Chapter Four:

A/N: Wow. So, this week I've pretty much been in an updating frenzy! I completed Christmas with Calleigh. Hello next project! Thank you for the reviews, and here we go:

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"Now you have to show me yours." He told her, leaning back against the couch again, covering the tattoo.

"Fine." Calleigh answered with a sigh…

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Standing up, Calleigh smiled as she pulled down the waistband of her pajama shorts until Eric could see something silver imprinted on her skin.

"The gun." He chuckled. "And in such a predictable place. Yup. Someone definitely just won a lot of money." She pulled down the waistband on that side just a tiny bit more so he could make out the rest of the gun. "It is a really nice tattoo." He complimented.

"Thanks. I was pleased with the way it turned out." Calleigh smiled proudly. Eric leaned a bit closer to look at the detail on the gun. Then, without thinking, he reached out and ran a finger over it. He drew back instantly, when he realized the intimacy of touching someone's tattoo, only worsened by the location. But Calleigh didn't seem to mind.

"I'm always amazed at how something can be printed right on the skin like that." Eric shook his head in amazement, slowly running his finger over the shape of the gun again. "I always expect tattoos to be bumpy, or at least not as smooth as they are." He was almost rambling now.

"Yeah." Calleigh nodded. "Me too." She let the waistband back up to wear it had sat on her hip originally, and sat back down on the couch.

"So is there a story behind your tattoo?" Eric asked.

"Of course." Calleigh smiled wistfully. "I've had this tattoo forever, it seems. I got it the first week I was here in Miami, because well, there's hardly a time now when I can't remember living in Miami. It's better if I don't try to. I left Louisiana when I was eighteen for University, and then right after that I began working in New Orleans. I was doing well there, excelling and all for a few years… but then things happened and I met Horatio and came up here. It was in New Orleans when I finally realized that the only thing I could rely on were my guns. So I got this." Calleigh shrugged. "Then of course, I met you and Tim, and got to know Horatio. Even Alexx. And I realized that not everyone is sly, and has ulterior motives and is out to hurt you. That people could like you simply because they liked you."

"And then Tim died." Eric continued for her. He'd lived this story before. "And everything changed. You withdrew, I withdrew… stopped trusting, loving."

"Yeah." Calleigh nodded, not even bothering to be amazed at how they could read each other. The wonder of that had passed months ago. Now she was amazed at the realization that she had probably loved Eric for months. The realization that you could love and not be aware of it… that was what astonished her. "But then I let you back in, because I could see you were hurting too."

"And when I realized that you were trying to let me in, I let you in." Eric continued.

"And the rest is history." Calleigh nodded with a smile. By this time, they were both in completely relaxed positions on the couch, Eric's back up against the side of it, Calleigh's back flush with his chest. And neither had been more comfortable in their life. "Isn't it kind of crazy that we never realized this before?"
"That we were in love?" Eric checked.

"Yeah." Calleigh nodded.

"I guess so." Eric shrugged. "There were moments in which I thought I might have liked you as more than a best friend… but that's what we were. And I respected you. I wanted it to be mutual, like it was, if we ever moved our relationship forward. I didn't want to pressure you, or make anything awkward..."

"You're perfect." Calleigh sighed. "Did you know that?"

"I'd hardly consider myself perfect." Eric snorted. "But thank you. And just for the record, you're perfect to me." Calleigh didn't even bother protest. She just relished in the moment. The moment in which they were all perfect and everything was fine. Everything was good, great even. She couldn't remember things ever been good, or even fine, little lone great since Tim died. But she knew Tim would want them to be happy, because he was selfless like that. He wouldn't want them to sit around, mourning him forever. He was all about living in the moment, and forever reminding them to enjoy life with his carefree lifestyle. He would have been happy for them.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Calleigh suggested suddenly, needing a distraction. The silence that enveloped them wasn't at all awkward or uncomfortable, not even unwelcome… but it bothered her slightly, nonetheless. In their relationship, there had never been silence. Silence replaced talking, talking about thoughts, and feelings. Silence meant that there were secrets. Inevitably there were secrets, but secrets that could easily be shared. Problems that could easily be solved. And Calleigh wasn't ready to share. Not yet.

"Sure." Eric nodded. Figuring Calleigh's reasoning for wanting to watch a movie, as the silence and it's explanation were not lost on Eric, he got up and went to the shelf holding the DVDs and spent a few minutes picking it out. Calleigh, though noticing his absence, retreated further into her mind, grateful that he was respecting her space. He always respected everything about her. And she loved that about him. If there was one thing she wanted more of in the world, it was respect. Prejudices against her blonde hair, bubbly attitude, and figure in general were far too many, especially in her line of work. She was discredited, not taken seriously, and second-guessed far more often than she would have been if she had been a different sex. Or just looked differently in general. But from the moment she'd met him, Eric had treated her like an equal, disregarding her appearance, or anything else that might have affected his opinion of her. She'd loved that about him, and Tim, from the beginning. "Is this okay?" Eric asked. Calleigh looked up, startled almost. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't even noticed he'd put on the DVD.

"Of course Eric." She laughed. "But are you sure you want to watch it?"

"Oh, I think I can get through it." He sighed dramatically, making Calleigh laugh again . "It's just a good thing there are no favourite movie polls going around the lab, because I don't think anyone would guess that you're a sucker for a chick flick." He teased.

"Oh, shut up." Calleigh laughed, throwing a pillow at him as he returned to the couch. "You know you love them just as much as I do."

"You caught me." Eric rolled his eyes, sitting down, putting his arm comfortably around her shoulders. Calleigh just shook her head, laughing again, as she settled comfortably into Eric's side as they spent the next hour and a half in silence watching the movie.

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A/N: I think I'm probably really good at having the WORST chapter endings ever. Okay. I promised myself I'd go to bed early tonight. It's eleven aha. And I'm posting this and going to bed now. Goodnight!! Review pleasee!