G
Guest
Guest
Crush
“Lindsay! Could you get the door please? Greg’s here!” Catherine shouted from her bedroom, and Lindsay was up from the couch within seconds.
“Mom! You didn’t tell me he was coming over!” She yelled, running down the hallway.
“Yes I did, I said that he was coming over to go over some of the details of the Halloway case, remember? I told you yesterday morning.”
Lindsay sighed dramatically. “Can I borrow your make up?”
“Lindsay, I said no makeup until you’re sixteen.”
“Mom, please!”
Catherine returned the sigh, and turned around to pick up the file that lay on her nightstand. “Fine, but go answer the door first, I…”
But Lindsay was already in the bathroom, rummaging through Catherine’s makeup bag.
When Catherine finally got to the door, Greg was leaning against the wall, counting the number of butterflies hovering over Catherine’s trellis.
“Come on in, Greg. I told Lindsay to answer the door, but she insisted on…” Catherine was cut off by her daughter, who had changed from normal teenager to stage dancer within minutes. Her face was covered in mascara, eyeliner, blush, and lip gloss, and she was wearing jeans with a shirt that showed just a bit too much of her mid-section. “Lindsay, what are you…?”
“Come on, Greg, I want to show you something!” Lindsay announced, grabbing Greg by the arm and pulling him down the hallway. He glanced back at Catherine who gave him a lopsided smile. He was in for oh-so-much more than he bargained for.
“Have a seat.” Lindsay said to Greg, motioning to her bed.
Greg bent to sit but then stood upright immediately. “N-no, I’m good, I’ll stand.”
“Whatever you want.” She said, and sat down in her desk chair. “Mom got me a new computer for school, and I got Space Invasion Four.”
“Whoa, wait a minute… you have Space Invaders FOUR?” Greg shrieked, as he hurried over to her computer and watched as the life-like aliens floated across the screen. “I mean, uh… can I play?”
“Sure!” She let him sit in the chair and watched as he killed about fifty purple glob-like things. “Your nose twitches when you’re concentrating.”
He continued to use the light ray, completely distracted. “I… what… now?”
“Nothing, nothing…”
Oh, this was working all too well.
When Greg finally ran out of lives, he got up from the chair and made a move for the door. “It’s been fun, Linds, but I have to go help your mom with the case.”
She pouted. “But can’t you stay for just a… little bit longer?”
Greg glanced from the door, to Lindsay, and back again. “I, I… guess so.”
Lindsay became immediately happy, and patted the bed for him to sit.
“I think I’d rather just stand here and look at your, uh…” He motioned toward a poster on the wall. Johnny Depp. “Uhm, sure, sitting sounds fine.”
It was quiet for a moment, as he sat down on the very, very, very edge of her bed.
“Want to see my report card? I got an A in biology.”
“Really? That’s awesome.”
The previous awkwardness forgotten, Lindsay pulled a piece of paper out from under her pillow and handed it to him.
“Oh, says here that you have an A in French, too.”
Lindsay smiled mischievously, which was lost on Greg, who continued to read her report card.
“Yes… I’m very good at French.”
“Hmm… you have a C in Geometry.”
“Yeah… I hate math.”
“Really? I like it. And it helps you with science, y’know. Hey, you know what?” He said, turning to face her. “Maybe I could tutor you in math. For free, of course.”
“That would be great!” Lindsay exclaimed, catching Greg off-guard. “I mean… sure, thanks.”
Catherine entered Lindsay’s room, and Greg stood immediately. “Sorry, Cath, she wanted to show me this game she got, and then her report card and I kind of lost track of time.”
She smiled. “That’s okay Greg. I don’t really feel like going over our notes right now anyway. Want me to make some sandwiches?”
“Sure.” Lindsay and Greg chimed in unison.
Catherine laughed, and turned to leave. “Two turkey sandwiches, coming right up.”
“So…” Lindsay trailed off as her mom left to make lunch. “Wanna play a game?”
“What kind of game?” Greg asked, sitting back down and playing with the fringe on the edge of her bed.
