DISCLAIMER: I don't own them or CSI. Wish I did, but I don't.
'I'll always be yours.'
Greg's chocolate brown eyes repeatedly read over the fine small print that had been scripted into the inside of the silver banded diamond ring. The ring wasn't an over the top lavish 'spend a year's salary paying it off' kind of ring. It was a simple cushion diamond. If he had remembered correctly, which he did, he didn't spend more than three hundred dollars on the ring.
He let a large breath escape his mouth that he hadn't even been aware of until he let it out. He didn't understand why he was having an anxiety issue with the ring. It's just a simple task that would take no longer than a couple of minutes. All he would have to do is ask a simple yes or no question then give her the ring to slide on her finger.
Although if she said no, then he wouldn't even have to deal with putting the ring on, so right there was a cut to the time it would take. But if she said no, he'd wallow in his own self-pity until someone had to throw him a life preserver to pull him out.
What was he thinking? They had only been dating for a little shy of a year. There was no way she'd be ready to commit to such a thing as marriage. Right now it wasn't even an issue on the whole 'lust over love' debate. There was no doubt in Greg's mind that he was head over heels. There was nothing to not love about her.
The way she'd giggle when Greg would poke fun of Hodges after shift. The way she'd crinkle up her nose in disgust when something less than pleasant would appear at a crime scene. The way she'd look up at him in his arms after they had been in bed, making love during the little time off of work they did have.
He loved her mocha colored eyes, no matter what emotion was shining through them, whether it is fatigue after a double shift, sorrow while working on a case that involved children, love as he wrapped his arms around her petite body.
She was perfect in his eyes and there was no scenario of her saying no because he didn't have a future without her in it. She was his future. Hell, she was his present seeing as she was the only reason he would wake up, knowing he'd see her. She was the reason he'd go to bed, having her snug and secure in his arms with no one else in the world mattering at that moment except them.
She was his safe haven, his lifeline, if you will. Greg had already lost one friend with whom he was close and always pined for her attention. But now Sara Sidle was off in the jungle somewhere with another one of his close friends, Gil Grissom, whom he had considered a mentor. At least they were alive and well and occasionally would send him a video e-mail when time would allow. The only sign of Warrick Brown that Greg or the team would ever see would be old memories of the friends on and off of the job.
With people leaving him and Las Vegas left and right, Greg didn't know what or who to trust in anymore. When Ecklie had hired a new CSI who had transferred from St. Louis, none of the team really knew what to expect or to even think about said replacement. They all knew that no one could ever replace Sara or Warrick, as colleagues or friends.
At first glance of Riley Adams, who had actually been a police officer in her native town, Greg didn't think much of her than she was his new co-worker. They had been on good terms while investigating cases and solving them, but soon it had progressed. While shifting through crime scenes or places of interest, they would playfully flirt back and forth, much to the annoyance of Nick, who had told them to knock it off and to record the evidence that Riley had found stashed under the bed.
The teasing and flirting that was all in good fun until the case of the congressman and the suicide of his friend and chief of staff right outside of the courtroom. Greg had known from the moment that the two had begun searching his car, that something had hit a nerve in her deep somewhere. He decided not to press the issue, when Nick told him that she wasn't shy and if she wanted to talk, she would. But enough had been enough, and after the team's every once and a while get together after the case, Greg had pulled Riley aside as the team was leaving to return home to get some sleep before their next shift.
Through much coaxing, Greg had convinced Riley to stay a bit longer in the bar and talk to him. He had even offered that if she didn't want to talk about the case, that he was open to listen to anything else she had to say. She had told him that she was the second of three children, having an older sister and a younger brother. She had also told him that she had a pet snake that ate her younger brother's pet mouse.
After the laughing and reminiscing about their younger years, Riley let out a deep sigh and cleared her throat before telling Greg the whole story, from start to finish. Long story short, had been Riley's junior year of high school and she had lost her best friend to suicide after discovering she was pregnant after being raped.
Greg made sure to be there for her as she spoke the story. Although she was trying to keep her composure, he knew she was crumbling inside. He knew, because he had been there too. Telling the story of getting the living shit beaten out of you by violent offenders, over and over to people over the years eventually got to him, as it would anyone.
