I'm Still Here: May It Be

"Charles" Larry called out in greeting as he walked in the front door. "What made you figure to start redecorating?" Pulling the key from the lock, he looked around. Besides the TV that was on in the entertainment area, the living room area had clearly been redecorated.

Setting his bags down, he heard the swinging door open and there was a brief stopping shuffle. "Larry I didn't hear you come in. How was your trip to New York? Charlie pointed towards the front door and wiped the condensation from his hands onto the napkin.

"Brilliantly exhilarating on so many levels." Larry caught his friend's eye as he ran a hand through his hair and looked around the room, a slight smirk in his expression.

Charlie set his glass of milk on a coaster in the middle of the two chairs. "On what level would this be?" He raised his hand to a level in the air.

Larry ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled. Charlie already knew the look on his friend's expression, the look of love. "It's truly the power of life and love." Charlie held up his hand in mid air; half smirk. But before he could get it out the door to the jingle of keys echoed behind the front door before it opened.

Don appeared in the door looking more then quite haggard as he had been the last few days since he had seen him. "Hey Charlie," He pulled his keys from the lock and took off his jacket.

Charlie took a step forward, his forehead creased in concern. "Hey Don, finally decided to make your way home I see."

"I didn't have much of a choice Dad was about to send out a raid, and I'm too tired to go home so I figured I could crash here tonight." Don draped his jacket over his arm, and stepped towards the landing, eyeing the silence. "Where is Dad anyway?"

"At a conference dinner, he should be home in another hour."Charlie answered as Don threw a nod his way and took a step up the stairs before stopping.

"Hey Charlie, did Dad mention anything to you about a dinner on Wednesday?" Don recalled from an earlier message on his phone that he had received a couple days ago from their father.

Larry looked around the room, realizing that Don hadn't noticed the change. Megan was right about worrying about her decision. Charlie rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, "While I was working on a theory for the Demos case earlier in the week."


Don leaned forward to take another few steps up the stairs before grunting his response, a slight groan emitting from the back of his throat. "And when did he come up with this?" He rolled his neck in both directions as if he could starve the headache that was making rounds into his pressured nerves.


Charlie checked his watch again. "It was the same day that dad called you. I was standing in the kitchen when he left the message."


"I've been busy Charlie."Don edged tiredly. His head was starting to throb now. "Do you think we could talk about this in the morning? It's been a long day and I'm starting to get a headache and I-I can't think."


"Fine-" There was a slight hurt in his voice as he gazed up at his brother holding his hands up in surrender to the subject, but Don didn't seem to notice. Charlie's expression darkened as he turned his attention over to 


Larry who had strayed across the room, marveling in the sudden changes and trying to act like he wasn't hearing the slight predicament of the two brothers. "Never mind." Charlie mumbled waving off his next thought and turned his back towards the stairs before he walked across the room.


He didn't see Don take a running glance back before running his fingers through his hair and making his way into his old room, closing the door as quietly as he could before loosening his tie and throwing it onto the bedside table beside the bed.


Megan ran the card through the door to her hotel room. It was late, but late wasn't anything to compare to the days that she found herself staring awake, being on a case or just unable to sleep to the pattern she was accustomed to.


Placing her purse on the desk, she started tidying up. Her thoughts strayed to the photo album her father showed her as she organized a few things back into her suitcase. Everything like before was going through her mind, but this time it was the photo album, her nieces, nephews, sisters, brother-in-laws. She realized that most of her nieces and nephews didn't even know her. In fact Megan was pretty sure that she didn't even know herself.


The ring on her finger proved her happiness was there. It symbolized a new piece of her life slowly connecting beyond the hurt-feeling lost. She loved him. He loved her. He held her up, and listened to her when she needed it. On her part she used wisdom to dig the deeper emotions of their relationship. And they had found something so sincere when they had felt like they had been beyond reach.


But for many years they had been running from their broken pasts, only to find unsettled feelings and emotions developing as they began their own. There were fears and battles that were bridging over at the continual movement of their lives and once again they stumbled to make meaning for the unceasing thoughts that waged keeping them together or in a moment something that could tear them apart.


And with that thought she finds herself across the room, her fingers lingering over the speed dial of her phone.
Not thinking to change into something more comfortable, there he lays on top of his covers-white dress shirt, black pants-the thought of his fingers absently picking at the buttons on his shirt, but his hands do not move an inch from his side. His eyelids flutter as his body sinks into the matress and darkness settles in.


His thoughts are scattered as he thinks about the last case. And somewhere in the back of his mind he is reminded that he has thrown caution to the wind but it just hasn't been realized yet.