Just One Kiss
Horatio/Speed
Spoilers for 1x2 & 1x4
Warning: this story is Slash, M/M, gay lovin'—don't like, don't read
AN: This is my first dabble into the fandom so R&R let me know what you think. No beta, all mistakes are mine. Any recognizable dialogue was snagged directly from the show—which I don't own, so please don't sue me.
~.~
Clearing his throat nervously Speed snuck a sideways glance at his boss. As he spoke, his mind travelled back several days to the night he'd shown up at Horatio's beach house offering a 12 pack and a sympathetic ear.
~.~
Tim rolled his shoulders forward and back, clearing his throat for the third time as he stood on Horatio's front step. He could do this, not a problem—just knock on the door. Knock on the door.
'Damn it!'
Tim thought as he brought his hand up to knock hesitated, and dropped it back to his side.
'I can do this, just bring my arm up and knock—no big deal, just knock. Just—fuck it.'
Growling under his breath Speed brought his hand up a final time and knocked twice briskly on the front door. There was a tense moment of terror while Speed waited for H to answer the door when he almost wished he'd never done this. Just stayed at home and finished that book on single celled marine life.
His breath caught in his throat as he heard shuffling from behind the door and then it was opening. Horatio stood in the now open doorway a questioning smile on his face, still dressed in his shirt and suit pants from work, but he'd shed the jacket and un-tucked his shirttails letting them drape casually around his slim hips.
Speed noticed Horatio was barefoot and a little thrill tore through him at the implication; this was H relaxed and out of the lab. Familiar to the Horatio he knew from work but different all the same.
"Speed—"
Horatio's voice was raw, and suddenly Tim remembered why he was here. Holding a twelve pack up in explanation Speed shrugged, suddenly unsure of himself.
'Did H want to be left alone tonight? Maybe he shouldn't have come…'
"Speed?"
Horatio spoke again, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice.
"I uh, thought you might like some company. We could talk if you want, or just sit?"
Mentally cursing himself for not thinking this properly through, Tim again gestured lamely to the beer as if that explained everything. And maybe it did, because when H smiled it almost reached his eyes and Tim felt his heart flip in his chest.
Gesturing for the younger man to come in Horatio had to smile at his awkwardness, while at the same admiring his courage; no one else at the lab had even called—obviously believing he'd prefer to be alone tonight. And part of him did want to be alone, to reminisce and if he was honest with himself—wallow, but another, smaller part of him recognized that being alone was the last thing he needed.
Absolutely not ogling Speed's ass in his worn black jeans as he bent to retrieve his motorcycle helmet from the porch, Horatio led the scruffy CSI through to his kitchen.
Following his boss through the tidy house Tim inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh briny smell of the sea from the open patio door and the gentle musk that belonged to the man himself; intoxicating. Entering the kitchen Speed noticed a half eaten plate of pasta by the sink and immediately stammered an apology, already turning to leave.
"You know what, I should leave. I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner—I should just go. I'll see you at the lab."
"Stay."
Horatio's voice was steady but there was an underlying plea that Tim couldn't ignore. Turning back around Speed got caught in the older man's eyes like a ship captured by a deep swell. Twin pools of anguish sucking him in like a riptide.
"Please, stay."
Captured by the strong current that was Horatio Caine, Tim nodded, and offering a small smile, set his helmet on the counter.
"Sure, you eh, you got a bottle opener?"
Tim swallowed the last of his beer—his fourth, or was it fifth? Maybe sixth… and placed the empty back on the patio table with a dull clink as it joined its empty buddies. Sneaking a glance at Horatio in the moonlight he sighed quietly. They'd spent the last hour or two sitting in companionable silence on Horatio's deck facing the ocean.
The sunset had been spectacular and despite the somber mood Tim couldn't help but admire the beauty in the vibrant shades of orange and pink splashed across the sky and the shimmering tail of sunlight over the water. He'd seen it hundreds of times since he'd moved here from New York, but it still took his breath away.
His host took a long pull on his own beer, finishing the last foamy drops as Tim admired the lines of the red head's neck, stretching elegantly in the shadows cast by the waxing moon. Setting his bottle aside Horatio turned to his guest,
"Sorry Speed, I know I'm not the greatest company right now."
"Don't worry about it H, I didn't come here for you to keep me company. I came for you, you wanna talk about it?"
Horatio inhaled slowly, breathing out at the same rate, trying to find the right words.
"Talk about it, not really. There's not much to say. It's a risk, we know that going in—Al's the one who gave me the speech, he trained me…"
Tim smiled a little, imagining a younger Horatio being shown the ropes—wide eyed, and eager. Well maybe not exactly wide eyed.
"Tell me about him."
Eyes crinkling as he smiled, Horatio picked up a discarded bottle cap, turning it around in his fingers as he reminisced.
"Al was an amazing officer, really knew his stuff. Saved my life more than a couple of times, I remember this one time; we got a call out, it was my first week on the squad and I was still green—I wasn't paying close enough attention. I got my foot caught on a trip wire and Al, Al saved my life. He kept me calm, got me to ease back and tackled me like a lineman. He uh, he got clipped by some debris, small concussion. Ribbed me about it for weeks afterward, always said I was lucky his skull was so thick—let him butt heads with me."
Speed chuckled at the mental image,
"Sounds like you knew each other pretty well".
"Yes, we did. We were like family, he was more of a father to me than—he was a good man, and a great friend. And I will miss him."
