A/N: I think I might even like this chapter better than the last one. Let the fluffiness continue!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!

I don't own CSI or ER.

Undefined

Sara practically danced into her apartment. She had never felt so completely happy – or, at least, she couldn't remember a time of happiness that rivaled this. She had just spent a magical evening with Grissom – and evening that had ended with the sweetest kiss she could imagine.

Holding her arms out away from her body, she spun around in a circle, collapsing onto the couch. She giggled as she picked up a pillow, squeezing it against her in a tight hug.

"Oh, God, Mary, I wish you lived in my time zone," she moaned, looking at the clock. "It's three in the morning where you are! How will I wait until tomorrow to call you?"

She buried her face in her pillow for a moment, reliving the moment when Grissom had kissed her. He had been so sweet about it, so tentative, so gentle, so … loving.

She shook her head, closing her eyes tightly. No, she couldn't start thinking like that. Not yet. She wouldn't presume anything.

Sara made plenty of mistakes, but she did her best not to repeat them. Her relationship with Hank, no matter how ill-advised, had taught her never to assume.

She would take their date for what it was: a date. An illegal date, considering the fact that they worked on the same team, but a date all the same. A wonderful, perfect date, but, still, just a date.

At least, until they decided that it was something more.

Grissom still felt tingly and slightly dizzy as he walked into his townhouse. He couldn't believe all that had happened in the past few hours. The dog, used to his master coming home at unpredictable hours, awoke as soon as he heard Grissom come in; he charged down the stairs to meet him at the door.

Grissom grinned at him. "You won't believe what happened," he informed his four-legged companion, leaning down to greet him with the expected pat on the head. "I took Sara out for dinner, and we had a great time. She's … so special."

Hank dropped to the floor, rolling over in an invitation for Grissom to rub his belly. Still grinning, Grissom knelt down beside him to oblige.

"I kissed her, Hank," he said quietly. "I kissed her. I kissed Sara Sidle." His grin widened. "You know, it was all very innocent, but it was the best kiss I've ever had in my life. I wonder … I hope …" He trailed off, letting the cold dread of a potential rejection flood through him. "I hope it meant as much to her as it did to me," he finished in a whisper.

He stopped petting the dog, who rolled over and looked up at him with big, brown eyes. Grissom looked at him for a moment, then shook his head.

"It must have meant something to her," he said firmly. "She invited me in, you know. Girls don't do that if they don't … if you don't … Well, it's a good indication that she had a good time."

Flushing slightly, he stood up. "Stop being so nosy," he said to the dog. "I've told you all you're going to hear."

With that, he climbed the stairs to get ready for bed.

Not surprisingly, Sara was up early the next morning. Never a good sleeper under the best of circumstances, her residual excitement from the night before awoke her only four hours after she had finally managed to fall asleep.

Knowing that she was far too keyed up to stay in the house, she decided to go for a run. Four miles later, she jumped into the shower.

By the time her morning routine was complete, it was eleven o'clock on the east coast, which meant that she felt safe to call Mary. The phone only rang once before her friend picked up; apparently, Mary had been awaiting her call.

"I thought you'd never call!" Mary exclaimed by way of greeting.

Sara laughed. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"Don't be silly," Mary said. "You should have known that I'd be up early, waiting to hear from you. So, how was it?"

"Fantastic," Sara sighed.

"All you'd dreamed?" Mary giggled.

"And more," Sara affirmed.

"Okay, let's hear some details!"

"Well, he got here right on time," Sara began. "He brought me a flower – a yellow rose."

Mary's sigh of romantic contentment was enough to spur Sara into a play-by-play recreation of her date. Always a captive audience, Mary made all the appropriate comments and asked all the right questions. By the end of her story, Sara was grinning from ear to ear, every bit as happy as she had been the night before.

"So, he walked me to my door," she said as she reached the end of her tale. "He held my hand and asked if he could kiss me."

"Oh, Sara," Mary sighed. "That's so sweet."

"I know," Sara agreed. "So, we kissed a bit, and I asked him if he wanted to come in. He said no."

"I know you're going to hate me for this, but I'm glad," Mary said. "I think he has a lot of respect for you."

