A/N: Chapter 6! I'm aiming for at least ten chapters, but we'll see what happens with this. My favourite one to write so far has probably been #3.

Song #6 - "If You Needed Somebody" by Bad Company

'Should have told you by now, but I can't find the words, oh no
If I could show you somehow, but I don't have the nerve, oh yeah

You don't see me looking at you, how can love be so blind
Somehow you don't notice me, sooner or later there will come a time, baby'

Ryan just got back from his holiday. Eric had to admit, he hadn't imagined Ryan with blonde hair before this. But sandy blonde suited him rather well. The real reason Ryan decided to take two weeks off would never come to light, so Delko chose not to overanalyze. Not like it was his business. Apparently nobody had known where he went or what he did in those two weeks. He never called, explained anything or bothered to give a heads up. But the bruise under his eye put things into perspective pretty quickly.

There was a rumor that Eric's friend, Marcus, and Ryan had gotten into a heated debate. Which ended in a nasty fight. Though there was no video footage or physical evidence to prove so. The only proof happened to be the bruise that had taken a while to appear. Eric didn't know why Ryan hadn't come to him, he thought that he finally understood that he could come to him if he needed anything. His mother would say it's because he didn't explicitly say that. But surely Wolfe wasn't oblivious to him anymore..?

The voicemail should have been enough for him to know.

'If you need somebody, the way that I need you
If you wanted somebody, the way that I want you

Oh yeah, the way that I want you'

"You keep staring and Wolfe might murder you." Travers said dryly.

Eric turned to Michael, giving him the look. The trace analyst looked at the floor to hide the effect of Eric's intimidation. He didn't really care who saw him looking at Ryan. All he wanted was for Ryan to make the first move. Eric didn't want to be the player, he actually hoped that Wolfe liked him enough to be honest. Go to him whenever he needed something. Trust him as both a colleague and.. a friend.

He wondered what had inspired Ryan to give him what he had for his birthday. Those words would resonate with him in a way that he could only imagine that Wolfe would have the guts to say to him properly.

'If I could hold you tonight, it would last me forever
But the time's never right, when will we be together, oh no

If I could make you understand, what you're doing to me
Maybe there will come a time, when sooner or later I will make you see, baby'

When he held Ryan close after the nail incident, he knew that this feeling would never occur with anyone else. The way Ryan gripped his hand let him know that he put his life into his hands. Knowing that Eric wouldn't leave him there to bleed to his death. That moment changed a lot for the both of them as before then, they'd been distanced by an emotional grudge that prevented Eric from letting himself allow Ryan to know him for who he was.

Maybe if he'd done it sooner. Not been so afraid to let himself feel after he got shot, maybe they'd had a better shot. Ryan wouldn't have attempted to forget about the way he felt for so long. Years, but only now were they finally drifting the right way. Eric wanted Ryan to see that he felt just as strongly as he knew he still did.

'Ooh, if I could tell you now, the way you make me feel
Ooh, if I could show you somehow, don't you know my lovin' is oh so real'

"Don't suppose you want some company right now?" He asked, slowly entering the Fingerprints lab.

Ryan didn't take notice of Eric as he was engrossed in the song playing. It made Eric want to laugh. This dude, always so lost in his own mind whenever he listened to music. He came up behind the younger man and took one of his earphones out. "You're always in your own world, aren't you?"

"Are you judging me?" Wolfe replied teasingly.

"Maybe, it's kinda embarrassing realizing you've spoken to thin air."

The younger man chuckled. He took his other headphone out and twisted to face Eric. Something had him thinking. Ryan had been listening to the song that he heard on the radio and reminded him of the older CSI. He gave the Cuban-Russian his iPod, nudging him aside so he could read the results on the screen.

Eric smiled, turning on the device to see what he had been listening to. He put the headphones on and took the time to listen:

"(If you need somebody) I need you, I want you, I gotta tell you
The way that I need you
And if you wanted somebody, the way that I want you.."

Ryan glimpsed at him. Seeing that sexy grin on his face made a smile appear on his face. He was glad that he understood the purpose of the song, and how happy it seemed to make him.

"I love you so much." He mumbled under his breath, unaware that Eric heard him.

'Well, well, well.. I love you too.' Eric thought happily.