I'm so very sorry for the two week long wait. My father had a heart attack shortly after my last posting and life became even more difficult than it had been. Thankfully, he's recovering and is doing far better than even the doctor's expected because they prepared us for his death. He's home now and resting, so, I spent the first day that I've had to myself thanking all that is good in the world that he's okay and writing for you wonderful readers because I want to share my happiness. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I will do my very best to update much sooner.

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with CSI: NY.


Chapter 9

As the first of August approached a heat wave had gripped the city. I'd kept myself locked away in my apartment, only venturing out when I had to and when Don wasn't able to come to my place. However, that afternoon as I sat in my apartment with Elise I was ready to gladly go out into the heat. "I'm not going, Elise," I said firmly as I stood from the sofa and went into the kitchen to get some more iced tea.

"It's mom and dad's forty-fifth anniversary party, Linnie, you have to come," she said and I laughed and shook my head.

"The only things I have to do, Elise, are pay taxes and die," I said firmly and she crossed her arms. Now that the cast was off her arm, she was able to move back into her intimidating self without a problem.

"Elina Karen McCree, you're going to go to that party on Saturday if I have to drag you kicking and screaming," Elise said but I stood defiant after I poured my glass of tea. She uncrossed her arms and walked over to the island, her brown eyes narrowed. "Mom wants you to come, Elina," she said using the one thing that would weaken my resolve. "She hasn't seen you in nearly five years. She's worried that she's going to die and not see her baby girl."

"She's sixty-four, she's not going to die anytime soon," I said softly and Elise sighed. "Dad doesn't want me anywhere near them."

"You'd be surprised what time's done to him," Elise said. "He's seventy-three, Linnie, and he hasn't been in the best of health." I felt even worse at hearing that. I'd always thought of my father as the steel man that I'd never saw shed a tear and he barely ever smiled unless it was at my mother or my brothers. "Ten years is long enough don't you think?"

"All right," I said. "I'll go, but only if I can bring Don."

"You can," she said triumphantly before she danced around the island and kissed my cheek. She grabbed her purse and started to trot away. "I've got to get back to the office, I'll call you and let you know where to be and at what time. It's formal, so tell Don he's got to get a tux." She disappeared out the door and I sighed as I stuck the pitcher of tea back into the fridge before I picked up my cell phone and dialing a familiar number.

"Flack," he said.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he said back, the smile very obvious in his tone.

"What are you doing Saturday?" I asked and he chuckled. I felt my cheeks heat when I realized what he was probably thinking. I laughed too and shook my head. "Only if you're a good boy," I said which made him laugh harder.

"It's my day off. What did you have in mind?" he asked after he sobered his laughter.

"Well, do you own a tux?"


Saturday came quicker than I would have liked, and after a day of getting my nails and hair done I was in my room putting the finishing touches on my makeup. I was terrible when it came to doing my hair and my nails had seen better days so that was the only reason for the manicure and stylist. The woman that did my hair curled it and then pinned it up randomly on the back of my head. It was an interesting idea and I had been a little unsure when she suggested it, but it turned out really pretty so I was happy with it. My nails just had a clear coat on them, but they were now neatly trimmed, buffed, and looking like they hadn't looked in ages.

After applying my lipstick and slipping the soft neutral tone into my black clutch I made sure I didn't have to touch anything up before I moved to the floor length mirror to take in the whole look. I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked at my reflection to prevent a small frown from forming. Even though there was air conditioning at the ballroom, the journey there would be in the evening heat so I had bought a strapless dress that was light and airy. The empire waist of the floor length gown was flattering and the emerald green color looked nice against my still pale complexion and with my red hair, but I didn't know about the silver and black beading under the bust. It brought attention to my chest and even thought I wasn't hugely gifted I wasn't pea size.

"Elina?" came Don's voice from downstairs. Obviously the town car Elise had ordered for us had picked him up and was waiting outside for us. I'd given Don a key to my apartment ages ago and he'd taken to using it liberally, which I didn't mind at all; except for the few times he caught me in the shower. Well, I really didn't mind those time too much.

