Title: Love Only a Wedding Can Provide

Summary: Grissom stared at the small card on his desk. It was white, with light green trim framing a photo of the woman he'd tried so hard not to fall in love with, and the man who had stolen her away from him.

Spoilers: Erm, all the Hank Peddigrew episodes, but especially "Crash and Burn"; "Play With Fire"; "Nesting Dolls"

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did, do you think I would let Jorja Fox leave!? I don't freakin' think so!

A/N: Ah, well. This is the first in a trilogy called "Wedding Wonders" and the second one will be up soon, (called Dancing at a Wedding) and the third one, well, don't hold out hope for it to be up in the near future. It hasn't even been written yet. (My bad!) Again, this was edited by Coffee Bean, so a giant thanks to her.

A/N 2: I have to thank Cheryl and her Grandma, actually, for coming up with the guy's name. I looked and looked and looked, and came up with nothing. Then I phoned up Cheryl and asked her for a guy's name, and voila! Her and her Grandma come up with a name. So thank you, you guys! Hugs! Other than that, read and enjoy.

Love Only a Wedding Can Provide

When he realized that he couldn't live another day without her, it was too late.

Standing alone in the small courtyard – with people mingling about, talking about the bride and groom and the impending nuptials – he thought back to when his life had changed forever.

A year and a half earlier…

It had started out innocently enough; his usual pangs of jealousy ripping through him when Sara mentioned that she was seeing someone. He hadn't known then that his life was going to be forever changed, and he didn't think Sara knew, either.

Months passed, and it didn't seem like Sara's relationship with the guy – Justin Cole – was dwindling at all. It seemed, in fact, that it was heating up, and that was sending bigger pangs of jealousy to every inch of his increasingly battered heart.

Then, just after Christmas, Sara walked into the break room with a smile that took his breath away and a new piece of jewelry.

"Guys!" she exclaimed happily. "Justin – he proposed!"

Grissom had heard of people having their hearts broken, but at that moment, when he realized that Sara was gone – that he'd lost her forever – he felt his heart shatter.

Catherine, Wendy, Mia, Sofia, and everyone else – guys included – were ecstatic about this news, and congratulated her.

The ring on her finger was, Grissom had to admit, magnificent. Just absolutely beautiful. And it suited her amazingly.

A stunning ring for a stunning woman, he'd thought bitterly to himself. I knew she wouldn't stay around long enough to love me forever. This is good for her. Someone her own age… same interests… same everything. She'll be happy with her life now.

Then why was he angrier and sadder than he had ever been in his life? Because you thought that maybe she would stick around long enough for you to get your act together, a taunting voice in his head replied.

Grissom gave her a small smile along with cool and polite congratulations, nothing more. He turned away before he could see her face fall at his lack of interest. If only he could show her now just how interested he really was.

He put on a neutral face, unwilling to let his coworkers see his inner emotional turmoil. He handed out the assignment slips, leaving Sara to work with everyone else on the team but him. It would be easier that way, he mused; he wouldn't have to see how happy she was with another man.

And that strategy had worked… for a little while, anyway. He'd gotten away with it, for a very long time. Over a year, it had been. Until of course, that fateful day when she cornered him in his office.

Stepping in without a knock, she turned and closed the door behind her – something she only did when it was really important – and didn't even bother to acknowledge him.

"Sara…?" Grissom asked cautiously. "What are…?"

Striding to the front of his desk, she placed both hands down and leaned over it to stare at him intently. They watched each other for God knows how long, and then Sara finally broke the silence by stepping back and holding her hand out towards him.

"We need to talk about this," she stated simply, gesturing with her diamond adorned hand.

Grissom stared at it for a moment, and then began to shuffle the papers on his desk. He did not want to have this conversation, not now, not ever. Not when nothing would come of it, anyway.

"Talk about what?" he asked, his voice coming out sharper than he had intended.

Seeing the pain flash across her eyes at his tone, he started to apologize, but she held a hand up for him to stop. "Don't bother, Grissom," she said coolly. "I just want to talk about this, and then I'm gone."

She sat down in one of the chairs facing his desk, and fixed him with her intense brown gaze. He couldn't look away, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Do you want to tell me why you've been avoiding me for the last little while?" Sara asked. Her anger at his avoidance of her was fueling her courage to confront him once and for all, and nothing he said or did would break her.

"I haven't been avoiding you," he countered, replying with a stare as intense as her own.

Sara swallowed, but somehow stayed focused. Those eyes did things to her that she didn't really want to examine too closely. She'd hoped it would stop after accepting Justin's proposal, and it'd subsided a bit, but right now the power of his eyes was back in full force. Possibly stronger.

