Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:Miami or any of it's characters. Author's note: Just a fun H/Y fic I had the idea to write. What would it take to make H make the first move? Maybe his entire team. Sorry it's really long but I intend it to be a oneshot. Setting: The fourth of July! Takes place some time after 'Burned', oh and Ryan isn't fired. Horatio stepped out of his Hummer and carefully removed the bottle of wine, which was nestled carefully in the passenger seat. He closed the door to the Hummer and walked slowly across the well manicured lawn. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a white polo, he had changed before coming here from work. Even Horatio wasn't about to attend a barbeque in the Miami heat in his trademark suit he wore for work. He could smell the aroma of barbequed food coming from the back. With his index finger he rang the doorbell. The door was answered rather quickly, just as Horatio was removing his sungalsses. "You're late." Alexx Woods and ME for Horatio's team, said as she regarded him. "Yeah, sorry, Wanted to finish up some paperwork at the lab." He handed Alexx the bottle of wine. "Thanks. We can save this for later." She ushered Horatio into the house. He glanced around. It had been a couple of years since he'd been here, the last time Dr Woods decided to open her house to a party of sorts. The place still looked like he remembered it. He marvelled at how she kept such a neat house despite her long hours at the lab. Various lab techs and orderlies from the ME's office mingled around, many nursing cold beers in their hands. It was the fourth of July and Alexx had again decided to throw a party of some sort. The people present seemed intent on having a good time, they all knew there would be a spate of crimes to investigate soon, a phenomenon that always occured after that particular day. Usually after the fireworks. "Most of the guys are out back. Go grab yourself something to eat." Alexx said indicating the door to the backyard. "Thanks." Alexx returned to being preoccupied with being a good host to her guests, leaving Horatio to make his way to the back. He stood at the doorway, his eyes searching for the one person he wanted to see. He knew she'd be here. She had confirmed her attendance a couple of days ago, when he had dropped by for a meal, not simply stopping by to take Ray Jr to a basketball game. Something he made a point of doing since she had so bluntly pointed out that she had not since much of him since her return to Miami. His eyes found her, she was standing by a picnic table, stabbing at the salad on her plate with a fork. Clad in tight-fitting jeans and a sleevless top which clung to her body, she was quite a sight, and Horatio had to take a breath to try slow his racing heart. She always had that effect on him. Horatio was about to take a step towards the beautiful Latina when Ryan Wolfe appeared in front of him. "Mr Wolfe." Horatio greeted his CSI. "Horatio, I was wondering if I could ask a favor?" "Sure." "My uncle Ron, there's this lady he's seeing, she been acting kinda strange lately, and he asked if I knew anyone who could, you know help him keep tabs on her, she what's she's up to. I thought of Yelina, since she's doing P.I work now. But I'm not sure if she's too busy or if doing this is the kind of P.I work she'd do." Ryan paused and Horatio wanted to reply that Ryan should ask Yelina himself, but the young CSI continued before Horatio had a chance to answer. "I was wondering if you could ask her for me. If I asked her she might feel obliged to say yes, but if you asked for me, if she's too busy she could tell you... there's no hurry. You should enjoy the barbeque first. Maybe tonight when you guys get home, before you both go to bed or something." Horatio raised his eyesbrows, and pondered what Ryan had implied. Surely he didn't think Yelina and him were together? Horatio had to clear the misunderstanding. "Ryan," Horatio used his first name, something he didn't do often, "Yelina and I aren't seeing each other." Ryan looked embaressed. "Oh, I thought... cos the way you were looking at her, sorry. Forget I asked. I'll ask her myself later when I get the chance." He scurried off afraid that he might have incurred the wrath of his boss. It took a moment for Horatio to gather his wits again, wondering what all that had went on with Ryan was about. He once again made his way across the yard to Yelina. "Hi." Horatio smiled shyly to her. "Hey, thought you were going to make it." Yelina teased. "Not a chance." Horatio grinned. He shifted his weight, slightly uncomforatble. He remembered that people were already thinkning they were an item, so he thought he had better keep his distance from her. "Where's