Rating: K

Summary: Bunching up her wedding dress, Sara climbed out the window. Response to an old Unbound Challenge Prompt. Fluff. Lots and lots of fluffy fluff.

Cold Feet

By Vega Dreamer

Bunching up her wedding dress, Sara climbed out the window. She didn't know exactly where the phrase "cold feet" had originated, but whoever had coined the phrase, was a moron. Her feet didn't feel cold at all, it felt more like her heart had ceased to pump blood, making everything tingle and bunch up.

Just a few minutes, a quick walk, and she would feel better she told herself. She found a grassy area with a lone tree a few blocks from the chapel and sat under it. The heat of the mid-California day was relaxing. The sun was shining directly on her. It wasn't too humid or stuffy, it was a perfect day, weather-wise.

Sara thought about everything. The day, the wedding, the groom. She wanted to get married, and she really loved him, but seeing all her friends and acquaintances enter the church made her feel like Maggie from Runaway Bride. Like everyone expected something from her that she couldn't give, and they all expected her to fail.

An hour later, and Sara was still sitting under the tree, thinking. They would have noticed that she was missing by now, it was inevitable. Someone would come looking for her, see no trace, and tell everyone else that she had skipped out. The thought of the look of pain on his face when he heard that she'd run, was enough to make her eyes tear up. Sara closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the bark of the tree. What was her problem?

If she was honest with herself, she would admit that what Greg had mentioned to her a few weeks before really had affected her. He'd mentioned that Ecklie had been gossiping. And it turned out that her impending wedding was the "hot" topic of conversation.

"They'll make it a year before they get tired of each other. She's too much of a hot-head, and he's too set in his ways for them to work out," Ecklie had been telling anyone who would listen that wasn't on the nightshift, "I don't think that I would be surprised if they clashed so badly that one of them ended up killing the other."

It was the "murder gene" fear all over again. What if they did get tired of each other? Marriage was supposed to be a sure-fire way to destroy passion in a relationship. And after all the passion was gone, what would be left of them but two people stuck inside a dead end relationship? And Sara knew from experience that when people got stuck, they often resorted to desperate acts; such as murder.

A shadow fell across her face, something was blocking her sunlight. Sara opened her eyes to find Grissom standing over her. He smiled down at her, and sank down into the grass.

He observed her a moment before speaking, "You look very beautiful." He paused, measuring his words before speaking, "I've always thought myself that indoor weddings were overrated. So somehow I just knew that I'd find you somewhere with trees. Outdoor weddings are much more natural. Especially when you're covered in grass stains."

Sara smiled. She knew how much he loved her, and she loved him. Even if there were risks to getting married, she just couldn't see them having any sort of falling out. And since when was Ecklie right? Grissom obviously loved her enough to come looking, and now he was sitting in the grass with her in his three hundred dollar tux, talking about having their wedding outside.

"You still want to get married?" Sara asked.

Grissom laughed, "Of course! It doesn't matter when. I just want to spend the rest of my life to you. And if that means that we don't get married, I'm fine with that too. Its me and you that matters. The "us". It doesn't matter how we're together." Grissom kissed her.

Sara smoothed her dress over her legs. He was right. The two of them being together was all that mattered. "Is everyone still here that came down for the wedding?"

"Yup. Everyone seemed sure that you would be coming back. Especially after Greg told us about Ecklie."

Sara leaned back against the tree. "Outdoor weddings are a lot more natural. This seems like it would be a very good spot to tie the knot. Especially with this beautiful tree." Sara stood up, bringing Grissom with her, "I love trees."