Calleigh woke up slowly, feeling a warm body pressed against her back. She turned over, snuggling her face into his chest and feeling his arms tighten around her.
"Mmm, Tim," she murmured.
Suddenly she tensed as the sleep cleared from her brain. This was not Speed, this was Eric. She looked up at him, worried he had heard her slip. Thankfully he was still asleep.
She looked at the clock. It was four a.m. If they were going to be up in a couple of hours for work, he had to leave, pronto. She sat up and nudged his shoulder.
"Eric!" she whispered. "Wake up."
He sighed, stirring, and the next thing she knew, he was leaning over her, kissing her again, and her mind was going blank again, except for the part that thought it probably wouldn't hurt if they spared a few minutes.
It was 5:55 when he finally stepped out her door. She proceeded to follow her morning ritual and was in the shower when the enormity of what had happened sunk in. She was crazy. That was it. She should be locked up in a mental institution. It was one thing to have dated one team member, but to just jump into bed with a second? What was she thinking? And Eric of all people! At least with Speed it had been serious, they had both realized that, considering their positions, their relationship was not to be taken lightly. If they were going to date, it had to be for a purpose, which meant having a future, not a fling. She wasn't even the type of person to have a fling. What happened?
She briefly considered the idea that she was having a midlife crisis, after all, she'd be thirty-two come February and Eric was good looking, latino and had just turned twenty-nine. She discarded the theory. Thirty-two wasdefinitely not mid-life and a three year age difference wasn't enough to start calling herself Mrs. Robinson. No, that title would be earned when, at the rate she was going, she dated Ryan.
By the time she got to work her stomach had flip-flopped so much in nervousness that she felt nauseous.
"Calleigh, I need you and Eric to go investigate a DB found in a canal," Horatio said, coming up behind her in the corridor.
"What about Ryan?" Ok, yeah, that didn't sound high school or anything.
"What about him?"
"Well, I was just wondering if you would rather have Ryan go, instead of me."
Horatio gave her a quizzical look. "Is there something else you're working on?" he asked.
"No."
"Then you and Eric are the only ones free, I've got Ryan assigned elsewhere."
"Ok, great." She gave him a big smile before she turned away, hoping it covered up her unusual lack of confidence.
She found Eric in the break room over a cup of coffee.
"You ready to go?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said.
They barely spoke except when necessary as they processed the scene. In fact, it wasn't until they were walking back into the CSI building afterwards that Eric leaned down to her ear and spoke to her directly.
"Take your lunch break and meet me on one of the benches across the street," he said. He was gone before she could reply.
Ten minutes later she scanned the benches for him and, not finding him, sat on one the farthest from the CSI building. He arrived moments later, a flower in his hand. A daisy. He handed it to her and sat down.
"Calleigh, we need to talk."
She opened her mouth to speak but he put a finger over her lips. "Hear me out, ok?" he asked. "I know what happened last night happened kind of fast and I want you to know that it was not just some one night stand type thing. You're my coworker and you're my friend and if anything has gone wrong between us, I want to fix it. But I've got to tell you that there's more to you than meets the eye and I would like the chance to see it. So I guess what I'm saying is, would you let me take you out tonight? On an honest to goodness real date?"
He looked so earnest sitting there, his cheeks flushing slightly as he made his speech. How could she say no? She couldn't, and that's how she ended up walking with him later that evening.
First, they went to a movie, which she was grateful for. By sitting through a movie, they could test the being-together-and-dating waters without having to make what could possibly be awkward conversation. It was a win/win situation because, if things didn't feel as though they were going right, they could end it directly afterwards. If things were going good then conversation should flow of it's own accord.
Her nerves were definitely on edge when they began the evening but by the time they exited the theatre, the easy familiarity they were used to had returned. Just because they were on a date didn't mean their status as friends had changed. They decided to take a walk in a nearby park.
"Tell me something about yourself," she asked. She had come to realize, over the course of the evening, that, although she knew Eric in a sense, she didn't really know much about him.
"What do you want to know?"
"I don't know. Something nobody else knows about you, I guess."
"On my days off I sometimes watch Days of Our Lives."
Now there was something she hadn't expected. "You do not," she said, disbelieving.
"Yes, I do. Do you want me to recite the Brady family tree for you to prove it?"
"No, no, it's ok, I believe you," she said, smiling.
"Now you've got to tell me your deepest darkest secret," he said, giving her a devilish grin.
I dated Speed. We were in love. If he were still alive we'd be married. I wonder if I'd have a kid by now.
No.
"I'm terrified of guns."
Now it was his turn to give her a disbelieving look. Actually, it had a bit of shock mixed with it as well.
"The Bullet Girl is terrified of guns?"
She nodded.
"How is that?" he asked.
"When I was little, guns seemed to be these awful things that could go off at the drop of a hat. To prove myself wrong, I forced myself to learn everything I could about shooting."
"So you're not scared of them anymore, then."
"No. Using a gun still means there's the likely chance someone will die as a result. That still scares me," she said softly.
"But that doesn't stop you."
"No, it doesn't."
"Wow, you learn something new everyday."
"Yeah, like your manly-man coworker is a soap opera addict." She shot him a teasing glance, trying to turn the mood light.
"Hey now, I wouldn't say I'm an addict!" he said. "I just happen to like a little comic relief is all."
She laughed. "Ok, fine. You know, if it makes you feel any better, I've watched it a time or two myself."
"Ha! See?"
"But I don't think I could tell you who's who in the Brady family tree. I guess to each his own."
"Come on, I have sisters, what do you expect?"
"Oh, that's just an excuse, next you'll be telling me that they forced you to watch it while they put makeup on you."
He didn't say anything but she saw his cheeks redden.
"Oh, Eric, you poor thing, it must have been hard being the baby." She was trying not to snicker but wasn't being very successful.
He gave her what was supposed to be a menacing look. "Oh shove it," he said before joining in her laughter.
Later, he drove her home and walked her to her doorstep. She unlocked the door and then turned back around, leaning against it.
"This was nice, Eric, thank you."
"Thank you for giving me the chance to take you out." He paused. "I hope we can do it again sometime," he ended softly.
Instead of replying, she reached up and brought his head down for a kiss. This time it was tentative, safe and sweet. There was none of the biting hunger that had flavored their previous kisses. It held the possibility for hope.
She pulled away, smoothing a hand over his cheek before turning to disappear into her apartment.
X
A/N: Another short one. Merry Christmas ya'll :)