“Truth Or Dare?” She asked hopefully, and bit her lip.
“I don’t know, Linds, last time I played that I ended up…” Greg remembered how drunk he had gotten last time, and that dress that Warrick and Nick put him in wasn’t exactly his color. “Never mind, it’s just not a good game to play.”
“Fine… if you’re chicken.”
“Hey, I’m not chicken. Alright, alright, we’ll play. But I get to go first.”
This suited her. “Fine. Go ahead.” She crossed her legs and sat indian-style on the bed, pushing her hair behind her and getting her game face on.
“Truth or dare?”
Lindsay thought to herself, dare might not be such a good idea. She didn’t want to have to do something stupid in front of Greg like lick the wall or something. And if she picked truth, if it came down to it, she could lie.
“Truth.”
“Hmm.” Greg rubbed his hands together menacingly. “Have you ever done anything bad that your mom never found out about?”
Lindsay grimaced. Of course she had.
“I, uh… no, no, I haven’t.”
Greg smiled at her, punching her in the arm playfully. “Of course you have… c’mon, that’s the game. You have to tell the truth.”
She sighed. “Okay, well, one time, I… but you can’t tell my mom, okay?”
Greg nodded. “Promise.”
“One time, my mom and I were having a fight, and I kinda snuck out of the house. It was late, and she had the day off, and we were both getting on each other’s nerves. She went to bed and told me to do the same, but I didn’t. I missed my dad, so I… I took some of my mom’s money so I could take a bus down to the place where he was buried. I sat there next to his grave, and I cried for a really long time. When I finally left, I didn’t have enough money to get back, so I hitched a ride. When I got home, I thought I was going to get the worst punishment of my life. But mom was fast asleep…” By this time, shimmering paths of tears had worked their way down Lindsay’s cheeks.
“Aw, honey, come here… I’m sorry, we don’t have to play anymore.” Greg scooted closer to her and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back gently. “Shh, it’s okay.”
Her cheeks reddened at his touch, but he didn’t notice. He just continued to hug her until she finally sat up and wiped her eyes on her blanket. “I’m okay. Thanks Greg.”
“Anytime.” He smiled at her, and squeezed her shoulder.
“Could we, maybe… still play the game?” She asked, sniffling.
“I… guess so. Sure. It’s your turn.”
“Truth or dare?”
“I think I’m going to stay away from your dares.” He said, laughing.
She thought for a moment, toying with her hair. “Do you like anybody? At work? With brown hair?”
Greg laughed. “That’s a pretty specific question.” Lindsay merely shrugged, motioning for him to answer. “Well, I… maybe… yes? But you can’t tell her, okay?”
Lindsay figured that if a heart was able to crack, hers was having less luck than Humpty Dumpty. But none of the king’s horses and none of the king’s men could change the fact that she could never compete with Sara.
“I see.” She said dejectedly, leaning against the wall behind her bed. Greg didn’t notice her displeasure, however, because he was busy looking at the box of “Space Invaders Four”.
“It’s my turn.” He said, smiling devilishly. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
Greg didn’t even have to think before asking, it was time for a little payback. “Do you like anybody?”
They were cut off by Catherine, carrying two plates of sandwiches and chips. Greg stood and accepted his plate gratefully, and she handed Lindsay hers.
“Thanks.”
“No problem guys, now, I have to run to the store for a minute. Can you keep an eye on Lindsay, Greg?”
Greg nodded, a mouth full of sandwich.
“Mom, I don’t need to be babysat.”
Catherine merely smiled, and thanked Greg for his help.
On the way out the door, Catherine added, “Lindsay, do you need tampons while I’m there?”
Greg tried not to choke on his food as Lindsay emitted an ear-shattering scream, accompanied with running into her bathroom and slamming the door.
“Honey, honey… I’m sorry!” Catherine yelled through the door. Lindsay didn’t respond, but Catherine was pretty sure she heard the click of an iPod and then a burst of residual noise due to the device being at top volume. “Fine, fine.”
Greg swallowed his bite of sandwich, and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll be here.”
Catherine smiled appreciatively and left.
