Epilogue

Nick let himself into the apartment using his spare key, pushing the door shut behind him with an arm full of goodies. He trudged through to the front room, dumping the bag of Christmas decorations on the sofa, while he set the more breakable items on the coffee table. He had less than an hour before Greg was expected to return home from his shift, so he had to get to work.

It was Christmas Day in a few hours and he had a lot of making up to do after last year.

The Texan quickly shrugged off his jacket, making a start on the Christmas tree. He didn't have time to find a real one, so he picked up a faux tree covered with fake snow that was less than two foot tall. It fit perfectly in the front room of Greg's small apartment though and it gave him more time to hang lights around the room and make a start on the Christmas dinner.

Nick had to substitute the turkey for a chicken breast, but he made sure he had all the extra trimmings that his own mother used to make on Christmas. She might have been a little disappointed to hear that the stuffing and the gravy were both from packet mixes, but he really didn't have the time to make his own right now.

With dinner in the oven, Nick hurried through to the dining room, setting the table for two places. He made a few last minute touches to the decorations, before he hurried through to the bedroom for the last gift.

Now all he had to do was wait.

"Nick, I'm home." Greg finally called through the apartment, ditching his keys on the side. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check his messages, until something caught the corner of his eye. He brushed his fingers across the sparkly green tinsel wrapped around the island counter, allowing a smile to spread across his lips. He followed the twinkling fairy lights through to the front room, smiling wider at the sight of the slightly lopsided Christmas tree against the window.

It wasn't quite as spectacular as the real Christmas trees his mother used to buy, but it was the thought that counted.

"Nicky?" He turned away from the tree, heading for the dining room where his table was actually set up. He usually used it as a storage device. Magazines, newspapers, books, anything that didn't have a place anywhere else usually ended up on the table, but it had all been cleared away.

In its place were two place settings, perfectly laid cutlery and a bottle of bubbly in an ice bucket.

Greg started to worry that he was missing something. He didn't have any messages from Nick, but he was definitely out of the loop on something. "Nicky?"

"In here." A voice called from his bedroom.

"You know how I said I like surprises in small doses?" Greg called back, making a move for the bedroom door. He immediately grinned at the sight of the man he adored, loving him even more than he thought possible. "You're a loon, Nicky. What are you wearing?"

The man was sat on his bed, dressed in a long red and white striped onesie with a Santa hat on his head.

"I got the Christmas tree, decorations, fairy lights, Christmas dinner and ridiculous Christmas pyjamas," Nick motioned towards himself, presenting the younger man with a smile. "I wanted to give you a traditional Christmas for a change. After last year's Christmas, I thought you deserved a traditional Christmas from your childhood."

"You look absolutely ridiculous in those." Greg couldn't help but laugh, leaning across the bed to capture his boyfriend's lips for a kiss. "You're so adorable."

"Good, because I got you a matchin' pair." The man giggled softly, collapsing back against the mattress as Greg climbed on top of him. "Hey, I've got dinner in the oven." He tried to protest as the younger man assaulted his mouth with kisses, but he was powerless to those lips.

"I remember now," Greg pulled back for a breath, smoothing his hand down the soft cotton front to Nick's pyjamas. "Our anniversary. It's been exactly one year since we first kissed. But you really didn't have to do all this. All I wanted was you, Nicky."

"I had to make up for last Christmas." Nick felt the younger man's hand slide across his chest, travelling towards the scar on his shoulder.

"You have nothing to make up for. Almost losing you made me realise how much I could have lost." He brushed his thumb across the scar, feeling a chill running down his spine as he had a flashback to that moment.

Greg dropped a kiss to his shoulder, listening to the man's heart beating through his chest.

"You being here is enough. Seeing you alive everyday is enough. Your smile, the look in your eyes, the warmth of your skin, it's all enough for me. Stop treading on eggshells around me like you owe me, okay? You owe yourself more than a little happiness, Nicky."

"I knew there was a reason why I loved you."

"I'm pretty sure there's a million reasons why you love me." Greg gave him a cheeky grin. "Hey, did I ever mention that I hated the matching pyjamas part of my Christmases? Imagine being sixteen years old, stuck wearing the same pyjamas as your mother for an entire day. It was embarrassing. But you… you look absolutely delicious in this."

"Yours is just over there." Nick tried to point to it, but Greg had him pinned beneath him. "This is our first Christmas together. I wanted it to be special."

"It is special, just by you being here makes it special." Greg trailed teasing kisses across the man's chin, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. "Every minute of every day that I spend with you is special. Every minute of every day that I spend thinking about you is special. I love you so much, Nicholas Parker Stokes." He dropped his head to the man's shoulder, wrapping his arms securely around him. "I honestly never thought we would last even a year. You realise this is the longest relationship I've ever been in."

