DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own CSI Miami. All right belong to CBS but if they would like me to look after Ryan for a while, then I wouldn't mind at all. Anyway, please don't sue; pretty, pretty please I am but a poor student.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Miami fic so please be nice. Thanks for all the reviews so far, they mean a lot and I apologise for the wait for this chapter, I have been ill for the past few days so unable to write for the date promised. Again I apologise. The bits in italics are flashbacks.

SUMMARY: A series of one-shots, one for each letter of the alphabet. Wolvista with some Hip Huggers.

TITLE: The A-Z of Wolvista

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C is for Cuddles

Cuddles. Something which Natalia Boa Vista missed. As a child, she had always been affectionate and had loved receiving cuddles from her parents and grandparents; as she had gotten older, they had obviously become less frequent. That was until she met Ryan Wolfe. At first they had hated each other but as time had passed; their friendship had grown…then Ryan got a new girlfriend. Theresa had never liked Natalia and was the clingiest person that she had ever met but Ryan didn't notice and thought that Natalia was just being rude when she said she would rather 'stick pins in my eyes' than go out with them.

"You okay Nat?" Eric Delko walked into the break room and broke Natalia from her trance.

Looking up at him, she forced a smile onto her face and nodded. "Yeah, sorry I was somewhere else."

"Anywhere nice?" Raising an eyebrow, he made it very clear that he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"Umm, something like that." She had been thinking back to the good old days when Theresa didn't exist in her world but lately she had become bitterly aware of the other woman's presence.

"You wanna talk about it?" Although they had dated and eventually broken up, Delko was still very protective of Natalia.

"There uh…there's nothin' to talk about." Looking back out of the window, she sighed as she saw Ryan hugging Theresa.

Looking over her shoulder, Delko shook his head. "You're jealous?" His matter-of-fact tone made her look up once more, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"I'm not, I'm just…I dunno anymore Eric." Her eyes were sad and Delko shook his head as he sat in the chair next to her.

"Then I guess there is somethin' to talk about." She looked at him with raised eyebrows before nodding.

"I know we used to argue all the time but for the last few months it's been me and Ryan against the world and now he has Theresa…he doesn't need me anymore." Nodding slightly, Delko encouraged her to continue. "I guess I am jealous but not or the reasons you think. I'm jealous because she has my best friend and….and I miss him. He has no time for me anymore because no matter how hard I try, I can't get along with her and everywhere he goes, she has to go too."

"Have you tried telling him how you feel?"

"No…you think I should though don't you?" Delko nodded and she sighed again, allowing her gaze to flicker back to Ryan and his girlfriend who were kissing each other goodbye and wishing the other a good day at work. She worked around the corner from the lab so they travelled to work together everyday and Natalia had to repeatedly witness her best friend slipping away from her. "If I do I might lose him altogether."

"It's gotta be worth a try; has to be better than carrying on like this Natalia." His voice was soft and comforting and for a minute, she could actually believe that it would be okay.

"You don't think I know that?" Delko didn't reply, instead opting to silently look at her through sympathetic eyes. "I have been trying to work out what to do about this since the day he got together with her." Again, he remained silent but nodded. "I just…I'm scared."

"Why?" Finally finding his voice, he grabbed one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"We've been through so much together…I just don't want to lose all that we had." Her voice cracked but she refused to cry, not there.

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The knock at the door startled Natalia; causing her to jump and spill the hot chocolate in her cup. Cursing lightly under her breath, she headed for the front door and looked through the peep hole before pulling it open.

"Hey." The face staring back at her belonged to her best friend, Ryan Wolfe.

"Hey, come in." Stepping back, she allowed Ryan into the apartment and smiled slightly when he walked in and closed the door behind him. "What are you uh…what are you doin' here? Not that it isn't nice to see you."

"Horatio told me about what happened this afternoon…when you were cleaning out Nick's stuff." Smiling softly at her, he grabbed her hands and looked at her through concerned eyes. "Why didn't you tell me 'Talia?"

