(no subject)
Title: Ready For A Fall (17/?)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17 (but only vaguely)
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, George/Izzie, Meredith/Derek
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.
A/N: There was ENTIRELY too much research for this chapter. I am *so* over research.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
*~*~*~*~*~
You're a vessel, you're a temple
You're a journey just begun
You're a young one who is running
You are destined to find love
And when you're lost, that's when you'll find me
We can't see till we are blinded
It's already and been decided
That one day you will
One day you will
- Martina McBride
*~*~*~*~*~
George arrived ten minutes late for lunch with Callie’s parents due in large part to the pacing marathon he had in the parking deck. He had almost called his mother to beg her to go with him, but he knew she wouldn’t. She had not returned any of his calls. When he entered the lobby, he immediately spotted Callie’s mother and feeling like a man walking to the electric chair, he moved slowly and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"Hello, Mrs. Torres."
Melana put her hand on her hip and studied him. "Why if it isn’t Cheater. I didn’t think you would come. You have balls, George. I’ll happily remove them."
"That can wait," Raphael said, joining them. He narrowed his eyes at George and added, "As much as I’d love to rip your intestines out and choke you with them, I can’t deny my children anything and Cambyses called the honor this morning."
George’s mouth dropped open when Cambyses Torres joined them. He gazed up at the man, eyes wide, and didn’t blink at all. He resembled Callie, but he was wearing more leather than a human being should and he was solid muscle and ... and hair. His ice blue eyes were terrifying and his full lips were pulled back into a sneer. Swallowing hard, George held out his hand. "It’s nice to meet you, Cam. Callie, uh, she talks about you nonstop."
"The only way I would touch the hand of the man who hurt my sister would be if I cut it off and slapped you with it." Cam looked him up and down. "I’m surprised she didn’t beat me to it. There’s not much to you is there?"
George shifted uncomfortably and his eyes moved toward the door. If he ran, really fast, he could probably make it to the hospital with minimal damage. And hide. Cam seemed to read his mind because he reached out, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and pulled him into the restaurant where Blake was already waiting at a large, round table.
Blake stood and greeted George. "You must be the asshole."
"Apparently." George sat down. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Melana and said, "Have you heard from her? I mean - since she called the first night."
"No." Mel crossed her arms over her chest. "We know that she went to Los Angeles. She was injured and treated at a small hospital there."
"WHAT?" George put his elbows on the table and stared at Callie’s mother. "How? What happened to her?"
"Don’t tell him anything else," Cam said. "George, you lost the right to know *anything* about her. So don’t ask because we’re not telling."
"I’m still her husband."
"That’s easily rectified. And that’s why you’re here." Raphael put his briefcase on the table and pulled out an folder. "Washington is, thankfully, a community property state. Anything that you’ve purchased together, or that she has purchased for you, is considered divisible. I’m telling you to take it all. Anything that you two purchased is yours. You can also take her convertible and twenty-five thousand in cash. She wants out of this marriage. She asked me to begin the paperwork and here it is."
George stared at the folder. It scared him more than Cambyses. It put a pit of fire in his stomach that ached soul deep. "I don’t believe in divorce."
"You don’t believe in marriage either," Melana replied. "Marriage is about commitment and honoring your vows. Tell me, George, did you promise to forsake all others?"
"Yes." He swallowed hard when he remembered the way Callie’s hand had trembled in his while he spoke about undying devotion and cherishing her. "And I made a horrible mistake, but -"
"A mistake is when you balance your checkbook wrong," Blake interjected. "Cheating on the person who loves you and ripping their heart out ... that’s not a mistake. That’s attempted murder."
"Nicely worded, babe." Cam smiled and took Blake’s hand.
"I was listening to Rhianna on my iPod while I waited for you guys." Blake shrugged, then glowered at George. "But it’s still true, asshole."
Melana was studying Blake closely, wide eyed, but when he smiled at her, she quickly turned back to George. "It’s better if you agree to the divorce, George. We will pay for the entire thing and -"
"She’ll have to tell me this herself." George lifted his chin defiantly. "I have to hear her tell me that we’re finished."
"I would think that leaving town with a hot wrestler is a pretty good indication of where she stands," Cam told him. "You bring her down lower than she has ever been. She almost died because of you." He picked up the folder and held it out to George. "Take it. Look it over. I think you’ll find that we’ve been generous and considering the circumstances ... generosity is uncalled for."
George took the folder and laid it in his lap. "I know that this is hard to believe and I understand why ... but I love Callie. I really love her. And -"
"Then set her free," Blake interrupted. "Let her go. If you were meant to be with her then one day you will be."
George felt a lump in his throat and his eyes welled with tears. "This? This is attempted murder because losing her like this will kill me."
"Like this? You could have lived with her killing herself for you, but not this?" Cam raised a brow. "You better choose your words more carefully because you’re close to pissing me off."
"That’s not what I meant!" George snapped. "I - I can’t just give up without trying."
"You lied to her about the extent of your relationship with your mistress," Raph said. "She called me and told me. She said that you made her feel like trash. This is your chance to stop doing that to her, George. Take the papers. Look through them. Fill out any information that you feel is pertinent, but understand this ... my daughter always gets what she wants and if this is what she wants and you fight her ... then it will be a fight to the death. I’ll see to that."
"Dying would hurt less than this." George wiped the tears on his face.
"Apparently you made Callie think the same thing," Cam said. "And I think we’re done here. Take your papers and go."
It wasn’t until that moment that George realized that the waiter had never appeared to take their orders. He stood, handling the folder as if it contained a stool sample. "Can you at least tell me when she’s coming back."
"She’ll be home in time for her party." Melana saw her son in law’s eyes widen and added, "It’s no longer an elopement celebration. Your invitation is non-existent. This is a party for Callie, so that she can be surrounded by love for a change."
"*I* love her," George replied. "I love Callie. And -"
"If you gate crash this little shindig," Cam said. "It will be the last mistake you ever make. Now, go away, little gnat, before I swat you with something heavy. Like my boot."