"Grissom, you and I have not worked together on a case since before I met Justin… And that was more than a year ago!" she added as an afterthought.

Has it really been over a year since we worked together? she thought sadly. How could I have not realized?

"We've worked together," Grissom replied, frantically searching his brain for a case that they'd worked since Justin had entered their lives. He came up with nothing.

Sara stared at him, and felt her confidence wavering. Pulling out something from her purse, she laid it down on the desk between them. "Here, Grissom," she whispered quietly, hoping the softness would cover up the catch in her voice. "An invitation to the wedding."

She stood and made her way to the door. Before leaving, she turned around and gave him a small, hopeful smile. "I really hope you can come."

And with that, she was gone.

Grissom stared at the small card on his desk. It was white, with light green trim framing a photo of the woman he'd tried so hard not to fall in love with, and the man who had stolen her away from him.

Opening it with agonizing slowness, he read the invitation. It said;

Sara Sidle & Justin Cole

Saturday, July 21, 2007, 3:00 pm

Lake Mead Resort, 2708 Lake Drive

'In lieu of gifts; please donate to the Foster Children of Nevada'

It went on to say some more things, like directions to the resort, but Grissom's eyes were glued to their request. Please donate to the children of Nevada. That was so much like Sara; he couldn't keep the grin from forming on his face in sad amusement.

Reality crashed down around him however, when he realized that he was holding an invitation to Sara's wedding. Not their wedding, but hers… with someone else. Another man. A different man. Not him.

He threw down the invitation and sat back in his chair. Sara was gone. This was it. She'd left him, and had taken a part of him with her. A part that he knew he'd never get back.

His heart.

Two months later…

He'd known he had to make an appearance at the wedding, and was now standing alone in the courtyard. People were milling about, getting excited for the ceremony set to begin in just a few minutes.

Grissom could feel wave after wave of emotions roll through him, but didn't dare look at them too closely. It didn't matter what he felt for Sara now, she'd moved on. And so should he.

But he just couldn't. He could not – would not – just forget her. How could he? Her beautiful smile; her intense brown eyes; her incredible intelligence…

He couldn't forget her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. He didn't want to live without her anymore. He was in love with her. He always had been.

Sara had told him once, that when he figured out what to do about them, he'd be too late. And, as it turns out, she was right. He was too late.

Dangerously close to wallowing in self pity now, he didn't even notice the ripple in the crowd or the tension that crackled throughout the air.

Grissom could hear mumbles of the wedding being called off… canceled… but none of it went past the fogginess in his brain until Catherine strode purposefully up to him and lightly smacked him on the arm.

"Gil," she hissed, intensity in her eyes like none other he had seen before. "The wedding's off."

Hastily pushing away the surge of happiness he felt at her words, he became confused – and concerned – for Sara's sake. "What? Why? What are you talking about?" he sputtered, trying to make sense of it all.

Catherine shrugged and gave him an apologetic look. "I don't know, Gil. I don't even know where Sara is. Someone from the wedding party just came out a few minutes ago, saying that it wasn't going to happen."

Grissom just stared at her, unable to come to grips with what she was telling him. "What?" he repeated.

She glared at him. "Gil!" she said, exasperated. "The. Wedding. Is. Off." Talking slowly, she hoped he would get it this time around.

"Oh."

"Is that all you can say?" she asked, her voice dangerously low.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, his confusion becoming more and more evident.

Catherine let out a small string of swears and turned on her heel away from him. "Sara is hurting right now. I don't know what happened, but I do know that she was the one to call it off. Go find her." She turned back to push him in the direction of the hotel behind them. "Now."

OoOoOoO

Grissom found Sara's hotel room by way of the front desk clerk. It took some persuasion, but he finally convinced the wary clerk that he was a good friend. Apparantly Justin had betrayed her badly and Sara had requested complete privacy.

That was somewhat of a lie, he and Sara weren't exactly friends anymore. She probably just felt obligated to invite him because they worked together. That thought shot pangs of sadness throughout him.

What have I done to our relationship? he wondered sadly. Our friendship? Will we ever be able to get back to the way we were? Will we ever be able to move past it, into something more?

Blindly finding his way to her room, he found it locked. Knocking lightly, he called "Sara? Are you okay?"

He heard a small whimper come from the other side of the door, but couldn't make out what she had said.

"Sara?" he called again. "Honey, what's wrong?"

The door opened abruptly, revealing an image that broke his heart. Her face was full of black streaks – courtesy of her running mascara. Her eyes were darker than he'd ever seen, and she looked sadder than he ever thought was possible. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and never let her go.

"What do you want?" she asked in a small voice.

"I heard…" Grissom started, but stopped at the look on her face. "Can I come in?"

"Why do you want to?" she asked, unmoving.

