Chapter 8

A/N:I know its been a really long time since i updated but now that school is done and summer has arrived, i can finally return to the lovely fantasy world that i've created for myself in my head.

The coffin was simple.

The heavy wooden lid was closed tightly. No one needed to see the ghost of what was once a good looking man. Horatio stood off to the side, watching Yelena as she was comforted by the masses of people that came to pay their respects.

He removed the black jacket of the suit that Calleigh had laid out for him before leaving for work. He placed the jacket on the back of a chair and looked up just in time to see a glimpse of gold.

Calleigh stood in the receiving line and he watched her make her way through the line before she finally reached his sister-in-law. She and Yelena spoke for a few minutes before embracing. Calleigh then bent down and talked to Ray Jr. for awhile before making her way over to him.

"Hey handsome." She pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly.

"I was beginning to worry about you." He said, returning the gesture, thoroughly enjoying how good she felt in his arms.

"Sorry, court ran later than I expected. I got here as soon as I could." She stepped back out of his arms but continued to hold his hands. Horatio used that to lead her over to a couch in the corner of the room.

Calleigh mimicked his earlier action of removing her suit coat and let her hair down, signaling to him that work was over and she was all his. She pulled him close to her and rested her head on his. She gently ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead like a mother would with a child.

"Why are you here, Cal?" He asked as he rested his head on her chest.

"What do you mean?" Her voice was just about a whisper and the southern lull added in was soothing enough to make him sleepy.

"Why are you here, with me, an old man, when you could have any guy you wanted?" She laughed. "What?"

"Well, for one, you are not an old man. And two, I don't want 'any guy', I want you." Horatio looked up at her.

"You didn't answer my question." She sighed.

"I don't know why I'm here and I don't care. All I know is that being here with you, it's like no where I've ever been before and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Calleigh answered, holding his face so that he could look in her eyes and see that she meant every word she said.

"Do you love me?"

"Horatio David Caine, I love you so much that it physically hurts." Her voice cracked slightly and that was all of the reassurance that he needed. He switched their positions so that he was holding her and then wrapped his arms around her tightly. She felt so good in his arms that he could almost forget that his brother way lying in the coffin not twenty feet away from them. The rest of the team came by to pay their respects and offer their condolences to Horatio, but it wasn't until the crowd had died away and Yelena came over and sat with them that Horatio finally let go of his fiancée.

He wasn't quiet sure why, but he felt guilty being with Calleigh around his sister-in-law, especially now. The two of them had had a kind of unspoken attraction to one another years ago, before she married Ray and Horatio had always wondered if Ray hadn't entered the picture, if the two of them would have ever acted upon their feelings. Of course, if they had, then he never would have fallen in love with the blonde seated next to him. He sighed and let out a long breath. What if's and might-have-been only served to make things more complicated and give him a headache.

"You okay, handsome?" Calleigh asked when she heard him sigh. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. He pulled away from quickly and she looked at him oddly.

He avoided her stare and instead turned his attention to the other women in their presence.

"How are you holding up, Yelena?" He asked with genuine concern.

"I'm fine, Horatio. Don't worry about me." She responded. Horatio looked at her knowingly.

"Do you really think you can lie to me? I know you're not fine." Yelena sighed.

"Okay, I surrender. I'm about at my breaking point, but I think I can manage to make it through this last little bit." She replied honestly this time.

"Mom, I'm hungry." Ray Jr. stated as he stood at his mother's side.

"I know, sweetie. We'll go in just a little bit." Yelena replied wearily.

"But I'm hungry now." The boy whined.

"Ray, please." His mother pleaded. Calleigh looked over at the two tired souls. They were both close to tears, totally beaten down.

"I can take him, Yelena. It's not a problem." Yelena turned her head to look at the other woman.

"Would you?"

"Sure. Come on Ray, I'll take you to wherever you want to go." She stood and Horatio started to stand too, but Calleigh shook her head and gently pushed him back down. She then took the boy by the hand and led him out of the building. She threw one last look over her shoulder at him and all he could read from her was confusion. Horatio watched the two leave while Yelena watched him.

"Why are you so afraid to love her?" Yelena asked once they were gone.

"I'm not afraid to love her." Horatio responded.

"Then why do you push her away whenever you need her most?"

"I don't-"

"She is an amazing woman with a wonderful heart. And as hard as it was for me to accept, that woman loves you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone, so if you aren't afraid to love her, then what are you afraid of?" Horatio sighed.

"This. I'm afraid of putting her through this. I don't ever want to her to hurt the way you're hurting right now." Yelena leaned forward.

"Let me tell you something I know for sure, Horatio. You're going to die. There will come a day when you are no longer here on earth, at least not in this form and the same goes for her. Now I don't know which one of you is going to go first, but eventually you'll both be gone. You can't live your life being afraid of dying because then you're not really living. You're going through the motions but you're not experiencing anything." Horatio looked up at her. She was right and he knew she was, but he still couldn't push the thoughts out of the back of his mind.

"Come on, I'll take you home." He said as she stood up from the couch. Yelena looked up at him, worried, but she stood as well and followed him out, praying that Horatio had more sense then his brother and realized what a good thing he had.