AU fic: Without you (11/?)
TITLE: Without you…
AUTHOR: sapphicwarrior
PAIRING: Callie/Erica
RATING: NC-1. warning: there is domestic abuse in this story!
DISCLAIMER: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
SUMMARY: This is AU, it’s been in my head for a while. A famous singer falls in love with a woman. It’s a love that is looked upon and has to happen secretly until something happens…
BETA: Thanks for my wonderful beta
mar_chel !!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is not a happy chapter for Callie....
Links to previous parts:
part 1: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/35601.html
part 2: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/36180.html
part 3: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/36754.html
part 4: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/37565.html
part 5: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/38211.html
part 6: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/39663.html
part 7: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/40086.html
part 8: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/40970.html
part 9: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/41401.html
part 10: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/42314.html
NEW PART:
Erica sat dumbfounded on the sofa. Callie had just run out on her. She had tried calling her, but she didn’t pick up. She had left several messages saying they should talk about it, but she hasn’t heard from her. It had been 6 hours since Callie left the house. Erica became increasingly worried by the minute. She feared that something may have happened to Callie; Jason beating her up, or a car accident. She had been very upset when she had left the house. All kinds of scenarios were going through her mind.
She remembered the advice her first girlfriend had given her a long time ago.
“Never date a straight girl.”
How could she have forgotten that? Easy, Callie made her forget everything she had ever learned, personally and professionally.
And now, her heart and her career were at stake. She had worked hard to get where she was professionally. Being an FBI agent was still a man’s world, even in the 21st century. She had sacrificed a lot to be who she was right now. She never had any long lasting relationships because her girlfriends couldn’t live with the fact no one could know about them. At work no one knew Erica was gay, some suspected, but she had never confirmed the rumours. She was the best undercover agent and now she had fallen in the same trap so many before her had fallen into: falling in love during your undercover assignment. She was jeopardizing the entire investigation. If Callie suddenly decided she didn’t want to see Erica ever again, her investigation was over and she could go and explain to McKinney just how close she had gotten to Calliope Torres.
The ringing of her cell phone made her jump up. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she had blocked out the world around her. She looked at the display. It didn’t show who was calling.
“Erica Hahn speaking”, she answered the unknown phone call.
“Good evening Ms. Hahn, I’m Sergeant Sterchele from the LAPD.”
“Good evening”, Erica said in a shaky voice. It was never good when the police called you unexpectedly.
“I’ve got Ms. Calliope Torres here at the station near the Boulevard. Could you come over to the station?”
“Callie is there? Is she okay? What happened?” Erica rambled into the phone. She was already picking her keys and her wallet from the kitchen table and was already out of the door before she got the answer.
“She’s fine, Ms. Hahn, but she ran into a bit of trouble. I’ll explain more when you get here.”
“I’ll be there in 30 minutes, Sergeant.”
Several things were going through Erica’s mind on the way to the police station. She wondered what kind of trouble Callie had gotten into. She hoped it was nothing serious and that she didn’t have to blow her cover. She got to the police station in record time and after only 20 minutes she pulled into the parking lot. Erica practically ran into the police station.
“I’m here for Sergeant Sterchele. Erica Hahn”, she quickly said to the clerk at the reception.
“I’ll give him a call. You can wait over there”, he said, pointing to some chairs near the entrance.
Erica preferred to stand, she was too anxious to sit quietly and wait for news regarding Callie. If Callie was here, that meant she wasn’t hurt, or at least not too badly. But why was Callie here? What kind of trouble did Callie get herself into?
“Ms. Hahn?” she heard someone calling her name.
“Yes?”
“I’m Sergeant Sterchele. Thank you for coming”, he said, shaking her hand.
“Is she okay? What happened?” she quickly followed the sergeant. They went into an interrogation room.
Erica’s heart stopped beating for a second when she saw Callie sitting in complete misery. It was obvious she hadn’t stopped crying for some time. Her hair was dishevelled, her make-up was running and she had a big bump on her forehead.
Erica immediately went to her.
“Callie, what happened?” Erica softly asked.
She got no response, Callie only started crying harder.
“Shh, Cal, it’s okay, everything will be okay, just calm down”, she soothed Callie. She softly stroked her hair.
“What happened, Sergeant?” Erica asked the police officer.
“She got into a car accident, nothing serious, but she has been drinking. She got completely hysterical when we got there and kept calling for ‘Erica’. So I checked her cell phone for an Erica and found your number”, Sergeant Sterchele told Erica.
