Title: Party of Two
Author: April May
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: FRT
Status: Complete
Archive: To the Greg Slash Archive, others please ask.
Feedback: jmpedlow@aol.com
Disclaimers: The characters belong to Anthony Zuiker and CBS, and no profit is being made with this story.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: Nick and Greg have their own private New Year's Eve party. Written for the New Year's Challenge at Greg Sanders Slash.
Warnings: No smut in this one (sorry) but some unabashed fluffy shmoopiness.

"What's going on here?" Greg asked, emerging out of our bedroom, wearing a T-shirt and the red plaid flannel pajama pants I had given him for Christmas and rubbing his still-sleepy eyes. Peering into the seldom used dining room, where I had set up the table with a white linen tablecloth, real china and silverware place settings, and two tall, thin white candles in silver holders, he said, confused, "I thought we were just going to order something from the Chinese place."

Greg and I had both managed to get New Year's Eve off this year, but we had decided that instead of going out to a club or a party, we'd have a private "party of two" at our place. We both had been putting in a lot of overtime lately trying to get as many cases closed as possible before the end of the year - Greg especially had been putting a lot of extra hours in trying to help the day shift with their backlog - so neither one of us felt like dressing up or being in a crowd.

(Warrick and Catherine, on the other hand, had managed to get tickets to the America's Party concert that was being shown live on the Fox network, while Sara and Grissom were doing what they both did best - working.)

Shrugging, I said, "Well, it is New Year's Eve, and I wanted to do something a little more...special. And I know you've been working really hard lately, so I wanted to make you your favorite dinner - so we're having a rack of lamb, green beans, wild rice, a caesar salad, and for dessert..."

"Raspberry cheesecake?" he asked eagerly.

"Exactly," I said, smiling back at him. "With lots of whipped cream."

"Speaking of which," he said with a suggestive lift of his eyebrows. "Do you think dinner could wait until later?"

With a fake put-upon sigh, I replied, "I had the feeling you'd say that," and, after blowing out the candles, I let him lead me back to the bedroom.

Some time later, after we had finally finished our dinner, we were sitting on the living room couch watching TV. Or, to be more accurate, I was trying to watch, while Greg kept clicking the remote. At one point, he had the Fox show on, and we managed to get a glimpse of Warrick and Catherine standing very close together - he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders while she was looking up at him, and they appeared to be so engrossed in each other, they didn't even know they were on camera.

"Get a room, you two," Greg called out to the screen, and, turning to me, said, "You know, this would make excellent blackmail material."

"That's why I'm taping it on the other set," I replied, and he high-fived me.

Just before midnight, I went out to the kitchen to open a bottle of champagne for our New Year's toast while Greg continued to watch the TV. When I was in there, I nervously fingered the small black box that I had been hiding in my pocket all evening, wondering, Is this such a good idea? What if he doesn't want this?

As I was still considering this, I heard Greg calling from the living room, "Come on, you're going to miss it," and, shoving the box back in my pocket, I picked up the bottle and two glasses and brought them out with me as I went back to him.

At the stroke of midnight, as the ball started to drop, and we heard noisemakers and fireworks begin to go off outside, Greg leaned in to kiss me, but I jumped off the couch, saying, "Wait. There's something I want to do first."

Looking bewildered, Greg asked, "Now? What about our midnight kiss?"

Smiling at his impatience, I said, "Believe me, we'll get to that. But first, I just wanted to say that...well, we've been together for a year and a half now, and...I know we've been through some rough spots, but, still, I wouldn't trade what we have for anything and... shit, this is harder than I thought it was going to be..." I broke off, feeling tongue-tied and stupid as Greg continued to look at me in confusion. Deciding to just get right to it, I took out the box, showed it to him, and continued, "I realize we can't do this legally yet, but..." I then got down on one knee, and said to my now quite startled lover, "Greg Olaf Sanders, will you do me the honor of being my...um...spouse...or partner or significant other, or whatever you want to call yourself?" I opened the box, revealing a pair of matching silver bands.

Suddenly looking a little choked up, Greg managed to get out, "I will."

As the fireworks were still going off, I got back up, pulled him close to me, and we gave each other a long, deep kiss. We then put the rings on each other's left hand ring finger, kissed again, then sank back down onto the couch, the TV long forgotten.

Later, as he lay next to me, looking down at the ring on his hand, Greg commented, "No offense, but this is a little more conservative than my usual style. I was really kind of hoping for a navel ring, or maybe even one for my nipple..."

With a grin, I said, "I was planning on saving that for our anniversary."