Fic: The Next Morning, Chapter 12 -Sleepless in Miami (CSI Miami, Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko)
Title: The Next Morning, Chapter 12 -Sleepless in Miami
Author: FinnishSphinx
Rating: PG
Fandom: CSI Miami
Pairings: Ryan Wolf/ Eric Delko
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: They are not mine, just using them for
amusement...
Eric looked through the window to the break room. Ryan had stayed like that for the
last four minutes, not even moving. Sitting on the couch, head resting in his hands.
Something was definitely not right. He took a deep breath and stepped into the
break room.
"You okay?" Eric sat down next to him on the couch. Ryan raised his head from his
hands and stared at Eric for a while, before he got his mind to operate normally.
"Yeah, I guess. I got some news from Boston."
"I thought you and your family weren`t speaking."
"Me and my parent are not speaking, the rest of them are a different story. One of
my cousins called me. They want me to go back for the funeral."
"Who died?"
"My aunt Olivia. Well, she wasn`t exactly my aunt, all the kids just called her that,
it was simpler. She was my mother`s aunt, lived to be hundred and two."
"I`m sorry. Was she very close to you?"
Ryan blinked and bursted out in uncontrolled laughter. Eric had no idea what was
going on. Finally Ryan calmed down and wiped some tears from his eyes.
"She was a horrible, old witch, who always smelled like badly maintained cats.
She hated everyone, and everyone hated her."
"Okay I think I got it. Your upset about the funeral."
"Well, yeah. It will be awful, but it will probably go just like cousin Emma`s wedding
last year. First we`ll have coffee and talk about the weather, what`s in the news,
how everyone is doing, then we`ll have coffee and cake and recycle the same topics.
Finally we`ll put false smiles on our faces and say how we have to get together more
often. And then we have coffee."
"Sounds cheerful. But maybe Horatio won`t let you go."
"He does, I already asked him. The funeral is on Monday and I`ll be back in Miami on
Friday."
Eric poured both of them some coffee and gave the other mug to Ryan. "If the funeral
is on Monday, why do you stay so long?"
"They asked everyone to stay, if possible. They are settling things about her estate
and that kind of things." Ryan sighted and changed the topic. "I`m gonna have to call
your mom before I leave and ask if she would feed you while I`m gone. If I leave you
on your own for five days, you`ll be starved to death before I get back."
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Eric turned from his back to his front and back again. For some reason sleep had
been avoiding him for the past three nights. He sighed and thought about it.
He knew exactly why he couldn`t sleep. It was because he was alone in the bed.
Usually Ryan would be wrapped around him, radiating heat like an electric
blanket.
It had been weird enough to work with some stranger from the night shift, who was
replacing Ryan for a week, but that was something he could deal with. He had been
eating at his mother`s house every night since Ryan had left on Sunday, but that
was something he had done a lot before. The most awkward moments were those,
when he was alone, with nothing to take his attention somewhere else. Ryan had
called him every day, but it was a small relief.
Ryan would be back in two days, but Eric wasn`t sure if he could make it that far
without going crazy. The withdrawal symptoms were only getting worse.
In the dark bedroom something started buzzing. Eric reached for his nightstand and
flipped his cell phone open."Hey, babe."
"Hey, did I wake you?"
"No, I was still awake."
"Me too. I`ve been having hard time sleeping. I haven`t really been alone in bed for
some time."
"I know, I have the same problem." Eric relaxed and settled himself to a comfortable
position on the bed. "How are doing there?"
"I`m fine. It`s been pretty awful, but this will be over in two days. You?"
"The usual, catching bad guys, doing my duty as a pilar of society..."
"Yeah, right.. How`s my substitute?"
"He`s not you."
"Good, otherwise I would have had to kick his ass."
Eric chuckled. "No asskicking needed. And my mom told me to say hello from her.
She want`s us to go there for dinner on Saturday."
"Sounds good. I`ll be back sometime Friday evening,so it should be fine."
"Now that we are talking about them......"
"Yeah?"
"What have you been doing with my papa?"
"I don`t know what you mean."
"He wanted me to ask you if next Wednesday is good for you."
"Oh that.. tell him Wednesdays fine."
"I still can`t believe it."
"Believe what?"
"That he asked you to go bowling with him and his buddies."
"What`s so unbelievable about it?"
"The fact, that he has never asked me to go with them!"
Ryan giggled. "Well, he told me about the times he tried to teach you when you
were a kid. He said that you... what was that description... oh yeah... He said
you were like a little girl playing with a rag doll."
The sentence was followed by long silence. Finally Eric had to give in and he
started laughing. Ryan joined him and both men chortled.
"Anyway..." Eric wiped away some tears the laughter had brought to his eyes.
"I`ve missed you."
"I`ve missed you too. But I`ll be back in two days. Are you gonna pick me up
from the airport?" The question ended with a long yawn.
"Of course I am. I want you back here as soon as possible."
"Good." Ryan chuckled. His voice was turning into sleepy murmur.
"I love you."
That last sentence snapped Eric back from his drowsy state. Neither one of them
had actually said it out loud, but it felt damn good to hear Ryan say it.
"I love you too." Eric said and leaned his head against the soft pillow. The only
response was Ryan`s faint snoring on the other end of the line.
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