Chapter 2: I guess I can no longer avoid you

"Calleigh" Aimee repeated again.

Calleigh was dumbstruck, she had no idea what to say. She hadn't prepared for talking to Aimee yet, she hadn't expected to hear her sisters' voice yet.

"Hey" she managed to stutter. Great Calleigh, that's a very good way to start a conversation.

"I'm coming back to Miami" was all she heard her younger sister say.

"I know" Calleigh replied, again kicking herself for the seemingly total lack of vocabulary she had. And now you are even sounding like a teenager.

Aimee started laughing. She was so nervous when she dialled her sisters number, she could only call it in emergencies, well this seemed like one. It made her feel relieved when her sister sounded just as nervous as she was.

"Look at us Cal" Aimee snorted

"I know" Calleigh replied. She was laughing at herself, in her head. It was good to hear her younger sister laugh though, Calleigh realised it was a sound she had missed over the years. All this time, and this is all you can say Calleigh Duquesne?

"Cal, can you help me out? I need a place to stay until I find my own apartment" Aimee asked when she could properly talk again.

"You can stay with me" Calleigh said. She was amazed her own voice said that, first of all it was more than one word, and second, she just invited her sister to stay with her. Oh my god Calleigh thought to herself help me.

"Thanks Cal. Erm I'll arrive the day after tomorrow at 7 AM" Aimee said. Her voice was filled with hope, Calleigh let her stay at her apartment, that was a whole step.

She loved her older sister, who was her role model. Ever from when she was a little kid she always looked up to her sister. Her big sister who was so smart, so driven and who always took care of her when their parents weren't there for a change. Aimee wondered what had changed, what made Calleigh so distant. In the beginning when Calleigh went to college, she would call every day to make sure her little sister was fine. When she went to university that changed from once a week to once in every while, especially when Aimee herself went to college. The last time Aimee saw her older sister was on TV just before she went to Spain. Aimee laughed uncomfortably to herself, it was ridiculous that she hadn't seen her own sister in such a long time. She was never close with her family, but her sister was her everything. And deep down, her sister still was her everything, she just didn't know what went wrong.

"I will pick you up from the airport ok?" Calleigh said after a long pause. Even after all this time she still knew her little sister inside out. She could almost hear Aimee thinking through the phone.

"Thanks" Aimee sighed "For everything"

"It's ok. I'll see you in 2 days then" Calleigh said. She found it was time to end the conversation, it bothered her that the contact she had with her little sister was so uncomfortable.

"Yeah, see you in 2 days. Bye sis" was the last Aimee said before hanging up.

The word sis Aimee said before hanging up caused some deep rooted feelings to stir up in Calleigh. Aimee always used to call her sis, it was the nickname they used for each other when they were younger. Calleigh couldn't help but smile. Even though it was really scary to face her again, her little sister was coming home.

When Calleigh put her phone down, she decided to go home and make some room in her apartment.

Later that evening Calleigh was lying in her bed. She couldn't catch her sleep because her mind seemed to work overtime. She couldn't help but wonder what Aimee looked like now, they really looked like each other when they were kids . They hadn't seen each other in about 10 years, which is a shame since they were so close when they were younger. She knew why she hadn't seen her sister in years, it was her fault. She was the one who had failed her sister. She was the one who had been avoiding Aimee for years, most people she knows don't even know she has a sister. Suddenly Calleigh felt really mean, she could imagine it would've hurt Aimee a lot.

By the time Calleigh fell asleep, it was time for Aimee to get up. Today was her last day in Spain, and she had so many people to say goodbye to. Her life in Spain was so busy that she never had the time to stop and think about her life back in the States. She knew at least a dozen friends who would want to trade with her, everyone seemed to want to live in Florida, and especially in Miami.

After a tiring day of saying goodbye to her friends and the people that had become her family, Aimee got in the plane to Miami. She had mixed feelings about leaving her home and going to Miami. It was odd how she saw Spain more as her home than the place where she was actually born. She remembered the time when she was young, when her parents would drown their sorrows with alcohol, it was always Calleigh who tried to protect her. It was always Calleigh who took her away from the sight of her parents being drunk. Even though Calleigh tried, Aimee wasn't stupid. She knew what was going on, no matter how young she was. She was 25 years old now, but it still made her cry, knowing she was a mistake.

Suddenly Aimee remembered this one night when Calleigh and her were watching television while their parents were fighting in the room next to them. When their mother attacked their father verbally again, Calleigh had put her hands over Aimee's ears. They both knew what their mother was going to say, she would always use it against him when they fought. The thought of Calleigh trying to protect her still made her smile. She remembered Calleigh's already big eyes growing even bigger when they heard their mother saying that Aimee should have never been born. Calleigh tried to tighten the grip on Aimee's ears to prevent her from hearing any more.

A tear ran down Aimee's cheek, only now she realised how much she had missed Calleigh all those years. How much she had needed her older sister in all those years. Aimee sighed this was going to be a long flight.

The next morning Calleigh woke up really early. She glanced at her alarm clock, which showed her that it was only 5 AM. She tried to turn around to get some more sleep before getting up to pick up her sister. But as soon as the thought of Aimee came to her mind, she knew she wasn't going to sleep any longer. With a deep sigh she got up. She wondered what this day would bring her, she was scared it would be awkward.

When Aimee got out of the plane, she almost felt sick with nerves. Her stomach was twitching and her palms were sweaty. In her mind she laughed at herself it's not like I'm meeting the president, jeeze Hayes compose yourself! Of course, waiting for her bags took way too long. Aimee was about to go and ask someone what had happened to the luggage when the luggage belt started moving finally!

