Wherever I'm With You, Chapter 8
Jul. 19th, 2011 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rillaliciousChapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
"How's Caroline healing up?"
"She's doing better. She would've probably been walking on it just fine if she'd used the crutches like they told her to."
"It's not like you didn't know she's hard-headed. So, did you guys talk about anything yet?"
"Not yet. It's starting to feel like nothing ever happened, and I'd look like an ass if I brought it up now."
"Just to show that I've turned over a new leaf now that I'm in a relationship, I'm going to leave that one alone."
"I appreciate it. How's Rita doing, anyway?"
"We're, uh, gonna look at places next week."
"Whoa, wait. Seriously? You're moving in with her? It's been like, what, two weeks?"
"Six weeks, Colby. And my lease isn't up for another six weeks. We're just looking right now."
"Yeah, but I haven't even met her yet."
"What are you, my mom? You want to meet her, you get your ass on a plane to D.C. and come out here to meet her."
"Maybe I will. This is a big decision, moving in with a woman. You need to get my perspective on it first."
"You want to know what I think, Colby?"
"Don't I always?"
"I think you're just jealous that I never moved in with you."
"Well, there is that. Seriously, though, man, congratulations. That's a big step."
"Thanks. It is. But I think this is... It's serious. I'm serious about her."
"Now I've really got to meet her."
"I feel like I'm going to need Megan there to run interference."
"I promise to be on my best behavior and everything."
"I've seen your best behavior, Granger. That's not comforting."
"Point taken. All right, I'm gonna take off. Some of us have jobs to get back to."
"Give my best to the team, man."
"Will do. Bye."
"Bye."
~*~*~
"Colby," Caroline said, in a voice clearly setting him up for disappointment, "I'm done with the veto pile."
"All right," he said, dropping the bowl of popcorn on her coffee table. "Let's see what we've got left." He started thumbing through them and snorted. "Somehow it's wrong that you're the one who weeds out all the chick flicks."
She grinned. "That's gratitude for you."
"Hey, I didn't say it was a bad thing. What's this?"
"Harold and Maude? You've never seen it?"
Colby shrugged. "I've never even heard of it."
"Why am I not surprised? There are no shoot-outs involved."
"Is it any good?"
"It's a classic, cowboy. I can't believe you've never even heard of it."
"What's it about?"
"Love."
Colby smiled sideways at her. "I thought you vetoed all the chick flicks."
"Not like that. It's about a 19 year-old guy who falls for an 80 year-old woman."
"Ew."
She smacked him hard on the arm. "It's sweet. And lovely. And a little dark. Maybe you should give it a chance. You superficial jerk."
"Hey, now. I'm cool with a lot of things. Octogenarian sex? Maybe not so much."
"That does it. This is what we're watching."
Colby sighed dramatically. "Fine. I guess I'll put these in the pile for next time."
"I'll tell you what. If we're both still awake when the movie's over, we'll watch Tombstone, okay?"
"Fair enough."
A few hours later, they were still sprawled on the couch, though the popcorn was long gone, and Colby was pretty sure Caroline had actually nodded off a few times since Wyatt Earp rolled into town.
"Love that line," he said, stretching his arm along the back of the couch. "This used to be one of my favorite movies."
"Used to be?" said Caroline, settling against him in one of those maybe-not-quite-platonic poses that were starting to drive him out of his mind. "It's still one of my favorites."
"Yeah, well, you've never been tortured by a guy who looked that much like Doc Holiday," said Colby.
She went a little tense when he mentioned the torture, then rolled her head back to look at him.
"Why did you go through with it?"
"Why did I..." He tipped his head, getting a better look at her eyes. "In the beginning? It was... my duty, I guess. It's what my country wanted me to do."
"In the beginning," she said. "And then?"
"It got hard a couple of months into working on Don's team. David and I... We just clicked, you know? And, hell, I was reporting on him, on everyone. It sucked. Dwayne, I mean, I got that, you know? He outed himself as a traitor right off the bat. Everyone else? They were the good guys. And I couldn't tell them anything. I couldn't tell David anything."