Blake watched George walk away and glanced at Raphael. "You think he’ll sign it, Raph?"
"He’ll either use ink or his own blood. Either way, he’s going to let her go." Raph motioned for the waiter and said, "I believe that I can digest now. Let’s eat."
They ordered lunch and sat quietly for a few moments. Raph looked at Cam and said, "I’m going to leave her alone. Callie, I mean. She’ll come home when she’s ready. I won’t go after her."
"Good."
"That’s very noble, honey." Mel patted her husband’s hand and then looked at her son’s *boyfriend*. "Blake, that was quite an impressive display with the asshole. Wasn’t that what you called him?"
"Yes, ma’am." Shocked that Melana had addressed him at all, Blake hastily added. "Callie’s the sister I never had so I’ve got the over protective thing down to a science. I love her."
"I wasn’t aware that you two were so close."
"We are," Blake replied and if he was uptight in the least it didn’t show. "We usually talk about twice a week."
"I see. And what, pray tell, do the two of you have in common?"
"We both love Cambyses more than life itself. It creates a pretty strong bond."
Cam was watching his mother like a hawk. He also knew her very well. When her eyebrow arched high enough that it was hidden behind her bangs, he cleared his throat. "Mother, I’m still pretty happy over being able to threaten the asshole so can you not be a buzz kill?"
"What?" Mel asked innocently. "I was going to invite your - your - er, friend here to accompany me on a mission. I was supposed to be shopping for a dress with Louise, but considering that I want to hold her son down and suffocate him with a pillow, I can’t see us enjoying the day very much. Blake, we’ve never had the chance to get to know one another. Would you like to spend the afternoon with me?"
"Wolf in sheep’s clothing," Cam said in a sing-song voice.
"I’d love to, Mrs. Torres."
"Walking into the lion’s den," Cam continued in the same tone.
"You may call me, Melana, Blake." Mel reached out and pulled Cam’s hair, dragging him closer to her, but she was smiling. "And your sister has the voice, not you. So stop singing."
Cambyses grinned at her. "Looks like someone else has a buzz, too."
"There isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t enjoy bringing a bastard to his knees, son."
It had been years since Melana had referred to Cam as her son. It had also been years since she had smiled at him or touched him at all, really. He was elated. Reaching across the table, he put his hand on hers and said, "Mom, you could make the entire population of bastards not only fall to their knees, but worship at your feet."
"Yes, I know. Your sister has the same power apparently because Cheater was *broken*. And wasn’t it fun? I think I’ll have chocolate cake to celebrate his downfall."
"Okay, she scares me," Blake said softly.
Everyone at the table laughed.
*~*~*~*~*~
Domestication had its perks, Alex realized, on their fifth day together. He had never really gone to bed and woken up with the same woman more than once or twice, unless you counted Izzie which he refused to do. With Callie, he spent every waking and sleeping moment getting to know her. It was nice to notice subtle things about a lover. Callie liked to sleep with one hand under her cheek and she didn’t snore, but she did talk a little. Earlier that morning she had said ‘I’ve got femurs out the ass, Chief’ and it had caused him to laugh so hard it woke her up. She did *not* like being jarred awake and the look of death she had given him had caused him to laugh even harder ... which, naturally, led to sex.
Everything led to sex with Callie. Not that he was complaining.
There wasn’t an inhibited bone in her incredible body. She would bathe in front of him, cook naked in front of him, and they had even skinny dipped with the careless abandon of teenagers. They had behaved in a manner very unbecoming for two professional adults in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but they kept at it for hours. Her favorite position was on top, but she had no complaints if he took charge or flipped her onto her stomach ... or pinned her against the wall. They had *both* enjoyed the hell out of the galley counter top. Twice. And she got a thrill out of sitting on his lap in broad daylight, with him deeply inside her, while boats sped around them.
No ... she was not inhibited at all, but that wasn’t the best thing about her.
She liked to watch the sunset, but because she liked sleeping in more, she happily missed the sunrise. She laughed easily, but could have the driest sense of humor and sarcastic wit that he had ever heard. Her favorite thing to do, besides sex, was to play her endless assortment of video games and Alex didn’t have to let her win ... she beat him every time on her own. She could talk about college football scores with the same passion she usually reserved for ‘The Goonies’ and she knew all the terminology for wrestling after hearing them only once.
She was, in Alex’s opinion, everything a woman should be. Tender and hard. Funny and sad. Annoying and endearing. And best of all ... she was the best friend and *lover* he’d ever had. He *loved* her.
As both.
He had noticed something else, though. Something he hated. She would meet his eyes while they did the most perverted things humanly possible, but after, when her body finally calmed down, she would pull away and quickly find something else to do. She only let him hold her afterwards if they were falling asleep in her bed. And she wouldn’t look at him for a long time, even if she was talking to him. The first morning after their hot tub romp, she had put sunglasses on almost immediately. He had been forced to pull them off her in the shower.
He didn’t understand it, but he knew *why* she was doing it and it had to stop.
He was pulled from his thoughts by Callie asking him something. He turned his head and looked at her. "What did you say?"
"Can you dance?" Callie repeated, then finished slicing the tomato she was working on. "I mean, really dance."
Alex set aside the lettuce he had pulled apart and grinned. "My mother and I used to dance all the time. She said I was the best partner ever."
"Was she being truthful or being a mom?"
"Come here."
Callie dried her hands on a dishtowel and followed him into the middle of the salon. They were listening to a local station that they had picked up and Nickelback was singing ‘Far Away’. Alex bowed slightly in front of her, causing her to giggle like a crazy person, and then he took her in his arms and swept her across the room in a very nicely executed waltz. When the song ended, he dipped her backwards and kissed her.
"You’re wrong," she told him, still bent in the dip.
He stood them both up and said, "I can dance, Elvira."
"I mean you’re wrong about why you were the big man on campus. Wrestling had nothing to do with it." She kissed his nose. "Can you salsa?"
"Didn’t we do that in bed last night?"
"Can you do it vertically?"
"A dance is just a conversation between two people. Talk to me."
