Rise of the Grasshopper – Part 4
By Ms. Maggs
"Wait." Vartann gently grabbed Catherine's wrist so she couldn't walk out his front door. "I won't make it through my shift without one more kiss."
"Nice try, but it's your night off."
"My shift as a lonely guy," he joked.
"No." Already in work-mode, she shook her head. "It's almost nine. I'll be late for my meeting with..."
"C'mon." He pulled her close. "Just one more."
Smirking at the romantic who had been wooing her for weeks, Catherine replied, "How did you survive without me?"
"Surviving was all I was doing before you came into my life." Cupping her face in his hands, the enamored man whispered, "Now I'm living."
Unaccustomed to romance, Catherine shook her head and sighed.
"What was that for?"
"I don't know how to handle...."
"Handle what?" He tensed, fearing what she was about to say.
"This. You. The constant affection." Scrunching her brows, she explained, "I'm not used to dating nice guys. Typically the men I date only romance me until I put out or until someone else catches their eye, but you have been going full throttle for nearly a month and I've made it abundantly clear that I'm a sure thing, so I'm in uncharted waters here, Lou. I don't know how to handle this…whatever this is."
Holding her in his arms, Vartann softly replied, "I'd like to call it a relationship." When he saw her bristle, he smiled, "But if that word doesn't work for you, we can pick another word for an exclusive arrangement between two consenting adults who enjoy each other's company both in and out of the sack." He teased, "I have a thesaurus inside. I'll spend my lonely night off making a list of relationship synonyms."
"I'm going to work now, detective." After pecking him on the lips, she strolled to her car grinning. "About your definition…" She turned so he could see her smile. "I like the 'exclusive' part. It's a refreshing change of pace."
"Good to know." He couldn't believe how much he hated seeing her go. "Be careful out there tonight, CSI Willows."
"I'm the one who almost got killed saving your ass during the stakeout, remember?"
"Yeah." Her tenacity only made him love her more. "And you're never gonna let me forget it, are you?"
"Nope." After a flip of her hair and a chuckle, she opened her car door.
"I love this thing we've got going on!" he proclaimed.
Overcoming her nerves, she finally shared, "Me too."
Realizing his nosy neighbor, Mrs. Jensen, was eavesdropping, he passionately declared, "I love waking up next to your naked body!"
When Greg's eyes fluttered open, he was stunned to see Nick's arm wrapped tightly around him and to feel his warm body pressed against his back. A smile fanned across his face as he realized that the day's events really happened and weren't just another hot fantasy concocted by his hungry libido and overactive imagination. He and Nick had finally gotten together. But how long would it last? Sure it seemed perfect while under the influence of bourbon and desire, but what were the odds of Nick waking up and proclaiming his undying love?
"Hey…" Nick's scratchy morning voice startled his already jittery bedmate. "Were you expectin' to be alone?"
"Yeah." Greg turned around. "Because I thought I dreamt the whole thing." Grinning, he said, "You doing yoga in my bedroom seemed as far-fetched as the fantasies I had about us getting it on in the back of your Denali at a crime scene, so of course I was skeptical that it really happened."
"It happened alright."
"Any regrets?"
"Yeah." Nick gave a serious nod. "I really regret that it didn't last longer." After cringing, he broke into a lighthearted laugh. "Was it even two minutes?"
"Two and half at least," Greg teased his self-conscious lover. "Don't worry, the quality more than made up for the brevity."
Nick confessed, "I haven't been with anyone in while and to be with you after years of flirting…it was all a little overwhelming. Add the booze and working a twelve hour shift…"
"You know what I really liked?"
Always critical of himself, Nick anxiously asked, "What?"
"Hearing you say my name in the heat of the moment."
"That was the best part?"
Sensing he had offended his lover, Greg clarified, "I'm totally serious. It's a compliment."
"A compliment? That sounds like the polite thing to say when you can't say anything good about something."
"No, that's not it."
"Seriously?" Nick wasn't convinced. "The most memorable part of sex with me was what I said not what I did or how it felt and you want me to believe that's a compliment?"