"I know," Sara said. "He said that we didn't need to rush things … I think he said we should take it one date at a time."

"Sara! He absolutely wants to take you out again!"

"I know!" Sara cried. "Oh, God, Mary, I'm just so happy … I didn't know anyone could possibly be this happy."

"I'm happy for you," Mary said. "This is going to work out for you and Grissom, Sara. I just know it."

"I really hope you're right."

"I am," she said confidently. "So," she continued mischievously, "does this mean I'll finally get to meet the elusive Dr. Grissom?"

Sara laughed. "Don't you remember what I told you before?"

"That I could meet him when you're engaged to him?"

"Yup. It still stands."

Mary laughed. "I'll just have to work on breaking you down on that one."

"I'm taking this slowly, Mar," Sara said. "I'm not going to make assumptions about our relationship or to jump into something that I'm not – or he's not – ready for. I want to do this right."

"You will," Mary said. "And, this will all work out, and one day, I'll be your matron of honor."

"And I'll get to make you wear a hideous pink dress!" Sara laughed.

"Yeah. Hey … wait a minute! I thought you liked that dress!"

Sara laughed. "I can like anything for one day. They're your pictures, love, not mine."

"Well, that was the last time I'll ask for you honest opinion about a bridesmaid's dress."

"Good. I hope that was the last time you were planning to get married."

"It was," Mary smiled. "We'll focus on your wedding now."

"Mary …"

She laughed. "Okay. We'll focus on your next date, then."

"Yeah," Sara grinned. "I'll keep you posted on that one."

Grissom managed to get far more sleep than Sara did; but, he also stayed up much later than she did. Not working his way through a weeklong suspension, Grissom stayed on his normal sleep schedule. When he finally woke up in the evening, his first thought was of how much he wanted to talk to Sara.

He distracted himself with his normal "morning" routine for awhile, but, eventually, he found himself sitting on the couch with his cell phone clutched in this hand. He wanted to call her, but he was afraid it was too soon. Hank sat down at his feet and looked up at him.

Grissom looked from the phone in his hand to the dog curled up at his feet. "You're supposed to wait two days before calling," he said. "That's what they say." He glanced at his watch. "It's only been twenty-one hours since I left her apartment. Do you think that's too soon to call?"

The dog looked at him for a moment, then put his head down.

"I don't know, either. All I know is that I want to talk to her."

He hesitated a moment longer, then pressed the speed dial button to call Sara, followed by the talk button.

"Forget the rules. If I want to talk to her, maybe she wants to talk to me, too."

Apparently, she did. Sara picked up on the second ring.

"Hello," she said cheerfully.

"Hi, Sara," he said, hoping that he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

He swallowed, trying to banish his nerves. He had talked to her on the phone hundreds – maybe even thousands – of times in the past. This was no time to be nervous.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Great," she replied. "You?"

"Fine," he said. He took a deep breath. "Sara … I had a really nice time last night. A great time, in fact."

"Me, too," she grinned.

"You did?"

She laughed. "Griss, I invited you in. I don't do that for just anyone."

Horror filled him. He hadn't meant to imply … He began to stammer in his attempt at backpedaling. "I didn't think … that's not what I …"

Sara laughed again. "Calm down, Grissom. I wasn't accusing you of thinking that I'm a slut."

Grissom made a face. "Don't use that word while you're talking about yourself, Sara. Ever."

"Okay, I won't," she said, touched by the conviction in his voice. Mary was right. He did have a lot of respect for her.

"So, what are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm watching tv," she replied. "I'm killing time until ER starts. I guess that's one good thing about this suspension – I get to watch it when it's actually on, rather than recording it."

"You like ER?" Grissom grinned.

"I've watched it ever since it started," she said. "I almost gave it up when Mark Greene died, but I couldn't stay away." She paused. "Do you watch it?"

He laughed. "I gave it up when Mark Greene died."

She laughed with him, then looked at the clock. "I'm not keeping you from work, am I?"

"No, I still have a few minutes before I have to leave."

"You are on tonight, then?"

"I am," he nodded. Sudden inspiration struck him. "Would you go out for breakfast with me tomorrow?"

"After shift?"