"‘Hope Floats’. Get your own material, quote man." She smiled at him and slipped a CD into the player. She smiled a little when Selena’s ‘Amor Prohibido’ began to play. It was a fitting song. "Now follow my lead."
She stepped forward. He stepped back. She swung her hips. He did the same. It took less than thirty minutes for him to catch on and when he did, he spun her out and back again, then his hands traced the contour of her hips in her swimsuit as they moved as one. She put her back to his chest and wiggled her ass against him, reaching behind her to grip his ass.
"Jesus, Callie. If this was a conversation between two people ... it would be outlawed in almost every state."
"Almost?"
"We’re gonna make it legal in Washington."
She turned and lifted her leg against his hip and he caught her behind the thigh and pulled back, stretching her into a half split as he went. Throwing her head back, she shimmied her shoulders and then came up fast, just in time for ‘Bitty Bitty Bom Bom’ to end. "I think you can salsa, Alex."
"I feel like we just had sex."
"Latin dances are notoriously sexy. This one’s mild in comparison."
"There are more?"
"Oh yeah. The cumbia, the mambo, the rumba."
"A mambo dancing Elvira."
"A waltzing jock. We’re both a walking oxymoron." Her stomach grumbled as she added, "We also forgot lunch."
"Wanna forget it a while longer?"
She smiled at him. "We should probably get a little more exercise before we eat bread."
The ‘exercised’ for close to an hour. Alex gazed down at her sweaty face and brushed her hair off her forehead. She didn’t meet his eyes.
He didn’t like it.
At all.
They ate their sandwiches on the deck. When Callie started the engine, brought up the anchor, and accelerated north, Alex frowned. "Every time you move this thing we get that much closer to Seattle."
"I know. I’ve purposely taken us away from land to make it last a little longer." She made a face. "But tomorrow we’re going to stop in San Francisco for the entire day. That should delay us a while."
"San Francisco? Why?"
"Well, there’s Alcatraz, Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge, and streetcars. There’s also a wax museum and the zoo kicks ass. I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen it *with* someone. Someone not related, I mean. So, if you want to sightsee I can totally get on board with that. I think you’d like it."
"I am sightseeing." He looked her up and down. "And I like it very much. But if you wanna play tour guide I’m in. Alcatraz, huh?"
"I knew you’d pick that. We’ll do the night tour. It’s scarier."
"It’s supposedly haunted, right?"
"Supposedly. But if you were a ghost would you really want to haunt a place like that? Four by eight cells, creepy fog, and it smells like death and piss. All the time. I’d rather haunt the water around it like Moaning Myrtle." She glanced at him and saw that his brow was furrowed. "Holy shit! I’ve finally stumped you!"
"Who or what is a Moaning Myrtle?"
"I *so* win. Go me!" She did a little dance in her seat. "Harry Potter. I am the champ!"
"I knew I should have read those damn books."
"She was in a couple of the movies, too. You *must* read the books though, Alex. They’re amazing." Smiling, she added, "Are you scared of ghosts?"
"Not at all." He swiveled in his chair so he could watch her. "Are you?"
"I don’t get scared. I lack a fear gene, remember?"
It was the perfect opportunity for Alex to respond with something that had been on his mind since they’d been together earlier. He seized the moment with both hands. "You’re scared of me. I can tell. You hold back just a little, just enough to make me worry."
She was shocked and quickly looked at him, then the horizon. "I do not."
"You don’t look at me after we have sex. You don’t strike me as the type to be bashful so it’s gotta be one of two things: you either regret it a little or you’re afraid of me and what I feel for you."
Callie swallowed and kept her eyes straight ahead. "You’re imagining things."
"Am I? Are you sure?"
"Of course I am."
"Look at me."
She shook her head. Her heart had lodged itself in her throat and she hated what was inevitably coming. Apparently this was *the* talk. "I have to watch what I’m doing. I’ll hit something."
"You told me when we dropped anchor last night that we were forty miles from the coast." Alex glanced out the windshield. Four sailboats dotted the water, but were far enough away that it would take several minutes to reach them. Standing, he slowed the boat to a stop himself, then took the key out of the ignition and turned her chair to face him. "Look at me, Callie."
She took a deep breath and met his eyes. "I’m looking."
He squatted beside her chair and took her hand. "This isn’t a fling for me. What we have ... it feels real. I think it is. And I know we keep saying that it’s fast and that we didn’t expect it, but I think I knew that I would fall for you when I picked you up and drove you to the hospital the night you almost died. It wasn’t just the gas in that car that got you there ... it was me. I think I could have outrun the wind on foot to make sure you were okay. It’s real. And I lo-"
"Oh, Alex, don’t." Callie stopped him with a hand over his mouth. She closed her eyes tightly. "Don’t say it. Please don’t say it."
He pushed her hand away. "You need to know where I stand! You need to know that because of what I feel for you ... I will *never* hurt you! So let your guard down! And *look* at me!"
"No." Callie got to her feet and moved past him. She walked to the back of the boat, running both hands through her hair. "Damn it, Alex! Don’t do this! Don’t make it weird! Don’t make it complicated or -"
"Or love you? Is that what you’re saying? You don’t want me to love you?"
"I don’t believe in love." She looked at him then, nostrils flaring slightly. "We’re good together, Alex. We’re having fun and when we get back to Seattle I want you in my life, but-"
"How do you want me in your life? Do you want me to be someone you call when you need your itch scratched or do you want me ... all of me?" He waited for her to say something and when she didn’t, he tossed her the keys. "That’s what I thought you’d say."
"Alex-"
"What?! People don’t take enough chances in life. You - you live your life for other people and the only chances you take are the ones that could kill you. You’d rather fly through a storm than trust me. Do you know how that makes me feel? I’m offering you a chance to start over with someone who *gets* you, with someone who *needs* you." He shook his head. "If I can’t love you what does that leave me?"
"I don’t know."
"Right."