Greg took Lindsay’s plate and tried to slide it under the door, but the crack was too small. So he sat down on the carpet and leaned against the wall, deciding to wait it out. “Lindsay, please come out.”
“No!” She yelled. Greg decided that after this little visit, he may need to ask Grissom for his ear specialist’s card.
“Come on, it’s not that bad. One time, my mom asked me if I wanted to wear my airplane pajamas or my train pajamas when my friends were in the room. Now that was embarrassing.”
“No it’s not.” She whined, and he heard her click the iPod off.
“I was twenty.”
Lindsay laughed. “Yeah, that’s pretty embarrassing.”
“And it doesn’t matter anyway Linds, I’m just Uncle Greg. And I have a sister, I know what those things are, believe it or not.” Lindsay laughed again, and opened the door a crack. She was sitting against the bathtub, wiping away tears that Greg didn’t see. “And hey, we never finished our game.” He added, getting up and then taking a seat next to her on the tiled floor. “I believe I asked you a question.”
Lindsay looked at him, and then looked away, embarrassed. “I don’t wanna say.”
“Linds, come on. I heard your mom say tampon. I’m pretty sure that anything you tell me isn’t going to top that.”
“Mmgrrebb.” She mumbled into her hand, looking away.
“I didn’t hear you…” He said, in a singsong voice. “Come on, just tell me.”
“Mmgrebb.” She repeated, the name muffled, and Greg began to grow impatient.
“Lindsay Willows, don’t make me tickle you.”
Her eyes got wide. Oh, no. She was more ticklish than anyone she’d ever met in her entire life.
“No, no!” She shrieked, her voice echoing in the small room as Greg tackled her to the floor, tickling her sides.
“Tell me! Tell me!” He repeated, and she laughed until she couldn’t breathe.
“No!”
Somehow, in between the ragged breaths and the excessively loud screaming, Lindsay bumped her head on the cabinet door.
Greg immediately stopped his tickle-attack and helped her sit up, as blood trickled from a wound near her temple.
“Lindsay, I’m so sorry… does it hurt?”
“Ow… not… ow… really.” She said, wincing. Greg rummaged through the medicine cabinet, finally finding a band aid, and undid the paper. “What… what are you doing?”
“I’m going to do what us law-enforcement people call ‘dress the wound’… if you don’t mind.” He said, kneeling down. Greg gently applied the band aid to the wound, and smiled at her as she winced. “There, all better.”
“It… it still hurts, Greg.”
“I’m sorry…” He said, and bent over, kissing her on the forehead. “There, that better?”
Her cheeks flushed an insane shade of red and she looked away. “Mhm, much better… thanks.”
“You don’t have to tell me who you like if you don’t want.”
“Thanks, Greg.” She said, holding a hand to her head.
“It’s Warrick, isn’t it?” He asked childishly, an added in a whisper, “I won’t tell.”
“It’s not Warrick.”
“Is it someone at your school?”
She shook her head no, so lightly that he almost missed it. “I’m not gonna tell.”
“Is it Nick?”
Lindsay shook her head no, again. “I, uhm, well… I used to think he was kind of cute but that whole moustache thing kind of ruined it…”
Greg grinned. “Yeah, that was one hideous moustache.” The both laughed, followed by a long silence. “So it’s not Warrick, not someone from your school, and not Nick, who is it? Don’t tell me it’s…” He lowered his voice. “…Grissom?”
“Blech, no!” Lindsay exclaimed, causing Greg to laugh. “Dude, he’s like a hundred.”
“Come on, give him some credit. He’s only fifty… I think.”
Lindsay tilted her head to one side. “Still.”
“You’re right. So… are you going to tell me?”
Lindsay shook her head no, but when she looked back at Greg, he was making his famous puppy-dog face. “Pwease?”
“Buh… I don’t wanna.”
“Pweease?” His bottom lip was outstretched, causing his cheeks to dimple, and his hair had grown just long enough so that it was just hanging over his eyes. Lindsay couldn’t take it anymore- he was in her room (okay, her bathroom), tickling her, and kissing her forehead. She leaned up and kissed him directly on the mouth, momentarily stunning him. He scrambled backwards so fast that he barely had time to comprehend what had just happened. “L-Linds?”
