Erik had waited until the van had been entirely out of sight before setting out towards the inner city once more. He had a few other things he wanted to do before heading home. He’d already screwed up one thing he had set out to do. That hadn’t been his intent. Too late to change things now it seemed. He needed to just let things be. For now anyway. Let the storm calm I guess you could say.

He headed to the grocery store first. He bought a bunch of fresh fruits, vegetables, sugar and a few other things. While in the store, he bought one of those carts with wheels to make it easier to get the stuff home. He loaded the stuff into the cart and left the store. Down the street he continued to head. He stopped at another store and bought himself a couple more notebooks. His last stop was the flower shop where he bought a dozen long stem white roses.

Happy with his purchases, he heads home. He’s been gone now for about three hours. The walk home is entirely uneventful. Into the house he heads and calls out to Cecily to let her know he’s home. He goes into the kitchen and puts the groceries away. He folds up the cart thing and puts it in a closet. Then, he heads upstairs.

Quietly, he enters the bedroom and sets the vase with the roses in it on the night stand next to the bed. He leans over and gently kisses Callie’s cheek. He’s not trying to wake her up but he does need to talk to her when she wakens. He moves to the other side of the bed and lays down to wait for her to wake.

She slept pleasantly for the most part but the nightmares can only hold off for so long. Soon she’s back in her dreams to the part where she’s being taken through the forest to that wretched shack and then shut inside. Callie’s crying in her dreams and her face would show the discomfort that was once again coming back.

Charlie? Charlie please….I need you. She’s calling out to him now in her dream. It’s happened before with the older nightmares. He always made things better, but for some reason he hadn’t been around lately and it was worrying her. Did she really make him that mad? She continued calling for him as she’s starting to reach the more violent images in her nightmare.

Charlie does indeed flutter in, but he is barely substantial, he is just that tired. "Shhhh it isn't real, you know that, it's just your memories getting all twisted around in the dreamscape. "He says.

He sits down in the dream and holds her hand. " Be strong, I'm too tired to stay long right now. I'll stay as long as I can." he says in a soothing tone.

She can see through him which is not normal. However she looks at what little of them is there and squeezes his hand as he holds hers. He says he is tired which is understandable. She is as well but the wretched images just won’t stay away for long. She’s crying and the screaming starts as the slicing starts yet again. Charlie….Why did you leave? I didn’t get a chance to talk to you.” She’s trying to keep her mind off of what was happening and continue to look at Charlie’s faded form.

"It's complicated, and I needed to go before it got more complicated. I knew you were safe though. You know I would never have left you if you weren't safe." he says pulling her into a hug. Inspite of not being totally substantial, it is a very strong hug. He holds her like he wishes he could have held her last night. He had needed to hold her, even if only long enough to know she really was alright for himself. It hadn't happened that way though.

He held her here instead and rocked her. "We'll get up in a minute and I'll take you from this. Once I do, I will have to go. So you must be very strong and stay focused on remaining where i take you. Can you do that?" he's whispering to her very gently.

She wasn’t sure why it had been complicated but at that current moment she wasn’t about to question anything about it. Embracing his hug she wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly, resting her head against his transparent chest. The gentle rocking was making her feel better and forget about the pain as she closed her eyes trying to block out the terrifying images. ”I think so.” She acknowledged him asking if she could stay focused and strong.

He holds her for a few more minutes still rocking her gently. When she is more settled he lets go, "We're going to get up and walk now, hold my hand." he tells her. Which she does.

He leads her away from the shack, through the woods and down a long twisting dirt road. After a time he veers off of the dirt road with her and through some hedges. They stand now at the top of a gentle slope which leads to the sea at sunrise. "Now, here we are this is much nicer. Stay here and get some rest. Stay focused on being here, and safe." he tells her. He hugs her again not wanting to let go, "I love you." he tells her. He fades out holding her, his embrace, or the essence of it, lingers warmly on her for a time after he is gone.

She doesn’t say anything but gets up with him and allows him to lead her out of the shack and through the forest holding his hand. Her grip is tight for she’s afraid that if she lets go she’ll be sucked back into the shack. Veering off the path and up the slope the surprise of a sunrise on the ocean was definitely a really good feeling. Charlie knew her too well. The sunrise indeed gives her a good feeling of calmness. Morning at the ocean was always her favorite, even if it was cold.

A nod was given to Charlie as he tells her to stay focused on this place so she could get some rest. Arms wrapped around him once more as he hugged her again. ”I love you to Charlie.” And soon he disappears but the feeling that he was still with her lingered for a little while longer before finally disappearing altogether. Eyebrows had furrowed to see him leave though she could understand the feeling of being tired.

She remained asleep for another hour or so before finally waking to see Erik lying down next to her. Had he stayed with her the whole time? Or did he leave and come back? She does look a little better this time as she wakes.