Callie watched as he yanked open the door to the living quarters and disappeared down the stairs. She sat down on the lounger behind her and put her face in her hands. She had known that this was coming and had been dreading it like hell. She had known that Alex was getting invested, that he wanted more and she had encouraged it anyway. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, she knew that she wanted to be with him. Just ... not all the way. She couldn’t do all the way again because all the way meant that you only got pieces of yourself back when it all fell apart.
And nothing was forever.
For most of her life she had been the cynical one. She didn’t need a man to complete her. She was strong, independent, and she didn’t care because she was used to being alone. The poison of loving someone had killed the romantic dreamer she had become and put the cynic firmly back in place. It was a welcome relief to not have her heart involved.
‘That’s a lie,’ she thought. ‘You know good and damn well that you want to go downstairs and make love until you’re too sore to move. Because that’s what it is. You make love with him. You never really made love to George because he was in love with his friends. Coward. Would it really be so bad to fall again? You’re ready to fall. Just do it.’
Something splashed in the water behind her and she turned in time to see a dolphin. As she watched, several more began to spyhop, peering at her, splashing water at the yacht. She smiled and let the ladder down, then sat on it, her legs in the water. It took a while, but finally one of the larger dolphins came close enough for her to touch it. It darted away quickly when she ran her hand along its side, but returned just as fast, popping up between her knees.
"Hey there, you." Callie rubbed it on the head, tracing a scar that cut a mean looking crease. "If I come in the water are you gonna hurt me?"
The dolphin moved a little higher, butting at her hand. Another popped up beside it and she reached out, patting it as well. "I don’t have any food. Probably shouldn’t feed you, though, because most people aren’t as nice as me and might try to catch you. It’s not fun to be caught. I used to think it was. But when you’re caught ... you drown in shallow water every day."
She threw caution to the wind when the first dolphin went under and brushed against her leg, then appeared again. It was an open invitation and she slipped off the ladder, staying close to the boat. Just. In. Case. All at once, she was surrounded. The dolphins knocked into her, not hard, but rubbing at her body with their noses, with their sides. The same scarred porpoise surfaced right in front of her and splashed water in her face. She laughed out loud then and splashed back.
It rapidly became a game and all the dolphins wanted to splash and be splashed.
And their game took them further and further from the yacht.
Finally, winded, Callie rubbed the porpoise who had approached her first and said, "Did you know that dolphin is actually a Greek word? It’s really delphis and it means a fish with a womb." The animal looked her right in the eye and she smiled. "I’m an idiot. I’m talking to you like you know what I’m saying."
It splashed her again and she chuckled. "Okay, maybe you do."
She dove under and kept her eyes open, the salt burned, but the dolphins dove with her and she wanted to see them. She did a few flips under water, swimming like she had been born to do it, and when she surfaced again, the pod surfaced as well and blew water from their blow holes. They began to make noise as well and Callie felt like she was on top of the world and whistled at them. It intrigued them and they changed their sounds so Callie emulated them, laughing, when they watched her closely.
The mood of the animals changed so suddenly that Callie, dog paddling, began to feel uneasy. She glanced behind her and groaned. She had not put the anchor down on the yacht and the tide had carried it at least fifty feet away. The dolphins began to swim in a tight circle around her and she looked left and right, her heart thumping. She knew what that meant ... she knew it into her gut.
When the shark fin surfaced between her and the boat, she could only stare at it. It was large and moving slowly. It went under the water suddenly and she froze and promptly sank. Something brushed her leg and she screamed when she clawed her way back to the surface, the sound ripped from her throat hard enough to make her eyes water. "Oh my god. Oh my god oh my god ohmygodohmygod."
The scarred dolphin popped up in front of her and she looked at it. "I’m going to die," she whispered. "And I don’t want to."
"Callie?!"
She could see Alex on the boat now and she waved her arms frantically. "Shark! Alex, bring the boat!"
"WHAT?"
"SHARK!"
And then she screamed again because instead of bringing the boat, he dove into the water and began to swim toward her. "NO! NOOO!!!"
Callie swam harder than she had ever done in her life. The dolphins stayed close, still circling and when she finally made it to Alex, she yelled, "There’s a shark! Big! We have to get on the boat!"
The dolphins closed ranks around them as they headed back for the yacht. Alex stayed beside her and they were ten feet from the ladder when the shark resurfaced, blocking their path. He pulled out of a breast stroke and grabbed Callie, who was starting past him. "Holy mother of God," he said. "Baby, do not move."
The dolphins swarmed past them and the shark swam faster toward the nose of the yacht. Alex pushed her toward the ladder. "Go! Callie, go up the fucking ladder. Now!"
She was staring, wide eyed as the fin vanished again. "Alex-"
"GO!" Alex gripped her arms, pushing her until she gripped the ladder and scurried up it. He practically flew up the side of the yacht. They both stood, gazing down, as a huge great white bit the ladder a moment later and let go.
Callie’s legs buckled and she collapsed against the lounger. Alex sat beside her, breathing hard. Neither spoke for several minutes. When she could finally breathe without the threat of swallowing her tongue, she said, "I didn’t even think. We’re near the Farallon Islands and ... and the seals there ... they attract sharks." She touched his arm. "Are you okay?"
"No, Callie, I am not okay." He rubbed the salt water out of his eyes, which were red and still wide with fear. "I heard you scream and -" He looked at her. "Are *you* okay?"
"I’m pretty sure that I’ll have grey hair tomorrow, but I’m all right."
"That thing was at least fifteen feet long. You could have been killed."
"We both could have, Alex! Why the hell didn’t you just bring the boat?! Why did you jump in?!"
"You told me not to say it so I won’t, but that’s why. I figured I could get to you faster than the boat."
"You jumped right where the shark was! God, it scared me so bad. If anything happened to you-" She hugged him then, holding on for dear life. "That’s twice now that you’ve saved my life."
"And twice that you’ve tried to throw it away." He pushed her arms off him and stood. "I - I think that we should just skip San Francisco and go home."
"But-"
"We’ll always have Disneyland."
*~*~*~*~*~
*cries*
Will they make up? Will they break up?
Will the shark do a jaws and eat the boat?
