Author's Note: Yes, this is a Valentine's Day fic. Yes, I know it's the middle of summer. No, I am not insane … well, maybe just a bit, but anyways! I felt like writing one. So there.
Oneshot. Kind of fluff/romance/friendship. Greg's POV. Nick/Greg. Slash. Also an itty bitty mention of Wedges. xD
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters mentioned.
Acknowledgements: Thanks goes to Amanda for reading it over for me.
Summary: Nick's planned out something special for Valentine's Day, but Greg has nothing for his partner, and not even one idea about what to get him. Will someone help Greg stop freaking out?
Valentine's Day—Some Assembly Required
Greg had a huge grin on his face as he strode through the halls of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He also had a spring in his step, and that glint in his eye … and everyone knew what it meant: he was in love. But, of course, with the day being Valentine's Day, love was in the air?
In the ballistics lab, Greg saw Nick standing behind Bobby Dawson, who was firing off a round. Greg smiled at Nick, and the Texan nodded, but his attention was already back on what Bobby was doing. Right now Nick was all business, but later … later they had plans. An extremely special date. It would be their first Valentine's Day together, and Nick was taking Greg out for a fancy breakfast. No Frank's Diner for them, no siree.
The day couldn't be going any more perfect. The case had been simple, seeing as how the murderer had left his/her prints on the murder weapon, which was found in plain sight, and later on in the morning Greg was going out to breakfast with the man he loved. Almost in mid bounce, Greg stopped dead, his blood running cold. He had no gift for Nick.
"Shit!" Greg swore aloud, earning himself many scandalized looks from passers by. He didn't care. Right now his whole day could be ruined. A conversation he had had with Nick floated to the front of his mind.
"So, G, this is a pretty special day, huh?" Nick asked, a twinkle in his dark, chestnut brown eyes.
"Yup," Greg replied, running his thumb over the knuckles on Nick's right hand, "our first Valentine's Day together. So we have any special plans?"
"I was thinking of taking you out for breakfast to Londoste's, that new place on the strip. I had to book our reservations about a month ago, but the place looks fantastic!"
Greg smiled. "It sounds awesome."
"So do you have any special plans for me?" Nick teased lightly, working hard to keep a grin off his face.
"I think I'll keep that as a surprise," Greg told him, his mind blanking out on things he could do for Nick.
That had been two weeks ago, and Greg still hadn't found a gift that was right for Nick. He didn't have the slightest idea what to do for the older man. And now Greg was running out of time.
The CSI Level One darted into the break room, threw himself into a chair and put his face in his hands.
"Think, Greg, think!" he ordered himself as the heels of his hands jammed into his eyes, causing tiny pinpricks of light to dark in front of him in the darkness below his eyelids. "I have to come up with something!"
"Umm, Greg … are you okay?" a feminine voice asked from behind him. Greg lowered his hands and turned around, his eyes spotting Wendy. She had a slightly worried expression on her face, and she clutched a mug of coffee in her hands.
"And if you're going to ask, yes, this is your coffee. It's good, okay?" she said, taking a sip. "So are you going to answer my question?"
"I've screwed up," Greg muttered, rolling his eyes. Wendy didn't answer, but she sat down across from him.
"How so?" she inquired, taking another draught from her mug.
"Well, this is going to be my first Valentine's Day with … with … with my special someone, and this person's doing something special for me, and I completely forgot about it, and then I ran out of time and—"
"Okay, Greg, calm down. Just take a deep breath. This isn't the end of the world," Wendy told him, softly putting the steaming coffee down onto the table.
"But this person's been talking nonstop about how special this Valentine's Day will be, and I have nothing to give this person! I have absolutely no ideas!"
Wendy's eyebrows contracted as she thought. "Okay, well, it might help if I know who it is, or the type this person is."
"Oh, well … ummm …"
"Do I know this person?"
"Errr … uhh … may-maybe."
"So this person works at the lab?"
"Y-yes."
Wendy was silent for about a minute, her eyes closed. Suddenly they popped open, and she smiled. "Why didn't you just tell me it was Nick?"
Greg's mouth dropped open, and his arms went completely slack. "Wh-what? You think … that I'm … that we—"
"Oh, come on Greg. Everyone can see the way you two look at each other. You both have this instantaneous chemistry, and it's impossible to miss. Whenever you're around Nick, everyone can tell he's immediately elated. And you … well, you always smile at him in a way that makes people wonder. So yes, Greg, I think that you two are dating, and that you have a special date with Nick tonight, and that you don't have a gift for him," Wendy answered him, gazing at him evenly.
It was Greg's turn to be silent as he tried desperately to think of something to say. "I … I, uhh …"
"So anyways," Wendy carried on, ignoring Greg's stammering, "what would Nick like? That's kind of hard to tell. I don't really see him being all romantic, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't like that kind of thing. Maybe he'd like flowers, maybe not."
"I was thinking about giving him flowers, but I dunno," Greg mumbled in response. "He doesn't seem like the flower-type of guy."
"Well, looks can be deceiving. I may look like someone who would love flowers and chocolate, but in reality I hate them both. For some reason I've developed an intolerance towards cocoa, and I generally dislike the smell of flowers. So maybe Nick really would want flowers, who knows?"
"I certainly don't," Greg sighed, slumping down in his seat.
"You could always do something sweet for him, Greg. Give him lunch or supper in bed, something like that. Anyone would love to have that."
Greg thought for a second, his mind tasting the idea. "Hmm … maybe … yeah, I like it. I guess it'd have to be tomorrow, then, seeing as how we're going out this morning. I hope Nick won't mind—"
Wendy interrupted him, waving away Greg's half-formed thoughts. "Nick will love it, Greg. Don't worry about it."
The young man nodded, his eyes alight with happiness. He jumped to his feet and bounded over to where Wendy was sitting. He pulled her to her feet, then gave the lab tech an almost painful hug.
"Thanks Wendy!" Greg called over his shoulder as he raced out of the break room.
"You're welcome," Wendy hollered after him. She remained standing for a minute, then sat back down with a long, drawn out sigh.
As Wendy sat there, her back to the glass, a shadowy figure crept away from the almost empty break room. The figure snuck back towards the trace lab, hiding the flowers under his lab coat. When he reached his safe-haven, he threw the water lilies into the garbage can with his own sigh. Another unsatisfying and unhappy Valentine's Day for David Hodges. What else was new?