“I like you, okay? You.”
He stared at her for a few moments, before he regained his composure. “Y-y-you, you can’t kiss me, Lindsay, you’re not even sixteen!”
She brought her knees to her chest, bowing her head. “I’m sorry, I just like you, is all.”
He dared to scoot closer, and almost put a hand on her shoulder, but let it fall to the ground instead. “It’s okay, I know what it’s like to have a crush, Lindsay. You’ll get over it.”
“But what if I don’t?” She asked, and looked up at him.
He smiled at her. “You will, I promise.”
“You haven’t gotten over your crush on Sara.”
Standing up and offering her a hand, he pulled her up with him and they stood there in her bathroom. “But honey- Lindsay- she’s an adult.”
“I know…”
Greg pulled her into a hug and she squeezed him tight, not wanting to let go. When he finally broke the hug, they heard Catherine’s car pull into the driveway.
“Don’t tell your mom about the… y’know…” Greg said, in a somewhat pleading tone.
“I wont. Promise.”
They both sprinted for her bed, and when Catherine finally walked in, Lindsay was eating her lunch and Greg was telling her a story about this one time that he got human soup in his mouth when he was working a case with Sara. Lindsay was nodding along, wide-eyed, chewing her chips.
“I see things are back to normal.”
Lindsay and Greg both nodded. “Just telling Lindsay a few of my stories.”
“Okay, well I’m going to go put away the ice. Have fun, guys. And Greg? We can work on the case another day, if that’s okay. I’m beat.”
“That’s fine.” Greg said, bumming a small handful of chips from Lindsay.
Catherine smiled and left the room.
Lindsay swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of her Snapple. “I can’t believe I kissed you after you got human soup in your mouth!”
“Shh, shh, not so loud!” Greg shot back, trying not to laugh.
“Oh well.” Lindsay said, reaching for another piece of her sandwich. “It was worth it.”
The End
“Lindsay! Could you get the door please? Greg’s here!” Catherine shouted from her bedroom, and Lindsay was up from the couch within seconds.
“Mom! You didn’t tell me he was coming over!” She yelled, running down the hallway.
“Yes I did, I said that he was coming over to go over some of the details of the Halloway case, remember? I told you yesterday morning.”
Lindsay sighed dramatically. “Can I borrow your make up?”
“Lindsay, I said no makeup until you’re sixteen.”
“Mom, please!”
Catherine returned the sigh, and turned around to pick up the file that lay on her nightstand. “Fine, but go answer the door first, I…”
But Lindsay was already in the bathroom, rummaging through Catherine’s makeup bag.
When Catherine finally got to the door, Greg was leaning against the wall, counting the number of butterflies hovering over Catherine’s trellis.
“Come on in, Greg. I told Lindsay to answer the door, but she insisted on…” Catherine was cut off by her daughter, who had changed from normal teenager to stage dancer within minutes. Her face was covered in mascara, eyeliner, blush, and lip gloss, and she was wearing jeans with a shirt that showed just a bit too much of her mid-section. “Lindsay, what are you…?”
“Come on, Greg, I want to show you something!” Lindsay announced, grabbing Greg by the arm and pulling him down the hallway. He glanced back at Catherine who gave him a lopsided smile. He was in for oh-so-much more than he bargained for.
“Have a seat.” Lindsay said to Greg, motioning to her bed.
Greg bent to sit but then stood upright immediately. “N-no, I’m good, I’ll stand.”
“Whatever you want.” She said, and sat down in her desk chair. “Mom got me a new computer for school, and I got Space Invasion Four.”
“Whoa, wait a minute… you have Space Invaders FOUR?” Greg shrieked, as he hurried over to her computer and watched as the life-like aliens floated across the screen. “I mean, uh… can I play?”
“Sure!” She let him sit in the chair and watched as he killed about fifty purple glob-like things. “Your nose twitches when you’re concentrating.”
