Since it's Eric's birthday today, I of course had to do a birthday story again... ;) Just like last year it's just a cute Morganders one-shot, I hope you guys like it!
And happy birthday, Eric, hope you'll have an amazing day!

Happy birthday to you, Greg!

Like any other good CSI Greg was always in time for work. Today was no exception, even though the day after his shift would be a little different than usual. So far, everything was still the same, though: he put his car keys in his locker, checked his pockets to see if he had his cell phone and then started to make his way over to the breakroom.

Normally he'd run into at least two people he knew on his way over, but today he didn't see anyone. Frowning, he checked Russell's office, finding it was empty. When he didn't see Hodges or Henry in their labs either, he was sure something was going on.

Slower than usual he took the last few steps to the breakroom. As soon as he had opened the door, he was greeted by a loud: "Surprise!"

All of his co-workers had gathered in the breakroom, a huge smile on each and every one of their faces. Sara was the first to come up to him and give him a hug. "Happy birthday!"

He gave her a quick hug back, reminding her his birthday didn't officially start for another hour.

"Fifty-nine minutes," Nick said, pointing at the clock with a smile on his face. Grinning, he gave Greg a friendly hug. "Happy birthday, man!"

The rest of his co-workers followed to either give him a hug or just a handshake. Morgan came up to him last of all, giving him only a very quick hug with a nervous smile. "Happy birthday."

She quickly stepped back again, still with that nervous smile on her face. He smiled back at her. "Thanks!"

"So, just before you think this was all, we did buy you presents of course!" Sara said, handing him a box wrapped in blue present paper. "This is from Finn, Morgan and me."

A little curious he started unwrapping the box.

"Oh, wow, I love it!" he called out as soon as he saw what it was. "The 'Together alone' DVD box, all twelve seasons on DVD! You guys are the best!"

He immediately hugged Sara to thank her.

"We thought you might like it," Finn grinned. He gave her a hug as well before looking around to see where Morgan was. As she was standing behind Doc Robbins and Henry he just smiled at her. "Thanks, Morgan, I love it!"

She smiled back at him, but it was still that same nervous smile. "You're welcome."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Something about it made Greg frown for a second. Was it him or did she seem really unusually nervous?

"Well, I don't think I can top that, but I'll try," Nick woke him up from his thoughts. Smiling, Greg opened his present (tickets to a football game) and then the one Russell gave him (a book on forensics). Doc Robbins, David, Hodges and Henry had gotten him a few smaller presents, but all things he loved as well.

"Thank you all so much!" he said after he had unwrapped the enormous box of his favorite cookies Hodges had bought him. "I really love it!"

He wanted to say more, but Ecklie interrupted the party by walking in and calling out: "Why isn't anyone answering their cell phone?"

He then noticed the unwrapped presents on the table in the middle of the room.

"Oh," he said. "Happy birthday, Greg."

A little surprised that Ecklie actually knew it was his birthday, Greg nodded. "Thank you, sheriff."

"Alright, we'll get to work," Russell decided after a moment of silence. "You got anything for us, Conrad?"

"Yeah, a call came in about a dead body in a swimming pool," Ecklie said. He looked at Greg. "Maybe you want to take it."

"What do you say, Greg? A little pool party for your birthday?" Russell said with a smile. Greg smiled back at him. "Sure! Can I take anyone?"

"Yeah, sure, take Nick with you."

Greg noticed Nick was looking at Morgan from the corner of his eyes. When he did the same, he saw the look of pure disappointment on her face.

"Well, actually, Russell, I have a few things to finish," Nick said. "Maybe Morgan would like to go."

The relieved look on her face was hard to miss.

"Oh, sure, I don't mind," she simply said, even though Greg could see how happy she was to go with him. His heart jumped up a little. Spending his birthday working with the woman he was so in love with? He already doubted if this birthday could get any better!

As he drove to their crime scene he asked her how she, Sara and Finn had known 'Together alone' was his favorite TV show.

"You only mentioned it about two hundred times," she softly said. Grinning, he nodded at her. "Oh, yeah…"

He slowed down to stop for a red traffic light.

