It was there again. The same look he saw every day. The pain and loneliness those warm brown eyes held was all too familiar to Eric Delko these days. He saw it in himself when he looked n the mirror. Eric thought that for someone so young and inexperienced in life, the sadness the shone through in those eyes was unbearable. Every so often, Eric caught sight of Ryan staring out the window of the trace lab not looking at anything in particular. When Ryan first arrived at the lab he felt a slight resentment towards him, they all did. To face facts, Ryan Wolfe could never replace Speed. Over time though, Eric came to realize that this young man only wanted to be accepted and do a good job. Eric too, often felt the dull weight in his chest when he was alone so he knew exactly how Ryan felt. Whenever a case was solved or helped solved by him very little praise was given to the young man, it all went to the rest of the team. At times he himself caused some of the grief that pained Ryan. He would thank him for his help and give him one of his trademark smirks. That was not what he felt guilty about though, it was when the smiles were exchanged and then he went walking down the hall with Calleigh or Horatio laughing and cracking jokes, when he always looked back the emotionless face was once again there. Eric knew that each day that passed without appreciation the shadow over Ryan’s heart grew darker. He sighed and rid himself of these depressing thoughts when his cell phone began to ring.

“Hello” he said with his Cuban accent.

“Hey Eric, sorry to disturb you but I found something pretty interesting at the crime scene. Can you can out here to check it out” the monotone voice of Ryan Wolfe said.

“Yah, sure, give me 15 minutes and I’ll be there” Eric replied.

Ryan agreed to wait for Eric to arrive at the scene and hung up the phone. Eric sighed again, even when he spoke Ryan’s voice held no emotion. It never held any cheer or surprise or whatever, it was just that same sad monotone that he always used. Eric arrived at the scene like he promised was greeted by the man who he felt so bad for.

“What’s up” Eric said.

“I was going over the footprints I found and I noticed this, take a look” Ryan explained.

There were two sets of footprints; one was laid perfectly on top of the other. The two men exchanged ideas and theories and came up with some really good ones. The photographed the prints and took them back to the lab to by analyzed and separated on the computer. The bottom print belonged to the landlord who claimed he was going around checking the water faucets on the side of the building. The print from the top belonged to a conveicted rapist. They matched the trace amount of blood they found at the scene to the felon and went to go make the arrest.

“Good work guys. Nice work to you Eric on finding the blood under the rug” Horatio beamed.

Ryan’s face fell as Horatio continued. Eric knew he had to interrupt.

“Actually H, the credit for this bust should go to Ryan, he found the overlapping footprints in the back yard” Eric interjected.

“Alright, well good job Ryan.” Horatio said before leaving.

Ryan immediately turned to Eric once Horatio was completely out of the room.

“Why did you do that” he questioned.

“It’s true, if it wasn’t for your discovery we could have gotten the wrong guy. And besides, you need a little appreciation.” Eric smiled.

Ryan felt something that he hadn’t felt in a long time, pride, for doing a good job. He turned back to Eric and smiled, Eric returned it with a real smile, not a smirk. About that time, his mind formulated a brilliant plan to cheer his coworker up.

“Hey what do you say to going out and grabbing a beer after the shift” Eric suggested.

“I don’t know I might be busy later” Ryan answered.

“You’ll be busy doing what, reorganizing your sweater vests. You need to relax a bit, and besides I won’t take no for and answer.” Eric implied.

Ryan looked away in shame knowing the Eric knew he had mild OCD. Instantly Eric knew that he had hurt Ryan’s feelings and reached out to touch his face with his hand. Ryan looked up in surprise.

“Well, I guess I would hurt to have one drink” he assumed.

“Aright then, I’ll see you at 6:00 out front” Eric said.

With that the two parted ways and went back to work. When 6:00 rolled around, Ryan was met by Eric out front just like he said. Eric told him the name of the bar that they were going to and was surprised to find out it wasn’t too far from Ryan’s house. After the drink they went back to Ryan’s place to talk and finally get to know each other. At around midnight the two of them fell asleep on the sofa in the most god awful uncomfortable positions. Back at work Eric finally got Ryan to talk and open up like he and Calleigh did. Days later Ryan got up the courage to ask Eric to go do something together. They found them selves sitting rink side at the Florida Panthers vs. New York Islanders hockey game. After the game and a couple of beers they stopped at Eric’s apartment for a while. When the two of them wee sitting on the sofa and comfortable Eric turned to his companion to apologize for the way he acted.

