Bailey Dunstan (thestormoutside) wrote in novsila_rpg, @ 2015-05-30 12:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | bailey dunstan, callen troy |
Who: Callen and Bailey
What: Two old friends getting together for a whiskey party.
Where: Callen’s room.
When: May 30
Rating: Complete
Bailey had just gotten into her room and let down her hair from the fancy bun she’d pulled it back in when she spotted a medium box sitting on her desk. Crap. That wasn't supposed to be there. As a matter of fact, it was supposed to already be with it’s recipient. She’d sent that package out weeks ago, and yet it looked like the owl had brought it back. Bailey had just made up a quick little package for Callen as a thank you for last month. She knew at this point she didn’t have to, it’s just what friends did for one another, but...she still felt the need to do it. Especially, after this year just being harder than it had been in the last eight, and he’d been there for her, and that meant the world to her. And since they’d both been so busy as of late...she just figured sending it to him would be easier than waiting to give it to him later. Well, so much for that idea. Instead of changing and waiting until the morning, Bailey just rifled off a quick message to him asking if she could swing by for a minute to drop something off. And just like that she was out the door with the package in her arms heading over to Callen’s room.
When she arrived all she was thinking about was that she was stupid to not have grabbed a jacket as well, or rather just taken a moment to change into something a little more comfortable and warm. She didn’t normally dress like this, most hemlines rarely went north of her calf. But tonight the situation had warranted it, so, here she was. It wasn’t terribly cold out, but with the sun now set, a little bit of a chill had settled into the air. “Cal, open up, it’s me.” she said after knocking on the door. When the door opened she smiled warmly at him held out the package. “Sorry...I sent it out last week but the ruddy owl decided it couldn’t find you.” she started.
****
After the first match, everything seemed to have turned around for the Irish National Team. They had won a few times in a row, and despite Mac attempting to sabotage them with beating the Portugal captain’s face in, they were pretty much out of the press. Small graces, no? And he was even finding time to get himself into a lot of trouble, which was one of Callen’s favorite things in the world. He was able to explore, hit on women, take a few home, visit Jamie, piss off Indira in the halls before hiding and barricading himself in his room, and kidnapping the sisters as often as possible. It was a lot of fun, more so than just playing his dream out as the captain of the national team. Of course, the month before was not far from his mind. He knew that his Bee was having a rough patch still. She had given the world a piece of her by talking about Andrew. Hell, not many people even knew that Andrew was a person in her life unless they were with them in school. And even fewer people knew that the reason Bailey put up with his sorry ass was because Callen had been Andy’s best friend since second year. But he never once thought of wanting a reward for helping her through the month and they both knew that. He loved that woman with all his twisted and slightly misguided heart. That was simply what best friends did for each other.
So when she knocked on the door and then yelled through it, Callen was caught off guard with nought but a towel wrapped around his waist as he got out of the shower. “Yeah, yeah hold your knicks,” he yelled back at her as he looked for his briefs. No point in really hunting for more, as it was hardly the first time she stumbled upon him half dressed and wandering around his house. Callen was not really a fan of clothing when he was alone, so the number of times his mates were graced with the image Bee was about to see was depressingly high. He walked over and opened the door a bit before turning around to locate the shorts he had been planning on wearing anyway when he turned around to make sure she wasn’t looking as though she was fresh from crying. Instead, she was holding a box wearing a rather short and yet modest dress with an interesting neckline. Boobs. Yes, she was his best mate, but if she did not have a nice set to look at. He blinked at them her a few times before looking her over completely and stopping at her face. “Lass, you didn’ have to come all dolled up fuh me, yeah.” He gave her a grin and pulled the shorts on and stood up straight. “Though if you did put this numbeh’ on fuh me, I must say, you finally caught me off guard.”
Getting hit by her was always worth it, and this was no different. Callen simply walked willingly into swinging distance and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “‘Lo lass.”
