ok another quick update BECAUSE I probably wont updaye this again until the 30th - I am off to Africa for an adventure so bear with me and hopefully this will wet your appetite for when I get back and we get to the good stuff ;o) reviews are loved as always - Charli x

It had been more than a month since he last laid eyes on her, or more precisely 34 days, 7 hours and 28 minutes of Greg constantly droning on about her - not that he was counting.

He had tried everything to get her off his mind but nothing worked. He took beautiful women to his bed and worshipped their bodies but when he closed his eyes it was always her eyes he saw, his lips always tasted of her skin.

It was beginning to become a real problem, he couldn't look Greg in the eye and their weekly beer and take-out sessions ended completely. He had done quite well to avoid the cases with children, the fact that Greg lunged on them so that he had an excuse to visit her at work certainly helped but he was beginning to pine for her in a way that concerned him. At first Greg's almost constant drabble irritated him, he would avoid indulging in conversation but as time passed he found himself engaging his friend in chats that he knew would lead to her and he began lapping up every sliver of information he could get. He even found himself pathetic.

He was heading out to work on a rainy Friday, the dull light and heavy cloud summed up the way he was feeling. Depression settled over him convincing him that becoming an anti-social hermit relying on a string of meaningless one night stands was a much better option than opening himself up to feeling this sense of loss ever again. It was ridiculous really, how he could feel like he had lost something he never really had.

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket with a message from Sara asking him to pick Greg up since she was running late. His car was in the shop, had been for the past week with some kind of computer fault. Sara and Caitlyn had been working between themselves to get him to and from work and he was loving the idea of his two very own personal chauffeurs.

He sighed as he tapped out his agreement and swung the car around in the direction of Greg's apartment. The neon lights of the strip glistened and danced as they were reflected back from the sleek sheen of the roads. People ran back and forth with jackets slung over their heads or newspapers as makeshift umbrellas. The drive to Greg's was a short one, he only lived a couple of blocks away and Nick tapped out a message to Greg and sat outside waiting on his friends' eventual appearance.

Greg was still in bed, cursing the inconvenience of his cell phone as he tried to focus on the woman in his arms. Her breath rustled the short hairs on his neck as he drew his lips down her chest, the bare skin waiting for him to peel back the sheets. He met her eye as his hand snaked the length of her body making her shiver and bite her bottom lip.

"We don't have time…" she whispered into his ear as her lips danced along his neckline coaxing a low growl from his throat.

"There's always time" he grinned as he moved over her with a cheeky smile.

There was something about waking up beside her that drove him crazy, the bare skin of her back stretching out in front of him, the thin sheet hugging the curves of her body, her lips slightly parted as though waiting for him to taste them. The soft moans and sighs she made as she was roused from her slumber made his heart race; it was no wonder a high proportion of his energy these days was devoted to either trying to control himself or doing the exact opposite.

He did prefer doing the exact opposite. He was never happier than when he could wake up and take his time with her, exploring the woman he thought he knew everything about and quickly discovering she could be a different person entirely.

The way she whispered into his ear and stroked the crook of his neck had him wrapped around her in seconds; she could manipulate him with one look. The glint in her eye telling him exactly what she wanted without the need for words, the touch of her lips burning into his skin, the brush of her hands across his chest was so new, so unfamiliar and incredibly exhilarating.

So he spent every moment he could rediscovering her, mapping out exactly where to touch her and how. The curve of her spine became familiar to him, the soft tender skin of her thigh no longer a mystery, the taste of her skin lingering on his lips until he wasn't sure where he ended and she began.

Then she looked at him with that lust in her eyes and the fire in his belly was reignited. He couldn't get enough, his body pressed against her with ferocious desperation as her hands found the headboard and gripped hard against his thrusts. Her back arching in a tantalizing fashion allowing him deeper access and drawing an incredibly erotic moan from her throat that made him tremble. He knew buying a wrought iron bed would pay off, he laced the fingers of one hand through hers and pinned it to the pillows while he hooked one of her legs around his arm and gripped the headboard for leverage.

