Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: K+
Time-line: Season 7, Episode: Empty Eyes
Warnings: None
Main Parings: GSR
Minor Parings: None
Other Characters: None

Chapter 6: Being there for her

Grissom was cutting up the tomatoes for the salad when Sara walked into the kitchen from the hall and she asked. "So, what can I do to help?"

He stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at her, and he smiled while saying. "Wow, look at you."

She was dressed up in one of her nicest dress suits with her hair in an up-do, a combo she doesn't show very often.

She smiled as she walked up to him. "Who says you can't look nice when you're having your date at home."

He smiled wider as he placed the knife down and wrapped his arms around her waist before bringing her closer while whispering. "I almost regret asking you stay in for dinner."

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she asked with a smirk. "Really, and why is that?"

He replied back with love in his eyes. "So everybody can be jealous of me because I walked in the restaurant with the most beautiful woman in the world."

Sara shyly smiled as she looked down, shaking her head, even after all this time, it still makes her shy that he sees her like that. "Griss."

He leans towards her ear and whispered. "It's the truth. You might not see it, but I do, your beauty, inside and out makes me speechless, and I know I'm the luckiest man in the world that you're here with me, loving me." He took a breath as he finished. "How did that happen?"

When she finally looked up, she had tears in her eyes as she whispered while bringing him closer to her. "You just being you, loving me for me. Making me feel things I've never felt before. Being there for me, supporting me." She stopped as she leaned toward his lips. "The list could go on, but then I wouldn't be able to do something I always love doing."

"And what is that..."

He gets cut off when her lips touched his, not that he minded though, and was kissing her back a second later.

When they pulled back after several minutes, she whispered. "You know we can just skip the dinner part and go right to dessert."

He chuckled as he pulled back. "We seem to do that a lot."

She smirked, but her eyes were filled with passion. "You got a problem with that, Dr. Grissom?"

He shook his head. "No, dear." Then he took a breath before finishing sincerely. "But I would love to serve you dinner sometime, ok?"

She nodded with a smile as she removed her arm from his neck and cupped his clean-shaven cheek. "You got it, you know I live for those moments too, it isn't all about the bedroom scene, as amazing as those times are."

He nodded with a smile. "I know that, honey."

After a tender kiss, they pull back and she cleared her throat before asking the question she had asked when she walked in the room. "So, what can I do?"

"Set the table, please?"

She nodded as they pulled apart, but as she walking towards the cupboard, Grissom's phone starts to ring from the kitchen counter, and he spoke with a sigh after seeing who was calling. "On second thought, you might not have to." He answers the phone a second later. "Grissom."

When he was done with the conversation, he ends the call before turning to look at her, and she just nodded as she walked up to him. "It's ok."

"Sara, I'm..."

She cuts him off with a smile as she cupped his cheek. "Hey, this isn't our first canceled date because of work, and we both know it won't be the last."

"I know, but I feel bad every time it happens."

"I know that too, but what else are we suppose to do? You can't ignore the call." He nodded before she slipped her hand into his. "Come on, I might as well change clothes too."

After they walked into the room, and as they were changing, he asked. "Do you ever think of not being a CSI anymore?"

She paused for a second before replying with a smirk. "Maybe when we get calls that screw up our plans because some idiot decides to do a senseless act." He gave her a little smirk back before she asked. "What about you?"

He sighed as he sat at the end of the bed so he could put on his shoes. "I've been a CSI for over 20 years, I don't think I could imagine doing anything else."

Sara sits down next to him on the bed as she replied. "Yeah, but you love teaching, and I know how much you enjoyed the Williams opportunity." She then finished with a loving smile. "Outside of the missing me part, of course."

He cupped her cheek as he finished with a smile. "Tell me about it, that part I could have done without." He then took a breath before finishing. "You're right though, I do love teaching, but, I've never been a full time teacher before, so that part would be a new experience for me."

When she saw his eyes light up a little, she continued. "And?"

He paused for a second before replying. "And maybe it's an experience I won't mind trying one day."

"You never know what could happen in the future, life is full of surprises. One day you're going one way and the next you're going a totally different direction, one you might never thought you would go."

"Very True." Then he leans toward her and whispered. "But, as long as we are going in the same direction, I think I can handle the surprises of the future."

She started to smile before his lips touched hers, and after a couple of sweet kisses, they pull back and she whispered while running her thumb up and down his cheek. "Me too."

