Can't be helped

A/n: Wow! Over 500 hits. Thank you all!


I awoke slowly and snuggled into the warmth at my side. Reluctant to fully awaken, I kept my eyes shut while I let my mind wander back to the previous day. Only two words could describe it fully. Mind blowing. I sighed contentedly and hid my face in the crook of my bed partner’s neck, simply enjoying the closeness. He shifted slightly and let out a small sigh of his own. Oh yeah. I could so get used to this. I lay there for a long while, just appreciating the moment. Until the alarm clock went off, that is. Unwilling to rise just yet, I clung to him while he stretched and yawned. “Morning.” I grunted an incoherent reply and snuggled closer. He laughed lightly and ran his fingers through my hair, which only made me want to fall back to sleep.

That wasn’t happening though, and we both knew it. Sadly, I pulled away from him and moved to stretch as well. When I opened my eyes again, he was leaning over me with a small grin. I arched a curious brow in return. “What?” He didn’t answer right away, bending to kiss me softly first. “Nothing really. I just… I like this.” I furrowed my brow, mildly confused. “What do you mean?” He trailed a hand over the side of my face tenderly. “I like waking up with you. It’s just really… nice.” An eighteen-wheeler truck couldn’t have stopped the blush the rushed to my cheeks. “I like it too.” My answer seemed to please him, because his grin nearly split his face in two. Languidly, he stood and held out a hand to me.

“Let’s shower. We’ve got to get moving or we’ll be late.” I nodded, took his hand and stood before stealing a small kiss of my own. “I’ll be right there. Just gotta go get my bag.” I rushed out into the hallway, and narrowly missed stepping on a piece of glass. That’s right… We did get a little out of control last night. I shook my head and chuckled before continuing out into the living room. I had just found my bag, and was bending to pick it up when a familiar voice sounded from somewhere to my left. “You should probably put some clothes on when there are other guys over. Nick might get all jealous…” I nearly jumped out of my skin I was so surprised.

“Holy shit, dude! When the hell did you get here?” Warrick just arched a brow from his place on the couch and smirked. “Really? That’s the first thing you ask? I’m pretty sure it was sometime after all of your… fun.” I frowned, unsure of how to respond. So, I slung my bag over my shoulder and shrugged. “First off, at least I’m wearing something. Second, Nick knows he has no competition when it comes to you. And third, my fun is none of your business.” The older CSI just laughed. “Yeah, yeah… Whatever. Go back to your husband, I’m sure he’s wondering where you are.” I laughed too, suddenly very pleased, and made my way back to the bedroom, then into Nick’s private bathroom.

The shower was already on, and Nick was already washing himself by the time I returned. I smiled and dropped my bag, before removing my boxers. I had thankfully put them on last night before I’d passed out. I normally didn’t like sleeping naked, though I’m thinking that may change soon enough. I slipped into the shower, closing the door behind me, and wrapped my arms around him from behind. “You didn’t warn me that someone was here.” He stiffened slightly in my grasp before glancing at me over his shoulder. “I forgot… I’m sorry. He came over around one. He and Tina are fighting again.” I bit my bottom lip, unsure of how to phrase my next question. “He didn’t seem to be surprised that I was here…”

He took one of my hands in his own, lacing them together before kissing my knuckles. “Does that bother you?” His voice seemed small all of a sudden, and his shoulders hunched. Like he was nervous about my answer. I frowned and spoke without much thought. “No. I just wasn’t expecting it… He scared the crap out of me.” The tension that had seeped into him had vanished an instant later when the sound of his laughter filled the air. “Yeah, ‘Rick can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.” I kissed his shoulder and smiled against his skin. “Uh huh. Apparently I’m not allowed to walk around in my boxers or you’ll get all jealous. Oh, and we got married while I wasn’t paying attention? Was it a nice ceremony? I hope so…”

I found myself pinned against the wall before I could even finish my sentence. Soft lips and tongue upon my own stole my breath, and I pulled him even closer. The kiss was long, and slow, and full of promise. Panting, he pulled back enough to breathe and smiled. “What if I said I would get jealous? What then?” I leaned my head back against the tile and stared at him intently, licking my lips. I will never get enough of his taste. “I’d like it... maybe even a little too much, actually.” He pressed himself flush against me, and nipped at my neck, lapping at the abused skin. “Why?” He mouthed that one word against me, and I shivered.

“B-because… That… It would mean that as far as you see it, I’m yours. I like the way that sounds.” I swallowed thickly, my throat dry all of a sudden, while I braced for his reaction. I didn’t have long to wait, though. His response was almost instantaneous. My arms were pinned to the wall at the wrists while he kissed me senseless. The water poured over us, only adding to the illusion that he was everywhere all at once. I groaned into his mouth, kissing back just as passionately, wanting to give just as much as I was getting.

A knock at the door surprised me enough to pull away and bang my head against the wall. I couldn’t help but laugh, even as I cursed. Gentle fingers appeared at the back of my head, trying to massage the pain away. I sent him a small smile before stealing another light kiss. “We can talk about this more a little later. Otherwise we really are going to be late.” He nodded and stepped back, before setting about actually showering. Twenty minutes later, we were out, dry and dressed. Upon exiting, we found Warrick leaning against the wall looking entirely bored.

“I don’t even wanna know what took so long. Just wanted to let you know I’m heading out now. See you at work.” With that, he turned and left. I couldn’t contain my laughter, I was just so very happy. We decided to take Nick’s truck to work, because it would be pointless to take two cars when we’re on the same case anyway. The drive was fairly short, and neither of us spoke, but the silence was comfortable, not awkward. I stole several side-glances at him, admiring the way the sunlight accentuated his face. He was smiling lightly and humming along with the soft sounds of country music flowing from the radio. It was a really nice moment and I found myself hoping that things could just stay like this. My world would be absolutely perfect.

