Avery awoke with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. She glanced over at her sleeping boyfriend before she climbed out of the bed and went into the bathroom. She leaned over the sink and ran the cold water, washing her face and the back of her neck.

The dreams were coming back. They used to haunt her childhood until one day they went away and hadn't come back until today. She shut the water off and went back into the bedroom, quietly slipping under the sheet.

"Are you okay?"

Avery leaned her chin on his chest, kissing it gently. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Worried about tonight?"

Her blue eyes met his brown ones. "I wouldn't say worried is the right word. Just remember when he kills you that I didn't want to do this."

"He wouldn't kill me, he likes me."

Avery laughed. "Maybe, but he LOVES me."

"Should we put it off?"

"Backing out now?"

Nick worried his lip. "No. I think he needs to know. I think the department needs to know."

Avery sighed. "But then one of us is going to have to move to swing or days and I don't want to do that."

"We already agreed I would move to swing. We'll still get to see each other."

"Yeah for two seconds as we pass in the hallway or on the off chance that we're actually both off at the same time."

Nick frowned slightly at her. "Then we'll just tell Grissom and not Ecklie."

Avery moistened her lips. "Grissom will have to tell Ecklie."

"As you said he loves you. He won't hurt you."

She didn't answer him as she kissed his bare chest again. There was always a chance that he wouldn't tell Ecklie. Hell. He had been seeing Sara for over two years and no one in the department other than her knew about that.

"Why do you want to tell him?"

Nick sighed. "I have a lot of respect for Grissom, Avery. I don't like doing this behind his back. It's been almost a year, it's time he knew."

"Wait a little longer please. For me?"

Nick rolled so that he was on top of Avery. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, pulling her tight against him. "You're lucky I love you." He continued to kiss down her neck and stomach stopping between her legs. "Really love you."

Avery arched her back as Nick kissed her thighs, his tongue coming out to taste her.

Genevieve turned the television up as she heard the first of Avery's moans. Avery had a tendency to be loud and once her and Nick got started it was usually a while before they stopped.

She frowned as she heard a soft rapping at the door. She glanced at the clock on the wall before getting up and looking through the peephole. She cursed under her breath as she saw Grissom and backed away from the door, heading to the first bedroom in the hallway.

"Avery," Vi called out as she knocked on the door. She waited a moment, listening to Avery keep moaning before she rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Avery! Your father is here."

Avery quickly covered her body, looking at her roommate. "What? Why is Grissom here?"

"I'm going to go and let him in. Just wanted to give you and boy toy here a warning." Vi let her eyes glance at Nick's body. She winked at Avery before closing the door and heading to the front door. She opened it and stood back, gesturing for Grissom to come in. "Sorry, it took me a minute to get the door. I was in the bathroom."

Grissom walked into the house. "Where's Avery?"

"Right here," Avery said as she closed her bedroom door, tightening her bathrobe around her waist. "What's going on?"

"Are you still taking a personal day today?"

"I just got off a triple. Yes, I am taking a personal day to get some rest."

"Can you watch Hank?"

Avery raised her eyebrows. "You came all the way out here to ask me to watch Hank? You could have called."

"I tried. Voicemail."

Avery pursed her lips. She knew her phone was turned off because she had been planning on sleeping. "Sorry, phone is off. You're going in early, why?"

Grissom pulled his phone out and glanced at the screen. "Ecklie needs us. Day shift is backlogged. I've been trying to call Nick in but he's not answering the phone."

Avery pushed her brown hair behind her ear. "Yes, I'll watch Hank. Do you need me to come in and help?"

Grissom closed his phone again and frowned slightly as he saw a male's shirt hanging on the side of the armchair. "No, not unless you want to. We could use the help, but you resting is also important. I have to go. If you hear from Nick tell him to get to the lab won't you?"

"Sure, but I doubt that I'm going to hear from him if you haven't."

"Right. See you around."

Avery frowned as Grissom left the house. "Is he acting stranger than normal?"

"He's always strange," Vi said as she dropped back onto the couch, covering up with her blanket. "You going to go into work?"

"I don't know," Avery answered looking behind her as Nick came out of the bedroom in just his jeans. "You need to stop turning your phone off when you're with me."

Nick kissed her quickly as he grabbed his shirt. "Wouldn't be an issue if you would just let me tell him already. Are you going to come into work?"

Avery shook her head. "I'm going to try and sleep. Grissom knows he can call me if he really needs me."

Nick kissed her again. "See you in the morning?"

"Yeah," Avery said watching as he left the house. She sighed as she dropped down into the armchair and glanced at Vi. "Did you have to come into the room?"

Vi smiled at her. "You never told me Nick was packing."

Avery rolled her eyes. "I'm going to head to Grissom's and watch Hank," she got up and started to her room. "Be careful at work tonight."

"You too."

"Not going to work."

"Yes, you will," Vi answered her as her bedroom door shut. "You always do."