Title: And So It Goes
Author: TyriaT (Carri)
Rating: Definitely M – Mature
Pairings: GSR
Disclaimer: No
they are not mine. I just like to take them out and have them dance for me.
“And So It Goes”, “Tell Her About It”, and “She’s
Spoilers: Post Ep to “Butterflied”
A/N: Yes, most of my inspiration comes from songs. How on earth did you know? This was an evil plot bunny that just wouldn’t leave me alone until I had it done. Quickest I’ve ever written a story. Again a huge thank you to my beta LosingInTranslation without her these stories would be filled with mistakes. Please, please, please give me feedback.
Chapter 1
Catherine walks down the hall to find Gil. She knows that Lurie was brought in for questioning again and she wants to be nearby when they finish. This case has really hit Grissom hard, and she just wants to be sure he is still holding up. She has already decided that if she felt he needed it, she was going to talk him into a few days off to clear his head.
Everyone had recognized how possessed Grissom had become with this case. As she rounds the corner, she watches Lurie and his lawyer leave the room. Then, as she is about to walk past the observation room door, she sees Brass exit the same room. She is about to say his name when suddenly the observation room door opens and Sara bursts out, barreling right into Catherine.
They both grab each other’s arms to keep themselves from falling. “Sara? What happened?” Sara tries to walk around her, pretending she didn’t hear, but Catherine just won’t let go. “Sara!”
“I can’t…” Sara’s voice breaks, and Catherine can tell she’s about to cry. “Cath it’s nothing.”
“Nothing doesn’t make you cry, Sara. You’re not that kinda woman.” Catherine could swear Sara’s head dips lower when she says that. “What happened?”
Sara gives a watery laugh, sniffs, then softly says, “He can’t do it.” Her voice trembles as she tries to repeat, “He can’t…” She looks directly into Cath’s eyes for only a moment. “Is there something wrong with me?” When her own expression turns soft, Sara’s eyes drop again, and she breaks Catherine’s hold. “Nevermind. We’re done for today. I’m going home.” She stalks toward the locker room to pick up her stuff and leave.
Catherine looks up and sees Brass still in the hallway. His eyes are wide in shock. He whispers, “Oh my God, she HEARD HIM?”
Catherine can barely make out what he’s saying, but when her brain finally processes what he said, she rushes up to him. “What do you mean ‘she heard him’? Heard what?”
“Catherine, I can’t…It’s not up to me to tell you. Grissom…”
She interrupts him. “Grissom! He did something, said something, that hurt her didn’t he? What happened?”
Brass is desperate to get away from this conversation. “Cath, I can’t…”
She gets right up into his face and says emphatically. “What Happened?”
He hangs his head and sighs. “He was talking to Lurie about the relationship the doc had with Debbie Marlin. He compared Lurie with himself.” Shaking his head as he tries to remember exactly what he heard as he tells the story. “Said something about a beautiful younger girl offering them a different life. He couldn’t take the risk, but Lurie could.”
“Oh my God, Sara heard THAT?!?”
Brass looks forlornly down the hallway as though he could still see Sara walking away. “Apparently.”
Catherine groans angrily. “I’m gonna KILL him, Jim! I’m really gonna kill him!”
He smirks. “Tell me about it...” Wanting to calm her down a little, Brass puts a hand on her upper arm. “I swear, we had no clue she was in Observation, Cath. He never would have said that if he knew she was watching.”
Catherine nods her understanding. “Well, someone has to warn him…Someone has to tell him she heard.”
Brass brings his hands up in surrender. “No way! I am NOT getting in the middle of those two. Do you know how dangerous that is?”
Catherine sets her shoulders and says, “I’ve got a thick skin. If I can’t get through to him now, I don’t know if anyone can.” She walks up to the door and puts her hand on the knob. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck. You need glare proof clothing.”
“Thanks a lot,” she says sarcastically, and opens the door.
Grissom is sitting hunched over in his chair; fists clenched, resting on the table; head bowed and eyes closed. He doesn’t move when Catherine lets herself into the room.
“Grissom?”
Still no movement.
She sits next to him. “Gil?”
His fists clench together harder.
“Why did you say what you did?”
His jaw tenses. “Brass told you.”