She moistened her lips. "What if you would have died, before they found out?"
He shrugged, as if he hadn't thought about that a hundred thousand times since he woke up in the hospital. "I'm just lucky I ended up on Don's team. I don't know that anybody else would've trusted their gut like that."
"Just lucky," she said quietly.
Colby watched her for a long time, trying not to think about kissing her, trying not to think about all these things he'd been ignoring over the last few weeks. But he couldn't forget how close she was this time, with her breath warm on his chin and her hair tickling his cheek.
"How's the ankle?" he asked softly.
"Back to normal. Finally." Her breath caught as she inhaled.
"So everything's... back to normal now?" He drew the tip of one finger down her jaw, and her eyes fluttered in response.
"No," she said, her lips almost touching his now. "I guess not."
And then she was kissing him, and this time he was sure that she was the one to do the kissing, but he didn't hesitate to kiss back.
"Better than normal," he murmured against her lips, turning his head so the awkward angle was no more as he pressed her against the back of the couch.
She slipped her arms around his neck, her weight falling back as she pulled him down over her.
"You want this?" he asked. It was a ridiculous question; she was already wrapped around him, one leg hooked high on the back of his thigh. But he needed to hear her say it.
"Colby, I want you." Her eyes were unfocused, her expression painted with an almost predatory intent.
When she looked at him like that, he couldn't help himself, and he needed her now. And then they were out of their clothes, though he couldn't remember exactly how it had happened. He could feel her bare skin against his, warm and beating all over with the impatient rhythm of her pulse. He kissed a path down her throat, over her breasts, wanting to taste her everywhere. The way her hands wandered over his back and through his hair, mapped the outlines of his face, he knew her desire was equally demanding.
At the last minute, he remembered protection, and laughed with his face pressed against her stomach as he searched out his jeans on the floor to find his wallet. Caroline hummed softly, her nails drawing a light path over his temple as she inhaled one shuddering breath after another.
"Colby," she whispered finally, tired of waiting.
"Yeah." He grinned, climbing over her, kissing her deeply as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Then he was inside her and she was clinging to him, her hair in small damp curls pressed to her forehead, her mouth on his jaw and throat and ear, everything else in the world fading into a blurry, distant milieu.
And maybe they were fucking on the couch like teenagers, but she felt good and he couldn't stand the thought of not touching her, even for the minute-or-less it would take for them to stumble to the bedroom.
When he finally dropped onto her, exhausted and sweaty and she was still shivering beneath him, words seemed like a far off and impossible obstacle. He settled for nuzzling her throat, shifting his weight off her warm body and holding her close.
"Wow," she said, her voice soft. "That--"
The sudden, incongruent twang of his cell phone's ring gave her pause.
"Shit," he said, and he pressed his forehead to her collarbone, groping around on the floor until he found the phone beneath the couch.
"Granger." The leaden weight of disappointment settled in his chest when he heard Liz's voice in response.
"I'll be right there," he said, hanging up and tossing it aside.
Caroline already knew. "Duty calls?"
He rolled his eyes. "Always. Listen, Care, we're not done here, all right?" He pressed a kiss to her lips, this time more slowly, and he knew she was holding back.
"Just be careful, okay?" she said.
Colby swallowed and rolled off the couch, started gathering his clothes. When he glanced back up, she had the blanket wrapped around her, clutched at her throat with one hand, the other hand poking out of the blanket to point the remote at the television and turn it off.
"Do you want me to... This case is probably gonna run into tomorrow. I don't know when I can call again, but first chance I get--"
"Colby, it's okay. Just go. Just go, and be safe."
"All right." He finished buttoning his shirt, then leaned down, kissed her again. "Thanks, Care. For everything tonight. I had a really good time."
"So did I," she said. "Now go."
He almost didn't. There was something in the way she'd just curled in on herself, the way she watched the dark television screen instead of him, that made him want to pull her back into his arms and forget about this case, and his responsibility to anything outside this apartment, but he couldn't. This one was big, and they needed his help.
"I'll talk to you soon," he said, and then he left, wishing he hadn't been so out of practice with all this, that he'd left her with some better parting words, just in case.
