I do not own CSI or any of it's characters.
It was about four in the morning and he'd been laying beside her for most of the night, staring out the window, unable to sleep. He'd tried counting sheep for about half an hour, but to no avail; he was just too nervous. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd been this nervous and he hadn't even asked her yet…
"What am I going to do? She doesn't like fancy, over the top, mushy things, so a candlelit dinner is out of the question; she'd know something was up. I want it to be special when I ask her and I don't want it to be traditional, but what if she says no? What will I do then?"
With a sigh, he gently moved the covers back and slowly lifted himself out of the bed. He didn't want to wake her or for her to see him like this. She would start asking questions; she knew him too well. He was rarely nervous, and this would be like raising a red flag in front of her face.
He slowly descended the stairs and went to the bookshelves that held her numerous forensic journals and romantic comedies, along with his drama filled mysteries. They'd moved in together over two months ago after their disagreement at PD was resolved. He remembered that fight in detail and he hated every moment of the time that they spent apart. He'd felt like such an insensitive jerk after the way he'd reacted when she told him about the night that she thought that she'd been raped. He remembered the dig he'd given her in her office and the way her face fell before they were interrupted. He thought that she'd been keeping things from him on purpose, but he'd never realized how painful it was for her to relive the bad moments of her past. He couldn't figure out what pained him more: the fact that he caused her pain or the moment when he let her walk away.
He went home that night berating himself for the way he'd treated her. She didn't have to tell him anything, they weren't married and he'd never really asked any questions. Hell, he hadn't even told her everything either. Their separation had lasted a little over three weeks when he'd become completely frustrated and sick of the situation. He had just about picked up his phone to call her and apologize when he heard three swift knocks on his door. When he opened the door, he was momentarily stunned by what he saw. She was pale and he could tell that she hadn't been sleeping well. Her shoulders were slumped over and there were tear tracks down her face. Though she was exhausted and disheveled, he soon found out that she could still tear him a new one. And boy was she scary…
She'd quickly pushed passed him and preceded to tell him how much of an ass he was, which he couldn't really disagree with. What shocked him the most, however, was when she stopped and burst into tears before whispering out that she was sorry. She admitted that she should have been more open about her past and that she was sorry that she hadn't told him. He couldn't even begin to imagine that this was her fault. He should've been more patient and understanding, and that's exactly what he told her.
They'd talked for hours about her cocaine addiction, her father, and her cheating ex-husband and he told her about his divorce, the trouble with his son, and about the events that inevitably led him to Las Vegas. They'd left nothing out and both had eventually fallen into a contented sleep together in front of his fireplace. He remembered waking up sometime later where he'd carried her to his bed, where she slept peacefully in the arms of the man she loved.
He smiled at the memory of when he'd woken her up with kisses and how they'd made up that next morning...twice. No words had been needed to tell each other how they felt.
And so here he was in their home, reaching behind a few of the books that he'd never seen her touch, to pull out a small box covered in black velvet. It was a simple ring, but elegant with a one carat, solitaire diamond, with small diamonds set in the platinum band. It was beautiful, just like the woman he hoped would soon be wearing it.
"Why does asking one simple question have to be so difficult?" he wondered as he stared at the ring.
But as that thought ran through his head, he laughed at himself.
"Of course it's difficult you idiot, this is your happiness laying in that bed up there. If she says no, you might as well just pack it in now and face the fact that your life will be miserable without her."
After realizing the truth of his words, he climbed the stairs and headed for the bed quietly. He paused at the door frame and leaned against it as he watched her sleep. She always looked so beautiful and peaceful when she slept. The pain and stress of her job faded off of her face as she lay there with her hair spread out on her pillow and her breathing even. He loved to watch her sleep and God did he love her.
He looked at the ring in his hand and the woman in his bed. He pulled the ring from its box and quietly walked around the bed making sure not to hit anything in the process. He placed the box in his nightstand before he gently crawled back underneath the blankets and looked at Catherine's left hand that was draped over her stomach.