She purses her lips. “Kinda.”
He still does not look up. “Did he just start gossiping, or did you actually badger it out of him?”
“Well, you know me.” She half-smiles.
He sighs. “Badgering then.”
Her face falls. “Gil, I…”
He looks at her with anger. “Can’t you just leave this one alone?”
“Not this time.” He lowers his head again. To make sure she has his attention, she places a hand over one of his fists. “Gil…Sara heard.”
His head and body snap towards Catherine; moving the chair back slightly. His eyes go wide and his eyebrows rise halfway up his forehead, shock clearly showing on his face. “What?!?”
“Sara, she…she was in Observation when you decided to open up and give your little speech.”
His jaw drops. “I was…I just wanted to get a rise out of him. I knew his struggle. I understand why he snapped. I…I wanted him to confess, and I thought that was my best shot. I didn’t…I didn’t know…” He turns his head away. “My God, she heard that?”
“She did. She’s a little upset, so I’d suggest staying out of her way right now. Actually I think you should take a few days off to unwind; get your head out of the case. It’s always nice to relax, especially after a case like this.”
He turns his head to face her again. “Catherine, I don’t think…”
“But I DO think,” she interrupts. “And I have just the thing to help you calm down while you’re off. It’s in my car.” She practically spits the whole thing out in a flurry, hoping to throw him off balance with speed. “You get the paperwork out of the way, I’ll get my stuff, then I’ll drive you home. It’s perfect. This way you can’t just come back to work when you’re supposed to be taking it easy.”
“Catherine,” he groans, pulls his one fist from her grasp, and puts his face in his hands; his elbows on the table.
“Gris, if you don’t do this, I’m gonna do something I hate.” She waits until he takes his head out of his hands and looks at her. “I’m going to talk to Ecklie,” she pauses for a second and swallows, her expression that of someone taking a bitter pill, “get him on my side, and together we’ll convince Cavallo that you need time away.”
He closes his eyes and sighs. “You’re not gonna quit until I take the next two days off, are you?”
“No.”
Again he sighs, “Fine. Get your stuff. I’ll meet you out at the car.”
“Good.” She gets up from her chair and walks to the door. “You won’t regret this. Trust me.”
“Yeah, right,” he sighs his answer.
*********************
Chapter 2
Happy that she was able to get her way, Catherine stays silent during the drive to Grissom’s condo. She pulls the car to the curb and puts it in park.
She turns to him. “Ok…Go, get some rest, clean, play with your bugs; anything but work. While you’re doing that,” she reaches past him and gets something out of the glove compartment, “put this into your stereo and give it a listen.”
He looks at it skeptically.
“It’s Billy Joel.”
“The Piano Man?”
Catherine raises an eyebrow at his question. “Yes…Very good.”
He rolls his eyes. “Catherine, I haven’t lived in a complete vacuum. I do know SOME popular artists.”
She smirks. “I know, but who knows what you’ve actually listened to. Anyway, I want this back, but I think it’ll help you relax, and might even help you make a decision. Especially the fifth song on the second disc.”
He reaches for it to look at the name of the song. Catherine pulls it back toward her, keeping it out of his grasp. “Nuh uh. No fair peeking. Just put them in and listen, ok?”
He acquiesces with a nod. “Ok.”
She hands over the CD case, and he climbs out of the car. As he’s walking up the pathway, Catherine calls to him. “Remember…I don’t want to see you for two days.”
Grissom distractedly waves back at her and keeps walking toward his door. Staring at the front of the case as he keys the lock he remembers having listened to some Billy Joel in his younger days, but other than the song that gave the man his nickname, he couldn’t come up with any other titles. He was intrigued to hear that music again. But first he would sleep, because real rollercoasters might be fun, but the emotional ones are just plain exhausting.
*********************
Grissom’s sleep was restless. He kept seeing Sara and Debbie and Lurie, but can’t seem to remember anything that actually happened, just the overwhelming feeling of dread. After turning to look at the clock for the third time, he decides that he’s not going to get any more sleep and figures he might as well just get out of bed.
He takes a shower and thinks about the events of that morning. He still can’t believe his luck; Sara just happening to be there watching and listening to his confession without their knowledge. He should have known better. It was a tough case, and of course she would try to be involved as much as possible.
