and music, horror movies and juicy rare steaks. She was not afraid of getting dirty (whose thought could positively make Jennifer cry aloud) and teasing adults and generally more fun to be around. She was also so damn erudite, though, sometimes he felt a complete dumbass while speaking with her. And she wasn't as beautiful as his dad liked to describe her; sure, she was tall and well proportioned, but that was it. Her outfits were always so plain, her hair styled in an anonymous ponytail and her face devoid of any makeup. To sum it up, she wasn't very girly.

But she had managed to steal his father's heart, the boy mused as he looked at the two of them curled up on the couch, his hands still tangled in her hair in a frozen comforting gesture. What had he missed? And why had the thought of her spending time with Reggie troubled him so much? It wasn't as if she had suddenly become ungrateful, she still cared enough to prepare delicious meal three times a day and made time to tidy up both his and her room, a chore he despised with a vengeance.

He realized with a start that having her rummaging through his room didn't bother him as much as it should. Hell, the mere thought of having Jennifer into his room had him panicking instantly, he wouldn't live up to her standards, he was just too… boyishly.

God, what to do now?

***CONTINUES***

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