"I didn't know how to." Looking down at the floor, she refused to meet his eyes. "I was…I was ashamed."

Slipping a finger under her chin, he made her look at him so that he could be sure that she was listening to what he was saying. "You have nothing be ashamed of Natalia." She blinked back tears and he stepped closer to her, placing both hands on her shoulders. "You don't have anything to hide and it's okay to mourn Nick; even after everything he did to you." The flood gates finally opened and salty tears fell down Natalia's cheeks. "Oh Tal…" In one swift move, Ryan had pulled her into his arms which tightened around her waist. Hers found their way around his neck and she clung tightly to him, silently crying into his shirt as he whispered soothing words in her ear. "Shh, it'll be okay…I promise."

When her tears subsided, she pulled back and looked at him. "Thanks, guess I needed to…" Trailing off, she shook her head and hugged him again. "Do you uh…do you want a drink?"

Ryan knew that she was trying to change the subject but for the time being, he would let her. "Sure." Pulling away from him, she walked into the kitchen as he trailed behind her and sat down at the kitchen table. Natalia meanwhile mopped up the spilled hot chocolate and set about making the drinks.

An hour and a half later, after a lot of talking and confessions from Natalia; the two of them were sitting on the sofa, Ryan smiling as he heard Natalia laughing at the awful joke he had told her. "That was the worst joke I have ever heard."

"I don't care…I'm just happy to see you smile again." Sincerity shone in his hazel eyes and Natalia tried to hide the blush she could feel rising in her cheeks.

"You always make me smile Ryan." Crawling across to his side of the sofa, she snuggled up next to him and sighed contentedly when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I was terrified for you today." Looking up at him, she tried to work out whether he had actually just said that.

"Why?" Raising an eyebrow, she waited for his explanation.

"I hated the thought of you goin' through that on your own Tal. I spoke to Horatio and asked if I could come and see you and Valera but he wouldn't let me…told me to keep out of it."

"Y…you asked to come and see me?" Her eyes widened and Ryan realised that Horatio hadn't told her about it.

"Yeah, I begged him but he wouldn't let me. I just wanted to come and reassure you that we all knew you were innocent." Tightening his arm around her, he traced patterns on her shoulder and sighed. "I never doubted you Talia…never."

"I know Ryan." Resting one hand on his chest, she traced patterns through his shirt.

Kissing the top of her head, he smiled to himself. "You don't have to go through anything on your own Tally, not as long as I'm here."

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Delko couldn't stop the small smile that crossed his face at the thought of Ryan being so soft. "Can't imagine Wolfe ever being like that."

Natalia looked at him and smiled delicately. "Look, whatever you think of Ryan…he's always been there for us." Delko raised an eyebrow and Natalia gave him a warning look. "Eric, when you were shot it wasn't just Calleigh that went to give blood for you…Ryan could have lost his job for you?"

"How d'you work that one out?" Confusion knitted his eyebrows and she smiled.

"Ryan got angry in the interrogation room when he found out who shot you. He tried to beat the guy up Eric…The officer who was in there had to restrain him." It was Delko's turn to be surprised as he had never found out what had happened in that interrogation room.

"I…I never knew that." She simply nodded and looked back at the window where Ryan's girlfriend was finally walking down the street towards her office building.

"There are a lot of things you probably don't know about Ryan." Her voice was wistful as she told Delko about how her friendship with Ryan used to be.

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"Someone looks a little tired." Ryan's amused voice did nothing to ease Natalia's annoyance; in fact, it only served in pissing her off even more.

"Someone only went to bed at half past three this morning." Looking up at him, she tried to hold back a yawn.

"Out partying?" Offering her a wink, he sat down in the chair next to her and looked over her shoulder at the DNA profile she had on the screen in front of them.

"Wish I had been…the neighbours were and the music was that loud the entire street could hear it." Rolling her eyes, she stared at the screen and wished that she was back at home and in bed.