Rinsing himself off, he works out a plan for things to do today to take his mind off of the case. He dries off, dresses comfortably (since he doesn’t have to worry about being at work at all) and goes downstairs to his stereo.
He looks at the case Catherine gave him with apprehension, and then he figures that he might as well get it over with quickly. Putting in the second CD, he sets the player to start on the fifth track. He is surprised at the upbeat start of the song. How is this supposed to relax me, he thinks. He listens intently hoping the lyrics will give him some sort of clue.
Listen boy
Don’t want to see you
let a good thing
Slip away
You know I don’t like
watching
Anybody make the same
mistakes
I made
She’s a real nice girl
And she’s always there
for you
But a nice girl wouldn’t tell you what you should do
This is definitely not a song he recognizes from his past, but he has a sinking feeling that he knows where this song is headed.
Listen boy
I’m sure that you
think you got it all
Under control
You don’t want
somebody telling you
The way to stay in
someone’s soul
You’re a big boy now
You’ll never let her
go
But that’s just the
kind of thing
She ought to know
As the chorus begins, his suspicions are confirmed. He walks over to his couch, flops down and rests his head on the back of the couch. What is Catherine doing? She told me to stay away from Sara, and now she tells me this?
Tell her about it
Tell her everything
you feel
Give her every reason
to accept
That you’re for real
Tell her about it
Tell her all your
crazy dreams
Let her know you need
her
Let her know how much she means
He gets up to grab the phone. As he is about to finish dialing Catherine’s number the next verse catches his ear.
Listen boy
It’s not automatically
a certain guarantee
To insure yourself
You’ve got to provide
communication constantly
When you love someone
You’re always insecure
And there’s only one
good way
To reassure
He sighs. Well, I certainly do feel insecure whenever it comes to Sara. He finishes dialing Catherine’s number and absently listens to it ring while the bridge plays.
Cause now and then
She’ll get to worrying
Just because you
haven’t spoken
For so long
Though you may not
have done anything
Will that be a consolation when she’s gone
The last line keeps repeating itself in his head. Will that be a consolation when she’s gone? He’s still deep in thought when Catherine answers the phone. “Hello?”
He doesn’t answer, but Catherine can hear the music in the background. “Gil, is that you?”
Still no answer.
“Gil!” she shouts.
“Wha-…Hey, Cath.”
She smirks. “Hi, Gil, nice of you to finally answer.”
He can hear the laughter in her voice. “What do you mean?”
Now she laughs outright. “I only called you three times before you answered...What’s up?”
“Hmmm,” he answers distractedly. “Oh, I was curious.”
“What about?”
“Why would you have me listen to a song that tells me to talk to her after you tell me to leave Sara alone for a few days?” He grabs up the remote for the stereo and rewinds the song a little to hear the bridge again.
“I just wanted to give you something to think about. Apparently it’s working.”
He sighs. “Catherine, leave it alone.”
“No, Gil, the girl is hurting, and hurting bad. She needs to know not only where she stands, but why things are this way. Either that, or you need to finally make a move.” He remains quiet, thinking about that verse along with Catherine’s words. She continues, unconsciously aping the words running through his head. “Gil, will it be a consolation when she’s gone?”
He breathes in sharply at her words.
“I meant what I said. I think you should stay away from Sara, at least for today. You don’t need to have everything figured out, but you do need to talk to her, and soon. Try to enjoy your time off.”
“Um, yeah. Thanks, Cath,” he answers, but his attention is obviously elsewhere. He shut off the phone and then listened to the bridge again, wondering about Catherine’s well placed comment.
*********************
Chapter 3
Everyone except Catherine and Grissom are sitting in the break room waiting for assignments. The boys are talking amongst themselves while Sara is lost in her thoughts. She can’t get what he said yesterday out of her mind. Could he really have had feelings for me? She isn’t sure how she is going to be able to face him today. Her only hope that he doesn’t know she was there; that she heard him. She especially doesn’t know what would happen if Catherine told him what happened in the hallway.
Catherine walks in and instantly begins on business. “Alright, guys, Grissom is taking a few days off, in the meantime I’m in charge.”