Chapter 9
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
"How's Caroline healing up?"
"She's doing better. She would've probably been walking on it just fine if she'd used the crutches like they told her to."
"It's not like you didn't know she's hard-headed. So, did you guys talk about anything yet?"
"Not yet. It's starting to feel like nothing ever happened, and I'd look like an ass if I brought it up now."
"Just to show that I've turned over a new leaf now that I'm in a relationship, I'm going to leave that one alone."
"I appreciate it. How's Rita doing, anyway?"
"We're, uh, gonna look at places next week."
"Whoa, wait. Seriously? You're moving in with her? It's been like, what, two weeks?"
"Six weeks, Colby. And my lease isn't up for another six weeks. We're just looking right now."
"Yeah, but I haven't even met her yet."
"What are you, my mom? You want to meet her, you get your ass on a plane to D.C. and come out here to meet her."
"Maybe I will. This is a big decision, moving in with a woman. You need to get my perspective on it first."
"You want to know what I think, Colby?"
"Don't I always?"
"I think you're just jealous that I never moved in with you."
"Well, there is that. Seriously, though, man, congratulations. That's a big step."
"Thanks. It is. But I think this is... It's serious. I'm serious about her."
"Now I've really got to meet her."
"I feel like I'm going to need Megan there to run interference."
"I promise to be on my best behavior and everything."
"I've seen your best behavior, Granger. That's not comforting."
"Point taken. All right, I'm gonna take off. Some of us have jobs to get back to."
"Give my best to the team, man."
"Will do. Bye."
"Bye."
"Colby," Caroline said, in a voice clearly setting him up for disappointment, "I'm done with the veto pile."
"All right," he said, dropping the bowl of popcorn on her coffee table. "Let's see what we've got left." He started thumbing through them and snorted. "Somehow it's wrong that you're the one who weeds out all the chick flicks."
She grinned. "That's gratitude for you."
"Hey, I didn't say it was a bad thing. What's this?"
"Harold and Maude? You've never seen it?"
Colby shrugged. "I've never even heard of it."
"Why am I not surprised? There are no shoot-outs involved."
"Is it any good?"
"It's a classic, cowboy. I can't believe you've never even heard of it."
"What's it about?"
"Love."
Colby smiled sideways at her. "I thought you vetoed all the chick flicks."
"Not like that. It's about a 19 year-old guy who falls for an 80 year-old woman."
"Ew."
She smacked him hard on the arm. "It's sweet. And lovely. And a little dark. Maybe you should give it a chance. You superficial jerk."
"Hey, now. I'm cool with a lot of things. Octogenarian sex? Maybe not so much."
"That does it. This is what we're watching."
Colby sighed dramatically. "Fine. I guess I'll put these in the pile for next time."
"I'll tell you what. If we're both still awake when the movie's over, we'll watch Tombstone, okay?"
"Fair enough."
A few hours later, they were still sprawled on the couch, though the popcorn was long gone, and Colby was pretty sure Caroline had actually nodded off a few times since Wyatt Earp rolled into town.
"Love that line," he said, stretching his arm along the back of the couch. "This used to be one of my favorite movies."
"Used to be?" said Caroline, settling against him in one of those maybe-not-quite-platonic poses that were starting to drive him out of his mind. "It's still one of my favorites."
"Yeah, well, you've never been tortured by a guy who looked that much like Doc Holiday," said Colby.
She went a little tense when he mentioned the torture, then rolled her head back to look at him.
"Why did you go through with it?"
"Why did I..." He tipped his head, getting a better look at her eyes. "In the beginning? It was... my duty, I guess. It's what my country wanted me to do."
"In the beginning," she said. "And then?"
"It got hard a couple of months into working on Don's team. David and I... We just clicked, you know? And, hell, I was reporting on him, on everyone. It sucked. Dwayne, I mean, I got that, you know? He outed himself as a traitor right off the bat. Everyone else? They were the good guys. And I couldn't tell them anything. I couldn't tell David anything."
She moistened her lips. "What if you would have died, before they found out?"