Muwahahaha... :)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17 (but only vaguely)
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, George/Izzie, Meredith/Derek
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.
A/N: There was ENTIRELY too much research for this chapter. I am *so* over research.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
*~*~*~*~*~
You're a vessel, you're a temple
You're a journey just begun
You're a young one who is running
You are destined to find love
And when you're lost, that's when you'll find me
We can't see till we are blinded
It's already and been decided
That one day you will
One day you will
- Martina McBride
*~*~*~*~*~
George arrived ten minutes late for lunch with Callie’s parents due in large part to the pacing marathon he had in the parking deck. He had almost called his mother to beg her to go with him, but he knew she wouldn’t. She had not returned any of his calls. When he entered the lobby, he immediately spotted Callie’s mother and feeling like a man walking to the electric chair, he moved slowly and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"Hello, Mrs. Torres."
Melana put her hand on her hip and studied him. "Why if it isn’t Cheater. I didn’t think you would come. You have balls, George. I’ll happily remove them."
"That can wait," Raphael said, joining them. He narrowed his eyes at George and added, "As much as I’d love to rip your intestines out and choke you with them, I can’t deny my children anything and Cambyses called the honor this morning."
George’s mouth dropped open when Cambyses Torres joined them. He gazed up at the man, eyes wide, and didn’t blink at all. He resembled Callie, but he was wearing more leather than a human being should and he was solid muscle and ... and hair. His ice blue eyes were terrifying and his full lips were pulled back into a sneer. Swallowing hard, George held out his hand. "It’s nice to meet you, Cam. Callie, uh, she talks about you nonstop."
"The only way I would touch the hand of the man who hurt my sister would be if I cut it off and slapped you with it." Cam looked him up and down. "I’m surprised she didn’t beat me to it. There’s not much to you is there?"
George shifted uncomfortably and his eyes moved toward the door. If he ran, really fast, he could probably make it to the hospital with minimal damage. And hide. Cam seemed to read his mind because he reached out, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and pulled him into the restaurant where Blake was already waiting at a large, round table.
Blake stood and greeted George. "You must be the asshole."
"Apparently." George sat down. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Melana and said, "Have you heard from her? I mean - since she called the first night."
"No." Mel crossed her arms over her chest. "We know that she went to Los Angeles. She was injured and treated at a small hospital there."
"WHAT?" George put his elbows on the table and stared at Callie’s mother. "How? What happened to her?"
"Don’t tell him anything else," Cam said. "George, you lost the right to know *anything* about her. So don’t ask because we’re not telling."
"I’m still her husband."
"That’s easily rectified. And that’s why you’re here." Raphael put his briefcase on the table and pulled out an folder. "Washington is, thankfully, a community property state. Anything that you’ve purchased together, or that she has purchased for you, is considered divisible. I’m telling you to take it all. Anything that you two purchased is yours. You can also take her convertible and twenty-five thousand in cash. She wants out of this marriage. She asked me to begin the paperwork and here it is."
George stared at the folder. It scared him more than Cambyses. It put a pit of fire in his stomach that ached soul deep. "I don’t believe in divorce."
"You don’t believe in marriage either," Melana replied. "Marriage is about commitment and honoring your vows. Tell me, George, did you promise to forsake all others?"
"Yes." He swallowed hard when he remembered the way Callie’s hand had trembled in his while he spoke about undying devotion and cherishing her. "And I made a horrible mistake, but -"
"A mistake is when you balance your checkbook wrong," Blake interjected. "Cheating on the person who loves you and ripping their heart out ... that’s not a mistake. That’s attempted murder."
"Nicely worded, babe." Cam smiled and took Blake’s hand.
"I was listening to Rhianna on my iPod while I waited for you guys." Blake shrugged, then glowered at George. "But it’s still true, asshole."
Melana was studying Blake closely, wide eyed, but when he smiled at her, she quickly turned back to George. "It’s better if you agree to the divorce, George. We will pay for the entire thing and -"
"She’ll have to tell me this herself." George lifted his chin defiantly. "I have to hear her tell me that we’re finished."
"I would think that leaving town with a hot wrestler is a pretty good indication of where she stands," Cam told him. "You bring her down lower than she has ever been. She almost died because of you." He picked up the folder and held it out to George. "Take it. Look it over. I think you’ll find that we’ve been generous and considering the circumstances ... generosity is uncalled for."
George took the folder and laid it in his lap. "I know that this is hard to believe and I understand why ... but I love Callie. I really love her. And -"
"Then set her free," Blake interrupted. "Let her go. If you were meant to be with her then one day you will be."
George felt a lump in his throat and his eyes welled with tears. "This? This is attempted murder because losing her like this will kill me."
"Like this? You could have lived with her killing herself for you, but not this?" Cam raised a brow. "You better choose your words more carefully because you’re close to pissing me off."
"That’s not what I meant!" George snapped. "I - I can’t just give up without trying."
"You lied to her about the extent of your relationship with your mistress," Raph said. "She called me and told me. She said that you made her feel like trash. This is your chance to stop doing that to her, George. Take the papers. Look through them. Fill out any information that you feel is pertinent, but understand this ... my daughter always gets what she wants and if this is what she wants and you fight her ... then it will be a fight to the death. I’ll see to that."
"Dying would hurt less than this." George wiped the tears on his face.
"Apparently you made Callie think the same thing," Cam said. "And I think we’re done here. Take your papers and go."
It wasn’t until that moment that George realized that the waiter had never appeared to take their orders. He stood, handling the folder as if it contained a stool sample. "Can you at least tell me when she’s coming back."
"She’ll be home in time for her party." Melana saw her son in law’s eyes widen and added, "It’s no longer an elopement celebration. Your invitation is non-existent. This is a party for Callie, so that she can be surrounded by love for a change."
"*I* love her," George replied. "I love Callie. And -"
"If you gate crash this little shindig," Cam said. "It will be the last mistake you ever make. Now, go away, little gnat, before I swat you with something heavy. Like my boot."
Blake watched George walk away and glanced at Raphael. "You think he’ll sign it, Raph?"
