Alvin stood there and watched as the shower curtain got pulled back slightly and Caitlin showed her face.
He smiled mockingly at her. "You know I could have shot you! How did you even hear me walk in"?
She too smiled. "I have perfected my sense of hearing. Besides that, I smelled a mix of Scotch and your aftershave the minute you walked into the room. I'm still debating whether or not that mix is to attract woman or ward them off"!
He lifted an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I'll just be another minute", she said as she disappeared behind the curtain again. At first, he simply stood there, coat and hat on, with his Glock still in his hand. He couldn't believe that she was back. This was the best news and surprise he'd had in the past year. After it settled in, he walked out of the bathroom and headed for the hallway again. He put the Glock back in its place and removed his coat and hat before heading for the kitchen. He opened the fridge. He knew it was late, but he wanted to be able to offer her something. He frowned upon seeing how empty it was. He took a mental note to go grocery shopping the next day. It may have been too early to say, but he hoped, she was at least here to stay for a while.
When he'd closed the fridge and turned around, she was standing in the middle of the living room. Her hair was longer, her skin darker and from the tank top and tight sweatpants she was wearing, he could tell that she had lost weight and toned up. Her hair was still damp but not dripping. She looked beautiful.
He smiled at her and she smiled back. He walked over to her and took her into an embrace. She hugged him back and sighed in relief. It wasn't just because of the human contact or touch, it was just that after all she had been through, he had always been there for her and she felt safe.
He let her go and looked at her. "Are you hungry? I've got some left over Chinese food from last night".
"Sounds great".
"Alright then, I'll heat them up a bit".
As he returned towards the kitchen, she walked around. When she had arrived, she had directly headed for the shower and hadn't inventoried the place. It might have seemed strange but without him being there, she felt almost as though she was violating his intimacy, but know he was there and things were different.
She liked what he had done. The furniture he had chosen and the few decorations he had put into place that had given it The Alvin Touch.
Alvin brought the Chinese over and put them down on the living room coffee table along with chopsticks and napkins. He sat down and watched her. She stopped briefly in front of a picture of him, Hank and her father. As if looking at it was too hard to bear, she turned away and met Alvin in the sofa.
"So, we've got Chicken Fried Rice, Beef Chop Suey, Sweet and Sour Pork and Egg Rolls. Take your pick".
He smiled as she took the Chicken Fried Rice, her all-time favorite, a pair of chopsticks and settled comfortably in the sofa with her legs crossed.
He looked at his watch. It was 11:30pm. "Not the best time to eat dinner. I'm sorry".
"Are you kidding? For starters, I'm starving and secondly, my body is still in another time zone. It's dinner time for me".
He grabbed the Sweet and Sour Pork. "Where were you"?
She swallowed. "In Hawaii".
"Nice. And here, I thought all this time, that you were lying dead in some alley in Philadelphia or Detroit"!
She looked down. "I'm sorry Al. I should have called but I guess, I didn't do it for two reasons".
"I'm curious as to what those may be".
"Well, I needed to heal on my own, on my own terms. For a while, I was a real mess and I didn't want anyone to be a witness to that".
"Fair enough", he said between bites.
"And the second reason is Hank. You two were in a very bad place when I left. I hoped that with me gone and out of the picture, you would make amends and your friendship would pick up where it had left off. And wanting that, I knew that if I was in contact with you and not him, that I'd be again putting you in a difficult situation in regards to him".
He put his hand out on her folded leg. "Cat, you are not responsible for what happened between Hank and I, that's all on him. But, I respect that you did what you did".
"So, things haven't improved"?
"Let's just say, we remain professional, but aside from that, we each go our own way".
She put her hand down on his. "I'm sorry. That's the last thing I wanted".
"I know. Enough talk about that. Tell me about Hawaii".
"Well, Hawaii was my last destination. I travelled quite a lot during these past six months. But it was the place I stayed the longest in. It was beautiful and I really managed to find peace and rebuild myself. I did a lot of walking around, spent time with the locals, worked out and most of all rested on the beach".
He felt relieved and happy that it had been the case. After Antonio's funeral and her miscarriage she had been the ghost of a shell. "How'd you pull it off? Going from one place to another? You never popped up on flight manifests".
She looked at him in a questioning way.
"Hey, don't look at me. It's Jay apparently that was trying to find you".
Jay. She didn't want to think about him either that night.
"I have an old friend at the DEA who owed me a favor. He's got this amazing talent in fake documents".
Alvin laughed. "You were travelling under an alias"?
"I didn't have to dig hard to find one. Elizabeth Wyatt".
He nodded. Of course, had Jay known her like he did, that name on a flight manifest would have sparked his interest. Elizabeth was Caitlin's middle name and Wyatt had been her mother's maiden name.
They finished eating and doing small-talk. As he put everything away, he watched as Caitlin got comfy in the couch and started yawning. He walked into his room and opened the linen closet and returned to the living room with an extra pillow and blanket. He placed them on the end of the sofa.
"You can take the room", he said.
"Nah, the couch is fine".
"Caitlin, don't argue with me. Take the bed".
She stood. "Alvin, this is your home, I'm crashing here without even giving you a heads up. Heck, I didn't even think about you being or living with someone, so the least I can do is take the couch".
"This is my home solely because you bought it for me, so it's just as much yours as it is mine".
She walked up to him. "Al, I bought this apartment for you because you deserve better than to live in that crappy garage and because I knew that if I didn't do it and kick you in the ass, you'd never move out. It may have been my funds, but it's your name on the deed".
"Exactly, so I get to decide who sleeps where. Now, please, take the bed. I'm used to sleeping on a couch remember? And this one is a 5-star couch. I'll be more than fine".
Feeling way too tired to fight him on it, she caved in.
He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and watched as she headed towards his bedroom.
"Hey Cat"?
She stopped and turned around. "Yeah"?
"You're here to stay right"?
She looked at him puzzled.
"I don't mean here in my apartment but Chicago".
She pressed her lips together. "I haven't decided yet".
"Regardless, you can stay here for as long as you need".
"Thanks Al. Goodnight".
"Night Cat".
He waited until she was out of sight and heard the door close before stripping down to the appropriate bare minimum and lied down on the couch. He didn't fall asleep right away. He just thought about her and the fact that she was back. Maybe everything would work out in the end. She would settle back for good in Chicago, get reinstated at CPD, things with the others would eventually go back to the way they had been and somehow in the midst of it all, he and Hank would make amends. He wondered, if things could really be that simple. Only time would tell.