"Because I want to make sure that you're okay," he whispered, almost unable to look at her heartbroken face.

"Well, I'm not okay," she snapped, moving to shut the door, but Grissom caught it.

"Sara, let me in. Let's talk about it." He pushed the door gently away from her, and made his way into the room.

Sara moved away from the door, and watched him take in her room with his eyes. The last person she wanted to see right now was Grissom, but another part of her – the part of her driven by her heart and its love for him – wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and have him take her pain away and tell her everything would be alright.

Wrapping her arms around her stomach in a protective gesture, she sat down slowly on the bed. Grissom came to stand in front of her, and then kneeled down to look at her.

"Sara," he said gently, "what happened?"

Unable to control them anymore, more tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving long, wet black tracks. Grissom stood up to move onto the bed beside her, and wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

Reveling in the warmth of his embrace, Sara allowed herself to fully turn her body into him, and let him try and take her pain away. He reached a hand up and wiped the tears away.

"He was with someone else," she whispered suddenly. "He… he…"

"What, honey?" Grissom asked gently.

Finding her strength from somewhere, she said, "Justin, I went looking for him, and he… he…"

"He what?"

"He was with another girl. Kissing her," she answered, hiding her face in his shoulder. "He cheated on me!" she exclaimed, as if only just coming to that realization now.

"He cheated on you?" Grissom repeated, incredulous.

"Yeah…" Sara said slowly. Then, the tears threatened again. "Why?"

"What a bastard," Grissom swore, struggling to keep his anger in check. "What a sick stupid son of a –"

Sara's own swearing cut him off. "Damn him!" she said in a low voice, her anger and broken heart boiling. "Damn him, and Hank, and every other man on this earth!"

"Shh, Sara," Grissom soothed, gently rocking them back and forth, and ignoring the fact that she had just cursed him. He tried not to take it too personally.

Then, as if just realizing he was there, she turned to him, and said, "Wait, Griss, you didn't hear that, did you? Oh God… you did. I didn't mean you. I don't want you to leave… please don't leave me… Griss… Grissom… don't…" she whispered, her voice full of tears.

"Sara, I won't leave you. Not now, not ever," he promised. "I –"

"Grissom," she choked on his name. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you with Justin… I didn't…"

He shook his head.

"Why did you come to the wedding?" she asked suddenly, changing the subject abruptly.

The words that he'd known he needed to say came tumbling from his lips, but they didn't scare him as much as he thought they would.

"Because I love you."

Sara stared at him, absolutely certain that she had heard incorrectly. "What?"

Grissom took a deep breath before continuing. "I came to your wedding, Sara, because it is – was – supposed to be the happiest day of your life. And, since you'd moved on, I wanted to make sure you knew I was okay with it, even if I'm really not. I wasn't going to ruin your day for you, honey. I wanted to make sure that you were happy with the man you decided to spend the rest of your life with. Guess I was wrong, huh? "

Sara choked back a sob. "Why?" she whispered.

Pulling her to him, and placing a kiss in her hair, he replied just as quietly, saying, "Why what, sweetheart?"

"Why are you telling me this now?" she wanted to know, her voice growing stronger.

"Because you're hurt right now, Sara, you're broken. I can see that." He ignored the flash of fear that crossed her eyes at being known. "And I wanted – no, I needed – you to know that I'm here for you, and that I'll always be here for you, as long as you want me."

He didn't tell her that if she ever decided that she didn't want him, he'd waste away into nothingness, become just an empty shell, with no heart to speak of, for she would have taken it with her.

"Grissom," she said, collapsing into him. "I'm sorry… sorry for everything…"

"Shh, honey… it's okay, it's over now. You don't have to ever see Justin again."

Then, as if on cue, the hotel room door swung open to reveal a man looking as lost and broken as Sara.

"Sara?" Justin gasped, stumbling into the room to find his fiancé in the arms of another man. "What are you doing? What are you doing with… with, with this guy?"

Grissom stood from the bed and – feeling a protective streak run through his body – stepped in front of the woman he loved. "Justin," he said, his voice an icy calm, "I think you should leave now. This wedding is off."

Justin stood shocked just inside the room, looking from his bride to the man standing in his way. "Sara? Sara, baby, what… what is he…?"

"Just leave," she whispered, her face hidden behind her hands. "Leave. Now. I don't want to see you again."

He moved deeper into the room, much to Grissom's dismay. Kneeling before the crying brunette, he put a hand to her face, ignoring her flinch at his touch.

Grissom watched from the sidelines, fighting his emotions. He wanted to take this guy and rip him limb from limb for hurting Sara the way he had. He wanted Justin to feel the same amount of physical pain that Sara was feeling emotionally. He wanted to –

"Look, Justin!" Sara finally shouted, breaking into Grissom's thoughts. "You cheated on me, and I won't marry someone who does that!"