"He’ll either use ink or his own blood. Either way, he’s going to let her go." Raph motioned for the waiter and said, "I believe that I can digest now. Let’s eat."
They ordered lunch and sat quietly for a few moments. Raph looked at Cam and said, "I’m going to leave her alone. Callie, I mean. She’ll come home when she’s ready. I won’t go after her."
"Good."
"That’s very noble, honey." Mel patted her husband’s hand and then looked at her son’s *boyfriend*. "Blake, that was quite an impressive display with the asshole. Wasn’t that what you called him?"
"Yes, ma’am." Shocked that Melana had addressed him at all, Blake hastily added. "Callie’s the sister I never had so I’ve got the over protective thing down to a science. I love her."
"I wasn’t aware that you two were so close."
"We are," Blake replied and if he was uptight in the least it didn’t show. "We usually talk about twice a week."
"I see. And what, pray tell, do the two of you have in common?"
"We both love Cambyses more than life itself. It creates a pretty strong bond."
Cam was watching his mother like a hawk. He also knew her very well. When her eyebrow arched high enough that it was hidden behind her bangs, he cleared his throat. "Mother, I’m still pretty happy over being able to threaten the asshole so can you not be a buzz kill?"
"What?" Mel asked innocently. "I was going to invite your - your - er, friend here to accompany me on a mission. I was supposed to be shopping for a dress with Louise, but considering that I want to hold her son down and suffocate him with a pillow, I can’t see us enjoying the day very much. Blake, we’ve never had the chance to get to know one another. Would you like to spend the afternoon with me?"
"Wolf in sheep’s clothing," Cam said in a sing-song voice.
"I’d love to, Mrs. Torres."
"Walking into the lion’s den," Cam continued in the same tone.
"You may call me, Melana, Blake." Mel reached out and pulled Cam’s hair, dragging him closer to her, but she was smiling. "And your sister has the voice, not you. So stop singing."
Cambyses grinned at her. "Looks like someone else has a buzz, too."
"There isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t enjoy bringing a bastard to his knees, son."
It had been years since Melana had referred to Cam as her son. It had also been years since she had smiled at him or touched him at all, really. He was elated. Reaching across the table, he put his hand on hers and said, "Mom, you could make the entire population of bastards not only fall to their knees, but worship at your feet."
"Yes, I know. Your sister has the same power apparently because Cheater was *broken*. And wasn’t it fun? I think I’ll have chocolate cake to celebrate his downfall."
"Okay, she scares me," Blake said softly.
Everyone at the table laughed.
*~*~*~*~*~
Domestication had its perks, Alex realized, on their fifth day together. He had never really gone to bed and woken up with the same woman more than once or twice, unless you counted Izzie which he refused to do. With Callie, he spent every waking and sleeping moment getting to know her. It was nice to notice subtle things about a lover. Callie liked to sleep with one hand under her cheek and she didn’t snore, but she did talk a little. Earlier that morning she had said ‘I’ve got femurs out the ass, Chief’ and it had caused him to laugh so hard it woke her up. She did *not* like being jarred awake and the look of death she had given him had caused him to laugh even harder ... which, naturally, led to sex.
Everything led to sex with Callie. Not that he was complaining.
There wasn’t an inhibited bone in her incredible body. She would bathe in front of him, cook naked in front of him, and they had even skinny dipped with the careless abandon of teenagers. They had behaved in a manner very unbecoming for two professional adults in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but they kept at it for hours. Her favorite position was on top, but she had no complaints if he took charge or flipped her onto her stomach ... or pinned her against the wall. They had *both* enjoyed the hell out of the galley counter top. Twice. And she got a thrill out of sitting on his lap in broad daylight, with him deeply inside her, while boats sped around them.
No ... she was not inhibited at all, but that wasn’t the best thing about her.
She liked to watch the sunset, but because she liked sleeping in more, she happily missed the sunrise. She laughed easily, but could have the driest sense of humor and sarcastic wit that he had ever heard. Her favorite thing to do, besides sex, was to play her endless assortment of video games and Alex didn’t have to let her win ... she beat him every time on her own. She could talk about college football scores with the same passion she usually reserved for ‘The Goonies’ and she knew all the terminology for wrestling after hearing them only once.
She was, in Alex’s opinion, everything a woman should be. Tender and hard. Funny and sad. Annoying and endearing. And best of all ... she was the best friend and *lover* he’d ever had. He *loved* her.
As both.
He had noticed something else, though. Something he hated. She would meet his eyes while they did the most perverted things humanly possible, but after, when her body finally calmed down, she would pull away and quickly find something else to do. She only let him hold her afterwards if they were falling asleep in her bed. And she wouldn’t look at him for a long time, even if she was talking to him. The first morning after their hot tub romp, she had put sunglasses on almost immediately. He had been forced to pull them off her in the shower.
He didn’t understand it, but he knew *why* she was doing it and it had to stop.
He was pulled from his thoughts by Callie asking him something. He turned his head and looked at her. "What did you say?"
"Can you dance?" Callie repeated, then finished slicing the tomato she was working on. "I mean, really dance."
Alex set aside the lettuce he had pulled apart and grinned. "My mother and I used to dance all the time. She said I was the best partner ever."
"Was she being truthful or being a mom?"
"Come here."
Callie dried her hands on a dishtowel and followed him into the middle of the salon. They were listening to a local station that they had picked up and Nickelback was singing ‘Far Away’. Alex bowed slightly in front of her, causing her to giggle like a crazy person, and then he took her in his arms and swept her across the room in a very nicely executed waltz. When the song ended, he dipped her backwards and kissed her.
"You’re wrong," she told him, still bent in the dip.
He stood them both up and said, "I can dance, Elvira."
"I mean you’re wrong about why you were the big man on campus. Wrestling had nothing to do with it." She kissed his nose. "Can you salsa?"
"Didn’t we do that in bed last night?"
"Can you do it vertically?"
"A dance is just a conversation between two people. Talk to me."