He continued to use the light ray, completely distracted. “I… what… now?”
“Nothing, nothing…”
Oh, this was working all too well.
When Greg finally ran out of lives, he got up from the chair and made a move for the door. “It’s been fun, Linds, but I have to go help your mom with the case.”
She pouted. “But can’t you stay for just a… little bit longer?”
Greg glanced from the door, to Lindsay, and back again. “I, I… guess so.”
Lindsay became immediately happy, and patted the bed for him to sit.
“I think I’d rather just stand here and look at your, uh…” He motioned toward a poster on the wall. Johnny Depp. “Uhm, sure, sitting sounds fine.”
It was quiet for a moment, as he sat down on the very, very, very edge of her bed.
“Want to see my report card? I got an A in biology.”
“Really? That’s awesome.”
The previous awkwardness forgotten, Lindsay pulled a piece of paper out from under her pillow and handed it to him.
“Oh, says here that you have an A in French, too.”
Lindsay smiled mischievously, which was lost on Greg, who continued to read her report card.
“Yes… I’m very good at French.”
“Hmm… you have a C in Geometry.”
“Yeah… I hate math.”
“Really? I like it. And it helps you with science, y’know. Hey, you know what?” He said, turning to face her. “Maybe I could tutor you in math. For free, of course.”
“That would be great!” Lindsay exclaimed, catching Greg off-guard. “I mean… sure, thanks.”
Catherine entered Lindsay’s room, and Greg stood immediately. “Sorry, Cath, she wanted to show me this game she got, and then her report card and I kind of lost track of time.”
She smiled. “That’s okay Greg. I don’t really feel like going over our notes right now anyway. Want me to make some sandwiches?”
“Sure.” Lindsay and Greg chimed in unison.
Catherine laughed, and turned to leave. “Two turkey sandwiches, coming right up.”
“So…” Lindsay trailed off as her mom left to make lunch. “Wanna play a game?”
“What kind of game?” Greg asked, sitting back down and playing with the fringe on the edge of her bed.
“Truth Or Dare?” She asked hopefully, and bit her lip.
“I don’t know, Linds, last time I played that I ended up…” Greg remembered how drunk he had gotten last time, and that dress that Warrick and Nick put him in wasn’t exactly his color. “Never mind, it’s just not a good game to play.”
“Fine… if you’re chicken.”
“Hey, I’m not chicken. Alright, alright, we’ll play. But I get to go first.”
This suited her. “Fine. Go ahead.” She crossed her legs and sat indian-style on the bed, pushing her hair behind her and getting her game face on.
“Truth or dare?”
Lindsay thought to herself, dare might not be such a good idea. She didn’t want to have to do something stupid in front of Greg like lick the wall or something. And if she picked truth, if it came down to it, she could lie.
“Truth.”
“Hmm.” Greg rubbed his hands together menacingly. “Have you ever done anything bad that your mom never found out about?”
Lindsay grimaced. Of course she had.
“I, uh… no, no, I haven’t.”
Greg smiled at her, punching her in the arm playfully. “Of course you have… c’mon, that’s the game. You have to tell the truth.”
She sighed. “Okay, well, one time, I… but you can’t tell my mom, okay?”
Greg nodded. “Promise.”
“One time, my mom and I were having a fight, and I kinda snuck out of the house. It was late, and she had the day off, and we were both getting on each other’s nerves. She went to bed and told me to do the same, but I didn’t. I missed my dad, so I… I took some of my mom’s money so I could take a bus down to the place where he was buried. I sat there next to his grave, and I cried for a really long time. When I finally left, I didn’t have enough money to get back, so I hitched a ride. When I got home, I thought I was going to get the worst punishment of my life. But mom was fast asleep…” By this time, shimmering paths of tears had worked their way down Lindsay’s cheeks.
“Aw, honey, come here… I’m sorry, we don’t have to play anymore.” Greg scooted closer to her and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back gently. “Shh, it’s okay.”
Her cheeks reddened at his touch, but he didn’t notice. He just continued to hug her until she finally sat up and wiped her eyes on her blanket. “I’m okay. Thanks Greg.”