“How much did she have to drink, Sergeant?”
“Not that much, but enough to show.”
Erica sighed. The press would be all over this tomorrow. And Callie already had so much to deal with right now.
“Callie, sweetie, I have to talk to the Sergeant, but I’ll be right back. Will you be okay?” Erica gently asked.
Callie nodded.
Erica motioned the Sergeant to go outside with her.
“What are the charges against her?”
“DUI. She’ll probably lose her driver’s license for a while. She didn’t hurt anyone with the accident. She ran into a tree.”
“Can I take her home or does she have to stay? I can bring her back tomorrow for her statement. That’s no problem. I just don’t think she’s is any state to declare much right now. She seems pretty upset. “
“No problem, Ms. Hahn.”
“I hope the squad treats this with the necessary professionalism and doesn’t go and call around to tell who was at the station tonight.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“Good.”
Erica went back inside the interrogation room. She gathered Callie’s things.
“Come on, Cal, we’re going home.”
“I’m sorry”, Callie whispered before she started crying again.
“Let’s go home and we can talk there.” Erica supported Callie. Callie was shaking all over her body. Erica put her arm around Callie. Erica agreed with the Sergeant, she couldn’t have drank that much because she was still walking pretty straight.
When they were about to leave the interrogation room, Sergeant Sterchele came back in.
“Ms. Hahn, you’d better take the backdoor out, there are paparazzi out front”, he announced.
“Damn it. Thanks for warning us. Can you lead the way?”
Sergeant Sterchele led them to the backdoor and to the parking lot. Because all the paparazzi were at the front door, they didn’t see how a blonde woman and a dark haired woman got into a car and sped away.
***************************************************************************
Callie was staring out of the window during the ride home. She couldn’t stop crying, no matter how hard she tried. She was sure that Erica hated her for what she had done. That thought alone made more tears appear. She hadn’t planned on getting drunk, but she wasn’t used to drinking, so after only a few beers, she was already light-headed. She knew she shouldn’t have driven her car, but she didn’t know who she could call to pick her up. She was afraid to call Erica, to disappoint her. Now Erica would surely be very disappointed in her.
Erica stopped the car in front of the house.
“Callie, we’re here.”
Erica got no reaction from the younger woman. She had noticed that during the ride Callie had been into a world of her own with her thoughts.
“Sweetie, we’re here, time to get out of the car”, Erica said, gently putting her hand on Callie’s arm.
Callie only nodded.
Erica guided Callie to the living room. She went to sit beside her and kept holding her.
“Are you hurt from the accident, Cal? Do you need a doctor? You have a pretty nasty bump on your head.”
Callie looked at Erica through teary eyes. “How can you be so concerned for me after what I’ve done?”
“Oh, Cal, sweetie. It’s true you shouldn’t have been drinking and driving, but we all make mistakes sometimes. You didn’t hurt anyone…”
“I hurt you”, Callie interrupted Erica on a whispering tone.
“That’s okay, don’t worry about it. I’m glad nothing serious happened to you.”
“No, Erica, it’s not okay, I hurt you with what I said before I left. And now I had that stupid accident… I’m so sorry…” Callie started crying again.
It broke Erica’s heart to see the other woman so broken, so desperate. She wished she could take away all the pain.
“Callie, I won’t deny it didn’t hurt me what you said, but I understand what you are going through right now. You’re lost and confused. But like I said, I’m still your friend and you can still talk to me. That won’t change. I don’t regret what happened between us, it was one of the best things happening to me in a long time. But if it makes you feel better, I can forget all about it and just be your friend again. I care for you a lot, Callie.”
“I don’t want to forget what happened between us, it was too beautiful to forget. But right now I can’t deal with Jason and you at the same time. So I have to put my feelings for you aside for a while, even though I don’t want to. When I have to kiss Jason, I can’t have images of you floating around in my head”, Callie tried explaining.
“It’s okay, I understand. Do you want me to go away for a while?” Erica asked with pain in her voice. She didn’t want to leave Callie alone with Jason, but maybe Callie needed her to go away for a while.
“No”, Callie quickly said. “No, please, will you stay?” she asked in a small voice.
“Of course I’ll stay if you want me to, Callie. Like I said, I’m still your friend.”
“Thank you.” Callie hugged Erica. It felt so good to feel her friend’s body against her own again. She immediately felt safe and forgot all her worries. Erica did that to her.
