Chapter- 9

The Mistletoe

Sara awoke early the next morning utterly confused. She had no idea how she'd gotten into bed, and only vaguely how she'd gotten back to the suite. What she did remember seemed totally impossible. She shook her head, she needed coffee. Sara quietly got dressed and went down to the restaurant with her book. There were very few people there at that hour, and Sara was surprised to see that one of them was Grissom. He looked up and waved her over to join him. At the table, Sara looked over Gris's shoulder to see what he was working on. The image on his laptop was one of some sort of butterfly,

"Can't get away from work?"

"This isn't work, simply for pleasure."

"So, what did you think of the movie last night. You said that you hadn't seen it."

"No, I hadn't. I enjoyed it."

"Yeah, that's my favorite of the claymations."

They lapsed into an awkward silence. Neither knew what to say. Sara was trying to figure out if what she recalled about last night was real or if she had simply dreamed it. Grissom was trying to regain his cool professionalism with her that he'd demolished the night before. But he was finding it to be nearly impossible. Finally the waitress coming over broke the silence. Their orders were identical, as usual. Grissom knew that he had to shut off what he was feeling, it was dangerous. But it was getting more difficult by the moment.

The two sat in silence for a while, Grissom working on his computer and Sara reading her novel. When Gris had finished what he was doing, he looked up and saw Sara immersed in her book.

"What are you reading?" He asked, curious.

"Oh. It's just a crime novel."

"Who can't get away from work?" Gris said sarcastically.

"This isn't work, simply for pleasure." She replied cheekily.

"What's it about?"

"A female forensic anthropologist, who works in both Charlotte, NC and Montreal."

"Really, sounds interesting."

"It is. It's a whole series of novels."

"Are they just about cases?"

"No, they also go through her family and romantic situations. She's divorced with a daughter in college and has an interesting love life."

"How so?"

"She has a thing for someone who's sort of her coworker, and she isn't sure about a relationship, she's afraid it won't work and she has reservations about being with someone she works with."

"What happens?"

"So far, he's managed to convince her to give it a try."

"Hmmm. So do you think it'll work out?"

"I don't know, I think it will, but she'll have to give it a chance."

By now they both knew that they were no longer talking about the novel. But it was a good cover to discuss their own situation. Before they could continue, Sophia and Nicky entered the restaurant and came over to their table.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Nick asked, way too cheery for his own good. Just by looking at the two of them, Sara knew what had happened between them.

"You two are awful chipper for so early in the morning." Sara said, letting them know that she knew what they'd done.

"It's just a lovely day." Sophia said pointedly, making it clear that she got the point. Grissom just sat there, completely clueless.

"Anyway, so when is it supposed to start snowing?" Nick asked, desperate to change the unspoken subject.

"They said it would start sometime this morning." Grissom told them, referring to the predicted snow storm.

The four sat there for a while discussing what there was to do inside the lodge for when it started snowing. After a while, the others started showing up. Catherine and Lindsey were the last to turn up.

"Sorry we took so long, I couldn't get someone away from the mirror." Catherine said, apologizing.

"Hey I'm not allowed to care how I look?" Lindsey said in her own defense.

"It's ok Linds, we understand why." Sara teased. Lindsey blushed and muttered something about it not being fair.

"Hey, how come you all pick on me, but not Sara or Sophia or…or Grissom! They all like someone, so why don't you tease them!"

"We do, but your just more fun to tease." Warrick told her.

"It's still not fair."

"Would you like us to tease them more?" Catherine said mischievously.

"Yes. A lot more." Lindsey said, happy with the promise of revenge.

After breakfast, they split up to find something to amuse themselves. It had started snowing, and it didn't look like it would be stopping any time soon. Greg, Lindsey, and Nick all disappeared to the arcade right away. Warrick and Tina went off somewhere alone and Sara, Catherine and Sophia went off to talk. Brass and Grissom were left to their own devices. They simply went back to what they'd been doing before, Brass reading and Grissom working on his computer. Sara, Catherine and Sophia went to the lounge so that the rest of the group wouldn't interrupt them.

"So, what happened?" Catherine demanded of Sophia as soon as they sat down.

"I think you already figured that out, considering that you're asking."

"So what. Tell us anyway. Why so out of the blue?" Sara demanded.

"Well, nothing major. It just kind of happened."

"Really? That doesn't seem like Nicky." Catherine said.

"Well, he didn't act like the normal, quiet Nicky either." Sophia said with a naughty smile.

"Ok, too much information." Sara said, getting a bad mental image.

"Hey you asked." Sophia said wickedly.

"Anyways, what about you Sara?" Catherine asked, changing the subject.

"What about me?" Sara asked, confused.

"Last night. Grissom being all sweet and romantic."

"Ummm."

"What? Do you not remember?"

"Only vaguely, and I thought I'd dreamt it."

"Are you serious? I'm sorry. But to tell you, I hope your not too attached to your distraction, 'cause I think Gris is quickly changing his mind."

"Do you really think so?" Sara asked hopefully.

"Yeah. He's totally smitten." Sophia reassured.

Sara smiled happily. The other two hoped that Grissom wouldn't let her down, just like he always had. They'd make sure that he didn't, at least not without suffering serious consequences.

Later that evening, the group met again for dinner. At the table, Sophia and Catherine made sure that Sara and Grissom were seated next to one another. Lindsey sat across from Greg, she wasn't all that interested in her food. Nick and Sophia were in their own little world, wrapped up in one another. Sara and Grissom sat in an awkward silence. They weren't sure what to say. They were sitting quite close and they weren't at all used to it. Once the group was finished eating, they headed back to the room. Sara and Grissom in front. They stopped for a moment to wait for the others in the doorway. The others, once they'd caught up, noticed what was above the pair. As they turned to leave, Greg stopped them.

"Hey, look up."

They did and saw that they were standing under the mistletoe.

"You have to kiss now." Catherine said happily.

Sara and Gil looked at one another and shrugged. Everyone expected them to ignore the tradition. But they moved closer and before the others knew it, the two were lip-locked. After a few minutes, they were still at it and the others simply left them there, knowing that they'd need a moment to themselves when they realized what they'd done.

When the two separated a short while later, they went into immediate shock. They couldn't believe what they'd just done. They backed up and simply started at one another. Neither could believe it, the spark between them had flared brightly in that one moment, and neither wanted that to go away. But they just couldn't allow themselves to give in. Grissom was fighting himself more than ever to not be with her. Sara was struggling not to cry, she knew that he would never allow something to happen, and she wanted it to now more than ever. It was going to be hard between them, it always would. But that kiss had shown them that they could overcome that tension. The question remained, however, if they would ever allow themselves to find out.

It only took one kiss to know,

It must have been the mistletoe.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, I was busy with Christmas stuff, then I had a total block. Sorry it wasn't done by the holiday, but I just didn't have the time.