AN: Thanks for the reviews. Here is the next chapter.

Chapter 11: Not their time

The Next Morning

Blake had stayed with them a few more hours before leaving shortly after Grissom got the news that Ross was found and taken into custody, but Lindsey stayed with her throughout the night on the couch with Sara and Grissom, while Hank was laying at her feet, feeling like he needed to protect her.

After the family had breakfast, including Lindsey but excluding the twins since they were still at Catherine's, the girls went out to the back deck to get some air with Hank fallowing them.
Then about 30 minutes later, there was a knock on front door, so Grissom removed his arm from Sara's shoulders before getting up from the couch and walking to it.

When he opened it though, he was a little surprised on who was on the other side.

Sam cleared his throat before speaking. "Mr. Grissom, I was wondering if I can talk to your daughter for a couple of minutes? I would wait, but I'm kind of short on time."

Grissom paused before replying. "I'll go ask her, but please come in."

Sam nodded as Grissom stepped back, and once he was inside the house and the front door was closed, Grissom looked over at Sara, who had stood up from the couch when she saw the young man enter, before introducing them. "Sara, this Sam Miller, a student teacher from our daughter's math class and the one who saved her last night. Sam this is Bailey's mother, Sara."

Sara thanked him and shook his hand with a smile, but was confused on why he was here,
so after she had released the young man's hand, she looked at husband, and she could sense something in his eyes that more was going on with this young man other than their daughter's savior and student teacher, so they shared a look that stated they'll talk more about it later.

Grissom then spoke after clearing his throat. "I'll be back."

They nodded as Grissom turned and walked toward the kitchen before reaching the back door.

After he reached the sliding glass door, he opened it before poking his head outside to the right, where his daughter was sitting on the porch swing with Lindsey next to her on one side and Hank on the other with his chin on her thigh. "Bailey, Sam Miller is here to see you, is it ok?"

Lindsey looked at her with confusion on who that was as Bailey cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah Su...Sure."

She didn't look the greatest with having not slept much last night and was in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, but right now she didn't care what she looked like in front of him. Besides, he's already seen her at a low point.

As Grissom walked back inside the house, Lindsey continued to look at Bailey a few seconds, which Bailey had looked at her before looking down and petting Hank.

"What's going on, who is Sam Miller?"

Before Bailey could speak, the back door opened again, making Lindsey look back, then she almost gasped out-loud before looking at Bailey again, whispering. "Mr. Miller?"

She didn't have him as a 'teacher' but she's seen him around campus, and heard a lot of the girls were very smitten. She just had no idea that her friend was one of them, or why he would be here.

"We need to talk later, it seems I need you to fill in a few things." Bailey just nodded, but didn't look into her friend's eyes, knowing she should have told her before, but wasn't exactly sure how to tell her best friend she had real feelings for her 'teacher'.

After a hug and a second promise of them talking later, Lindsey got up from the swing before walking past Sam so she could go inside.

When it was just Sam, Bailey, and Hank, Sam walked toward the front of the swing so he was standing in front of her with his hands in his coat pockets, which by then Hank was aware that someone he didn't know was here, so he lifted his head up and looked at him before he started to growl, something that didn't happen much. He's usually very friendly with new people, especially if they came through the front door of the house because he knew nobody bad got past his older masters.

After a couple of pets from Bailey and her calming tone. "It's ok buddy, he's fine." He stopped growling, but looked into his younger master's eyes as if asking 'are you sure', which Bailey smiled and kissed his head before pulling back with a nod. "I'm sure, buddy." He laid his head back down so his chin was on her thigh again, but he had turned his head so he could look at Sam to make sure he stayed enough distance away.

Sam smiled fondly at the protectiveness the dog had of Bailey, also making him think. 'Good Boy' Then when Sam and Bailey looked at each other, it took him a few seconds before he cleared his throat and spoke, because even though he knew she probably didn't feel like her greatest right now, he still thought she looked beautiful.

