"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that." Calleigh said when she pulled back.

"Calleigh..." Horatio started but Calleigh put a finger on his lip to silence him.

"Please don't say anything. I'm sorry. Think of it as trying to disprove a theory, extract evidence so I could come to a conclusion."

"Calleigh." He whispered.

"Please don't say anything." She quickly got to her feet and grabbed her shoes and purse. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Calleigh." Horatio called after her as she ran off down the beach. "Calleigh wait." But it didn't do him any good.

Calleigh managed to get far enough away that she could slow slightly enough to swipe away the tears that ran down her face and to call a cab to pick her up. Luckily there was one in the vicinity and it was waiting by the time she got to Horatio's condo.

"Is everything okay miss?" The cab driver asked after she had told him where she wanted to go.

"I'm fine." Calleigh said. "Or I will be." Calleigh dug her purse out of her purse and dialled a familiar number.

"Hello." A female voice answered.

"Alexx it's Calleigh."

"Calleigh is everything okay?" Alexx could hear that she was upset.

"Alexx I did something stupid."

"What did you do?"

"I kissed him."

"Tim?" Alexx questioned.

"Horatio." Calleigh murmured.

"Where are you?" Alexx asked.

"In a cab on the way home."

"Get it to bring you here." Alexx instructed.

"Alexx I can't intrude."

"You're not intruding. Calleigh come over."

"Okay." Calleigh agreed.

"I'll see you soon sugar."

Calleigh hung up and told the driver about the change of destination before sitting back and staring out the window.

"Oh Calleigh." Alexx pulled her into a hug when she saw her tearstained face as soon as she opened the door. "Sweetheart, everything is going to be okay."

Alexx held her until she was sobbed out.

"I'm sorry Alexx; I don't know why I'm crying." Calleigh apologised.

"Why don't you tell me what happened sugar?"

"Tim asked me what was distracting me while we were having dinner. He did this stupid Freud impression and told me to tell 'Doctor Speedle' my troubles so I told him about Yelina and Horatio's reaction to him inviting me out for dinner."

"I see. Go on." Alexx encouraged.

"He agreed with you about Yelina. He also told me that Horatio liked me, which is where we got our wires crossed, so he called Eric who told me Horatio wanted to jump my bones."

"Very succinct and very Eric. But from my perspective very accurate, Calleigh, my guess would be Horatio is half in love with you, but wouldn't do anything about it unless you wanted him to."

"Did you know Horatio told Eric and Speed that I was 'hands off' when he hired me?"

"Sounds like Horatio." Alexx had to agree. "Where does the kissing him come into it?"

"I had Tim drop me off at his condo. I walked to the door but I couldn't get the courage up to press the buzzer. So I sat down trying to figure out what I wanted to say. But he had been to the store and came home."

"Oh."

"So I suggested we went for a walk and I confronted him about what he'd said to Eric and Tim. He said he'd said it because I was beautiful smart and charming and he wanted me to be able to do my job."

"Wow." Alex said.

"It kind of threw me."

"I'll bet."

"So I told him I could handle Yelina. I told him about Tim's theory that he reacted to the fact that we were going out tonight the way he did because he was jealous."

"What did he say to that?"

"He said that it was a working theory because Tim had no evidence to prove it one way or the other." Calleigh replied.

"That's one way of avoiding the subject."

"We talked about how everything that had happened to us, however ever much we wish we could change it has brought us to this point in our lives and then I got him to promise not to fire me or think any less of me and I kissed him."

"What did Horatio say to that?" Alexx asked.

"He didn't get the chance, I told him not to say anything that I was sorry and then I ran away and got a cab." Calleigh replied.

"Oh Calleigh sweetheart, you should have talked to him."

"I was scared so I ran."

"How was the kiss?"

"Did you ever kiss someone and it felt like the world stopped, everything disappeared, nothing mattered anymore except that one moment?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I married him." Alexx replied.

"Sorry to interrupt." Alexx's husband came in. "Horatio's on the phone, he wants to know if we've seen Calleigh since she's not answer her phone and her cell phone goes straight to voice mail."

"Thank you." Alexx took the phone. "Horatio its Alexx."

"Alexx, have you seen Calleigh? I can't get her to answer a phone."

"Why are you looking for her?" Alexx asked.

"We were having a discussion and she left abruptly I wanted to make sure she was alright."

"A discussion about what?" Alexx inquired.

"It doesn't matter." Horatio replied. "Have you seen or heard from her?"

"She's here." Alexx admitted.

"Can I speak with her?" Horatio asked.

"He wants to speak to you." Alexx held the phone out to her. Calleigh shook her head. "She doesn't want to come to the phone right now, but she'll meet you for breakfast tomorrow morning at the usual place an hour before your shift starts."

"Thanks Alexx. Take care of her for me okay?"

"Of course." Alexx agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Alexx." They hung up.

"Why did you tell him I'd meet him for breakfast?" Calleigh asked.

"Because you need to work this out before you come to work. It will give you the night to think about where you stand and what you want. We all know how Horatio feels, it's how you feel that is in question. You need to figure out what you and tell him, he won't know otherwise."

"When did you get so smart?"

"I did a psych rotation in med school and soap operas are a good distraction from death."

" 'There are only so many conversations you can have about dead people.' " Calleigh recalled what Tim had said.

"Exactly. I'll make some coffee."

"Thanks Alexx."

"Anytime sugar."

TBC