“How’s your head?” Erica asked. She wanted to make sure that Callie didn’t need a doctor.
“It hurts a bit, but I think it’s more from the alcohol I drank than from the bump on my head. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
They sat in silence for a while.
“This will be all over the press tomorrow, won’t it?” Callie asked.
Erica nodded. “We got out unseen, but the front door was packed with paparazzi. That’s what Sergeant Sterchele said.”
“Great, just great. Carlos will be furious when he finds out about this. And Jason… God, I don’t want to think about it yet.”
“Let’s deal with that tomorrow. Now it’s just us that knows, let’s deal with the rest tomorrow. Have you eaten something since you left the house?”
Callie shook her head.
“I’ll call for pizza and after we’ve eaten, we can relax a bit and watch a movie, if you want”, Erica shyly asked.
“That sounds great. Thanks. I’ll take a shower while we wait for the pizza. I feel dirty.”
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll call when the pizza gets here.”
Erica called Callie when the delivery man came with the pizza. They ate in silence. Both were engrossed in their own thoughts. To Callie it became increasingly hard to be in such close proximity with Erica without holding her and kissing her. She wanted nothing more than to feel loved in the arms or Erica.
“It’s really hard not to kiss you right now”, Callie suddenly blurted out.
She saw the shocked look on Erica’s face.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have…” she started apologizing.
“No”, Erica stopped Callie, “I’m having the same problem… it’s very hard not to kiss you.”
They continued eating in silence.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to watch a movie together tonight”, Callie said to Erica while cleaning up after they finished the pizza.
“Probably not. Will you be okay alone?”
“Yes. I have to go through some songs anyway. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget you have to go to the police station for your statement tomorrow.”
“I know. Will you come with me, please?”
“If you want me to.”
They stood looking at each other awkwardly, both fighting the urge to hug.
“Oh… what the hell”, Callie suddenly said. Before Erica could pull away, she hugged her. Immediately two strong arms engulfed her. Callie breathed in the unique scent that was Erica.
“We can still hug, right? I mean, I really need your hugs, I feel so much better afterwards”, Callie murmured.
“Sure, we can still hug, Cal. Friends hug all the time”, Erica heard herself say.
“Friends don’t hug all the time and they don’t hug as long as we do now”, Erica thought.
***************************************************************************
Like Callie had predicted her DUI was all over the news the next day. She felt horrible, even more so after hearing several messages from Jason, Carlos and her mother. She was on her way to the police station to make her statement. Erica was driving because she didn’t feel like driving again any time soon.
They got to the police station without any problems. Callie noticed with relief that there weren’t any photographers waiting for her at the police station. Together with Erica she quickly went inside.
“I’m here to see Sergeant Sterchele”, Callie said to the receptionist.
“He’s not in right now, but I’ll give him a call to let him know you are waiting for him. What’s your name, Miss?”
“Torres”, Callie simply said. She was sure the clerk had recognized her, but she didn’t want to give her full name.
“You can wait there Ms. Torres”, he said pointing to the same chairs Erica had refused sitting onto yesterday evening.
“Thank you.”
Together they sat down, waiting for the Sergeant to come back in.
“Jason was pissed when he called me. He was more pissed why I hadn’t called him then by the fact I was in an accident. Can you believe that?” Callie whispered to Erica.
“It doesn’t surprise me, Cal. Call him afterwards and say you were too embarrassed or something to call him. Or that you didn’t want him to worry about you until you were sure you were okay.” Erica hated giving that advice to Callie, but it was imperative for the investigation that Callie stayed together with Jason for now.
“Carlos was mad as hell too. I’ve never heard him yelling like that at me. And then I’m not even talking about my mother. God, this is such a mess. I’m never drinking alcohol again”, Callie sighed.
Erica wanted to answer that, but she heard Sergeant Sterchele calling for Callie.
“Cal, the Sergeant is here.”
“Sergeant Sterchele, good morning”, Callie greeted the police officer.
“Ms. Torres, you look much better than last night. Ms. Hahn”, he greeted them. “Follow me.”
They followed him into an empty interrogation room. Erica was glad the interrogation wasn’t being held at his desk. This way Callie would have some privacy.
“How are you feeling, Ms. Torres?” the Sergeant asked.
“I’m fine, just very embarrassed about what I’ve done. Erica told me that I face DUI charges”, Callie said.