"Maybe I should do this in an easy way for the both of us…"
He smiled to himself as he gently leaned over and very slowly took her left hand in his, trying not to wake her up. He winced when he heard the bed creak a little as a result of his movements, but his redheaded companion did not stir.
"So far, so good. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought."
He froze though, when he heard a small sigh and he quickly dropped her hand and laid back down as she rolled over and stretched, before burying her face into his neck. He laid perfectly still for the next few minutes and heaved a sigh of relief when he heard and felt her breath even back out.
"Get a hold of yourself man, all she wanted to do was use you as a pillow. She's reduced you down from a hard detective to a nervous little boy that's trying to ask his first crush out on a date. Just get this over with and you'll know your answer in the morning."
With that in mind, he looked at the hand that was now draped over his stomach. He slowly reached down with the ring in his hand and placed the jewel on her appropriate finger. And with that accomplished, he was finally able to drift off to sleep with one arm wrapped securely around her waist and the other draped across the arm on his stomach.
She woke later that morning when the sun's rays had managed to find a path through her thick curtains, causing them to land almost directly on her face. She yawned and stretched quietly and carefully to avoid waking the sleeping detective by her side. She lifted her head to look at him and wondered how she'd gotten so lucky.
"I never thought that after Eddie and all the others that I would ever find someone that I trusted enough to firmly believe that they would never hurt me. Why would any woman ever give him up?" she thought as she watched him sleep.
The hard creases of his forehead were gone and his jaw that's normally firmly set every time he enters an interrogation room, was relaxed. There was no sign of the horrors that he witnessed every day or any sign of the pain that she could so often see in his gray-blue eyes. Here, at home, he was simply her Lou.
Telling herself to let him sleep, she carefully pulled herself from his arms and out of the bed, and went into the master bathroom.
Turning on the faucet to the tub, she tested the water with her right hand, making sure that it was the right temperature. She poured in some lavender scented bath oils and let the water run so she could relax in a hot bath.
As she readied herself for her bath, she began to pull back her hair to keep it from getting wet but when she ran her fingers through her hair to get rid of knots, her left hand became tangled, pulling her hair in the process.
"Ouch! What the hell could've done that?"
But as she disentangled her hand, she saw exactly what had caused it, and it hadn't been there last night.
"Oh my…it's beautiful," she thought as she stood in front of the mirror. She held up her hand and watched as the light bounced of the diamond. "When did he put this there? Does it mean what I hope it does? Does he really want to marry me? Lou…"
Her bath temporarily forgotten, she quickly made for the door. But as she pushed it open, she realized that he wasn't asleep anymore. He was sitting on the end of their bed, waiting.
Taking in her flustered look, he decided that now was probably the time to speak up.
"Catherine…"
"What does this mean?" she interrupted while raising up her left hand.
"Wait let me speak first, ok?" and he was relieved when she nodded. "I know that this sort of thing is supposed to be romantic with a candlelit dinner and this probably isn't going to come out like you thought it would, but you know how awful I am with words." She nodded. A ghost of a smile playing upon her lips.
"I love you, Catherine, with everything in me. I know you worry about us fighting and hating each other, but I could never hate you. I don't want you to worry about who has to load the dishwasher or if we need clean clothes, because I don't want a housewife. Hell, I'll load the dishwasher every night if it means I get the answer I want."
His nerves began to fade when he saw her leaning against the wall, trying even harder to hide her smile.
"Cath, I don't want you to change, but could you possibly change your last name?" he asked with a smirk.
And she laughed.
There really wasn't a doubt on what her answer would be. But she smiled and hesitated anyway; just to make him squirm a little. Just long enough for her to see doubt starting to creep into his eyes.
"Catherine?" his voice mixed with a nervous anticipation.
"I can do that." She couldn't hide her smile any longer. She slowly walked up to him, placed her hands on the sides of his face, and kissed him with every fiber of her being as he wrapped his arms firmly around her where they belonged…
The kiss was turning pretty heated as he laid back, pulling her on top of him.
"Hey Cath?" he asked as he broke away from the kiss momentarily with a grin.
"Hmmm?" she asked, giving him a quizzical expression.
"You should probably go turn off the faucet. You're gonna be busy for awhile."