"This might sound like a stupid question, but please go with me on this. How are you?"

She smirked a little. "Very original."

He gave her a little smile with a nod. "I thought so too."

She gave him a little smile in return before clearing her throat as she looked down at Hank again while she stroked his fur. "I'm ok."

He nodded with relief before asking. "Did they get him?"

"Yeah, he was in one of the places Blake said he could have been." When they looked into each other's eyes again, she noticed he looked a little shocked that Blake's loyalties had shifted so fast, which Bailey understood why he would think that, so she answered his silent question. "He's in love with Lindsey, or at least I can see it in his eyes, and Lindsey's my best friend, so..." Bailey trailed off as Sam nodded in understanding, then she asked after a few seconds pause, finally getting to the point on why he was here. "So, what's going on? What brings you here, besides asking how I'm doing?"

Sam took a breath before speaking softly. "I've made the decision to transfer out of UNLV and leave Vegas, leave Nevada. And I just thought I would be the one to tell you, so you didn't have to hear it anywhere else."

She looked at him wide-eyed as her heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. "What? Why?"

Sam shook his head and spoke after clearing her throat. "Come on Bailey, you have the highest grade point average in Calculus, probably the highest IQ in the whole high school, deep down you know why." Her eyes started to fill with tears as she looked down at Hank, while he continued softly again, only more brokenly because of his words and seeing her tears. "I can't be in the same city with you right now, it's just too hard. How you feel about..." He paused and closed his eyes, shaking his head, before opening them again and clearing his throat. "How we feel towards one another, it isn't right, not now. This isn't our time."

Bailey sniffled as she shook her head while looking into his eyes. "The five year age gap won't matter in a few years."

He shook his head with a small smile. "You're right, it won't. And I can only hope that when that happens, your feelings for me are still there. Just know I would feel like the luckiest man on earth."

Bailey sniffled again. "And I would feel like the luckiest woman on earth if you still felt the same towards me."

They looked deep into each other's eyes, wanting to take in each other's presence one last time for as long as they could, then he cleared his throat one more time before finishing. "Good luck out there, and take care of yourself, ok?"

She nodded while replying softly. "You too, bye Sam."

He walked to the back door before pausing, and looking over at her sadly while his heart was breaking. "Bye Bailey."

After one more look at her, he finally opened the back door and walked in the house before navigating toward to the living room, which was empty when he got there, so he just opened the front door.

He had just stepped out on the porch, when he heard Grissom's voice to the left of him. "If your feelings for my daughter are as strong as I think they are, I know how you are feeling."

Sam shuts the door, but stayed where he was when he looked over at Grissom, who was sitting in a chair on the porch, facing the front yard. "With all due respect sir, I don't..."

Grissom cuts him off with a smirk. "I believe you are a smart man, and you could tell the moment you met my wife that there is an age difference between us. So, do you really think we just met, fell in love, and been together ever since?" When Grissom's blue eyes met Sam's hazel eyes, he saw the sad emotion in them, knowing deep down he was correct on why Sam had showed up today. "You would be wrong to think that. I had to let her go too, which was the most difficult decision I had ever made."

The younger man took a breath nodding. "But it worked out with you two in the end."

Grissom nodded. "Eventually yeah, so I guess that's something to hold on to." Sam nodded as he walked down the few stairs from the porch, then turned back to Grissom once he reached the grass when he heard him speak again. "But, there are no guarantees that it will."

Sam shook his head with a small smile. "Nothing ever is, but there is always hope."

Grissom nodded again. "True. Bye Sam, good luck out there."

"Bye Mr. Grissom." He turned around, then turned back to face Grissom before saying one more thing. "She's a very special young lady, take care of her."

Grissom gave him a smile with one more nod. "I know, and always."

Sam gave him one more short nod before finally heading toward his vehicle while Grissom watched him with a sigh.