"I didn't mean it to sound like I didn't enjoy what you did or that it didn't feel great." Greg rolled onto his back and blushed. "I'm not really good at this because I have very limited experience when it comes to pillow talk, which kind of brings me back to my original point that I wasn't making very well because it involves an embarrassing confessing." He chuckled at his inelegance before trying to explain his comment again. "The foreplay and the sex were fantastic, but hearing you say my name when you lost it…that brought it to a whole different level of awesome for me. I've never had anyone say my name in the throes of passion because they were either too wasted to remember it correctly or they didn't bother to get to know it in the first place."
It was an unexpected and sad answer that Nick didn't know how to respond to. "Uh…"
"Just when I thought I couldn't make things more awkward." Braving eye contact, Greg rolled onto his side. "I didn't plan on doing a baggage dump, but I don't really see a way out of it now, so here's the rest of it." He paused. "Uh…since we slept together, I feel compelled to say this is all ancient history and I've passed all drug and HIV tests for years now."
"I wasn't worried."
"Thanks." After a deep breath, Greg continued, "I had issues, which I'm sure you assumed from my erratic changes in behavior, clothes, and hair color over the years."
"Issues?" The CSI in Nick prodded, "Drugs?"
"When I partied. It's not something I'm proud of, but it there's no denying that it was part of the total avoidance package. I was sexually confused, my mother was pressuring me to be something I wasn't, I hated being stuck in the lab and treated like a clown, which I realize now was because I looked and acted like a clown. Anyway, to make a long, pathetic story short, I had this epiphany one night when I woke up naked in an apartment I didn't recognize with two guys I couldn't remember getting naked with and there wasn't a condom wrapper in sight. That's when I decided to drop the partying and become a CSI, which as you know, I barely accomplished, and then just when things were going well in the field I killed Demetrius James and the whole self-loathing thing came back with a vengeance. After a minor backslide, I found a good therapist and I've come a long way in a lot of areas, but I've never been in a relationship, so that's why hearing my named seemed really significant to me, but I get that it wasn't a big deal for you and why you were tweaked that it was my favorite part. I'm gonna stop talking now."
Seeing his friend's embarrassment, Nick felt compelled to share. "I kinda had a similar epiphany during my sophomore year of college."
"You?" Greg's ears perked. "Mr. Responsibility did something irresponsible?"
"Oh yeah. There were times I really hated myself for not being 'normal' like the rest of my family and I didn't really give a shit what happened to me. My eye opening experience was waking up in a field hungover with my pants around my ankles and a really sore ass." Nick calmly admitted, "I'm not kidding when I say my life probably would have ended badly before I graduated if I hadn't met someone who helped me get my act together."
"Sophomore year of college, huh? It only took me until I was thirty." Greg rolled his eyes, "And I'm still in therapy."
"Hey." Nick smiled and snuggled closer. "You gifted types are always late bloomers."
Relieved that his friend wasn't running for the door, Greg quietly asked, "So does my comment seem more like a compliment now?"
"Yeah."
"Sorry you had to suffer through my boring life story to understand it."
"It feels good to talk. I mean we talk all the time, but never like this."
"Naked?"
Nick enjoyed the return of Greg's brilliant smile. "Intimately." Sliding his palm over Greg's bare hip and around to the small of his back, he contentedly said, "I forgot how nice it is wakin' up with someone you care about."
"That's another area in which I have very limited experience. Actually if you eliminate the times I slept in my grandparents bed when I was little, I have no experience."
Listening to Greg's goofy laughter, Nick's affection grew. "You really are freakin' adorable, you know that."
"And you are…mmm." The sensation of strong hands exploring his body had Greg squirming. "I really could get used to this."
"This?" Nick nibbled on the ear lobe in front of him. "Or this?" He teased his lover's parted lips. "Or this?" he asked with a devilish grin while gripping the most sensitive inches of his Greg's heated body.
"All of the above," Greg replied while returning the favor and initiating a string of fiery kisses.