---
There was a time in their lives where Bailey was really taken aback by catching Callen in little to nothing, however, by now, it didn’t even really phase her all that much. Just, oh, hello almost all of Callen. If anything she admired his confidence. Not that he shouldn’t be, but, there was no way in hell anyone was going to catch her like that...and she’d been a beauty queen. Well, she pretended that she hadn’t been, but that was another set of stories for hopefully never. When he turned around and started staring she got a little bit of a confused look on her face and it dawned on her just what he was staring at and suddenly she felt like she should seriously cover up, a slight blush coming to her cheeks. Bailey hadn't exactly counted on that reaction, she shifted slightly and held the package up on her chest covering herself a little bit. “I was coming back from a...business meeting.” she said sounding pretty straight forward, and to anyone else it might have sounded completely legitimate. With Callen, she was sure that he wasn’t going to buy it fully, though, she hoped it was enough to maybe...maybe...not lead to any follow up questions. Though, truth be told, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure about that. Because it was Callen and there was almost always a follow up question, or some way to tease her, or something else of the sort. Most of the time she didn’t mind, in all honestly. A playful whack on the arm usually ended with a bit of a laugh. Because they both knew that if she were ever truly mad at him...he’d know, because after she’d yell at him, he’d be getting the cold shoulder and silent treatment for a while. However, that hardly ever happened, and she’d be hard pressed to remember the last time it had. “Shame too, because I’ve been trying for years to catch you off guard.” she said with a little bit of a laugh as she got pulled into a hug before she could even try and whack him on the arm. Later. He’d get a sneak attack later.
“‘low Callen.” she said as she adjusted to wrap her arms around his middle and hug him back tightly. She could still feel the slight dampness and warmth of his skin from the shower, the smell of his soap still strong on him. This was about as close to home as she got, and it felt wonderful. She was sure that sometimes people wondered why they were such good friends, since they tended to appear to run the opposite side of the spectrum from one another. And yeah, maybe it had started out as Callen was Andy’s friend, but now...she couldn’t picture her life without him in it. Especially since he’d been the one to hold her a few weeks back all night, telling her thing would be okay, let her cry until she fell asleep, and helped her get through the hardest day of the year for her. She hated talking about her brother to people who hadn't really known him. And even then it was still hard. She sometimes wondered what was wrong with her that she still clinged to his memory the way she did, but then she supposed that growing up the way that they had...she also just told herself that things would still keep getting better. Last year had been better...but then she’d gotten taken and there was a small part of her that wondered if it was so bad this year because of what happened last year. Either way, it all ended the same, that she was more than thankful to have a best mate like Callen. He meant the world to her and she just wanted to let him know that, in her own way.
“Sorry, didn’t know that you were in the middle of something.” she said stepping back slightly and tilting her head ever so slightly. In these shoes, she could almost look him right in the eye. “I just wanted to drop this off before it got lost again.” she said with a warm smile. “Figured you might want to enjoy some of it while we’re away from home and what not.” she said crossing her arms over her chest and once again forgetting about what she was wearing, focusing more on her friend at the moment.
****
Callen had no issue showing off his body. He was conceited, that he knew more than anything. There was plenty to be cocky about, too. He was a very attractive man, and even more he was a very good lover. He knew what he needed to do to please a woman. But really, it never entirely crossed his mind that Bee was a woman in that regard. He was always thinking of her as a sister after all. He was used to her seeing him in shorts, so the idea of being in his briefs was hardly uncomfortable for him. That is, of course, until he realized she looked stunning in her dress and realized him being very much a male was not a good thing. Shorts saved the day. "Must have been some business," Callen commented. He was far from stupid. He knew the woman was dressed to impress. It had been a date, but she didn't want to talk about it. But heaves did she looked beautiful and good lord, that chest. To him, she was a stunning lass, always thought so, but he hated her dating others made him not entirely jealous, but he didn't like it. He felt bad when Bee covered herself and Callen attempted to look away, or at least her eyes, but a hug did a better job keeping him focused on not undressing her. He needed to go visit Jamie. Soon.
When she looked up at him, Callen had flash of wanting to taste her reddened lips, but instead he laughed and pinched her cheek playfully. "Aye, simply just making sure I don't kill you off with me post practice smell." When she stepped back Callen was actually prepared for the sight. He smiled and reached to grab the package from her. "Don't have to buy me nothing, lass, you know I don't mind." But then she crossed her arms, accentuating her chest more. He felt a lump in throat as he reminded himself no, he can't bury his face between them. He looked up and over her head before looking down again. "Well, then, let's see."
Callen opened the package and gave a sigh and shook his head at her. "Oh, my dearest, this is is," He smirked and put it down. "Care to keep me company then, doll? Can't let something this good stay with just me."
