The two had never been so thankful to be assigned to different cases the following day. While Calleigh, Ryan and Natalia were working on a murder involving a DB found inside a relator's backyard, Horatio, Walter, Frank and Eric were dealing with a hit-and-run of a drug dealer. The two had been traveling in different circles the majority of the day, but they both knew seeing each other was inevitable and, as fate would have it, they entered the locker room almost simultaneously. Calleigh avoided Eric's eyes as she headed towards her locker. She had been up all night attempting to forget the pain that had rammed her when Eric said he was uncertain of what was to come next; an answer that rang loud and clear for Calleigh.

Eric, on the other hand, was up all night wishing that this didn't have to be so difficult; he loved her and she loved him, wasn't that supposed to be enough? But that little issue of uncertainty would always be there to remind him of why rekindling the relationship was a bad idea…unless he decided to take a risk.

But this wasn't the time by any means, the two had been left in a complicated, emotional mess after yesterday and the tension was too thick for anyone to bear.

"So, um, have you got any plans tonight?" Eric asked, trying to destroy the awkward silence. "If you don't do you want to go somewhere and talk?"

"I've got plans," she said, bluntly, not looking at him. "I'm going out with a friend."

Eric's mind automatically went back to the last "friend" she went out to dinner with and a surge of anger rushed through him.

"Nice," he muttered, bitterly.

"What?" she demanded, now looking at him, but with daggers in her eyes threatening to tear him apart.

"You're going on a date, even though-."

"I never said it was a date," she cut across him. "Natalia and I are going to see Valera. We haven't seen her much since she moved to the graveyard shift. She has the night off and the three of us are going out to catch up," Calleigh said defensively. "Why does it matter if I was on a date anyway? You are the one who wanted to see other people, remember?"

"That was before-."

"What? Before we slept together?" she demanded. "As I recall, you weren't sure what to make of it. I can take a hint."

"I was just-."

"Unsure," Calleigh interrupted him again. "And when one person is that unsure of another person, then they both should just forget about. Forget about everything….And, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think you were right about us. One of us or both of us always ends up getting hurt and this is bound to end in disaster."

"You don't mean that," he whispered, his throat tight with fear that she was slipping through his fingers.

"Now, Eric, when you say things like that, you make it sound like you want something between us. But then two seconds later you want nothing to do with me. You can't have it both ways," she shook her head. "You can't make me believe we have a chance and that you want a relationship again when you feel the opposite."

When Calleigh first began talking, he felt slightly guilty, having unthinkingly toyed with her emotions, but that guilt was quickly replaced by the anger that inflated inside him. His mind had flipped from understanding and calm, to tense and angry.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Eric scoffed, sarcastically, for she had just paralleled everything she accused him of doing to the pain she had caused him. She had made him think their relationship could be healed after the State Attorney's Office incident and he could slowly earn back her trust and return to normal, all for that fantasy to be painfully snatched away in one swipe.

"So, what, all this was payback?" she demanded. "You are leading me on to prove a point? I have said I'm sorry, why isn't that enough?"

"Why wasn't it enough that I tried everything I could to make you happy, to make us work? Now, I admit I screwed it up a few times along the way, but I tried and you still…." His voice wavered in anger and he stopped himself, his hands shaking.

"And I didn't try?" Calleigh demanded. "I'm the one who came to you and told you I knew what I did wrong, I said sorry and you were the one who refused to try again."

They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat as they approached; they turned to see Ryan heading down the aisle of locker. They looked away, preoccupying themselves by putting up and taking out their belongings from their lockers; Ryan kept his head down as he made his way to his own locker, his face red from accidentally walking in on such a private moment. Never in all his years at PD had he heard such words of anger and simultaneous emotion come from Eric and Calleigh, but he had just witnessed it with his own to eyes; for reasons he couldn't understand, their words and tone were almost frightening. All oxygen in the room had vanished and Ryan rushed to open his locker, trying to ignore Eric and Calleigh in his peripheral vision. They weren't looking at him, they seemed too humiliated to allow their eyes to travel in his direction, but they occasionally glanced at each other and the tension thickened with each look; it was all too suffocating and Ryan scrambled to collect his belongings.

"Well, goodnight," he said, awkwardly, as he made his way out of the locker room. The brief silence had given them each a moment to calm down and Calleigh took a steady breath before looking back at Eric.

"Look," she sighed, calming down. "What do you want? Because we've been following this pattern for years and I don't want to keep wasting time on a relationship that's not going anywhere. So figure it out, for both our sakes, okay?"

She gently pushed her locker closed, hearing the light metallic click to guarantee it was locked, before turning on her heel and leaving him alone, staring after her.

"Maybe you should try to move on," Valera suggested over the loud music of the club. After leaving the Crime Lab, Calleigh ran home to change from her work attire into a pair of jeans and a tank top before meeting the girls. Valera had once again transformed her hair in another cosmetic experiment, her locks now an auburn color with ringlets resting just above her shoulders, which Calleigh kindly complimented as they ordered drinks in the midst of people on the dance floor and flashy neon lights. But when they found an empty table to catch up and drink at, the questions from Valera started flowing. She happened to hear about Eric and Calleigh through the grapevine. CSI: Miami may have changed throughout the years, but one factor was always constant; word traveled like wildfire and there weren't any secrets at MDPD.

