"Hey Cal," Eric said as he walked into the ballistics lab.
'Hi!" She chirped happily, her eyes never leaving her scope.
"Is everything ok?" Eric knew her too well.
"Everything's great, Eric, why?" Calleigh asked innocently.
"Come on Calleigh, don't lie to me. Something's wrong. You and H are best friends, but you've been avoiding him like the plague all week." Damn, he was way too observant.
"I've just been busy, Eric."
"That's not what this is. The other day you intentionally stayed in a room to avoid passing him in the hall. Come on Cal, talk to me."
"I can't Eric, just let it go." Calleigh looked at him with those big green eyes. The look on his face told her that her broken heart was on display instead of safely hidden away in her chest. Or maybe it was shame. Probably both. She looked away and focused on her scope once again. She couldn't look him in the eye.
"Calleigh, I just want to be here for you. You're one of my closest friends. You can trust me; sometimes it helps to talk about it."
I'm a slut, that's what's wrong. Calleigh sighed in resignation. "Saturday, I went to get my dad at the Regala Room. He was there too, tucked away in a corner. I took my dad home and went back to see if he was alright. He started talking about Marisol, so I sat down, like any friend would do. I just stayed there to help him through, I swear, but he was already drunk and I started drinking. In hindsight, it was my fault. I just... We…We were both drunk. It wasn't supposed to happen. I never meant for it to happen." She looked away and shook her head. Why was she like this? "He was gone before I woke up; it was like he had never been there. For a minute, I thought it was a dream." She added in a whisper.
"Cal," Eric reached for her, but she pulled away.
"No, I'm fine Eric; I just can't be around him right now. It's just too weird and it's too hard for me to act like nothing happened. He is making it look so easy."
"I'm always here for you. You know… if you need to talk."
"Thanks Eric, This will get better. It will just take time." She smiled brightly, feeling confident that her heart was once again encased in her body. Hiding her feelings had become her signature move. She couldn't let that change now.