“Anytime.” He smiled at her, and squeezed her shoulder.
“Could we, maybe… still play the game?” She asked, sniffling.
“I… guess so. Sure. It’s your turn.”
“Truth or dare?”
“I think I’m going to stay away from your dares.” He said, laughing.
She thought for a moment, toying with her hair. “Do you like anybody? At work? With brown hair?”
Greg laughed. “That’s a pretty specific question.” Lindsay merely shrugged, motioning for him to answer. “Well, I… maybe… yes? But you can’t tell her, okay?”
Lindsay figured that if a heart was able to crack, hers was having less luck than Humpty Dumpty. But none of the king’s horses and none of the king’s men could change the fact that she could never compete with Sara.
“I see.” She said dejectedly, leaning against the wall behind her bed. Greg didn’t notice her displeasure, however, because he was busy looking at the box of “Space Invaders Four”.
“It’s my turn.” He said, smiling devilishly. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
Greg didn’t even have to think before asking, it was time for a little payback. “Do you like anybody?”
They were cut off by Catherine, carrying two plates of sandwiches and chips. Greg stood and accepted his plate gratefully, and she handed Lindsay hers.
“Thanks.”
“No problem guys, now, I have to run to the store for a minute. Can you keep an eye on Lindsay, Greg?”
Greg nodded, a mouth full of sandwich.
“Mom, I don’t need to be babysat.”
Catherine merely smiled, and thanked Greg for his help.
On the way out the door, Catherine added, “Lindsay, do you need tampons while I’m there?”
Greg tried not to choke on his food as Lindsay emitted an ear-shattering scream, accompanied with running into her bathroom and slamming the door.
“Honey, honey… I’m sorry!” Catherine yelled through the door. Lindsay didn’t respond, but Catherine was pretty sure she heard the click of an iPod and then a burst of residual noise due to the device being at top volume. “Fine, fine.”
Greg swallowed his bite of sandwich, and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll be here.”
Catherine smiled appreciatively and left.
Greg took Lindsay’s plate and tried to slide it under the door, but the crack was too small. So he sat down on the carpet and leaned against the wall, deciding to wait it out. “Lindsay, please come out.”
“No!” She yelled. Greg decided that after this little visit, he may need to ask Grissom for his ear specialist’s card.
“Come on, it’s not that bad. One time, my mom asked me if I wanted to wear my airplane pajamas or my train pajamas when my friends were in the room. Now that was embarrassing.”
“No it’s not.” She whined, and he heard her click the iPod off.
“I was twenty.”
Lindsay laughed. “Yeah, that’s pretty embarrassing.”
“And it doesn’t matter anyway Linds, I’m just Uncle Greg. And I have a sister, I know what those things are, believe it or not.” Lindsay laughed again, and opened the door a crack. She was sitting against the bathtub, wiping away tears that Greg didn’t see. “And hey, we never finished our game.” He added, getting up and then taking a seat next to her on the tiled floor. “I believe I asked you a question.”
Lindsay looked at him, and then looked away, embarrassed. “I don’t wanna say.”
“Linds, come on. I heard your mom say tampon. I’m pretty sure that anything you tell me isn’t going to top that.”
“Mmgrrebb.” She mumbled into her hand, looking away.
“I didn’t hear you…” He said, in a singsong voice. “Come on, just tell me.”
“Mmgrebb.” She repeated, the name muffled, and Greg began to grow impatient.
“Lindsay Willows, don’t make me tickle you.”
Her eyes got wide. Oh, no. She was more ticklish than anyone she’d ever met in her entire life.
“No, no!” She shrieked, her voice echoing in the small room as Greg tackled her to the floor, tickling her sides.
“Tell me! Tell me!” He repeated, and she laughed until she couldn’t breathe.
“No!”
Somehow, in between the ragged breaths and the excessively loud screaming, Lindsay bumped her head on the cabinet door.
Greg immediately stopped his tickle-attack and helped her sit up, as blood trickled from a wound near her temple.
“Lindsay, I’m so sorry… does it hurt?”
