Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in posting this, I've been awfully sick and on top of that, I'm preparing for the end of the semester...as it is, I have until 11 am tomorrow to read 9 long chapters in my forensics book to prepare for that final, and I haven't even started on my 10 page research paper due next week. Eeks! So, with that said, this will be a little shorter than usual. Oh, and thanks for everyone who replied to the last chapter, if I didn't get back to you...I tried to reply to everyone, but with the alerts and all down for a bit, I probably missed a few. Thanks!
Jenny
Unregulated Chapter 14:
The bathroom door slowly creaked open as Sara peered cautiously into the deserted hallway. Sighing heavily, she leaned against the wall, sliding the lock back into place. She took a deep, steadying breath as she tried to dispel the growing anxiety building inside of her tired body.
She had fled the room, claiming morning sickness, as soon as Grissom's surprised gaze met her own horrified brown eyes. She had expected Greg to follow her, being the overprotective little deceiver he was, but instead she was left alone to panic in the sterile tiled room.
Hearing footsteps echoing down the hall, she cracked the door open slightly, relieved to see her partner in crime. She yanked open the door when he walked by, using the last bit of energy she had to pull him into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind them.
"What do you think you're doing?" Greg hissed, "This is the girl's bathroom, I could get in trouble for being in here!"
Sara's eyes narrowed and she spat out, "I'll show you trouble!"
Greg was silent for a moment before muttering softly, "Any chance that this marriage thing will just blow over?"
"Just blow over!" Sara cried out, pushing him against the wall, "If you hadn't opened your big mouth and lied to your parents, we wouldn't be in this situation. This isn't going to go away, and I'm not going to let you run away from this! You may see your parents only once a year, but we work with these people, they'll notice if we don't start making wedding plans."
"You could always just marry me." Greg replied, shielding himself from the attack he was sure would follow.
Instead, Sara turned away from him, anxiously pacing the room, "I'm going to ignore that, only because we need to focus. This is a serious problem, Greg. What happens if Ecklie hears about this? We'd be on different shifts so fast our heads would spin. I really like my life just the way it is now. And if we don't get married? Our friends will think we're complete liars. I knew this would blow up in our faces, I knew it!"
"How was I supposed to know they'd blab it to the entire lab?" Greg asked defensively, "You can't blame me for their big mouths."
Sara ignored him, running her fingers nervously through her hair, "Okay, we've got to come clean and tell them the truth."
"Unless..." Greg began, his eyes lighting up, "We could..."
"No!" Sara interrupted, "I don't even want to hear it."
Greg shook his head, moving in front of her and holding her arms, "Listen to me, it's a perfect plan! If we do it right, we all come out smelling like roses, okay?"
"I'm probably going to regret this," Sara sighed, looking up at her younger counterpart, "But go ahead and tell me this 'perfect' plan."
With an excited grin, Greg pulled away, his eyes lit up with enthusiasm, "All we have to do is convince everyone that we've broken up! We can stage a huge fight, here at work, and publicly end our relationship. Then you can go back to my place, pack up your stuff, and I'll storm in, and we'll have a round two for my parents. That why we don't have to admit we staged this entire engagement, and after a few days of awkwardness, everything will return to normal."
"That's never going to work." Sara said with a tired sigh, "Not in a million years."
Greg crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow skeptically, "Do you have a better idea?"
A knock on the door cut off Sara's response, and after a second knock, Catherine's worried voice traveled through the wood, "Sara? Are you in there? Can you unlock the door please?"
Sara stared at Greg with wide eyes, yelping, "Just a minute!" before shoving Greg into the last stall, ordering him quietly to lift his feet so he wouldn't be seen. Once he was secluded, Sara slid the lock on the door open, allowing Catherine in.
"Stupid lock just keeps getting stuck." Sara remarked as she walked to the sinks to look in the mirror, "Sorry about that."
"It's okay." Catherine replied, standing beside the brunette as she messed with her hair, "Are you feeling alright? You look flushed."
Sara moved away as Catherine reached out to touch her forehead, flashing the blonde a small smile, "I'm fine...morning sickness, you know."
"It's a killer." Catherine said with a nod, "Let me know if you need anything. Congratulations, by the way, you and Greg make such a good couple."
"Thanks." Sara replied softly, turning the tap water on as Catherine disappeared into one of the first stalls. There was no turning back now, they'd have to go with Greg's plan. To admit now that they weren't even dating would crush Nora and Thomas, and now that their friends were involved, it was too tricky to explain everything that was going on.
She splashed her face with water, relieved when Catherine finally left, and let out a long, heavy sigh. She looked up to see Greg in the mirror, a sheepish grin on his face, "Now are you ready to start working on the details of my master plan?"
"Let's start a fight." Sara agreed turning the water off and grabbing a paper towel, "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this."
"It's my charm, you can't resist it."
Greg didn't even bother to duck out of the way as she tossed her paper towel at him, a scowl on her face.
"What?" He asked, "Isn't it my charm that got us in this mess in the first place?"
"I believe what got us into this mess is Tequila and lies." Sara pointed out, "When's this going to go down?"