Ray Jr tonight?" He enquired, their usual ice-breaker was to talk about the one thing both had in common, their love and concern for the teen. "He's staying the night with a classmate." Yelina replied. Horatio nodded. "Food smells great." He commented. "Calleigh's attacking that grill with a vengence." Yelina smiled. "Go get me a burger would you?" Horatio thought her smile could melt an iceberg, he certainly felt like he was about to melt and it wasn't from the late afternoon sun. "Sure." Horatio would do anything for her. And was grateful for the chance to get some distance from her. Being so close to her made it a tad difficult to breathe. He walked to the grill and ordered two burger patties from the chef, his ballitics expert. She flipped the burgers as if she did that for a living. "So when are you going to finally ask Yelina out?" Calleigh asked as they waited for the burgers to cook. What was it with this topic today, Horatio wondered. He gave a polite chuckle and bowed his head. "It's been a year since both your spouses passed, I think you both have had enough time to get over it. And besides you two have always had the hots for each other." Horatio had always known that the rest of the lab might had known about the secret torch he carried for his sister-in-law, but he wasn't sure why it was becoming such open knowledge or why everyone was talking to him so freely about it now. "She still has feelings for you." Calleigh said, dropping the burger onto the plate Horatio was holding out. "I can tell." Horatio said nothing, simply thanked Calleigh for the food. He walked back to Yelina who was now talking to Frank Tripp. Frank saw Horatio approach and he excused himself before Horatio could react. He handed Yelina a plate. She bit into the burger, nodding her head to indicate it tasted good. She held out the burger to Horatio, "You should try it." "Um, no thanks." Horatio declined. "You should eat something you're getting too skinny for your own good. Too many take out dinners, you need someone to cook you a proper dinner everyday." Yelina said, still holding out the burger she had tasted. Horatio blinked. What was Yelina implying? He felt nervous again. "It's not poison." Yelina laughed. "You don't hesitate to try my cooking." Horatio smiled. He took a bite from the burger, which was still in her hand. He could imagine what the people around them were assuming, with her feeding him like that. She handed Horatio the shared burger which was still half-eaten on the plate. "I'll go get us beers." Horatio stood alone for a brief moment before he was joined by Eric Delko. Eric helped himself to a generous portion of veggies which was on the picnic table beside Horatio. "I'm happy for you H." Eric said, turning to look at his boss. "What?" "You and Yelina. You two finally got together." Eric replied. Not again, Horatio thought. "Eric, Yelina and I aren't - " Eric smiled. "H, it's ok. You made my sister happy, but she's gone now. It's really ok, for you to be with Yelina." Horatio shook his head. "Eric, Yelina and I aren't seeing each other." It was a sentence he had repeated twice that day already. Eric seemed unconvinced. Horatio stared Eric in the eyes and reiterated himself. "Really. We aren't." "Really?" Eric asked, seemingly surprised. "Cos I saw you guys sharing that burger, I thought... sorry, my bad. But you know, you guys should." He smiled and left as Yelina returned, handing Horatio a cold beer. A comfortable silence fell between them, as they stood facing each other. The sun was beginning to set, and everything seemed enveloped in an orange glow. Horatio took a drink from the beer bottle. Yelina did the same. Horatio watched as she drank. He wanted so badly to kiss those lips, he watched as she swollowed, the action seemed to acentuate her delicate neck and he wished he could be planting soft kisses on it. He just knew her skin would taste heavenly. He could just imagine himself doing that, on this warm evening. He wasn't sure why he was allowing himself such thoughts. Just then two of the Woods children ran past, one intent on chasing down the other. They collided with the picnic table, sending the plates of food sliding towards the ground. Horatio caught the table with one hand, Yelina did the same, and for a brief moment their hands brushed. She placed her beer bottle on the table and with her other hand steadied the table. Horatio too placed his beer bottle down, his heart was racing but not because he was worried about the food falling to the ground. "Thank goodness you guys caught it." Alexx said, hurring to the commotion. "One of the screws on the legs came loose." She pointed to the table leg. "I'll go get a screwdriver." Alexx hurried into the house. Horatio