He shrugged, as if he hadn't thought about that a hundred thousand times since he woke up in the hospital. "I'm just lucky I ended up on Don's team. I don't know that anybody else would've trusted their gut like that."
"Just lucky," she said quietly.
Colby watched her for a long time, trying not to think about kissing her, trying not to think about all these things he'd been ignoring over the last few weeks. But he couldn't forget how close she was this time, with her breath warm on his chin and her hair tickling his cheek.
"How's the ankle?" he asked softly.
"Back to normal. Finally." Her breath caught as she inhaled.
"So everything's... back to normal now?" He drew the tip of one finger down her jaw, and her eyes fluttered in response.
"No," she said, her lips almost touching his now. "I guess not."
And then she was kissing him, and this time he was sure that she was the one to do the kissing, but he didn't hesitate to kiss back.
"Better than normal," he murmured against her lips, turning his head so the awkward angle was no more as he pressed her against the back of the couch.
She slipped her arms around his neck, her weight falling back as she pulled him down over her.
"You want this?" he asked. It was a ridiculous question; she was already wrapped around him, one leg hooked high on the back of his thigh. But he needed to hear her say it.
"Colby, I want you." Her eyes were unfocused, her expression painted with an almost predatory intent.
When she looked at him like that, he couldn't help himself, and he needed her now. And then they were out of their clothes, though he couldn't remember exactly how it had happened. He could feel her bare skin against his, warm and beating all over with the impatient rhythm of her pulse. He kissed a path down her throat, over her breasts, wanting to taste her everywhere. The way her hands wandered over his back and through his hair, mapped the outlines of his face, he knew her desire was equally demanding.
At the last minute, he remembered protection, and laughed with his face pressed against her stomach as he searched out his jeans on the floor to find his wallet. Caroline hummed softly, her nails drawing a light path over his temple as she inhaled one shuddering breath after another.
"Colby," she whispered finally, tired of waiting.
"Yeah." He grinned, climbing over her, kissing her deeply as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Then he was inside her and she was clinging to him, her hair in small damp curls pressed to her forehead, her mouth on his jaw and throat and ear, everything else in the world fading into a blurry, distant milieu.
And maybe they were fucking on the couch like teenagers, but she felt good and he couldn't stand the thought of not touching her, even for the minute-or-less it would take for them to stumble to the bedroom.
When he finally dropped onto her, exhausted and sweaty and she was still shivering beneath him, words seemed like a far off and impossible obstacle. He settled for nuzzling her throat, shifting his weight off her warm body and holding her close.
"Wow," she said, her voice soft. "That--"
The sudden, incongruent twang of his cell phone's ring gave her pause.
"Shit," he said, and he pressed his forehead to her collarbone, groping around on the floor until he found the phone beneath the couch.
"Granger." The leaden weight of disappointment settled in his chest when he heard Liz's voice in response.
"I'll be right there," he said, hanging up and tossing it aside.
Caroline already knew. "Duty calls?"
He rolled his eyes. "Always. Listen, Care, we're not done here, all right?" He pressed a kiss to her lips, this time more slowly, and he knew she was holding back.
"Just be careful, okay?" she said.
Colby swallowed and rolled off the couch, started gathering his clothes. When he glanced back up, she had the blanket wrapped around her, clutched at her throat with one hand, the other hand poking out of the blanket to point the remote at the television and turn it off.
"Do you want me to... This case is probably gonna run into tomorrow. I don't know when I can call again, but first chance I get--"
"Colby, it's okay. Just go. Just go, and be safe."
"All right." He finished buttoning his shirt, then leaned down, kissed her again. "Thanks, Care. For everything tonight. I had a really good time."
"So did I," she said. "Now go."
He almost didn't. There was something in the way she'd just curled in on herself, the way she watched the dark television screen instead of him, that made him want to pull her back into his arms and forget about this case, and his responsibility to anything outside this apartment, but he couldn't. This one was big, and they needed his help.
"I'll talk to you soon," he said, and then he left, wishing he hadn't been so out of practice with all this, that he'd left her with some better parting words, just in case.
Chapter 9
