Sara smiled to herself when she opened her locker to find a folded piece of paper with her name on it. The note read, "Drinks at my place after work. I got you something." It was unsigned, but Sara had no doubt in her mind that it was from Warrick. His familiar handwriting sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine. While she may admit to being a little curious at what Warrick got her, the mere thought of them spending some time alone together later was reason enough for her to haul ass out of the lab and to his place. It was his night off, and she had been missing him terribly.
So she grabbed her things and bade her goodbyes, leaving behind knowing looks and amused smiles from Catherine, Nick and Greg as she left the building.
Arriving at his apartment, she let herself in with the keys he gave her a month ago. Instead of calling out, she headed straight for his kitchen where she knew she'd find him. There he was, grabbing two wine glasses from the cupboard and setting them down on the countertop next to a bottle of red wine. He hadn't heard her come in, what with the soft jazz music playing in the background. She leaned against the archway that separated the kitchen from the living room, and watched him as he studied the label on the bottle before finally popping it open.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sara said, finally making her presence known. "Is this a bad time? You look like you're expecting company."
Warrick turned his head towards her voice and grinned when he saw her.
"Yeah, my girlfriend's coming over," he teased, pouring wine into the glasses. "She'll be here any minute now, so whatever it is YOU'RE here for, better make it quick."
"Why, is she the jealous type?" she asked in mock seriousness, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Not really," he answered without missing a beat, crossing the kitchen to where she stood, wine glasses in hand. "Since she's got absolutely no reason to be jealous."
"Good answer," she told him, taking the glass he offered her.
Once he had closed the distance between them, Warrick leaned down for a quick but tender kiss. Before she could say anything else, Sara found herself being steered towards the living room. When they were comfortably settled in their usual spot on the couch - with her snuggled against him and his arm around her shoulders - he asked her how her night went.
"Boring," she said, wrinkling her nose as she took another sip of wine. "A straight-up B & E."
When he simply nodded and also took a sip from his glass, she amusedly turned to look at him.
"Funny. I don't see any nicely-wrapped presents lying around," she said, craning her neck to check behind the couch. "And yet, I distinctively remember reading about someone having something for me."
Warrick reached over to take Sara's glass from her hands and set it and his on the coffee table in front of them.
"Actually, it's something I got myself," he clarified. "But you could say that I got it FOR you. Or because of you, if you prefer"
Sara couldn't but smile at how Warrick was being all enigmatic all of a sudden. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was actually nervous about showing her whatever it is he got. And Warrick was NEVER nervous.
"Okay, you know what," she told him, not able to take the suspense any more. "I've done enough mystery-solving tonight at work. Now where is it?"
Leaning back, he outstretched his arms as if to present himself.
"It's right in front of you, baby."
Sara's left eyebrow shot up as she suppressed a laugh.
"Oh it's THAT kind of a gift, is it?," she drawled, rewarding him with a wicked smile before shifting on the couch and swinging a leg over his so that she was now straddling his lap. It was Warrick's turn to throw his head back and laugh.
"A woman after my own heart," he said, as his hands automatically held her by her hips.
"Did you want me to play coy?" she asked, running her hands up his chest to rest on his broad shoulders, leaning forward until her lips were just inches from his.
"Hell no," he breathed. "But as much as I'm enjoying the direction this conversation is taking, that's not exactly what I meant."
Sara sat up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"So what DID you get me?"
Warrick gave her a reassuring squeeze and a mysterious smile.
"Just start unwrapping, CSI Sidle" he simply said.
She narrowed her eyes at him, but nevertheless started to unbutton his stark white shirt starting from the top, fully aware that Warrick was watching her intently as she went. When his shirt was finally completely undone, and her fingers brushed against his warm dark skin, she pushed the fabric aside. What she saw underneath rendered her speechless.
Apparently, Warrick spent his night off getting a new tattoo on his chest, and this one was directly above his heart. It was the image of a yin-yang, and around the black-and-white image were the letters: S A R A.
"Oh my God," she whispered, bringing a hand over her mouth. She raised her other hand tentatively to his chest and ran her fingertips over the tattoo, marveling at the beauty and detail of the design.
"Well of course it's permanent," she heard Warrick say, as if to reassure her it was real.
She lifted her gaze to meet his, but found her vision to be blurred as her eyes were starting to brim with tears.
"Hey now," Warrick said softly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ears and stroking her cheeks with his thumb. "What's with the waterworks? I thought you'd like it."
Sara gave him a tremulous smile through her tears and swiped at her now moist cheeks.
"I don't like it, Warrick," she told him. "I absolutely love it. It's beautiful. This is the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."
"Good," he said simply. "I'm glad."
Sara didn't really need him to say anything more. He has always been a man of few words, a man who let his actions speak for themselves. This tattoo said everything. It let her know that he was serious about her, and that he was making a commitment to her and to their relationship. Sara had never felt so cherished and loved in her life.
Overwhelmed and still quite speechless, she leaned in and kissed him with all the passion that was welling up inside of her for him at that moment. She felt his arm encircle her waist and pull her closer to him, his other hand tangling itself in her hair. When she moved her head at an angle to deepen the kiss, she felt his moan reverberate through his body and hers. Sara broke away for not more than two second to catch her breath, when Warrick captured her lips with his once more and kissed her fervently. She was starting to feel lightheaded from the combination the sweetness of the wine she could taste from his tongue and lips and the sensation of his strong body beneath her wandering hands.
Sara had to gather all her strength and willpower to pull away from him and rise from the couch, taking his hand in hers as she stood. He got to his feet and allowed her to pull him towards his bedroom, not caring that they hadn't finished their drinks yet. Leading him by the hand, she smiled at him over her shoulder - a smile full of promise, letting him know that she was fully intending to unwrap the rest of her present.
He had just shown her in his own way how much he loved her. Now it was time for HER to show HIM.
THE END.