"I'm upstairs, I'll be down in a minute," I called back. After making sure the strappy black high heeled sandals I wore were secure on my feet I grabbed my small clutch and left my bedroom, turning off the light as I went. Don heard me coming and looked up only to smile as he watched me walk down the stairs. I smiled back and he was quick to meet me at the foot of the stairs.

"You look beautiful," he said before he kissed my cheek. My heels made me almost eye level with him, so there wasn't much bending down on his part as his lips brushed my cheek.

"Thank you," I said raising my hands to his black bow tie. Precariously holding my clutch in my left hand, I straightened his tie ever so slightly. "You look amazing as always." He grinned and grasped my right hand to place a kiss on my knuckles. "Are you ready to face the firing squad?" I asked and he laughed before he laced my arm with his.

"Let them fire away," he said and I smiled. "I've probably been through worse."

"We'll see about that," I said as he led me from my apartment and out to the town car. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I just hoped that whatever happened that night it wouldn't be too catastrophic.


After the ride to the hotel and going through a bunch of shouting photographers that blinded us with their flashes we paused outside the door to the ballroom. "You ready?" Don asked and I took a deep breath as I nodded and laced my left hand into his right.

"Yeah, just as long as you stay close by," I said and he grinned before he kissed my temple. We went inside and weaved through the small groups of guests that had already arrived and were talking softly over the gentle classical music playing in the background. "I'm already ready to leave," I whispered to Don and he chuckled.

"It's not so bad," Don said as a very old couple passed by us and he made a curious face. "We just might be the young whipper snappers in the crowd though." I laughed and Don looked at me, grinning. I was instantly relaxed and I raised his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles. I lowered our hands and he squeezed my hand with a wink. I spotted Elise in her elegant black dress and after pointing her out to Don we made our way over to her.

"Linnie, you made it," Elise said as she stepped away from the handsome blonde haired man she was talking to and walked over to us. She looked Don over and grinned, her dark eyes sparkling. "You clean up nice, Don," she said. "I'm impressed."

"Thanks, Elise," Don said good naturedly and the blonde man Elise had been talking to stepped over to us. Elise looked at him and smiled as she laced her arm with his and took his hand. I raised an eyebrow as Elise met my eyes and I swore she blushed as she smiled.

"Edward, this is my sister Elina and her boyfriend, Don," Elise said introducing us to the man. "Linnie, Don, this is my boyfriend Edward McAlister," she continued and I did my best to stop my mouth from snapping open, but Don didn't mask his surprise. He laughed softly as he nodded his head and let go of my hand. Edward let go of Elise's hand and shook Don's extended hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you," Edward said with a smile, and I noticed the British accent.

"Likewise," Don said before they let go of each other hands and Don put his arm around my waist, resting his hand on my right hip. I shook Edward's hand, smiling.

"Elise has told me a great deal about you, Elina," he said kindly. "She spoke of how little you two look alike, but I can see the similarities."

"Then I should thank you because Elise is one of the most beautiful women I know," I said as we let go and Edward smiled warmly as he turned his dark brown eyes to Elise's.

"That she is," he said softly and I smiled, but gasped quietly when I felt Don's breath on my neck.

"She's got nothing on you, Lin," Don whispered before he kissed my earlobe. For a second, my eyes fluttered closed and my heart thumped painfully in my chest. My ears were a weakness and he knew that fact all too well. I looked at him with a hard to maintain scowl. He was grinning as he looked at me and my face flushed as I fought against a smile.

"Don't do that," I whispered. "We've been here five minutes and you're already behaving badly."

"You know you like it," he whispered back and I blushed even more before I looked away from him and at Elise and Edward who were smiling at us as if they completely understood our hushed and rushed conversation.

"May I steal my sister for just a moment?" I asked and Edward nodded. I looked at Don and pointed at him as if to say 'be good' and he leaned into me, kissing my cheek, before he nodded. I pulled Elise away from Edward and walked with her across the ballroom. "When in the hell did this happen and when were you planning on telling me?" I asked when we were far from the men of our lives and Elise blushed again, looking anxious.