Of all the scenarios he could think of meeting the first guy Bailey was seriously interested in, he could have never imagined the situation, circumstance, or ever thought that an age difference, even a small one, would be part of it. This had certainly taken him for an unexpected loop.

He just got up from his chair to go check on his daughter when Sara, who had taken Lindsey home and to get the twins, pulled her vehicle in the driveway, so instead of going to his daughter, he walked down the stairs, and spoke to his wife as she got out of the vehicle. "I'll get the twins inside, I think you should go talk to Bailey."

After grabbing their son's car seat from the back, she shuts the door before walking to the other side of the vehicle, asking in a concerned voice as he opened the other door. "What happened?"

Grissom sighed before looking at her. "He's leaving."

That one word and look told Sara everything she needed to know about the situation, it also made her ask in another concerned voice. "Do you think it went far between them?"

Grissom shook his head. "I don't think so." He took a breath before continuing. "But, I saw the way they were looking at one another last night, Sara. There was definitely a mutual interest there."

Sara shook her head. "How did I not know what my daughter was going through?"

Grissom places his hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't like you hadn't been going through a rough time yourself."

Before he could continued, she handed their son's car seat to him, shaking her head and stepping back. "Still, I'm her mother, and she could have come to me. Especially since I know exactly how she feels."

He frowned. "Sara..."

She cuts him off. "I know, different circumstances. I'm just stating a fact, not trying to bring up the past."

Grissom nodded, then Sara kissed his cheek before walking to the house so she could comfort her daughter.

When she walked out on the back porch, Sara saw her daughter now laying on her side in the swing with Hank tucked in her arms, who had his eyes closed but content on where he was. The scene would have been picture worthy had her daughter not have had tear stains on her cheeks or a sad face, like she just lost a friend.

Sara took a breath, then after grabbing a lawn chair that was leaning against the house with the other ones, she walked over to the swing and placed it in front of it before sitting down.

It was a few minutes of silence before Bailey looked at her mother over Hank's head, speaking softly. "You and Dad know, don't you?"

Sara nodded, making Bailey move her eyes so she was looking down at the top of Hank's head "I'm sorry you felt you had to go through something like this in silence. I wish you could have talked to somebody about it."

Bailey smirked, but her response had little humor in it. "Who? you guys?" She lifted her eyes so she could look into her mother's again as she continued before Sara could. "Yeah right, that conversation would have gone down great. I could have slipped in how I felt for my 'teacher' between how my classes were and what I had for lunch. Right?" Bailey shook her head as she finished while looking back down at Hank. "I just didn't want to hear the lectures on how I should have fallen for somebody my own age; like I had a choice in the matter, right? Or the looks like I'm disgusting, or even seeing the drastic measures that you or dad could have gone to. No thank you, not worth the hassle. So, I just decided to keep it to myself."

Sara saw her daughter have tears in her eyes, so it made herself tear up as she replied.
"If anybody can understand about falling for someone who they weren't 'suppose' to, it would be me, and you should know that we would never look at you as if you were disgusting."

Bailey looked at her mother again before nodding in agreement, she could actually see that, but then she replied. "Yeah, and what about the drastic measures?"

Sara bit her lip the moment her daughter had asked that. She had a feeling her and huband probably would have taken some measures, but she just didn't know how drastic it would have been, which Bailey saw the conflict in her eyes, so she nodded. "See, I knew it."

Sara sighed. "Ok, first of all we would have asked questions, most importantly, how far this thing had go..."

Bailey cuts her off. "Nothing happened, mom. Besides last night, we never even talked outside of the classroom. And he would never do anything to abuse his power over his 'students', he was a very good, fair, teacher."

Sara had to admit she was a little relieved on that, then after taking a breath, she finished. "Then the most we probably would have done would have asked you to be in a different math class."

Bailey replied sarcastically. "Yeah, because that would have stopped my feelings before it spread anymore, right?"

Sara shook her head before admitting. "No, but a lot of times space can change them."

