Need You Now

Summary: This is set after the story Finding the One You Love. Two of our favorite couples have a fight and end up spending the rest of the night apart from each other. Will they make up? How will they make up? That's the more pressing question.

Aliyah got home after a long night at the club. She now ran the club herself since it was technically suppose to be hers anyway and the now ex-owner, Johnnie, had quit than turned the club over to her. He had also moved out of Las Vegas but where, she didn't know nor did it really matter to her. Johnnie had used the money that her parents had left her and used it to build himself a club without telling her about it. Not that the money was wasted. She loved the club. She loved working in it and now, she loved owning it. She could run it the way that she wanted to.

Aliyah wasn't sure if Greg would be home yet or not. She knew that sometimes, he would get a case where he ended up having to work late. She never complained though. She understood that her boyfriend worked the graveyard shift and that sometimes, that required long hours. Sometimes though, she couldn't help but feel that the job was getting in the way of their relationship. They hardly got to spend any time together, let alone any time alone since a couple of their friends lived with them, along with their baby.

Nick and Julia had been offered a place to live by Aliyah and Greg into Aliyah's house not long after the attack and the two friends gladly accepted their friend's generous offer happily. It actually did the friends well. They helped each other out with things that needed to be done around the house, plus being able to hang out when they had the time, given that both Greg and Nick were CSI's on the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Things had been better since the four of them moved in together.

Aliyah also knew how dangerous Greg's job could be, and that's what she didn't like the most. She could deal with his work hours but every day that he went in for his shift, she couldn't help but pray that it wouldn't be the last time that she ever saw him. Greg had told her about the numerous times when he had come close to losing his life, and that didn't help put her at all at ease with his job. She wanted to offer him a job at the club where she knew he would be safe but she also knew that he wouldn't take it. He loved what he did and she didn't want to come in the way of that.

Aliyah headed into the kitchen and got busy making dinner for her and Greg. She hoped that Greg would be hope by the time it was done so that he wouldn't have to reheat it but if he wasn't, she would put it in the microwave so that he could eat it when he did come home. She knew how much he loved it when she would have dinner ready for him when he got home from work, whether he got to eat it fresh off the stove or reheat it. He told her that it still tasted great no matter what.

About the time that Aliyah got done making her and Greg's dinner, she heard the door opening and closing. Footsteps come toward the kitchen and she looked up to see that Greg was home and it didn't look as though he had had a good day. He grabbed a water out of the fridge than he sat down at the table, opening the water and taking a drink. Other than that, he remained quiet, not saying a word.

Aliyah picked up both her and Greg's plates, walking over the table. She set Greg's down in front of him than setting down her own plate. She grabbed silverware out of a drawer, giving Greg his than she sat down to eat her food. She had taken a few bites before she noticed that Greg hadn't even touched his yet. She observed him for a minute, wanting to see if he would eventually start eating but he didn't.

"Greg honey, are you okay?" she asked finally.

"I don't know. I don't think I can eat anything right now." said Greg.

"Bad night?" asked Aliyah.

"More like a bad week." said Greg.

"Does this have anything to do with the case you guys have been working on all week?" asked Aliyah. All she knew about it was that there had been six women found raped and badly beaten, left alive on purpose so that they could live with the memories of what had happened to them. It was a form of torture.

"Yeah, it does. We finally solved it." said Greg.

"Well that's good isn't it? You should be happy if you solved it." said Aliyah.

"No, I shouldn't. The judge said that we didn't have enough evidence to convict. The guy was let off the hook. He's going to be released from holding first thing in the morning." said Greg.

"What? How could a judge do something like that? Law enforcement's supposed to get people like that off the streets, not put them back on them." said Aliyah.

"Yeah, well, the judge said that all the evidence was circumstantial. Personally, I think that judge might be corrupt. I think the guy had the judge paid off. He is really rich so he could get away with anything that he wants." said Greg.

"That's no reason to let a guy like that back on the streets so that he can hurt more innocent women." said Aliyah.

"I know." said Greg, hanging his head as though defeated.

"I'm sorry honey. I really thought that you would nail this guy." said Aliyah.

"Yeah, so did I." said Greg. It seemed as though he was beating himself up.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault. You can't win every case. You can't catch every bad guy out there. You're not Superman. Sometimes, the bad guys do win. It shouldn't be that way but unfortunately, it is. You shouldn't beat yourself up over this. It's that judge's fault, not yours." said Aliyah as she got up from her seat and moved to kneel down in front of Greg, taking his hands in hers.

"I just can't help but feel like maybe there was something more that I could have done to make sure this guy was put behind bars, where he belongs." said Greg.

"Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. You can't live your life on maybes. Things happen for a reason. It may not be good reasons or they may be reasons that we don't like but everything does happen for a reason." said Aliyah.