Eager to break his two minute record and redeem himself, Nick excitedly asked, "G, are you up for…"
"Yes!" Greg replied while turning his back and reaching into his nightstand drawer. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to being asked." Tossing the box over his shoulder he grinned. "Keep the rest under your pillow for later."
"I'm not just gonna stay in bed and have sex with you all night," Nick announced while positioning himself behind his eager lover.
"Why not?"
"Because after this romp," Nick paused to tenderly kiss Greg's shoulder, "and a hot, steamy shower together, I'm gonna take you on the romantic date we should have had before falling into bed together."
"Careful, I'm not used to being romanced. I could end up falling…" The remaining words were cut off by a gasp as Nick suddenly joined their bodies.
In an instant Nick knew the alcohol had nothing to do with the ecstasy he had felt the first time.
Strolling through the parking lot with her best friend, Mandy asked, "I don't get it. How could you spend hours at your apartment with Hodges and still be stuck on first base?"
Gushing from an odd combination of joy and embarrassment, Wendy replied, "It just doesn't come up."
Mandy grabbed her pal by the arm. "They make pills for that problem. Haven't you seen the commercials? They're on every two minutes."
"What?" Realizing what she said, Wendy clarified, "No, no, the subject of sex doesn't come up."
"Maybe that's why the subject doesn't come up – he doesn't know how to tell you that it doesn't come up."
"I really don't think that's the…"
"Have you seen evidence?" Mandy folded her arms and waited for a reply.
"No, but it's not like I've been looking for it."
"I'm sorry, honey, but no healthy 42 year old man would be able to abstain when his girlfriend is clearly interested and they're alone in her apartment for hours." Mandy stood her ground. "He suffers from ED and he's too embarrassed to deal with it."
"You're wrong." Wendy returned to her blissful state of mind. "He's just a sweet guy who likes to take his time and do things right."
"That was…" Waiting for his breathing to return to normal, Greg gripped Nick's shoulders. "Wow."
Their hearts still pounding in harmony, Nick remained poised on top, savoring the satisfaction in his lover's eyes.
The notorious overtalker fought the urge to share everything he was thinking. "Wow."
"One thing's for sure, rendering you speechless is definitely a compliment," Nick sweetly chuckled before kissing his lover's ecstatic grin. "Better than the first time, right?" The perfectionist couldn't help looking for validation.
"This time was…" Desperate not to go off on another long-winded emotional speech, Greg considered several word choices and then summed up his thoughts in the one perfect word. "Different." He exploded into a radiant smile.
"Different?" The word wasn't exactly what the validation-seeking perfectionist was hoping to hear.
When Nick's trademark worry-lines appeared on his forehead Greg knew he should have picked another word. "That was another compliment. Different, meaning it wasn't the kind of sex I'm used to having - meaningless sex, but I didn't want to say that in case it…um…in case it didn't really mean anything to you, even though it really seemed like it did especially because of what you said in the heat of the moment, but what do I know about making love, right? And maybe you're just one of those guys who doesn't even realize what they're saying when they…" He gulped. "I should have gone with fantastic, that was my first choice." He shook his head. "Just like when you're taking a test - always go with the first choice. You know my SAT scores would have been perfect if I had just…" Thankfully Nick put him out of his misery with a kiss.
"Now that I've heard your explanation," Nick whispered when their lips parted, "I have to say - it was different for me too and what I said in the heat of the moment…" He froze for a second. "Even though I don't remember anything I said, I probably meant it." Not ready to say anymore, he slid out of bed and extended his hand. "C'mon, let's hit the shower and get out of here."
"Going stir crazy?"
"No, I could spend the next twelve hours in bed with you." Nick flashed a shy smile in his buddy's direction. "But I'm a gentlemen and I'm embarrassed that we made love before I took you out on a proper date."
"It has to be perfect," Hodges lamented to Catherine. "The ultimate romantic date. Romance to spare. Moonlight, candles, flowers, the ideal song, me sweeping her off her feet. Does that sound like me?"
"No." Ever a realist, Catherine shook her head. "Not even close."
