Disclaimer: I don't own.

A/N: We're finally getting into more of the meat of the story now. :) Let me know what you think! I'm excited about this chapter.

As always, thanks to everyone for the reviews. They mean the world to me.

Chapter Five:

I was more than ten minutes late for my next lecture and opted not to go. I hated walking in late. I had given myself time for lunch after it, which meant that I had two hours stretching out in front of me with nothing to do… and nowhere to go.

Jace was working strange hours while he worked on his Master's Thesis. He had paid for college by working as a mechanic and even though he didn't really have the time during the day anymore, his boss paid him to come in at night to do work so that he wouldn't be without money while he was working on it. The problem was that he wasn't being paid hourly anymore, but flat rates for specific tasks completed—which meant that he didn't come home at a certain time, but when he was done with whatever he'd spent the night working on.

What this meant, of course, is that if I went home… I would either have to sit in silence, no television or music at all, to not wake him up… or he would already be up and wondering why I wasn't at the conference I'd been talking about for months and months.

I hadn't done anything wrong—I had crossed no invisible line. I wasn't naïve enough to believe that I would never be attracted to another man as long as Jace and I were married… And I just had to understand that being attracted to someone else didn't mean I should leave the man I loved to chase that fluttery feeling of meeting someone new.

Still… I didn't want to explain myself.

I walked to a vegetarian restaurant on campus and sat down, taking my time in ordering—I was going to be here a while. I even asked for a newspaper to keep myself occupied… I did the crossword and the Sudoku and read the comics and caught up on local news (something I never paid attention to) and still found myself… drifting.

I couldn't focus… couldn't stop thinking about the man whose mind I had idolized for years, and whose body I had lusted over the previous night, and whose face would not leave me in peace right now. …And I had planned to attend two of his other lectures today… lectures I had been eagerly awaiting. …Lectures I still very much wanted to see.

I walked slowly back to campus nearing the time my next lecture—his next lecture—would be starting, and waited until the room was fairly full before slipping in the back and choosing a seat behind a girl with rather large hair. I slumped down in my seat—this way I could listen and glean information without evoking another confrontation. I had had quite enough of 'Vegas,' thank you very much.

Rachel was going to pay for her brilliant bachelorette party idea.

He stepped up to the podium, and being rather less surprised this time, I took the time to really look at him in more depth. …He seemed… tired. He seemed… like the type of man who didn't frequent bars or pick up women who were getting married in a week. He seemed like… a man who wouldn't ask a woman to explore what was between them if he didn't really mean it. …He seemed like his heart wasn't really in his lecture, despite everything I'd heard about him being a passionate speaker.

To be fair—those people had said his lectures were dull… but they had also said that he was passionate about his topic… but nobody else was.

I passed the rest of the day in much the same fashion—I slipped in and out of his lectures, sat behind people with hats or who were particularly tall—and then I headed home, calling Jace on the way.

"Hey babe," he answered. I could tell by the clatter that followed that he was attempting to cook. I say attempting, because despite my many attempts to teach him, he still struggled with simple recipes.

"Hi! How was your day?"

"Great! I met with Professor Robbins around noon and he read over the rough draft of my first section—he said he thinks it sounds great so far!"

I smiled. "Awesome! I told you you'd be great."

I could hear his smile through the phone. "And I should always listen to you. So, I have to head into work, but I figured we'd have a nice dinner—this is kind of a big deal for me, and it's your first day of the conference… I want to hear all about it!"

I grit my teeth. I had been anticipating telling him all about it, before I knew that 'Vegas' from the night before and the famous Gil Grissom were one in the same. I breathed in, taking a moment to solidify my 'happy' voice. "Sounds wonderful. What did you make me?"

I could also hear his frown through the phone. "Well… I tried to start some hamburger helper, but… I think I burned the meat."

"…You think? What makes you think that?"

"…The smoking…and the fire alarm going off…and the meat turning black…"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Should I stop at the grocery store on the way home…?"

"No, I think there's all the fixings for your lasagna here…"

I sighed happily—I really did love him. No ocean-eyed entomologist was going to make me doubt it. I couldn't wait to get home, open a bottle of wine, make that lasagna, hear about what his professor had to say about his paper, and curl up in bed early. He'd been working so much lately that it had been weeks since we'd made love and I was aching for him. It had been too long but… It could be a great night.

I pulled up outside our apartment, parking and gathering my things and rushing inside, smelling the burning smell even before the door was opened. His head peeked around the corner from the kitchen, his dark hair falling into his face and looking thoroughly tousled just the way I liked. The only thing better was when he was shirtless in the garage, working on a car. He'd shown me how to take a car apart when I had been unable to do said task in the lab, but I'd had to interrupt the lesson—he just looked too damn good all sweaty and greasy. I grinned and closed the door, slipping out of my shoes and moving forward to kiss him.

"Hi hon. I'm kicking you out."

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "I figured as much. Do you trust me to make the salad?"

I opened my mouth to say 'yes' but thought better of it—I liked lots of vegetables in my salads and while I didn't exactly thing he'd cut anything off, I also wasn't confident about the idea of him wielding a knife. "…I trust you to open a bottle of wine." I suggested instead, thinking myself very diplomatic.

He frowned. "I've got to work tonight, babe. Didn't I tell you? Al's got a rush on a transmission replacement. Said he'll pay me double if I can get it done by tomorrow afternoon. I'll probably work straight through and come home and crash around three or four…"

I tilted my head, pausing in the process of pulling out a pan for the lasagna. "…So, you'll be getting home and going to sleep just as I'll be home for the day?"

He glanced at me in curiosity. "I guess… Are you upset, honey?"

I frowned. "Well… I mean, I know it's work but… you'll sleep all evening and then what? Wake up when I go to bed? Why not just stay up and we'll go to bed early, together—I'm sure I'll be tired."

"I'm working tomorrow night, babe, otherwise I would."

I scowled. "…We're not hurting for money, Jace. Why all the extra hours?"

He raised an eyebrow. "We've got a wedding to pay for, and that honeymoon we've been planning. I mean, I know it's a year away, but…"

He trailed off and I finally stood upright, setting the pan on the stove and turning away from it. "…But what? That's exactly the point, Jace. The wedding is paid for, and the honeymoon is a year away. We're getting married in less than a week and I'm hardly going to see you all week. …It's been almost a month since we made love."

He gave me a soft smile and moved over to me, kissing my forehead again. "Sara, honey… I'm just trying to help us get ahead. I… want to take you on the honeymoon you deserve, not just scrape by at some two star hotel."

I felt my gaze softening and kissed him again. "And… the sex?"

He grinned and winked at me. "What do you think the wedding night is for?"

I smiled and went to work making the meal… but I couldn't focus. His words… his working so much… was nagging at the back of my mind. It didn't feel right, but I couldn't place what exactly seemed off. And I felt guilty for that, because part of the reason I was so distracted was because I kept glancing at the clock, wondering if Vegas was at the bar yet. …Jace wouldn't be home all night. It couldn't hurt to go get one drink…

I tried to talk myself out of it… tried to tell myself that it was so much smarter to stay home and get some sleep… go over final wedding plans with Rachel or something… but the fact of the matter was that Jace didn't have to go in tonight, he was choosing to. …He didn't have to work through tomorrow, and he didn't have to work again the next night.

…And if he didn't feel like staying home with me, why should I stay home alone?