After leaving the Fallbrook Women's Correctional Facility, Catherine met up with Chris; she wanted to decompress, to forget about love gone wrong, and meeting up with Mr. Lust-Gone-Right seemed to be the best way to do that.
They only ever went to hotels. She didn't want Lindsey meeting him---only because she didn't expect he'd be in her life for very long---and she assumed he wasn't ready to have a woman in his home yet. But, she didn't mind. The hotels he chose were always high-class, high thread count, and he was very enthusiastic between the sheets.
However, that evening, when she went home and helped Lindsey with her homework, she was still feeling restless.
"Did you train yet?" Lindsey asked.
Catherine's mother, Lily, looked up from the newspaper she was reading. "Train?"
Catherine felt her cheeks heat up as Lindsey started explaining the race she was training for, with other members of the forensics lab. When the young girl was finished talking, Lily was grinning.
"Mom?"
"I think that's fabulous!" Lily gushed. "You need to get out and do something just for you. You spend too much time in that lab."
Catherine rolled her eyes, although she was smiling. "Thanks, Mom."
"It's going to rain soon," she pointed out, "so maybe you should go running now before that happens?"
"You'll hold the fort down?"
Lily snorted. "Honestly, Catherine, there isn't much going on. Lindsey's not the hellion you were."
Lindsey giggled and asked her grandmother about what Catherine was like when she was growing up. Catherine sighed and put her hands up in mock-exasperation as she strode out of the room.
She went straight to her bedroom and changed for a run.
Fifteen minutes later, she was pounding the pavement, following the familiar route she took through the residential area of the city.
Thirty minutes later, the skies opened up and a heavy rain poured down onto the city---soaking Catherine in the process.
Hard, heavy rain always made her shiver. Ever since Lindsey was in the accident, since Eddie died, she always shivered when it rained. Her daughter lost her father, and Catherine almost lost her daughter; the rain reminded her of those facts.
She stopped running and looked around her---not for shelter, but for a distraction as she tried to push those frightening thoughts out of her mind. She hated thinking about that case, about the problems it caused for everyone involved; she pressed her lips together and tried not to frown.
After stretching her muscles again, she started warming up by walking a block. Then, she picked up the pace and resumed running.
Even though she was soaked, she continued to run. She pounded out her frustrations, she focused on her breathing instead of her fling with Chris and her unstable friendship with Gil, she pushed her body faster and harder in hopes of improving her physical condition and of exhausting herself so she would sleep that night.
&&&&
When his case was closed, Gil stayed in the office and tried to distract himself by completing some extraneous paperwork. But, after a couple of hours, he still couldn't erase from his mind the image of Zero Adams crying out for those familiar people in his life. It made his mind focus on his heart's ache for Catherine.
They always met up after cases, to celebrate over victories or to sympathise after losses; he enjoyed talking with her and he always felt better---more human---after spending the night with her in his arms.
But, since they ended the romantic chapter of their relationship, he wasn't able to be with her like that. He missed her so much, but even moreso after a particularly sad case.
He had been in his car, stopped at a road repair site and waiting for the sign to be turned to grant him access to the one available lane on the street, when he dialed Catherine's home number. He didn't really know what he would say to her, but he hoped that if he could just hear her voice, he'd feel better.
"Hello?"
At the sound of Lindsey's voice, he smiled. He missed the young girl, too.
"Hey, Lindsey," he said quietly, "it's---"
"Uncle Gil!" she exclaimed. "Hi!"
He chuckled, taken aback by the girl's enthusiastic reply. "Hi," he said, still chuckling a little. "How are you?"
"Good!" she chirped. "Grandma and I are playing cards. I'm winning."
"Well, good for you," he replied. "Is your mom around?"
"She went out for her run," Lindsey said without hesitation. "She always runs now. Are you training for the race, too?"
"I would be if I didn't have old knees," he told her. "When do you think she'll be back?"