“That’s true. Can you remember what happened yesterday evening?”
Callie nodded. Her eyes filled with tears. “I was upset. I left my house and drove aimlessly for some time. I don’t know why, but suddenly I stopped at a bar to have a drink. I haven’t drunk any alcohol in ages, so it only took me a few beers to get drunk. I noticed the time and I wanted to head back to … E.. my house.”
Callie cursed herself for almost having said in an official police statement that she was heading back to Erica. But Erica had caught the lapse in Callie’s sentence.
“I knew I shouldn’t have been driving, but I didn’t want to call anyone to pick me up. Stubborn me. So I decided to take the risk. Bad choice it turned out. I didn’t see very well where I was driving, not because of the beers I had, but because I was crying. And suddenly I saw a tree in front of my car and I couldn’t avoid it.”
Callie started crying again.
“Don’t cry anymore, Cal”, Erica soothed her. Without thinking she put her arm around Callie to comfort her. “You made a mistake, that’s all. We all make mistakes.”
Sergeant Sterchele was watching the interaction between the two women. They seemed very close. As far as he remembered from the gossip magazines his daughters bought, Calliope had a boyfriend, but when he saw her crying into the arms of Erica Hahn, he started thinking that maybe the boyfriend was a façade. He was glad Calliope had someone to take care of her after the accident and if it was a woman who made her happy, then who was he to judge that? He hoped that one day she’d be strong enough to tell the world about Erica Hahn.
After a while Callie calmed down. “What will happen now, Sergeant? What’s the procedure? Will I have to go to court?”
“Probably. This report will be send to the DEA and than he’ll decide whether to prosecute or not. If he decided to prosecute, you’ll be called into court.”
“I’ll accept whatever punishment the judge decides.”
“Thank you for coming over for your statement, Ms. Torres.”
“No problem. Can I go now?”
“Yes. Have a nice day, ladies.”
“Thank you.”
Sergeant Sterchele was watching the two women as they left the station. Callie was still clinging to Erica and Erica welcomed the closeness of her friend.
“Definitely something going on between those two”, he thought to himself.
A/N: I want to thank you all for the wonderful comments :D, it really means a lot to me! Thank you all for taking the time to read my stories and comment on them!.
AUTHOR: sapphicwarrior
PAIRING: Callie/Erica
RATING: NC-1. warning: there is domestic abuse in this story!
DISCLAIMER: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
SUMMARY: This is AU, it’s been in my head for a while. A famous singer falls in love with a woman. It’s a love that is looked upon and has to happen secretly until something happens…
BETA: Thanks for my wonderful beta
mar_chel !!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is not a happy chapter for Callie....
Links to previous parts:
part 1: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/35601.html
part 2: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/36180.html
part 3: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/36754.html
part 4: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/37565.html
part 5: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/38211.html
part 6: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/39663.html
part 7: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/40086.html
part 8: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/40970.html
part 9: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/41401.html
part 10: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/42314.html
NEW PART:
Erica sat dumbfounded on the sofa. Callie had just run out on her. She had tried calling her, but she didn’t pick up. She had left several messages saying they should talk about it, but she hasn’t heard from her. It had been 6 hours since Callie left the house. Erica became increasingly worried by the minute. She feared that something may have happened to Callie; Jason beating her up, or a car accident. She had been very upset when she had left the house. All kinds of scenarios were going through her mind.
She remembered the advice her first girlfriend had given her a long time ago.
“Never date a straight girl.”
How could she have forgotten that? Easy, Callie made her forget everything she had ever learned, personally and professionally.
And now, her heart and her career were at stake. She had worked hard to get where she was professionally. Being an FBI agent was still a man’s world, even in the 21st century. She had sacrificed a lot to be who she was right now. She never had any long lasting relationships because her girlfriends couldn’t live with the fact no one could know about them. At work no one knew Erica was gay, some suspected, but she had never confirmed the rumours. She was the best undercover agent and now she had fallen in the same trap so many before her had fallen into: falling in love during your undercover assignment. She was jeopardizing the entire investigation. If Callie suddenly decided she didn’t want to see Erica ever again, her investigation was over and she could go and explain to McKinney just how close she had gotten to Calliope Torres.
The ringing of her cell phone made her jump up. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she had blocked out the world around her. She looked at the display. It didn’t show who was calling.
“Erica Hahn speaking”, she answered the unknown phone call.