--------
“Always is when you’re one of the best.” Bailey replied with a tiny smirk on her face. She didn’t brag all that often about her work. She did what she did and she knew she was good at it. She’d been a really good Curse Breaker, but what she did now, she was really great at. Not many people could walk into the Falcons organization and put up with half the stuff she put in and keep most of her sanity intact. “Besides, had to do something to keep the Giant Idiot out of trouble. I think I finally have the matter sorted, by the way, so it looks like you get to keep playing with him for now.” It was no secret that Cormac drove her crazy on a day-to-day basis, she thought he was a good man deep-deep down, but when you spend your days cleaning up his messes, sometimes it got a little annoying. Thankfully, though, she’d kept it mostly out of the presses and even managed to shenanigan some things around so that Cormac was in for a world of Community Service once they got back to England. Or so help him. But, she’d also gotten that all sorted this afternoon. And in that moment, she was grateful that Callen didn’t really ask any follow up questions. She always felt that she wasn’t supposed to be talking about any of this, part of her knew that she could, but with all the drama lately, she just didn’t have time to dive into exactly what she thought or felt or whatever. Callen was a great distraction from all of that. Made her relax a lot more, and he was always telling her to relax, right?
Bailey swatted at his hand a bit when he playfully pinched her cheek, and killing any quiet moment that they were having right then. “Oh please, I’ve smelled worse.” she rolled her eyes a bit. “Not like a little man-sweat is going to bother me that much.” Though, truth be told, in a weird way, she actually kind of liked it. A guy coming off of the pitch or of a work out...for some reason that just sent little butterflies into her stomach thinking about it...but she did her best to hide it. Because she wasn’t supposed to think thoughts like that. She was supposed to be a lady for Pete’s sake. Or at least make everyone think that she was. A lady who was noticing what a contrast it was between his soft skin and his hard muscles of those arms that always made her feel so safe..wait...he said something. Callen just said something. Right. The package, er present. She shrugged a little bit with her one shoulder. “I know. But...you were there and I just wanted to say thanks is all.” she offered up a smile and she watched him open it, seeing the very good bottle of whiskey she’d gotten him, along with some other broom care goodies and a box of something that she’d knew that he’d put to use elsewhere with a note that said ‘For fucks sake, go have some fun.’, knowing that he’d probably read it with her teasing voice in his head. “Aye, but only if you’re offering up the drink love, I don’t do well with brooms.” she said giving him a bit of a wink. Bailey noticed how he was trying not to look at her right now...damnit. This stupid dress. She wasn’t supposed to be a woman around him, and suddenly she felt very much like one, and she didn’t know how to feel about that exactly. Since, yeah, the attention was nice...but it was coming from Callen...so...yeah. “Uh, little chilly, mind if a borrow a sweater or something?” maybe that would help. Wouldn’t exactly cover the legs, but it’d at least get rid of some of the problem? “And, uh, where are your glasses love? Might as well start pouring, yeah?”
*****
“There was never any question of that,” Callen replied. He was well-aware of how skilled his dear Bailey was at her job. She was also incredibly skilled with her old job as well. It was never a question of her ability to handle a job. Right now, it was her hiding the fact that clearly this was something other than a date with work. And a part of him was annoyed by that. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t know anything about it, or maybe it was the fact that there was a reason she was not telling him. Either way, he let it go and simply nodded when he was told that Cormac would be staying on the team. Not that he really had any doubt of that. There had been a number of crazy events that had happened between the players that made it obvious that the tensions were high. And if he was not off the team already, then there was little chances of losing the man as a teammate. Still, he replied with a quick, “Saving my arse, lass. Not even on your team and you’re doing me favours.” Cal added a playful wink before pulling her into that hug.
Ruining moments was one of the main ways Callen seemed to trick himself into ignoring or hiding whatever attraction he had for the lass. It was weird, too. Cal never found himself in these situations with the other girls in his life his brain said were off limits. He had never found himself near-naked hugging the Spinnets or anything. There was never a moment of looking down at one of them and wanting nothing more than to get lost for a few minutes. So being his usual prat self seemed to always break the tensions that were building subconsciously. He laughed as she swatted his hand away and commented that sweat didn’t gross her out. “I guess when you spend your time with the Falcons, that’s the only thing that you can do.” He found nothing wrong with women liking sweaty men. He was used to that, in fact, as people seemed to like him at least damp in all of the photo shoots he had done over the years. People liked the way the muscles looked or something, and he wasn’t going to question it. But focusing on the gift was less weird than sweat for him, and he looked over the broom kit and the whiskey, glancing over the box labeled his relaxation kit, mentally noting that he should probably actually use them. Unfortunately the comment following from her did not help with what he was holding and Callen dropped it on the table with the broom kit and laughed. “Aye, the whiskey, lass. Last thing I need is to bore you with something like broom care.”
