October 06, 2012

Hi everyone,

So I was super disappointed with how few people reviewed the last chapter. Was it too long? I won't know unless you guys give me some feedback so I know what to change. This is shorter chapter. Let me know works better for you. Thanks.

Hope to hear from more of you this time.

Cheers.

Grissom cleared the table, humming softly under his breath, just loud enough for Sara to hear from where she sat cross-legged on the couch picking the thorns off one of the roses she'd plucked from the bouquet. The rose had seemed out of place amongst the other spring flowers but it made it more beautiful to her. Listening to Grissom with a smile she admired its perfect yellow petals, shaped widely, curving upwards to the center. Layers of yellow; fragrant and soft under her fingers, each petal stunning and elegant on its own but complete when together, connected to make a whole shape, cradled in her palm.

Her husband eventually took a seat beside her, smelling of fresh lemons. Sara knew that later, his hands would be extra soft and smooth as they moved over her body, loving her as no one had ever loved her before.

Sara's eyes caught his amused stare as his watched her hands pulling the roses stem free of it's thorns.

When she was finished she brought the head of the flower to her nose and inhaled it's scent again then placed a soft kiss on the petals that were cool and silky against her lips.

Grissom's hand slid up her arm to her shoulder, where it rested there, his thumb and index finger lightly stroking her earlobe. "It's supposed to stimulate." Though his voice was serious his eyes held a glint of amusement, and passion reserved only for her.

Sara's smile was hidden behind the rose but he knew her feelings when she moved onto his lap, her flower clutched in her hand.

"I picked up a cheesecake too, for later." Her eyebrows rose and he elaborated, "Chocolate and strawberry, with chocolate drizzle." A kiss was dropped onto the top of her head to punctuate his description when she tucked her face under his chin. Her body shifted as did the mood in the room and he wondered what he had said wrong. The thoughts were however pushed aside when she spoke.

"I don't know what's wrong with me…" She sighed. "It's like I," she paused for a moment to think. "I can't stop this darkness," she spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I feel happy right now, and I know I should, but these dark thoughts keep creeping up," she shook her head. "Why do you think people hurt other people?" Sara's question held an innocence he hadn't heard from her, or anyone, in far too long.

His heart longed to come up with an answer that would satisfy her but his mind was unable to produce one, "They're insecure about themselves… they have mental illnesses… they're jealous," he settled on his hand drifting up and down her back, tracing her spine. He kept his concerns about her disclosure about her mood instability to himself. That was a conversation that they would explore later.

"I wish that… sometimes they just wouldn't," a soft laugh died on her lips and hung inappropriately in the air. "That sounded flippant."

"Me too, Sara."

"I guess you would be out of a job," she lifted her head and dark eyes settled on his face.

"Well, I am going to be changing career paths. Perhaps we could let everyone know that my livelihood will be secure without them and they will stop," he jokes, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I think it's a good change," Sara nodded. "I think we could both do with less suffering in our lives. I guess we'll see," her fingers played with hem of his shirt, and she slowly worked it up over his chest. She eyed his chest, her eyes squinting playfully. "So what's the plan?" She asked.

"You eat cheesecake, and then I want to make love to you, then we live happily ever after; as I understand that's how it works."

"Or we eat cheesecake while we have sex," her grin was wicked as she climbed off him, taking her shirt with him.

"Whipped cream?"

"Meet you in the bedroom," the bounce in her step was unmistakable as she headed through the door arch. "Better find the camera," Sara called over her shoulder, her hair flicking as she laughed.

He was dazed for a moment by the sudden change in her mood. "You're into porn now?" He was already searching for the camera; finding it on the bookshelf he headed into the kitchen, his pants growing tighter as he neared the bedroom, his arms laden.

"You and me porn? Totally." Sara mumbled.

XXXX

Sara did a final sweep of the cabin to make sure everything was in order. Finding her panties on the floor behind the door she picked them up and tossed them in her open suitcase on the bed, laughing when they landed on Jenny's head.

"I think someone found a new home," Grissom commented entering the room behind her with the cat carrier.

"In the case with our dirty clothes? Not a very good choice," she handed him the kitten and zipped the case closed. She groaned as she lifted it off the bed with both hands.

Grissom took the case from her and handed her the carrier. "So, do you want to come back her sometime?"

"I really would," she told him locking the door and heading to the car where an anxious Hank hung halfway out the back window, tail wagging in anticipation. Sara put the cat in the back on the floor space between the front and back seats then got into the passenger side and buckled in.

