CSI was created by Anthony Zuiker, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and owned by CBS, but these words are mine.
The Word
Nick sighed. He was out of milk. He always seemed to be out of milk these days. What was that? Oh yeah. Greg. Greg loved milk. It was one of the few healthful substances he consumed. And somehow he always got a lovely white mustache above his upper lip. And Nick was always there to remove it, whether by use of a napkin or other means.
He closed the refrigerator door before grabbing his keys off the counter where he had dropped them before. Usually they would have made their way on to the key rack. Perhaps some of Greg's messier habits were starting to rub off on him.
"Are you leaving?" asked a voice from behind him. Nick turned to see aforementioned messy one coming around a corner.
"Yeah, we're- I'm- …there's no more milk. I should be back soon."
Greg's face lit up into a smile and he opened his mouth to speak, but Nick beat him to it. "No, I'm not buying you anymore hostess snacks."
"But they're good!"
"But they're not good for you," Nick stated, almost motherly. He smirked, "If you want them so bad, why not buy them for you to eat at your house?" he teased.
Greg grinned and rolled his eyes before walking over and slumping onto the couch.
"Maybe you should start paying rent," Nick chuckled as he headed for the door, "You're over here often enough to live here." A blush blossomed upon the Texan's face as the thought of Greg being in his home permanently danced in his mind. Maybe he should consider that thought seriously. It'd be… well, nice to hear Greg call the place "home" as well.
Nick shook his head to clear his mind. He could think about that little delight later. "I'll see you soon," he said as he opened the door.
" 'Kay; have fun on your little shopping excursion," Greg replied with a short wave.
"Bye, love you."
Nick froze.
Did he just… did he just use the word? The L word, to be more specific?
He slowly turned and saw Greg, mouth slightly agape, his finger hovering over the button on the remote to flick on the television.
Neither of them moved nor spoke.
Sure, they had been dating for a few months now, but neither had used that particular word before. It wasn't that there wasn't any of that kind of emotion involved. No, there was plenty of that. So why hadn't either of them uttered that three-worded phrase? Was it because it made everything seem more real?
"Maybe that's it," Nick's mind echoed, "If we said it, it'd be jinxed and everything would fall apart…"
They'd both witnessed many a horrible events in their lives, so if anything, one would think it would prevent them from waiting. Life was short, after all.
Nick had held his tongue for so long to stop that word from slipping out, and now he had just had a classic case of "brain fart" and let it fly out. It was out on the table now. What if Greg didn't feel the same? What if Greg didn't want to go this far? Did everything he'd ever longed for, for however years, just get tossed out the window?
Nick's hectic thoughts were halted when he heard a sound creep out from Greg's lips.
The shocked look on his face melted away and those Hershey chocolate eyes lit up as a smile graced his features.
"Love you, too."
