Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own CSI or the song Making Memories of Us by Keith Urban.
Author's Note: It's short, and it's cheesy, and I'm proud of it.
Greg sighed. Today was not going well for him.
Mia had called in sick, and Ecklie had pulled him off a high-end homicide to deal with the back up she had left in DNA.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Nick had been distant with him since last night, which was unusual. Most of the time, when they weren't attatched at the hip in the field, it was hard to pull Nick away from Greg's lab. But not today.
And, as we said, today was not going very well.
It had started out with Greg waking up late. Which wasn't really an odd occurrence, but Nick was usually up and making enough noise around the house that it was impossible to sleep. The other man, it seemed, had woken earlier than usual and had silently snuck out of the house before Greg could even wake up.
Not to mention that he still felt sick…although he did decide against the scarf today.
So, Greg got to work a half an hour late. And was yelled at (as much as the man yells, anyway) by the newly recovered Grissom, who, despite the fact that they had been working together for almost ten years, still made him nervous.
So, properly cowed, Greg made his way to the lab, stopping short in the doorway to stare at the giant pile of backlog left by swing, days, and his own team. After a good minute and a half of self-pity, and groaning loudly, he pulled on his lab coat and started to sift through the mess.
Five hours of CSIs demanding results, of supervisors wandering in and out of the lab, asking why he couldn't clear this mess faster, of no coffee and no "thank you's," five hours of promising never to second guess his move into the field again later the still underappreciated ex-lab rat took his first break of the shift and went to find his stash of Blue Hawaiian.
Which he quickly found out was missing.
He fumed for a second, trying to think of who could gain access to his secret and well-hidden stash of coffee.
He rolled his eyes.
Nick.
Of course.
And the man never could keep a secret from Warrick. He had probably interrogated Nick about last week as he dozed in a cough-syrup induced haze on the couch in the break room.
And Warrick had probably left it sitting on the counter, which meant that the whole lab had access to it, which meant they used it with no intention of replacing it. Great.
He sighed and resigned himself to making a pot of whatever the lab had to offer. Which wasn't good.
Greg had just finished pouring himself some the crime lab's infamous sludge when a voice sounded from behind him.
"Enjoying your day among the slaves, Sanders?"
Hodges. Wonderful. Could this day get any worse?
Greg closed his eyes, tactfully choosing to ignore the annoying ass that called himself human that was currently breathing down his neck.
"What, did you forget where you hid your coffee again?" Hodges asked. "Or did the boyfriend drink it all? Maybe that's why he keeps you around." he smirked knowingly. "It can't be for the sex."
Okay, so they'd had a fling…once. Greg had been interested, God knows why, and Hodges had been surprisingly accommodating. Of course, Hodges had his cold and cruel exterior that Greg just couldn't break through. It was clear to pretty much anyone who bothered to look, and not many did, that Greg wasn't happy. So, with what little encouragementhe had, he left.
It could be said that Hodges was to thank for Greg's relationship with Nick.
And Hodges was, apparently, the jealous type. He used every chance he could get to taunt Greg about Nick. A relationship that was going so much better than the one with Hodges had.
What had Greg been thinking?
Greg breathed in through his nose, and turned sharply, planning his escape from the break room as quickly as he could, without doing anything that could possibly cause him to lose his job. What he hadn't factored into his plan, however, was David being directly behind him (it seemed he'd literally been breathing down his neck).
Greg crashed into him, jumping back quickly as his crappy, yet still steaming, cup of coffee ended up spilling down his shirt front.
As Murphy stated, whatever can go wrong, will.
"Damnit, Hodges!" he exclaimed, pulling several napkins off the counter and dabbing at the quickly cooling coffee. "Why can't you just back off?" he asked, pushing past a slightly regretful-looking yet still smirking David Hodges. "It's over, it's been over, so get over it!" his voice rose and people stared as Greg and his crappy coffee stomped back towards the lab, a murderous look on his face.
So, yeah, it could be said that Greg Sanders was already in a pretty pissy mood when he found his distant-annoying-distracting-soon-to-be-ex (if a certain person had his way) boyfriend waiting for him in the lab, leaning casually, if not a little nervously, on the glass table top, no doubt coming to demand his results and leave again, as he, and everyone else, had been doing all day.
It seemed the only difference was that he was alone this time, instead of bringing Warrick with him. Not that Greg noticed, as he was still fuming over the spilled coffee staining his light blue shirt, cursing under his breath in both English and Norwegian, a deep scowl on his face.
Nick winced.
"What happened to you?" he asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
Greg looked up at him, scowl still firmly on his face, and slammed his now half-empty coffee cup down on the table nearest him, dabbing at his ruined shirt with a napkin.
