~~ Chapter Four: A Moment Like This ~~
~~
Cecilia smiled, sitting in her living room, trying about thirty different styles for her hair. It was finally happening…the day she'd dreamed about since she started working at the lab. She and Greg were going on a date of some sort. Well, she was going, he was staying put, but frankly she didn't care. Any opportunity for more time in his presence was good enough for her. Why was I cursed with brown hair? Why couldn't I have Lizzie's hair? Sandy blonde would go so much better with my complexion…she complained to herself. "Do I wanna so casual, or formal? Damn…I should have asked…" she considered it for a second. "This IS Greg…and he's always casual…if he's formal, he can always change…but it won't be formal. It's only the first date…" she nodded, pulling out her favorite outfit, consisting of a blue, fitted t-shirt, and black flare jeans. "Is it even a date? Maybe we're just getting together as two friends…" she told herself, as she grabbed her keys, and headed to her car. "Wait…maybe I should bring something formal, just in case…no, now you're just worrying too much, Cecilia. Just go," she told herself, staying on her course. "This is Greg…he's more casual about things than even you are. He's cool, he won't laugh at you…just go," she opened the car door.
~~
Greg hummed along to the tune of 'Warning' by Incubus. It would have been refreshing, he assumed, to have let Cecilia hear him singing along with 'actual music,' as she called it, so he hoped the song ended before she got to his house. He stared at the door, grinning. He couldn't cook, so he'd ordered pizza, and he hoped the pizza guy got there before she did, too. He'd borrowed three of Archie's Donald tapes, so they could have a good laugh, and vowed to himself not to take a sample of her DNA. He then realized that he still had to get dressed. He ran into the bedroom, and quickly changed into one of his famous crazy shirts (a button up, with vertical yellow and black stripes), and a pair of baggy black jeans. After he'd changed, he came back into the living room to watch a little TV before Cecilia arrived. Just as he'd leaned back into the couch, he heard a knock on the door. "Ugh…just a second…you had to wait until I sat-…" he opened the door, and much to his surprise, he got not only the pizza boy, but Cecilia too. "Whoa…aren't I the popular one?"
"You cook, huh?" Cecilia laughed, nodded her head at the pizza boy. "Is this your personal chef?"
"Thanks, how much will that be?" he ignored Cecilia, and pointed to the couch. "Sit, Ubu, sit…"
Cecilia shook her head. "This is going to be an interesting night…" she walked past Greg and sat on the couch. "Not like every night with Greg isn't interesting…" she laughed a little, and leaned into the couch.
Greg paid the pizza guy, and brought the pizza into the living room. "Oh, come on…you didn't seriously think I could cook, did you?" he asked, grinning.
"No…what, were you planning on pawning off this pizza as your own?" she shook her head in disbelief.
"Yeah, why?" he asked, shrugging. "Sounded like a good plan at the time…"
"It just sounds like something I would do…it's funny, really…" Cecilia smiled. "Because I did the exact same thing on a date in high school…" she reminisced. "I finally got a date with the school jock, which really surprised me…and I said that I could cook really well. When he showed up, I had Chinese food all laid out…he didn't buy it, and never asked me out again."
Greg laughed. "Well…he's a loser…obviously you went to great extents to impress him, and-…"
"Thanks, Greg," Cecilia interrupted him before he started to ramble. "And yeah, he was pretty much one of those lunk-heads who only had any common knowledge of sports…"
Greg nodded, and Cecilia could have sworn she saw him wince a little bit. "I know those guys all too well…they put me through personal hell all through high-school, and even somewhat in college. I thought that in college maybe they'd grow up a little, but I couldn't have been more wrong…" he realized that he was giving Cecilia way more personal information than he had given basically anyone else, and stopped talking.
"You can talk to me, Greg…I know exactly what you're going through…" Cecilia put her hand gently on his shoulder, and leaned back against the couch. "We can talk over this delicious pizza you so graciously cooked for me…" she winked and grinned, glancing at the pizza.
Greg shrugged his shoulders. "It's basically the same old story…" he reached for a slice of pizza, and avoided Cecilia's glance. "People can be so callous and uncaring sometimes, and they have no knowledge of common decency…"
"Which is why lab geeks like us get along better with the emotionally flat…like Grissom and Sara…" she took a piece of pizza as well. "And each other…"
"We're not emotionally flat…as a matter of fact, I think you, Lizzie, Archie and myself are the most emotionally vital people in the lab…" Greg exclaimed with a mouthful of pizza, muffling it a little.
"Yeah, really…who else in the world could speak with a mouthful of food, and not be hated!" Cecilia winked at Greg. "Right?" she gently shoved him in the shoulder.
He swallowed the pizza in his mouth and nodded a yes. "Sorry about that…I normally talk to the TV with my mouth full of whatever I'm eating…probably shouldn't do that with company around, right?"
Cecilia shook her head in disagreement. "It's no big…it's just me. I do the same thing all the time, don't worry about it. Just be yourself."
Greg smiled. "So, do you wanna just talk, or watch a movie?" he held up the Donald tapes, then looked up at Cecilia's horrified facial expression. "I'll take that as a 'no movie?'"
