Say Hello to the Past (CSI fanfiction)

Congrats Ashley!

AN: Takes place after the season finale of season 3.

It was an abnormally hot day in Dallas, Texas for May. Nick Stokes had come home the day before on a midnight flight; there was no way he was going to miss this special occasion!

The Stokes family farmhouse was extremely full of people. Upon Ashley's request, almost the whole family had stayed at the farmhouse. Ashley, her cousin Emily, and six of Ashley's best friends were staying in the huge guest room.

Gina and her husband Allen were staying in the biggest girls' bedroom; that used to belong to Gina, Lisa, and Kimberly, with their five children. Lisa and her husband Robert were staying in the second girls' room; that used to belong to Sandra and Donna with their twin girls. Sandra, Donna, and Kimberly were staying in Bill and Jillian Stokes' bedroom along with Chris's girlfriend Maya and Kimberly's young daughter Lexi.

Sandra's husband Kevin, Donna's husband James, Kimberly's husband Jeff, and Chris were all sleeping in the oversized family room with Andrew, Anthony, Joshua, Michael, and Matthew. Bill and Jillian Stokes had decided to stay in Chris's old bedroom, and that left Nick in his old room with Emma Grace.

Nick would've stayed in the family room with the other guys, but he had to have a quiet place to work on some case files for work. Emma Grace needed a quiet place to work too, so the only compromise possible was for the two of them to share a room.

There was a lot of noise in every room of the house with thirty-seven people in the house. Of course, more family was coming from out of town, mostly Bill and Jillian's siblings and children, but they were staying at the different Stokes children's house.

Nick was thinking about the huge family reunion that was happening when someone put two glasses of lemonade down on the table and then sat down beside him on the porch swing. Nick looked at Emma Grace and smiled.

"I've got to give it to Ashley; she knows how to get a family reunion started," Emma Grace commented while laughing.

"I don't even remember the last time we had a party like this," Nick said shaking his head in amazement.

"Try the August of 1997, " Emma Grace said with a spark in her eyes. Nick was confused for a minute until the memory dawned on him.

There had been twenty-three people in the house in the summer of 1997. Some of Nick's aunts and uncles had come from out of town, so the number of people in the house was growing. Nick hadn't wanted the party; he didn't see what was so special about him turning twenty-six, but Emma Grace had convinced him to let her throw the party.

Nick was out in the barn, and he wasn't alone. Emma Grace was sitting on one of the stall doors with her legs wrapped around Nick and passionately kissing him. After they had shared their first kiss that past winter, the two of them knew that their friendship had been changed forever and had decided to go out on a few dates. Neither one asked the other if they had wanted to put the label of "dating" on whatever this new relationship was, they just went with it.

"You know, someone's going to eventually come out here and find us like this," Emma Grace struggled to say as Nick gently kissed her neck.

Nick paused like he was thinking about this for a minute, "Hmm, I don't really care." Then he was kissing her neck again.

"Of course you don't," Emma Grace laughed and then she moved Nick's head, so they were facing each other again. With her arms around his neck, she leaned in a kissed him again.

When they finally needed air, they broke apart but kept their foreheads connected. "You're impossible, woman," Nick jokingly accused her.

"That's one of the reasons you love me," Emma Grace said, and as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she had wished she could've taken them back. Nick stiffened and didn't say a word. Just like they had never put a label on themselves, they had never talked about the "L" word either. Emma Grace hadn't brought it up because she was hoping that if things did not work out between the two of them, they would be able to go back to being friends if they never said they loved each other. Nick had never brought up the word love because he still planned on leaving Texas one day, he just didn't know, yet, if Emma Grace would be a part of that move.