Nick loitered outside, deciding whether to knock the door or not. Greg had an open door policy. If he was home his door was always open and friends were always welcome, it was mostly laziness on Greg's part knowing full well that if his friends came over and knocked he would have to heave himself from the couch to welcome them in. this way he could continue to lounge without appearing anti-social. The question remained in Nick's mind about whether he should be wandering into his friend's home unannounced as his hand lingered on the handle.

Technically he had warned him. The torrent of text messages and an ignored call should have been enough to tell him he was coming but apparently Greg had better things to do and that's what worried him.

His fears were realized as he stepped through the door into the apartment, he could hear them. He could hear their gasping breaths and her agonizingly arousing moans, he wanted to turn and leave. It was never going to be a good idea to put himself through this but he was paralyzed, rooted to the spot and completely incapable of conscious thought.

His curiosity flared, as much as he told himself to stop invading their privacy, some kind of deep rooted voyeurism was stirred within him and he couldn't physically take himself away from the situation, mentally he pictured himself doing those things to her, receiving the reward of her moans.

He came crashing back to reality when the sighs became words and he realized he was standing in their living room with no good reason clearly having witnessed a rather intimate moment, the only thing he could think to do was back out of the room and pretend he had just arrived.

"Greg, I've been waiting on you for 30mins man, what's going on?"

He hoped he sounded genuine enough for Greg not to suspect, he could hear him scrambling in the bedroom and watched as he launched himself out of the door in just a pair of boxers and that huge smile of his.

"Give me 5 minutes?"

Nick flopped down on the couch and absentmindedly picked up one of the magazines gathered on the coffee table to flick through while he quietly catalogued all the changes in Greg's apartment. The vase of fresh flowers by the window that Greg would certainly have killed within hours, the kitchen utensils Greg probably had no idea how to use, and the pillows on the sofa were arranged rather than thrown, the usual assortment of beer bottles in the corner of the kitchen counter had been replaced by nice bottles of wine. A photograph of the two of them took pride of place on the fridge beside a team photo and one of Greg and Sara smiling out at him.

It had become one of those couple's apartments, an easy mingling of both their personalities and it turned a knot in his stomach at the realization.

Caitlyn's figure appeared in the doorway dressed only in one of Greg's white shirts; it skimmed the top of her shapely thighs and drooped from her shoulders revealing the soft glorious skin of her neck and chest. She looked him over with a ghost of sadness in her eyes. The soft nervous smile gracing her features as she drew a hand through her hair, their eyes locked for a moment, a flush of embarrassment darkening her cheeks as Greg placed his hands on her waist from behind and kissed her cheek.

"I'll see you in the morning" he murmured into her hair, his hand brushing softly across her waist before moving across the room to slap Nick on the shoulder indicating he was ready to leave and he breezed out of the apartment without a second look. Nick stood from the sofa without his eyes leaving hers, he was willing her to speak just so he could hear the sound of her voice again but she seemed to be frozen and breathless as she watched him.

"I… I guess I'll see you around" he broke the eye contact resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to read his mind and declare her undying love.

"You look good Nick, its… good to see you"

"you too… things are going ok… with Greg?" he asked slowly, stumbling over words he wasn't sure he should be uttering. She shrugged one shoulder and dipped her head, hope ignited in his soul despite knowing he shouldn't be willing their relationship to fail.

He took one last look behind him to drink in the image of her standing there in all her natural beauty knowing the image would never be only for him. The longing was in her eyes too, he could almost feel her need to go to him, her internal voice waging war on her emotions and actively holding her back.

Greg drummed his fingers restlessly on the dashboard wondering what on earth could be taking Nick so long, his patience was wearing thin. He wanted to get to work and get his shift over with. Two whole days off awaited him on the other side of this shift, like sweet ambrosia just out of the reach of his fingertips. He pumped the horn a couple of times to express his unhappiness at the situation and glared at the door in the hope that Nick would take the hint.

Apparently it worked, Nick emerged from the apartment looking like he had seen a ghost. The playful comment Greg expected went un-uttered as he started the engine and drove them both to the lab without a word. For some reason this made Greg feel like he was in trouble, he fell into step behind Nick rather than by his side and took a seat in the break room beside Sara with a sigh.

