A/N: I have two chapters left to revise until I exhaust the content I wrote 12 years ago, then I'll have to start writing from scratch and my updates may take longer. Chapter 6 is forthcoming, but I want to offer a trigger warning for brief mention of sexual assault before you read it. It's not the central focus of the chapter but it is discussed. Also, thanks again for your reviews! They are good motivation for me to keep updating!

Chapter 5

Nearly twenty minutes passed before Calleigh's sobs trickled to an occasional hiccup. Eric let her cry; he held her and he rubbed her back, but he said nothing.

There was a reason Eric had never told Calleigh everything he told her brother on the drive from the airport. Words were hard for him. He grew up in a home full of love. He was told every day, multiple times a day, that he was loved, and he returned the sentiment easily.

Beyond that, his family learned early on that Eric's love language wasn't verbal affirmation like his parents, or acts of kindness like Mari and Clara, or even in spending time with others the way Isa and Gabi did.

Eric showed love through touch.

A clap on the shoulder, a squeeze of the hand, maybe a kiss on the cheek. He brushed his fingers against your back as he escorted you through the door, or bumped elbows at a funny joke. And then there were his hugs—his giant, compassionate, all-consuming bear hugs.

Calleigh knew that. So for Eric to stand there on the steps and hold her and run his fingers through her hair and wipe her tears away, for him to stay silent and just let her feel his strong, steady heartbeat—it meant everything to her. She didn't need to hear the words to know what he was saying.

She stood there in his arms, soaking it all in, breathing in his scent, long after sniffles replaced her tears. His scent…

Calleigh didn't always love Eric Delko. Not the way she did now, at least. Eric was a new co-worker, then he was a friend, then he was her best friend. If someone had asked her when they first started working together if she was attracted to him, she wouldn't have lied: she did find him intriguing, and, of course, he was good-looking.

Over the years they grew closer and intrigue morphed and grew into something altogether different, and that easy honesty about her feelings became more elusive; at some point, the black and white lines of their friendship began to blur, becoming especially opaque in the last twelve months.

Calleigh knew the moment things changed for her. It was the way he smelled…

Eric was shot almost a year ago to the day of her kidnapping last month. She sat by his bedside off and on at the hospital and hung out at his house a few times before he came back to work, but she feared the "new" Eric. She feared the ramifications of his injuries on his work–their work together–and their close friendship, and she unintentionally put a little distance between them.

Eric noticed and, one night, a few weeks after he came back, he surprised her with take-out from Mr. Chang's and reassured her over dinner that he was still the man she'd known for over seven years. He was still her best friend.

Something struck Calleigh as he left that night. Eric hugged her, and even though it wasn't the first time he'd done that—far from it—this hug felt new.

Eric hugged her, and for some reason Cal couldn't explain, she buried her nose in his shirt and breathed in deeply. She smelled his scent, and it smelled like Eric. She heard the steady beat of his heart, felt the muscles of his back and the power of his arms around her.

In that moment, Calleigh realized for the first time that Eric was a living, breathing, sexy, hard-bodied man. His shoulders were solid, his chest was firm, the curve of his back was graceful. He was beautiful. Desire burned through her and confused her as she watched him go.

Eric was right, he was still the same guy. Calleigh was just seeing him differently—way differently. At first she thought it was because she'd almost lost him, until she eventually discerned the truth: this had been coming on for a while.

But it was complicated. They worked together. Calleigh told him this, she went to another man, she kept Eric at arm's length. None of it stopped him from looking at her that way, though. And it cut right to her soul. She always knew what Eric wanted, she simply couldn't give it to him.

Cal breathed him in again and nuzzled the bridge of her nose against the pulse in his neck, and she thought about the night three weeks ago, when Eric insisted on coming home with her after the team rescued her from Seth McAdams.

His healing touch, and the intoxicating comfort his "Eric" scent kindled in her, kept Calleigh from completely detaching from the world that night.

Calleigh never imagined she could suffer the way she had in the weeks since her abduction. Nevertheless, she shuddered to think what she might have done, what kind of hell she might be in, if Eric hadn't stayed that first night with her. He offered her solace and a reminder that the world could be good. He gave her something to hold on to, and then he made sure her grip didn't fail.

He just knew. He always knew what she needed. And what she needed…what she needed was him. What she wanted was him.

Eric could tell the moment her walls came crashing down: her breath hitched on one last sob, her body finally relaxed, and she let go.

When they eventually pulled apart, long, blonde hairs plastered Calleigh's tear-stained face. Eric gently reached up his fingers to brush them away. When she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, he knew she'd stopped fighting. His eyes drank in every last detail of her features, and Eric couldn't resist the urge to run his thumb along her cheekbone.

"You okay?" He murmured the question.

Calleigh let out a breath and opened her red-rimmed eyes. "No. But I'm better."

Her voice was slightly hoarse from crying, but it was surprisingly un-stuffy, a fact which made Eric grin a little, though he tried to hide it.

"What?" she asked.

"You sound so beautiful," he explained, chuckling softly as Calleigh blushed. "When I cry, my nose gets all stopped up and I lose my voice and—it's not pretty."

Calleigh dropped her forehead to his shoulder to obscure her own small smile, but Eric could feel it anyway. She turned her head to the side so he could hear her. "I wouldn't know. I don't have much practice."

"We've got to get on that, don't we?" he quipped.

Calleigh pulled back and eyed Eric. "So you're going to try and make me cry?"

Eric gave her a rueful smile. "You knew what I meant."

She pulled him closer again. "I don't think I've ever cried so hard," she confessed quietly into his shirt.

"Mmm," Eric hummed, the low sound emanating from his chest. He turned to place a kiss on the side of her head, then said gently against her hair, "It makes you feel better."

Calleigh sighed and leaned into his solid frame. They remained silent for a long moment, until Eric felt her move.

"Come here," she said abruptly, stepping back and slipping her small hand into Eric's, intertwining their fingers. She tugged him up the last stair. "Welcome to my porch."