Sara stops listening after she heard Grissom wasn’t going to be there. Relief fills her mind. It’s not until Nick taps her arm that she realizes she hasn’t heard a thing, and probably has an assignment, but doesn’t know what it is. Everyone is getting up and leaving. She turns her attention to Nick. “So, ummm…”
He laughs. “Yeah, you’re with me. I’ll fill you in on the way there.”
*********************
Grissom spent the day cleaning the townhouse and catching up on some of his reading while the CDs continue to play in the background. Every once in a while he would stop what he was doing and just listen. Most often it was because the song sounded familiar and he just wanted to hear it, but one song caught him a little off guard. It starts out with just a piano playing softly for a little while, and then the singer’s voice comes in. Like most of the songs on that first CD, it sounds vaguely familiar. He really starts listening about halfway through the song.
She comes to me when
I’m feeling down
Inspires me without a
sound
She touches me and I get turned around
He walks over to the stereo and instantly hits repeat to listen to the whole song, leaning his forearm against it.
She’s got a way about
her
I don’t know what it is
But I know that I
can’t live without her
She’s got a way of pleasin’
I don’t know what it
is
But there doesn’t have
to be a reason anyway
She’s got a smile that
heals me
I don’t know why it is
But I have to laugh
when she reveals me
She’s got a way of talkin’
I don’t know why it is
But it lifts me up
when we are walkin’ anywhere
She comes to me when
I’m feeling down
Inspires me without a
sound
She touches me and I
get turned around
She’s got a way of showin’
How I make her feel
And I find the
strength to keep on goin’
She’s got a light
around her
And ev’rywhere she goes
A million dreams of
love surround her ev’rywhere
She comes to me when
I’m feeling down
Inspires me without a
sound
She touches me and I
get turned around
She’s got a smile that
heals me
I don’t know why it is
But I have to laugh
when she reveals me
She’s got a way about
her
I don’t know what it
is
But I know that I can’t live without her anyway
Images of Sara begin to flow through his mind; fingerprinting at a crime scene, looking at blood spatter, eating lunch in the break room, sitting in that lecture ages ago, but especially her smiles. She has such a beautiful smile, and the gap just gives it more character. That smile is healing, and can inspire me to do many things; be a better person. He sighs, sits down with a journal in his hands, and lets the CDs continue to play, his thoughts wandering elsewhere.
It isn’t until he hears that first song, the one Catherine told him about, that he realizes he hasn’t recognized any songs lately. He continues reading and half listening until he feels himself getting tired. He is about turn it off and head to bed, when another song begins, with the piano as the only instrument. This one has a longer introduction, but then he hears the soft tones of Billy Joel joining the piano. That man is an excellent pianist, is his last thought before listening in that dreamy state just before going to bed.
In every heart there
is a room
A sanctuary safe and
strong
To heal the wounds
from lovers past
Until a new one comes
along
I spoke to you in
cautious tones
You answered me with
no pretense
And still I feel I
said too much
My silence is my self defense
At this he stiffens and becomes more awake.
And every time I’ve
held a rose
It seems I only felt
the thorns
And so it goes, and so
it goes
And so will you soon I
suppose
But if my silence made
you leave
Then that would be my
worst mistake
So I will share this
room with you
And you can have this
heart to break
He thought his silence was only to save himself. What if that is the reason she leaves him? What if one word from him causes her to stay?
And this is why my
eyes are closed
It’s just as well for
all I’ve seen
And so it goes, and so
it goes
And you’re the only
one who knows
So I would choose to
be with you
That’s if the choice
were mine to make
But you can make
decisions too
And you can have this
heart to break
And so it goes, and so
it goes
And you’re the only one who knows
Now he is wide awake, no longer able to sleep with all these thoughts running through his head. He sits down on his sofa. He knows he can’t do anything without figuring out if he wants to have a relationship with her. Does he really want to be with her?
He thinks back on Hank, and the times she was late arriving at a crime scene after being paged; taking a closer look at his actions and emotions. He was short with her, and gave her jobs he knew she would hate.
He puts his head in his hands. I was jealous. How could I not see that I was jealous?
Now that he realizes how he feels, he knows he has to decide what he wants to do about it. Does he really want to try with her, or should he cut his loses now before he can’t let go.