"Lovely." Sarcasm dripped from his mouth and she chuckled under her breath, despite her best attempts not to. "So what do we have here?" Gesturing with his head to the monitor, Ryan waited for her reply.

"Results came back…Ryan; the brother did it." Her tone had changed and Ryan grimaced as she clicked to put both profiles next to each other. "Several alleles in common, profile came up as one Dylan Johnston."

"He lied to me." Ryan had wanted to help Dylan who had faked his shock and hurt about his sister's death so well that Ryan had believed him.

"I'm sorry Ry." Looking at him through sympathetic eyes, she silently asked if he was okay.

"Yeah, me too." Averting his gaze, he tried not to break down in front of her.

"You weren't to know…he was very convincing." Standing up, she wrapped her arms around Ryan's shoulders and kissed the op of his head. "He played us all Ryan…I'd better call Horatio."

She was about to pull away when his voice stopped her. "No…I want to be the one to tell him."

"Okay, if you think it'll help." He nodded and ducked his head, grabbing Natalia's hands and holding on to them for dear life.

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"You've always had each other's backs then huh?" Delko folded his arms and waited for Natalia to respond.

"Somethin' like that yeah." Smiling, she crossed one leg over the other and continued. "It wasn't just through bad times though…we've had some pretty good times too."

"You really do miss him…don't you?" Raising an eyebrow, he tried to keep his voice neutral.

"Yeah, I miss him being there."

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"Hey Tally, you got a minute?"

Looking up from her locker, she noticed Ryan leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, yeah sure."

He walked into the locker room and sat on the bench as Natalia continued to look thorough the contents of her locker. "I was just thinking, I have two tickets for this film premier this weekend and nobody to go with so…" Trailing off, he waited for her response.

"No way, I tried to get tickets for that but they were sold out." After another couple of seconds, she triumphantly pulled out what she was looking for, a blue blouse, and turned to face him.

"Oh, well I won mine and I was wonderin' if you fancied comin with me?" A wide smile broke out on her face and he mirrored it with one of his own.

"You bein' serious?" Raising an eyebrow, she tired to keep the hope out of her voice.

Her attempts failed however and he smiled as he caught the tone in her voice. "Yeah…what d'you say?"

"I…I'd love to…if you're sure." He nodded and she giggled. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it." He let out a small chuckle but was surprised when Natalia threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Whoa, give a guy some warning." She pulled back and offered him a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." He shook his head and dismissed it, wrapping his arms around her waist and returning the hug. "Thanks Ryan."

"Don't mention it, like I said…I had nobody to go with and I know you wanted to go so…" Trailing off, he gave her a squeeze and smiled to himself.

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"Well, I guess we'd uh…better get back to work." Delko desperately tried to stop her reminiscing; knowing that if she carried on, she would surely burst into tears.

"Yeah, guess you're right." Standing up, she walked out of the break room and headed for the lab; intent on making her day worthwhile.

At half past one that afternoon, she was startled from her work by two strong arms wrapping around her shoulders. Trying to get her breathing back to normal, she twisted slightly to see who it was. "Ryan?"

"The one and only." Dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, he pulled back and sat down in the swivel chair next to her.

"You feelin' okay Ryan?" She looked at him through wary eyes, wondering what had caused his odd behaviour.

"Yeah, never better." Smiling widely at her, he made himself more comfortable in his chair.

"You sure about that?" She raised an eyebrow and he finally picked up on what she was getting at.

"Look, Talia I feel like I've kinda been ignoring you lately and…well…I miss 'us'." His voice was soft, his eyes sincere.

"Oh…I've missed 'us' too." He looked at her with mild shock and she smiled softly. "Thing's haven't been the same lately and…I feel like I've been losing you."

"Well it's no secret that Theresa doesn't like you…"

Interrupting, Natalia spoke up. "I thought you hadn't noticed."