“Good evening Ms. Hahn, I’m Sergeant Sterchele from the LAPD.”
“Good evening”, Erica said in a shaky voice. It was never good when the police called you unexpectedly.
“I’ve got Ms. Calliope Torres here at the station near the Boulevard. Could you come over to the station?”
“Callie is there? Is she okay? What happened?” Erica rambled into the phone. She was already picking her keys and her wallet from the kitchen table and was already out of the door before she got the answer.
“She’s fine, Ms. Hahn, but she ran into a bit of trouble. I’ll explain more when you get here.”
“I’ll be there in 30 minutes, Sergeant.”
Several things were going through Erica’s mind on the way to the police station. She wondered what kind of trouble Callie had gotten into. She hoped it was nothing serious and that she didn’t have to blow her cover. She got to the police station in record time and after only 20 minutes she pulled into the parking lot. Erica practically ran into the police station.
“I’m here for Sergeant Sterchele. Erica Hahn”, she quickly said to the clerk at the reception.
“I’ll give him a call. You can wait over there”, he said, pointing to some chairs near the entrance.
Erica preferred to stand, she was too anxious to sit quietly and wait for news regarding Callie. If Callie was here, that meant she wasn’t hurt, or at least not too badly. But why was Callie here? What kind of trouble did Callie get herself into?
“Ms. Hahn?” she heard someone calling her name.
“Yes?”
“I’m Sergeant Sterchele. Thank you for coming”, he said, shaking her hand.
“Is she okay? What happened?” she quickly followed the sergeant. They went into an interrogation room.
Erica’s heart stopped beating for a second when she saw Callie sitting in complete misery. It was obvious she hadn’t stopped crying for some time. Her hair was dishevelled, her make-up was running and she had a big bump on her forehead.
Erica immediately went to her.
“Callie, what happened?” Erica softly asked.
She got no response, Callie only started crying harder.
“Shh, Cal, it’s okay, everything will be okay, just calm down”, she soothed Callie. She softly stroked her hair.
“What happened, Sergeant?” Erica asked the police officer.
“She got into a car accident, nothing serious, but she has been drinking. She got completely hysterical when we got there and kept calling for ‘Erica’. So I checked her cell phone for an Erica and found your number”, Sergeant Sterchele told Erica.
“How much did she have to drink, Sergeant?”
“Not that much, but enough to show.”
Erica sighed. The press would be all over this tomorrow. And Callie already had so much to deal with right now.
“Callie, sweetie, I have to talk to the Sergeant, but I’ll be right back. Will you be okay?” Erica gently asked.
Callie nodded.
Erica motioned the Sergeant to go outside with her.
“What are the charges against her?”
“DUI. She’ll probably lose her driver’s license for a while. She didn’t hurt anyone with the accident. She ran into a tree.”
“Can I take her home or does she have to stay? I can bring her back tomorrow for her statement. That’s no problem. I just don’t think she’s is any state to declare much right now. She seems pretty upset. “
“No problem, Ms. Hahn.”
“I hope the squad treats this with the necessary professionalism and doesn’t go and call around to tell who was at the station tonight.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“Good.”
Erica went back inside the interrogation room. She gathered Callie’s things.
“Come on, Cal, we’re going home.”
“I’m sorry”, Callie whispered before she started crying again.
“Let’s go home and we can talk there.” Erica supported Callie. Callie was shaking all over her body. Erica put her arm around Callie. Erica agreed with the Sergeant, she couldn’t have drank that much because she was still walking pretty straight.
When they were about to leave the interrogation room, Sergeant Sterchele came back in.
“Ms. Hahn, you’d better take the backdoor out, there are paparazzi out front”, he announced.
“Damn it. Thanks for warning us. Can you lead the way?”
Sergeant Sterchele led them to the backdoor and to the parking lot. Because all the paparazzi were at the front door, they didn’t see how a blonde woman and a dark haired woman got into a car and sped away.
***************************************************************************
Callie was staring out of the window during the ride home. She couldn’t stop crying, no matter how hard she tried. She was sure that Erica hated her for what she had done. That thought alone made more tears appear. She hadn’t planned on getting drunk, but she wasn’t used to drinking, so after only a few beers, she was already light-headed. She knew she shouldn’t have driven her car, but she didn’t know who she could call to pick her up. She was afraid to call Erica, to disappoint her. Now Erica would surely be very disappointed in her.
Erica stopped the car in front of the house.
