Criminal Case One-Shots

Will He Say Yes?

C/W: Mentions of death and ghosts. Mentions snakes a little. A little sex reference, but not much.

It was Valentine's Day soon. And Nathan Pandit was a very nervous young man. In his last relationship – which was sadly short-lived as his ex-boyfriend felt that Grimsborough wasn't very accepting of gay people – his boyfriend had asked him out. A certain David Jones. And he said yes because they had gotten close, and Nathan had felt certain feelings blossom. Well, they now bloomed for a different man, Wyatt Hall.

They had been close for a while, but Nathan was no cheat. Wyatt was just 'a cute friend who any guy would be lucky to have'. Whenever he kindly – and hopefully not flirtatiously, because as he and his friends could agree, cheating was for idiots – said that, Wyatt tended to turn rather red. At those times, Wyatt cursed his white father for making him be light-skinned. He didn't really mind his skin colour, he just hated turning red.

At least he wasn't Grace Delaney, whose Irish genes made her look like a tomato when she got embarrassed! And for Valentine's Day she had a date, a girl in their university's female football team, Susie Kolinsky. David recognised her as his middle school's star athlete. As for David's date... Well, it had been a few months since they made up and became friends again. It had stopped hurting them both, and during that time, David had started dating an older woman called Charlotte Baker. She was a whole decade older, at 29 years old. She was a lot more mature and dominant than David, and in their early days, he, Grace, and Wyatt worried. She had since proved herself by truly caring for David and being a good friend.

Such a good friend that she had been the first to help Wyatt when he had foolishly pulled his earring out. (Luckily, Nathan had learned how to do stitches by then. They didn't even need to go to the hospital!) Charlotte was a fun friend too, daring Nathan during a night out to get a snake tattoo somewhere, uh, private. And now, Charlotte, David, and Grace – Susie was busy training – were helping Nathan prepare to ask Wyatt out.

He knew where he'd take Wyatt on their date. Wyatt liked plants, just like he did. Especially orchids! So, perhaps they could go to the Great Greenhouse in the Historical Centre? But, even though Nathan had gotten an idea of where to take Wyatt, he was still nervous about asking. He didn't want to screw up this friendship. His other friends were there to help him, however.

So why did Nathan like Wyatt so much? What made him interested in the other man?

His kind heart, his love for plants, his funny nature, his intelligence, his interest in the human body – they've learned from each other, his cute face – that was his looks, but still...

And there was more that he'd love to learn about Wyatt. His life growing up in Edwardton sounded interesting – he would never admit it, but he was a sucker for gossip and secrets, just like David and Grace. And his mother was an incredibly smart, yet serious woman, becoming a judge at the young age of 25. And his father was a brilliant vet. If Nathan somehow couldn't become a GPD coroner, he might ask Wyatt's dad to teach him how to take care of animals... And with David being quiet about the people from Edwardton and the fact that Grace's hometown of Dunbran was similar to it... Well, Nathan was intrigued.

He supposed he had a bit of an ulterior motive, but he was still honestly attracted to Wyatt. Only in the way that he wanted to spend time with him and kiss him. He had no interest in more intimate things, which his friends understood.

Anyway, Nathan could only hope that Wyatt had some sort of feelings towards him, or things could get very awkward. But still, with the enthusiasm of his friends spurring him on, he headed to Wyatt's house to ask him out for Valentine's Day.

Only one question remained: "Will he say 'Yes'?"

– – –

Wyatt smiled, looking at the calendar. Almost Valentine's Day. He remembered 1999, when Nathan asked him out. It had been 14 years since. It was a wonderful date; the flowers were amazing, and the conversation was good - if a little embarrassing, but they were just under 20 and had retained a bit of teenage awkwardness. They had started dating properly soon afterwards. He had easily noticed that Nathan was keen to meet his parents, and honestly, Wyatt was flattered. He was proud of how great his parents were. Such busy lives, yet they still had time for him.