Grissom climbed behind the wheel minutes later after making sure the cabin was secured. Once he was settled he looked over at her, a smile spreading across his face as he watched the sun highlight the hair that had come loose from her ponytail, curling around her ears and at the base of her neck. "You look good," he told her. "Beautiful," he corrected, taking her hand running his thumb over her knuckles.

"I don't feel so bad either," she grinned, slipping her sunglasses on, the black of the lenses contrasting against her skin, bringing out the freckles dusting the bridge of her nose. "So are we stopping in Idaho? I feel like a potato."

Grissom's laugh was deep, happiness beginning in his chest, lifting his heart. "Sounds great," he started the car and pulled away from the cabin and guided the car down the long stretch of tree lined road, back to Nevada where their old life would come to a close and their new one would begin.

XXXX

Sara had fallen asleep somewhere between Washington and Idaho. Her head had fallen to the side to rest against the glass on her door, her hand, still tucked inside his, limp and dangling loosely through his fingers.

"Sara, honey," Grissom called her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "We're at the hotel, let's go inside and get a comfortable night's sleep." He released her hand and traced the curve of her wrist, up her bare forearm, over the valley of the inside of her elbow to her bicep. Rubbing his hand over her shoulder and bicep he called her gently, slowly rousing her from sleep.

Sara's eyes opened almost in slow motion and she blinked heavily to bring everything into focus. They were parked outside the same hotel they had stayed in on the trip to the cabin. Getting out they ambled into the lobby, taking nothing but the pets, and booked a room.

Sara climbed into the large king sized bed as soon as Grissom opened the door and curled up in the middle, falling asleep when her husband joined her shortly after.

XXXX

The room was still cast in shadow when Sara woke, tucked safely underneath Grissom, the weight of him warm and comforting in the unfamiliar room. She looked around, her eyes settling on the balcony doors, covered by heavy dark curtains that failed to keep out the light peaking in around the edges and the gap in the middle where the separate sheets of material didn't quite meet. Sliding out from under him she climbed out of bed and went to the other side of the room, looking over her shoulder at her husband snoring into his pillow. Tugging on the curtains she tried to overlap them to block out the sun.

When she realized her efforts were in vain she shrugged and lowered herself onto the couch, pulling her legs up to tuck her knees under her chin. Her long arms wrapped around her calves and hugged them close to her body. She had woken to an uneasy feeling she couldn't seem to place. It seemed to settle in her gut and creep into her chest making it feel as though she had to force herself to keep breathing.

Trying to distract herself she peered through the gap between the blinds, her eyes sweeping over a tree speckled hill reaching high over the horizon towards the sky, brown and green patched.

"Idaho's beautiful, isn't it?" Grissom's gravelly voice asked her.

Dropping the curtain she turned to see him sitting on the edge of the mattress, disheveled and shaking sleep from his limbs.

"It is."

"You doing okay?" He seemed to find his feet and got to them then shuffled across the room to join her on the sofa.

"Yeah, you should go back to sleep."

"I'm awake," he rubbed a hand over his lower face a stifled a yawn.

"You know that feeling when it feels like something's wrong?" Sara asked, watching shadows stretch across his features and his face changed to contemplate her question. The light peeking through the blinds highlighted the gold flecks in his eyes that seemed to only come out in the early morning.

"What are you feeling honey?"

Sara lifted a shoulder then let it drop again gracelessly. "I don't know," she answered honestly, letting her hand rest over the spot on her abdomen when a heavy rock seemed to have settled, hard and crushing. "Probably just a side affect of my insomnia," she tried to brush it off.

One of Grissom's arms slipped around her slender shoulders and pulled him into her side where her head came to rest against him.

Turning her face into his side she tried to steady her breathing. "I love you, Grissom."

She could hear the smile in his voice, "I love you too, Sara."

"Want to get going?" She asked getting to her feet several minutes later. "I can drive you so you can get some more sleep."

"You still need your Idaho potato," he reminded her.

"We'll stop on the way," she tossed him his shirt and pulled her own over her head, then slid into her pants.

"Okay, but I'm driving and we're talking."

Sara froze and avoided his eyes, her head dropping a little, "Okay."

"Sara, relax," Grissom got to his feet. "Not that kind of talk." His fingers slid under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. Finding her lips with his own he kissed her deeply, hoping to somehow comfort her and reassure her that everything was fine.

And for the first time in a long time he was completely confident that it was.