“Callie, we’re here.”
Erica got no reaction from the younger woman. She had noticed that during the ride Callie had been into a world of her own with her thoughts.
“Sweetie, we’re here, time to get out of the car”, Erica said, gently putting her hand on Callie’s arm.
Callie only nodded.
Erica guided Callie to the living room. She went to sit beside her and kept holding her.
“Are you hurt from the accident, Cal? Do you need a doctor? You have a pretty nasty bump on your head.”
Callie looked at Erica through teary eyes. “How can you be so concerned for me after what I’ve done?”
“Oh, Cal, sweetie. It’s true you shouldn’t have been drinking and driving, but we all make mistakes sometimes. You didn’t hurt anyone…”
“I hurt you”, Callie interrupted Erica on a whispering tone.
“That’s okay, don’t worry about it. I’m glad nothing serious happened to you.”
“No, Erica, it’s not okay, I hurt you with what I said before I left. And now I had that stupid accident… I’m so sorry…” Callie started crying again.
It broke Erica’s heart to see the other woman so broken, so desperate. She wished she could take away all the pain.
“Callie, I won’t deny it didn’t hurt me what you said, but I understand what you are going through right now. You’re lost and confused. But like I said, I’m still your friend and you can still talk to me. That won’t change. I don’t regret what happened between us, it was one of the best things happening to me in a long time. But if it makes you feel better, I can forget all about it and just be your friend again. I care for you a lot, Callie.”
“I don’t want to forget what happened between us, it was too beautiful to forget. But right now I can’t deal with Jason and you at the same time. So I have to put my feelings for you aside for a while, even though I don’t want to. When I have to kiss Jason, I can’t have images of you floating around in my head”, Callie tried explaining.
“It’s okay, I understand. Do you want me to go away for a while?” Erica asked with pain in her voice. She didn’t want to leave Callie alone with Jason, but maybe Callie needed her to go away for a while.
“No”, Callie quickly said. “No, please, will you stay?” she asked in a small voice.
“Of course I’ll stay if you want me to, Callie. Like I said, I’m still your friend.”
“Thank you.” Callie hugged Erica. It felt so good to feel her friend’s body against her own again. She immediately felt safe and forgot all her worries. Erica did that to her.
“How’s your head?” Erica asked. She wanted to make sure that Callie didn’t need a doctor.
“It hurts a bit, but I think it’s more from the alcohol I drank than from the bump on my head. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
They sat in silence for a while.
“This will be all over the press tomorrow, won’t it?” Callie asked.
Erica nodded. “We got out unseen, but the front door was packed with paparazzi. That’s what Sergeant Sterchele said.”
“Great, just great. Carlos will be furious when he finds out about this. And Jason… God, I don’t want to think about it yet.”
“Let’s deal with that tomorrow. Now it’s just us that knows, let’s deal with the rest tomorrow. Have you eaten something since you left the house?”
Callie shook her head.
“I’ll call for pizza and after we’ve eaten, we can relax a bit and watch a movie, if you want”, Erica shyly asked.
“That sounds great. Thanks. I’ll take a shower while we wait for the pizza. I feel dirty.”
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll call when the pizza gets here.”
Erica called Callie when the delivery man came with the pizza. They ate in silence. Both were engrossed in their own thoughts. To Callie it became increasingly hard to be in such close proximity with Erica without holding her and kissing her. She wanted nothing more than to feel loved in the arms or Erica.
“It’s really hard not to kiss you right now”, Callie suddenly blurted out.
She saw the shocked look on Erica’s face.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have…” she started apologizing.
“No”, Erica stopped Callie, “I’m having the same problem… it’s very hard not to kiss you.”
They continued eating in silence.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to watch a movie together tonight”, Callie said to Erica while cleaning up after they finished the pizza.
“Probably not. Will you be okay alone?”
“Yes. I have to go through some songs anyway. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget you have to go to the police station for your statement tomorrow.”
“I know. Will you come with me, please?”
“If you want me to.”
They stood looking at each other awkwardly, both fighting the urge to hug.
“Oh… what the hell”, Callie suddenly said. Before Erica could pull away, she hugged her. Immediately two strong arms engulfed her. Callie breathed in the unique scent that was Erica.
“We can still hug, right? I mean, I really need your hugs, I feel so much better afterwards”, Callie murmured.
“Sure, we can still hug, Cal. Friends hug all the time”, Erica heard herself say.
