Erik had been staying at Cecily’s for a while now. Callie had been staying with him as well. He’d been staying at Cecily’s long enough now for him to really think about how he needed to get a real job and not just do odd jobs here and there. Yes. He needed to set out to find a real job and start earning some real money. He wanted to be able to provide for Callie and give her everything she wanted in life.

He woke that morning and headed into the shower. When he came out of the bathroom he had a towel around his waist. Over to the dresser he headed and started pulling out some clothes to wear for the day.

“You want to go with me today Callie while I look for a real job for a change?” he asked Callie who was (hopefully) waking up. Yes. They would sleep in the same bed from time to time. Mostly when one or the other was having nightmares or something. Sleep. That was all that went on for those of you who have dirty minds.

She had actually slept pretty well that night. Charlie’s teachings of how to manipulate the dream sequence were helping a bit the more she tried. Callie had slept through him getting up but woke up while he was in the shower. Stupid sunlight coming through the window always did the trick; well when it was sunny anyways. The girl was rubbing her eyes when the bathroom door opened and Erik popped out and headed for the dresser to pick out clothes.

It took her a moment to register what he was asking, but it finally sunk in after a few moments pondering.

”Alright.” She said while yawning at the same time. Hopefully he understood ‘yawn’. Maybe she could find some place to work to. She had not gone back to the bar where she had worked since she had started living with Charlie. They ended up firing her which was fine by Callie. She hated the place, but her mother had forced her to work there in hopes of making more money.

She was sitting up in bed now still getting herself awake.

”Do you think I could find a job to?” She said looking over at Erik.

Out of the dresser he pulled a pair of boxers, socks, a pair of decent looking black jeans, a nice looking light blue short sleeved button-up shirt. A smile crept to his face as she agreed to go with him. Yes. He understood 'yawn'.

Whoa. Wait. Back up. He turned around towards the bed and blinked a few times. "Honey," he started as he carried his clothes towards the bed. "You don't need to find a job. That's why I'm going to find one. So I can provide for you."

Her facial expressions showed that she was puzzled about what he was saying. ”I don’t understand. How come you have to have a job, but I don’t? I’ve worked before.” This new idea of not having to work was a bit odd.

He laughed softly and moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside her. One hand came up and caressed the side of her face. "Because you get the fun part of spending the money I make for you." He smiled at her as he spoke.

And even more puzzled look came upon her face. ”Why would I spend money you earned? That’s your money.”

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Because I'm earning it to provide for you. It's what a guy does for the woman he loves."

”Oh.” She still had the puzzled look for a few minutes before it finally turned into a smile and she kissed him on the cheek. ”I’ll go change.” She then got up and slipped through the bathroom to her bedroom.

He smiled and nodded as she said she was going to go change. After she slipped into the bathroom, he reached up and touched his own cheek. He sat there like that for a moment before he finally got up and got dressed. He peeked into the bathroom to make sure he wasn't interupting her in there before heading in and combing his hair. He then went back into his room to wait for her.

She got changed into some relaxed blue jeans, a white t-shirt with a sleeveless gray jacket over it. After putting on some socks and tennis shoes she went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and combed her hair. Callie didn’t need to take a shower as she’d taken one the previous night. Coming back into Erik’s bedroom she sat back down on the bed next to him. ”Where are we going to look?”

He looks up as she comes back into his room and sits next to him. He turns and puts his arms around her to hug her. "You're so pretty," he tells her softly as he kisses her forehead again.

"Not sure. Figured we'd just head out and stop in various places to see if they're hiring or not. There's one place I want to be sure to stop at along the way. I want to introduce you to someone who helped me out the other day."

Well Callie’s not sure what to say about the ‘you’re so pretty’ comment. She isn’t the type of girl to say ‘thank you’ or the sort. In fact she’s never thought about any sort of physical beauty she might possess and thus has never thought about the subject. Instead she just smiles and sits there.

”Oh? What did you need help with?” Voice was full of curiosity.

He hadn't expected nor wanted any sort of reply from her at his compliment. Her smile was reply enough for him. He loved seeing her smile.

"Getting my head out of my own ass," he admits. He stands up and takes hold of her hand gently. He begins to lead them out of his room. "Want to walk? Or get a ride?"

Obviously a perplexed look came over her face. ”How’d you get your head there?” It didn’t seem possible from what she could tell. Nobody could fit there head in their rear.

”I don’t care which one. Either is fine with me.” She was still a bit puzzled about his previous comment.

He swallowed the laugh that was trying to rise from her question. Yes. It was funny but it was to be expected if one really thinks about it. Callie knows nothing of these things and such. It's all a learning process.

"It's a figure of speech honey. It means that my thoughts were so wrapped up in myself that I couldn't see anything else."

He led her down the stairs and towards the front door. "We'll go ahead and walk. It's a nice day." And out the front door they went.

”Oh. Well why didn’t you just say that?” Sheesh. Make her even more puzzled that she needed to be and she’d only been up for twenty minutes.

”Okay.” She said in response to the walking rather than getting a ride as they headed down the stairs. Walking was fine. That was practically all she’d done all her life. It was only until she started being around Charlie did she actually get into a car.

He shrugged slightly. "Used to saying it that other way I guess." He put an arm around her waist and headed them away from Cecily's place. Somewhere along the way, he had called out to let Cecily know that they were going. He'd told her the previous night that he was going to go job hunting today.