"Hodges." he snapped.
"Oh."
He knew all about Greg's relationship with Hodges. Everyone may have watched the light in Greg's eye disappear and his smile grow more and more fake, but Nick was the only one to intervene before Hodges destroyed too much of this fun-loving man.
He had also been the first to find out that Hodges didn't take kindly to rejection, when he had outed Nick and Greg to the whole lab.
And he knew how much it hurt Greg to be around Hodges, to have to listen to his biting comments and spite and to know that the only difference now was that he truly meant them.
Nick finally made his decision.
It was time he made his vow to never let this beautiful creature standing before him be hurt again.
He walked over to irate lover and pulled the napkin from his hand and placing it next to Greg's coffee cup.
"Wha-" Greg's question was cut off as Nick pulled him close to his chest and placed his arms around him. As soon as Greg registered the feel of Nick's heart beating, his chest rising and falling with each breath, he began to calm, the stress of the day falling away with each thump of the heart he knew belonged to him. He closed his eyes as peace enveloped him.
"I'm…" he paused, wanting to apologize for snapping, but not really wanting to let go of his annoyance at this man for avoiding him all day.
"Shh."
He hummed a tune softly.
Nick had been building towards this since the night before. He had been nervous, at first, unable to sleep, his mind running through all the possible scenarios throughout the night. Would Greg laugh at him? Would he reject him?
It was because of these doubts that he had gotten to the lab early, being careful to avoid waking the sleeping form next to him, and had proceeded to avoid him for the rest of the night.
Warrick had quickly caught on to the fact that his friend wouldn't go near his lover without him there, and he had been throwing jabs at him since shift had started. The older man finally got Nick to open up to him and tell him what was going on. And he had promptly slapped him upside the head as soon as the other man had spilt the beans.
He was trying- and failing- to watch subtly from the doorway now, Nick saw, his arms crossed and a smile on his face. He nodded his head towards Nick. Get on with it, already.
Nick took a deep breath, and put his heart on the line.
Nick's chest vibrated beneath Greg's head as he began to speak…no, he wasn't speaking, he was…singing?
It took Greg a moment to make out the words from his slightly squished position against his lover's chest.
"I'm gonna be here for you baby." the words were soft, filled with love, "And I'll be a man of my own word, speak the language in a voice that you have never heard."
Yep, Nick Stokes was singing…to him. Greg's day just got a whole lot brighter, and Nick Stokes had definitely just been forgiven.
They began to sway, Nick pulling Greg further into his arms as they danced in the middle of the lab, still singing.
"I wanna sleep with you forever, and I wanna die in your arms, in a cabin by a meadow where the wild bees swarm…"
His voiced picked up, carried into the hall to the people who had gathered to watch, unnoticed, by the couple.
"And I'm gonna love you," he sang, "like nobody loves you, and I'll earn your trust making memories of us…"
He paused for a minute, humming, as he Greg swayed to the tune his in head, eyes locked.
"…And I wanna stand out in a crowd for you, a man among men, I wanna make your world better than it's ever been. And I'm gonna love you, like nobody loves you, and I'll earn your trust makin' memories of us."
The danced slowly, taking in the feel of each other, as the rest of the lab watched, some simply wondering at the love the two men held for each other, others with smiles on their faces, Catherine even had tears in her eyes.
Hodges, in particular, looked about ready to blow something up. Or maybe puke, it was hard to tell.
"We'll follow the rainbow, wherever the four winds blow, and there'll be a new day, comin' your way…"
Nick place a gentle hand on Greg's face. "…I'm gonna be here for you from now on, this you know somehow. You've been stretched to the limits but it's alright now."
He moved away slightly, smiling, pulling something from his pocket.
His voice grew softer, his song only for Greg.
"And I'm gonna make you this promise, if there's life after this,"
He slowly lowered himself on to one knee, love still radiating from his chocolate eyes.
Greg's heart fluttered in his chest. "Nicky…"
"I'm gonna be there to meet you with a warm, wet kiss, yes I am."
Nick stared into his lovers eyes as he opened the small box in his hand, revealing the platinum ring he'd had Warrick help him pick out last week.
"…Yeah, I'm gonna love you, like nobody loves you, baby,"
His voice grew even softer in anticipation.
"And I'll win your trust makin' memories of us."
He gazed into Greg's teary eyes, ignoring the crowd standing in the doorway. The only thing that mattered to him at this moment, for the rest of his life, was standing in front of him.
"Marry me."
Greg started at the sound of his voice, a slow smile breaking across his face.
"You got it, Cowboy."
The end is suppppeeerr cheesy, but I feel like Greg's last line fit him very well.