HELLLLOOOO~! another chapter! :)))))))))))))))
Cal stirred and opened his eyes. The sun was shining down on his room. He noticed that he was lying on his stomach and shook his head, trying to get away from the sleepy stupor. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. It was 7 in the morning. He got up and noticed that Vance's bed was empty. Thinking he was in the bathroom, he went over and knocked, just to realized that it was open and empty. He shrugged. He was probably outside. Cal wandered back to his bedside table and put on his shirt. He changed into jeans and stretched. Cal stayed there for a moment and went over to his suit. From the pocket, he pulled a black velvet box. As he opened it, he saw a silver bracelet with the engraving 'To Gill. Thanks for always being there for me. Cal.' Sure, it wasn't really him, but he was trying new things. He smiled one last time, stuffed it back into his suit pocket and walked out the room door. He was instantly hit with the aroma of morning coffee. He followed the smell and saw Gillian sitting sideways on the cough, her back to him. He grinned and waited until Gillian put down her coffee cup. When she did, he came up to her and said, "G'mornin, love."
She jumped and spun around. "Cal! God, you scared me."
Cal chuckled and went around the couch and sat down next to her, draping his arms across the back of the couch. Gillian was still in her pajamas. Purple pants with a white top. Cal swallowed inside his head and tried to get some weird, naughty thoughts from his head.
Gillian, was quite the same. The shirt Cal was wearing was doing little to hide his- what was she thinking! You have a husband, Gill. A husband. Still, Cal was everything in a guy she hoped for, except for the gambling problem, and the occasional suspicion, and the...so he wasn't perfect. But she still...loved him. As hard as it was to admit it, she was in love with her best friend and partner.
"What are you doing up so early, Cal?"
He slouched down more on the couch. "I could say the same about you."
Gillian smiled, shaking her head and got back to the book she was reading. Cal was so captivated in her gaze, he didn't notice that the apartment hotel was eerie quiet. "Gil, where is everyone?"
Gillian looked up again. "Alec, Danny, and Vance are out getting breakfast. Mom, dad, Sarah, and Brian are asleep."
Well that explains where Vance went.
"And your..."
"Trying to read while my friend bugs the hell out of me." Gillian finished with a small smile.
Cal, who thought Gillian was annoyed, apologized and moved to get up. However, as he got up, Gillian put a hand on his arm, stopping him in an instant.
"Cal," she laughed, "I was joking. Sit down."
Cal sat back down with a very confused and amused feeling. He never knew with her. That was one of the reasons she was his best friend. Cal got comfortable again. Gillian still had a smile on her face.
He drummed his fingers on his leg. Gillian went back to reading and Cal turned on the t.v. There was a moment of silence. Cal shifted on the couch.
"So, what you readin'?" He asked. "Somethin' romantic?"
"How did you ever know, Cal?" She giggled and held up the book. On the cover was a very cheesy romantic title. "Your right." she stated.
Cal chuckled. She was always a sucker for romance. It made him wonder why she couldn't have that with anyone. He would gladly volunteer for the job if it meant making Gillian happy. But he could never make her happy that way. In fact, she could never really be happy with him. He never really knew what women wanted. Zoe proved that. The thought made him think for a moment.
Why can't I make her happy? He pondered in his thoughts. Ironically, his thoughts answered.
Cause' your a player, that's why. You take women for granted and never ever think twice about what you do. If you ever make Gillian fall in love with you, you'll hurt her by going out and smooching some random hooker.
His thought was probably right. He couldn't get any closer to Gil than now. He would have to live alone...forever maybe. That thought actually startled him for a moment.
Gillian frowned, looking at how lost in space Cal looked. She reached out a hand and touched his arm. His eyes found her and she smiled. HE got the warm-inside feeling, something he regularly got around her.
"You ok?" She asked, a bit concerned. She knew that it must be hard for him to be around the whole family.
Cal stayed there, unmoving for a while. He nodded slowly. "Yea. Yea I am, Love."
"Good." She scooted a bit towards him, laid her head on his legs and smiled up at him. Cal was a bit stunned at first, not thinking she would do something so...close while they were with her family. But instead of moving away like he thought he should have, he relaxed and watched tv with a small smile forming on his lips.
The bracelet! he thought. Now was the perfect time to give it to her. They were alone, and it was a friendship bracelet, nothing to...romantic. Just a gift from a friend...right?
You sure you wanna give it to her? His mind asked in a suspicious tone.
Yea...it's not like I'm asking her to marry me or anything. The thought made him smile even more.
"Love?"
Gillian turned. "Yea, Cal?"
"Can I get somethin' from my room?"
Gillian laughed. "Yea hold on." She moved and sat up. Cal quietly got up and went to his room, closing the door.
