A/N: I own nothing. Someone suggested that I write a Christmas fic- so here it is. The Lyrics from "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Are by Ralph Bane.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light,
From now on,
Our troubles will be out of sight.
The Christmas party was in full swing. Calleigh had always loved Christmas, even though Christmas had always been a bittersweet time at the Duquesne house. She usually spent Christmas alone, on account of her dad and everything, but she didn't mind. Well, she did, but she would never admit it. Instead, she was keeping watch over the bar as Horatio has instructed her- making sure that no one got overly wasted.
She sighed and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.
Her dad had died the day before.
There wasn't a lot to celebrate this Christmas.
She had a headache in the back of her skull, near the base of her neck, and it was killing her.
She swallowed hard and leaned further into the wall.
She closed her eyes and tried to imagine a happy Christmas.
There was a hand on her arm, suddenly.
She snapped her eyes open and looked at Eric.
"Hey!" She said in a falsely cheery voice.
"Hey." He said back.
"Aren't you supposed to be at your parents' house?" She asked, glancing at the clock.
"Yeah." He said, shrugging his shoulders
"So why aren't you?
"I don't know."
She paused for a second.
"If I had somewhere to go on Christmas, I would be there in an instant." She said finally, truthfully.
"You can come to my place." He said, gazing down at her
"I don't think that's a good idea, Eric."
"Why not?" He asked, turning to face her fully
"I think we both know why." She said gently
"I wish you would…" He trailed off.
"Eric. We've been over this. I trust you more than anyone in the world. I don't trust myself."
She swallowed hard.
"My dad died." She said, not daring to look up from the floor.
She felt the familiar prickle behind her eyes and knew she had to leave before she lost it in front of Eric.
She swallowed back the knot in her throat and pushed past Eric.
"Merry Christmas." She said tightly, and whisked out the door.
He stood, shell-shocked.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-Tide gay,
From now on,
Our troubles will be miles away.
Maxine Valera had planted herself on a bar stool and had consumed enough alcohol to be a little tipsy. She sighed and tipped her drink back, taking another gulp. Across the room, Calleigh and Eric were standing rather close together, talking, when Calleigh suddenly walked out, leaving a dumbfounded Eric in her wake.
"Oh, shut down." Ryan said, his voice coming from the bar stool on her left.
"What?" She asked, turning to face him.
He nodded towards Eric, who was rooted in place.
"Yeah." She said with a sigh. "Poor guy."
"Poor guy?" He asked incredulously. "Poor guy? Please. He's just going to go bang some other girl."
"No he's not, Ryan. He's hung up on Calleigh."
"Huh."
She glanced over at him, a tiny bit irritated.
"Aren't you going to get something?" She asked, motioning to the bar tender
He ordered a beer and they sat in silence on the bar stools, watching their co-workers make fools of themselves trying to dance.
"Oh, jeez." She said, pointing to a police officer and Yelina.
Yelina was obviously trying to be polite by dancing with the guy, but he was stepping all over her feet. He looked like a chicken- he had the bobbing head and everything.
In fact, everyone but them was dancing.
Even though it was MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This.", she found herself wanting to dance.
She shook off the urge when she saw Horatio sort of waddling around with some chick from Vice.
Jump (For my Love) by The Pointer Sisters came over the speakers loudly.
"Oh!" She said, and swiveled around in her chair, looking at her coworkers still making fools of themselves.
"Oh!" She said again, grabbing Ryan by his sleeve and yanking him up off the stool.
"Valera!" He yelped in surprise, nearly sloshing beer everywhere.
"We have to dance to this." She said, still pulling him along behind her, even though she could sense his reluctance.
"I'm not much of a dancer." He said nervously.
"Ryan, I know that even though you look like the kind of guy who really enjoys a nicely pleated pair of slacks, you have a bit of an urge to dance."
"I- I really don't think- Valera…I can't dance."
"Sure you can. Behind that blazer and button down shirt, you're a dancing machine!"
He looked embarrassed.
She started to dance, and really, she was quite good, which made the situation that much more embarrassing, considering his extreme lack of rhythm.
He sort of shuffled around and waggled his arms a little bit, feeling like a huge dork.
"Come on, Wolfe!" She shouted
"I'm a terrible dancer." He mumbled.
She ignored him.
"Dance like you've had six beers!" She said, really getting into it.
"But I only had half of one." He protested.
"Well, pretend you're really, really drunk, then."
He moved his feet more and added in a hip wiggle and decided that he wasn't doing that bad. He shook his legs and waggled his arm, pointing across the room in a disco-ish way.
"Wohoo!" Valera shouted loudly, and he laughed, because she must've been really drunk.
He grabbed her hand and spun her, and then she spun him, although it took a bit of crouching down on his part, and he decided then that maybe he'd have a good Christmas, after all.