"Yeah." His nerves, which had relaxed away during their conversation, returned in full force. "I mean … if you'd like."

"I'd like," she grinned. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

"I'll pick you up," he replied. "Shall we plan for me to be at your place at nine? I can call if I get delayed."

"That would be great," she smiled.

"Excellent," he said cheerfully. "I guess … I'll let you go, then."

"All right," she said. "I'll see you at nine."

"I'll be there."

They hung up their respective phones, both grinning from ear to ear.

Sleep was elusive for Sara yet again. It wasn't a surprise, really. How could she possibly be expected to sleep when she was so excited? The idea that Grissom had enjoyed their first date as much as she had was intoxicating. The fact that he wanted to take her out again left her giddy.

She rolled over in bed for the tenth time, her beaming smile still firmly in place.

She could hardly wait for morning.

Grissom had never seen a shift move so slowly in his life.

The lack of new cases certainly contributed to it. Only one case came in; he sent Greg and Sofia to the scene. He knew that they were bored and wanted out of the lab. Thrilled to have a reason to leave, they practically ran to the car. He smiled as he watched them go, and sat down at his desk with a stack of case reviews.

"Bored?"

Grissom looked up to see Catherine standing a bit hesitantly in his office doorway. "Hi," he said cautiously.

She sighed and walked into the office, dropping down into the chair across from his. "How are you?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied. "You?"

"This is what I was afraid of," she said rather than answering his question.

"I'm not following," Grissom frowned.

"We've become formal with one another!" she exclaimed. "Gil! We've been friends for years! We know each other's secrets! We've been drunk at each other's houses! Do you remember the night I had to stay over because I couldn't drive home?"

Grissom laughed. "I knew my mother insisted that I needed a guest room for a reason. That night proved her right."

"And this is my point," Catherine said. "We've been friends for too long and been through too much together to lose that now."

"Cath, we're not going to lose that," Grissom said, putting his reading glasses on top of the folders on his desk. "We just … we're fine."

"I know," she sighed. "It's just going to take some time to get back to the way things were, huh?"

"Probably," he shrugged. "I think … we both came to some realizations the other day."

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I guess we did."

"Look," Grissom said, "you're still my favorite supervisor. You're still the first one I'll call to consult about a case. You're still … you're still my best friend, Catherine."

She smiled, her eyes suddenly very bright. "And you're still mine," she almost whispered.

Grissom smiled. "So, then, why exactly are we having this conversation?"

"Probably because I'm paranoid," Catherine sighed.

"Probably," Grissom agreed.

She made a face. "You didn't need to agree with me on that."

"I thought you valued honesty."

Catherine rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. "Okay. I think we're done here."

"Stop," Grissom said as she moved to get up from her chair. "Is there something that you needed? You did just drop in."

"Oh, no, I just came to say hello," she said. "Well, really 'good bye,' I guess. I'm on my way out."

"Oh," Grissom said. "Well, good bye, then."

She smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Grissom."

Grissom watched as she walked away. Tense as the conversation had been, he was glad that they had had it. Now, hopefully, things could go back to normal.

After what seemed like years, the graveyard shift finally drew to a close. Grissom wasn't sure who was the most excited about it, but he, Greg and Sofia walked out to their cars together with very cheerful smiles on their faces. Calling "good night" to one another with sarcastic smiles, they climbed into their cars and drove their separate ways.

Grissom didn't know where the other two were going, but his destination was clear.

He was going to pick up Sara.

She answered the door so quickly that he was sure that she had been waiting for him. She was dressed far more casually than she had been for their dinner. Somehow, he thought that he might like seeing her in jeans and a casual shirt even more than in her sexy black dress. Of course, there was always the thought of what she'd look like in one of his shirts …

He banished the thought as quickly as it came. He couldn't start thinking like that. Not now. Not yet.

"Good morning," he smiled.

"Don't you mean 'good evening?'" she giggled.

"For today, it's good morning," he smiled. "Shall we go have breakfast?"

"Let me grab my purse," Sara said, opening the door wider in an invitation to enter her home.

She found her purse quickly enough and hurried to rejoin him. Grissom smiled at her.