"‘Hope Floats’. Get your own material, quote man." She smiled at him and slipped a CD into the player. She smiled a little when Selena’s ‘Amor Prohibido’ began to play. It was a fitting song. "Now follow my lead."
She stepped forward. He stepped back. She swung her hips. He did the same. It took less than thirty minutes for him to catch on and when he did, he spun her out and back again, then his hands traced the contour of her hips in her swimsuit as they moved as one. She put her back to his chest and wiggled her ass against him, reaching behind her to grip his ass.
"Jesus, Callie. If this was a conversation between two people ... it would be outlawed in almost every state."
"Almost?"
"We’re gonna make it legal in Washington."
She turned and lifted her leg against his hip and he caught her behind the thigh and pulled back, stretching her into a half split as he went. Throwing her head back, she shimmied her shoulders and then came up fast, just in time for ‘Bitty Bitty Bom Bom’ to end. "I think you can salsa, Alex."
"I feel like we just had sex."
"Latin dances are notoriously sexy. This one’s mild in comparison."
"There are more?"
"Oh yeah. The cumbia, the mambo, the rumba."
"A mambo dancing Elvira."
"A waltzing jock. We’re both a walking oxymoron." Her stomach grumbled as she added, "We also forgot lunch."
"Wanna forget it a while longer?"
She smiled at him. "We should probably get a little more exercise before we eat bread."
The ‘exercised’ for close to an hour. Alex gazed down at her sweaty face and brushed her hair off her forehead. She didn’t meet his eyes.
He didn’t like it.
At all.
They ate their sandwiches on the deck. When Callie started the engine, brought up the anchor, and accelerated north, Alex frowned. "Every time you move this thing we get that much closer to Seattle."
"I know. I’ve purposely taken us away from land to make it last a little longer." She made a face. "But tomorrow we’re going to stop in San Francisco for the entire day. That should delay us a while."
"San Francisco? Why?"
"Well, there’s Alcatraz, Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge, and streetcars. There’s also a wax museum and the zoo kicks ass. I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen it *with* someone. Someone not related, I mean. So, if you want to sightsee I can totally get on board with that. I think you’d like it."
"I am sightseeing." He looked her up and down. "And I like it very much. But if you wanna play tour guide I’m in. Alcatraz, huh?"
"I knew you’d pick that. We’ll do the night tour. It’s scarier."
"It’s supposedly haunted, right?"
"Supposedly. But if you were a ghost would you really want to haunt a place like that? Four by eight cells, creepy fog, and it smells like death and piss. All the time. I’d rather haunt the water around it like Moaning Myrtle." She glanced at him and saw that his brow was furrowed. "Holy shit! I’ve finally stumped you!"
"Who or what is a Moaning Myrtle?"
"I *so* win. Go me!" She did a little dance in her seat. "Harry Potter. I am the champ!"
"I knew I should have read those damn books."
"She was in a couple of the movies, too. You *must* read the books though, Alex. They’re amazing." Smiling, she added, "Are you scared of ghosts?"
"Not at all." He swiveled in his chair so he could watch her. "Are you?"
"I don’t get scared. I lack a fear gene, remember?"
It was the perfect opportunity for Alex to respond with something that had been on his mind since they’d been together earlier. He seized the moment with both hands. "You’re scared of me. I can tell. You hold back just a little, just enough to make me worry."
She was shocked and quickly looked at him, then the horizon. "I do not."
"You don’t look at me after we have sex. You don’t strike me as the type to be bashful so it’s gotta be one of two things: you either regret it a little or you’re afraid of me and what I feel for you."
Callie swallowed and kept her eyes straight ahead. "You’re imagining things."
"Am I? Are you sure?"
"Of course I am."
"Look at me."
She shook her head. Her heart had lodged itself in her throat and she hated what was inevitably coming. Apparently this was *the* talk. "I have to watch what I’m doing. I’ll hit something."
"You told me when we dropped anchor last night that we were forty miles from the coast." Alex glanced out the windshield. Four sailboats dotted the water, but were far enough away that it would take several minutes to reach them. Standing, he slowed the boat to a stop himself, then took the key out of the ignition and turned her chair to face him. "Look at me, Callie."
She took a deep breath and met his eyes. "I’m looking."
He squatted beside her chair and took her hand. "This isn’t a fling for me. What we have ... it feels real. I think it is. And I know we keep saying that it’s fast and that we didn’t expect it, but I think I knew that I would fall for you when I picked you up and drove you to the hospital the night you almost died. It wasn’t just the gas in that car that got you there ... it was me. I think I could have outrun the wind on foot to make sure you were okay. It’s real. And I lo-"
"Oh, Alex, don’t." Callie stopped him with a hand over his mouth. She closed her eyes tightly. "Don’t say it. Please don’t say it."
He pushed her hand away. "You need to know where I stand! You need to know that because of what I feel for you ... I will *never* hurt you! So let your guard down! And *look* at me!"
"No." Callie got to her feet and moved past him. She walked to the back of the boat, running both hands through her hair. "Damn it, Alex! Don’t do this! Don’t make it weird! Don’t make it complicated or -"
"Or love you? Is that what you’re saying? You don’t want me to love you?"
"I don’t believe in love." She looked at him then, nostrils flaring slightly. "We’re good together, Alex. We’re having fun and when we get back to Seattle I want you in my life, but-"
"How do you want me in your life? Do you want me to be someone you call when you need your itch scratched or do you want me ... all of me?" He waited for her to say something and when she didn’t, he tossed her the keys. "That’s what I thought you’d say."
"Alex-"
"What?! People don’t take enough chances in life. You - you live your life for other people and the only chances you take are the ones that could kill you. You’d rather fly through a storm than trust me. Do you know how that makes me feel? I’m offering you a chance to start over with someone who *gets* you, with someone who *needs* you." He shook his head. "If I can’t love you what does that leave me?"
"I don’t know."
"Right."
