Hard Questions with Simple Answers

Ryan Wolfe was lying on his couch on night watching some romantic movie. There were two glasses of wine and the lights were dimly lit. He knew he had his arm around someone but, he wasn't sure. He knew who it was, or maybe it was just wishful thinking. The movie ended and the lovers theme came on. Ryan felt the hand that had previously been resting on his chest reach up to his cheek and pull him close. He closed his eyes and let her pull him closer and closer until their noses were touching and the...

Ryan jumped up from his pillow with sweat pouring down his face. It was the good kind of sweat you get from the best kind of dreams. He hadn't been able to get any sleep yesterday after Delko, Cal, Speed and Alexx had suggested he and Natalia had slept together. He wanted to tell someone...not wanted to. Needed to. But there was no one who would be awake at this time. He couldn't tell Kate because she would tell Horatio and it would just be weird at work. He couldn't tell Delko because he'd tell Calleigh, who'd tell Natalia. Alexx because she would feel obligated to tell Speed who was a no-go because Speed because he had a crush on Natalia. He had no choice but to tell someone who, not only will be cranky from being woken up, but also unable to help with his relationship problems.

"Hello," his niece said sounding tired.

"Hey. It's me," Ryan replied completely alert. " I have a problem but I don't know who I can tell. Lauren, I think I'm in love with someone from work. The only problem is so is one of my best friends."

"Ryan, you woke me up for that. I will kill you. You do know that don't you."

"Yeah look go back to bed. I'm actually feeling a lot better after that. Thanks Lauren." He hung up and finally got some sleep.

Ryan slept for weeks after that but had to force himself to concentrate when he was working with Natalia. One day, Horatio came in telling them that they had all been invited to a Christmas party for the mayor. The day before the party Ryan had alot of courage and walked up to Natalia.

Making sure no one was around he said, "Hey Nat. You goin' to the party tomorrow night."

"Yeah. Why? You?"

"Yeah... So you have a date??" He held his gaze on her and then blinked.

"Yeah. I've actually been seeing this guy for a few weeks now. It's nothing exclusive but I think it's time. What about you? Any special lady in your life?

"Yeah. Of course." he lied. "But she's out of town for a while and won't be able to come."

"Well... I'll see you there Ryan." She walked away and Ryan just looked at her longingly. He was completely spellbound by her. She passed Calleigh and Delko and stopped to talk. Delko broke away from the girls and made his way to Ryan.

Ryan hadn't noticed Delko and jumped when he said, " Do you have a thing for her?"

"What? No. Man, you're insane." Ryan walked to a desk and continued doing paperwork.

" Wolfe, I saw you staring after her. It's a'ight. I won't tell anyone."

Christmas Eve dawned. They had cracked the case early and Horatio gave them the rest of the day off to get ready for the party. Ryan stayed until everyone else was gone, walked over to the filing cabinet and pulled out a file. He wrote his name on it and started writing his report. He had been writing for ten minutes when he heard a door close behind him. He looked, saw Horatio, smiled and went straight back to work.

" What are you still doing here?" he asked politely. " Shouldn't you be getting ready for the party?"

" Not going," he said. " Decided to spend Christmas Eve doing paperwork. I'm still under scrutiny. And I really can't mess up this time."

" This isn't just about the job, is it? I've seen that look before. I had it every time I thought of Yelina with Stetler. Who is she?"

" Natalia," Ryan told him defeated.

" Ryan, you need to move on. Go to the party tonight, forget about Natalia. If you feel the same way in the morning, then you can tell everyone I was wrong." Ryan looked at Horatio and realized he was right.

Ryan Wolfe looked at the room full of people and realized he was the only one unhappy. The person who launched him into his misery even confirmed it.

" Hey you," that familiar beautiful voice said. He didn't even have to look up to know it was Natalia. "You look terrible." His face lit up when he finally looked at her.

"Nah, I feel fine." He looked at the guy standing next to Natalia. " Hey, I'm Ryan Wolfe." He extended his hand.

" Jason Briggs." He looked away and started tugging at Natalia's hand. "C'mon babe, lets go dance." And he dragged Natalia to the dance floor.

After about an hour later, Ryan was joined at the bar with Eric Delko, Tim Speedle and Horatio Caine. They Were talking when Ryan saw Natalia and her boyfriend going to the door and it looked to him as though Natalia didn't want to.

" 'Scuse me," he said mysteriously. He wasn't going to let Speed be the hero to the woman he loved. He hurried to the door and asked the doorman if he saw anyone matching their description. He told Ryan that they went outside. Ryan made it just in time to see Natalia pinned against the wall beating her hands off the guys back, looking, terrified. Ryan Walked up to the two, pulled him off Natalia and pinned him to the ground, hands behind his back. Natalia had made her way to the steps leading up to the hall, her face soaked in tears.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING???" Ryan shouted, his face red. Jason was fighting back.

"Ryan let him go! Please," Natalia sounded terrified, but not for herself.

Ryan let go of her attacker and walked to her. He pulled her into a hug. " Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yah, I will be," she looked at him and smiled when her eyes reached his face. The next thing they knew, Ryan was lying on the ground, bleeding from his forehead. Natalia ran to him and sat him up. " Are you alright?" she asked, worry in her voice. Tending to his wound. She took a plaster out of her purse and put it on him.

He nodded "You?" She nodded. "Natalia I was just wondering if... you know maybe you wanna go back inside with me, drown you sorrows?"

"Ryan Wolfe," she said with a mischievous smile on he face. " Are you asking me to be you date?"

"No."

" That's too bad. I might have said yes." She got up and started walking down the steps. She felt a hand on her arm.

"Natalia, wait." Ryan said, their noses barely touching. " I didn't ask you out there. That was just asking you to have a drink. As a friend. It's an experiment. If the drinks go well then maybe I will ask you out." He put his hand out for her to take

" Ok." She smiled and took his hand. " Oh and in anticipation to that date question... My answers yes." She reached up and kissed him gently on the lips and together they walked inside. Hand in hand.

Meanwhile, back in the hall, on the dance floor, were Horatio and Kate, talking and laughing. They talked about life and Ryan and the kids and Horatio's roll in all their lives. "Horatio?" Kate said pulling away from him. " I want you in their lives. They've never had a stable father figure, and I've never felt this way before.

Horatio smiled. " I understand how you feel." He led her away from the dance floor and into a quiet room. " I know we should wait until the morning to exchange gifts, but I just can't wait." He took out a present from his jacket pocket and unwrapped it. " I've always been that traditional guy. Kate Wolfe. I've never felt this way about anyone in my entire life." He bent down on one knee and opened the box to Kate. " Will you marry me?" Kate looked shocked. " I know it's soon. There's still a lot of stuff to learn about each other an-" Kate knelt down and put a hand on his lips.

"Yes," she said simply. And with that she threw her arms around him and kissed him.