Beyond Lovers
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
A/N: This little ficlet assumes that somewhere in their past, Grissom and Catherine were together. The basicidea came to me after listening to Gwen Stefani's "Cool".
Catherine watched the happy couple dance across the room with ease. The bride was beaming as Etta James belted out "At Last". Catherine thought about how appropriate the song was for the newlyweds. Sara sure had waited long enough for her love and she was glowing. Catherine polished off her fourth glass of champagne and as other couples joined the bride and groom on the dance floor, she found herself in Nick's arms.
"Are you ok?" Nick whispered into her ear, pulling her closer to him.
Catherine leaned back and smiled at her friend.
"Yeah, Nicky, I'm fine," she replied, resting her chin on his shoulder. They danced until the end of the song and as the next one cued up, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"May I cut in?" Gil Grissom asked, smiling at her.
"Yeah, sure. Anything for the groom," Nick said, placing Catherine's hand in Grissom's.
Silently, Grissom took Catherine in his arms and matched their rhythm to the music.
"I think this song was written for you," Grissom whispered.
Catherine didn't answer him. She just listened to the words of the song. A man singing about a beautiful woman that he could never have.
"I didn't get a chance to talk to you last night at the rehearsal," Grissom said, still holding her close. "I wanted to thank you for being my best man, ah woman."
"It was my pleasure, Gil. I want you and Sara to be very happy," she said, finally looking into his eyes.
"We will. I love her very much," he said, glancing over at his wife, who was now dancing with Greg. "I wanted to tell you though, how much you mean to me. I wanted you to know that as much as I love Sara, there is always going to be a part of me that is in love with you."
"I know," she answered. "I will always feel the same way about you."
"I think it's wonderful, that after all that we've been through, we can still be friends. I hope that never changes," he said. "I believe that people come into our lives for a reason. I think that we were meant to be, Catherine, not as lovers, more than that, as soul mates."
"Even when we didn't work out, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy," she replied.
He glanced over at his bride and smiled, "She makes me very happy."
"That's all I could ask for," Catherine said, "I think that you should get back to her."
"Yeah," he replied. Returning her hand, he walked over and kissed Sara deeply on the lips.
Catherine stood there and thought about the conversation they had just had. Their friendship, their love, went beyond anything that she had ever thought possible. They would always be a part of each other, and no marriage certificate could ever take that away. Catherine grabbed another glass of champagne and a newly-divorced Warrick and hit the dance floor, she had a relationship to celebrate.