He stopped at a few places here and there to see if anyone was hiring or not. None of the places that he was interested were looking to hire. So they continued on their way. "Let's head over so I can introduce you to the guy that helped me the other day," he suggested. He was getting frustrated with this whole job hunting deal.

She looked around at the shops as Erik asked for jobs. It seemed to be going bad though. Nobody needed help at the current time. He’d even tried a few places she’s been in before when Charlie was at work.

”Alright.” She wanted to meet this guy that helped Erik ‘get his head out of his ass’ in Erik’s words.

His arm was around her waist again as he led her down the street past a few shops here and there. He didn't bother to stop in them. Not right now anyway. He wasn't in the mood to hear someone telling him they weren't hiring at the moment.

They came to the flower shop and he led her inside. Right over to the counter he leads her. "Hi girls. Jayme around?"

When they walk in her eyes are immediately looking all over the shop. It definitely had a wide variety of flowers and pretty ones at that. While he spoke to the girls behind the counter she continued looking around the shop (Never moving from Erik of course. Just letting her eyes wander).

"He's in back with the vans. You can go back. I think he's rotating helium tanks." one of the girls explained, she remembered him, but not his name. But he had spent nearly three hours in the office with Jayme, as far as she was concearned that menat he knew Jayme.

"Thanks," he replies and begins to lead Callie to the back.

"Hi Jayme," he calls to the man who has his back to where they came out. "I brought someone to meet you."

They walked through the back and she was still looking around when Erik said ‘hi’ to the man who had helped him the other day. Definitely was an interesting place.

Jayme finished shutting the van and turned around. "Hello Erik he says recognizing the voice before he's completely urned around. He stops and stares in silence once he looks at Callie though. He absently rubs his jaw, he remembers her, and Charlie.

Erik still has his arm around Callie's waist and holding her close to his side. A confused look dances across his face at Jayme's reaction when the man turns around. "Jayme, this is Callie. She's the one I was talking about the other day at the park."

When the man gets up and she looks him her hazel eyes grow wide and she takes a step backward. She can’t go anywhere though because Erik has a hold of her.

”Erik I want to leave.” It’s obviously she’s upset by seeing the man. She’s trying to turn back to the door.

Jayme just stands there mutely, he has no wish to cause the girl further distress.

Erik is totally confused at this point. SERIOUSLY confused.

"Callie? What's wrong honey? Why do you want to leave already?"

”I’ve met him on the beach before. It was a really really bad day that day and he was bugging me, making weird things in the sand around me.” She was on the verge of tears now. ”He was fighting with Charlie.” Finally a few tears started falling down her cheeks.

"You were half dead from hypothermia, and I'd hardly call me getting knocked out a fight." Jayme says quietly. "You should take her home Erik, I upset her." he says in nearly hushed tones, he doesn't like upsetting people.

He glanced back and forth between Jayme and Callie. His mind was so utterly confused at the moment. The tears starting to fall from Callie’s eyes distressed him greatly. He wasn’t going to take her outside while she was crying.

“Jayme, I’m going to borrow your office for a little bit,” he says as he turns to guide Callie back inside and right into Jayme’s office. He closes the door and leads her over to the couch and sets her down. He sits down beside her and wraps his arms around her to pull her close.

As they sit down and Erik holds her close she brings and arm up to her face and wipes away tears. She couldn’t help it back there. The idea of seeing that man again anywhere never even occurred in her mind. And then there he was. Just popped out of nowhere. But he had helped Erik. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. She’d just been really upset that day.

”He was right you know.” She said quietly. ”I was really upset that day. Maybe I was trying to freeze myself. Hoping that something better would happen. And he found me. Perhaps he helped me. I don’t know. I was too upset and wanted to be left alone.” She’s burying her head against his chest as she held on to his shirt.

Erik listened to every word she said as he held onto her and let her cry against him. “It’s ok honey,” he finally tells her softly. “I understand. We all have days like that sweetie.” He continues to hold her while she cries and kisses the top of her head.

She didn’t say anything more. Callie just sat there in his arms. It took her about ten minutes to settle down but she finally did. She wipes her eyes again with her arm and looks up at Erik. ”I hope I didn’t upset him.” Of course she was talking about Jayme.

Erik just holds her while she cries and such. He'll never rush her into calming down. No. He lets her do it at her own pace.

"It's ok love. I'm sure he'll understand. He really is quite the understanding guy. He really helped me the other day Callie. Helped me see what I wasn't seeing about myself. He also helped me get a few hours sleep without the nightmares."

”That’s good.” She responds to the fact that he got some good sleep without nightmares interrupting. That seemed to be one thing that they had in common; nightmares overrunning any chance of a good night’s sleep they might have.

”Maybe I should go apologize?”

He nods. "It was only a couple of hours but at least it was better than what I've been getting."

He smiles softly at her. "You sure you're up for it just yet? Do you want to just sit here for a few more minutes so your tears can dry entirely?"

”Yeah. We can stay here a minute.” Last thing she needed to do was go in there with a red and wet face. She’d already embarrassed herself for the way she acted to him earlier.

He reaches up with a hand to wipe away a few stray tears gently. His other arm stays wrapped around her, holding her close. He leans his head forward and towards the side of her head. "I love you, Callie," he whispers in her ear and then kisses her on her cheek.

His breath against her face as he whispers in her ear makes that tingling sensation run through her body once again. She looks up at him again after he kisses on the cheek. ”I love you to Erik.” She smiled afterwards.