"Look, Greg, I know you probably have plans after shift for your birthday, but would you maybe like to go out for a drink with me?" she suddenly asked him. Trying to hide his surprise (was she really asking him out now?) he nodded again. "Yeah, sure, I don't really have any plans anyway."

"Okay, great." She leaned back in her seat, staring out the window. He watched her from the corner of her eyes. She still looked more nervous than usual, her hands trembling slightly when she checked her phone. What was going on? Why was she so nervous? If she had been nervous about asking him out, then she should have looked less tense now, but she definitely didn't. She'd be alright once they were at the crime scene, he knew that, but he was still worried why she was so nervous. He hoped she'd tell him when they went out for drinks, cause he really wanted to know what was going on with her.

Just like he had thought in the car, Morgan was fine once they arrived at the crime scene. She took photos, collected evidence, talked to him about what could have happened and then offered to test fire the gun they had found once they were back at the lab. It actually led them to a suspect, who of course denied having to do anything with the murder, so they went back to the rest of the evidence they had found. They were still checking some towels they had found when Russell came in.

"Alright, clean up and off you go, no overtime on your birthday!" he said to Greg, who grinned. "I'm not even gonna think about arguing with that!"

Russell grinned as well. "I figured as much! I'll see you two tonight, okay?"

"Thanks, Russell," Greg quickly said before his supervisor walked off. He looked at Morgan. "Ready to go?"

Suddenly, she was all tensed again, smiling nervously at him. "Yeah, let's just put these towels away safely."

After they had brought all their evidence to the evidence locker they walked over to the locker room together.

"So, do you have like a favorite bar or so you'd like to go to?" she asked him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It was something he hadn't see her do very often before, but today she had done it at least a dozen times already. It told him again how nervous she was… even though he had no idea why.

They ended up going to a club a little of the Strip where some live music was playing. They each ordered a drink at the bar before sitting down in a small booth near the back of the club, where the music wasn't as loud as in the rest of the club.

"Look, Greg, there's something I've been wanting to tell you," Morgan started. She put down her drink, her hands trembling nervously, he noticed. With a questioning look in his eyes he looked at her. Whatever it was she wanted to tell him, it was probably the reason why she was so nervous.

"Greg, I…"

"Mind if we sit here?" A rather drunk looking couple sat down next to Morgan before she had a chance to answer. They were giggling, only barely able to hold the glasses in their hands. With a nervous smile Morgan moved a little towards Greg, but as the booth was only small, she couldn't move away from the drunk couple far enough: as they were giggling and almost falling over each other while laughing, the one closest to Morgan lost control of his glass… spilling his drink all over her…

Greg saw Morgan freeze as the drink hit her. He quickly grabbed some napkins that were on the table, giving the drunken couple an angry look. "Just get out of here!"

Laughing a little less all of a sudden they stumbled out of the booth. Greg immediately turned his attention back to Morgan. "Are you okay?"

He tried to dry her arms with the napkins, handing her one so she could try to dry the front of her shirt herself. As he was so focused on trying to get the drink off of her, he didn't notice how close his face was to hers. Suddenly, he felt her lips pressed against his. It was only a short kiss, but one that set his entire body on fire.

A little surprised, he looked at her. What had just happened?

"That's what I wanted to tell you," she softly told him, her face still close to his. "I've been wanting to tell you for weeks now, but I never found the right moment, so I just told myself to tell you today, on your birthday. I just didn't know exactly how to say it…"

He finally realized why she had been so nervous all night. It surprised him as well, though: she always seemed so confident and now she was all nervous to tell him how she felt?

"I guess I really, really like you," she said as if she was reading his mind. She looked up at him, still a little nervous. "You like me too, right?"

He had to try hard not to start laughing out loud. Like her? He was crazy about her! He tried to act cool towards her, though: "Yeah, I quite like you as well…"

Now she noticed the teasing sparkle in his eyes. Laughing, she pushed him against his shoulder before allowing him to pull her close for a long kiss filled with love and passion.

"Come on," he said when they finally broke apart. "Let's dance!"

He led her over to the dance floor, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She rested her head on his shoulder with a happy smile on her face as the DJ played a slow song. He was unable to hide that same happy smile on his own face. Now his birthday really couldn't get any better anymore!