Erik was lying there on the bed next to her staring up at the ceiling. He was thinking about everything that had been happening, including finding Charlie. Boy had that whole thing gone to hell rather quickly. Sleep was so far from his mind it wasn't even funny. The scent from the dozen roses had filled the entire room. It was quite a pleasant scent really. Because he was lost in his own thoughts, he'd not yet realized that Callie had woken.

Callie turned over to the other side of the bed to look on the bed stand and find the white roses. They smelled very nice and it made her inhale deeply to take in the scent even more. It made her smile as she turned back to look at Erik who seemed to still be staring at the ceiling. She looked up at the spot where he was looking then back at him.

”Anything interesting up there?” She said teasingly as she scooted closer to him.

It took a few moments for his brain to register that Callie was awake and talking to him. He blinked and turned his head towards her. "Hey sleepy head. How you feeling?" He rolled over onto his side and put his arm around her.

”A little better. Did I really sleep a while?” It didn’t seem like she had been asleep that long, but it definitely felt longer than her other attempts. She yawned and rubbed her eyes to get herself a bit more awake as Erik rolled over and put his arm around her. She scooted closer as he did so.

He nodded his head. "Yeah. You did. Quite a while actually. Long enough for me to go talk to someone, come back here, walk back into the city to buy some stuff and walk back here." He kissed her forehead as she scooted closer. "Those are for you." He was, of course, talking about the roses.

”They are very pretty. And smell good to.” She said smiling at him as he kissed her on the forehead. Hazel eyes looked at Erik lovingly though there was a hint of curiosity in them. ”Who did you go talk to?” She assumed Cecily but he said she was tired from healing her so it had to be someone else.

He smiled at her. "I'm glad you like them. I had been unsure of what color to get but liked the white ones the best." He stared into her eyes for a few minutes as he tried to think of how to answer her question. He wasn't going to lie to her about it.

"Charlie."

For a moment she wasn’t sure what to say. He had gone to see Charlie? She had him finally appear in her dreams in a transparent form and he’d said that he didn’t come because of complications or something to that affect. It made her brows furrow as she looked at Erik.

”Did he say why he wouldn’t say? He…he visited me in my dream and helped me through it like he sometimes does. He said that he didn’t stay because of complications. What was he talking about?” Her eyes darted back and forth over Erik’s face hoping for some sort of logical explanation.

He sighed and let his head flop back onto his pillow as he listened to her. He nodded his head slightly. "Yeah. He did. He told me why he didn't stay."

There was something wrong. It was evident in the way Erik sighed and rested his head on the pillow. She brought herself up to lean on her elbow instead of lying down entirely and looked down at him. ”And?” She was confused and it was evident in her voice.

He could hear the confusion in her voice and could feel it in her mind as well. This just made it all the more harder for him to tell her any of this. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Me."

Her eyes went wide for a moment before returning to looking even more puzzled than before. Charlie was staying away because of Erik? Why?

”But why would that make him not stay?” The whole thing was quite confusing. Why would Charlie stay away from Erik? Did she forget to tell him about Erik? If she had then she felt guilty about it that it actually had slipped her mind. What if this whole thing was her fault?

"He said he didn't want to be a third wheel." He paused and sighed. He wasn't sure how much of what had happened he wanted to tell her. He didn't want to upset her.

”He wouldn’t be a third wheel though. Would he?” She pleaded for something to make sense. Why would Charlie feel like a third wheel?

Erik shrugged. "He said I had it all under control."

”Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say about it. She didn’t really know what had gone on as she was passed out the entire time from the moment they left the shack. Callie pulled her elbow from underneath her and lay back down on the bed and turned to lie on her back and stare at the ceiling the same way Erik had been when she woke up.

"He did tell me to tell you to call him any time you need him for something."

He turned his head and glanced at her as she rolled over onto her back. He didn't want this tension in the air anymore right now. He rolled over onto his side towards her and put his arm around her waist.

"I'm just glad that you're okay. I love you Callie. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out. I was scared I was going to lose you."

She felt his arm around her waist and she looked over at Erik again. Love. The word had mixed emotions for her even though she had told him that she’d loved him before she fell asleep. She had told Charlie that she loved him as well. But yet at the same time she didn’t fully understand how one was supposed to feel when they loved another. Callie thought she had known the feeling a long time ago with her mother and yet she had abused her as well. She knew that love couldn’t possibly suppose to hurt as much as that. Right? A hand was brought up and fingers were ran against Erik’s cheek.

”What is love supposed to feel like? I….I think I’ve lost that knowledge. My mother said she had loved me but….but I don’t know anymore.” The more she spoke about it the more her eyes threatened tears. She wanted to know what it was like to love. She wanted to know if the feelings that she had right now were really what love was.

What's love supposed to feel like?