"I know." said Greg, heaving a sigh as Aliyah moved back to her seat across the table from him. "Just do me a favor. Can you please not go anywhere without me for a while? If this guy does go after someone else, I would rather that I not have to show up at your crime scene. I know that may sound selfish but I can't help it. I don't want you to get hurt because of me and what I do for a living. Promise me that you won't go anywhere other than work and here."

"Greg, you know that I can't do that. I made plans with the girls for next week. I can't cancel on them again." said Aliyah.

"Ali, please. I have a bad feeling that this guy will strike again and I don't want it to you. I don't want you to have to suffer because I couldn't put this guy away. Please promise this one thing just this once. I will make it up to you in any way that I can but please, just this once promise me that you won't go anywhere that you don't have to without me there with you." said Greg, moving to kneel down on his knees in front of her and taking hold of her hands.

"Greg…." began Aliyah but she was cut short.

"Ali, please. I will do anything, please. Don't make me beg anymore." pleaded Greg, giving her hands a firm but gentle squeeze.

This time it was Aliyah's turn to sigh heavily. She didn't want to cancel on the girls but she also didn't want Greg to worry about her. She had never seen him act like this before about a case so she knew that he had a good reason for asking her this.

"Alright, fine. I promise." said Aliyah, deciding it best not to be stubborn.

Greg let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried that she wouldn't promise and than he would just spend hours upon hours each day worrying about her, wondering if the next crime scene he would be going to was hers or not. He was glad that she did promise him that way he could now relax and not worry so much about her. It wasn't as though he didn't think that she wasn't able to take care of herself. She had proven otherwise before and he knew she was quite capable. He was just worried that she wouldn't be able to handle this guy if he were to come after her.

It wasn't even certain that he would. Greg just thought that he might because it was his case and he was the lead CSI on it, the one who had collected the evidence and almost put him in jail. He didn't want to see his girlfriend get hurt because of him, over a case that he was responsible for. He would only end up blaming himself if something bad were to happen to her.

"Thanks Ali. You have no idea how much this means to me." said Greg.

"Maybe not but then again, you could always show me." said Aliyah with a mischievous smile on her face.

Greg couldn't help but smile before he leaned forward and kissed her, taking her into his arms and carrying her bridal style into their bedroom, the dinner that she had cooked now long forgotten.

Hours later, Greg lay in the bed with Aliyah lying next to him with her head on his chest and arm draped around his waist, sleeping. He lay awake and watched her as she slept peacefully. He couldn't help but think how she was the most beautiful woman in the world and how much he loved her. He didn't think he could ever love another woman as much as he loved her. He felt like she was the one woman for him. She was everything that he had been looking for his whole life. She was beautiful, smart, funny, caring, understanding, she made him feel loved, wanted and she made him feel safe. She gave his life more purpose than what he had before he met her.

Greg couldn't help but wonder if he did the same for her. He would do anything for her, give up anything for her, and he would do whatever he had to protect her, even if it meant his life. He didn't want to ever lose her. He knew that she loved him and she was obviously happy with him, even if sometimes his job got in the way of them spending time together, but he intended to make it all up to her the first chance he got. He was going to make her feel like the only woman on earth, like the most special woman on the whole entire planet.

Aliyah meant everything in the world to him and he was going to do anything he could to make sure that he never lost in her in any way. He would spend the rest of his life making her the happiest woman alive. And when the time was right, he would ask her the one important question that he had been wanting to ask her for a while now, that he had been thinking about asking her since after the attack. It was the most important question that he could ever ask. And he didn't want to wait to hear the answer but he didn't want to rush her. It wanted to ask her when the time was right, when she was ready for it. He didn't want to do anything to hurt her or to make her feel pressured.

What'aya say girl, we do somethin' crazy, Quit puttin' it off, you know what I'm sayin', Ain't like it ain't gunna happen, forever's a given, It's already written, Who we kiddin' baby, come on, The stars can't line up any straighter, Let's do it now and think about it later;

Why wait another minute, For somethin' we should'a done yesterday?, I know a little church, With a preacher who could hook us up right away, Love don't need a reason, Baby I don't see how I could love you anymore than I do today, So why wait;

Now I love your mama, let's save her some trouble, And your daddy won't mind if we save him a bundle, Girl it just so happens, that ring that you wanted, Well guess what I bought it, It's in my pocket baby, come on...Let's get it done, let's get it on your left hand, This is me, girl, poppin' the question;

Why wait another minute, For somethin' we should'a done yesterday?, I know a little church, With a preacher who could hook us up right away, Love don't need a reason, Baby I don't see how I could love you anymore than I do today, So why wait

Let's do something crazy, 'Cause crazy's what you make me

Why wait another minute, Wait another minute come on, Well I know a little church, With a preacher who could hook us up right away, Love don't need a reason, Baby I don't see how I could love you anymore than I do today, So why wait, Why wait;

What'aya say girl we do somethin' crazy.