I like the way that he conned Greg into tell him where to buy Blue Hawaiian coffee. The surprisingly sweet scent of the bitter liquid wafts through the apartment permeating everything in its way. It wakes me from a dreamless sleep. It makes me smile. It makes this apartment feel like home.

Weekends off are always a rarity. Sophia sometimes obliges me by offering to work my Friday and Saturdays. In exchange, I've given her my expansive library on forensic entomology, and I sometimes work for her on Wednesday nights. I don't think Grissom realizes that Nick and I just happen to have a lot of time off together. Greg and Sophia know because I can't stop smiling.

I sit up and reach for my robe. I wonder how he manages to get up so early without being in a crappy mood. I'm not much of a morning person. I've never been much of a morning person. I've always felt like the night more adequately mirrors how I feel. I've always felt depressed and angry. I don't feel that way anymore.

He lets me be angry when I'm angry. He lets me be depressed when I'm depressed. Nick's not like everyone else. He doesn't ask me to be something that I'm not. No one else really understands why I'm who I am. I've told Nick things that I never thought I could tell another person. It makes me less complicated. I don't want to let my issues ruin what Nick and I have. I don't want to unnecessarily complicate something this good. I don't want to ruin something that I've always longed for. I've always wanted someone to love me without question. God knows, I've never felt that kind of love before.

I make my way out to the kitchen. He's engrossed in a cookbook. There are various food items scattered across the kitchen counter. There's a little flour on his cheek. Nick looks up and smiles. It's that lopsided smile that he gives me when I catch him in one of the surprises that he's planned for me.

"I'm trying to figure out how to make pancakes with wheat germ in them," he explains. Nick knows that I've replaced alcohol with wheat germ, soy, and three mile runs. He gladly obliges me. He even brought home wheat grass last week because he heard that health nuts 'love the stuff.' I think it might have been the single foulest thing that I have ever ingested. Nick said it tastes like what a fresh cut lawn smells like. We laughed as we poured our 'fresh cut lawn' down the drain.

"Can I help?" I ask as I pour myself a cup of coffee and top off Nick's cup.

"Go sit down," Nick instructs as I continue to watch him struggle with what looks like a rather long recipe, "Do you know what today is?"

"It's not long enough," I reply. I know that's not the answer that Nick was looking for, but the truth is that I wish we could stay in this particular morning for the rest of our days.

"It's that, too. It's officially our twenty fifth Saturday together," Nick says with a smile.

"We've spent more than twenty five Saturdays together. Remember, we used to work on the same shift," I tease.

"You know what I mean," Nick replies as he flicks about a tablespoon of flour at me, "We never got to sleep together at work."

"I distinctly remember falling asleep on the couch and waking up with your head on my shoulder," I reply remembering the first time that I really smelt the cologne that he was wearing, "Two years ago in the break room."

"Well, you had all your clothes on," Nick says with a smirk.

"Are you getting fresh with me," I reply with a laugh. He smiles and walks around the counter and kisses me. He smells like flour, and he tastes like coffee. For a brief moment, I forget my parents, Hank, and Grissom. He makes me feel like a clean slate. Nick makes me hopeful that the past is really in the past. It's amazing how one person can make years of hurt and anger melt away with nothing more than a kiss.

"I love Saturdays," I whisper as he runs a flour dusted hand through my hair.