"At the start of shift tomorrow night." Greg replied, "We'll both go home now, and the next time they see us, it's all going to hit the fan."
--
Standing outside the door to the lab, Greg took a deep breath, "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Sara replied, pausing as she reached for the door handle, "Should we be fighting as we walk up to the room, or just wait until we're there."
"A little bit of nitpicking in the hallway wouldn't hurt anything." Greg said after thinking for a few moments, "Locker room or break room?"
"Wherever the majority of our coworkers are." Sara replied, rubbing her forehead tiredly. It seemed lately she couldn't get rid of her awful monstrosity of a headache, no matter how hard she tried.
Both exchanged nervous smiles as they entered the lab, Sara making sure she was a few steps away from her counterpart so it would seem like they were actually tense around each other.
However, when they entered the break room, their plan hit a gigantic snag.
"Surprise!"
Sara took a step backwards as the room lit up around the two of them, all of their coworkers, along with Greg's parents, staring at them with excited smiles on their faces. Well, except for Grissom, who wore his normal stoic expression.
She turned to face Greg, who wore an equally shocked expression on his face, "I...wow..."
"This is unexpected." Sara murmured, her eyes wide, "Um, thanks."
Nick walked to the pair, giving them a big hug, "Nora and I got together and thought it would be a good idea to give Sara a baby shower, since Nora and Thomas won't be around to participate closer to your due date. Catherine thought it would be a great idea to have an engagement party at the same time, since you're getting married and all."
"You shouldn't have." Greg mumbled, his face red with embarrassment. "This is so much..."
"Nonsense, you're our friends, part of our work family, and we're so happy for you guys!" Catherine piped up, motioning to the cake, "We even got cake, I know how much Sara's been craving sweets."
Managing a weak smile, Sara thanked her female colleague. As everyone began to talk, Sara turned to Greg, whispering softly, "Abort plan?"
"Not necessarily..." Greg replied, "Visit for awhile, then follow my lead."
Sara moved towards Nora and Thomas, giving both of them a hug, "Thanks guys, it means a lot that you can be a part of this."
"Oh, honey, we just want the best for you and Greg." Nora replied, "You look exhausted, don't wear yourself out now, you hear?"
Sara smiled, blushing slightly, "It's just a headache, don't worry about it."
"Oh, believe me, she's going to worry." Thomas laughed, "Worrying is what she does best."
"That's a trait she definitely passed to Greg." Sara laughed, relaxing slightly. So far, so good, their cover hadn't been blown yet and they were staying far away from the marriage topic.
Greg's cold voice was a shock, and she had to remind herself that this was all a sham as tears filled her eyes at his words, "Is it a crime to care for you, Sara? Why are you always downplaying my feelings for you."
"What?" Sara asked, turning to face his seemingly angry face, "I'm just saying that you always hover over me like you're afraid I'm going to break. I never said you didn't care for me."
Greg shook his head, his heart breaking slightly at the wounded look on Sara's face. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to remember that this was an act, he wasn't really hurting her, "You didn't have to say it, you've been giving me a hard time for six months now. Isn't it enough that you got us into this situation?"
"Greg! That's enough!" Thomas hissed as the entire room stopped to stare at the duo who were now standing face to face, anger etched onto their normally happy faces.
"No! It's not enough! She turns her nose at everything I do for her!"
A wave of dizziness passed through Sara, and she held on to the chair beside her as she tried to remember what to say next. After a few moments, she said cooly, "If you think I'm that haughty, if you think I don't appreciate you, then maybe we're making a mistake by getting married."
"If you feel that way, we shouldn't be getting married at all!" Greg shouted, resisting the temptation to survey everyone's reactions, to see if they were buying their display, "I don't know why I thought I love someone like you."
"Someone like me? Why would anyone want to be with a grownup who acts like a child? You're always hovering over me and checking up on me, when you're the one who needs to be babysat!"
"Like you don't need anyone to hold your hand and tell you when it's time to go home in the morning? To remind you to take your vitamin, eat, and rest? Do you even care about that baby--"
Greg's response was cut off by a slap from Nora, "Son, that's enough. You need to step outside and cool off."
"Mom, you've only known her for a few days, I've known her for years, there's no way she's going to be able to be a good mother to my daughter! She doesn't know the first thing about kids, about marriage, about anything!"
"Yet you chose to marry her." Nora reminded him, "You two are in love, son."
Greg looked from his red-faced mother, then to a pale Sara, and back to his mother, "Asking her to marry me was the biggest mistake I ever made."
"Well, saying yes was the biggest--" Sara's voice faltered as she grasped the chair tighter, "The biggest mistake I ever made!"
Greg took a step towards her, "That's a laugh, Sara Sidle admitting she's ever made a mistake. I guess there really is a first time for everything."
"Greg, stop." Sara groaned as the room spun around her, causing her to go from holding the chair to leaning against it.
Greg, not noticing her distress, continued in a hard tone, "I'm through with you."
"Greg, stop!" Sara protested once more, her voice growing serious, "That's enough--"
"You can't tell me what--" Greg began, only to be cut off as Sara's eyes fluttered and she fell towards the floor, unconscious. The room was eerily silent for half a second before erupting in complete chaos.
TBC