Title: The Red Dress
Author: Diabolikal Rapture / Britt
Summary: Greg's parents are visiting, only problem is that they're expecting to meet his long time girlfriend that he doesn't have...will he be able to pull it off? Possibly Greg/Sara...
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any characters etc associated with CSI. Lyrics used are owned by Nine Inch Nails and Motion City Soundtrack repsectively.
A/N: Thanks to the great response to my first fic, I decided to give it a shot again, but with something different. Gotta give props to my roomie Brooklyn for inspiring this fic with his attempts to convince his parents of a steady relationship. Brooklyn's a lot like Greggo, so I couldn't help but adapt it to CSI...Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think!
The Red Dress
1. The Question
Greg set his phone down in front of him and breathed out a long sigh. He shook his head, he couldn't believe what he'd gotten himself into. His parents were coming. No problem there. Only problem is that they're set on meeting his girlfriend, the girlfriend he invented to get his mother of his back...or at least, sort of invented. He pushed play on the stereo beside him and closed his eyes, letting the music rush through his mind.
This is the first day of my last days
I built it up now i take it apart
Climbed up real high now fall down real far
Nick stood a moment behind his colleague before tapping him on the shoulder. Greg jumped, startled. He didn't hear him come in. He turned down the music, it wasn't exactly helping him forget the situation he'd gotten himself in to.
"Before you ask, the results aren't back yet." Greg let out with a sigh before Nick could even ask.
Nick frowned, something was up with Greg.
"You ok?" He asked.
Greg ran a few possible replies through his mind. Should he tell Nick the truth and put up with him, or lie? He sighed, he wasn't bothered to lie about his problem.
"My parents are coming, this weekend for dinner... They're coming to meet my girlfriend that I don't have."
"I'm sure you could find someone to fill in by then." Nick offered optimistically.
"I'd do that if it was that easy... I kinda gave them a name..." Greg trailed off, starting to regret what he was sharing with Nick. He wouldn't hear the end of it.
Nick raised his eyebrow, "who?"
Greg looked down at his feet before spinning around on his chair, turning his back to Nick.
"Sara..." He almost whispered.
Laughter broke out immediately from behind him. It was inevitable. He shook his head, he was screwed. And now his mother would have another reason to get on his back. He could've told her the truth, or that they'd just broken up. Why didn't he think of that before? It was too late now.
"Good luck with that Greg, you're gonna need it." He continued to chuckle as he left the office, "let me know when the results are in." Nick said vanishing from Greg's sight.
Greg turned the volume back up to catch the end of the song. What was he going to do?
Wish there was something real wish there was something true
Wish there was something real in this world full of you
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Greg pulled his jacket from the locker and pulled it on slowly. He was still wondering what he should do...Should he take a chance at ask Sara to at least pretend for him, and prevent him from upsetting his parents? Or should he just bite the bullet and tell them the truth? He stared into his locker as it dawned upon him...he never said exactly what Sara looked like, and he'd never sent them a photo. All he had to do was find a woman to pose as his girlfriend and have Sara's name. With two days until the dinner, he wondered if he'd be able to find such a woman.
Catherine entered the room to find Greg on his own. She wondered if he'd heard about the bet Nick and Warrick had going on, something to do with Sara. She didn't quite know the details, but she did know about Greg's attraction to Sara and how he'd wanted to ask her out.
"I hear you're gonna ask Sara on a date.." She trailed off.
Greg turned to face her, and his cheeks flushed red. Catherine smirked, so it was true. She shook her head, he was only going to get hurt. He felt his cheeks heat up.
"So everyone knows?" He asked, he couldn't have expected Nick to keep quiet.
"Well, Nick and Warrick, and me, so I guess not everyone knows." She replied, trying to comfort him. It obviously embarrassed him.
"Okay... I think I might have a way to get around it, if I can find someone in time." He replied, hoping that Cath would be able to give him some kind of advise, anything to make him feel a little more confident about his situation.
"What?" Catherine was confused, what the hell did he mean?
"What what?" Greg returned, he didn't understand her confusion. And then he realised, she didn't really know at all. She didn't know everything. He sighed, already sick of repeating his situation inside his head without having to say it out loud to his friends. "I told my parents that I have a girlfriend, whose name is Sara, and now they're coming to meet her...this weekend."
"Oh Greg..." She put her hand on his shoulder, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "You might be able to pull it off, it couldn't hurt to ask."
If it was that easy for him to ask Sara on a date, he would've done it before now. But desperate times did call for desperate measures. He could at least hide his feelings for her and hope that she wanted to help him out in this situation. She was the closest woman to his age at work, he could use that as an excuse. He suddenly felt a little better.
"You think she wouldn't mind pretending, just for one date?"
"Sure...Maybe, if you don't mention the word date. I've gotta get going, I need to pick up Lindsey, but good luck with it, ok Greg? And don't worry about their bet." She left the room.
"Why do they keep saying that?" He asked himself out loud. "And what bet?"
He shrugged it off, he couldn't put it past his colleagues to place a bet on him. They betted on everything else. He looked at his watch, knowing Sara she'd still be around. He could catch her now before she left, ask her while everyone else wasn't around. He drew in a long deep breath. Was he ready for this? He knew he'd never be. He needed to get this over with. And what was the worst that could happen? It wasn't as if she'd turn around and stab him for even suggesting a date. He noted that he should ask her in a room free of objects of the stabbing kind. Before he could gather his trail of thought Sara entered the locker room and caught him off guard.
"Hey." She grinned as she reached into her locker.
"Hey..." He replied. Was this it? She seemed like she was in a good mood. How should he do this? A lame pick up line? Or just a straight out question. He noticed that he'd begun to sweat. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this nervous. Sara turned to leave. He was about to lose his chance.
"Hey Sara..." Greg almost stammered as she turned back.
"Yeah?"
"I was just wondering if you're doing anything this Saturday night, maybe we could go out..." He said quietly, his tone almost hopeful.
"Greg, I..." She trailed off, searching for the right words to say.
"You know..don't worry about it." He said quickly as he pushed past her and left the room. He couldn't handle hearing her excuse for rejection. He could almost feel his heart in his mouth, and it was beating so fast. At least he tried. At least she didn't laugh in his face...