When she asked for a shirt or sweatshirt, Callen’s face became momentarily riddled with guilt. He knew she was being Bailey and not pointing things out to him. he had been staring. Hell, since Leprechaun Day, he had found himself a little more careful about how he treated her, and now Cal couldn’t stop looking at a very specific region of her body. “Aye, let me grab you something,” he told her awkwardly before disappearing into his bedroom of the suit and grabbing a pair of shorts and one of his Magpie sweatshirts before giving them to her. A part of him knew that seeing her like that would actually be worse than if she were prancing around the room in lacy hardly-theres and stockings, but that was not something to point out. “May be a wee bit large, but they’ll do.”
---
“Hey, it’s what friends do for one another, yeah?” she offered him up a bit of a smile, feeling a little guilty for not saying what was really going on. Right place, right time. She was fairly sure that if she did, he might get pissed and want to go do something about it. And, really, she wasn’t in the mood to try and stop him like she know she should tonight. So, greater good. Or so she hoped.
“Adapt or change your job.” she agreed with him on that, trying to force herself from thinking about Callen the way she was right now. She should not be having thoughts like that, she shouldn't have felt little pings in her stomach when she had looked at some pictures the other day and there were a few of him from some of those photo shoots in there. It wasn’t supposed to work that way, so, she was trying her damndest to fight it, knowing she’d run first before she did anything to screw up what they had already between them. She knew deep down she was a runner, that it was her first instinct was the fly rather than fight. It’s why she had gone into curse breaking, it what made her leave for six months after Andy died and what kept her from being found during those six months with only a few postcards to Callen and the Flints just to let them know she was still alive. It’s what made her want to run now. But she wasn’t, she actually found herself well rooted unable to leave at all. She should have gone back to England for a while after the Irish held their event. But she hadn’t. She’d stayed put and she was wondering if it had been the right thing to do or not. He was a big reason she stayed as well. “Oh please, just because I don’t understand half of what you’re talking about ,doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear it.” she teased him a bit about the broom care stuff.
She watched his face for a moment, wondering what was going on in his head, and trying very hard not to point out that she’d noticed. Bailey had really noticed that he was staring, and while part of her was really flattered...she wasn’t sure what to do about it. The attention, was probably more than she deserved, but, at the same time, she couldn’t help but like it. And that scared her on a number of levels. However, she just kept that beauty queen smile screwed onto her face as if it was no big deal. “Thanks, Lovie.” she said as she took off her shoes and went to go pour them a drink. By the time he got back she held out a glass for him, just the way he liked it. “Trade you.” she smiled a bit and took the garments, and kept talking to him as she walked into the bedroom to change, the door slightly open so that they could still hear each other. “No matter if they are. I still wear that ratty old Wasps sweater all the time.” It had been her brothers, and Andy hadn’t been a small man, but it was what she had left and she wasn’t going to give it up for anything. She neatly folded her dress once she’d changed and walked back out. “Thank you. Really, you’re the best.” she put her dress down on the surface and picked up a drink. “Cheers.” she smiled and took the first sip...yup. Drinking good.
****
“Aye,” was all he said before the topic was dropped. It was not worth it at this point. If there was one thing Callen knew, it was when to push Bee into conversing and when to let something slide. This was the latter of the two, and instead he focused on the fact that they had changed subjects do to his gift. There was never a reason for him to expect her to thank him. Callen was a bit of a jerk and quite full of himself, but he was also painfully loyal. He knew that it was his own loyalty that could easily be his undoing for his life. To him, those who mean the world to him are worth ending his for their happiness. He’d stop his career just to give someone he loved everything they needed. He had been driven to almost kill for Bee and again for Erin in less than a year’s time. He was a very defensive and aggressive person, yes, but to him, it was the easiest way to express how he felt. He was a man of strong emotions, and it all escalated to anger faster than he wanted to admit. Instead, he wanted to focus on the fact that there was his beautiful best friend standing there. Best friend, not the beautiful part. This brain of his was going to get him killed.
