Note: This is something I should've done a long time ago: a series of somewhat but not really connected one-shots in hopefully chronological order, following the development of Calleigh and Eric's relationship from coworkers, to friends who critique each other's love lives, to much more. Involves many post-ep/episode-related chapters. This will probably stay canon, so Eric and Calleigh aren't together for a while, but it will have flirty undertones from the beginning, mayyybe (definitely cause I may have already written it) culminating in an M-rated chapter.
Chapter Title: Midnight Tiptoe
Timeline/Reference Episode: before season 1, episode 3 (when Eric asks if he can stay with Calleigh while he lays low and she says "On the couch. No midnight tiptoe.") I always like to think about what prompted that comment, so voila.
Calleigh couldn't sleep. She never could when she was away from home. She'd been that way since she was a little girl, restlessly tossing and turning at sleepovers while the other kids slept soundly. And she never could sleep when she drank, which she had a little bit tonight to everyone's surprise, including her own.
It was a bit of a special occasion. Tyler's rich uncle had lent them his nine bedroom mansion on the beach for an official unofficial MDPD CSI lab holiday party. She'd split a bottle of wine with Alexx, who'd made the smart, reasonable decision to go home to her family at ten. She'd escaped just before Michelle, one of the new techs, had arrived and started making tequila sunrises. Those had been the reason Calleigh hadn't made it home as planned and ended up in a pool with at least eight of her coworkers.
Eric had also been the reason, because his challenging, amused smirk when she'd accepted her first drink had egged her right on. And seeing him without his shirt on had not been bad either – it never was. Neither was the playful way he kept trying to get her in the pool, completely innocent if not for the devilish smirk and flirtatious undertones that seemed to pervade his voice and glances most of the time when he talked to her. Okay, if she were being honest, that was when he talked to most women. But still.
When Speed gave in and cannonballed into the pool in his cargo shorts, she knew that resistance was a lost cause. So she and her black bikini and her second tequila sunrise had gotten in the water, Eric's amused eyes somewhat shamelessly yet respectfully dragging over her. He seemed to get a rise out of flirting with her just enough to get a response; maybe it was because she'd friend-zoned him as a coworker on Day One so it was harmless, or maybe that was just Eric.
She was leaning toward both options as the night went on and he and Michelle grew more handsy. By the time she was on her third tequila sunrise and Eric and Michelle were celebrating their winning streak of chicken with a lingering hug, hands clinging to warm, wet skin, Calleigh was catching his gaze and rolling her eyes, lips pursed as she tried not to smile. She didn't know how he did it, mixing his work life and personal life so seamlessly.
She'd always been a black-and-white kinda gal. But then again, she'd always been a little different – which was why she was currently standing in the large modern and metallic kitchen sipping a much-needed glass of water right now instead of sleeping at five in the morning like everyone else.
Well, maybe not everyone else, she realized as she heard movement from the top of the stairs. Someone was being very quiet, but years of police and CSI work had made her attune to the slightest sounds: the soft click of someone quietly shutting a door, the brushing of clothing against clothing as someone shuffled down stairs. She walked to the end of the kitchen nearest the stairs and poked her head out just in time to see Eric descending the stairs – which was amusing because she could've sworn he'd claimed a downstairs room like she had.
He spotted her just as an amused smile spread across her lips because she'd figured it out. As he brushed past her into the kitchen, button-up haphazardly unbuttoned so his muscular chest and toned abdomen were peeking out, she pursed her lips and shook her head. He gave her a playful, questioning look and she coyly turned her head toward the direction he'd come from, eyes narrowed in suspicion, before glancing and nodding towards the other end of the kitchen: the one that led to the hallway they'd both claimed rooms down. She was all too aware that Michelle had coincidentally found a room upstairs.
Eric chuckled as he retrieved an identical glass to hers and filled it with water.
"Really, Eric?" Calleigh chided, tilting her head as she watched him quickly down half the glass.
"What?" He turned to lean his back against the counter opposite her, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. "We're two consenting adults."
"Who work together," she added for him. She was unable to keep her eyes from wandering down his chest as he finished off the glass.
"You know," he began as he turned, flipped the faucet on, and filled the glass again, "that's not a dealbreaker for some people."
He grinned, his eyes flirtatiously inviting as they held hers, and damnit, he was getting to her again. And he probably knew it, judging by the way he stepped closer – and closer again, until his arm brushed hers as he reached behind her to grab a leftover chocolate chip cookie from the counter, boxing her in close enough to feel his warmth. The arm that was in front of her holding her glass brushed against the open flap of his shirt, and then his warm skin.
"Sounds messy," she insisted, pressing her free hand to his chest to push him back.
"Only if you let it be." He chuckled again, amused by her morals. "Look, the way I see it...we're two mature people who went for what we wanted. We know that it was what it was and we're not gonna let it affect our work." He took care of the cookie in two bites and then, now very aware that he was not creeping through the house alone at night and was instead talking with a coworker – with Calleigh – he quickly buttoned up his shirt.
