Chapter 27:

A/N: So last night I had the worst Halloween ever. But that's okay. Whatever. I shall now update today. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Halloween though! Thank you for the reviews!!

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"You almost ready?" Eric asked from his relaxed position on the bed. They had made their way back to their hotel room and Eric, who had packed less clothing than Calleigh had, found his swimming trunks and was changed before Calleigh had even found hers in her suitcase.

"Almost." She pulled the swimsuit out victoriously and smiled. "Now I have to put it on, be right back." Eric just smiled and went back to relaxing on the bed. He was glad to be out of his fancy attire, and Calleigh seemed to have cheered up since they left the dance. He knew she was trying hard to forget the past, but he could see she wasn't quite ready to erase those memories. She had to deal with them, and in time, she would… but he was glad that she hadn't picked tonight. He would help her make new memories and get over the old ones whenever and wherever despite how much it hurt him to see her so upset. Especially since she didn't seem to want to talk to him about it. But that part of the night was over now, they were going swimming. Swimming was good.

"When was the last time you went swimming?" Eric wondered.

"I don't know." Calleigh thought, from where she was changing in the bathroom. "I was at the beach with Valera on my day off a few weeks ago and we went in the water… That's not really swimming, but however."

"You and Valera go to the beach?" Eric asked. "I didn't know you guys were friends."

"Yeah." Calleigh shrugged. "We aren't really good friends or anything, we just like to hangout from time to time. We enjoy each other's company." She was finished changing now, and came out of the bathroom. "Here, you'll need this," she told Eric, handing him a towel.

"Yeah." He nodded. "You know you look gorgeous right?"

"Thank you Eric." Calleigh laughed, blushing slightly.

"It's true." He smiled. Calleigh just blushed a bit more, and then grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them on, along with one of Eric's t-shirts that was on the floor. Eric gave her a look.

"What? I can't just walk to the pool in my swim suit." Calleigh rolled her eyes at him.

"I really don't think anyone would have an objection." Eric smirked.

"Shut up. Let's go." Calleigh rolled her eyes again.

"Coming, coming." Eric got up off the bed, grabbing one of his t-shirts himself out of his suitcase, and throwing it on. They did need to cover up until they got to the pool. He couldn't get over how gorgeous Calleigh really did look. In fact, she looked even more gorgeous now, in his shirt, than she had scantily clad in only her bathing suit. They made their way throughout the hallways, coming to stop, waiting for the elevator to get to their floor. "Are you sure it's not going to be cold?" Eric asked tentatively as they got into the elevator.

"Eric, it's a heated pool. Heated as in it will be like, eight five degrees." Calleigh explained. "We just have to get in fast."

"Yeah. Cause it's freezing outside." He shivered, thinking about it.

"Awh, poor baby." Calleigh mock cooed at him. He stuck his tongue out at her, and she just laughed as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, walked down a hallway and stopped at the door that led out to the pool. The pool area was nearly deserted and rather dark out. Everyone must have been ballroom dancing, or simply not daring enough to swim outside in winter.

"Ready?" Eric asked.

"Yup." Calleigh nodded. They took a breath of warm air before opening the door. Eric shivered and Calleigh let out a small whimper as they stepped outside and the cold air surrounded them. Eric pulled off his shirt quickly and dived into the pool, sighing in relief as the pleasantly warm water scared off the chills he'd had only seconds before. Calleigh took a little longer, as she had to pull of Eric's shirt and her jeans. Finally accomplishing her goal, she slid into the pool, sighing in relief as the water warmed her. Treading in the water, they relished in the warmth until it had completely taken over their bodies, and they forgot that they were outside, in bathing suits, in winter. It was then that Calleigh realized the beauty of the situation. The snow surrounding the pool area, though it was completely cleared off the deck directly surrounding it, you could still see it on the mountains above, and on the ground only feet away. The clear, black night above, sprinkled with stars, constellations and a full moon. The mountains in the distance… everything was perfect. "Eric, I want to thank you for taking me on this trip with you."

"I enjoyed it probably more than you did Cal." Eric told her with a smile. "It was no problem at all."

"You know, if you didn't invite me here… none of this would have probably happened. I would have continued thinking you had no feelings for me in any other way than a friend." Calleigh smiled, swimming over closer to where Eric was treading, and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Me too." Eric nodded, smiling broadly. "And I have to be honest, I may have had ulterior motives when I invited you here." He leaned in for another kiss before Calleigh had the chance to respond.

"Maybe I had ulterior motives for coming." Calleigh raised an eyebrow as she pulled away from the kiss. "I never thought of that before." Eric laughed. "But I'm flattered." Calleigh hit him lightly on the arm.

"You know, it may be warmer in here than not in here…" Calleigh started, "But I say we go to the hot tubs. I'm getting cold."

"Wonderful idea." Eric agreed, noticing he was getting cold himself, despite how much warmth their mingled bodies were radiating.

"One," Calleigh began. They poised themselves to hop out of the pool. "Two," She continued, and they both shivered as they positioned their hands on the side of the pool, the cold winter night air capturing them. "Three." They both hoisted themselves out of the pool and broke at least one safety rule as they ran, nearly full speed, across the deck and to where the closest hot tub was sitting. They hopped inside, Eric just a few seconds before Calleigh since he was a faster runner.

"Ugh, that almost burns." Eric complained, though it was true. The cold air had such an effect on their skin, when they immediately got into the one hundred and two degree hot tub it was not a pleasant feeling at first.

"Yeah." Calleigh nodded, wincing slightly. "I didn't think it was possible to freeze that fast."

"Well, now we know differently." Eric nodded.

"Eric," Calleigh begin tentatively. She didn't want to let her earlier worries plague this moment as well, but she couldn't help but let them get to her in just the slightest way. "I just have to know something."

"Sure." He nodded, a worried expression invading his features.

"You won't forget this will you? When we go back to Miami, back to work… will we still have something?" She asked, not having the heart to look him in the eye, afraid of what he'd reply.

"Calleigh," He gently put his finger underneath her chin, and tilted it up so she was looking into his eyes, their faces merely inches apart. "There's always been something between us. And I would never let you forget this. Even if you wanted to go back to Miami and forget this ever happened… there's no way I'd be able to let you. You're not going to get rid of me for a very long time, I hope you know." He told her, wrapping her up in his arms. She just sat there contently in his arms for a few moments, breathing deeply before replying.

"I really do love you, you know." She told him. "And I'm glad you don't want to forget about this."

"I will never want to forget about this." He reassured her, giving her a kiss on the crown of her head. "And I really love you too."

"I'm glad." Calleigh smiled brightly. Everything was perfect.

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A/N: I was going to end that a tiny bit differently, but that's how I'll begin the next chapter I guess. Please review, it would make my day!