A/N : Final chapter. Hurray for me, this has been my longest fic so far. Thanks to the Graveshift csi groupies - you're the best. Hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Happy new year everyone !





It's good to see he's feeling better now. His sudden dark mood scared me and I'm just really glad that I was there to talk him out of leaving. I honestly don't know what I would do without Gil.

I look up from my cold soup when he enters into the break-room, carrying our coats.

"Cath ? Ready to go?"

"Yup" I nod.

We both put on our coats and just as he's about to walk out by himself, I reach for his hand. He looks at me, a little shy, a little confused but I smile at him reassuringly. Sometimes that's all he needs. A little reassurance. Together we walk out of the CrimeLab, holding hands. I can hear some people whispering as we pass them, see some heads turning our way, but I don't really care.

As we make it to parking lot, I feel Grissom softly squeeze my hand. I frown.

What's wrong ?

He softly nods his head at a dark figure, walking across the parking lot.

Who's that ?

I narrow my eyes and look more closely.

Shit.

Great.

Just.great.

I don't need this. He already had his say. Why doesn't he just leave us alone and harass some of his other colleagues.

"I always knew you two had a thing"

Now where did I hear that one before?

"Conrad" Gil says firmly, acknowledging his presence but not responding to his comment. I simply nod at the little weasel, not hiding my disgust for him.

Go away. You've already caused enough damage.

Ecklie eyes us suspiciously. He probably expected us to jump apart or something when he saw us holding hands. The man is obsessed with the idea that Gil and I are together. We are, but not just in that way.

"Gil. Catherine. I thought I'd never see the day that you two would .show your affair in public"

Affair? Ow, get a life, Ecklie.

I squeeze Gil's hand tightly. I want to go. Leave Ecklie and his stupid accusations behind us and just go somewhere nice. Away from here.

"Goodnight Conrad" Gil says calmly and I admire him for that. After all the things he said about Gil, his hearing problem and the rumour about Grissom's leaving ,a rumour he probably started, I'd be ready to bite his head of. Or worse.

Ecklie turns around.

I softly pull Gil with me, until I hear Ecklie mumble something.

I'm not sure what he just said, but I know it was something nasty.

I instantly let go of Gil.

"Would you mind repeating that, Ecklie??!!"

I'm pissed. I'm really pissed right now.

Ecklie turns around, smiling. "I just commented on how lovely the two of you look together. The deaf man and his little blonde whore, who'd do just about anything to get ahead in life. Even if it means sleeping with her invalid, old boss"

The-deaf-man? Whore? Invalid-old-boss?

Something inside of me snaps. I know what I'm about to do. And I'm not going to stop myself. Gil sees it too and tries to stop me. He can't stop me this time.

I lung forward, raise my hand and before the slimy, arrogant bastard can react, my fist connects with his nose. Right in the face. He looks at me in absolute terror then crouches down, trembling hands covering his already bleeding nose.

"Catherine!" I hear Gil gasp. He quickly pulls me back when Ecklie scrambles back on his feet.

"She punched me! That dirty bitch punched me!"

"I know" Gil replies dryly. "Better have someone take a look at that nose"

I look up at him in surprise as he gently guides me towards the Tahoe.

It didn't work. Punching Ecklie felt great, yeah. But I'm still furious. The sudden adrenaline rush has me sitting in the passengers seat shaking.

Gil presses me shoulder lightly in encouragement then gets in himself, and we drive off.

I can't believe I just did that. I punched Ecklie in the nose. I can't believe I just did that.

"I can't believe I just did that" I finally say after a few minutes of silence. I stare at the road ahead and I'm not sure what to feel. Victory?

Suddenly I hear a muffled sound. And another one. I'm not sure what it is. Warily, I look at my left.

Grissom's face is all red. He's trying to concentrate on the road and at the same time suppress .....something. His shoulders are shaking and I see a single tear rolling down cheek.

"Gil?" I ask him softly.

He opens his mouth to answer me, gasps and then begins to laugh so loud, my ears hurt. Tears are streaming down his face, his shoulders are shaking from laughing so loud and every now and then he just gasps for air.

Although I actually find the whole situation as hysterical as him, his laughter makes me a little quieter than usual. It's a glimpse of our past; the nights he used to drive me back to my and Eddie's apartment and I'd crack a joke about one of our colleagues. He just roared with laughter then just like he's doing now.

I smile.

It's good to have him back.

The old Grissom.

"Wha..What.?" He asks in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice while wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Just that I love seeing you like this." I answer simply.