He hurried to his jacket, a smile plastered on his face. He reached in, and opened it. It still shined in the moon light. He closed and and reached for the door, all the sudden sweaty.
-x-
She moved and he got up. The clicking of the door could be heard as he closed the door. She smiled. He looked human when he was nervous and not a human lie detector. She chuckled quietly and shook her head. Just then, the front door opened and laughter filled the room. Alec and Danny came in laughing like a couple of maniacs. Danny more than Alec. Vance was next to come in but he wasn't laughing. Smiling, yes, but anyone can tell he was trying hard not to laugh.
"That was HILARIOUS!" Danny roared into laughter. He and the other put the bags of fast food on the dining room table. Gillian laughed. That was a lot of food. Just then, the door behind her opened and Cal came out. She turned just in time to see him stand still for a moment, the smile wiped off from his face. He quickly stuff something into his pocket. She couldn't see what though.
"Hey, Cal. What was it you needed to get?"
Cal hesitated for a second. "My phone."
That was a lie...why would he lie to her?
Before she could say anything else, he went into the dining room just as Alec came out. He was still laughing when he sat on the couch next to Gillian, and draping his arm around her. It felt different than when Cal had his arm dangerously close to her.
"What's so funny?" she asked Alec once he calmed down a little.
"We..." he went into a fit of laughter again.
"It's not that funny!" Vance shouted from the other room. Alec just kept on laughing.
"Yes it this!" Alec shouted back, his voice muffled by laughter.
"Hey Gill!" Danny yelled. A second later he came out of the room, a smile on his face. "What do you want to eat for breakfast?"
Gillian was dumbfounded. "Didn't you guys go get McDonalds?"
"Well...we got McDonald, Burger King, Taco Bell, pizza, Jack in The Box, your name it. We even got a little Chinese." Danny chuckled.
"What? Why did you guys get so much?" Gillian practically yelled. She was wondering how the kids and her parents could sleep through all this racket.
Danny laughed. "Ask Vance."
Gillian was really confused.
-x-
Dammit! he thought. He missed his chance. He could feel the weight in his pocket as he tried to ignore Gillian's gaze on him when he walked into the dining room. They came early, he thought. He would get a chance...right?
The dining room table seemed to disappear under the bags of food. "What the..." he trailed off.
Vance was busy taking the food out and shouting at Alec and Danny to shut up. Alec was no where to be seen, probably with Gillian in the living room. Danny was holding his stomach and laughing. Cal could tell Vance was laughing inside too. His face said it all.
"What happened?" Cal questioned Vance.
"Huh?" Vance looked up. "Oh I kinda got too much food-" Just then, Danny walked in.
"Kinda?" Danny barked. "You freakin' got every on the block!" He laughed.
"Hey! It wasn't my fault!"
"Yea?"
"Yea!"
"Want to bet?"
"Sure!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS NOISE!" a voice barked from behind them. Everyone went quiet. At the doorway of the hall, a very angry Gregory Anderson stood, his face red as a tomato. Behind him, Carol appeared then the kids who were rubbing their eyes.
"Here we go again." Danny whispered to Cal, who was confused beyond words.
"Well?" Greg questioned again. From the other doorway, Gillian and Alec appeared, his hand on her back. Cal tried real hard not to do or thing anything.
"Well you see dad," Danny started with a nervous laugh, "Vance got too much food..."
-x-
"Hey!"
There was a big splash as Danny fell in the swimming pool. Brian and Sarah tried to swim away but Danny followed after them, chuckling. Greg, Carol, Gillian, and Alec were siting at the table outside the hotel apartment talking and laughing. The kids, Danny and Vance were swimming in the pool. Cal had excused himself and went out to the parking lot where Ben was and got into the car.
"What now?" Cal asked.
"I got somethin for you." Ben reached into the back seat and pulled out a box and handed it to him. Cal looked at him curiously and opened it. Inside were files. Old files, new files, everything. He glanced up. "Old cases of Vance and Germone's that all had a connection to either Evan or John DeGrow."
Cal looked back into the box. "That's...alot," was all he could say.
Ben nodded. "We need to know why their doing this. Then maybe we can actually do something about it."
Cal just sat there for a second. "Didn't DeGrow say that he wanted me dead?" he asked quietly.
"Yea...we don't know why though."
"He said I know where he is..." Cal was lost in his own thoughts now.
Ben looked at him now. "Lightman, where you goin with this?
Cal bit his lower lip. "Ben what if I..." That's as far as he got.
"No." Reynolds said. "Your not turning yourself in."
Cal sighed. He knew Ben would say that, but it was worth a try.