Wow. Talk about being put on the spot. He turned his head towards her hand touching his cheek and kissed her palm. Head turned back in her direction to gaze at her pretty face. He could see the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"That's a different type of love honey," he told her softly. "Love between two people, like you and I, is entirely different. Everyone feels different when it happens to them. For me, loving you, I feel lost and alone without you. Terrified that I'll never see you again. When I'm with you, I feel whole. My heart beats faster, in a good way, when I look at you." He could only hope that he was making sense.

She listened quietly as he spoke of how love made him feel and that it was a different type of love from that she had for her mother. ”When I look at you and you put your arms around me, I get a tingling feeling here.” She placed her other hand over her stomach. It sounded weird to her but it was true. ”I feel like I never want you to leave again. My heart beats faster as well and feel calm when I look into your eyes.” She had rubbed her thumb backwards right behind his left eye as she looked at him. ”Is that what love is supposed to feel like?”

He nodded ever so often as she spoke. "Yes honey. That's what love feels like, for you." He brought his arm that was drapped over her middle up to touch her cheek softly with his fingers. "I don't ever want to be without you Callie." He leaned forward to place a tender kiss upon her forehead. He lingered there for a moment before pulling his head back to stare into her eyes.

She smiled at him as he told her that was what love felt like. ”I don’t ever want to be without you either.” That tingling sensation went through her body again as he kissed her forehead. It made her close her eyes until he moved away. There was a moment’s silence just staring at one another before another thought crossed her mind.

”But can you love more than one person? I….I kind of have similar reactions to Charlie. But…..but it’s different than the way I feel around you. I don’t know…this whole love thing is confusing.” Way to throw Erik for a loop no doubt.

Erik about choked. Yes folks, that is the exact way to make a person feel like crawling under a rock and dying. That's how he suddenly feels at this very moment in time. If he thought he had been put on the spot before, it was nothing compaired to this very minute.

"There are different types of love," he finally answered after a very long silence. "There's family love, friendship love and love that's shared between two people and two people only."

She flinched as he choked unsure of why he was acting in such a way. Gaze never left him in that awkward moment of silence. Callie didn’t realize that it seemed that she’d basically just stabbed a knife in his back with her words. That’s what happens when her mother keeps you sheltered from the world.

He explained that there were different types of love which puzzled her even more. So many types of love. How did one know what type was which for each person that they loved? She looked away, it was apparent that she was thinking.

”Which one do we have?” She said looking back up at Erik.

It wasn't so much of a stab in the back as a stab in the heart. He hadn't realized that she'd notice him choke until he realized she flinched. He caressed her cheek gently with his finger tips. He could tell that she was confused by what he'd told her and so had been actually expecting the question that she asked.

"We have the one that is shared between two people and only two people. I don't feel the way I do for you for any one else but you."

She stared at him with intent eyes as he told her that they had the kind between two people and only two people. After a moment of thought she finally smiled at him, leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before resting her head back down on the pillow.

”Then what I feel for Charlie must be another type of love? For I do not feel the same way with him as I do for you.” She said scanning his face again with gentle eyes.

A smile finally began to make its way onto his face again as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He sighed softly as he thought about how innocent she really was. It made him all the more determined to want to protect her and keep her safe from the world.

He nodded his head in responce to her question. "Yes darlin'. You're correct." He lowered his head to the pillow next to her head. Their faces just inches apart.

She could feel his warm breath on her face as he lay just inches from her own. It gave her a relaxing feeling. How long had she been lying in that bed anyways? Oh well. It didn’t matter. She was comfortable right where she was. Though her throat was still hurting from the screaming. She’d need to eventually get up and get a drink; and perhaps puts some clothing on her bottom half rather than just a towel. But for now she remained where she was. She liked where she was.

He, too, liked where he was at the moment. Of course, they could have been anywhere and he'd have been happy with where he was as long as she was there with him. After just lying there with her for a while, he finally spoke again.

"Are you thirsty? I made you some Kool-Aid if you want some. You get dressed and I'll go downstairs, check on Cecily and pour you a glass. Meet me in the kitchen?" He leaned forward and kissed the end of her nose and waited for a reply from her before moving.

A grin came over her face. ”Oh I love Kool-Aide.” Needless to Charlie found that one out rather quickly from the first glass he gave her. She liked the sugary taste of it in the water and the interesting flavors. Who ever thought of making water tasty? They were brilliant in her opinion.

”Alright.” She said to meeting him downstairs after getting dressed. Scooting over to the edge of the bed she got up and headed into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

He nodded his head and smiled back at her. "Yes. I know. Charlie had told me and the older gentleman whose name I forgot brought a canister of it." He touched her cheek one more time before getting up and heading downstairs.

He first went into the kitchen and poured a glass of the flavored water for Callie. Then he went into the livingroom to check on Cecily. "Hey Cecily. Can I get you anything?"

"No unless you have access to free tech support." she murmurs.