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Sep. 14th, 2004 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helsinkibabyFor today, I am all about the angsty fluff.
Title: What Friends Are For
Fandom: CSI Miami
Rating: PG
Pairing: Calleigh/Delko friendship, Speed/Calleigh friendship
Spoilers: Mentions the season three premiere.
Notes: For the LiveJournal Multifandom1000 favour challenge.
When the last nail is hammered into the last piece of plywood, Eric can’t help but heave a sigh of relief, regretting it instantly when he turns, sees the mildly stricken expression on Calleigh’s face. She’s biting her bottom lip, one hand kneading her forehead, the other on her hip, and if he didn’t know better, he’d say that she was worried about the impending hurricane and the damage it’s going to do to her property.
Except he does know better, because the experts say that this part of Miami will get the least of the hurricane’s effects, and even still, it’s hardly the first time that she’s been through this. There’s no earthly reason why she should be as quiet as she is, as withdrawn as she is, and he knows, despite the words he’s expecting to fall from her mouth, that there’s more to her mood than just feeling guilty about putting him to work.
Just like he knows that she’s never going to tell him as much, so he beats her to the punch, steps over to her, as close as he can without touching her. “Calleigh, for the last time, don’t worry about it… it’s really no big deal.”
The faintest glimmer of a smile touches her lips, but not her eyes. “I just feel bad… dragging you out of your way like this…”
Shaking his head, he makes his way inside, her at his side. “What are friends for but to do favours?” he asks, and the moment the words pass his lips, something occurs to him, and he looks at her curiously. “Hey, who usually does this for you?”
She blinks, shadows falling across her eyes, colour draining from her cheeks, and instantly, he wishes that he could take the words back. He’s familiar with that particular pained look, has seen it before, and he knows what she’s going to say, even before she says the word.
“Tim.”
Her voice is quiet, barely a whisper, and she turns away from him after a moment, busying herself with rubbing clean the already spotless kitchen counter. A terrible silence fills the room, worse than any approaching storm, and Eric finds himself swallowing hard, choking back tears. “Calleigh…” he begins, stops when she starts talking.
“He always used to joke about it… about how one little favour led him into a life of indentured servitude…” Her voice sounds somewhere between tears and laughter, she’s resolutely not turning to look at him, and Eric is rooted to the spot. “You see, the first hurricane I ever went through after buying this place was due to hit land a couple miles away… and he knew that… so he asked me if I was all boarded up. And when he heard I wasn’t, he just rolled his eyes, said something completely Speed-like about it being the first time he’d ever known me to wait for the last minute for something… and then he brought me to the hardware store, got everything he needed, and we came back here and he boarded up the place…” She pauses, sucking in an audible breath, hands braced against the counter now, as if it’s the only thing holding her up. “When he was finished, he decided that I shouldn’t stay here… so he brought me back to his place… I ordered Chinese food, and we ate it, and he slept on the couch, gave me his bed… and when the hurricane hit, when I couldn’t sleep… after I wandered out to the kitchen for a glass of water… he came back to bed with me… just held me, all night long…”
Her voice trails off then, and he looks down, because he knows that she’s crying. He doesn’t look up until he hears her speak again, and he sees that she’s turned to look at him, is wiping her eyes, cheeks pink. “Nothing happened, of course,” she says, and she’s so earnest that it almost makes him smile. “We weren’t like that… we were never like that… but he knew I was scared, and he knew I needed him, and he knew exactly what to do to make me feel better…” She tilts her head up, stares at the ceiling, muscles on her neck drawn taut as she fights for control. “And I had no idea that I was going to miss him this much…”
“I know.” And while it might sound like a platitude, it’s true, because he misses his friend too, still can’t believe that he’s gone. “I miss him too, Cal,” he adds, and she nods, a tiny sob escaping her. The sound breaks his heart, and he might not be Speed, but he knows what he has to do to make her feel better.
