Chapter 7

Six months later

After their first night together, Calleigh and Horatio had become inseparable once shift was over and after hanging out with the team, when they did get together with them. They would hangout at either place, mostly his since he had a nice ocean view that she liked, and nobody could have found two happier people.

Of course the team was very curious on why they both seemed so happy at the same time, but without the actual proof that something more than boss/subordinate or friendship going on between them, all they could do was speculate, and if they were really so happy then they just wanted to keep out of their business. But that didn't mean they weren't waiting for them to say something. They also hoped that this good feeling would stay this way.

Calleigh looked at the criminal in the eyes before looking at the arresting officer. "Lock this guy up." He nodded with a smile while Calleigh gets up from the seat she was sitting in, then walks out of the interrogation room with a satisfied feeling rush through her. Even though usually they don't get the criminals before they do the crime, least the ones that get closed will help the families have closure, so it was always a good feeling locking them up.

Calleigh was so lost into her thoughts going through MDPD that she didn't hear someone calling her name, so she jumped a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned around and gasped as she saw the man standing in front of her. "Jake!"

Jake Berkley was close to six feet, an athletic build with short black hair and brown eyes, he was always wearing a leather jacket.

He smiled his charming smile and said. "Hi Calleigh, long-time no see."

Shocked into silence for a few seconds, she clears her throat and asked. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled again. "It looks like I'm starting a job here."

Still shocked. "Really?"

He nodded, then cupped her cheek and replied. "And with you here, it can be like old times at the Academy."

While Calleigh was in the police academy she had met Jake there and they became really close, it started out as a friendship, but eventually they started dating, then once they graduated from the academy, they went their separate ways and she hadn't seen him in almost ten years.

Before she could reply, he had removed his hand and spoke after looking at his new partner over her shoulder. "I'm sorry I have to go, but we should really catch up." All she could do was nod before he started walking toward his partner at the door, then they both walked outside while she watched him.

After she stood there for a few more minutes, she shook off whatever was going through her and walked out of the building to head back to the lab so she could finish her report.

She was fully into working on her report a few hours later when there was a knock, but she didn't hear it, so she jumped when a hand touched her shoulder.

She looked to the right and saw that it was Horatio, he gave her a little smile and replied. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Calleigh shook her head, then smiled a little. "That's alright, I must have been in the zone with my paperwork." Horatio just nodded as she asked. "So what can I do for you handsome?"

"Well first off you can stop for the day since shift has been over for a few hours now, then if you will please come and have dinner with me."

Calleigh looked at her watch and replied. "I didn't realize how late it was."

Horatio looked at her a little concerned and asked. "You ok? You have seemed preoccupied after you came back from PD."

Yeah she was really into her paperwork, but she'll admit that it wasn't the only reason she was still preoccupied, seeing Jake at PD kind of threw her for a loop, but she wasn't ready to say anything about seeing her ex to Horatio, so she just cleared her throat and replied. "Yeah."

Horatio wasn't 100% convinced that everything was fine with her, but he'll take her word at face value this time, then nodded. "Ok, so you up for dinner?"

She smiled as she looked around to make sure no one was in her lab before looking up at him and placing her hand on his cheek. "With you? Always. I'll meet you outside in a few minutes so I can follow you with my vehicle." Horatio smiled as he took her hand off his cheek, then after kissing it, he released it with a nod before turning around and walking out.

Calleigh watched his movements till she couldn't see him anymore. Then when she was alone again, she closed her file and cleaned up her area before grabbing her purse and locking her office as she walked into the ballistics lab before walking out in the hall so she could forget the last few hours and seeing Jake here, then maybe she could enjoy having dinner with her man.

All through dinner, Horatio noticed that Calleigh wasn't as preoccupied as he saw her earlier today, so he thought maybe it was the case that got to her and she just needed to leave the lab so she could put it out of her mind for the night, which he was all for that. But of course if she needed to talk about something that was bothering, then he would be there to hear her worries. He loved her so much and any hurt that she was going through he would always want to take her pain away.

Calleigh caught Horatio staring at her, so she smiled and asked. "What?"

Horatio smiled in return. "Nothing, I was just thinking about how happy I've been these last six months."

"Me too, it really has been great."

And if they were alone, they would have leaned toward each other and kissed, but since they were in a public place and wasn't seated in the most secluded table there, they just had to settle with looking at each other with that sparkle in their eyes.

Their moment was interrupted when they both heard someone say Calleigh's name.

Calleigh recognized it right away, but Horatio didn't, so he turned his head to the left and saw a man walking up to them, he was wearing a black, leather jacket, he was around 6'0 with black hair and an athletic build, Horatio could also tell that this young man had no problem attracting women.

When Calleigh turned in the direction of his voice, he smiled and said. "That's the second time in one day."

Horatio looked from the young man to Calleigh, which she had just smiled before looking at Horatio, then she cleared her throat and looked at Jake again. "Jake this is Horatio Caine, the supervisor of the dayshift at the Crime Lab, and Horatio this is Jake Berkley, he's the newest member of the police force."

Jake looked from Calleigh to the older man and they both shook each other's hand, of course Horatio was wondering how Calleigh knew him, but he wasn't going ask that question just yet.

After the guys released one another's hands, Jake looked at Calleigh again and said. "I didn't mean to interrupted your meeting, I just wanted to say hi, so maybe a drink sometime so we can catch up?"

Calleigh nodded with a friendly smile. "Sure."

"Awesome, I'll see you around." Calleigh nodded again as she looked down at her dinner plate, then Jake looked at Horatio again. "Nice to meet you, I guess I'll be seeing you around too."

Horatio gave him a short nod, and being the gentleman that he was, even though he didn't feel like being one at this moment, replied. "Nice to meet you too, and I guess so."

After another short nod, Jake walked away from the table and headed for the bar.

When it became just the two of them again, the good feeling that they had just a few minutes ago went away, so by the time the waiter had placed the bill on the table and Horatio paid it and their tip, they were ready to go.

As they were walking to their vehicles, Calleigh finally broke the intense quietness between them. "I had met Jake when we were in the same police academy. We started out as really good friends, but then those feelings changed into romantic ones and we ended up dating until we graduated and went our separate ways." When they stopped at her vehicle, she looked around to make sure no one was around before she cupped his cheek, which she felt him tense a little, but she ignored it and continued while looking into his blue eyes. "But I swear when we ended our relationship, that was it, there were no lingering feelings between us."

He nodded slowly before asking. "Then how come you didn't tell me that you saw him earlier?"

She sighed and replied. "I think it was because I was still in shock, seeing someone from your past can really throw you a little, no matter the circumstances on how it ended."

Horatio nodded in understanding and replied. "So you promise me nothing is there between you two anymore?"

Calleigh shook her head with a smile, wrapped her arms around his neck as she stepped closer to him. "Nothing, I only love you, you are the man that I want to be with."

Horatio smiled and he really wanted to kiss her, but he figured that kissing her in the parking lot to a public place wouldn't be good because anybody could be watching and the wrong person would jeopardize everything they had worked for. So he cleared his throat, which she got the picture and removed her arms from his neck, then he whispered softly. "You want to come over tonight?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I'll meet you back at your place."

"Ok, I'll see you there."

After another nod and smile, Horatio walked to his vehicle, which was on the left side of hers, then as they drove away, they shook off Jake's encounter, so they could enjoy the rest of their night together.