Nick cursed and grumbled his way into the lab. He was working on two and a half hours of sleep, having been woken up by Grissom's call. He stormed past everyone making his way to the showers.

"Nick!" He turned and snarled at Greg, receiving a laugh he would have found adorable had his mood not been so black.

"Greg, I'm covered in dirt and God knows what else, all I want is a shower and a cup of coffee. Please step out of the way and let me go before I burst into tears and humiliate myself."

"Okay! Fine, I just wanted to tell you that Nat and Hodges are coming over for dinner." Nick groaned.

"Since when did we have plans with them?" Greg tucked his arm into Nick's and started to walk to the locker room.

"She called me last night before you got home, said she wants the four of us to 'bond', her word, not mine. She suggested we do dinner at our place since we have more room in the kitchen. Don't worry; she's bringing all the food." Nick sat down on one of the benches and sighed.

"And you were asleep before I got home, and then I had to leave three hours later. Great." Greg tugged Nick's shirt over his head and threw it in his laundry bag.

"You really smell you know." Nick answered with another snarl. "Okay okay, hop in the shower, go home and sleep for a few hours and you'll better. I'll be home around six."

Nick barely made it to his bed before sleep took over his consciousness. He slept dreamlessly, and awoke three hours later to soft music and female laughter. His lips curved as his eyes opened. Natalie was back in the apartment. He pulled on a pair of jeans and rummaged through the dresser for a decent shirt. Walking into the kitchen he found Greg and Hodges sitting at the table, and Natalie at the stove, chattering away, stirring a large pot of sauce.

"I hope that's dinner, it smells incredible." Her head whipped around, curls flying.

"Nicky!" She rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Hello to you too!" He peered over her shoulder at Greg. She pulled away gently and tapped her finger against his nose.

"You're up just in time; I was just about to take out the chicken." Nick's stomach grumbled with hunger.

"Homemade chicken parmesan?" She nodded and skipped back to the sauce. "What's the occasion?" Natalie shot Hodges a quick look, and Nick saw total and complete happiness. She looked back at Nick and grinned.

"Oh, we'll get to that in a bit."

Natalie served the chicken with generous helpings of fresh salad. Greg watched as his best friend ate with enthusiasm, her free hand resting on Hodges' knee. His heart started to thud nervously in his chest, yet he didn't know why.

"Don't fill up too much, I made cheesecake." Nick laughed and pushed his plate away.

"Alright, out with it. You never slave over dinner and dessert. Only one or the other. What's going on?" Again, Natalie's gaze slide over to Hodges. He smiled back at her. Greg reached out and grabbed Nick's hand.

"Greg, Nicky, I wanted you two to be the first to know. I mean, you guys are my family."

"But…" Hodges said quietly.

"Yeah, there is a 'but'. So you guys are the second to know." She beamed at them. "Dave asked me to marry him!" She stared at their blank faces. "We're getting married!" She reached out to grab Greg's other hand.

"I wanted to tell you first," her eyes were pleading. "But I agreed that the right thing to do was to tell Dave's mother first."

"I didn't mean any disrespect to you." Hodges said. "I just wanted to get telling my family out of the way."

"His mother doesn't really like me."

"That's not true."

"She thinks I'm a hussy."

"Nat."

"Any way, we're getting married, and you guys mean the world to me, so that's why I wanted to make you guys a nice dinner and celebrate." She was staring down at her hands. "Please say something."

"I'm so happy for you." She looked up at Greg's words, surprised to see a genuine smile on his face. "I mean it," he looked over at Hodges. "I've never seen her so happy with someone before." He said quietly. "All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy. You're family was so awful to you, and I know the guys you've dated in the past haven't all been winners." Natalie flushed crimson. "And we haven't always gotten along," he nodded at Hodges. "But I'm sure your wife-to-be will help you lighten up." The two men shared a small smile. Nick stood and picked Natalie up from her chair, earning a surprised squeal.

"And here I thought you were hopelessly in love with me." He kissed her full on the lips, and she giggled.

"Nick, you're too vain for your own good. Besides, I could never steal you away from my best friend. Now put me down you big weird-o."

"Okay lover boy, why don't you get out that nice bottle of wine we never open and we can have it with the cheesecake." Greg punched Nick's arm lightly and started to clear the dinner plates. Natalie sat on Hodges' lap and kissed him enthusiastically.

Always responsible, Hodges only had one sip of celebratory wine, and ushered his fiancée out to the car, trying hard to ignore the lusty mouth nibbling on his earlobe. Nick and Greg bid the couple farewell and stumbled into their own bedroom, full of a good meal and excellent wine.

Enjoying the afterglow of lovemaking, Greg curled against Nick, his head resting on his favorite spot on the Texan's chest.

"I really am happy for them." He murmured.

"I know." Nick replied.

The next day Nick walked into the lab to be immediately hailed by Warrick. He nodded at his friend and started to walk in his direction.

"Is it true?" Nick looked at him questioningly. Warrick sighed.

"Nat and Hodges, are they really engaged?" Nick laughed.

"Yeah its true. I haven't seen a rock yet though."

"Damn. I was hoping I'd get a chance at her."

"Hey," Nick stopped walking and grabbed Warrick's arm. "Don't say that."

"Why? You know she's a regulation hottie."

"Yes, I know. She's beautiful, but she's spoken for." Warrick raised his eyebrows, Nick sighed. "And, I think of her as a little sister. So just don't talk about her like that okay?"

"Fine, anyway, do you think Greg will give the bride away?" He lowered his voice. "You know, since her father died?" Nick swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that duty will fall to Greg." He tried to push the awful story of Natalie's family from his mind. "I think we're her family now, to tell the truth."

"What?"

"Nothing." He said quickly. He noticed Sara and Catherine coming towards them.

"Natalie told us the news when she came in!" Catherine said happily. "She's such a sweet girl, I'm glad she's happy."

"She asked me to stand up for her." Sara told them, blushing, something she rarely did. "I figured she'd ask Greg." Nick threw an arm around her shoulder.

"Warrick thinks she's going to ask him to give her away." Sara nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I'm just kind of… Surprised I guess."

"I told you, you've been a really good friend to her, it's not shocking that she'd ask you." Catherine said. "And besides, didn't you introduce them?"

"Well yeah, but I was just trying to help her get to know her way around the place." She shrugged. "I am pretty flattered though."

"Looks like a wedding in our future." Grissom joined the conversation. "The bride to be just told me." The group stopped as Natalie walked into the trace lab, happily greeting Hodges with a kiss.

"It's still weird." Catherine whispered. "But you can't deny the chemistry." Sara gripped Grissom's arm as Hodges reached into his pocket, pulling out a small box.

"He got her a ring!" They watched as Hodges sank down to one knee and Natalie hold out her hand to him. The harsh lights of the lab couldn't diminish the beauty of the delicate band. Nick watched the lab tech slid the ring onto Natalie's trembling fingers.

"Finally." The five CSI's jumped at Greg's quiet word. They turned to look at him. "I'm glad he finally got her a ring." He elaborated. "It's a sapphire with two small diamonds on either side."

"How do you know?"

"He asked me what her favorite stone was. Sapphire's remind her of her Grandmother, they were her favorite too. He showed it to me when I got here." Natalie plastered herself against Hodges. Grissom cleared his throat.

"We should give them a moment." The group turned and walked into the break room. Coffee was poured into mugs. "Well, here's to the happy couple." Grissom lifted his cup.

"Have they set a date?" Catherine asked. Greg shook his head.

"She told me she wants it to be soon, but I don't think they've decided yet." Grissom's phone went off.

"Another happy moment spoiled by the never ending call of duty."