"It just sort of happened about a month ago," she said. "I've never felt like this before, Linnie, and I wanted to make sure he was sticking around before I broadcasted it to the world. He's a really great guy. Even talking about him makes me all antsy."

"How did you two meet?" I asked, happy that she actually found someone that gave her the same feeling Don gave me.

"He's our UK rep," she said. "I know it's mixing business with pleasure, but we got along so well over our lunch and I found myself asking him to have dinner with me. He agreed and now it's been six weeks of steady dating. We haven't even slept together yet." At that my mouth did fall open thanks to the shockwave that hit me full force. Elise laughed at my expression and I slowly recovered, managing a smile as she continued to laugh. "I know, I can't believe it either. I've turned into you."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," I said and Elise smiled before she reached out and hugged me. Closing my eyes, I hugged her back. "And you know his name fits. It starts with an 'E'." Elise laughed again as she pulled back and nodded.

"I thought the same thing."

"Did you tell Ely, Elliot, or mom and dad about me coming?" I asked, sadly changing the subject.

"I told mom," she said. "She's been looking for you to come through that door for the last hour, but I think she's snuck off into the bathroom."

"Elina?" came a deep, surprised sounding voice from behind me and Elise looked over my shoulder and smiled softly at the voice I hadn't heard since I was in high school

Slowly, I turned around and smiled at Kyle Worthington. He was in my graduating class, star of the lacrosse team, and over our high school years we'd been partnered on several projects and developed on odd friendship seeing as I as the loner artist and he the king of our class. However, the last time we'd seen each other was the night of graduation and he stole a kiss after cornering me in a shadowed corner of the auditorium. We parted that night knowing nothing would come of our relationship, but he had been my first kiss and I'd never forgotten that night. But, I'd forgotten that feeling until I met Don. Aside from Don, he was the only one that ever made me feel that fluttery feeling. Andre never did, but as I looked at Kyle I no longer had that feeling. He looked nearly the same, broad and sure in his fine tux. His dark brown hair was slightly long, but neat about his head and his brown eyes crinkled in the corners as he took me in.

"It's been a long time," he said before he stepped forward and gave me a half hug. I stiffened, but returned his embrace as I laughed softly.

"Eleven years is a long time," I said as we pulled apart and he smiled. His gaze was even with mine as his brown eyes met my green. "What are you doing here?"

"I came with my sister," Kyle said. "She's your brother Ely's secretary and she didn't want to come alone." I nodded and looked to Elise who wanted me to introduce her.

"Oh, Kyle Worthington, this is my sister Elise," I said introducing her to him and he tore his eyes from me to Elise who smiled at him and held out her hand. "Elise this is Kyle Worthington, we went to high school together." They shook hands and smiled at each other.

"Pleasure to meet you Kyle," Elise said before she looked at me. "I'll leave you two to catch up. I'm going to find Edward." I nodded and she left me alone with Kyle who laughed softly, returning my attention to him.

"You two don't look much alike," he said and I smiled.

"She got our mother's coloring and me our father's," I said and he grinned. It was the same smile he had in high school, the one that made me feel sick to my stomach, but I still felt nothing.

"So, you still painting?" he asked and I smiled as I nodded.

"And teaching," I added. "I teach art during the summer months at the Lower Manhattan Center for the Arts."

"You've done quite well then," he said and I nodded once more.

"What have you been up to?" I asked, curious as to what he did after high school.

"Well, I went to Duke, busted my ass, and got into Harvard Law School," he said with a chuckle and I laughed with him. "Busted my ass some more and now I work for a firm in Brooklyn. It's nothing too glamorous, but I love it."

"That's all that matters," I said and at his curious look I continued. "Doing something you love. That's why I followed my heart and went to art school. I would have never been happy working in an office."

"You were always one that went against the curve, Elina, glad to know you still do," he said and I blushed as I smiled at him. "You look amazing by the way. Green was always your color."