Sara's pain had finally subsided somewhat, only to be replaced with a boiling anger that was much worse than what she'd been feeling before. Grissom almost felt sorry for the guy, being on the receiving end of Sara's anger. Almost.

"What?" Justin asked, confused. "I didn't cheat on you, Sara… baby, no, I would never do that… I love you!"

Sara's mouth opened and closed a few times, struggling for something to say. "Don't try and deny it! I saw you! You were with that woman, and she was all over you! Kissing you… feeling you… loving you…" she trailed off sadly.

Justin sat on the bed beside her, and pushed some escaping hair out of her eyes. "Sara? That was Roxanne Bluez. She's an ex-girlfriend of mine. My parents invited her to the wedding because we're family friends. I broke up with her in college. I haven't seen her in years. She kissed me, but I pushed her away. I don't love her, Sara, I love you."

Grissom's heart broke again hearing Justin's words and seeing Sara's understanding. He couldn't let Sara go, not now, not ever. He loved her, he would never again lose her to another man…

Sara looked up into Justin's eyes. "Okay, Justin," she said, standing up. "I believe you." She gave him a heart-stopping smile. "But there's one more thing."

The smile that had lit up Justin's face fell. "What's that?" he asked warily.

Sara stood up and crossed the room to stand before Grissom. Looking at him, but speaking to Justin, she said, "The wedding is still off."

Grissom's eyes lit up as Justin's clouded over. This was the best thing Grissom had heard all day, and the worst for Justin.

"Sara…" he mumbled, trying to comprehend why she was still calling it off if she understood that the kiss was nothing. "Why…? I told you… it was nothing…"

"And I believe you," she assured him, turning away from Grissom's captivating gaze. "You told me it was nothing and I believe you when you say that."

"But…"

"Shh…" she whispered to him. "Justin, I love you. I really do. But, that love isn't enough for me to marry you. This is going to be hard for you to hear, and I'm sorry in advance."

Justin gave her a watery smile. "That really doesn't sound good."

Sara replied by giving him a smile of her own. "I love you, Justin, I do. But now when I think about it, that love has turned into one of sibling love. It's just that I'm not in love with you. My heart belongs to someone else."

She turned back to Grissom and looked him straight in the eye. "It always has."

Grissom flushed visibly and grinned, happy to hear her words.

Justin sighed and let his head fall. "I guess I always knew that, deep down," he said, sounding sad. "I saw the way you looked at this guy. You feel something for him you could never feel for me."

Sara smiled sadly, glad that he understood. "Justin…"

"No, Sara," he said gently, coming towards her. "I understand. You can only be in love with one person. Only sometimes, it doesn't work both ways."

Stepping into his outstretched arms, she gave him a hug. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "And I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he told her, pulling back. "Everything will work out."

Justin let go of Sara and made his way slowly over to Grissom. "Well," he said, a grin spreading across his features, "I guess I should totally be pissed at you for stealing my bride… but I'm not."

He extended his hand to the older man. "Sara is an amazing woman," he said, staring at Grissom. "And the man who holds her heart should be eternally grateful."

"I am," Grissom said, knowing just how lucky he was that Sara had given him a second chance and that Justin wasn't planning to dump his body in the desert this very second.

"Good. I hope you can see just how lucky you really are. I'll leave you two alone now, but before I go, Mr. Grissom, I have one more thing to say."

Grissom nodded his consent.

"Take good care of her," he said warningly, and Grissom was equally solemn.

"I understand. Sara is the most important person in my life, and she will be properly taken care of. I promise," Grissom assured him.

Justin nodded, apparently happy with the response. Turning once more to Sara, he bent his head to kiss her cheek. "Good luck, baby," he said, and then he was gone.

Sara touched the spot on her cheek and turned to Grissom. Staring back at her was the man she had loved for over a decade, and all his feelings were shown in those expressive blue eyes that she adored so much.

They watched each other for a moment, maybe two, maybe even three; Sara wasn't entirely sure. But when they connected in the middle, she knew her life had finally taken a right turn and that the promise Grissom had made to Justin would be forever followed through.

Their bodies molded together, the kiss promising so much more than words could ever express. It was in that moment when Sara realized that even though her wedding had been called off, there was still someone out there willing to love her, and to take care of her when things got rough. She realized that the disaster-turned-happy-ending had still brought her love from the most important person.

And that person was Grissom.

Finally.

-The End-

I hope everyone in Canada had a great Thanksgiving, by the way, and that you all had an awesome weekend! Happy Thanksgiving, you guys!