A/N: Thanks again to all of you who are hanging in there with me with this fic. Our ship is having quite a difficult time, especially after the last episode. However I will continue to ship and live in a happy bubble where this ship keeps on sailing happily. Here's the next chapter. Some fluff. Enjoy!

Chapter thirty-two

Hearing the back door Lizzie and Jethro looked up from their place on the couch and watched Red walk in with a duffel bag.

"Hey." Lizzie greeted him.

"Hi." Red walked to Lizzie and kissed her on her hair before he left to put his bag in the bedroom.

"Everything go okay?" She asked when she saw him return.

"Yes." Red grabbed himself something to drink before he walked up to Lizzie.

"You sure? You took quite some time."

Red had gone back to his brother's house to get more clothes and his shaving kit. He was planning on staying with Lizzie for a while and therefor needed his stuff. It had taken longer than he intended to because Angela had wanted to talk to him. It had been an uncomfortable conversation and one he didn't want to share with Lizzie. "Yes. Angela wanted to talk."

Lizzie raised her eyebrow at him. Something had happened but clearly Red didn't feel like talking. She would let it be for now.

"What are you watching?" He looked at the screen. Whatever she was watching didn't look familiar to him but then again he hardly ever watched TV.

"CSI reruns." Lizzie answered focusing back on the show.

Red looked at Lizzie and Jethro. Lizzie was curled up in the corner of the couch and Jethro was lying next to her with his head on her lap. The dog looked completely relaxed and content. There was no room for him at all to join Lizzie on the couch.

"What?" She asked when she noticed Red was still on his feet and looked at her.

"There's no room for me on the couch anymore."

She smiled at that. "True." Lizzie ran her hand lovingly over Jethro's head. "He wanted to cuddle."

"But I want to cuddle too." Red pouted.

Lizzie laughed. She loved seeing this teasing fun side of Red. "There's no more room."

"Mmm…. Okay. Let's see. Yesterday the bedroom door had to stay open because Jethro had to be able to walk in otherwise you would miss your sweetie. And tonight you prefer to have Jethro to cuddle with. I see a pattern here and I am not too sure if I like it."

"I told you before, you gotta learn to share." She teased him.

Red glared at her and sat down on the nearby chair. "Your loss." He looked at the TV again. "What is this show?"

"It's a show about crime scene investigators and how they solve crimes."

"Mmm.." On the screen he saw a grey bearded man talking to a tall brunette woman. He turned his eyes on Lizzie again and saw a big smile on her face. "Why are you smiling?"

Lizzie watched the scene and waited to answer until the scene of the two ended. "Because they like each other, but don't know how to deal with it."

"Oooh." He really didn't know what to say to that. "Who are they?"

"She's Sara Sidle and he's Gil Grissom. She came to Vegas because he asked her to. Clearly they have a deep connection, but Grissom can't deal with that and pushes her away. But he always draws her back in by saying something meaningful out of the blue."

He noticed that she was really invested in this show. Before he could even ask another question or say something else she continued.

"He's her boss and that is probably also why he's keeping her at a distance. That and the age difference. She has the tendency to put her heart on her sleeve and he doesn't see that." Grissom was back on and Lizzie was focused on him again.

"They make an odd couple." Red said when Sara was back with Grissom again.

"No, they're perfect for each other. They make sense." She was and would always be a romantic at heart. She believed in soul mates.

They watched the rest of the show in silence. Red stayed seated on the chair and Lizzie was still snuggled up with Jethro on the couch. He'd watched her mostly than the show and he couldn't help but smile at how enthralled she was by the show. He found it strange, but apparently there was something Lizzie really liked about it. Clearly it was whatever it was between this Grissom and Sara, but it had to be more than that.

"What do you like about this show besides these two characters? Surely it's not the cases. They're not that great."

Lizzie shrugged. "They don't have to be. I enjoy the show." She smiled. "And there's some nice eye candy."

"Aaah. So who do you enjoy watching? That dark haired guy? Or lab tech?"

She laughed. "No, Grissom."

"Really? How so?" He turned towards her, giving her his full attention.

"The grey curly hair, his striking blue eyes, the way he looks with his glasses on and that sexy beard. He's a sexy man."

Tilting his head to the side Red just watched Lizzie who got uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"What?" She said when he just kept watching her.

"I'm just surprised that you find him attractive."

"Why? Because he's an older guy?"

Now it was Red who was being watched and felt somewhat uncomfortable. Lizzie smiled softly at him. "Age isn't important Red." She waited for a moment to let her words sink in. "Bet you look hot with a beard and I already know you look hot with glasses. Wish you wear them a bit more."

This made him smile. He ran his hand over his jaw. "I'm not too sure about the beard, but wearing the glasses more often is no problem." He stood up. "Now I've been patient enough, but it's time for Jethro to move because I'm feeling neglected." Not waiting for an answer, Red took Jethro gently by his collar and guided him off the couch. Jethro protested but let Red move him. "Go lie down on your blanket, buddy." With once more glance back at Red, the Big Dane lay down on the blanket.

"Come here." Red said when he sat down next to her. He held his arms out to her and she willingly let herself be enveloped by him. He was careful of her injured back, keep his hands on her shoulders. "How's your back?"

"Sore."

"Mmm…" He nuzzled her hair. "I missed you." He whispered in her hair.

"You were only gone for a few hours."

"Still." He preferred to have Lizzie by his side as much as possible. So when they were apart he missed her. It was that simple and it had always been.

"I missed you too, but I had Jethro to keep me company."

"Cuddling with me surely is better than cuddling with Jethro."

"It's different." Lizzie lay her head on his shoulder.

"Different, huh." Red put his finger under Lizzie's chin making her tilt her head up and backwards. He leaned in and gently kissed her lips.

"Okay." Lizzie said after the kiss. "Cuddling with you is better."

"And don't you forget it." He kissed her once more, keeping the kiss gentle and tender before pulling back. "Let's continue on with your show."

TBC...