Falling Apart at the Seams

pairing: Calleigh/Horatio
Rating: PG-13
A/N: I read an article in Writer's Digest say that writers should write what they know. So I did and it fit perfectly into Calleigh's life. I'm exorcising demons. Names obviously changed to protect the innocent :)

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She was numb. She fought the emotions until she had no other choice but to pull over and let the tears flow. It was the only thing she could do.

Her friend, Clay, was in trouble and she was terrified of what he was doing to himself.

From almost the beginning they were good friends. They went for dinner and drinks together. They watched men together and discovered they liked the same type of man, which at times was disconcerting since Clay was gay. She confided in him about her family troubles and when she fell in love with her boss. And tonight she, along with his roommate, had to half carry half walked him into his apartment. This was not the man she knew. She hadn't known how bad his problem was and kicked herself for being a bad friend and not noticing, especially with her history and growing up with alcohol being another member of the family.

When the tears stopped, she pulled back out into traffic with a heavy heart and headed to the one place she could find the balm to her wounded heart. Horatio's. But as she pulled into his driveway, she bypassed going in and headed around the house for the beach he called his back yard.

Sitting in the sand, she pulled her knees to her chest looking out over the ocean with the glimmering path of moonlight. In the rhythm of the waves she found some peace. She felt him when he came and sat behind her, wrapping himself around her. In his arms she let herself feel every thing she'd kept bottled up. Between her tears, she relayed the events of the evening including Clay's serious depression, health issues and the fact he was "done" and wouldn't let the diseases he carried get a hold and waste him away. She shared the fear that one day she'd be called to a scene and find he'd put and end to it all.

Horatio listened to her, held her while she cried and then led her back to the house. What she wanted now was a long hot bath and then to fall asleep wrapped in Horatio's arms. Normally she'd have a glass of wine with her bath, but tonight and for the foreseeable future drinks were the last thing on her mind, the idea of it disgusted her.

She knew in the end she'd do whatever it took to help Clay and get him through whatever he needed to get through. She cared too much about him to not do that. And she'd have Horatio to come home to and keep her from coming apart.