"You'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to notice but that still doesn't give me the right to push you away. I also had a gentle shove from someone…guess it made me see that I'd lose you for good if I didn't…" Leaning over, he took hold of her hands and squeezed her fingers gently. "I'm sorry Tal and…and if you wanna give me a chance to make it up to you then I'd like to take you out tonight." Averting his gaze, his voice became gradually quieter until she was straining to hear him.

"I'd like that." Smiling, she nodded and sighed.

"Where do you wanna go?" Idly tracing patterns on the backs of her hands, he waited for an answer.

"I don't mind as long as we're both there." He looked up and saw a teasing smile on her face.

"We could go to the cinema then go for somethin' to eat after." She nodded and his smile widened. "Great, well we could go straight from work if you want."

"Yeah sure."

Looking around the room, Ryan finally looked back at her and nervously asked, "So uh…what does a guy have to do to get a hug around here?"

Natalia stood up and Ryan worried that he had said the wrong thing until she walked over to him and sat down on his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled as she felt his wrap around her waist. "I've missed you Ryan."

"I've missed you too." Resting his chin on her shoulder, he smiled to himself.

They were broken from their hug when Delko walked in. "Hey…not interrupting anythin' am I?" His voice was teasing and when they looked up at him, they both saw the smile on his face. "You okay now Natalia?" She nodded and he winked at her. "Told you it'd be fine."

"Thanks Eric." Smiling back at him, she let out a small chuckle.

"Anyway, I just came by to see if you guys wanted to come out with me and Cal tonight?"

"But how did you know that Ryan…" Trailing off, she looked at Ryan then at Delko. "You…you gave him the shove he needed?"

"Me and Wolfe don't always get on but I could see how much he means to you Nat."

Untangling herself from Ryan, she walked over to Delko and hugged him. "Thank you." The soft whisper in his ear confirmed that he had done the right thing.

"Just wanted to see you smiling again." Pulling back, he looked at Natalia then at Ryan. "So, you guys wanna come?"

Natalia looked at Ryan with a raised eyebrow, silently telling him that it was up to him and that she didn't mind. "Where are you going?" Ryan was the one who posed the question.

"We were thinkin' of going to the cinema then goin' grabbing somethin' to eat." Ryan and Delko traded knowing smiles and Natalia laughed.

"Why do I get the feeling I've been set up?" Her voice was filled with amusement and both men looked at her with guilt expressions.

"Tally sweetheart, we planned this for you." She giggled and Ryan chuckled.

"Course you did." Turning to look at Delko again, she smiled happily at him. "We'd love to come out with you and Calleigh tonight."

"Great, well I'll go and find her…let her know."

"Well I would ask what time and where to meet but something tells me Ryan already knows." Looking at him, she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and raised both eyebrows. "Am I right?"

"As always." Ryan's response came as no shock and Delko laughed before leaving the room.

Walking back over to Ryan, Natalia sat on the arm of his chair. "What about Theresa?"

"What about her?"

Her voice took on a slightly more serious tone. "Does she know about tonight?"

"We uh…we split up a couple of hours ago." Looking up at her, he shook his head. "I couldn't handle her being so clingy all the time."

"But you seemed so happy." The news had come as a shock to Natalia who was convinced that their relationship had been stronger than ever.

"She was happy and that was enough for me…until I realised how miserable you were."

"What are you saying?" She was almost fearful of the answer.

"She made me choose and there was no competition." Natalia's confusion and fear turned to shock as she realised what Ryan was saying. "I chose you…I'd always choose you."

"I'm sorry." Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, she sympathetically patted his arm.

"I'm not…things weren't really working and I could never choose her over my friends." He wrapped an arm around her waist and she smiled down at him.

"We'd never make you choose." Sincerity sparkled in her eyes and he nodded.

"I know and that's why I'd always choose you guys." Smiling back at her, he knew that things would be okay between them.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review and as I said at the beginning, I am very sorry for the wait you have had for this chapter but I have been ill. I would also like to apologise for any mistakes but I still feel a little ill so I just wanted to get this chapter up for you. Hope you enjoyed it and please review.

Luffles and huggles

RoxxiSanders

XxoxX