Riley eventually ended her story, looking up at her awestricken fellow worker and sniffling back tears, joked about how she looked like such a buffoon. Greg bit his lip and shook his head back and forth slowly and replied simply, "No, you look like a person. You're a perfectly fine person."
Their relationship had only grown from there. Of course it wasn't going to be as strong as Nick or Catherine at that moment, but Greg had just felt something that he hadn't felt in a long, overdue time; sparks. Sure, he had sent countless signals to Sara, some of which she'd playfully return, but that compared to what was lurching in his heart was nothing but schoolyard crushing.
Every case that Greg and Riley worked together, he could feel the sparks start to light themselves. Every glance she threw his way would add arsenic to the fire. Every accidental bump while walking past each other would leave an electrical feeling on Greg for the longest time.
Not being able to hold anything in his body back any longer, while collecting evidence in an alleyway for a recent breaking and entering, Greg made a quick glance back and forth of the alley and when the coast was clear, he made his move.
Gripping Riley by her slender shoulders, he backed her into the rough, brick wall and before she could protest, her words were cut off by Greg's soft lips atop hers. It wasn't a carnal or rough kiss, dripping with sexual tension. Instead it was a soft, gentle kiss. It was so gentle, that Greg wasn't even sure if their lips had touched.
Pulling away, Greg was gulping back his nerves as he was almost positive that Riley was going to push him back, calling him different profanities. Letting his hands rest softly on her hips, Greg looked up at her face. Riley reached one hand out and played with the hairs on the back of Greg's neck, while the other caressed his cheek with a feather light touch.
The next five words that had spilled quietly from Riley's mouth would change both of their lives forever. "What took you so long?" she said, with a small yet visible smirk splayed across her face.
The familiar sound of a key being put into the front door lock of the apartment thrust Greg back into the current and out of his past. Fumbling to put the small ring back into the velvet box, he finally accomplished it, pushing it inside of his hoodie pocket.
As Greg looked towards the front door, a smile grew on his face seeing who had walked through the door and locked it behind her. "Hey cutie." Greg smiled in Riley's direction. He took in her appearance. She was wearing a pair of his basketball shorts that went to about her knee. Her light blue tank top was fitted tight around her body, darker areas from where she had sweated and her perspiration has soaked through.
"Hey, baby." She said, tossing her key and her iPod onto the kitchen counter and kicking her running shoes off into the corner. Reaching her hands downwards and crossing them, she grabbed the hem of her tank top and pulled the offending material off of her body, tossing it into the clothes hamper into the hallway laundry room.
Exhausted from her morning run, Riley didn't try to hide a wide yawn that had escaped her mouth as she pulled her hair out of her tight ponytail. Sweat from her forehead had dripped down to Riley's bra covered chest.
Raising an eyebrow, Greg blinked rapidly a few times as he stared at the almost half naked woman. But apparently his peep show was cut short as Riley quickly realized what had caught her boyfriend's attention. "Want a free peek?" Riley let out a giggle as she pulled off her socks and slowly pulled the already too big shorts off of her body, tossing the sweat soaked clothing into the laundry room.
Walking into the living room, clad in a black bra and matching panties, Riley teasingly put her hand on her hip and began doing what appeared to be a model's runway walk across the room and into the hallway. Greg raised his eyebrow once again, silently thanking the lords above that he and Riley had a very open relationship in which walking around the apartment half naked wouldn't faze the other…in a bad way, at least.
"Not until you take a shower!" Greg yelled jokingly down the hallway that led to their bathroom. Leaning back onto the couch, Greg positioned himself with his head at the end and he was laying comfortably. Pulling his hood up and snuggling his arms into his sleeves, Greg closed his eyes in an attempt to try to rest. But one thought lingered in his mind even as the heavy sleep took over his body.
'Tonight's the night. Don't blow it.'
A/N Any good? I don't know where this idea came from. The evil plot bunny, I suppose, heehee. Well reviews please. Just don't flame.