Chapter 3

Nervously, Horatio swept his hands over his suit pants and took a deep breath. He was nervous. Terribly nervous. Since this morning, he hadn't been able to eat anything, because every time he looked at food he felt like puking. Why had he talked about his puppy love with Elijah? This had been the biggest mistake ever, because now he had to actually do something. How else could he tell his son in a believable way, that you had to swallow your pride, to get what you want? Definitely not by being scared about asking a woman out for dinner. Or drink. Whatever Calleigh liked more. If she liked it at all. She probably had a boyfriend. A biker or something – leather jacket, tattooed, whose name was Skull. Perhaps he should just turn around, walk away and tell his son afterwards that Calleigh hadn't been interested. Perhaps…he should open the door and enter, since Calleigh was watching him with an amused grin and that was never a good sign.

"You can do this. You did it once, you can do it again. And it doesn't matter that it was 20 years ago. That you're so much older, that she's your employee and can pick any man who's so much better than you are," he bolstered himself, which disappeared immediately.

"Me and my big mouth. It was bound to happen." But before he made a complete fool of himself, he carefully opened the door and entered the ballistic lab.

"Hi…," he said quietly and was quite happy to be alone with her. Since their shift had ended an hour ago, there was a good chance of not meeting Speed and Eric, after Calleigh had turned him down.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" She greeted her boss with a friendly smile. Even though he had just said one word to her, she already knew that he was acting differently.

"Uhm…" Yeah, this was a very good question. "D-did I disturb y-you? I mean…shift has ended and you should be home…"

Did Horatio stutter? "You really need to get home, Cal. You're imagining things." Being sure that a stuttering Horatio was no possibility, she abandoned the idea. The man himself was self-confidence. "No, you aren't. I was starting to clean up here and was half on my way out. So what can I do for you?" Right now she was sure he wanted to talk about something concerning the job.

"I wanted to ask you something…uhm…per-personal.." He had a hard time getting the words out and looking at his very interesting shoes didn't help a bit. This was much worse than any nightmare.

"Oh, okay," she nodded and needless to say – curious. She examined the man in front of her, who was acting weird, fascinated by his feet and not being able to form one more word. "So?" She was definitely amused.

Great she was already laughing at him. What would she do once he had asked her? Probably roll on the floor laughing. "I…wanted to ask you, if..if you've…got t-time..next Friday," he started, being careful about talking loud and coherent enough.

"Horatio? Are you feeling okay?" Leaning towards him, she could just stop herself from reaching out to him and test if he got a fever. This was not the Horatio Caine she knew.

Seemingly not, since this Horatio Caine was about to make a complete fool of himself. "Uhm…actually yeah," he said worriedly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "If you…if you…don't have…then it's o-okay..time I mean…" Why was there no hole in the floor to swallow him? Before he would go through this again, he would stay single.

She waited a minute. "So..what are you doing on Friday?" A question didn't cost a thing, right?" And she wanted to know what he was up to.

"Having dinner…with someone?" He answered and got pink cheeks. "Or a drink, depends on what she likes…," he shrugged.

"Oh." She blinked. "You mean…with me?"

"Y-yeah?" Carefully he looked up from his shoes, not being able to read her reaction. "B-but if you don't want to, it's okay. I understand that. I shouldn't have asked in the first in the first place, I'm sorry," he rambled, without giving her a chance to give him a real answer.

Now she stood up from her desk and bridged the gap between them. Carefully she laid her hands on his arms. "I'd love to." Even though she wasn't exactly sure why. "Is there a particular reason?"

"Except of that I just want to go out with you?" He asked her softly, feeling the butterflies in his stomach, when she touched him. "Getting to know you..outside of the lab. Not as a colleague or some friend." He looked at her openly, because he didn't want them to have two different perceptions.

At first, she couldn't reply to this, but just stared at him. When she got herself together again, she took a step back. Did Horatio say that he wanted to go out with her? She had waited so long for this to happen and now it was really happening and she hesitated. "Uhm, wow. This is…surprising."

Losing all his courage, though he didn't have much of it in the first place, Horatio let his shoulders slump, when she let go of his arms. He knew this famous 'it's surprising, but..' excuse from former experiences. "If you don't want to, it's okay. It had been a stupid idea. I'm sorry… you really have to feel uncomfortable right now, that wasn't my intention." The fact that she already had agreed to go out with him, slipped him due to his own hesitancy.

"No, no," she smiled, when she noticed the misunderstanding. "You don't have to be sorry, because I'd really like to go out with you. I just wanted to know what I have to expect…a dress or jeans. You know something like this." She had to admit that she loved his shyness and that he was overly cute, because right now he looked like he would jump for joy.

"You really want to go out with me?" He repeated in disbelief and couldn't believe his luck. "This is just totally," he started joyfully and when he saw her amused grin, he smiled and calmed down a bit, "I'm happy…and…you don't need a dress, no. I know a small Italian restaurant. So I just want you to feel comfortable. If that is jeans and t-shirt, feel free to wear that."

"Okay, good. Thanks for the invitation, Horatio. I'm looking forward to it."

"I have to thank you, Cal," he smiled back. "Would it be okay, if I get you around 7?"

"Please," she nodded and couldn't help but think, that he looked like a child at Christmas. "7 p.m. I'll be ready."

"I'll be on time. I'm really happy about this, Cal," he repeated himself. "Don't work too long, okay? You deserve your down time." Just like he did.

"Mhm, if you wouldn't have held me up, I'd be at home for some time already," she grinned at him.

"Well in that case, I'm gonna accompany you. We don't want that happen again," he smiled back.

"A real gentleman, that's what I like." It sounded rakishly, but Calleigh loved such manners. Sadly, such sense of duty was nowhere to be seen with most men. Quickly, she put away her files and grabbed her keys. "I'm ready," she said and stood next to him.

"May I?" He bowed playfully and opened the door for her. "After you, Ma'am.."

"Thank you kind, Sir," she laughed and had the time of her life. She was sure she wouldn't regret spending an evening with Horatio.

tbc