At just the thought of letting her go, an unbearable pain rips through his chest, and he realizes he’s already too involved. But what should he do?
Catherine’s words come back to him. You
don’t need to have everything figured out, but you do need to talk to her,
soon.
Ok, I need to talk to her, but how to tell her? He feels uncomfortable using his own words, but no quotations are coming to mind that would best describe what he wants to say. Then he thinks back to that last song. It certainly would describe things better than anything else I could come up with.
He grabs a blank sheet of paper and begins writing.
But if my silence made
you leave
Then that would be my
worst mistake
So I will share this
room with you
And you can have this
heart to break
So I would choose to
be with you
That’s if the choice
were mine to make
But you can make
decisions too
And you can have this
heart to break
- Billy Joel
I’m still unsure what
to do, but I do know I want to try. Am I
too late?
Grissom
He knows he doesn’t want to be around to watch her read it. So he slides the folded paper into an envelope, writes her name on the outside, and drives to her apartment to slide it under the door.
After it disappears from view, he stands there for a minute thinking about what this could cost him, and also what he could gain. He takes a deep breath, turns around, and drives home.
*********************
Chapter 4
Sara opens the door to her apartment with relief. She and Nick pulled a tough one; a murder in a hotel bathroom with hundreds of prints to be dusted. Collecting them is the fun part, the tough and extremely frustrating part is matching them. She stayed later in hope of getting through them all, but ended up only getting through half of them.
She hangs up her jacket, closes the door and rests her back against it with a sigh, when something white catches her eye. She looks down and sees an envelope with her name on it. The handwriting looks familiar, but she isn’t thinking clearly enough to remember whose it is. She turns it over as she opens it and sees a single sheet of paper.
Walking over to her couch, she begins to read it. Then she stops moving, even her breathing has stopped. She reads it again, almost in disbelief that he could write such a thing. She knows he had to have done it because she finally recognizes it as Grissom’s handwriting.
With this letter he has put the ball in her court. Now the pressure is on her to act…but how? A phone call, a letter like his, or should she just go over there and confront him?
She turns her attention back to the letter and reads it over again. Thinking how nice it is that he called himself on his inability to talk to her. They could actually go to dinner and see what happens.
As soon as those words run through her head, she remembers how her invitation was instantly rebuffed and her frustration level rises. How dare he give me a letter? A LETTER!! At least I had the guts to do it face to face. Why couldn’t he do the same?
She decides if she’s ever going to get any sleep, she needs to confront him now. So she leaves the apartment with the letter firmly in hand and drives straight to Grissom’s townhouse.
*********************
With his true feelings for Sara finally confronted, Grissom is soundly sleeping when a loud noise wakes him up. He climbs out of bed to investigate, and can now identify the sound as an urgent banging on his door.
He opens it to find Sara standing there with an angry look on her face. “Hello, Sara.”
“Don’t you ‘hello, Sara’ me! What is this?!” Her voice matches the fury of her expression as she shouts at him and waves a piece of paper under his nose.
Shocked at her anger and a little confused he asks, “Why don’t you come inside?” He pulls the door open further to allow her entrance.
She stomps past him to stand just inside the door, and faces him with her arms folded together. He shuts the door and looks her over quickly; taking in her tense body posture and the glare she is giving him. “Would you like to sit down?”
“No! I want to know what the hell this is!”
He looks at her confused. “What what is?”
She thrusts his letter into his face. “This!”
Grissom moves his head back a little to get a clearer look. “Well…it looks like my letter.”
“Very good,” she said sarcastically. “It is your letter. Can you tell me why it had to be a letter?”
Grissom’s mouth moves a couple of times before he gets a sound out. “I…uhh…”
“I at least gave you respect by talking to you directly. This is-…wrong.”
Sara’s condescension was really getting on his nerves. Add into that his state of grogginess after being ripped from a good sleep, and he was rapidly getting agitated.
“I walked right up to you and asked you to try things out.”
Grissom was finally angry enough to let her know how he felt. He walked closer to her and vented. “Asked? You didn’t ask, you stated. Sure you asked me to dinner, but then you had to push. Did you even consider that there might be other things going on in my life? Things making that decision even harder than it already was?”
