Hey guys, I realise its been forever since I posted my first fic, but I have pretty much every excuse under the sun! Went on holiday, moved house halfway across the country and started a new job. I was having trouble writing a second chapter to my songfic so decided to start a real story while I come up with ideas for that one.

Hope it's ok, I dont have a beta so all the mistakes are mine.

Again all the normal disclaimer stuff applies, I dont own CSI or any of its characters unfortunatley.

Enjoy

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Tossing the last of her gear into the locker Sara shut the door and turned to leave just as Catherine entered.

They were getting on better these days, Sara couldn't pin point when it was things changed but was very glad they did. Catherine is an amazing person, so bubbly and confident while still managing to be sensitive and caring. There were times Sara didn't know how she used to be able to live without her.

"Hey there, how was shift?" Catherine asked, smiling.

Sara returned the smile and shrugged "Just a B&E, you know the drill"

Catherine nodded and busied herself with sorting out what she needed from her locker.

"Hey Cath are you coming out for breakfast this week?" It had become a bit of a tradition that every Friday morning the team would go for breakfast together and maybe onto a bar for a few drinks.

A muffled reply came from the locker as she rooted around for that shirt she knew was in there somewhere. "uhhmm I have to drop Linds to school today, Nancy has an appointment or something.. Ah got it! I knew it was in there"

She turned round triumphantly grasping a bright blue shirt and began to head for the door. Turning in the doorway she flashed Sara one of her 'knock'em out' smiles, "but you know if you're up for it we should go for a drink later"

Sara felt her temperature rise, and nodded her agreement, praying to anyone who was listening that she wasn't going a lovely shade of red.

Catherine's grin told her no one was listening, and she looked to the floor until she heard heels clicking away down the corridor.

Shaking her head to herself, Sara wandered off in search of the rest of the guys.

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"Right then, we all set to head off?" Nick looked around at the table of nods, "awesome so who's gunna come to the bar? Rick I know I can count on you man! Sar?"

"Yup sure thing, as long as Greggo agrees to drive me home" Sara shot a cheeky grin at Greg.

"Weeelll.. I guess I could agree to that" Greg laughed and stood up to leave. "Coming Griss?"

"I think I'll leave you kids to it, I need to get to the bookstore. I have this fascinating book on order; it's all about th…"

"Ok then, good luck with that one!" Greg shot in quickly, eager to avoid a lecture.

Sara pulled her phone out of her pocket as the beep alerted her to a new message.

'Ditch the guys; meet me at Benny's in 15?'

Sara paused, confused for a second before typing her reply.

'What's up Cath?'

Almost instantly Sara's phone beeped again.

'Nothing, girls night out it'll be fun. See you there! C xx'

The team began to head off to their cars, "Hey guys, you know what actually I might give it a miss this week, I'm pretty shattered."

Sara knew it was a lame excuse but knew she had to satisfy her curiosity.

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Looking around the bar Sara spotted Catherine already up at the bar, chatting animatedly with the barman. She threw her head back laughing, her blonde hair swinging in loose curls around her face.

Sara sighed in a brief moment of jealousy, if only she could cause that reaction in Catherine.

Sara weaved her way through the scattered people and lightly placed a hand on Catherine's arm to announce her presence. "Hey Cath"

Catherine beamed and turned to Sara, "You came? Thank you!"

Sara nodded and shrugged nonchalantly, "Did I have an option?" She smirked and turned to the bar tender, "Can we get a couple of beers please?"

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Not much later Sara and Catherine were sat in a small booth with a growing collection of empty bottles.

"Nu-uhh, that's soo not true!" Sara stated.

"Yu huh, everyone knows it!" Catherine giggled, mentally wondering when she'd gone back to arguing like an 8 year old school kid.

"Grissom? Are you serious? Come on Cath why would I want to be with him? He's in love with bugs!"

Catherine downed her beer before continuing. "Not what I heard" She stuck her tongue out, and walked off to the bar.

Sara rolled her eyes at their childish banter and took a swig from her bottle, her eyes following the sway of Catherine's hips as she returned to the table with another pair of beers.

"Checking me out again Sidle?" she grinned setting a bottle in front of Sara.

Sara blushed for the second time that morning as she furiously racked her brain for a comeback, failing miserably.

Catherine gave Sara's shoulder a squeeze before sliding into the booth beside Sara.

"You know I was kidding right Sar?"