"how did I get here before you guys when I was the one running late?" she asked with her infamous half smile in his direction, he shrugged in reaction still unsure what was going on himself.

"Grissom in town this weekend?" he asked changing the subject.

The cloud that fell over her expression spoke volumes about her obvious disappointment; he had lost count of the number of times that man had let her down. He felt like for the past 6 months Grissom had done nothing but break her down and he was picking up the pieces bit by bit trying to put her back together.

"He was supposed to be…" she began, both of them watching as Nick left the room without a word to either of them. She raised an eyebrow in Greg's direction by way of asking him what was going on only to receive another shrug.

"Work?" he knew the answer but still felt the need to vocalize it and receive confirmation from her, he was well aware that speaking ill of Gilbert Grissom in her presence was frowned upon unless she started it or alcohol was involved.

She answered with a shrug of her own, meeting his eye and knowing she needn't say the words.

"Well then, you are coming home with me. It's been too long, movie marathon time. Will we try and break our record?"

"You think we can beat 32 hours?" she laughed with mock surprise.

"I think we can try"

"you're on!" with a smile and a clashing of coffee mugs they sealed the deal and Greg headed out towards the locker room with a renewed spring in his step, plotting which scary movies to make Sara sit through for the next couple of days.

Shift passed surprisingly quickly and he ushered Sara away as Nick headed out to his 4th case that night. He looked tired and irate and although not actively avoiding him Greg hadn't really had a chance to catch up with him all shift. He swung his arm around Sara and started plotting which snacks to pick up from the store on the way home as Nick's Denali screeched out of the parking lot.

The lights on the police cars made the night sky seem alive as he pulled up outside a small two story home. Even through the bustle of the crowd and the sound of the siren's he could hear her voice, the lights flashed red and blue highlighting her face as she stepped across the lawn with two little girls clutching her hands. He met her eye, holding her gaze for a second too long as Hodges waved his hand in front of his face.

"Nick? Nicky? Nick! are you having a stroke?"

Nick tore his eyes away from hers and looked at Hodges standing there waiting for instruction, the man's eyes scanned the crowds in an attempt to find out what had caught Nick's eye and he broke into a wide grin and nodded.

"I get it; you got a soft spot for the social worker? Bad idea, they are always messed up"

"You would know that how Hodges? Your last dinner date was with your mom"

He narrowed his eyes but didn't protest, instead choosing to turn his attention to Morgan and the young police officer she was chatting to. Nick made a beeline for Caitlyn's car; the two girls had witnessed the brutal murder of their parents. Spared the same fate only by hiding in their closet, they could be the only witnesses to the crime. It was important to get their statement as soon as possible.

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here" he said softly as he approached her.

"Yeah, well I'm always on call. These girls were on the at risk list, under my care"

There was sadness in her voice, possibly guilt. He suspected she felt she had let them down, he'd been there. He knew how that felt.

"You couldn't have known this would happen" he ran his hand gently down the length of her arm, pausing when he got to her wrist. He was sure she flinched slightly, purposefully avoiding his eye contact before sliding into the driver's seat and disappearing from sight.

He instructed Morgan to process the scene and headed towards family services to watch the interview with the girls.

Their father was a well-known drug dealer; Nick found out that they had been on the radar with social services since birth, being born with an addiction to heroin and a drug addict mother. Caitlyn had been fighting their corner since she arrived in an attempt to take them away to no avail.

They sat in the room huddled close together with their hands clasped together; their bright innocent blue eyes looked out under a mane of almost white blonde hair. They had been given clean clothes; Nick carefully placed their blood soaked dresses into evidence bags as he stole glance's their way from across the room. They were surprisingly calm; it made him nervous to see them just sitting there like the kids out of 'village of the damned'

"Are they in shock or something?" he whispered to Caitlyn as she passed him the girl's socks.

"Wouldn't you be?"

he shrugged in response, it was difficult to imagine witnessing something like that so young. 6 year olds shouldn't know what violence was but he guessed that these girls had seen more than their fair share of that.

