Epilogue
Greg was nervous; it was really silly when he thought about it. It was Jenna, he had no reason to be nervous, and she was his friend…well she was his girlfriend again and it was just a date. Dinner, movie, maybe drinks afterward, nothing serious. He let out a sigh and buttoned his white shirt and pulled out a blue jacket and thought back on the past few weeks. Work had kept Greg busy and he and Jenna hadn't been able to set up that date. They chatted over the phone, slowly reconnecting and talking again after being silent for almost eight years.
Every now and than, Greg would come into the lab after working a scene and find out that Jenna had dropped him off a lunch. This was something that Nick, Warrick and all the lab techs had teased him about without mercy. They shut up when they saw Greg eating fresh lasagna and homemade garlic bread and they were eating cold sandwiches and ramen noodles. Warrick slipped Greg twenty dollars for some of the red velvet cupcakes and told him that if he screwed this up, he would personally kick his ass and hook up with Jenna, just for the cupcakes.
Greg sat down and waited for Jenna to show up. He had finally managed to get a night off and Jenna had arranged with Ofilia to handle some of the orders and paperwork and they were finally going on said date. Greg flipped on the TV and started flipping through the channels not really caring what was on.
Why are you freaking out, it's Jenna, she's your girlfriend. You've never been nervous with her. He heard a knock on the door and almost jumped out of his skin. He forced himself to take a deep breath and open the door. Jenna gave him a nervous smile. God she looked beautiful, the bruises on her face had finally started to fade and she was wearing a pair of black Capri pants and a light purple button up dress shirt with quarter sleeves and a pair of low heels. She had pulled her hair back into a bun and was holding it in place with two light purple hair sticks.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Um, you ready for dinner?" asked Jenna.
"Yeah." Greg grabbed his keys from the table and locked the door behind him.
"You want me to drive; I mean you always drove when we were in Stanford, because I didn't have a car." Jenna was babbling and she blushed and looked at Greg.
"Are you nervous?" he asked her.
"For some retarded reason, yes. I don't know what is wrong with me. I mean it's silly."
"I know I haven't felt this nervous since I had to take my test to get into the field." Jenna laughed.
"We'll take my car, since you're buying."
"Why am I buying?" asked Greg.
"Your grandfather was the one who said pretty girls eat for free, I got pretty just so I could eat for free." Greg laughed and Jenna led him to her car. They got in and drove off.
"You can listen to anything you want," said Jenna handing him a cd case. Greg flipped through it and remembered something.
"You can never accuse me of having pissy white boy music ever again."
"And why is that?"
"I saw your Flogging Molly collection. That is has pissy and has white as it gets." Jenna laughed.
"Karen got me into Flogging Molly, we went out for her 30th birthday in Chicago and ended up drinking and moshing to Flogging Molly until the bar closed." Greg laughed and decided on some Flogging Molly.
I would wrap the
world in clover
But you make me see my way
And I would die for
you tomorrow
Would you come to me today?
Sing a song of sadness
about the girl with the happy face
And dance upon the water with a
ripple or a trace
Love is here any
cloud in the sky
Would you be my flushing bride?
I don't think
so
But I never met a girl like,
I never met a girl like,
I
never met a girl like you before
Jenna couldn't help it and started to sing loudly and off key, Greg joined her and people were staring has they drove. Jenna pulled into the parking lot of a Mediterranean restaurant and they got out.
"This is one of those places that has good food and isn't a tourist hell hole so you can get decent service," said Jenna. "Unless you wanna eat somewhere else?"
"No, this is cool." Jenna reached out and took Greg's hand in hers and they walked into the restaurant. The restaurant smelled like humus and gyros and the hostess was able to seat them quickly. They ordered drinks and some pita bread and fell into silence for a few moments before Jenna let out a small laugh.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You know, we never really went out on a date when we were in Stanford. We were busy with finals; mostly we just hung out at each others apartments. Maybe that's why we're being so retarded with each other right now. This is technically our first date."
"Oh my god, you're right. Wow, this is kind of weird." Jenna took a sip of her drink and smiled at him.
"So how was work?"
"Work…their looking for a new DNA tech, so I'm filling in until they get a new lab tech and getting harassed by the guys. Something about I'm confused and I'm kissing the ass of our boss's boss and the jokes go one from their."
"Do you ever tell them to suck it?" asked Jenna.
"Yeah, it doesn't work though. It's what I get for being the low man on the pole." He grabbed a piece of pita bread and started munching on it.
"I'll trade you; I'm working on the largest desert buffet I've ever seen. It was suppose to be a simple table with some sweets on it, now it's a twelve foot long table, holding deserts in their pink and brown wedding colors, they have added a sundae and cookie bar along with hundred and fifty cannolis along with chocolate and strawberry covered pretzels. And all I can think of when I'm dipping the pretzels is that horrible scene in the movie Mallrats."
"Oh, where Jason Lee gets that guy to eat the pretzels after he….oh gross."
"I know. You should hear the jokes in the kitchen, all I can think of is that fact that this woman is going to probably going to freak out when she sees her bill and I hope she really enjoyed her chocolate covered pretzels."
"Can I ask how much your making from this insanity?" Jenna bit her lip.
"If I tell you, will you still buy dinner? Because she hasn't paid yet and who knows what I'll have to fork out in hospital bills when she's done with me."