“Ow… not… ow… really.” She said, wincing. Greg rummaged through the medicine cabinet, finally finding a band aid, and undid the paper. “What… what are you doing?”
“I’m going to do what us law-enforcement people call ‘dress the wound’… if you don’t mind.” He said, kneeling down. Greg gently applied the band aid to the wound, and smiled at her as she winced. “There, all better.”
“It… it still hurts, Greg.”
“I’m sorry…” He said, and bent over, kissing her on the forehead. “There, that better?”
Her cheeks flushed an insane shade of red and she looked away. “Mhm, much better… thanks.”
“You don’t have to tell me who you like if you don’t want.”
“Thanks, Greg.” She said, holding a hand to her head.
“It’s Warrick, isn’t it?” He asked childishly, an added in a whisper, “I won’t tell.”
“It’s not Warrick.”
“Is it someone at your school?”
She shook her head no, so lightly that he almost missed it. “I’m not gonna tell.”
“Is it Nick?”
Lindsay shook her head no, again. “I, uhm, well… I used to think he was kind of cute but that whole moustache thing kind of ruined it…”
Greg grinned. “Yeah, that was one hideous moustache.” The both laughed, followed by a long silence. “So it’s not Warrick, not someone from your school, and not Nick, who is it? Don’t tell me it’s…” He lowered his voice. “…Grissom?”
“Blech, no!” Lindsay exclaimed, causing Greg to laugh. “Dude, he’s like a hundred.”
“Come on, give him some credit. He’s only fifty… I think.”
Lindsay tilted her head to one side. “Still.”
“You’re right. So… are you going to tell me?”
Lindsay shook her head no, but when she looked back at Greg, he was making his famous puppy-dog face. “Pwease?”
“Buh… I don’t wanna.”
“Pweease?” His bottom lip was outstretched, causing his cheeks to dimple, and his hair had grown just long enough so that it was just hanging over his eyes. Lindsay couldn’t take it anymore- he was in her room (okay, her bathroom), tickling her, and kissing her forehead. She leaned up and kissed him directly on the mouth, momentarily stunning him. He scrambled backwards so fast that he barely had time to comprehend what had just happened. “L-Linds?”
“I like you, okay? You.”
He stared at her for a few moments, before he regained his composure. “Y-y-you, you can’t kiss me, Lindsay, you’re not even sixteen!”
She brought her knees to her chest, bowing her head. “I’m sorry, I just like you, is all.”
He dared to scoot closer, and almost put a hand on her shoulder, but let it fall to the ground instead. “It’s okay, I know what it’s like to have a crush, Lindsay. You’ll get over it.”
“But what if I don’t?” She asked, and looked up at him.
He smiled at her. “You will, I promise.”
“You haven’t gotten over your crush on Sara.”
Standing up and offering her a hand, he pulled her up with him and they stood there in her bathroom. “But honey- Lindsay- she’s an adult.”
“I know…”
Greg pulled her into a hug and she squeezed him tight, not wanting to let go. When he finally broke the hug, they heard Catherine’s car pull into the driveway.
“Don’t tell your mom about the… y’know…” Greg said, in a somewhat pleading tone.
“I wont. Promise.”
They both sprinted for her bed, and when Catherine finally walked in, Lindsay was eating her lunch and Greg was telling her a story about this one time that he got human soup in his mouth when he was working a case with Sara. Lindsay was nodding along, wide-eyed, chewing her chips.
“I see things are back to normal.”
Lindsay and Greg both nodded. “Just telling Lindsay a few of my stories.”
“Okay, well I’m going to go put away the ice. Have fun, guys. And Greg? We can work on the case another day, if that’s okay. I’m beat.”
“That’s fine.” Greg said, bumming a small handful of chips from Lindsay.
Catherine smiled and left the room.
Lindsay swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of her Snapple. “I can’t believe I kissed you after you got human soup in your mouth!”
“Shh, shh, not so loud!” Greg shot back, trying not to laugh.
“Oh well.” Lindsay said, reaching for another piece of her sandwich. “It was worth it.”
The End