“You sure you’re not just pretending to listen and waiting for me pauses to reply,” he asked teasingly before looking her over. It was that smile on her face that had been more of a cue than anything. She used it a lot, whether it was a real one or a fake one. Years of being the boy to push her to forcing that smile taught him how to spot it, after all, and it was on her face right now. But he made no mention of it. Somethings were better left unsaid, after all. He still had a lot of making up to her for how he had spoken to her earlier in the month. As he turned and left, Cal mentally cursed himself for being such a womanizer. Normally it was not a bad thing. Hell, he had a number of friendships that had formed entirely because of the bond he had started from a few nights after drinking. This was different. Hell, he knew that if she wanted to become one of those girls, he wouldn’t even know where to begin with it all. He forced that from his mind as he handed her the clothes. When she commented on the Wasps sweater, he gave a crooked smile before turning to watch her walk to the other room and sighing.
There was a pang of guilt when he was informed he was the best, but he turned to look at her when she spoke and he could feel his attention being dragged from the glass in his hand to the woman standing in his clothes. She was positively swimming in them and it was a little foolish to look at, but it warmed his heart in a way to see it. That was his Bailey. Not dolled up and glamorous, but dressed down in frumpy clothes and a drink of whiskey in her hand. “Aye, cheers, lass,” he replied with a smirk. “So what has had you entertained these past few weeks? Anything fun like traveling or meeting new faces?
******
When he teased her about just pretending to listen Bailey paused for a moment longer than usually and just nodded her head, “Sounds interesting.” she teased him as if pretending not to hear a word he said, and then gave him a bit of a wink and gentle nudge. Of course she listened to him. She always did, she might not always like what she heard, or sometimes got a little confused if he started talking about pitch-related things, but she always listened. And asked questions if she got a little lost. The point was, if he was talking about it, it was important to her. As a friend first and foremost, but secondly, that’s how one’s horizons expanded. It was one of the things she’d really come to appreciate about her friendship with Callen, of course they had some common interests, but, they also had a lot of different ones too. And just by learning about what he liked, she ended up not only finding a few new things she really got into, but found a deeper level of appreciation for who her best friend was. Callen Troy was by far a more complex man than some people gave him credit for, in her eyes. She adored how deeply loyal he was, there was a huge level of comfort knowing that no matter what, he always had her back. Always.
Which, if she was honest, was why she was trying not to make a big deal out of the stuff that happened a few weeks back with the Leprechaun Day stuff. Okay, so it had surprised her a little bit when she’d first read what he’d written, but, chalked it up to maybe his teammates had just already gotten him that loaded and he didn’t know what he was really doing. She always wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Figured nothing that a small smack upside his head and stealing his beer wouldn’t fix. But then they started talking, and drinking, and they kept finding each other all evening one way or another. It’d had been a while since she’d drank that much, the end of the night was still kind of fuzzy, but, she remembered having fun. And how it felt to have a fun night out with her friends, and more importantly, her best mate. He could be a handful, she knew it, but she wouldn’t have stayed if she didn’t think she could handle it. Truth was, even despite not quite knowing how to feel about him talking about her like that, she was still going to push through it because right now, she didn’t know how to be weird around him. And she caught sight from the corner of her eye that crooked little smile of his and she felt that familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach and was suddenly glad for a moment to herself as she changed to compose herself. This was wrong. She’d literally just broken up with her ex. And she wasn’t looking for that with Callen, or anyone. She shouldn’t be. No matter how handsome he looked right now. No matter how comfortable she felt in his clothing as she slipped them on...
