They drove in silence the whole way home. Cal glanced at her every so often, trying to see if he could read her features in the dim street light but it was too dark. He'd questioned her heavily on the way to the car as to whether she really wanted to go to her own house or not. Would it freak her out too much to know that someone had successfully gotten into earlier that night. She'd said she'd be fine. Cal wasn't so sure.
He pulled up outside Gillian's door and she turned to him, a thin smile on her face.
"Thanks Cal."
"You want me to come in?"
"No I think I'll be ok," she said, the smile faltering a little. He nodded and leaned across kissing her softly on the cheek.
"You know where I am if you need me love." Gillian smiled and stepped from the car, closing the door and turning to climb the steps to her apartment. She paused at the top, withdrawing her keys from her pocket. But she couldn't bring herself to walk to the door. The lights were still on inside, as if someone was still there. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She could do this. She took a small step but stopped again. She felt the tears rising in her eyes again and she knew instinctively that it was him when he slipped his hand to take her key from her and brought the other arm around her waist. She turned her face into his shoulder and cried.
"It's ok love. We'll go to my place." But she shook her head.
"No, I need to go in there Cal." He nodded his head.
"Ok then I'm staying with you." She shook her head but he cut her off before she could even start.
"No buts. I'm staying and that's it. Now come on, it's cold out here."
OXOXOXO
Cal lit the fire in the sitting room while Gillian tucked herself into a small ball on the couch. The TV was on but muted. Cal grabbed a blanket from the back of the armchair and wrapped it around her, pausing to look at her face for a moment before turning and heading to the kitchen to grab a hot chocolate for her. When in doubt, give something sugary.
Gillian was staring at the wall when he came back. Placing the drinks down on the table he sat down next to her, reaching an arm around her and pulling her close to him.
"Hey, he's gone now, ok? You're safe. I'm here. You know I could never let anything happen to you…" he wondered whether he was sounding too sentimental but decided he didn't care. This was Gillian Foster. She was worth getting sentimental over. Gillian sniffed in his shoulder.
"You really pummelled him earlier on…" she said through her sniffling. Cal didn't look at her, just straight at or through the TV.
"Yeah I did," he said simply.
"If we hadn't found the bodies, you could be facing an assault trial." She turned her face to look up at him, to see if his face would betray any emotion.
"It would have been worth it." Cal looked down at her and smiled. She smiled back at him and tucked her head onto his chest as his arm fell around her shoulders pulling her tight to him.
"You know you can really be quite charming when you want to," she said wrapping her arm tighter across his abdomen. Cal smiled and watched her drift off to sleep.
OXOXOXO
An hour late, Cal watched as she tossed and turned in her sleep. He squeezed her arm and soothed her back to a comfortable snooze. Then slowly he stood up, picking her up in his arms. It was time to move her someplace more comfortable. He hadn't really wandered around her new house as much as the old one so it was a game of guess the room. Thankfully, as he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed the open door to the bedroom.
Reaching down he pulled back the covers and laid her into the bed on her back. Then he pulled the covers over her and was turning to leave when he felt her hand sleepily grab his arm.
"Stay. Please," she said through yawns and he smiled down at her.
"Of course darling." Kicking off his shoes and socks, he moved around the bed and climbed in behind her, his arm automatically pulling her into him in a tight embrace. They were silent for a long time before Gillian spoke again.
"Why did you really give him such a pummelling?" she asked and Cal had the sneaking suspicion she had woken up.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, feeling her twist around to face him where he lay. She said nothing, simply smiled at him. He could see it in the dim light that poured in the window.
"Why are you always here for me?" she asked softly and Cal tilted his head.
"What sort of question is that, love?" Gillian shrugged, shook her head.
"I don't know. Answer it." Cal stared at her, watched the miniscule movements in her face in the moonlight. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her. Finally he sighed and looked away, thinking.
"Gill, in all our years together, you've always been here for me. I haven't always taken your help or thought I needed it but I did. You've been a rock to me, in every possible way. So you ask me why I'm here…where else would I be?" There was silence for a moment then he heard a brief sniffle and the evening out of her breathing. She was succumbing to sleep. He smiled and knew that he would soon follow.
Ok, this story took a while coming. There'll be more soon. Sorry for delay!