Not for the first time in my life, I wished I had some sort of super power. Like the ability to freeze time, that would be cool. “Hey, if you could have any super power, what would you pick?” We were at the Lab now, just stepping out of the Denali. He looked at me with a quirked brow, obviously amused. “Where did that come from?” I shrugged; not wanting to share my totally cheesy thought process. “Just wondering. I mean, really. If you could have any one power, what would it be?” He locked up and started towards the front door.

For a moment, I didn’t think he’d answer, but then he stopped and turned to me with a small grin. “I’d want to be able to read minds.” I paused a few feet behind him, turning the answer over in my head. “Why?” He turned around to face me fully after glancing around the deserted parking lot. A moment later, he’d closed the distance between us and dropped a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth. “So then I’d always know how to keep you happy.” My face was fire engine red in two seconds flat. But before I could even begin think of a reply, he’d already entered the building.

Blinking back my surprise, I followed a few minutes later, hoping that my blush had diminished by then. Nick was already changed and ready for work by the time I reached the locker room. Which was a bit of a blessing. I didn’t think I’d be able to keep from blushing all over again. And I’d definitely end up staring. I opened my locker and changed in record time, avoiding his eyes the entire time, because I knew he was watching. When I finished we made our way to the break room.

Grissom and Warrick were already there, sipping on their respective cups of coffee. I made my way over to the pot and set about dumping it. No way in hell was I drinking the sludge. No, I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the ambrosia known as Blue Hawaiian blend. After carefully removing my stash from its hiding place, I quickly filled the filter before returning it to its rightful home. Nick took a seat at the table, and I leaned against the counter while I waited for the pot to brew. Grissom didn’t seem ready to speak yet, he was busy reading some report. Warrick shot me an amused smile, but I shrugged it off. He wouldn’t say anything in front of the boss man. That much I knew for sure.

Sara walked in with Catherine at her heels a few minutes later. We made small talk while I poured a cup for both Nick and I. The conversation consisted of what we’d missed at breakfast the previous morning, which wasn’t much. I set Nick’s mug in front of him, and took a sip from my own. Not realizing that I’d subconsciously leaned against the back of his chair, so that my hip was pressed against his shoulder. It wasn’t until he was answering some comment that I’d made that it dawned on me. Even then, it was only because he’d tilted his head back to respond and ended up resting the top of his head against my stomach.

I tried to move away as quickly and as nonchalantly as possible, praying that no one had noticed. It seemed that I wasn’t so lucky, though. When I glanced around the room, my eyes caught Grissom’s and it was obvious that he’d seen it. I ducked my head under the guise of taking a sip of coffee, hoping to all gods in heaven that he wouldn’t mention it. It seemed that the gods took pity on me today, because he cleared his throat and began delegating assignments for the night. As I knew, Nick and I were to go and interview some known friends of the 22-year-old victim. Warrick and Sara still had some loose ends to tie up from their ongoing case, and Grissom himself would be doing some sort of lab experiment. So it was just Nick and I for the moment. The others would catch up later.

And so it went. We finished our coffee and headed back out to Nick’s truck. He drove, of course, it being his car and all. I preferred it that way, though. It gave me time to watch him. Something I knew I could do for hours on end. I was so deep in my own thoughts that it caught me off guard when he broke the silence. “So, what power would you want?” I blinked, lost. “Huh?” Oh yeah, I’m so very eloquent, I know. It must have amused him, though, because he smiled and glanced at me for a second before returning his eyes to the road. “What super power would you pick, if you had the choice?”

I let my gaze travel to the passenger window, thinking that if I weren’t facing him then it’d be easier to answer. “I’d like to freeze time…” I trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging between us. The silence that followed went on long enough that I’d thought he’d leave it at that, but a beat after the thought crossed my mind, he spoke. “To freeze time, huh? That’s kind of odd. Why would you want that?” I curled my hands into fists in my lap and took a shaky breath. I didn’t want to sound like an idiot but really, that was inevitable at this point. So I spoke before I could second-guess myself. “So that everything could stay just like this, always. It’d be perfect.” Had I been looking anywhere but at my lap, I would have noticed him pulling over. But sadly, since I wasn’t paying attention, his touch made me jump in my seat.

The pads of his fingers grazed my jaw as he gently forced my head up to meet his gaze. “What do you mean?” I shrugged and let my eyes wander to his neck, avoiding eye contact. This was so embarrassing. Was he really going to make me say something so damned corny out loud? Yes. Yes he was. “I’d like to stay just like this, with you… Forever. It’d be perfect. That’s all I’d want.” His lips were on mine not even a second after I’d finished. That sure was happing quite often. I licked his bottom lip, attempting to gain access to his mouth, but he pulled back before things could progress any further.

“Never gonna be able to make it through the day if you keep saying things like that. Can barely stay focused on the job as it is.” Despite his words, he kissed me again. Nothing heavy. Just another small peck, but it still left me wanting more. A tiny growl of disproval rumbled in my chest, but he only chuckled. “I swear, Greggo… You are gonna be the death of me.” I didn’t respond verbally, but only because I didn’t trust myself to speak just then. So, I looked out the window instead, while I tentatively took his hand in mine and laced our fingers together. He offered a gentle squeeze and whistled contentedly to himself, which only made me smile. The rest of the short drive was quiet while we listened to the music that could just barely be heard from his stereo. Both of us lost in our own thoughts.