And very few people ever got to see Bailey looking like this, she thought as she walked back into the room, rolling up the band of the shorts a bit so they didn’t slide off of her. Unless they walked in on her in the early morning or right before she went to bed, Bailey always looked the part. She had to. At this point it was just habit stemming from when she was younger. Never leave the house without makeup and your hair being done. Sure she’d resisted for a while, but in the end, it was always easier to just do it than fight it. But here she was, in Callen’s too big for her clothing feeling more comfortable than she had in anything else she owned. She plopped herself down on the floor deciding that sitting was probably the best course of action for the moment, as she sipped from her glass a little. The whiskey was good, she was more of a rum girl (or had to be since Paddy tended to give her a crate of rum for Christmas every year with a note saying “Please don’t leave the team”), but this, this wasn’t too bad. She let the warming sensation take over a little bit before she answered. “Not much travelling right now, other than just going here and there when I get a few hours. Took your sister to a few art museums not too long ago, that was fun.” she said brightly. She loved Erin to pieces, and getting to spend time with her had been an added bonus while being here. “Met a few new people, through some of the Falcons, who...keep me employed.” she said putting it politely and drinking a little more. “Met a lot of the Aussies...but I think it’ll be a bit before I start hanging with some of them again. Your brother-in-law, not withstanding, naturally.” she added quickly. “But I think IbroketheirKeeperwhenIlefthim, and wait a tick, you’re face is all fuzzy. When did those come back?” Okay so she’d dropped that and changed the subject rather quickly, but that’s just how they went sometimes. It’d sucked leaving, but, she knew it had been the right thing to do and she was rather proud of herself for walking away from a situation that wasn’t going to be good before it got really bad. No tears, she was okay, oddly enough. It was weird, but she was also kind of rather distracted at the moment. “I always liked you like that.” she added with a genuine smile on her lips before taking another sip, noticing that the top of his head was looking a little bit shaggy as well. You would think that someone like Bee would be all about the clean cut and all of that...but...quite the opposite really...okay, right. Whiskey. Good idea. Stop those thoughts Dunstan...now...but...she couldn’t help but like what she saw. Damnit.
****
When Bee left to get changed, Callen sighed heavily at his whiskey. He had known that she was an important person to him. He had his life entirely designed to benefit only himself and his sisters, but somehow Bailey had managed to make that list. Not only did she make the list, but it had become a very important thing to him. For as long as he could remember--honesty about half his life at this point--there had been a certain disregard for how people felt in comparison to him. Callen liked people, yes, but he more desired interaction rather than companionship. The fact that Indira had somehow made him able to date was a miracle in of itself, but she had been one of a few, and the only one to hold his mind exclusively. But the way she had just smiled at him, knowing how his mind worked better than any, made him feel like maybe that wasn’t true. Maybe he had never really been searching for companionship because he had it. And that thought terrified him a little. His drained the thought from his mind with a few more drinks from his glass before she returned in his attire. To the world, this was such a rare view. But it was painfully common for him. He never really cared for her rule of not being seen without the whole show. He had seen that plenty and, really, except for moments when her womanhood was very much in his face, she was much more appealing like this. The tough girl he knew who liked the feeling of big clothes and warm blankets. He walked around her as she spoke, hand in the pocket of his shorts as he paced. He was listening, of course, but he was never really one to sit for long. Even as an adult, Cal simply had too much energy at times to stay in one place.
He nodded as he listened, knowing full-well Bailey couldn’t see. A smirk grew on his face when she mentioned going out with Erin. One of the best parts about Bee was the fact that his sisters loved her, too. And she adored his sisters. The smirk stayed on his face as he sipped the glass again and sat with her. What she said next, however, visibly made him choke on his mouthful and Callen coughed a few times to get his chest cleared. Once he was done attempting to breathe again, he looked up at her with a mix of disgust and worry. He had not known she was even dating Hastings, let alone that they had broken up. There was a flicker of deep hurt in his dark blue eyes, something that could have been jealousy if he thought about it. He kept his eyes on Bailey’s as she changed the subject, not really in the mood to have her bounce away from the topic. Instead, he awkwardly pressed what hair had finally started growing on top his head down and put the glass on the floor next to him. “Don’t go on about me hair, Bee, may just be going anyway,” he muttered before moving closer to her. “Never mind that, what you on about breaking off with Hasting?” His voice was off and softer than normal as he looked her over. “You’re beginning to have a laugh not telling me things, ain’t you, lass? Ain’t gonna push on about you’re lying over tonight being business, but dating someone and not telling me is like you don’t trust me none.”
Cal looked at the ground before pulling her hand closer to him. “Why’d you leave him, eh? He wrong you or something?”
