Calleigh was pulling her coat on to leave for lunch when Eric entered the locker room. Stopping in his tracks, Eric stood at the door when he and his former lover made eye contact. Calleigh took her purse from her locker and Eric held up a hand.

"No wait," he said pleadingly.

Calleigh shook her head. "I don't want to fight with you here."

Taking a few steps toward her, Eric's face was wraught with contrition. "No, please. Calleigh I'm sorry."

"Sorry for?" she prompted.

She had never made things easy on him when he screwed up and just because of their personal lives, she wasn't going to go easy on him. It wasn't her style and Eric loved that about her.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "It's harder than I thought."

Calleigh shook her head and made her way to the door. "It's not easy for me either."

Eric caught her arm and pulled her to his side. "Well, you're not making it any easier. What was going on there?"

She had every right to tell him the conversation was over. She had every right to tell him to mind his own business and slap him across the face for suggesting anything. Calleigh pulled her arm from his strong grasp and ignored him, walking out of the lab as fast as she could.

Eric caught up with her at her car, his coat in hand. "Calleigh!"

She closed her eyestiredly. She knew when everything started, they would have a conversation like this but she didn't expect herself to want to run away from it so fast. What was she running from anyway? She and Eric were barely separated, she couldn't possibly think about someone else.

"Do you want me to pick you up something?" she asked avoiding his gaze.

It was apparent she could get into her car and drive away. Her staying to talk to him was a good sign. Eric shook his head. "Cal, can we talk? Please?"

Calleigh looked up at him. "Please don't."

"I mean it, I don't want you to be mad at me," he insisted, reaching out to take her hand. "Please don't be mad at me."

Calleigh pulled back from his contact and shook her head. "Don't touch me right now, I can't right now."

Eric looked down at the ground, trying to mask his pain from her rejection. "Please don't be mad at me. I wasn't thinking."

"I really don't want to have a fight with you every time you and I work a case together," she said softly. "And nothing was going on with Ryan."

Eric nodded. "It's too soon."

"You know better," she reminded him and he nodded again. "You know me better than that."

Eric took a step toward her and put his hands on her shoulders, running them down her arms and back up to her neck. The contact made her flush but she didn't pull away. She put her hands on his waist and nodded.

Pulling her into a hug, the safest conact for them at that moment, Eric held onto her tightly. "You're right."

Calleigh took in a deep breath, taking in his scent. She wanted to drive him to her house and hide away for another few days. She had always wanted to take a long lunch and spend the afternoon making love, in the middle of the day, leaving everyone to wonder about her wearabouts. It was the part of her who wanted to slide her fingers into his hair, pull him into a passionate kiss and forget about everything. It was the same part of her who was in love with him. A childhood and adulthood filled with parents who lived on their impulses, she had trained her rational side well and she argued away the urges she was having, like always.

Instead, she pulled away and wiped away an errant tear. "Nothing happened."

"I know," he said and fought the urge to kiss her forehead. Taking a step back, he clenched his fists, fighting his body's desire to hold her again, to touch her and kiss her. "I trust you."

"You're saying that with clenched fists," she observed.

He crossed his arms. "It's hard for me to see you like this."

She understood what he meant. "I know."

Eric shifted in his feet. "I'm getting hungry, would you bring me back something?"

She nodded, knowing what he would eat and got in her car. Eric watched her drive away and jogged back into the lab.