"It's officially Valentine's Day." Greg muttered in greeting as he walked into the break room, heading straight to the refrigerator. "Man, I'm starving."

"Don't touch the blue Tupperware."

He frowned, lifting the said Tupperware above his head, peering through the translucent container. His eyes narrowed as he made out little worms and quickly placed it back into the refrigerator, letting out an unmanly squeal. "What the hell is that doing in there?!"

"Food."

"At least wait till they died."

"Funny. It's for the birds."

Greg gave another shudder and closed the refrigerator door, his appetite gone. If there was one thing he had a phobia of, it was worms, snakes, basically anything without legs that slithered.

Dammit. He was hungry…was anyways.

"Didn't Catherine and Sara forbid you from using the break room's refrigerator for storing bug food, bird food and experiments?"

He settled himself into the chair across from Grissom, watching as the older man looked up from his crossword, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "Yeah. So?"

"Okay…" Greg mumbled as he picked up the Livings Section of the Las Vegas Journal, stopping short from turning to the comic's page when Grissom let out a sigh.

"Tell me when they come back."

Bending the newspaper in half and peering over it, He gave his supervisor a cocky grin. "Will do."

A comfortable silence fell over the two men as the normal buzzing of the lab swirled around them. Breaking through the silence, the young lab tech let out a deep chuckle as he came upon a funny comic. He placed the newspaper down, sliding it over to Grissom.

"What'd you get Catherine?"

Grissom looked up, his free hand rubbing his strained neck. "Get her what?"

Greg nodded towards the little cartoons, most filled with antics about Valentine's Day.

"Oh, that. Nothing."

When the younger man gave him a surprised look, Grissom straighten his back, prepared to defend himself. "I asked, she told me she didn't need anything."

"She said that?"

Giving Greg a look, Grissom took off his glasses, and with mug in hand, stood up and walked towards the coffee pot. "I think I would understand her better than you."

"She's a woman, nobody understands them, especially you."

Leaning against the counter Grissom turned around, an eyebrow raised. "If I recall, you're single."

"Well hey." Greg gave him his best puppy face; frown quickly replaced with his quirky smile. "You don't have to rub it in."

Taking a long drink, Grissom headed back to the table. Setting the cup down, he stood with his arms crossed, eyes looking out towards the hallway. "She said she didn't want anything." He repeated again.

"How long have you guys known each other?"

Not bothering to answer the question, Grissom sat down again, picking up his puzzle. A few seconds passed and with a frustrated sigh he looked up across the table.

"It's just Valentine's Day. I don't need some fake holiday to express how I feel about her."

Perfecting an effortless eye roll, Greg leaned his chair back, an amused smile on his face.

"She said she…"

"Didn't want anything. I know. But you see, when you ask them what they want you're basically implying that they're not special enough for you to take the time to put thought into a gift. You want for them to make it easy. And love isn't easy, love is hard."

Giving Sanders a growl, Grissom stood up making a quick exit.

"You're welcome."

Greg called after his boss' retreating form, listening as he hurriedly asked into his cell phone for a 24-hour floral shop.

All in a day's work.

---

"Hello ladies."

"Greggo." Sara nodded, not bothering to look up from her salad.

"Whoa! Whose bouquet of roses? Catherine?"

"Actually." Sara piped up, face glowing with happiness. "They're for me."

"From who?" Curious, he made a quick grab for the little white envelope, only to have it snatched out of his hands.

"None of your business."

"Aw, come on, I deserve to know my competition."

"Please." Sara scoffed at him, stuffing the note in the back pocket of her jeans.

Smiling to himself he turned to Catherine, who had kept a remarkable undivided attention on the paper work in front of her.

A hand motion from out of the corner of his eyes distracted him and he turned back to a wide-eyed Sara. She mouthed a no and made a neck cutting motion, all the while shaking her head at him.

Flowers, and she was already going crazy.

Ignoring her, he turned to the strawberry blonde. "Hey Catherine, today's the day, love comes out to play."

She looked up at him, her eyes flashing with annoyance. "Cute. Where's our lab result?"

He didn't have time to make any further inquires however, because Grissom chose that moment to walk in.

"Catherine, can I speak to you?"

Not bothering to acknowledge his presence, she turned her back to him, attention back to her work. "What for?"

"In my office." And as an afterthought, he quickly inserted, "Please."

"I'm kind of busy, Grissom."

"Sara, you can finish up what Catherine's doing." He threw the back of her head a pointed look. "Problem solved."

"I started this, I'd like to finish it."

"Catherine!"

Angered now, she quickly stood up, turning around. "You don't have a right to talk to me like that."

"I just." He nervously eyed her, than Greg and Sara who were watching them with interest. "Please. I just really want you to come with me."

"I thought I told you I hated your guts."

"I know, and I hate myself too. Please?"

"No. I told you that I hated that damn snake, and he ruined my favorite shoes!"

"Catherine."

"No." She huffily sat down, giving Sara a look. "Today's Valentines Day isn't it?" Before the younger CSI could answer, Catherine continued. "I'm glad you have someone special in your life to give you such beautiful flowers. You know what my boyfriend did? His damn snake got loose this afternoon, and when I went to get my shoes for work, said snake had settled nicely in it. He *and* his afternoon snack. To make it worse, my boyfriend asked me what I wanted for Valentine's Day. How romantic."

Sitting down again, she picked up her pen, the break room enveloping itself in an eerie silence.

"Uh..." Eyeing Grissom, Sara decided to take the dangerous path and help smooth things out. "I admit, the snake was being obnoxious, but it wasn't your boyfriend's fault. And…Valentine's Day is not really special. I mean…I received these roses today because it's our…our… one year anniversary." Satisfied, she straightened herself, giving Catherine a smile.

The older woman gave her a look of disbelief, "Anniversary for what?"

"Abstinence!" Greg chimed in, giving a horrified Sara a cheeky smile.

"Okay, enough." Grissom gruffly interrupted, walking over to Catherine. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about Marjorie, you know she loves your shoes just as much as you do. It's a compliment, you have good taste. And if you…" He turned her chair around so that she faced him.

Coughing, he awkwardly straightened his jacket, her glares always made him uncomfortable. "Honey, your eyes are doing that…that squinty thing again."

When she let out a deep growl, he cleared his throat, bending down on one knee.

Catching onto his intentions, Catherine let out a loud gasp and bought a hand to her mouth. "Don't you dare, don't you dare propose to me when I'm angry at you. How typical of men, just when they're---

"Shut-up"

Placing his own hand over her covered mouth, he raised his eyebrows before taking out the jewelry box. "You give me no choice."

Tears started to trickle and she grabbed his free hand. "This isn't romantic at all Gil, it's the damn break room! No…no." Feverishly shaking her head, she repeated the words. "Put the ring back and do it another time."

"I asked you to come with me."

"I know!" She let out a moan, "But I wasn't expecting for you to propose!"

"Catherine, this is silly. Are you refusing my proposal?"

"No!" Trembling now, she slowly slid out of the chair, supporting herself in front of him on both of her knees. She grabbed him, and gave him a soft kiss. "I just, I'm sorry to disappoint you honey, but I have to do this."

Leaning back, Catherine looked up to a smiling and amused audience. She nodded to Sara, pointing at her purse.

When Sara threw it to her, she opened it, reaching in. Giving Grissom a wide smiled, she pulled out a jewelry box, a chuckle escaping her lips. "Surprise."