"Hmmm, I guess I'll let you get away with it just this once." Sara muttered pouting.

" Lets dance" Catherine suddenly decided, grabbing Sara's free hand and pulling her up before she had chance to protest.

By the time Sara had processed what Catherine had just said she was halfway to the dance floor and quickly slammed on the breaks.

"Don't think so Cath" Sara began trying to back up but Catherine was stronger than she looked.

It wasn't that Sara couldn't dance she just didn't think she could be that close to Catherine right now. She'd noticed lately that she was starting to think of Catherine as more than just a friend. Really not a good thing now considering how much they had both drunk.

"Come on Sara, you dance when we are out with the guys, don't be boring" She pulled on Sara's hand to try and get her moving again. Her blue eyes met with brown and she saw a panicked look flash across Sara's face as she shook her head quickly.

Catherine frowned slightly, confused as to what was going on. She moved closer to Sara and placed a hand on each hip, staring into her eyes. "What's up hun? Are you ok?" Catherine was concerned that she had done something wrong, this wasn't like Sara.

Sara felt Catherine's hands on her hips, burning through the fabric of her jeans. She looked at the floor uncomfortably to avoid the piercing blue eyes which were trying to read her.

The loud music and chattering voices of the bar faded out until the only thing Sara could feel was the heat which seemed to be radiating from Catherine's body. Sara's mind reeled with what it would be like to feel Catherine's hands on her skin; she took a deep breath trying to keep what little control she still had.

Suddenly the hands were gone and Sara came crashing back to the present, she looked up to see Catherine had gone. Sara scanned the bar anxiously wondering how Catherine could have disappeared so quickly. A flash of blonde hair on the other side of the dance floor caught her attention and she quickly followed, jogging while trying to avoid the people dancing.

Sara rounded a corner just in time to see the back door swing closed and grabbed the handle, there was no way she was going to mess up this friendship all over again, she had to find her.

Turning first left then right she noticed Catherine slumped against a wall by the dumpsters, her head back, looking up into the sky.

Sara approached slowly not wanting her to run off again.

"What now Sidle?" Catherine didn't even look over to her as she let out the stinging words. Sara flinched slightly and cautiously moved to stand in front of Catherine, blocking her escape.

"Look Cath, I'm sorry. Let's go back inside?" Sara pleaded with Catherine, hoping that she hadn't caused any lasting damage, though she knew she'd caused their relationship to take a step backwards.

Catherine sighed, finally looking at Sara. "I don't understand you Sara. We were getting on so well and then you go all hot and cold. One minute you're like my best friend and the next you clam up and won't even dance with me. I don't understand"

Sara didn't say anything just continued to stare at Catherine who carried on her rant, "What's going on with you Sara? Why does this have to be so hard? I can't do this anymore Sara, it just hurts too much. Either you're my friend or you're not and we go back to the way things were."

She paused, waiting for a reaction from Sara. When she got none she tentatively raised a hand, caressing Sara's cheek with her thumb. "Please Sara, talk to me? I know you hated things the way they were just as much as I did"

Sara leaned into Catherine's hand trying to process what Catherine was saying and form some kind of response. Catherine was giving her a chance to fix whatever had just happened and all she could concentrate on was the thumb moving in slow circles against her skin.

Sara let out a small sigh, closing her eyes, and put a hand against the wall beside Catherine's head to steady herself, trying to gather any scrap of composure she could muster. Instantly she realised this was a big mistake as she realised this put their faces mere inches apart.

She could feel Catherine's warm breath against her face and smell the musky vanilla of her shampoo.

Sara dared herself to open her eyes, meeting the intense gaze of the deep blue eyes in front of her. Her breath hitched as she noticed Catherine's tongue slowly glide across her lower lip subconsciously.

Catherine could feel Sara's body slowly inch closer, pressing her against the wall. This was defiantly new and her body responded before she could realise what was happening, pressing back against Sara and moving her free hand to Sara's waist.

Sara's eyes were openly full of lust as she mirrored Catherine and placed a hand on her cheek. She knew deep down that she shouldn't be in this situation but couldn't see past the beer-haze and the new found intimacy.

Before Sara could stop herself she found herself leaning forward, hand moving to run through Catherine's hair as their lips met.

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I'm hoping that wasn't too painful to read, I've always had a bit of a grammar deficiency. Anyway feel free to drop me a review and let me know what you think!