Calleigh was looking at the sliding doors of the arrival hall, she felt very nervous. Her heart was beating like she had just ran around the block a few times. Come on Duquesne, compose yourself! She tried to tell herself, but that didn't really help. She closed her eyes for a bit and took a deep breath, hoping this would help. When she opened her eyes, it seemed her heart skipped a beat. Just at that moment a young blonde woman came through the sliding doors. It was definitely Aimee, it was like Calleigh was looking into a mirror that made her a couple of years younger. Ever since the last time she had seen her younger sister, Aimee had grown into a woman who looked very much like Calleigh herself.

Aimee's eyes lit up when she saw her older sister standing there. In a white suit, just like she was almost always wearing when she was on TV. Aimee smiled as she waved at her sister. It felt like her heart was beating in her throat, she was finally with her sister again. Aimee's heart sank a little when Calleigh didn't wave back at her, but the look in Calleigh's eyes spoke volumes. Calleigh's eyes had lit up the same way as Aimee's did when she first spotted her older sister.

"Hey" Calleigh said. She felt awkward, and she was still cursing herself for not being able to compose herself.

"Hey" Aimee answered. She was a bit disappointed that her sister didn't give her a hug.

"Let's go. I'm sure you are hungry and tired" Calleigh said, taking one of Aimee's bags.

Aimee grew more disappointed by the second, Calleigh seemed cold to her. She hoped it was just temporary because on the plane, she decided that she wanted to restore every bit of the great relationship they had when they were younger.

It was just as Calleigh had hoped it would not be. Awkward. She had just taken her younger sister's bags when she realised she could've hugged her before doing that. But then again, maybe Aimee didn't want that. After all they hadn't seen or spoken each other in ages. It made Calleigh feel ashamed of herself again.

The drive to Calleigh's apartment was quiet. Both women seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Aimee glanced over at Calleigh a few times. And every time she did, she got the same odd feeling. She wanted to hug her sister and hold her until all the awkwardness would have disappeared and she wanted to tell her sister all about her life. If there was something Aimee hated, it was uncomfortable silences like these.

Calleigh led her sister into her apartment and showed her around. It seemed she felt more and more uncomfortable as time passed, shouldn't it be the other way around?

"You must be tired. Do you want to sleep?" Calleigh said, resting her hand on Aimee's shoulder.

The sudden weight on her shoulder startled Aimee, Calleigh was standing behind her and had put her hand on her shoulder. She turned around to face Calleigh, as she looked into Calleigh's eyes, she saw something that looked like a cue for her.

"Cal" Aimee whispered before falling into her sister's arms.

"Aimee" Calleigh whispered back, wrapping her arms around her slightly taller sister.

They stood there, holding each other for what seemed like an eternity. Calleigh could feel Aimee's tears rolling in to her neck as she held her sister. The scent of Aimee was still the same as when they were kids, only now it was mixed with the faint scent of a perfume. Calleigh closed her eyes and started stroking Aimee's hair.

"Don't cry" Calleigh heard herself say. Those two little words brought back memories. It was what she always said to her little sister when she was crying.

Aimee pulled back and looked at Calleigh. "I'm sorry" she said.

Calleigh smiled. "You always told me that, remember?" she wiped the tears off Aimee's cheek "Welcome home" she whispered with a smile.

Aimee smiled and dried her face. "I have to get ready. I'm supposed to meet Horatio this morning"

Calleigh looked shocked "Right away? Are you sure?"

Aimee just nodded. "And I think you have to work too right?"

Calleigh looked to the floor "I just kinda hoped…., well yeah I have to work too"

Calleigh was disappointed, she had hoped Aimee and she could spend some more time together. After all it had been ages since they had seen each other.

When Calleigh entered the Miami Dade Crime Lab with Aimee following her track, they had lots of people staring at them.

"It looks like we came straight from the circus. Did you pay these people to watch me?" Aimee joked.

Calleigh laughed "No, they always stare at me like that"

"Yeah right" Aimee snorted.

"Hey!" Calleigh said, slapping Aimee's arm.

Aimee couldn't help but laugh. It felt great to be in the lab with her sister, she was sure it was going to be the best time of her life.

"Horatio" Calleigh said while stepping into his office "meet Aimee Hayes" she continued as she pulled her sister into the office.

"Aimee" Horatio said with a smile and put out his hand "Horatio Caine". Horatio laughed to himself in his head, they were most definitely sisters. If he hadn't known Calleigh was 6 years older, they could've convinced him they were twins.

"Calleigh I would like to talk to your sister for a bit, you can go and get the other's and meet me in the meeting room" Horatio continued while he sat down.

Calleigh nodded and left.

"So, Aimee. Are you ready to start work today?" the redheaded supervisor asked.

"Yes. I'm very happy to be here" Aimee took a deep sigh "And erm Sir, Calleigh doesn't like it if you keep referring to me as her sister. I'd rather you call me Aimee, just Aimee, not Aimee, Calleigh's sister. We both still have to get used to the sister part" Aimee grinned uneasily "We haven't seen each other in years"

Horatio smiled "Ok, just Aimee" he said. So they hadn't seen each other in years. And Aimee seemed to be a lot more willing to talk, so maybe he could figure out that way what had happened to them.

"Let's go then Aimee. I will introduce you to the team" Horatio got up and opened the door for the new employee.

"Let's go" Aimee said full of confidence. Knowing her sister was around, made her feel like she could take on the whole world.