smiled. "Nice catch. You saved dinner." Yelina laughed. She looked at Horatio for a moment, then her eyes travelled down towards the ground. "You're getting wet." Was she flirting with him? Did she read his thoughts just before the picnic table came crashing down? He felt warmth rush to his face and himself turning red, he mentally kicked himself for allowing such thoughts about Yelina. Surely he didn't fantasize about her that much to lose control? But he was feeling damp at his thigh. Horatio glanced down, and realised his beer bottle had tipped over, and the beer had splashed itself stratigically onto his groin and was running down one leg of his jeans. Alexx retuned with a screwdriver. She noticed the wet stain on Horatio's jeans and laughed. "Did I interupt something?" Horatio turned even redder, but fortunately Yelina caught on to Alexx's teasing. "You wish." she replied. Alexx laughed. The two women seemed to derive fun out of making Horatio's face turn as red as his hair. "Let's, ah, let's fix the table shall we?" he managed, and Alexx laughed and winked at Yelina before squatting down to fix the loose table leg. After she was done Alexx offered to let Horatio use her bathroom to wash and dry off the stain. Horatio was more than grateful. The evening passed without much more event, and Horatio relaxed, enjoying the food and company of his friends. He spotted Frank alone by the fence staring at the night sky. "Not joing the fun and games inside?" "Naw." Frank replied in his Texan drawl. "We used to spend the fourth of July out by the beach, watch fireworks." Horatio knew Frank was refering to his ex-wife. The detective continued. "I loved her. Despite what she did to me, I wish back then we could have worked things out. It's too late now." That night Horatio drove Yelina home. The events of the evening, and words from his co-workers ran through his mind, and they drove in silence. He walked Yelina to her door. "So you're still coming over for dinner next week?" Yelina asked turning to face him. "Yup." Horatio gave her a grin. "I had a good time. I wasn't sure if I'd fit in again, but everyone acted like I hadn't left." Yelina said, smilling. "That's good." Horatio smiled, playing with his fingertips nervously. He cocked his head to one side and smiled, looking into her large hazel eyes. He could tell she was wondering why he was staring. "What?" She asked. Horatio's heart was pounding in his chest. He was sure she could hear it. He leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her lips. It was light, but it felt exliarating. He stood back waiting for her reaction. Yelina licked her lips ever so slightly. No doubt the kiss had caught her off guard. She bowed her head shyly. "Why?" She whisphered, just loud enough for Horatio to hear. "I've always wanted to do that. I just never got the courage to." He smiled still shy, still unsure if he did anything to disturb the comfortable friendship they had gotten back. It was too late too look back now. "Yelina," they locked eyes, and both mirrored the depth of emotion they were feeling. "I love you, always have." It seemed like an eternity for Horatio, but she finally smiled and replied, "I've always loved you too. What made you decied to do this now?" Horatio thought for a moment. It had seemed like his entired team had conspired to say or do things to cause him to re-look his life and relationship and what he wanted with Yelina. Maybe it was coincidental, maybe it had been cleverly plotted by them, he would never know. "It was a team effort." Yelina smiled, not really comprehanding but it didn't matter. She leaned into him, this time throwing her arms round his neck and reciprocating the kiss he gave her, only their kiss was deep and long, filled with passion. He wrapped his arms round her waist, holding her close to him. Slightly out of breath Horatio smiled as they broke for air. "Wow." Yelina laughed her deep laugh. "Wanna come in for coffee?" "Coffee and more?" Horatio grinned, feeling giddy like a schoolboy who had finally got to kiss his crush. "Maybe, if you're good." Yelina teased. She turned to unlocked the door to her house, unlocking their future together as one. ------------- THE END ------------
Wow indeed! Wonderful job, as always, Hrockz. I love the concept, the way it was written, and everything about it. Amazing.
HROCKZ .... ROCKZ!!!! I'm still amaze on your view toward love, you can make different stories with different plots and different aproches to love (some of them simple others complecated) and all of them making my heart sight. You should be a writer to CSI MIAMI. Continue amazing us PLEASE!
Loved this! Why haven't found it sooner? :lol: Anyway, this was really funny and charming! Great fic Hrockz!