******
When he started to choke she patted his back trying to help out a bit, asking if he was okay, panic in her face that he wasn’t okay, and trying to get him to breathe properly again. Though, once he started...it got to the point where she couldn’t even really look at him right now, she felt so badly about all of this. Bailey had wanted to tell him, tell everyone that her and Kenneth had started seeing each other. But, for the sake of word not getting back to his mental ex-wife at first she agreed to keep it quiet. Because she was certifiable, and Bailey didn’t want anything to come down onto either of his kids because of her. And everyone knew that Bailey loved Izzy, since she sometimes hung out in Bee’s office if Paddy and Toni needed a quick babysitter for an hour or so. She had almost as many drawings in her office as Paddy did from the little girl. And she’d found it in her heart to make room for Linden too, he was a sweet kid. But then time went on and nothing seemed to...change. Until she started to feel like there was no going back from just not telling anyone, and starting to feel like she was being kept secret for other reasons. She hadn’t meant to end things tonight, but, she had. Not to mention she’d been sick of always being there for him through his problems but...he hadn’t even bothered to check in or follow up with her last month. It’d been Callen, not Kenneth, who had helped her through that day, let her cry until she fell asleep on him, made sure she didn’t kill a whole bottle of rum by herself.
“No, it’s not that. Never that. You have to know by now how much I trust you.” she said finally looking up at him, hating that she caused that look in his eyes. “You’re one of the few I do....I wanted to tell you...but....” she bit down on her lip a bit and sniffed slightly allowing her brain to catch back up with her as she started to explain the situation. About how they hadn’t told anyone, and the only one who found out was McLaggen and that was by accident and that had caused another scuffle between the two men, and that wasn’t the point, the point was, she hated it. Her voice was soft, and she spoke quicker than she normally would, letting it actually show through how upset she actually was over this. How badly she felt for keeping this from Callen. She trusted him with everything. Literally, everything. He heard it all, if he wanted to or not. She was normally such a straight shooter with everyone, especially him, that hiding this was so out of her personality. “I just got really caught up with the idea of being a family, you know? I thought that maybe that was my shot and if I could hang in there for a while, then maybe it could happen.” she looked up for a second before settling back on his face. “I was being stupid.” Callen knew that she couldn’t, hell, it was the reason she’d come home after her six months bouncing from site to site. The accident had even made the papers it had been so bad, it’s what shifted her into what she did now. She had no idea if he remembered, but, it had been the reason she came home instead of drifting off further. One of them at least.
“I got tired, Cal.” she laced her fingers with his taking her free hand and covering his hand. “Tired of feeling like I was being hidden away for another reason, tired of him not...being there. I couldn’t do it any more.” she shrugged slightly. “Please forgive me?” she said in a very soft tone, feeling almost sick to her stomach right now.
*****
Callen listened and said nothing as Bee spoke to him. He didn’t blink and his face never lost the look it held. He was hurt, beyond hurt, really. His whole life since knowing both Bailey and Andrew was nothing but the fullest amount of honesty between them. He never hid a thing from her, even if it meant ruining something to someone else. Perhaps it was foolish, but she always came first to him after his sisters. They were what mattered, the three of them now that Andy was gone. But he listened, he thought, and he calculated every word coming out of her mouth. To him, there was never a reason to keep a relationship hidden. There was no shame in dating other people, and if you couldn’t own up to it, then it clearly did not mean enough to start with. It was a hint of fury adding to his gaze as she explained how Hastings felt it would be best to keep their secret from the world. A man allowing someone to control his actions was disgusting to Cal. There was no reason, none, for someone to allow another to tell him or her how to live their life. No one should allow another to control them, and any male who did allow it was not worthy of the title man of the house. Hell, Bee was clearly more man than Kenneth was if she knew that it was not right. The fact that she had to walk away was painful to listen to. There was nothing he wanted more than to slam the Australian through a wall.
But it was her making it seem like this was her only chance at a family that made him sick. Not angry, but it made his heart ache. She was family to him. She was someone who he could honestly look anyone in the eye and say he loved, maybe not her entirely. He was always going to have a hard time saying that to the person it mattered most, but she had to know. He finally looked down when Bee asked for his forgiveness and to her hands on his. They were so small in comparison. So gentle and soft compared to his rough, calloused palms and fingers. They almost felt fragile and dainty. He snaked his hands out from hers and moved their glasses away before wrapping his hands around her waist with ease and pulled her into his lap and pulled her in for a hug. Cal held her there for a moment and took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Oh, Bailey. She had to know that he would always forgive her. His open hands pressed against her back and pulled her in tight against him. His face buried in her hair for a moment before letting her back away. The man said nothing for a few seconds. He knew she could tell that there was not even a moment’s doubting whether or not he would let it go. Well, he was going to let the not telling him part go. There were some things he needed her to understand in-full. So once the moment settled, his hands cupped her face gently and he looked into her eyes.