Bailey sighed as she looked down at Hank again, before replying softly. "Well, you got your wish, because he's giving that to me now."

Sara was now in a very hard place, as someone who had been through a similar situation, although completely different circumstances across the board, she understood and felt deeply for her little girl. But at the same time, she didn't want her to feel like she had to be tied to one man her whole life, especially at age 15, so if he had to move to let her see what else could be out there for her, when she was ready of course, she couldn't be fully sad about it.

Sara leaned forward a second later before placing her hand on top of her daughter's, which were on Hank, then spoke in an understanding tone. "Bailey, you have to believe me that I am honestly, deeply sorry that you are going through this. I can see that your feelings for this guy are real, making me understand exactly how you feel."

Bailey nodded as she sniffled, she could see that truth in her eyes, but she could also see something else. "But, you aren't sad that he's leaving."

She really didn't want to hurt her feelings, but she wasn't going to lie to her either, that has never been their relationship, so she took a breath before replying. "It isn't like I'm throwing a party because of it. But I can't say that I'm not." Bailey looked down as Sara continued after squeezing her hand. "Listen, when you start having real romantic feelings for the first time in your life, it's an unbelievable, overwhelming feeling. It's new, strong, exciting, and so powerful that you can't imagine being with anybody else."

Bailey starts to speak as she looked at her mother again. "Then..."

But Sara cuts her off with another gentle squeeze of her hand. "But sometimes feelings change, and eventually they won't feel so new anymore, or as strong, or even as powerful as you once thought. So, I think with him leaving, a part of him wants to make sure he's the real thing for you, and possible vise versa."

Bailey took a moment to absorb everything her mother had said before asking. "What if it is? What if we both have the same feelings when we meet again? What if they're even stronger?"

Sara gave her a little smile before replying. "Then when/if you meet again, and it's your time,
I guess I'll be hearing 'I told you so' at your wedding." Bailey couldn't help but give her a little smile before looking down at Hank again as Sara finished. "But Bailey, don't close yourself off over this. Of course when you are ready, no one is going to push on that."

She then raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe it, are you really suggesting I start dating? You better not tell dad that you said I could."

Sara couldn't help but chuckle before she said. "He knows it's going to happen someday." Then she took a breath before speaking. "And I'm not saying date every guy that comes along. I'm just saying that if you feel interested, then don't reject the idea right away. Because you honestly never know if that guy could be your 'one', and there is no greater feeling in the world, outside of how you feel for your children, than knowing and being with the 'one' you love." Sara paused before asking. "You understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Yeah, I do, and thank you for being honest with me."

"You're welcome, and thank you for really listening to me."

After Bailey nodded they sat there in silence for a few seconds, then Sara removed her hand from her daughter's while asking. "Do you need anything?"

Bailey shook her head as Sara got up from the chair, picked it up, and folded up before putting it back with the others, then as she started walking toward the door, Bailey asked. "How were your feelings when you met dad?"

Sara smiled as she placed her hand on handle of the door before looking over at her daughter. "They were, still are, and always will be nothing I've felt for any other man that I have ever met. And that's how it should be when you want to live/build a life with someone." Bailey nodded at her mother one more time before Sara walked inside the house, shutting the door behind her.

When it was just Bailey and Hank, she sighed and looked down at him as she started petting him again, which he lifted his head from his paws, and turned his head before he started licking her face. She chuckled before moving his head to the side a few seconds later so she could wrap her arms around his neck. "I love you too."

As she continued to pet and cuddle with him, she continued to think about everything her mother had said. She knew in her heart her feelings for Sam were very real, but to not live her life to the fullest, whether it eventually involved a guy or not, wouldn't feel right either. So, if another man comes along, and if she feels ready to trust again, she just might have to see what could happen.

AN: Is Sam gone for good? Would you want him to come back? Or should Bailey get a new love when she's ready? That being said though, the next chapter, which will have a small time jump, is the last one of the story. But there is another in the series, if you are interested. Please review.