A/N: To people who want me to update my bigger works: Don't flip - the more one-shots I write, the closer I come to writing the perfect chapter of the big stuff. So anyways, for some odd reason, this came to me at the I-HOP down the street from my hotel. Wow, San Francisco sure is full of inspiration. Oh, ya, and don't ask where this fits in with anything, 'cause I'm not so sure. And I've never wrote a Lily/Bug centered fic before, so bear with me. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: These characters that never seem to leave me alone, or do as I tell them, are not mine. They belong to some other stupid people who have their priorities mixed up. They think we care about the cases, when, really, all we care about is who's making out with who. And you can just pretend that Brandeau doesn't exist, like I always do.

Dinner at Lily's

"Jordan, do you know what Bug likes to eat?"

"I'm guessing food. Why?"

Lily took a breath before answering her friend's question. "Well, I kinda invited him over to my place for dinner tomorrow."

"Lily," Jordan exclaimed. "That's great. But Bug's so infatuated with you, I don't think it matters what you cook him. As long as you don't kill either of yourselves in the process."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked, offended.

"It means that you can't catch yourself on fire or feed Bug food poisoning." Jordan joked, making reference to Lily's self-proclaimed lack of cooking skills.

"Ok, I'll try." Lily said contentedly.

"Good, now I have to get to work before Garret comes and bites my head off. Have fun with Buggles, but not too much fun." Jordan said with a laugh. It suddenly struck Lily as funny how Jordan was the only woman she'd ever met who could start laughing and joking in the middle of an autopsy.

"Fine, see ya. Thanks, Jordan." Lily said she left to do her own work.

"About time." Jordan muttered under her breath as she got to work on her body.

"What are you looking so chipper about, Lily, dear?" Nigel asked the smiling-like-a-maniac Lily.

"Nothing, Nige."

"I most certainly is something. No one gets off the phone with telling someone their husband's dead and smiles without there being something going on." Nigel pointed out.

"Well… I don't want everyone to know this, so if you could keep it quiet that would be nice." Lily started slowly. "I asked Bug to come over to my place for dinner tomorrow night."

"So I've heard. Good for you, I was wondering when you'd come around." Nigel said with a grin.

"You've heard? From who?" Lily asked, flustered.

"Well, four people actually," he started counting on his fingers. "Bug, himself, for one – never seen him look so happy; Sidney seemed to think it was funny when he told me; Emmy only mentioned it in passing, but she said it none-the-less; and the first one to tell me was Jordan. She told Dr. Macy and I when we went to check on the autopsy she was doing. Garret told her to 'tell him something he didn't know' and she did."

"So everybody knows about this? I only asked him last night! Gosh, word travels fast!" Lily exclaimed.

"Word travels fast about what?" Lily turned to find both Matt and Woody standing behind her, listening to hers and Nigel's conversation.

"Hey, guys. It's nothing, really." Lily started, not really wanting to talk about it to these two detectives.

"Lily and Bug have a date planned for tomorrow." Nigel informed them happily.

"See, Seely, I told you to that rookie wasn't just spreading rumors about morgue-staff." Woody said with a poke towards Matt in the ribs.

"How was I to know he was telling the truth, Hoyt?" Matt asked, while Lily looked on, horrified.

"What? You guys know too?" She asked.

"Ya – everybody but thickhead believed Officer McNeil when he said that the grief-counselor was going out with the creepy, bug-obsessed ME." Woody said.

Lily whimpered and went into her office, leaving Nigel alone with Matt and Woody. Matt gave Nigel a funny look. "What's her problem?"

Luckily, Friday was an unusually slow day at the morgue. Lily, feeling her services no longer needed, decided to leave at four. Bug had said he would show up at her place around seven, so she wanted enough time. She frantically raced around the grocery store, picking up things she had forgotten to get the night before. She'd decided to make Stir-fry and rice. Who doesn't love Stir-fry and rice?

Shortly after five, she got in the shower. After she washed her hair, she got out and styled it. She dressed in a nice dress and dabbed on a little perfume. When she went to check on the meat she had left to simmer, she was shocked. It was going perfectly.

Lily spent the next seventy minutes cooking and moving furniture. At ten minutes to seven, the doorbell of her apartment rang.

"Coming!" she called as she put down the spatula she was using. She walked to the door, trying to calm her nerves, and opened it. The first thing she saw was the bouquet of Tiger Lilies. She looked up a bit more to see Bug's shy smile.

"Lilies for my Lily." Bug said as he handed them to her, making her blush.

"Thanks." She said as she planted a small kiss on his cheek before rushing off to find a vase. She managed to find one her mother had given her a few years ago, and filled it with water. She put the lilies inside and put the vase on an end table in her living room. "They're beautiful, thank you." Lily said to Bug, who was still standing at her doorway rather awkwardly. "Make yourself at home, Bug. I'm not quite finished. I shouldn't be much longer." Bug nodded as she went back into the kitchen. He was looking at the pictures on her mantle of the morgue staff over the years. There were plenty of people he hadn't thought about in a long time. He'd never noticed how many pictures Lily took, but she had taken a lot. Something in the kitchen banged and sizzled, startling Bug. Lily shrieked, and then swore. Bug rushed into the kitchen to find a skillet on the floor and Lily with one of her hands under the running tap.