“You listen, lass. If he ain’t willing to yell top his lungs that he’s wit you, then he ain’t worth a second of your time,” he told her in a soft voice. “Nothing, no promises or pretty lies should ever make you feel like you are someone to be hidden in the back with old photos. You’re my family, Bee, and ain’t no curse powerful enough to change that, aye?” He pressed his lips against her forehead before letting out another long sigh. He hated these talks. He hated how he felt so attached at the moment to her happiness, even though he knew he was. But Callen broke the contact and looked in her eyes again, using his thumb to brush away a runaway tear before giving her a small, warm smile. “You make it to 35 and no one come knocking to give that curse a challenge, I’ll give you a right family for it, aye? Make you wish it was true.”
----
She swallowed hard when he pulled his hands away, a brief moment thinking he was so angry with her that this wasn’t going to be fixed anytime soon. It was illogical, she knew that deep down. Bailey knew that he would forgive her, but she wasn’t sure how long that would actually take. This wasn’t some small little thing, or it didn’t feel like that at any rate. She’d been stupid, she knew it. And she hated when she was stupid. She always prided herself on being a smart woman, but this...this was beyond her logic and usual behavior. And to top it off, she hated feeling like she disappointed him. Making herself feel like this was yet again another mess for him to clean up. Though, she was forcing herself to remember that this sort of thing, didn’t happen all that often. She wasn’t the damsel in distress, she looked dragons in the eye and told them to piss off. Well, not literal dragons, but that was besides the point. The point was, most other people, she could deal with it, suck it up, make amends if she could move on. But he was one of the few people that it would hurt for a while, which is why she striven to not do that in the first place. Most days it was incredibly easy to accomplish, they were that close, they knew each other that well, no big deal. She was just starting to form ideas of what maybe to say next when she felt his hands around her waist and bring her into his lap for a hug. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, she slipped her arms around him and held on tightly, closing her eyes, soaking in the sensation of being this close to him. Home. That’s all she could really think about. This felt like home. He’d forgiven her, or was in the process of, and things would be okay between them. She turned her head slightly and pressed her face into the crook of his neck, and just drew in a deep breath to steady herself a bit mentally as she let it out slowly. It wasn’t that long, but she could have stayed like this for a long time. She was all too aware of how loved she felt right now, how lucky she was to have Callen right now.
When Bailey did pull away, she started studying his face, looking into those deep blue eyes of his. She’d always like his eyes, how they could be warm and full of laughter one moment and as cold as ice the next. Looking into his eyes really was the best way to get to know who he really was. He acted like a shithead, but, there was so much to him and he never had stopped surprising her in the best ways possible. As he cupped her face she kept gazing into them really listening to what he said. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew that he was right about that. About how no one should ever make her feel like that, but it felt nice to hear someone else say it. Reaffirm that leaving was the right decision, that she didn’t need that. What he said next though, sent a warming sensation throughout her whole chest. She’d always considered Callen to be family, he’d been Andy’s best friend, and for someone who had massive problems trusting people, Bailey hadn’t even questioned Callen’s trust from the jump. After he died, Callen had solidified himself as family, and they’d gotten closer because of it. But the way he was talking right now overwhelmed her. Maybe it was the whiskey making her swim slightly, maybe it was how he was holding her, maybe it was the emotions from everything else tonight, maybe it was the fact that she was sitting in his lap in his clothing feeling his naked torso against her right now...maybe it was all of it or something else entirely. Either way, she felt a swell of emotion as she gave him a soft smile and nodded. “Aye,” she said trying to choke back the emotion and feeling a stray tear fall out. “understood.” was all she could get out right now.
Bailey closed her eyes and nuzzled his hand lightly with her cheek as she felt him wipe away the tear with his thumb, listening to what he was saying. She opened her eyes up slowly, watching his face for a moment, making sure he was really serious about that. She thought he was, he wouldn’t be saying that if he wasn’t. She knew him too well to doubt that. After a moment that small little warm smile grew and she nodded. “Deal.” she leaned in and it was her turn to kiss his forehead. “Thirty-five year plan it is.” She picked up one of her hands and held the side of his face for a moment before running it to the back of his head, feeling the soft blonde hair between her fingers. “Thank you Callen.” she said softly, hoping he knew that she had no idea what she’d do without him. She laughed softly a bit. “I think this calls to finish our drinks?” she said, though, not really making a move to leave where she sat at the moment.