When the interview was finished Caitlyn joined him in the observation room, she sighed as she took her position by his side watching the girls playing with the doll's house.

"What happens to them now?" he asked quietly.

"They'll be put in a group home for the night; I'll hopefully find them some relatives or a foster home tomorrow"

He watched as they hugged together tightly to read a book "will they stay together?"

"I hope so" she smiled at their little show of companionship "I don't think they could bear to be apart"

The air around them stilled, the room suddenly feeling small and enclosed and very empty.

"Hey, I'll take you to breakfast. You did a great job with the girls" he turned his head to look at her but she was still watching the little girls. "You can even invite Greg, if you want"

She turned to look at him with a soft smile and a nod. "Thanks, just let me get changed first"

He paced outside the shower room trying to look casual as he listened to the sound of the water. People walked past eyeing him suspiciously while he nodded and shuffled his feet. She emerged in a cloud of steam and the smell of raspberries. Her suit replaced with a plain t-shirt and jeans and her hair tied back, still wet from the shower. She smiled at him and checked her cell phone with an air of confusion.

"I tried to call Greg a few times but he's not picking up. Looks like it's just you and me!"

He tried to pretend that it was no big deal, two friends heading out for breakfast after a rough night. Nothing to write home about, no pressure at all yet his heart was racing almost as fast as his head as they got into his car. He took her to the diner the team often frequented. His logic telling him that bringing her to a place like this would minimize the risk of either of them reading too much into it.

She checked her phone again for the hundredth time since they had sat down. The sunlight filtering through the huge window cast a warm glow over her face helping her hair to slowly curl and twist as it dried in the humidity.

"He still not picking up?"

"Uhh no…he's probably sleeping." She stashed her phone in her purse and leaned her elbows on the table regarding him with a smile "so… you like to read? … Playboy doesn't count"

"I only buy it for the articles" he laughed, matching her playful expression "I read when I can, mostly forensics' stuff though"

She twisted her fork round on her plate and met his eye for a moment.

"You really should indulge. There are a lot of great books you can lose yourself to"

"Oh really?" he raised an eyebrow and gave her his very best flirty smile as she drew her teeth over her bottom lip in an effort to suppress her own smile. "What would you recommend?"

"we'd be here all year if I started on the list" she smiled, sitting back in her chair and watching him over her mug of coffee "right now I'm reading a book called 'the house at Riverton'- it's very good"

He spooned the last of his breakfast into his mouth, wondering exactly where she was going with this conversation "yeah? What's it about?"

She placed her mug back on the table, staring into it as though entranced by the swirling brown liquid.

"Falling in love with an old friend" she stated somewhat sadly meeting his eye again with a sigh. "Then realizing they're not who you thought they were"

"Oh…" she looked away nervously as he continued to watch her, not entirely sure what she was trying to say and struggling to find something intelligent to say in response.

In the end the waitress came to his rescue with their bill and when his eyes returned to her she was smiling again and changing the subject. Another 3 mugs of coffee and they finally felt able to go home, their casual, friendly breakfast had taken well over 3 hours and they had covered every conversational subject from Politics' to Greg's latest fascination with buying novelty boxer shorts.

The day was in full swing as they stepped out of the diner, people rushing back and forth heading for work or school or whatever else their busy lives held. The sunshine was strong and glorious indicating the beginning of a long spring day, flower's beginning to open up their petals and peer into the sun, young couples walking hand in hand with only eyes for each other.

They lingered outside, standing side by side and watching the craziness of rush hour all around them. A silence had descended between them, not an entirely uncomfortable silence but a suggestive silence. She turned to him after a few long moments, a smile dancing across her face as she moved toward him.

"Thanks for today, I had a good time"

He wrapped his arms around her, convinced that hugging could still be considered platonic and friendly. With her body so close to his and her breath on his neck he found himself back to thinking those forbidden thoughts he had been suppressing.

"Me too, we should make a habit of it you know" he pulled back a little, catching her eye with a smile as she nodded.

"it's a date" she whispered in his ear with a soft kiss on his cheek before heading off in the direction of her car leaving him in a cloud of her perfume and smiling after her.