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry for the way I acted when you first arrived at the lab. I never meant to take anything out on you; I was still upset about Speed” Eric explained.

“It’s ok, I understand” Ryan replied.

Eric smiled at the young man in front of him and in one quick movement leaned forward and pressed a soft but firm kiss on his lips. For the first time, Ryan’s eyes were wide with shock as Eric pulled away. Realizing what just happened, both Eric and Ryan looked away in embarrassment. After a long silent moment Eric opened his mouth to apologize once again but was cut off by Ryan’s lips now on his. When they pulled apart Ryan’s eyes showed now sadness at all, only joy. At that moment Eric knew that the death of Speed happen for a reason, so that he could finally get the chance to meet the person he would want to spend the rest of his life with.

“I never thought in a million years that I would ever see you smile like that” Eric whispered.

“I guess it just took a special person and a lot of patience” Ryan blushed.

The two began to kiss again, slowly getting themselves off the sofa and moving towards the bedroom. Eric began to push Ryan back towards the bed. The pair toppled on top of the plush mattress and continued to touch and feel each other through their clothing. It became very apparent that the cloths need to be removed. Eric’s quick hands pulled the maroon colored sweater vest over Ryan’s head and began working on the buttons on his shirt. Meanwhile Ryan started to unbutton the dress shirt that Eric was wearing and slipped it off his shoulders. The younger man began to touch and feel Eric’s muscles and play with his nipples. Ryan broke apart from the kiss to dip down and take one into his mouth electing a low moan from his partner. He trailed his tongue down the tanned abdomen to the waist line of Eric’s pants. Through the thin fabric, his hard member was clearly visible. Ryan began to work on unfastening the pants and as he slowly slipped them down Eric’s legs along with his boxers, the other man was now in full view of his eager lover. Just before Ryan took the hardened member into his mouth Eric stopped him.

“Don’t you think your still a little over dressed” Eric smirked.

“Maybe you can help me with that” Ryan implied.

Eric just grinned and made fast work of Ryan’s remaining cloths and pulled the smaller man on top of him. The kissing and touching was becoming faster and harder as bare skin was met with bare skin. Suddenly Eric flipped them over so that he was now on top straddling the pale hips of his lover. Reaching over to the bedside drawer, the Cuban pulled out a tube of lubricant and snapped the top open. Ryan watch with admiration as Eric coated his fingers and cock with the clear substance. Reaching down between his legs Eric prepared Ryan’s tight hole for entry. He slowly slipped one finger in and allowed time to for Ryan to adjust, he soon slipped a second and third finger in. When Ryan was well stretched, Eric lifted the young man’s hips and slid his cock in with one fluid motion. The sensation caused Ryan to gasp from both pain and pleasure, but soon it was only pleasure. Eric had picked up a slow but steady rhythm and soon Ryan was pushing against him for even more contact. Eric bent low over the man as his sped up his rhythm and his thrusts became harder. The pleasure of feeling Ryan’s muscles contract around him was becoming too much for Eric as he was soon brought to the edge. Ryan dug his nails into his partner’s back as Eric kept hitting that certain spot that made him see white. He too was brought to his climax, moaning Eric’s name as he came across his own stomach. The two men lay there panting and regaining their composure. Before Ryan drifted off into a peaceful sleep he heard Eric whisper the words he had always wanted to hear.

“Mmm, Eric, I love you too” he yawned.

When these words were said, both men had finally found the peace they were looking for. In the next days it was decided between them that they would break the news to the rest of the team that they were in love and together.

“Ha, I always knew you two would be right for each other” Alexx proclaimed.

“I personally never would have expected it, but as long as you are happy that’s all that matters” Calleigh smiled at the pair.

“Thank you Calleigh” Ryan replied.

This continued until the last person in the lab had giving their blessing to the pair. The rest of the day was spent working, but as soon as shift ended, the pair of lovebirds went home for a more exciting type of exercise.