And maybe the annual office Christmas Eve party wasn't so lame, after all.
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore,
Faithful friends who are dear to us,
Gather near to us once more.
Eric pulled into Calleigh's lot. Sometimes he wishes he was just some asshole guy who didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. It would make things a lot easier.
He sighed and walked up and pushed the button on the elevator, sort of wishing that the elevator would get stuck or something, because he had no idea what to say to her. This was definitely going down as his worst Christmas Eve ever.
He popped his jaw back and forth.
The elevator eventually opened and he stepped in, pressing the button for the third floor.
He shifted the box in his hands, nervous.
He was really glad Target was open late on Christmas Eve.
The doors opened once more and he got out at his destination. The doors whisked shut behind him and a tiny voice in his head told him it wasn't too late to get in the elevator and then run- run like the wind down to his car.
He shook the thoughts out of his head and knocked on her door.
It was quiet except for the sound of a TV coming from the inside of her apartment. She didn't answer and he was worried, and moved to set the box down and slam the door in when it swung open.
Calleigh stood there, looking exceptionally surprised. She tugged on the sleeve of her shirt nervously.
"Hi." She said
"Hi." He said back.
She moved out of the way to let him in, he glanced at her apartment, which was completely devoid of Christmas decorations, except for a sad looking string of Christmas lights going around each side and the bottom of the window. It looked like they didn't go around the top.
"Why don't the lights go all the way around?" He asked, gesturing to the window.
"Couldn't reach." She said, chewing her lip and playing with the string on her snowflake pajama pants.
"Huh." He said, looking around. "Got anymore?"
She nodded and went over by her kitchen and pulled a box about as tall as she was from the kitchen. She tugged it into the living room.
"What is that?" He asked, shocked by the sheer mass of the box
"My Christmas decorations." She said quietly, standing on tiptoes and peering over the top of the box. "I put them away. It didn't seem like I should keep them up, somehow."
"Then why the lights?"
"I love Christmas lights."
He smiled sadly and walked over, peering into the box.
"What used to be in here?"
"Kiddy basket ball hoop. I stole the box from my neighbors last Christmas when they put it out to be recycled."
He pulled a strand of lights out of the box and she handed him a roll of masking tape. He walked over to the window, past the television that currently had "The Grinch who Stole Christmas." Paused on the screen.
He hung the string over the top of the window and taped them down, plugging them in and stepping back to see the desired effect.
She smiled a tiny, sad smile.
"Thanks."
She turned around and looked at the medium-sized box he set down.
"What's in the box?" She asked, gesturing towards it.
"Oh, yeah." He said, walking towards it and placing it in her arms.
"Merry Christmas. Sorry it's not wrapped." He said, even though she looked confused.
"I didn't get you anything." She said
"That's ok. Open it."
She sat it on the counter and peeled the tape off the top, pulling the box open.
Her mouth made a tiny "O" and her eyes got a bit watery.
She pulled the tiny, pre-decorated Christmas tree out of the box.
"They were selling them outside Target, and I figured you didn't have a Christmas tree." He said softly.
She nodded, eyes still filled with tears.
She picked up the little tree and walked over to the corner and kneeled on the floor, plugging in the tiny strand of lights. It looked ridiculous sitting there all by itself, but she loved it anyway. It had tiny glass ornaments and a star on top.
She sat back and wiped her tears away.
Eric sat down beside her carefully.
"Thank you." She said shakily.
"You're welcome."
She moved herself closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
"Merry Christmas, Calleigh."
"Merry Christmas, Eric."
Through the years,
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow.
Ryan was kissing Maxine Valera. If someone had told him that he'd be making out with Valera two weeks ago, he would've laughed in their face and given them a breathalyzer test.
Only, now it didn't seem so weird.
Everyone had been counting down till midnight, ready to shout "Merry Christmas!" When Valera had grabbed him by the sides of his blazer and pulled him to her.
He broke away slowly.
"Merry Christmas." He said, grinning.
"Merry Christmas." She said, leaning into him and kissing him again as he fumbled for his car keys, wrapping an arm around her waist. As they left together, he couldn't help but grin.
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough,
Eric pulled the blankets fully over him and Calleigh. They'd finished watching The Grinch, when she suddenly swung her leg over him, effectively straddling him, and kissed him full on the mouth. At first he'd been so shocked he didn't reciprocate. He'd come to his senses and kissed her back, both of them suddenly very turned on. Then one thing had led to another and he was sure the angels were singing praises somewhere. Calleigh was tucked into his chest, eyes closed, head resting on his chest.
He kissed her cheek and whispered "Merry Christmas." To her sleeping form before switching off the lamp and falling asleep.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
A/N: I know its July. But I love Christmas. I think this is my favorite fic that I've ever written. Reviews are much appreciated, and make me want to write more in the future.