Stepping towards her, he takes her into his arms and lets her cry.
Title: What Friends Are For
Fandom: CSI Miami
Rating: PG
Pairing: Calleigh/Delko friendship, Speed/Calleigh friendship
Spoilers: Mentions the season three premiere.
Notes: For the LiveJournal Multifandom1000 favour challenge.
When the last nail is hammered into the last piece of plywood, Eric can’t help but heave a sigh of relief, regretting it instantly when he turns, sees the mildly stricken expression on Calleigh’s face. She’s biting her bottom lip, one hand kneading her forehead, the other on her hip, and if he didn’t know better, he’d say that she was worried about the impending hurricane and the damage it’s going to do to her property.
Except he does know better, because the experts say that this part of Miami will get the least of the hurricane’s effects, and even still, it’s hardly the first time that she’s been through this. There’s no earthly reason why she should be as quiet as she is, as withdrawn as she is, and he knows, despite the words he’s expecting to fall from her mouth, that there’s more to her mood than just feeling guilty about putting him to work.
Just like he knows that she’s never going to tell him as much, so he beats her to the punch, steps over to her, as close as he can without touching her. “Calleigh, for the last time, don’t worry about it… it’s really no big deal.”
The faintest glimmer of a smile touches her lips, but not her eyes. “I just feel bad… dragging you out of your way like this…”
Shaking his head, he makes his way inside, her at his side. “What are friends for but to do favours?” he asks, and the moment the words pass his lips, something occurs to him, and he looks at her curiously. “Hey, who usually does this for you?”
She blinks, shadows falling across her eyes, colour draining from her cheeks, and instantly, he wishes that he could take the words back. He’s familiar with that particular pained look, has seen it before, and he knows what she’s going to say, even before she says the word.
“Tim.”
Her voice is quiet, barely a whisper, and she turns away from him after a moment, busying herself with rubbing clean the already spotless kitchen counter. A terrible silence fills the room, worse than any approaching storm, and Eric finds himself swallowing hard, choking back tears. “Calleigh…” he begins, stops when she starts talking.
“He always used to joke about it… about how one little favour led him into a life of indentured servitude…” Her voice sounds somewhere between tears and laughter, she’s resolutely not turning to look at him, and Eric is rooted to the spot. “You see, the first hurricane I ever went through after buying this place was due to hit land a couple miles away… and he knew that… so he asked me if I was all boarded up. And when he heard I wasn’t, he just rolled his eyes, said something completely Speed-like about it being the first time he’d ever known me to wait for the last minute for something… and then he brought me to the hardware store, got everything he needed, and we came back here and he boarded up the place…” She pauses, sucking in an audible breath, hands braced against the counter now, as if it’s the only thing holding her up. “When he was finished, he decided that I shouldn’t stay here… so he brought me back to his place… I ordered Chinese food, and we ate it, and he slept on the couch, gave me his bed… and when the hurricane hit, when I couldn’t sleep… after I wandered out to the kitchen for a glass of water… he came back to bed with me… just held me, all night long…”
Her voice trails off then, and he looks down, because he knows that she’s crying. He doesn’t look up until he hears her speak again, and he sees that she’s turned to look at him, is wiping her eyes, cheeks pink. “Nothing happened, of course,” she says, and she’s so earnest that it almost makes him smile. “We weren’t like that… we were never like that… but he knew I was scared, and he knew I needed him, and he knew exactly what to do to make me feel better…” She tilts her head up, stares at the ceiling, muscles on her neck drawn taut as she fights for control. “And I had no idea that I was going to miss him this much…”
“I know.” And while it might sound like a platitude, it’s true, because he misses his friend too, still can’t believe that he’s gone. “I miss him too, Cal,” he adds, and she nods, a tiny sob escaping her. The sound breaks his heart, and he might not be Speed, but he knows what he has to do to make her feel better.
Stepping towards her, he takes her into his arms and lets her cry.
