Disclaimer: Much as I wish he did, Grissom doesn't belong to me. Neither does Catherine or any of the others.
Notes: Well, after an extended vacation my muse has finally decided to come back and do some actual work for once. This was meant to be a PWP prequel to 'The Great Freckle Hunt 2003' and somehow ended up as this.
Rating: Umm, PG13? Maybe?
Dedication: To the wonderful people over on GraveshiftCSI. Without you I would be suffering in silence because absolutely nobody gets my obsession with Catherine and Grissom. Thank you.
Title: Swept Away
"Okay," Gil Grissom thought to himself. "This is different." He couldn't actually say anything because his mouth was otherwise engaged. He had no idea what had sparked this off, but he wasn't complaining a bit. One minute he had been quietly working in one of the layout rooms with Catherine, the next he had been pinned up against the wall by a 5 foot 9, strawberry-blonde force of nature.
When she eventually moved her attack from his mouth to his neck, he forced himself to take his hands out of her hair, grab her arms and push her away slightly. The power of their kisses had left them both gasping for breath and he needed a second to try and make sense of what was happening.
"Cath, wait a second," he gasped. "What's going on?"
She shrugged. "I couldn't take it anymore, Grissom."
"Take what?" he asked, completely confused.
She gestured between them. "This. Us." When she saw he was still confused, she continued. "I've spent the better part of the last fifteen years watching you and wondering what it would be like between us and I just couldn't take the not knowing anymore. I had to find out if the reality was as good as the fantasy."
Grissom could sympathise with that, he had wondered the same thing over the years but there had always been something standing in the way of finding out. "Why now, Catherine?"
"I don't know," she said with a slightly embarrassed laugh as she started to pace the room. "You were concentrating so hard and you had this look on your face and I just had to kiss you. I didn't think about it, I just did it and now I know."
"Now you know, what?" he asked quietly.
She turned and slowly walked back towards him. "Now I know that the reality is a million times better than the fantasy could ever be." She laughed nervously and her tongue flicked out to moisten suddenly dry lips. "And I'm absolutely petrified. Isn't that funny?"
Grissom groaned when he saw her lick her lips. She looked so beautiful with her hair mussed from his hands, her eyes sparkling, her face flushed and her lips swollen from their kisses that he couldn't stop himself. He just had to touch her. Taking the few steps that separated them; he cupped her face in his hand and gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek. Catherine sighed at the tenderness in his touch and her eyelids fluttered closed. "Open your eyes, Catherine," he whispered in her ear.
Her eyes flew open and Grissom could see the feelings that had slowly been growing over the course of their friendship and he knew that she could see the exact same emotions reflected in his eyes. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled her closer and she gasped at the feel of his arousal pressing against her. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "Because you know, there's no going back from it. Nothing is ever going to be the same again."
"Honestly?" she asked and he nodded. "No, I'm not sure. I do know that I want this more than I have ever wanted anything in my entire life. I know that I trust you to never do anything that would hurt me, not deliberately anyway. I know that my daughter loves you and she's a pretty good judge of character and I know that falling in love with you would be the easiest thing I ever did. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not sure but I want to do it anyway and…" she stopped talking when Grissom covered her mouth with his finger.
"You're babbling," he said with an amused smile as he removed his finger and kissed her. It was the slightest brush of his lips against hers but it affected them far more deeply than the lust fuelled kisses of earlier. This kiss reached down into their very souls and swept away all the years of pretending and allowed them to finally see the truth they had worked so hard to hide from themselves.
Catherine looked up at him and smiled. "You know when I said that falling in love with you would be the easiest thing I ever did?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"I was wrong. I'm already in love with you and I just never realised it."
"Have I ever told you that I love you?" he asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Not that I can remember," Catherine said with a smile.
"Remind me to tell you later?"
"I promise," she said as she pulled his head down to meet his lips with her own and they once again lost themselves to the fire that burned within.
The end.
A/N: First of all, I have absolutely no idea how tall Cath is, but she looks about 5' 9 to me (I'm probably completely wrong, but that's nothing unusual). Secondly, please review. After my muse deserted me for all that time I need all the reassurance I can get.