"Catherine, I-I love you."Even in his daydreams he knows he'll stutter. "I've always loved you."

"Gil, I don't know what to say..." He frowns and knows he's made a mistake. "... other than 'what took you so long'?"

He raises an eyebrow keeping a strong hold on his inner emotions.

"I-I"

"Please just shut up, you sound like an idiot when you stutter." With that she presses her pillow soft lips to his and he suddenly wishes he had taken the time to shave.

"Don't worry I think it makes you look rugged." So now she's a mind reader too?

He positions his mouth to kiss her deeper, but suddenly she pulls away. In the back of his mind he mourns the loss of her lips.

"Gil?" She looks at him as though he has just vanished into thin air.

"What's the matter, I'm right-"

"Hey, Grissom." This time her lips move, but it isn't her voice, it's a man's voice.

"Gil, hey, back to planet earth buddy. Grissom's eyes refocused and he noticed Nick waving his hand in front of his face.

"Hmm? Oh." He mumbled trying to hide the guilty blush spreading across his face.

Directly across the table from him he noticed the real Catherine, much more beautiful than the daydream Catherine, and more intimidating.

The woman across the table averted her eyes just in time as his looked toward her. No one knew that secretly she thought similar thoughts. Of course not many of them involved gushy love announcements or wild love scenes, she didn't spill emotions and if she could help it, it just wasn't worth being so vulnerable. What she pictured was a long conversation in which they both realize their true feelings, and afterward life is so much easier. Although what her true feelings were exactly she had no idea. It was slightly annoying to have that old feeling of indecision that belongs solely to crushing schoolgirls, but it was all that she felt when she looked in his guarded eyes. And so all they both could do was cast their minds to fantasy and steal glances at each other as Nick went on about DNA and they each made a mental note to find the chart he was talking about.