A/N1: First, I want to thank Grace (graciebutterfliedgsr) for the help in the beta department! Second, if you read Memories, then you know I said I needed a break. Well, either my muse did not get the memo or she refused to listen. So, yeah, this story was in my head and I began writing it because it wouldn't quit bugging me (hence, I have yet to study… the absolute horror, I know).
A/N2: This fic is dedicated to my lovely Norwegian friend, Veronika (22114), because she's awesome.
A/N3: For this story, I'm going by the philosophy of TWT (Timeline? What Timeline?). I will say that Greg is a CSI though…
Disclaimer: I hereby claim (under complete duress) no ownership of CSI.
Monday Night…
"You have one new message," the automated voice stated out loud. Clicking the button to open the email on his computer, Greg began reading…
Dear Greg,
I hope this email finds you in good health. I hope you're taking care of yourself. I worry about you in that big city, you know.
Your grandfather and I have some great news. We won two free tickets to Las Vegas! We're so excited to get to see you! We'll be arriving Thursday, and we'll leave Sunday. Oh, it will be so great to see you after so long.
We miss you and love you so very much. I'm attaching a copy of our flight itinerary. Do you think you'll be able to pick us up at the airport?
Love,
Nana Olaf
P.S. We're looking forward to meeting your lovely fiancée.
Quickly, he typed a short response back.
Nana,
I only have a moment but I wanted to let you know that, of course, I'll be there to pick you and Papa Olaf up at the airport.
Love,
Greg
P.S. We'll look forward to seeing both of you as well.
Greg leaned back in his chair; he was at work. Rubbing his hands over his face, he sighed out loud and into the empty room. It was a slow night at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Nick, Warrick, and Catherine were still out on a case. And he suspected that Sara would be somewhere helping Grissom.
Sara. Oh God. What am I going to do?
Never, NEVER in a million years would he have expected his grandparents to visit him in Las Vegas, much less now when he had a fiancée! Shit! This was probably why you were taught in kindergarten to never tell a lie –because it usually led to no good.
Seriously, what the hell was he going to do? He was screwed –and so not in a good way.
Sighing once more, he got up from his chair and went in search of a certain brunette…
xxx
"You did what?" Sara exclaimed, as she advanced forward with a knife in her hand.
The knife was evidence so Greg was pretty sure that she wouldn't use it on him. Nevertheless, he still backed up. Better safe (and not bleeding) than sorry was his motto. He had found Sara in the evidence room where she had been helping Grissom with a cold case file. While he was debating on how best to get Sara alone, Grissom stepped out of the room, mumbling something about needing to find a book in his office, and it had given him the perfect opportunity to talk to Sara. He wasn't sure how long he would have to explain to Sara before Grissom returned so he knew that he needed to talk fast.
"Okay. I'll tell you everything but, um, Sara would you first put down that knife? Please?" Greg asked, hands in the air, palms outward.
She looked down, seemingly surprised to still be holding the knife in her hand. She placed it back on the table.
"Sorry, Greg. Now, start explaining," she demanded, arms crossed against her chest.
"I told my Nana and Papa Olaf that I was engaged to you," he repeated.
"I got that part –loud and clear. Care to tell me why, when, what the hell were you thinking?"
"Well, I told Nana that I met a girl," Greg said and then added, "a beautiful girl."
"Flattery gets you nowhere with me, Greg. Continue."
"It's true, Sara. Anyway, this was a few years ago. I had a crush on you at the time," Greg admitted, blushing slightly.
Sara softened and let her hands fall down. "Greg…"
"Let me finish, Sara. The guys ragged on me quite a bit, but that's Nick and Warrick for you. You probably didn't even notice, but that's okay. You only had eyes for Grissom. When the two of you finally got together no one could have supported you more or been happier. You and Grissom –well, you two belong together. And that crush that I had…it turned to love. I do love you, Sara. But I realized that I love you as a friend, nothing more. And as your friend, I want you to be happy, and anyone with eyes can see that being with Grissom makes you happy."
"Greg, thank you." Sara stepped forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "However, that still doesn't explain things completely…"
"Okay. So, I already told you that I mentioned you to Nana? We email back and forth since snail mail would take forever. Well, my Nana worries about me 'in this big, bad city.' She was always telling me that she would feel so much better if I had a nice girl to settle down with and who would take care of me. I, uh, emailed her one day and told her that I had a girlfriend. Sara, she was so happy. She was like now I don't have to worry so much…"
"And you told her that your girlfriend was me? Is that right?" Sara questioned.
"Yeah." He continued quickly, "I figured it would be easier to talk about a real person that I knew than to make up some fictional girl that I was dating so I wouldn't get the details messed up in my head."
"Okay. I actually understand your convoluted logic, which is kind of scary. Maybe I've just known you too long. Still, how did we go from dating to being engaged? And why are you confessing your sins now since you've obviously had me as a pretend girlfriend for some time?"
"See, what happened was that Nana had a heart attack a while back. Sara, I don't think that I have ever been so scared in my life when I found out. I was all set to turn in my notice to take a vacation to go visit and to take care of Nana when I got an email from her, telling me not to come and that she was okay. She told me that it did her heart good to know that I had a great girl, and she didn't feel like she needed to worry so much about me. Despite her assurances that she was okay, I still talked with Papa later and he told me that her heart wasn't doing well. And, well, before I even thought it through, I sent her an email saying that I had got engaged. The thing is I never expected my Nana and Papa Olaf to come to Vegas! But they are, three days from now, on Thursday! Sara –I know I have no right to ask this of you…but would you please pretend to be my fiancée?"
"You want me to lie to your grandparents, Greg?" Sara asked. "And pretending to be your fiancée, well, there's a lot wrong with that…"
"I know. I know, Sara. I just don't know what to do. I love my grandparents so much, and I'm worried that if I tell Nana the truth it will cause her heart problems. Both she and my Papa Olaf are old, and I can't stand the thought of anything happening to either of them…"
Sara looked at Greg, standing in front of her, pleading. He really was a great guy. She adored him, actually. She often thought of him as a younger brother, always getting into trouble and she, being the older sister, would be the one to look out for and to take care of him. Over the years, she had heard him speak fondly of his grandparents. She knew he loved them. She couldn't believe she was actually considering agreeing to go along with Greg's crazy scheme but she knew that Greg would do anything for her if she ever needed help –that was the type of person he was. Taking a deep breath and mentally questioning her sanity as well as worrying about what Gil would say and think, she said, "Okay. Let's just say that I do agree to this –how will it work exactly?"
"Really? Seriously? You'll do it, Sara?" Greg exclaimed, running toward Sara and lifting her off the ground, hugging her tightly in his happy exuberance.
Sara laughed. "Greg! Put me down, please."
Greg quickly obeyed and stepped back from Sara. "You are the best! I owe you, Sara!"
Grissom, unnoticed by Sara and Greg since they had their backs to the door, walked back into the evidence room while Greg was still speaking. He walked directly to Sara and wrapped his arms around her waist, not saying a word. Sara didn't have to turn around –she knew who it was and automatically leaned back against him. Grissom placed a small kiss on the back of her neck, causing her to smile and to place her arms on top of his. With Sara still in his embrace, Grissom glanced up and looked at Greg. "I happen to think that Sara is the best as well. But why do you owe my wife, Greg?"
A/N4: What, what? Sara and Grissom are married? Seriously?! Yep, that's right! At least in this story they are…and I love it :)
A/N5: If you want, then I can give out sneak peeks for the next chapter (like I do w/ Memories). So, on that note, please review and tell me what you think :)