"Uhhh... maybe in twenty minutes?" Lindsey said, sounding very unsure. "She went up our street, towards the playground, and then she usually goes through Melrose to get to Beechwood Crescent, and then back onto our street at the other end." She paused. "It's raining really hard... if you're coming over, can you look for her?"
"Sure, Linds," he said before he was aware of saying it, "I'll go find her and make sure she isn't drowning in a puddle."
She sounded like she was smiling; Gil wondered how much about their relationship Catherine had shared with her daughter. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Gotta go! See you soon!"
He chuckled as he hung up the phone. And when he set his cellular phone down on the seat next to him, his laughter faded away. He realised that he had agreed to find Catherine and he wasn't entirely sure that was a good idea.
But, he drove towards her house and followed the route Lindsey was certain that Catherine had taken. It was hard to see much of anything, with all the rain coming down, but he eventually found her.
She was running on a sidewalk, on Beechwood Crescent, when he caught up to her. Her clothes and hair were plastered to her body and Gil felt the familiar, lust-driven pull to her as he slowed the car to drive alongside of her.
Catherine turned and gave him a funny look when he rolled down the window on the passenger side.
"Lindsey told me where you'd be," he called out, as he turned the radio down.
"Oh," she replied, giving him a small smile.
"Do you want to get in?" he asked. "I'll drive you back home."
"I'm training!" she reminded him.
He smiled. "Okay... but---"
"If you want to help, turn on the radio and give me something to run to!" she interrupted.
He nodded and turned the radio back up as he drove at her side, until they arrived at her house. Then, he rolled the window up and turned the radio down before turning the car off. He was about to get out of the car, but Catherine hopped in and gave him a confused look.
"What's on your mind?" she asked quietly.
"I... I had a rough case," he admitted, looking away. "And I... I called you. I wanted to hear your voice. I hoped it would make me feel better---it usually does."
She bit her lower lip. "You didn't come here to get laid?" she asked, before opening her bottle of water and drinking some of it.
He shook his head. "No... I... even when we're friends... we talk."
"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "We haven't done much of that lately."
"I know," he whispered.
&&&&
"What---Gil---" Catherine stopped short and spluttered wordlessly as she pulled away from him. She shivered. "N-no," she whispered. "We can't," she said, before getting out of the car and walking away.
She had been laughing at something he said. They had finished talking about their cases and had moved onto lighter topics. She laughed and leaned in a little closer than she should have done; he leaned in and lightly touched his lips to hers.
The kiss had been like a splash of cold water. She panicked---it felt good but it wasn't right.
So, she left the safety of Gil's vehicle and headed out into the rainy night. She walked towards the side of her house, to one of the small gardens, for some privacy from Gil and from Lindsey and Lily. There were no windows on that side of the house; she would be safe from prying eyes there.
"Catherine?"
She whirled around, teeth chattering a little. "God, Gil!" she exclaimed. "Couldn't you tell I wanted to be alone?"
"I want to apologise," he said quietly.
"For kissing me?"
"For everything!" he answered. "I miss you and I hurt every day, but I know I can't ask you to take me back yet---because I can't figure out why I think the way I do, no matter how much I love you, and it's not fair to you or Lindsey and---and---" he stopped short and looked away. When he returned his gaze to hers, she felt her stomach tighten. "God, I miss you."
"Gil... go home," she insisted weakly.
"Did you feel anything?" he asked.
His question sent her pulse racing. "How dare you ask---" she stopped short and marched over to him. She shoved him, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing as hard as she could. "How could you EVER ask something like that?" she demanded. "Of course I feel everything around you! You idiot! You're my best friend! You're... I love you, you idiot! You walk into a room and my body temperature changes!
"You don't get the right to push me away and then string me along!" she growled, before shoving him again.
"Cath---"
She shoved him a third time. "You bastard!" she hissed.
She moved to push him again, but he caught her hands and pulled her close. She landed against his wet body with a thud and a quiet squish; their kiss was punctuated by a gasp and a moan.
Catherine didn't understand why she allowed him to kiss her, to push her against the wall of the house and demand more from her body, but she wasn't asking any questions. She knew she would only have Gil in her arms for a few minutes, but she wasn't complaining.