"I'll buy, don't worry."
"She's pushing over six grand with the table; her cake was over a thousand." Greg's jaw dropped.
"Holy shit! Are you serious?" Jenna shrugged.
"Modern Bride: Trendsetter of Year 2004, Brides: Who's who in weddings 2002 and 2003, Food Network. Can I help it if the crazy brides who come to Vegas want a little piece of me?" Greg shook his head.
"Wow, are you hiring?"
"Oh, you wouldn't survive sweetheart." The both started laughing and placed their dinner orders. A silence fell between them while they ate, occasionally commenting on how good the food was. They ordered desert and conversation started back up.
"So what made you leave the lab? It was all people could do to get you out the lab back in school?"
"I got bored. I got to help once with this case about this coin collector and they let me out of the lab to help them and well, it felt great my world felt large out their. I told Grissom that and he gave me this look and told me it meant a pay cut. When I told him the pay cut didn't matter, I think I almost made his jaw drop. So I bounced back and forth for awhile after the lab exploded and I finally passed my second final proficiency, they let me out into the field."
"Second final proficiency?" asked Jenna and Greg felt himself start to blush.
"I failed my first one, but Grissom let me have a second try."
"How do you fail? Did you not write the report right or something?"
"I used the bathroom at a crime scene without clearing the bathroom first and I could have ruined the evidence in the bathroom by doing that." Jenna snorted in laughter.
"So you failed, because you took a piss. Did you at least wash your hands before going back to work? Because, I'm not going to let you anywhere near a kitchen without washing your hands." Greg started laughing and threw a straw wrapper at Jenna.
"I really had to go and yes I did wash my hands after leaving the restroom. But the gun had been hidden in a toilet and that's why I failed." Jenna's eyes got wide and smiled.
"Gun hidden in a toilet, I thought that only happened on TV."
"You be surprised how many people try to copy something they've seen on TV." He told her about the case where the kids had tried to copy the show Jackass and ended up shooting themselves and killing one of their friends.
"And sadly there are no laws protecting people against stupidity until someone gets hurt. You ready to go?" asked Jenna.
Greg nodded and paid the bill. They headed out and Jenna took him to see The 40 Year Old Virgin and they sat in the back making jokes about how Hodges was going to be the 40 year old virgin and Greg told her about how Hodges had a Dukes of Hazards board game and the 'Hodges experience' and Jenna told him about how she gave Hodges the 867-5309 number and nearly caused Greg to spit out his drink. She reached over and took his hand during the movie and put her head on his shoulder and Greg let her stay there the whole time.
After the movie ended, Jenna drove him back to his apartment and walked him to the door.
"You don't need to do this," said Greg. Jenna shook her head.
"Considering all the times you walked me to my door, it's the least I can do." They paused outside the door and it dawned on Greg why he was so nervous, he didn't know how to end the date, he didn't know if he should invite her in or send her home. He knew if he invited her in that she would be staying the night and he wasn't sure if he was ready to go there. Greg took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Umm, do you want to come in for a drink or…?" Jenna gave him a kiss; one of those long slow kisses that had always turned him inside out and made him want more. He felt his hands creep up her shirt and settle on her sides. She broke away from him slowly and looked up at him.
"No." Greg's jaw dropped and she blushed and took his hands. "This will sound lame when I tell you this, but it's me not you." She looked away and tried to collect her thoughts. "I haven't been with anyone in a very, very long time."
"How long?" blurted out Greg, the blush on Jenna's face got even redder.
"About four and half…maybe five years if you give or take a couple of months." Greg felt his jaw drop again Jenna got even redder. She took a deep breath and continued. "After things ended with you and Andy, I realized that I wasn't me anymore. Both of you took very large pieces of me and I decided that I wasn't going to let anyone have me anymore until I was me again. And I know it sounds lame, but it was my decision and I'm not willing to step away from it just yet." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and looked him in the eyes.
"I want you, I really do, but I need to see where this is going before we go their again. Do you understand?" asked Jenna. Greg nodded and kissed her cheek.
"I thought my year and half was a long time." Jenna smiled and gave Greg a hug. He held her for a second and when he broke away he went and unlocked the door. "You waited for me; I guess it's only fair I wait for you now."
"Thank you." Greg opened the door and went to step inside when Jenna called out to him."I just want to know one thing, did you ever get rid of that springboard, squeaking hell you called a bed from Stanford." Greg laughed.
"Yes I got rid of it, I upgraded to plush queen size bed. No springboard, no squeaking. Would you like to come try it out?"
"Nah, you have fun with it." Jenna walked back down the stairs and Greg went inside and shut and locked the door.
He sighed, slightly disappointed that Jenna wasn't going to be staying the night or any other night in the foreseeable future, he understood her decision though and he respected it. The last time they had been dating, she had put in all the effort and now it was his turn to do the same.
At least I'm getting a second chance.
Fin….
Writers notes-Yeah it's done, I hope those who read it enjoyed it. -, for those who did like it, don't worry I plan on writing more about Greg and Jenna.
The song was by Flogging Molly: I never met a girl like you.
The episode where Greg was let out of the lab to help with the coin collector was in Season Three: Precious Metal, the other episode that was referenced about the kids and the Jackass stunt was also in Season Three: A Night at the Movies…yeah I'm dork, but what can I say.
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