Calleigh pressed her lips together and shrugged. "That's a great plan," she admitted, but her voice was a little empty. "But she's new, and you don't know her that well...and you're her senior at work…"
Eric sighed, nodding just slightly as he acknowledged her point but still standing his ground. "Point taken, but...we were clear that it was just for fun. And I had fun, and she definitely seemed to have fun, so…"
Calleigh rolled her eyes, annoyed at her own broad smile that had her tucking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. God, he was cocky. And she usually hated cocky but he made it oddly endearing and somehow still respectful.
"What?" He chuckled, resuming his position at the counter opposite her. "Like you've never hooked up before."
Calleigh pressed her lips together again and raised her brows, averting her eyes to the side under his watchful gaze. Eric tilted his head and widened his eyes, zeroing in on her unusually easy-to-read expression.
"You've...never hooked up before," he realized aloud, looking at her disbelievingly.
"No," she admitted, an oddly pleased smirk spreading across her lips.
Eric breathed out a chuckle, eyes still studying her in a way that easily revealed he was struggling to come to terms with that revelation.
"What?"
"Nothing," he scoffed. "It's just...you look the way you do and you've never…" His eyes held hers, voice trailing off as he silently finished that sentence. Though she was standing before him now in rather simple jeans and a tank top, her straightened hair tousled after a few hours of restless sleep and her tired eyes, he could easily admit she was rather stunning...not to mention he was having a little trouble getting the image of her in that black bikini out of his head.
"No," she confirmed, eyes lighting up as an amused smile graced her lips. "I'm a relationship kinda gal."
"Not even in college?"
"Nope, I had a boyfriend...briefly." She looked to the side for a minute, trying not to get too distracted from his previous words. "Was that a compliment?"
Eric backtracked through their conversation for a moment before he hesitantly answered, "Yes," just a little less shamelessly than he normally would. He actually had a flicker of hesitation in his answer and she stiffened a little as she realized why. He wasn't playfully flirting in that charming, relentless way of his; he was just being honest.
Calleigh pursed her lips, surprising herself when she began to reveal more than she had to in an effort to brush right over that. "I just think that kind of intimacy requires a certain amount of...trust. And familiarity." Maybe those tequila sunrises were still affecting her inhibition…
Eric shrugged, seriously contemplating her thoughts. "But there's different kinds of trust, right? In that moment, I trust that person...physically I guess."
"And you can just separate that from everything else?" she asked skeptically.
"Maybe not everything," he admitted, cracking a smile. "But I don't know. Emotions are messy. We see that every day, right?"
"We do," she agreed, sighing and taking another sip from her glass. Well, this was getting a little deep...
"I don't know, this job takes a lot out of you." He held her gaze, finding understanding and agreement there. "I don't think I have time or energy for anything more right now."
Calleigh smiled sadly but understandingly, her respect for him growing a little as she realized that maybe he understood himself a little better than she'd thought.
"Why do you think I'm single?" she said with a playful shrug of one shoulder. He let out an amused chuckle in response and watched as she tipped the last of her water back, placed her cup in the dishwasher, and bumped it closed with her hip.
She took in a deep breath before saying, "Well, I think the wine and tequila are effectively out of my system. You want a ride home?"
"You don't mind?" His condo in Little Haiti wasn't exactly on the way home for her from Miami Beach.
"Nah," she said honestly. "I'm wide awake anyway. Let me grab my stuff."
She turned, heading towards the opposite end of the kitchen. As she ran a hand through her hair and flipped it to one side, Eric found himself a little too interested in the cascade of blonde, the curves of her strong but feminine shoulders, and the little patch of creamy skin her tank top revealed as it lifted up with her arm. He shook his head, smiling at the rather complex mystery that was Calleigh.
When she returned with a tote bag over her shoulder, she began to brush past him to lead him out, but stopped abruptly next to him, reaching out to place a hand over his chest and letting her striking eyes catch his.
"I'm glad you had fun," she said honestly, an amused smile curving the corners of her lips upward at their shared secret. If she had to put money down on someone playing a little midnight tiptoe at the department Christmas party, it'd definitely be Eric – and he hadn't disappointed.
"Thanks," he said, chuckling and ducking his head a little as he followed her out. And if his caramel skin and the shadows of the dim kitchen hadn't been just dark enough to hide it, she'd have sworn Eric Delko might actually be blushing a little.
He recovered quickly, though, asking as he followed her out, "So how many guys have you dated?"
She was too sharp to fall for it though, easily connecting the pieces of their conversation to understand what he was asking. Looking back at him, she said, "I'm not telling you my number."
Eric chuckled, shaking his head as they passed through the front door and hit the balmy beach air outside.
"Less than two hands?" he asked as they made their way to her Jeep in the driveway. She gave him a look as they climbed in, and he couldn't decide if she was offended by his estimate – high or low – or simply his question. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
A mischievous smirk tugged at his side of her lips as she cranked the engine to life, a pretty curtain of blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned forward. She quickly tucked it back behind her ear. "You haven't lost count?"
Eric's amused chuckles slowly dissolved into laughter with hers and he shook his head. Touche, Duquesne.