"Lily, what happened?"

"Nothing. I just spilt the food. Uhh, there might be a bit of a delay on supper." Lily said, but Bug saw her wince when she tried to dry off her hand.

"What's wrong with you hand?"

"Nothing!" Lily replied stubbornly, moving her left hand behind her back. Bug grabbed her arm and looked at her hand. It was red and blistered.

"Lily," he exclaimed. "you have second degree burns on your hand. That's something!" Lily was about to protest when the pot containing the rice boiled over. She rushed to it, only to find all the rice already burnt.

"Shit! Tonight was supposed to be perfect! I'm so klutzy and stupid that I can't even cook supper without ruining everything!" Lily exclaimed, just before bursting into tears. Bug pulled her into a tight hug.

"Shh, Lily, don't cry. It's okay. It's just food. Don't worry about it Lils." He continued to comfort her until she calmed down.

"I'm sorry Bug. About everything." Lily said, when she had calmed down.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Lily. If you hadn't started crying, I wouldn't have had that perfectly good excuse to hug you." Bug said, shocking them both with his truthfulness. He caught sight of her hand and remembered about her burn. "I think we should bandage up that hand of yours." Lily reluctantly agreed and showed him where she kept her gauze. Bug started to put a few ointments on her hand and bandage it up.

"Well, this is romantic." Lily joked.

"We both work at a morgue. We could burn a couple of bodies and make it even more romantic. A candlelight dinner." Bug joked back, putting the finishing touches on Lily's bandages.

"Thanks, Bug." She said with a blush. "And sorry about dinner."

"Stop apologizing or I'll go home right now." Bug threatened jokingly. "Now, where should I order takeout from?"

"Hey, Bug, this Thai takeout is really good." Lily commented in between mouthfuls.

"Of course it is. When you eat as much take-out as I do, you learn which ones are best." There was a slight sour note in Bug's voice, but when Lily smiled at him, it disappeared.

They were sitting on Lily's couch, eating the take-out and watching TV. All of a sudden, Bug put down his utensils.

"Lily?"

"Yes Bug?" She asked, looking at him expectantly.

"I want to know if you have feelings for me. I need to know." There was a long pause while Lily looked nervous. Seeing this, Bug said, "Never mind – it doesn't matter."

"No, Bug, it does. I do have feelings for you. When you told me that you liked me all that time ago, I didn't know how to react. I'm not used to liking guys who like me back. But the truth is – I do have feelings for you. I like you. A lot." Lily had a hard time meeting Bug's eyes as she said this. She bit her lip and looked down at the plate she had balanced on her lap.

"Lily." Bug said softly. When she looked up, he did something that shocked them both. Something he'd wanted to do for a long time, but never thought he would have the courage to do it.

He kissed her. And she kissed back after only a moments hesitation. Without missing a beat, Lily moved the plate from her lap to the table. The kiss became deeper and Lily laced her hands around Bug's neck. Needing air, they stopped, but were still tangled up in each other. Bug moved so that both he and Lily could sit comfortably with her head resting on his chest.

They sat like that for a long time. Just watching TV, talking and enjoying the occasional kiss. Basically, they were just enjoying each others company.

At 3AM, Bug realized that Lily had fallen asleep. Feeling how tired he was, he fell asleep, watching Lily sleeping peacefully.

It took Lily a few seconds to get her bearings when she woke up. But when she realized it was Bug she was snuggled against, she couldn't help but smile. Careful not to disturb him, she got off the couch and went into the kitchen. While the coffee was perking, she prepared toast and bacon, the two things she could make without burning. Even it was difficult to do with all the pain in her burnt and bandaged hand. From where she had positioned herself in the kitchen, she could see the couch when Bug woke up. She could tell it took him a few minutes to discover where he was. When he did, he got up and followed the smells into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Bug." Lily said happily.

"Morning, Lily. Don't hurt yourself." He joked. After Lily promised that she wouldn't, he helped her finish breakfast, against her protests. By the time they were eating, they had fallen into an uncomfortable and tense silence. It was Lily who finally broke it.

"Bug, where do I stand with you?"

He gave her a funny look. "You're sitting."

"Bug! That's not what I meant and you know it!" She exclaimed with a laugh. "I mean, are we friends or what?" She bit her lip nervously again.

"Of course we're friends. We'll always be friends." Lily gave Bug a look that clearly said to stop fooling around. "I don't know. I mean, I don't want to lose your friendship, but I do want to be something more. If that's all right with you, of course. It's okay if you just want to be friends, I underst-" Bug's ramblings were cut short by Lily's mouth over his.

"Bug, you're crazy." She stated, grinning.

"Crazy over you." He responded.

"I guess we're more than friends, huh?"

Bug gave Lily a smile. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

A/N: Okay, well, that was odd. Not quite sure what I just wrote, but I wrote it. Oh, ya, and this is a one-shot, so don't bother asking for more. But you can review and make me happy and make me write more Lily/Bug fluffiness!

Smoochez -Callieach