“Hard decision?!?” Her arms flailed and she took a few steps towards him. They were now practically in each other’s faces now. “You gave your answer in two seconds…not even two seconds. It didn’t seem like a tough decision to me.”
“Of course it wouldn’t be a tough decision for you, you didn’t have that much to lose.”
“Not much to lose?!”
Grissom stopped listening to everything she was saying as the frustration took over. She just needed to shut up so she could actually listen to what he was saying. He had to get her to stop. If only he were thinking clearly, he might have come up with another way to accomplish that task. But right then, there was only one way he could think of.
He closes the distance between them, takes her face between his hands and kisses her in one swift motion.
At first she resists, her anger still too strong to allow her to give up the fight. However, his lips are very persuasive, and little by little, she begins to respond. Grissom’s hands continue to rest on her face, but becoming gentler the more she responds. Once the anger loses its fire, Sara moves her hands to his waist and she grabs onto his shirt.
When breathing becomes a problem, their lips part slightly. They each breathe heavily and search the other’s eyes. Grissom, wanting to make sure Sara is alright with what he did, begins to talk, “Sara…”
She puts one hand behind his head and pulls him toward her. “No,” she moans bringing his mouth to hers for another kiss. She doesn’t want him to stop and think, scared that he might not finish what he started.
The first kiss was just a meeting of lips. This one starts out with Sara sucking his lower lip into her mouth and running her tongue along it, causing Grissom to let out a low growl. He immediately retaliates by latching on to her upper lip with his mouth. But it’s not enough for him, and soon his tongue is running between her lips along her teeth seeking entry. Gladly, she grants him access.
Sara’s hands move from his waist, up over his chest, to his neck, with one hand fondling the curls at his nape and reaching upward through his hair, the other resting just below his Adam’s apple, her thumb unconsciously running along the skin there.
While Sara’s hands move up, Grissom’s move down. They gently move over her skin and clothing, starting down along her neck to her chest. When they reach her breasts, his left hand stays to cover one, but the right continues down to her waist, and he wraps his arm around her. Sara moans with the increased contact and responds by pushing her body closer, giving him permission to touch her more. He begins to knead the breast under his grasp, but soon decides he needs more. In an instant, Grissom abandons her breast and starts pulling up her shirt. Sara quickly takes her hands away and they stop kissing only long enough to remove her shirt. As soon as it’s off, their lips crash together once again and their hands continue to explore one another. Desperate to feel his skin against hers, she roughly tugs on his shirt. Grissom is quick to take the hint, and after deftly removing her bra, they release once more and his shirt is gone. Their bare chests touch for the first time causing them both to moan loudly through their captured mouths.
Grissom consciously steps in closer to her, and without explanation Sara is gone from his sight and grasp. Bewildered, he looks around and suddenly realizes that somehow while they were kissing, he moved them into his bedroom. He’s still looking around in confusion when Sara reaches up from the bed to give his arm a tug; bringing his mouth back to hers.
As they kiss, Grissom keeps pushing against her, trying to get closer to her, until she is halfway laying on the bed. Sara slowly works her way completely onto the bed while Grissom crawls over her and starts attacking her neck; licking and kissing his way down to her breasts.
Sara reaches the pillow as Grissom’s tongue comes into first contact with her nipple. In that instant, the only thought in her head is to get him closer. She puts one hand behind his head to keep him at her breast, and the other around the middle of his back to pull him flush against her.
She is suddenly aware of the feel of his erection pressing into her leg, straining against his pajama pants. Since her own arousal erupted in full strength at the moment their bare chests first touched, she knows this isn’t going to last, nor is she willing to wait any longer.
The elastic band on his pajamas makes it easy for her to push them down and run her hands over his butt. Unable to resist, she gives it a squeeze as she quickly works to remove the pants from his body. Her long legs surrounding him as she runs her feet over the backs of his legs, pushing the pants off as she goes.
Grissom groans and abandons her breasts to move lower; kissing his way down to her pants, which he unzips and pulls off in a rush. He skips over the part her panties are still covering and explores every inch of her luscious legs, taking her socks off in the process. His actions elicit a low moan from her as she squirms beneath him.
He slides his hand inside her panties to explore her hidden folds when her hand stops him. He looks up at her. Sara desperately pulls his body up until his face is just above hers. “Please…I need you now.”
