Evolve
By Dream Descends
The change was subtle, and perhaps the reason no one else mentioned it was that only she noticed it. Only she had known him well enough, known which pocket he kept his glasses in, which side of his face he shaved first, which dishes he had underlined in the Thai takeout menu he kept next to his microwave.
But the Grissom she knew wouldn't have taken that step forward—she wouldn't have had to put her hand out, and even as she did, it surprised her. Grissom would have nodded and paused to see that she was healthy, her hair was the same style and all her limbs were intact? Then he would quietly move on, waiting for later to greet her more eloquently, if he would at all.
He wouldn't have stared at her like that, like even the smudges of filth on her face fascinated him, like he really didn't give a damn what Hodges might say to Ecklie or that half the team was two seconds away by car. His smile would have been a sidelong acknowledgement of a mutual arrangement. Instead, a grin intimate enough to make her hands tremble as she stepped into the locker-room shower, foolhardy enough to make her actually wonder what he might have done if she hadn't been the responsible one, put their jobs before their lives, stumbling backwards in an attempt to locate their abruptly distorted safety zone.
It had been a roar in comparison to their previously whispered relationship. It had been courage enough to rub off on her, as she briefly returned the blatant look and moved outside her boundaries to join him. Her neurotic side might berate her later, but that lingering undercurrent of expectations, even eagerness, in the way he held himself was a contagious disease.
She was convinced even before she went to the trouble to try and persuade herself. But it wasn't until later that she pressed herself flush against the idea and caught him just out of the break room. She murmured four weeks, her lips delivering his comeuppance, and he curved around her like a cocoon. Two years, he replied. It was about time.
FIN
Author's Note: I think I honestly have about four or five different versions of this written up, but this was the first one that seemed to flow suitably for me. The others are a lighter, sarcastic GSR that suits the surface of the scene, but that's not what I wanted to write about. I hope I did them justice in your eyes--please do review and let me know!