Calleigh now sighed as she took a drink, attempting to ignore Valera's suggestion. Valera had dubbed this into a full on "girls night out", involving drinks and talking; Calleigh had been fine with the conversation until it began to center around relationships—particularly hers. Natalia shot Valera a look when she spoke, completely against that idea. There had been something abnormally odd about today, about how they were acting. The amount of aching in Eric's eyes seemed to increase and only replied with a very monotone "I'm fine" when someone asked what was wrong. Calleigh had been more subtle and was withdrawn from any emotion whatsoever, doing her job on autopilot without any liveliness. It was apparent to Natalia neither of them was willing to move on and she became slightly annoyed with Valera for suggesting something like this.

"How?" Calleigh asked. Personally, she needed closure before she could even attempt to move on and she wouldn't get any closure until she and Eric were on the same page, but Calleigh knew Valera wouldn't allow this conversation to settle until she offered some advice.

"Rebound?" Valera said, simply, taking a sip of her cosmopolitan cocktail. "On the nightshift there is this guy in Trace who you may like. His name is Eli and he's smart, very friendly and he's hilarious."

This didn't have the effect Valera had hoped for, Calleigh simply shrugged at his qualities. "Did I mention he's a Saints fan?" she added, wanting some type of positive reaction from Calleigh, but she simply chuckled and shook her head. Eli probably was a great guy, however all of his qualities seemed fairly predictable and the only thing she could give him a point for was good taste in—Calleigh's personal opinion—football teams.

"Maxine, I don't do rebounds," Calleigh shook her head. "And even if I did, now isn't a good time. Things are too complicated."

Valera rolled her eyes. "Everything is complicated. Take a risk."

I did, Calleigh thought to herself, but she said, "I'll think about it," she lied.

"Great," Valera smiled, taking a drink.

"I'm going to get another beer," Calleigh sighed, getting up. "You guys want anything on me?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"Me too," Natalia replied as Calleigh headed towards the bar, searching her mind for something interesting to say for when she returned as to avoid any other questions about Eric.

"Another beer?" the bartender asked and Calleigh nodded, leaning against the bar.

"It's on me," someone behind her said, sliding a bill to the bartender and Calleigh turned around in surprise to see Eric standing beside her, close enough to touch.

"What are you doing here?" Calleigh asked, icily, taking the beer the bartender handed her.

"Can I talk to you?"

"There's nothing to talk about," she shrugged.

"Just one minute?" Calleigh made the mistake of looking into his eyes and there was something so hopelessly addicting about them that she couldn't refuse.

"I'll give you two," she permitted. "What's going on?"

"Earlier in the locker room, I said a few things I'm not proud of. And you were right."

"About what?" she asked.

"About how I have to figure out how I feel about us," he explained. "And I think I have."

"That was fast," Calleigh commented; her voice was monotone as she took a swig of her beer, the alcohol soothing her.

"That may be because I never really changed my mind," Eric whispered, keeping the moment private and personal. His voice was hopelessly addictive and caring, his feelings for her ringing clear in tone, however lacking in words and she could only be left to assume he still loved her. But she needed him to admit it; there would be no other way for her to believe him.

"So I'm supposed to believe that all those things you said about fresh starts spoiling and it being best if we moved on was just doubt?" she questioned. "Tell me the truth."

Calleigh awaited his answer, slightly troubled that he needed to time on how to respond, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Valera and Natalia exchange surprised looks at her newfound company. Their eyes quickly averted the couple, but the shock remained and Calleigh had half a mind to just walk away from Eric and erasing this from her memory. But something stopped her; she couldn't find herself able to leave Eric at the bar even though he took his time answering. However, her patience was waning and Calleigh was getting to the point where she needed an answer, either to attempt and heal their relationship or to find closure and be able to move on.

"This is my truth. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry, I still regret it, because you were the best thing that ever happened to me, whether as my boyfriend or my best friend. And I still love you, but right now I can't see us being together either unless you tell me your truth. Do you love me back?" she asked, unable to believe she once again was putting her heart on the line like this, Calleigh never did this.

All Eric's mind could scream was yes, over and over again and was commanding his lips to say so as well, but once again he was halted by fear. Calleigh waited, her eyebrows raised in waiting and he couldn't meet her eyes as he worked up his courage to tell her he loved her. But Calleigh could already feel her heart starting to tear into shreds just by his inability to answer.

"Yes or no, Eric?" she sighed, her voice thickening with pain; by this point wishing she had ordered something stronger than this beer.

Eric once again remained silent and stared at the ground and tried to say yes, but he couldn't seem to express his love for her with a word for he had lost his voice. Calleigh shook her head and began to walk away, uncertain of how much more rejection she could take from the man who had once supposedly loved her.

