Christmas - carleton97

Jeremy realized watching Tim sleep was an undeniable sign of exactly how smitten he was with the other man. Laughing at himself, he automatically docked himself five straight-acting points for use of the word 'smitten' in all seriousness and tucked the corner of his pillow under his head to get a better view of the man sharing his bed. He was beautiful like this, but Jeremy knew if he ever said that out loud Tim would hurt himself rolling his eyes. He *was* beautiful, though, and Jeremy couldn't think of a better way to spend Christmas morning. The yellow curtains his mother insisted he hang over the tall windows filtered the bright, early morning light just enough to cut the glare and make the skin across Tim's shoulders and back glow. Sometime during the night, Tim must have kicked off most of covers because only a corner of the sheet was wrapped around his hips and tangled in his legs. Jeremy was tempted to tug at the light blue cotton, but knew it would wake Tim up and he wanted to just look for a little while longer. Besides, Tim had to be exhausted.

He'd called Jeremy just before five the night before to let him know a case was breaking and not to wait up. It had been after one when Jeremy finally abandoned his vigil and even so he was asleep before Tim made it home. And it was Tim's home now, officially. He'd moved in over Thanksgiving weekend and for the first time in years, they'd both had something to be truly thankful for. The past seven months hadn't been easy, though, and Jeremy had sometimes doubted they'd ever get to this point, but he'd never been happier to be wrong.

A thump against the door and an indignant feline yowl broke through his introspection and he rolled out of bed to feed Copernicus before she woke Tim. The two of them had managed to cobble together a sort of uneasy peace, but it was a delicate thing and Jeremy didn't want to get in the middle of their ongoing negotiations. He shooed Copernicus away from the door with his foot and shuffled towards the kitchen in his boxers. He fed and watered the cat before blessing the gods of coffee machine timers and pouring himself a cup, liberally lacing his mug with eggnog. He thought about taking a shower and getting dressed, but they didn't have to be to his parent's house until three and it was barely nine now. Besides, he wanted to get back in bed with Tim.

As he slid back into bed, Tim stretched lazily and reached out to grab his coffee mug, taking a drink before he could complain.

Or warn him.

Tim gagged and shoved the mug back into Jeremy's hands. "Is that eggnog in there?"

"Yes, Mr. Grabby." Jeremy flicked Tim's ear before setting the mug down next to the alarm clock and shifting to get comfortable as Tim turned to settle against his side. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas. What time's it?"

"Just after nine." Jeremy hugged Tim and kissed the top of his head. "What time did you finally get home?"

Tim relaxed into the embrace, humming in contentment. "I don't know. Three?"

"Case closed?" Jeremy didn't care to know the particulars of the cases Tim worked, though he was fascinated by the procedures and science used.

"Until the D.A. pleads it down to nothing," Tim grumped as he tucked his head under Jeremy's chin.

"Hey!" Jeremy poked him sharply in the ribs before dancing his fingers over ticklish flesh. "House rule four."

"Sorry, sorry!" Tim squirmed away from the tormenting fingers. "God, you're vicious."

Jeremy stopped tickling, satisfied his point had been made, and grabbed his coffee mug again, "Well, if you wouldn't consistently break the no-cynicism-in-bed rule, I wouldn't have to be so mean."

Instead of answering, Tim climbed over Jeremy and out of bed, pausing just long enough to drop a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth before heading towards the bathroom. Jeremy put his mug back on the night table and snuggled back into his pillow, smiling up at the bouquet sized piece of mistletoe he'd suspended over the bed last night. He'd see just how observant Tim the CSI could be.

And then it would be a Merry Christmas indeed.