Cecilia nodded as enthusiastically as she ever had in her entire life. "Lizzie tells me those are the worst movies ever made…is that true?"
"Yeah, but I just thought we could get a good laugh…" he shrugged, setting the movies on the table. "Talking is better by far, though…"
Cecilia kicked back, and prepared for a great night. She and Greg could always talk, no matter what it was about. And he was so much fun to be around. "So…since we're gonna talk…" she got up and turned the radio off. "Maybe we shouldn't have Simple Plan blaring in the background, huh?" she asked.
"Let me get this straight…Cecilia DOESN'T want music for once?" Greg asked, surprised. "What got you so into music anyway?" he knew that music was one of Cecilia's greatest passions, and that she'd dreamed of being a singer, he'd just never actually heard her sing loud enough to know if she was any good. (Author's Note: This aspect of Cecilia is based on me…I love to sing.)
Cecilia shrugged, and sat down, not wanting to answer his question. "Nothing, really…you're into music, too…and so is Sara…and basically everyone else-…"
"Not as much as you are, though…come on, what's wrong? Just sing a couple bars of something we both like…for me?" he begged, giving Cecilia the look, once again.
Cecilia sighed, and cleared her throat. "I'm not going to sing much, though…and it's going to be something I like…" she hummed her starting note, and began to sing. "I'm sinking slowly, so hurry hold me, your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on. Please can you tell me, so I can finally see where you go when you're gone? If you want to, I can save you…I can take you away from here. So lonely inside, so busy out there, and all you wanted was somebody who cares…" (All You Wanted – Michelle Branch) she crooned.
Greg acted as though he were an audience, and stood up and applauded. "Encore! Bravisimo!" he smiled. "Now, have a seat, Miss Star…" he was even more in love with her than he had been.
Cecilia smacked Greg in the arm. "Was I really that bad?" she asked, ignoring his applause. "I mean…to get the fake cheers, and everything? Man…must have been horrid!" she huffed.
"IT WASN'T FAKE!" Greg scoffed, shoving Cecilia in the arm, and making her fall to the couch. "Damn you! You have a great voice, so shush."
"Fine!" Cecilia pouted, and did as she was told. She closed her mouth, not intending upon opening it again for the rest of the night.
Greg glowered at her. "If you don't talk, I'll kiss you!" he grinned demonically. "Right smack on the lips!"
Cecilia's mouth hung open. She debated whether or not to talk, but went with her initial plan of staying silent. She flashed Greg a glance as if to say, "You wouldn't!" and put her hands on her hips.
"You don't think I would?" he asked, referring to her glance. "You REALLY don't think I would?"
She shook her head, justifying what Greg had said, only to be taken by surprise by the soft touch of Greg's lips on hers. "Whoa…" she said as he pulled away. He'd taken her by surprise. She didn't think he was actually going to do it.
"Teaches you to doubt me!" he smiled wryly after he pulled away from her. "Don't do it again, ok?"
Cecilia simply nodded, a grin crawling across her face. "Gotcha, Sanders…" she stated. "I won't doubt you again."
~~
Archie walked past the break room, on his way out of the lab, and saw Lizzie sitting at the table. She seemed more stressed than usual, and she looked to be almost crying over a picture. Curious as to what could be hounding the usually tough Lizzie, almost to tears, he walked into the break room, and took the seat beside her.
Hearing Archie enter the room, Lizzie automatically flipped over the picture. It was a picture of Greg, Cecilia, Archie and herself at Greg's house about four months ago. In the picture, it looked as though someone were forcing Archie to put his arm around her, and the look on his face really bothered Lizzie, feeling as she did about him. The second she heard him enter the room, though, she turned her frown into a smile. "Hey-ya, Arch…" she forced a cheery tone.
"What's the matter, Lizzie? You look like you were about to cry…" he told her, setting his hand on her shoulder.
Lizzie shrugged. "Just thinking is all. You know how it is when stupid people think. Not a pretty picture…"
"Which is why I'm wondering what's wrong…you're not stupid, Lizzie. Come on, you can tell me what's-…" Archie began.
Lizzie shook her head abruptly. "No, I can't," she felt her eyes welling up, but pushed the tears away, not wanting to cry in front of him. "I would love to be able to, Archie, but I can't…"
Archie sighed, trying not to be too offended. He looked into her eyes, and saw the tears being pushed back, though, and it nearly killed him. She didn't deserve that. It took all that he had inside him, not to just wrap his arms around her and make it all go away. He wasn't even sure he had the ability to do that. He nodded, trying to understand. "It's ok, Lizzie…I can't expect you to be able to just tell me everything…"
With comments like that, it was so hard for Lizzie to keep anything from him. She wanted to reach over and kiss him, just to show him how deeply she felt. It had to wait, though, no matter how deeply she wanted to die inside, and no matter how deeply she loved him. No matter how much I love him…oh my God…did I just say love? I meant like. Like, yeah…I only like him. And even so, there has to be a better time. I can't tell him yet. There's gonna be a better time. She hoped there would be a better time…
~~
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this
Some people search forever for that one special kiss.
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.
Could this be the greatest love of all?
I wanna know if you will catch me when I fall.
So, let me tell you this…
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.
~~ 'A Moment Like This' – Kelly Clarkson ~~