Horatio wasn't quite sure when they'd moved from the patio to the comfortable couch in his living room. Sometime between woozy and buzzed Speed had gotten cold and the two of them had slowly made their way inside. He couldn't be sure, but Horatio really hoped that he remembered to close the patio door behind them because there was no way he was getting up now.
The moment he sank onto the sofa Horatio's limbs got heavy as a pleasant warmth settled across his body—warmth that was originating from a particularly hot spot on his left side. It took him a moment or two to realize the heat on his side was body heat, and the body it belonged to was Speed's. The younger man had sprawled on the couch next to him, his slouched form resting heavily against him due to the slump of the center cushions.
Taking a hazy moment to bask in the simple pleasure of human contact, Horatio turned his head to look at his companion. Speed's face was relaxed, the ever-present lines above his dark eyebrows had disappeared and his cheeks were flushed beneath his stubble.
Feeling Horatio's scrutiny Tim turned his head and their eyes locked. His breathing sped up and Tim felt the universe slowly shifting—in reality he was leaning closer to Horatio, but in his tipsy state he didn't recognize he was moving.
"H—"
The voice tumbling past his lips couldn't be his—too breathy, too low. Mere inches away from the object of his desires; a perfect pair of lips, Tim's world stuttered to a halt. Frozen, he lingered in space. Speed could feel H's breath on his face, hot and ragged very similar to his own.
Horatio's stomach flipped as his center of gravity shifted, Speed leaned in, softly breathing his name in the quiet of the room. The dark haired man hovered just out of his reach; tantalizing in his nearness. H could hear Speed's breathing get rougher as the tension thrummed between them. Exhaling quickly the redhead leaned forward closing the gap between them.
Speed reacted to the kiss instantly, pressing back against Horatio's warm lips and moaning softly when the older man's hands carded through his hair, dragging him closer. When Tim's mouth opened his boss' tongue was immediately there vying for entrance and Horatio felt a jolt travel up his spine when Speed met him readily, their tongues warring for dominance.
It was messy and wet, and over all too quickly when they had to break for air.
~.~
"It's weird how just one kiss can turn inta such a mess."
Horatio turned to look at his young charge, a faint glimmer in his eye betraying the fact that he was thinking of the same night. The night they had drunk too much, talked too little and kissed. He was about to respond, he knew that despite his calm exterior, the other night was weighing heavily on his coworker's mind—they'd never really talked about what happened, when Megan walked in.
She cleared her throat softly, aware that she was interrupting something but not quite sure what.
"The cigar you asked me to process from the guest house: same tobacco as the burn on Esteban's face. Saliva—Tyler's. And the material on the end? Silica."
Smirking slightly Horatio nodded,
"A.K.A. beach sand. Let's go talk to the young Mr. Hamilton. Nice going."
On his way out Horatio grasped Tim's arm and catching his eye, tried to convey without words that he understood what he was trying to say. That he didn't consider anything that happened that night a mistake, or a mess to be cleaned up. He wasn't certain if Speed picked up on his nonverbal cue or not, so he squeezed his arm firmly, fingers lingering for a brief moment before he followed Megan out of the lab. They would definitely talk more about this later.
~.~
Leaving Jane's hotel room, wondering not for the first time how someone could be so stupid to trade their girlfriend for a watch, Megan spotted Horatio reading the paper. He was seated alone at a table set for two, and figuring now would be as good a time as ever to try and mend the broken fences from her abrupt departure after Sean's death and even more unexpected return, she headed in his direction.
"Hey mind if I join you?"
Horatio looked up from his paper at the question, a little surprised to see Megan standing in front of him. He'd been expecting someone else.
"Erm, actually—"
He was saved from having to explain further when Speed showed up; pausing hesitantly when he noticed H wasn't alone. Following Horatio's gaze Megan saw Tim standing off the side uncertainly, and had to smile.
'So that's what it was earlier in the lab.'
She may have been gone for a few months, but Megan was still a seasoned CSI and she'd worked with Speed for several years as his unofficial mentor. She knew all about his crush on the newly appointed supervisor. It was about time he did something about it.
"Actually Horatio, I'd better go. I just remembered something I need to do."
Throwing a smile in the older man's direction and wink in Tim's, Megan took her leave.
The two men exchanged a look as Tim took his seat, raising an eyebrow in question, "What was that all about?"
Horatio shrugged.
"I'm not exactly sure. Look Speed, I wanted to talk to you about the other night—"
"I know H, and I'm sorry. I had a lot to drink and—"
Speed interrupted, figuring it would be best to beat the older man to punch. If they could put the whole thing behind them they could go back to the way they were; friends with no awkwardness jamming things up.
Barely keeping from rolling his eyes Horatio interrupted right back, "Actually Speed, what I was going to say is thank you for the other night. I needed that."
Narrowing his eyes slightly as he tried to puzzle through Horatio's answer Tim looked at him skeptically.
"You needed to unwind? Or you needed, ya know…"
Smiling mysteriously Horatio clarified, as he reached across the table to grasp Speed's hand.
"Both. And unless it was a onetime offer, I'd very much like to do it again sometime."
Tim was stunned. Never in a million years had he thought that Horatio might return his feelings. This was big, this was colossal.
"Uh yeah, H, sure. I mean, it's not a onetime offer, unless you wanted it ta be—but you don't obviously because you wouldn't have said…ya know what, yeah. That would be great."
Still smiling, Horatio gave Tim's hand a reassuring squeeze.
Blushing lightly beneath his scruff, Speed changed the subject, "So tell me how you know the Hamiltons…"
the end (for now)
AN2: Depending on the reception this fic gets and life in general, there may be a series or at least a sequel.