“Friends don’t hug all the time and they don’t hug as long as we do now”, Erica thought.
***************************************************************************
Like Callie had predicted her DUI was all over the news the next day. She felt horrible, even more so after hearing several messages from Jason, Carlos and her mother. She was on her way to the police station to make her statement. Erica was driving because she didn’t feel like driving again any time soon.
They got to the police station without any problems. Callie noticed with relief that there weren’t any photographers waiting for her at the police station. Together with Erica she quickly went inside.
“I’m here to see Sergeant Sterchele”, Callie said to the receptionist.
“He’s not in right now, but I’ll give him a call to let him know you are waiting for him. What’s your name, Miss?”
“Torres”, Callie simply said. She was sure the clerk had recognized her, but she didn’t want to give her full name.
“You can wait there Ms. Torres”, he said pointing to the same chairs Erica had refused sitting onto yesterday evening.
“Thank you.”
Together they sat down, waiting for the Sergeant to come back in.
“Jason was pissed when he called me. He was more pissed why I hadn’t called him then by the fact I was in an accident. Can you believe that?” Callie whispered to Erica.
“It doesn’t surprise me, Cal. Call him afterwards and say you were too embarrassed or something to call him. Or that you didn’t want him to worry about you until you were sure you were okay.” Erica hated giving that advice to Callie, but it was imperative for the investigation that Callie stayed together with Jason for now.
“Carlos was mad as hell too. I’ve never heard him yelling like that at me. And then I’m not even talking about my mother. God, this is such a mess. I’m never drinking alcohol again”, Callie sighed.
Erica wanted to answer that, but she heard Sergeant Sterchele calling for Callie.
“Cal, the Sergeant is here.”
“Sergeant Sterchele, good morning”, Callie greeted the police officer.
“Ms. Torres, you look much better than last night. Ms. Hahn”, he greeted them. “Follow me.”
They followed him into an empty interrogation room. Erica was glad the interrogation wasn’t being held at his desk. This way Callie would have some privacy.
“How are you feeling, Ms. Torres?” the Sergeant asked.
“I’m fine, just very embarrassed about what I’ve done. Erica told me that I face DUI charges”, Callie said.
“That’s true. Can you remember what happened yesterday evening?”
Callie nodded. Her eyes filled with tears. “I was upset. I left my house and drove aimlessly for some time. I don’t know why, but suddenly I stopped at a bar to have a drink. I haven’t drunk any alcohol in ages, so it only took me a few beers to get drunk. I noticed the time and I wanted to head back to … E.. my house.”
Callie cursed herself for almost having said in an official police statement that she was heading back to Erica. But Erica had caught the lapse in Callie’s sentence.
“I knew I shouldn’t have been driving, but I didn’t want to call anyone to pick me up. Stubborn me. So I decided to take the risk. Bad choice it turned out. I didn’t see very well where I was driving, not because of the beers I had, but because I was crying. And suddenly I saw a tree in front of my car and I couldn’t avoid it.”
Callie started crying again.
“Don’t cry anymore, Cal”, Erica soothed her. Without thinking she put her arm around Callie to comfort her. “You made a mistake, that’s all. We all make mistakes.”
Sergeant Sterchele was watching the interaction between the two women. They seemed very close. As far as he remembered from the gossip magazines his daughters bought, Calliope had a boyfriend, but when he saw her crying into the arms of Erica Hahn, he started thinking that maybe the boyfriend was a façade. He was glad Calliope had someone to take care of her after the accident and if it was a woman who made her happy, then who was he to judge that? He hoped that one day she’d be strong enough to tell the world about Erica Hahn.
After a while Callie calmed down. “What will happen now, Sergeant? What’s the procedure? Will I have to go to court?”
“Probably. This report will be send to the DEA and than he’ll decide whether to prosecute or not. If he decided to prosecute, you’ll be called into court.”
“I’ll accept whatever punishment the judge decides.”
“Thank you for coming over for your statement, Ms. Torres.”
“No problem. Can I go now?”
“Yes. Have a nice day, ladies.”
“Thank you.”
Sergeant Sterchele was watching the two women as they left the station. Callie was still clinging to Erica and Erica welcomed the closeness of her friend.
“Definitely something going on between those two”, he thought to himself.
A/N: I want to thank you all for the wonderful comments :D, it really means a lot to me! Thank you all for taking the time to read my stories and comment on them!.