As she took one step away from him, Eric's mind flashbacked to the day before when he watched her walk out of his bedroom and how he almost got up to stop her, but he didn't. He wasn't about to sit back and let that happen again. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him and into a kiss. Calleigh's immediate reaction was to pull back. She couldn't endure this, she couldn't endure the amazing rush of emotions she received from kissing Eric, when nothing was resolved; she wasn't about to have a rerun of yesterday, even if this was just a kiss.

"Eric," Calleigh sighed as she leaned out. "I can't-."

"I love you," he said, quickly, finally able to say the words without fear; it was just too hard trying not to be in love with Calleigh, for it was fighting a lost battle. Nothing on this planet could stop him from loving her and he knew that more pain could very well be awaiting them down the road, whether or not it be at her hand, but he couldn't find it within himself to care; she would be worth it.

"I love you," Eric repeated as Calleigh stared up at him. "I never stopped—that's the problem. I wouldn't be able to handle it if something came between us again. And I thought it would be easier to quit while ahead."

"Was it?" Calleigh asked, softly, putting down her beer on the nearby bar; Eric shook his head.

With that, it was as though any self-control Calleigh had ever possessed vanished and she found herself stretching up to crush her lips against Eric's, something he didn't refuse as he deepened the kiss and pressed his hands to her back. Unlike the previous day, this kiss held certainty and wasn't tainted by the guilt of knowing they were crossing lines; instead they were actually able to enjoy this experience at least a little.

"Don't you think I've learned my lesson by now?" Calleigh asked with a teasing grin. "I know I can trust you and…. And I never meant to hurt you; I don't want to hurt you. You mean so much to me and I didn't mean to forget that," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

Eric grinned and put his forehead against hers. "And I'm sorry I forgot it's all those little defense mechanisms that make you Calleigh and you wouldn't be the Calleigh I love without them."

"Even if they get in the way sometimes?" she asked.

He smiled and leaned back down to kiss her once again; Calleigh took that as a yes.

The intensity of the kiss was enough to make any other mere mortal fall victim to its lustful powers, however they found themselves able to resist and leaned out to smile at one another. But it wasn't without difficulty; they had both been longing for the pleasure every kiss and every caress, yet they both knew they couldn't, not at such a fast paced anyway.

"So, um, maybe we should-."

"Take this slow?" Calleigh assumed, finishing the sentence for him. Eric nodded and he could tell Calleigh understood his intentions. Why would they want to rush this? If taking it slow meant giving them a better chance of a future, it was definitely worth it.

"Coffee, tomorrow morning before work?" Calleigh asked.

Eric smiled. "It's a date."

Back at the table, Valera and Natalia were exchanging smiles after seeing Eric lean down to press his lips to Calleigh's once again.

"Guess she's not going to need Eli's number after all," Valera sighed, taking a swig of her drink.

"Nope," Natalia said, smiling as she shook her head. "So, I guess it's just you and me the rest of the night."

"Yeah. Want to go to a singles' bar?

Natalia chuckled and shook her head. "Maybe next time, Maxine."

"Suit yourself….Lovebirds at twelve o'clock," Valera said, nodding in the direction from which Eric and Calleigh were approaching, his arm wrapped around her waist and she was smiling broadly.

They stopped just before they reached the table, close enough for Natalia and Valera to hear the mumbles of their conversation.

"I'll see you tomorrow," they heard Eric say, just loud enough to be heard over the music.

"You will," Calleigh promised, a grin forming on her face before stretching up to peck Eric on the lips before he unwrapped his arm from her waist. He headed into the crowd in means to get to the door as Calleigh nonchalantly slid back into the booth with Natalia and Valera, taking a sip of her beer before seeing the absolutely appalled looks on their faces.

"What?" Calleigh asked, confused as to why their jaws were hitting the ground.

"We saw you and Eric. We just assumed you'd want to find a more…um." Valera awkwardly cleared her throat. "Romantic atmosphere."

Calleigh felt a light blush come to her cheeks; she should have known Valera and Natalia would see her and Eric—but her mind had been pretty focused on just him in that moment and the outside world might as well of vanished.

"Does this mean you and Eric are…you know?" Natalia asked.

Calleigh hesitated. "Kind of."

"Kind of?" she repeated. "The kind of as in you're not sure, or the kind of when your back together just not quite…there."

"The second one." To this statement, Valera's eyes doubled in size in utter disbelief; Calleigh noticed. "What will rushing back into this do?" she pointed out.

"I don't know, it would be a great ending," Valera replied. Natalia playfully rolled her eyes with a smile; Valera had always been a hopeless romantic.

"It's just better we do it this way," Calleigh said, simply. "One day at a time."

Besides, she didn't view this as an ending, not when this was just the beginning.

She could see Eric making his way towards the exit, pausing at one point to turn and flash his crooked smile in her direction, earning himself a smile in return before he proceeded to leave. Calleigh grinned to herself as she took a sip of her beer, unable to believe how much her day—perhaps even her life—changed within the last few moments.

"God," Valera sighed. "I've gotta switch back to days."

Epilogue follows. I'll try to keep all updates for all stories regular but school is back in and balancing everything and fanfiction will not be easy. I know my fellow students can empathize. Speaking of which, got an essay to get working on *frowns* so I hope everyone enjoyed this.