He smiles one of his charming half-smiles at me, chuckles a little and then concentrates on the road ahead of us.

I sigh and lean my head again one of the damp windows.

What a great night. I punched Eckie AND made Gil laugh.

What more could a girl ask for?

"Cath. ... Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"Where do you want to go. Your place or mine?"

"You pick" I answer him.

"Ladies first"

"Age before beauty" I tease.

He grins. "Although you just quoted from a source unknown to me, I have to say that whoever thought of it was correct"

"huh?"

What is he talking about. What did I miss ? Ah, yes, Gil Grissom and his words of wisdom never cease to amaze me.

"You are a beauty." He turns to me and I suddenly realise I could literally drown in his bright blue eyes. It's a cliché, but 'oh-so' true. I feel I'm blushing and try to shake of the feeling. God, how come it's okay for me to flirt with him, but whenever he flirts me with, I just...close up? .No...He's probably just teasing me. And it's time for me to tease back.

"Why, Gil Grissom," I reply in a Southern-accent," did you just pay lil' ol'me a compliment?"

He chuckles. "Don't push it, Catherine"

I giggle and nod. It feels good to.tease each other like that. "Ok, ok, I guess I should be..grateful then that I have you to pay me compliments every.decade?"

I glance at him and notice the smile fading from his gallant face. He's brooding. Thinking. I can tell by the little wrinkle between his brows. I didn't mean it to come out like that. I wasn't sneering, I was joking. Just kidding.

"You are beautiful, Cath" He finally says, not looking at me.

"Tell me something I don't already know" I quip. Sometimes, I really need to shut up. He looks so troubled.

"Ok" Grissom says slowly. "I'm grateful that I have you as a friend. I know I haven't always been there for you, but I do care about you. A lot. And ..I'm not sure if you know this since I'm not very good at expressing....what I feel. How I feel, about you"

I smile at him. What did I ever do to deserve such a sweet man in my life? "It's ok, Gil. Me too"

He sighs in relief. "So, where are we going again?"

"My place" I state."Lindsey hasn't seen you for a while. And you know what else? We should really set that rule again, meeting at yours or mine after shift. Lindsey has really missed you"

Liar. Liar, liar,liar !!! "Ok, no. That's a lie"

He looks at me confused.

"No. no. I mean, yeah, she missed you but I'm asking you purely out of...selfish reasons. I mean, not that she doesn't want you there but I'm really asking because.."

"Cath, you're rambling"

"because...I've missed you"

He wanted to say something, I can tell, but quickly shuts his mouth again as a result of my.confession.

Why isn't he saying anything?

I find myself frowning at the uncomfortable silence. He's keeping his eyes on the road, of course but, what's he thinking? I mean, I didn't think that my little confession would be such a ..shocker.

"I haven't been much of a friend to you lately, have I?"

Although I can't see his eyes, I know what I'll read in them. Sadness and guilt.

"I.er."

I should tell him. I should tell him how it made me feel to find out about his hearing problem so long after he had gotten the diagnose. It hurt that he didn't trust me enough to tell me. He had to go through an awful period all by himself and I had been more than willing to carry some of his burden. To share his pain.

"It did hurt me a little that you didn't trust me enough to tell me what was happening to you. I would have been there for you, you know that"

"I do know that, Catherine, I was just.....scared"

He scrapes his throat and glances from me to the road. "I'm sorry"

"It's ok. Really, Gil. It's fine"

It is. It is fine. I'm over it. He was scared back then.

The car suddenly pulls up a driveway I recognise.

Home sweet home.

He pulls the keys out of ignition but doesn't move. Me neither.

"We're going to be fine" I lean in and softly kiss him on the cheek, then get out of the car. He slowly follows my lead.

I'm already standing in front of my front door but I can't find my frikkin' keys. Where are they? I frantically rummage through my purse in search of them.

"Did you see the look on his face?"

"Hmm?" I reply, absentmindedly because I still can't find my keys. Lipgloss, lipstick, mascara, mirror..cellphone...keys, where are my keys. Maybe I left them at the Lab?

"Ecklie's face." He suddenly begins to chuckle.

"aha!"

Found them.

Triumphantly, I hold them up.

No reaction.

I look over my shoulder only to find Gil leaning against the doorframe for support. He's holding his glasses in his right hand while using his left hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. "You..should..have..SEEN his face! I'll never forget the look on his face " he stutters, still laughing.

I smile and softly pull him into the house.





~ Welcome back my old friend.











**The End.**







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