"What?" she asked, coming to a stop next to him.

He shrugged. "You're just so pretty."

Sara laughed. "You're going to make me very vain if you don't stop that."

He grinned and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "I don't see that happening."

A warm, tingling feeling spread through her at the touch of his hand against hers. Sara situated her hand in his, loving the feeling of belonging that came with the innocent contact.

They were going to have a good morning.

They did have a good morning. Grissom took her to another of his favorite restaurants, this one just off the Strip. They chatted about everything and anything as they ate, enjoying just being together. At the end of the meal, Sara grabbed the check before Grissom had time to react.

"What are you doing?" he frowned.

"You promised that I could pay for our second date," she said.

"No, I said that maybe you could pay for our second date."

She frowned. "Why don't you want me to be an independent woman of the new millennium?"

"Sara …"

"Grissom …"

He sighed. "Okay, fine. But, I get to pay for the next one."

"Deal."

Grissom shook his head at the triumphant smile on her face. She was merely proving what he had known for years: that she made it very difficult for him to be a gentleman.

Grissom drove Sara back to her apartment and parked his car. They walked up to her door hand-in-hand, both relishing the feeling. Once they reached the door, Grissom caressed Sara's cheek.

"May I …?"

"God, yes," Sara sighed.

Grissom laughed, then leaned in to kiss her.

Though it started out innocently, this kiss quickly became far more intense than the kisses of the preceding evening. When they finally broke apart, Sara looked at Grissom with a nervous smile.

"Will you come in?"

"Sara, you know what I think about that …"

She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I think we should talk for a bit."

Grissom frowned slightly, but nodded. Sara unlocked her door, and he followed her inside.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked as they walked into her living room.

"No, I'm fine," Grissom replied.

Sara nodded, and they sat down on the couch together. Grissom took her hand, gently rubbing his thumb over it.

"You wanted to talk about something?"

She nodded. "I … Grissom, I want to know what we're doing."

He frowned. "Right now?"

"No," she sighed. "This. Dating. What is this? Are we just dating? Are we in a relationship?" She shrugged. "I guess I just want to know what this is before we end up back at work together."

A hint of fear crossed his eyes. "Sara, you do know that there are very strict rules about dating at the lab," he said. "Two members of the same team can't date. If Ecklie finds out about this …"

"We're in a world of hurt," she said. "I'm on thin ice as it is, and we're breaking a pretty major rule. I know. We've talked about it already."

"Right. So …"

She sighed. "I … I've wanted this forever, Griss. Ever since we met, I've wanted to go out with you. Now that it's happening, I'm terrified I'll screw it up."

He smiled, and touched her cheek. "Sara, you're worrying too much. Why don't we just take this as it comes? No pressure, okay? We'll just go out like we did last night or like we did this morning. We'll have a relationship, but we don't need to define it as anything. We can just …"

"Be friends with benefits?" she asked miserably.

"No," he said forcefully. "No. That's not what I want, and I don't think it's what you want, either."

She shook her head.

"So, let's just say that we're two people who enjoy one another's company and want to get to know one another better," he said. "We'll go out and do just that."

"And not tell Ecklie," Sara smiled.

"No," Grissom agreed. He frowned. "I guess it doesn't really matter if he knows. I mean, if we're not technically boyfriend and girlfriend …"

Sara smiled. "Let's not tempt fate, shall we? I'm clinging to my job by a thread as it is."

"I'll do everything I can to keep you with me at work," Grissom assured her. "Always."

"I know you will," Sara said, smiling softly. "But, still, I don't think we should go out of our way to annoy Ecklie right now."

"Okay," Grissom agreed. "For now, we'll keep this to ourselves."

Sara nodded. "Okay. So, we're in a private, undefined relationship."

"I think that sums it up."

"Um …"

"What?"

"I know that I won't see other people," she said in a rush. "You can do whatever you want, but …"

He shook his head. He had barely seen anyone else at all since meeting her. Why on earth would he start now? "I don't want to see anyone else," he said.

She smiled. She wanted to say "good," but, somehow, it seemed wrong. Instead, she leaned across the slight distance between them to kiss him.

Smiling slightly, Grissom kissed her back.