Nick rested his chin on the younger man's head, wrapping his arms securely around him. "You're not havin' second thoughts about us, are you, G?"

"No… I was thinking more along the lines of asking you to move in with me." Greg propped himself up on Nick's chest, presenting him with an adorable smile. "If you move in with me, I get to see you more and have all your things meshed in with mine. I want your cowboy twang music scrambled in with my Marilyn Manson. Your bird magazines alongside my pop star gossip. Your socks on my bedroom floor. Your clothes folded away beside mine. Your toothbrush next to mine. I want to use the same shower gel as you. Eat breakfast with you every morning. Argue with you over whose turn it is to do the dishes."

"You think about stuff like that?"

"I think about you for ninety nine point nine percent of my day. Of course I think about stuff like that. Right alongside the naked fantasies I have of you." He gave him a cheeky grin, crawling across his chest to seal another kiss to his lips. He pulled away from him a moment later, giggling softly as he looked at Nick in his adorable outfit once again. "I'm sorry. You just look so cute right now."

"It's the hat, right? Too much." Nick pulled it off his head, grinning ear to ear as his partner playfully ruffled his fingers through his hair. "Yes, I'll move in with you. I want to live with you for all the reasons that you said and because I love you more than anythin' in the world."

"Really?" Greg didn't expect him to say yes so quickly. "You really want all your stuff in here with mine?"

"Yes, Greg." He grinned, stealing a quick kiss from his lips. "I'm basically here all the time anyway. Your place is closer to the lab, so I get to see you more and I like this place."

"Even though you think it's small?"

"Yeah, I mean... it's a little small." He shrugged his shoulders together, looking out at the view of the city beside them. "But a view like that makes up for the lack of space. And it's Greg's apartment. You don't understand how cool that is. I feel like a total dork for even admittin' that to you."

"In that case," Greg teased his hand down his front. "Do you have any more of these cute pyjamas in your closet?"

"I'm not really a pyjamas kinda guy, but if that's your thing." Nick gave him a playful smile, inching forwards to steal a kiss, just as the oven timer start to beep in the other room. "Oh, that's our dinner." He rolled their bodies, putting Greg beneath him on the bed. "We got chicken instead of turkey, but I gotcha all the extra trimmings. I hope you're hungry."

"Starving." Greg stole a quick kiss from his lips, before he let him go. He smiled as he watched him walking away, adoring the man even more. He never got to see this side of Nick at work. He almost missed working with him, but at least he didn't have to worry about him putting his life on the line every day.

After he recovered from his gunshot wound last year, Nick took on light duties at the lab, before he decided to think about a drastic career change. Grissom got him a job at the body farm training the new recruits, before he decided to take it on full time and teach the cadets the very basics.

Greg hated it when he was gone for weeks at a time on training courses, but he felt as though the older man's spirit had been lifted from the first moment he started working with the younger generation of recruits.

It felt as though he had the old Nick back again.

"I feel like a complete dork in this." Greg decided to give in, joining his partner in the kitchen, wearing his own red and white stripe onesie. He pulled the zipper all the way up to his neck, giving the older man a smile. "You know that I wouldn't wear something like this for just anyone, right?" He put himself between Nick and the counter, placing his hands on the man's hips. "I've never said this to anyone else, mostly because it didn't apply… but you, you're the one, Nicky."

Nick's heart fluttered in his chest. "The one?"

"My one. My soul mate." Greg clutched him tighter, nipping a playful kiss to his lips. "Do you think we could get married?"

"Greg, you literally just asked me to move in with you a minute ago." He couldn't help but laugh at his adorable boyfriend.

"Why stop there? I think I'm on a role." He giggled softly, grabbing Nick's hands with his own. "I'm not saying tomorrow. Not even next week or next month. We can wait until next Christmas if you want. You should probably meet my parents first. I should probably meet your folks away from the lab. I just want you to know that you're the one. I don't see myself with anyone else. Ever since I met you, I've never seen myself with anyone else. Only you. And I've been thinking about it since your birthday. I bought you a ring, ready to ask you then and there, but I thought eight months into dating you was too soon."

"You bought me a ring?" Nick's chest felt as though it was full of butterflies, especially when the younger man pulled out the small black box from a hidden drawer in the kitchen. He had been cooking in there for the past hour or so, but he never even noticed the incriminating little black box.

"I've never proposed to someone before, but I guess all I want to say is… you're the other half of me. The half that makes me a whole. Without you, I'd be lost." The younger man popped open the box, plucking out the ring he had kept secret for so long. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life and I hope you want to be with me."

"Of course I do." The butterflies in his chest travelled to his stomach, sending chills down his spine. "Yes, I'll marry you, G." Nick waited until the ring was on his finger, before he threw his arms around the younger man, finally feeling as though he was right where he was supposed to be in his life.

"Merry Christmas, Nick."

"The first of many."

The End