Callie watched as he yanked open the door to the living quarters and disappeared down the stairs. She sat down on the lounger behind her and put her face in her hands. She had known that this was coming and had been dreading it like hell. She had known that Alex was getting invested, that he wanted more and she had encouraged it anyway. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, she knew that she wanted to be with him. Just ... not all the way. She couldn’t do all the way again because all the way meant that you only got pieces of yourself back when it all fell apart.
And nothing was forever.
For most of her life she had been the cynical one. She didn’t need a man to complete her. She was strong, independent, and she didn’t care because she was used to being alone. The poison of loving someone had killed the romantic dreamer she had become and put the cynic firmly back in place. It was a welcome relief to not have her heart involved.
‘That’s a lie,’ she thought. ‘You know good and damn well that you want to go downstairs and make love until you’re too sore to move. Because that’s what it is. You make love with him. You never really made love to George because he was in love with his friends. Coward. Would it really be so bad to fall again? You’re ready to fall. Just do it.’
Something splashed in the water behind her and she turned in time to see a dolphin. As she watched, several more began to spyhop, peering at her, splashing water at the yacht. She smiled and let the ladder down, then sat on it, her legs in the water. It took a while, but finally one of the larger dolphins came close enough for her to touch it. It darted away quickly when she ran her hand along its side, but returned just as fast, popping up between her knees.
"Hey there, you." Callie rubbed it on the head, tracing a scar that cut a mean looking crease. "If I come in the water are you gonna hurt me?"
The dolphin moved a little higher, butting at her hand. Another popped up beside it and she reached out, patting it as well. "I don’t have any food. Probably shouldn’t feed you, though, because most people aren’t as nice as me and might try to catch you. It’s not fun to be caught. I used to think it was. But when you’re caught ... you drown in shallow water every day."
She threw caution to the wind when the first dolphin went under and brushed against her leg, then appeared again. It was an open invitation and she slipped off the ladder, staying close to the boat. Just. In. Case. All at once, she was surrounded. The dolphins knocked into her, not hard, but rubbing at her body with their noses, with their sides. The same scarred porpoise surfaced right in front of her and splashed water in her face. She laughed out loud then and splashed back.
It rapidly became a game and all the dolphins wanted to splash and be splashed.
And their game took them further and further from the yacht.
Finally, winded, Callie rubbed the porpoise who had approached her first and said, "Did you know that dolphin is actually a Greek word? It’s really delphis and it means a fish with a womb." The animal looked her right in the eye and she smiled. "I’m an idiot. I’m talking to you like you know what I’m saying."
It splashed her again and she chuckled. "Okay, maybe you do."
She dove under and kept her eyes open, the salt burned, but the dolphins dove with her and she wanted to see them. She did a few flips under water, swimming like she had been born to do it, and when she surfaced again, the pod surfaced as well and blew water from their blow holes. They began to make noise as well and Callie felt like she was on top of the world and whistled at them. It intrigued them and they changed their sounds so Callie emulated them, laughing, when they watched her closely.
The mood of the animals changed so suddenly that Callie, dog paddling, began to feel uneasy. She glanced behind her and groaned. She had not put the anchor down on the yacht and the tide had carried it at least fifty feet away. The dolphins began to swim in a tight circle around her and she looked left and right, her heart thumping. She knew what that meant ... she knew it into her gut.
When the shark fin surfaced between her and the boat, she could only stare at it. It was large and moving slowly. It went under the water suddenly and she froze and promptly sank. Something brushed her leg and she screamed when she clawed her way back to the surface, the sound ripped from her throat hard enough to make her eyes water. "Oh my god. Oh my god oh my god ohmygodohmygod."
The scarred dolphin popped up in front of her and she looked at it. "I’m going to die," she whispered. "And I don’t want to."
"Callie?!"
She could see Alex on the boat now and she waved her arms frantically. "Shark! Alex, bring the boat!"
"WHAT?"
"SHARK!"
And then she screamed again because instead of bringing the boat, he dove into the water and began to swim toward her. "NO! NOOO!!!"
Callie swam harder than she had ever done in her life. The dolphins stayed close, still circling and when she finally made it to Alex, she yelled, "There’s a shark! Big! We have to get on the boat!"
The dolphins closed ranks around them as they headed back for the yacht. Alex stayed beside her and they were ten feet from the ladder when the shark resurfaced, blocking their path. He pulled out of a breast stroke and grabbed Callie, who was starting past him. "Holy mother of God," he said. "Baby, do not move."
The dolphins swarmed past them and the shark swam faster toward the nose of the yacht. Alex pushed her toward the ladder. "Go! Callie, go up the fucking ladder. Now!"
She was staring, wide eyed as the fin vanished again. "Alex-"
"GO!" Alex gripped her arms, pushing her until she gripped the ladder and scurried up it. He practically flew up the side of the yacht. They both stood, gazing down, as a huge great white bit the ladder a moment later and let go.
Callie’s legs buckled and she collapsed against the lounger. Alex sat beside her, breathing hard. Neither spoke for several minutes. When she could finally breathe without the threat of swallowing her tongue, she said, "I didn’t even think. We’re near the Farallon Islands and ... and the seals there ... they attract sharks." She touched his arm. "Are you okay?"
"No, Callie, I am not okay." He rubbed the salt water out of his eyes, which were red and still wide with fear. "I heard you scream and -" He looked at her. "Are *you* okay?"
"I’m pretty sure that I’ll have grey hair tomorrow, but I’m all right."
"That thing was at least fifteen feet long. You could have been killed."
"We both could have, Alex! Why the hell didn’t you just bring the boat?! Why did you jump in?!"
"You told me not to say it so I won’t, but that’s why. I figured I could get to you faster than the boat."
"You jumped right where the shark was! God, it scared me so bad. If anything happened to you-" She hugged him then, holding on for dear life. "That’s twice now that you’ve saved my life."
"And twice that you’ve tried to throw it away." He pushed her arms off him and stood. "I - I think that we should just skip San Francisco and go home."
"But-"
"We’ll always have Disneyland."
*~*~*~*~*~
*cries*
Will they make up? Will they break up?
Will the shark do a jaws and eat the boat?
Muwahahaha... :)