"That's the problem," He confessed. "I'm not worthy. I've never been worthy and I can't get past the feeling that if I push the envelope, I'll make a wrong move and the illusion she's created will disappear and she'll see me the way she used to see me. Like Cinderella, only she won't chase after me with a glass slipper, she'll start throwing glass beakers at me again." He glanced across the hall. "Look at her…she deserves a hero, not a zero."
Deciding to delegate the chore, Supervisor Willows said, "I think you should talk to Nick about this…man to man."
"Oh right, I'm going to confess my ineptitude with women to the department's number one ladies man." Hodges laughed at the ridiculous suggestion. "If I wanted to feel that inferior, I'd challenge your boyfriend to a wrestling match."
The thought of her lover in tights with his crotch in David's face made Catherine squeamish. "Hey, why don't you ask Sara how Grissom managed to close the deal? He was even more remedial than you when it came to romance, but he must have figured something out and I really doubt it was flowers and dancing at a fancy restaurant."
Appreciating the logic in her reply, Hodges nodded. "I think you're on to something, boss." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at Wendy through the glass. "Maybe it's not hopeless after all."
"Yeah, and if everything else fails, just accidentally fall on top of her and let nature take its course." Catherine winked from the doorway. "Now that I think about it, that was probably Grissom's big move."
"This is your idea of a romantic date?" Greg asked when Nick parked his truck in the middle of the desert brush. "This looks like a great place for a body dump."
"Yeah, I thought the same thing the first time I came out here." Grabbing his gun from the glove box, Nick assured his date, "But so far the psychos haven't discovered it yet."
"What's the gun for?"
Nick chuckled at the apprehension in his buddy's face. "Mountain lions. I've never seen one, but better to be safe than sorry, right?" Reaching over, he pecked his concerned date's lips. "You weren't really expectin' a fancy dinner on top of the Eiffel Tower from me, were you? Tellin' you to wear boots and to bring a warm jacket should have been a hint."
"Honestly, I was thinking burgers and beer in a place with great air conditioning."
"I've got beer and food in the cooler I grabbed from my house when I went there to get my pack and the rope."
"Rope?"
Opening the door, the outdoorsman urged, "C'mon, Eagle Scout, where's your sense of adventure? We're wastin' time and moonlight."
Getting out of the truck, Greg kept an open mind. "Wait a minute…are we working a cold case?" It would probably be Grissom's ideal romantic date and since Nick was becoming more like Grissom every day…
"No!" Nick belly laughed. "Would ya just trust me and come over to the edge of this cliff."
"What?" Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark he saw they were parked ten feet from a huge drop off and Nick was anchoring his rope around the base of a boulder. "Midnight rock climbing? What in our decade together has given you the impression that I like to risk my life in the dark?"
Grinning like the lovestruck fool he was, Nick said, "It's not dangerous, the rope is to lower the cooler because I can't drop it without the beer bottles breaking." He tossed his pack over the edge and then tied the cooler onto the end of the rope.
"Exactly how many guys have you brought here, Romeo?"
While lowering the cooler and avoiding eye contact Nick replied, "Like those words I said in bed earlier, this is something that I've never shared with anyone."
"You told me you didn't remember what you said in the heat of the moment."
Lifting his gaze, Nick confessed, "I lied." Then he extended his hand. "C'mon…just trust me."
Stepping closer, Greg laughed at the irony. "You just said you lied to me and in the next breath you expect me to trust you."
"I lied because I was scared, not because I'm a liar."
"I could fall..."
"You won't." Nick pointed to the edge. "When you get over here you'll see…"
"No, I could fall hard for a guy who says those words in the heat of the moment and then takes me to his secret hideaway to look at the stars." Greg peered over the edge. "So if that's not what you're going for, I think we should get back in the truck and call it a night." Standing on the edge, he asked, "What is this?"
"An affiliation?" Catherine laughed at Vartann's text message and quickly replied, Too impersonal. You don't just have an affiliation with my body, you have an obsession. Keep trying.
Thanks for reading and for the comments on the last chapter! Now that I've watched the season finale, I'm even more inspired to write : )
Part 5 next week…
Maggs