He kisses her passionately and straddles her to get her panties off. Since she won’t let him use his hands to see how ready she is, he thrusts against her causing his penis to slide through her weeping folds. When the tip of his head hits her clit, she cries out his name.
“Grissom!”
Satisfied that she really is ready for him, he reaches down between them to guide himself into her. But just as his head touches at the brink, he stops, finally remembering one very important thing; he doesn’t have any condoms. They are going to have to stop. He’s afraid he won’t be able to muster the strength to stop now, but he definitely doesn’t want to get her pregnant…yet.
He squeezes his eyes shut, pulls back slightly and huffs, “Sara, I don’t-…”
“I’m on the pill,” she says as she pulls him closer to her.
Grissom gives a growl of satisfaction; never more glad of her unique ability to read his mind. Unable to wait any longer, he thrusts into her. The sensation of being buried deep within her hot and ready walls is almost too much, and he has to hold still to keep from losing it fast, his face in her neck, and his breathing heavy.
Her legs wrap around him. “Gris, please.” Her own breathing heavy and her voice not much more than a gasp.
“Gil,” he sighs into her neck.
She pulls his head up to look in his eyes. “What?”
“Gil,” he manages to get out between breaths while looking deep into her eyes. “My name is Gil.”
She kisses him passionately. “Gil, please don’t stop now.”
He moans in delight and begins slowly thrusting into her, but that doesn’t last long. They quickly pick up the pace. With her head thrown back as far as it can go, exposing the full length of her neck, Gil gives into the temptation and buries his face in her neck, kissing and licking every inch of it.
Their breathing rapidly increases and their bodies begin sliding together perfectly as their moans blend with the delicious slapping of skin on skin. He feels her tense around him before she actually tells him she’s getting close, and it’s a good thing too, because he isn’t sure how much longer he can hold on.
He raises his head to watch her face. “Gil,” she screams as she reaches the peak. Grissom has never seen her look more beautiful than in the throes of passion. He follows soon after, grunting as his seed enters her.
Spent, he collapses on top of her and rolls onto his back, taking her with him. They both lay there trying to get their breath back; her head on his chest just under his chin, his arms holding her tightly to him.
After his breathing has calmed down enough for speech, he looks down at her and softly says, “I guess this means I’m not too late.”
Sara laughs and he can feel it in his arms and chest just as much as he can hear it.
“Sara?”
She hears the seriousness in his tone, so she raises her head to look in his eyes. He cups the side of her face with his hand and rubs along her cheek with his thumb. Giving her a small kiss, he says, “I know what I want now.”
Through a weary but contented smile, she asks, “What’s that?”
“You…with me…for as long as you will allow.”
She grins and unshed tears begin to fill her eyes. “Griss…” she stops when he raises an eyebrow. “Gil…” He gives her a half smile that never fails to make her melt. “You better be sure…Because I am not letting go until one of us is dead. And I still have a lot of living to do.”
“Then we’re doing it together.” He kisses her softly. She lays her head back on his chest and they fall blissfully asleep.
*********************
Epilogue
One year later
Grissom and Sara stand in each others arms as they slowly sway while “She’s Got a Way” plays in the background. Greg, Nick, and Warrick are standing around together watching the couple.
“Billy Joel?” Nick comments. “I never would have guessed that one in a million years.”
“I know what you mean,” Greg interjects. “It just doesn’t seem like something they would both agree on.” He turns to Warrick. “Did anyone even get close to that in the pool?”
“Actually, Catherine did, but she didn’t put down a title, just the artist.”
“Doesn’t matter...I still won.” Catherine says as she walks up to the group of men, her dress flowing around her.
“But, Cath, how did you know?” Nick asks.
Greg points an accusing finger. “You were in on the planning, weren’t you? That’s how you knew.”
“No, I didn’t have any part in the planning.”
“But still…” Nick says. “Them? Billy Joel?”
Catherine puts her hand on Warrick’s arm. “Everyone has their inspiration, Nick.” She gives Warrick a kiss on the cheek, and he blushes. “Especially Grissom.”
They all look out at the husband and wife dancing alone on the floor, and watch them softly kiss as the song ends.