He tugged at the zipper of her sweater before pulling it off of her shoulders and down her arms and then he started kissing the wet skin on her shoulders and collarbone. Catherine whimpered and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"We can't..." she whispered.
"What?"
"Do this out here," she finished, her voice weak. "We can't do this out here."
"Catherine---"
She sucked in a sharp breath and blurted out, "I'm seeing someone, Gil."
For a second or two---Catherine couldn't tell because time seemed to move slower when he looked at her---he looked at her as though his heart broke in two parts, but then he pounced. He kissed her with a ferocity she didn't think she had ever felt coming from him.
Catherine moaned and lifted her legs as he pinned her to the wall of the house, wrapping them around his waist. She didn't understand and she didn't care; she kissed him back and struggled to keep up with the frenzied pace he had established.
When he finally let her breathe, he moved on to assault her neck. She shuddered and moaned and was glad her neighbours couldn't see that side of the house because she realised Gil was determined to have his way with her there, in the rain, against the wall of her home.
"Don't you... don't you have something to say?" she croaked, arching against his body as he sucked on her neck.
He bit down in response, holding her flesh between his teeth as he sucked harder.
Catherine moaned again and closed her eyes.
"This is insane," she breathed.
"I know," he agreed, kissing his way back to her mouth.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss intensified. Gil braced himself against the house with one hand and put his other hand on her stomach as he flexed his hips into hers. He lifted her tank top and sought her bare, wet skin. Catherine moaned into him and rocked her body against his.
When he squeezed her breast, she whimpered and broke her lips from his; she gasped for breath and struggled not to fall apart in his hands. It was futile, though, because when he manipulated her nipple through her sports bra she cried his name and crashed into an unexpected climax. The sensations of pressure below and above her waist were too much; she shuddered against his body and whispered his name over and over as the waves of pleasure washed over her.
"Beautiful," he whispered hoarsely.
"Fuck me," she breathed.
He unfastened his pants---slowly, because he had to hold her in place while doing so---and then worked on pushing her shorts and underwear aside. She was glad she decided to wear shorts instead of track pants; she was glad she didn't have to complete undress in such an exposed location.
There was nothing gentle about the way he thrust his erection inside of her. There was nothing romantic about it, either. He forced his way inside of her, sheathing himself completely in one fast stroke; Catherine knew she'd be sore the next day, but she didn't care because it felt so good.
She scratched the back of his neck and bit his lower lip when she could, determined to dole out some painful pleasure of her own. Her actions spurred Gil on; they were racing each other towards the invisible finish line, using every dirty trick in their book.
Gil thrust in and out, as quickly and as soundly as his hips would allow. Catherine wondered how much pent of frustration was fueling his fire; she would have asked but she was too busy whimpering and begging for more in a fashion that would have made her cringe if she hadn't been so overtaken by desire.
She felt his hips still for a split second and then groaned---just as she tipped her head back and let out a low moan when her hidden muscles started to ripple again. Gil dropped his forehead to her shoulder and breathed deeply; Catherine pressed her cheek against his wet head and closed her eyes, still twitching a little from their activities.
Everything that followed was awkward. Gil released her, looking everywhere but at her as he put himself together. Catherine didn't mind that; she felt a little weird about their coupling, too, but after a little while, she was beginning to wonder what it all meant to him.
"You should go inside," he said quietly.
She blinked slowly. "Oh... yeah."
"Get a warm bath and relax," he advised.
Catherine smiled a bit. "Okay," she murmured. "You should get out of the elements, too."
He gave her a half-smile. "I will," he promised.
Gil reached out and cupped her face in his hands. He leaned in and kissed her---gently, despite their furious actions earlier---before moving away.
"See you tomorrow," he promised.
Catherine nodded and watched him walk around the other side of the house. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, letting the rain pour down on her face and body; when she heard Gil's car pull out of her driveway, she forced herself to bend over and pick up her discarded sweatshirt before turning and going into her house.