"Ben, don't you have the tracking device on him?" Cal said as the sudden idea came into mind.
Ben sighed. He took at his phone and showed it to Cal. The green light showing Evan was there. "That light hasn't been moving in five hours. So I went out after it, to find it abandoned in a hotel kitchen." He put it back in his suit pocket.
"So we're back to square one." Cal stated with a huge sigh.
There was silence in the car for a while, until Ben broke it. "You really have no idea how this John DeGrow knows you or why he wants you dead?"
Cal shook his head. "Not a clue."
Ben nodded slowly. "We'll get him though."
-x-
Cal put the box in his and Vance's room and went out to the swimming pool. Danny and the kids were still in there but Vance was pulling himself out, trying to avoid getting hit by water. Cal saw the scar on his neck and was overshadowed by sadness and guilt. Just looking at it, made his chest hurt. He swallowed, putting up his walls of emotionless state and walked over to him.
Vance saw him walking toward him and tried to dry himself with a towel.
"Hey. I talked to Ben." Cal said. He could see the scar more closely now, though he tried not to. The scar was ragged and old but it wasn't faded.
"Yea? What'd he say?"
Cal nearly shook himself from staring at the scar. "He uh gave me your and Germone's case files of everything related to the DeGrow family."
Vance nodded. "We got to look through them again?"
Cal shrugged. "Can't afford mistakes I guess."
Vance chuckled. "I guess."
"Did Reynolds tell you about the tracking device?"
Vance glanced at him. "No, why?"
Cal in took a breath. "Well I guess Evan found it and ... well yea.."
Vance cursed. He ran a hand through his damp hair and let out a frustrated sigh. "That's ok right? It's not the end of the world...We'll find a way." He sounded doubtful.
Cal nodded and sighed himself. They walked to a bench as they talked more about the case, Vance getting frustrated every once in a while.
Cal just nodded or agreed at questions. His thoughts were literally elsewhere. They were on Gillian. He knew he should be focusing on the case but...she just always seemed to take his mind off of things. She was his life basically, her and Emily...and Vance. She was always there for him. No matter what. And as he looked at her right now, at her smiling face, her laughter, he had to admit, he was a bit jealous. Of Alec. Alec. How he wished he could beat him to a pulp. Alec had everything. He was born from a great family, married a great wife and had great in laws, who cared about him. Cal had none of that. The more he thought about it, the more he thought he was going to be alone for the rest of his miserable life. What would he do after wards? After Emily got married, after everyone moves on, what would he do? Probably sit at his office, drinking after another case, like he had when Zoe and he separated. But Gillian wouldn't be there. She would have moved on also...she wouldn't be there to comfort him when he got drunk, or when he got into fights. He loved her. It was simple as that. He loved her with every inch of already broken heart. But she was married. Although he did get his way around people, he wasn't a heartless bastard who stole men's women. Even if that man was a total jerk.
"You love her, don't you." The question, or statement, caught him off guard.
Cal turned his head and stared at Vance who stared right back at him. Then he realized he must have been staring off into space, or Gillian, for the past couple of minutes of so, lost in his thoughts. He didn't remember anything Vance had said.
"Dr. Fost-Gillian. You love her." Again, it was more of a statement. Cal was dumbfounded. Was it that obvious?
"I..." Cal trailed off, not knowing what to say to his son. This was an odd conversation. Usually it would be the dad questioning the son about his love life. This was completely backwards. It was a bit awkward.
When Cal didn't answer, Vance said, "You have that look. In your eyes. When ever you look at her, they sparkle. And your lips curl up...just a little. But I can see. I know you don't want anyone to know, 'cause she's married and all. But you can tell she's not happy right?" Cal was truly surprised now. "I like Alec, he's cool and always been there for me but the way he treats Gillian and how he comes into my office just begging not to tell her about a one night stand every once in a while after I catch him going into a hotel room with another lady in his arms...I just think that because he's always there for me, I should be too. So I didn't say anything. But over the last few months, it got worse and I can't handle lying to her anymore. I have a feeling she knows too..." He sighed and leaned forward, his eyes trained on the ground.
Cal was silent for a great amount of time. Vance knew? And he didn't tell Gillian about it? This was very difficult. "Why...why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly, almost in a whisper.
"I thought...I thought you could make her happy. She always seemed different around you."
Cal seemed to get that comment inside his head. Absent-minded, he nodded.
"You never answered my question." Vance pushed.
"I do..." Cal said, knowing what he was talking about. "I always have."
-x-
hahaha lol i havnt really updated...i was busy :P sorry guys if your waited so long. thanks for all the alerts tho! made my day fo sho! anyways imma watch the superbowl ^^ haha peace out! (I'll update as soon as i can)