This was not the greatest move on his part. He had many different options, yet what he had chosen was definitely not the right one. For someone who always spends a fair amount of time analyzing all methods and turns he made a lot of stupid mistakes.
Gil did not know why this kept happening to him, he rarely let things like this happen but this time it happened two nights in a row. His mind constantly thought this, but his body ignored the complaints of his head, it wanted only to smell Sara's hair, and touch and roam her body. His body wanted to feel her body and never let go.
He hadn't slept during the night, of this he was glad for he enjoyed feeling her warm breathe brush against his chest, and hear the small moans she made as she dreamt. His fear was time, in a short time Sara's eyes would need light, and the same awkward moment he'd spent with Sophia would pan out.
"Hi." Her voice was soft, her body faced his, but her eyes met only his chest. Gil waited for the moment were she would push her self away from him. Yet her actions did not test his fear, she pushed her body closer to him and dug her face closer into his chest, her hold of his arm wrapped tighter and roamed up from his elbow to his shoulder.
"Hi." It was then that he rested and it became her turn to feel him.
---
The pager interrupted their moment; if Grissom considered it lucky he was not sure. Having to move made it easier to go along with the day and not reference the night, but he wanted so much to tell her that this night was better that any he'd recently had.
It was her pager that vibrated wildly, followed by her cell phone-ringing if the deepness of his couch. Finally, the call was made to Grissom who was on call for the night, but it was swing swift hours.
"Something bad?" Sara stated returning to the room with her phone and pager in hand. Grissom was on his phone with Brass listening attentively.
"Yes, I will get in touch with her… Don't worry, I always know where to find her." He looked at her as he spoke, direct eye contact, obviously he was talking about her. "Not tonight… No problem."
He smiled up at her, still looking into her dark almost black eyes. "You are wanted at Ecklie's office."
"Something bad." Her voice smiled but it did so nervously. "I guess I should go…"
"I'll take you. No reason why you should take a cab."
---
The morning was not at all awkward. It just happened as if it happened every morning. He recalled a night several months back where had spent the night in her bed, he felt guilty when he kissed her, – her lips tasted of Rum. He took advantage of her impaired state and spent the night holding her feeble naked body.
Picking her up at police station gave him a sort of relief. Yes, he felt horrible to think that way but it was the best way to describe it. The relief in the situation came one from her safety and two that he could be there for her.
She was not in the worst state of being. Emotionally that was an understatement, but physically she was only a bit more than tipsy.
"Are you pissed?" Her tongue couldn't form words perfectly. "… No! You are not pissed… you're disappointed."
She said this as Gil helped her into his car. He shook his head but she did not see. He buckled her in, trying to imagine how she was able to get into her own seat belt. Relief… again, he felt relief.
"Yes you are right Sara. I am disappointed, but not pissed." She seemed calm and almost happy sitting in the front seat with her hands flatly on her lap, and drunk.
"I'm sorry you feel that way…"
Grissom had to make a decision and he only had two blocks of driving to make it. He decided not to take her home, yet. His stop was at bar. It was too late for there to be too many drunks left. He added one to the building.
"What are we doing here? Gris… Do we want to do this? Are we getting smashed?" She was laughing, slightly but still laughing. Grissom loved it.
"Yes I think we are."
The night quickly became forgettable. Yet it was not because the night was a disaster, because it was far from it. She remembered laughing a lot; she started laughing when they first entered the bar but soon after she could not clear up any details. He remembered taking too many shots. Sara was spit balling out the names of all these different types of shots. He had everyone she could think of.
He could still recall walking home, she could barely take a step; he could not walk a line. She called it genius that he picked a bar so close to her place. Actually, all she said was "genius" but he knew what she meant.
Once she finally found her keys and unlocked the door, he followed her every step inside the apartment. He was so close to her that he was easily able to catch her every time she stumbled. She walked right over to her bed, which was only ten steps from the door. Everything in her apartment was ten steps away from the door, max.
Poor thing he always thought. She had no space to move or think. She seemed trapped. This is where it got blurry for him, in the thought that she was trapped.
