Chapter 24:
A/N: Finally, right? Hah. I'm slow. So! Christmas in OCTOBER! Wow, I am cool. Hah. Well, I suppose this will probably end around NEXT Christmas. I am too slow, too too slow. But anyways, moving right along:
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After moments and moments of completely content silence, Calleigh's mind began working again.
"Eric?" She asked, tracing patterns with her finger on his hand.
"Yeah?" He asked, distracted by the movements of her finger to the point where he wasn't sure if he was even registering what she was saying.
"You do realize it's Christmas Eve?" She smiled. Her smile could light up the room.
"I do now." He smiled as well. "Time becomes irrelevant when you're having fun." He shrugged.
"That's one I've never heard before." She laughed. And her laugh was so intoxicating, he noticed, once again.
"Yeah." He nodded absentmindedly again. "Well, I am original." She just laughed again, sending him further into oblivion. "Do you know how distracted you make me, just by smiling or laughing or touching my hand?"
"About the same way you make me feel." She nodded. "But that's just a guess."
"Guesses are about all my mind can make right now." He chuckled in response.
"You know, we're going to have to get up and get ready for dinner soon." She told him. "There's ballroom dancing tonight, so everything will be formal."
"We really don't have to go." He told her with a smirk. She turned around in his arms so she was facing him.
"Eric," She dragged out his name, making him laugh at her childlike behavior. "We have to go!"
"Why?" He protested.
"Because I want to." She pouted. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the mouth, effectively wiping the pout right off.
"You're cute when you pout." He told her.
"Cute enough to agree with?" She asked, pouting once more.
"Unfortunately for me." He sighed in mock defeat. Her pout broke into a grin.
"Wonderful. You do realize I have to go get ready now?" She made no move to leave their current position.
"Yeah." He breathed. In and out. It was not a hard concept in the least, yet when in this close proximity with her, the task became forced and difficult. With one last peck on the lips initiated by her, and elongated by him. She then proceeded to smirk, and roll off the bed. Grabbing her suitcase, she headed once more to the bathroom to change. "You know, you really don't have to go in there." He told her.
"I know." Calleigh nodded, pausing at the bathroom door. "But besides the point that it wouldn't be fair to me, I want to surprise you."
"Surprise me?" He repeated, as if he were confused.
"Yes." She nodded, moving into the bathroom and shutting the door. "So be prepared to be surprised." He lay on the bed lazily for a few more moments before looking at the clock and deciding he too should begin to prepare for dinner. Trudging over to his suitcase, he removed a pair of black dress pants and put them on. Reaching back into the suitcase, he rummaged around for a few moments before producing four shirts. One was pink, which he ruled out. Not appropriate for ballroom dancing, he decided. The three remaining he couldn't choose between. One was a blue colour, the other a red and the third a black. He decided to wait and see what she had on. It would be a shame, he decided, if she was dressed to 'surprise' and he clashed with what she was wearing.
Meters away in the bathroom, Calleigh was rifling through her suitcase in hopes to find the dress she was looking for unwrinkled. She pulled out a red dress with a smile on her face. It wasn't. In fact, by some miracle, you could hardly tell the dress had been crammed in a suitcase at all. It was a darker, vibrant red dress that fit her form perfectly. She slipped it on and adjusted the strapless top so it was comfortable and sitting right on her. The dress was form fitting to the waist where it fell into more of a layered skirt. The waist was high and a black belt that wrapped around her directly under the bust and was tied at the back. She reached behind her and zipped up the zipper like she had only once before when she had first purchased the dress in the store on a spur of the moment, completely spontaneous shopping trip. Hoping he would like the dress, she began working on her hair and makeup as quickly as possible. She loved the feeling of anxiousness in this context because she knew the outcome would be positive. Eric loved her. He loved her in pajamas, in sweats, he just simply loved her. She had nothing to worry about with him, but it felt good to impress him nonetheless. And she was sure he would be impressed. Brushing her hair out quickly, she pulled it into an updo that complimented the outfit. She never wore much makeup anymore, so she quickly applied the tiniest bit of blush, eyeliner, eye shadow and lipstick to match. After giving herself a quick once over, she took a deep breath, picked up her suitcase and exited the washroom.
Once again, Eric found himself taking a deep breath as he heard her move to exit the washroom. How many times had she come out of that bathroom looking absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful during the trip? Well, every time she went in really. But nonetheless, he could never wait to see her. And now that he knew she was his… it just made it all the more better. As she stepped out, he simply blinked.
"Calleigh, you look absolutely stunning." He told her with a smile.
"As do you." She giggled. "But as much as I appreciate the outfit… I'm sure there's some sort of rule against going around this place shirtless."
"Probably." He nodded. "I was just waiting to see which shirt I should wear."
"The black one," She suggested. "With the red tie." He slipped the outfit on with the black pants. They were now dressed, impressed, and ready to get to dinner.
"Come on," Eric tugged on her hand gently as he led her out of the room. "We've got to get to dinner. I have not eaten a real meal all day, and I am starving."
"Me too." She agreed. "Though you did just eat all that candy."
"We've had this argument before." He chuckled as they made their way down the hallway. Tonight was going to be one hell of a night.
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A/N: I love the way my endings are always so AWKWARD, and weird. That's just me hah being tired, but wanting to get some sort of update up, even if it was sort of really short. I apologize! Thank you a lot, to everyone who is still reading this despite the fact that it's been like, a year. Hah. R&R!!