He takes a breath before replying. "I better go, you are still on call tonight, right?" She nodded. "Ok, I'll call if I have to, and you're welcome to have some of the dinner."

They get up from the bed, and as they were walking down the hall, she replied. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, honey."

They get to the stairs of the kitchen, and she cupped his cheek again as she whispered. "Love you, be safe."

"I love you too, and hopefully I won't see you till after shift, but if not, I'm sorry in advanced."

She smiled and shakes her head. "Don't be, babe. I'll understand if you need my help." Then she replied sincerely. "And you know I would never pass up the chance to work with you."

He nodded with a smile before they share one more sweet kiss, then after pulling back, he turned to walk up the stairs. When he gets to the door, they give each other small smiles before he turned to walk out of the apartment, closing the door behind him, while she took a breath as she walked to the oven, where her meal was almost done cooking.

About 45 minutes after Grissom had left, he had called for her help, and despite how much she loved working with him, the case she had to deal with was one of the worst ones of her CSI life.

After Shift

With his arm still wrapped around her shoulders, they walked out of the lab, and as they headed for his vehicle, she looked at him questioningly. "Griss?"

He gave her a warm smile as he replied softly. "I don't want you to drive when you are like this. We'll get your vehicle tomorrow."

Knowing he did have a good point, she just nodded while they continued to his vehicle in silence, and once they got there, he opened the door for her so she could get in. After she did, he closed the door and walked to the driver's side before getting in and starting the vehicle, and as he started driving, she placed his hand on his thigh so she could have contact with him.

When they made it to and in their apartment, and he had closed the door, he tugged on her hand so she would turn to him and immediately he wrapped his arms around her while she sobbed lightly, now able to release everything she was feeling, instead of just the few tears she released in the lab. But what was constant from then to now is Grissom's comforting touch.

He ran his hand up and down her back while speaking comforting words, and as she was calming down, he asked softly. "What do you want to do now?"

"Can you just hold me?"

"Of course, anytime you need me to, honey."

They pull back from one another and she slipped her fingers through his before she walked them down the stairs, through the kitchen, down the hall until they reached the bedroom. Once they did, they only took their shoes off before crawling in bed, cuddling in the middle of it and falling asleep soon after.

However, it wasn't very long after that when Grissom woke up from her shaking in her sleep, while crying and yelling, so Grissom woke up fully and ran his hand up and down her arm whispering. "Sara, wake up, you're having a bad dream. Sara."

After a few tries, she gasped as she finally opened her eyes, looking at Grissom in fear for a second while he was looking at her with love and concern, then she took a breath and shook her head before speaking softly. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and moved his hand from her arm to cup her cheek while speaking soothingly. "Aw honey, you have nothing to apologize for."

She took a breath as she started to sit up before he started to run his thumb up and down her cheek as he spoke softly again. "It's been awhile since you had a nightmare like that. You want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and whispered. "No."

When they first started seeing one another, and she had woken him up from one of her nightmares for the first time she was actually unsure how he would react. But whatever worry she had immediately went away when she saw nothing but concern, worry, and even though it wasn't mentioned out-loud at that point, love, and he held her until she was calm enough to try and get some sleep or to talk about it. And like with him and his migraines, she was very fortunate enough that her bad dreams hardly came around these days, at least the more terrifying ones, so this was her first really bad one in awhile, which after the case they just had he wasn't that surprised.

After a pause, he asked with a small smile. "How about some hot chocolate, then?"

She smiled slightly with a nod. "Ok, I'll meet you out there."

With a nod, he moved closer to her before he kissed her softly on the forehead, then after pulling back, he moved to get out of bed before walking out of the room while she took another deep breath and got out of bed to change into her comfort clothes.

When they met on the couch several moments later, she was in one of his old UCLA t-shirts and a pair of her sweatpants, and while holding on to her coffee mug that had hot chocolate in it, she was cuddled at his side and she whispered, knowing one of points that she made earlier before their ruined date, was proven. "Thank you for being here for me."

Holding his coffee mug in one hand, he had his other arm wrapped round her shoulders as he kissed the top her head and whispered in return. "You're welcome, and always, no matter what."

She then said the same thing he said months ago. "You're good for my overall health and my heart too."

He just smiled as he held her close, wishing he could protect her from her nightmares, but was going to do everything he could to comfort her when she did have them, and show her, like he's been doing for as long as he could remember, he'll always be there for her.

AN: Thanks for the support, reading, and please review. More to come.