He remembered her lying on the bed, and with her face pressed against her pillow she removed every piece of her clothing. It was not at all sexy. It was more of a struggle. But Grissom was too drunk to realize her struggle. He did not know how he managed to get her in his arms but he knew the scent of her hair.
He lay like that all night. He felt her body completely. He felt happy. He kissed her, her lips tasted like rum. She could barely move her mouth, and he really regretted deciding to get pissed.
He fell asleep nervous as hell for the morning, but it was going to happen anyway, so he touched her all over.
---
Surprisingly she was smiling, that beautiful smile she for some reason refused to put away.
"You seem too excited for this meet with Ecklie."
"I don't think I'm guilty of anything… I have no real reason to be worried. I mean it has been awhile since I went ape shit on him. That was almost two months ago." Her smile changed then, into one of worry. He never meant to cause that shift, he actually was solely trying to make conversation. He just wanted to keep the conversation moving.
She couldn't be losing her job, since she got back things were moving along quite well. Catherine and she were civil to one another when their shifts overlapped. She had barely conversed with Ecklie but when she did, she remained professional. She even tried to work well with Sophia.
The thought that creped into Sara's face took her grin away immediately. Grissom noted the change. Why had he said anything?
"You don't think Sophia has any thing to do with this?" The question seemed so random. What in the hell what she was thinking? Why did she think she had anything to do with anything?
"Sophia? Why? What does she have with… Why?" He didn't mean to stumble on his words, he was just too nervous not to.
"Well, she and I can't seem to get along. You might be trying to find a way to fuck with me." Before he could feel the burn, she corrected herself. "He… I meant Ecklie… and I did not mean to swear."
She smiled knowing it was not a subconscious mistake. She knew that something in Gil Grissom was fucking with her. Even if Thanksgiving was only a rumor she could sense what Grissom was doing. Sara did not want to smile any more.
"Well, I'll walk you to the office." Grissom offered as he pulled into the lab.
"No, I don't want you to." She said flatly.
"Okay, but I'll be in my office, come by and I'll drop you off at home. I'll call the locksmiths too." He spoke so genuinely that she let some of her bitterness subside.
"Thanks for last night." If he had not put his hand of her lap, she probably would have made a terribly destructive comment about Thanksgiving. However, his hand landed on her lap and it did not just sit there but he caressed her up and down, from her knee to her thigh. She didn't say anything about Sophia.
---
"Why are you so difficult to get into a room Sidle?" Ecklie had never wasted his breath saying 'hello' therefore Sara did not waste her breath at all.
"I called you here because I got a phone call from your ex boss in San Francisco. He called saying he expressed a package to you to arrive here… into our evidence vault. It came this morning along with a letter that has been explained to me in advanced… Don't be stubborn Sara… you really might want to be sitting down for this."
---
Before Sara had walked into Ecklie's office she was only thinking about one thing. The day she told Grissom about her dead father and her mother who was paying for it. Even though the memory evoked another one, she pushed it back to think of only Grissom and the way he held her that day. After taking her hand for a minute Gil pulled her into his entire body. She cried in his shoulder for hours. He took care of her; she owned her career and her sanity to the way he held her.
Her thigh tingled as she walked into Ecklie's office.
---
Every sound that came from outside turned his heart. He expected Sara to come around the corner any moment but it was always just a random sound. Well not always, once it was Sophia, not knocking on the door but just walking in.
Sara always knocked, and if she didn't she respected Gil enough to stay by the doorframe. Sophia was in his face before he could even register that Sara had not arrived yet.
"Hey, I was about to call you but I decided to check if you were here first… Is this a bad time?" He wanted so badly the scream YES. YES it is a BAD time! But he felt horrible right after. It was never her fault. He had no right to resent her.
"No, what is it that you need?" He tried to let his emotion come forth in his voice.
"I wanted to have diner with you tonight at my place. No drinks… I also thought I would be a good time to give you back your briefs." The familiar faint knock came with the last to syllables of Sophia's words.
"Grissom I'm taking a cab to my apartment. So don't worry about it. I'll see you both in a couple hours." Her tone was soft, meek even. It gave away the distain she was feeling.
Gil accepted Sophia's invitation.