"I was always in our school uniform when we saw each other," I said with a frown. "It was navy and the last time we saw each other I was wearing a black dress under our navy robes." He laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck and my curiosity was peaked.

"When my friends and I would go to Central Park to throw a ball around or run, you always seemed to be in the area we ended up in," he said with another laugh as he lowered his hand. "Sketch pad in your lap and a pencil in your mouth as another moved across the page."

"I never noticed you," I said softly and he smiled.

"You never looked up," he said. "About the last time we saw each other, I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you."

"You didn't," I said. "I mean, we were two different people then. I never held it against you." The look he gave me was unexpected and I don't think I hid my surprise very well because he took a step closer to me, reaching his hand up towards my face.

"Elina-," he started but didn't get much more out than that.

"Lin?" came Don's voice and I looked away from Kyle and at Don with a warm smile. I was flustered, not by Kyle's closeness, but by what I felt he was about to do. Don was frowning as he looked at Kyle and closed the small distance between he and I. He wrapped his arm rather possessively around my waist as he kept his piercing gaze on Kyle. I looked from Don to Kyle who slowly turned his eyes from Don to me.

"Kyle this is my boyfriend, Don Flack," I said slowly and understanding settled in his eyes before I saw a flash of disappointment. I looked at Don, but he was still looking at Kyle. Finally, after I put my arm around his waist and he felt my arm around him, he look down at me. "Don this is Kyle Worthington. We went to high school together and he's an old friend," I said and Don nodded before he returned his gaze to Kyle.

"Nice to meet you, Don," Kyle said.

"Likewise," Don said curtly. It was awkward for a moment as the two men stared at each other.

"Don, would you get me a glass of champagne?" I asked softly and Don's blue eyes were once again on me. There was a challenge in his eyes, but I wasn't going to back down. I was no longer meek and shy around him, so, I had no problem holding his gaze anymore. I tried to convey to him that he had nothing to worry about, and I felt he understood. Sighing, he kissed my forehead and nodded before excusing himself. I smiled as I watched him walk away and I looked at Kyle after he cleared his throat.

"Does he treat you right, Elina?" Kyle asked and I grinned at the question.

"He treats me very well, Kyle," I said honestly.

"What does he do?" he asked.

"He's a detective with the New York City police department and his work schedule is a little crazy, but it's great. I've never been happier in my entire life," I said and he nodded his head.

"Here I was hoping I'd find the strange little artist girl I said good bye to that night at graduation," he said with a small smile. "I'm glad you're doing so well, Elina. Maybe we could have lunch sometime. Catch up on life, you know."

"I'd like that, Kyle," I said. He smiled before he pulled his wallet out and handed me his business card.

"Give me a call," he said. "My cell's on there."

"I will," I said and he glanced behind me before he smiled.

"I'll see you around, Elina," he said and I waved slightly as he walked away and Don appeared at my side, holding a glass of champagne in front of me.

"Thank you," I said as I took the glass and looked up at him. Don was scowling in Kyle's direction and I laughed shook my head as I raised a hand to his face, turning his chin so he was look at me. "He's an old friend, Don, no need to look like you want to throw him in lock up." He gave me a small grin at my comment before he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my lips.

"When I first came up, he looked like he wanted to have you for dinner," he said and I smiled as I slowly sipped on the gold bubbling liquid.

"Well, you're the only one who can have me for dinner if you wanted," I said in a soft whisper, but he heard me all the same. The lust filled grin that splashed across his face was all I needed to know he heard. Our moment was interrupted when I heard a started gasp. Don and I looked to my left, his right, and I saw my mother with her right hand raised to her lips as her tear filled brown eyes caught mine.

"Elina," she said as she lowered her hand and rushed over to me, embracing me tightly. I stumbled back a bit, but Don reached out and steadied my back before he took the glass of champagne from my hand. I didn't see his expression though, because I closed my eyes and lost myself in my mother's embrace. I'd forgotten what her hugs felt like, and I just hoped that my father would be as warm when I saw him.