The Tahoe hit a bump in the road and Grissom winced, then

smiled. He was tired and sore, but in a ivery/i good way. He

looked over at Sara, on the seat across from him and felt his heart

swell. He couldn't stop thinking about last night. And he had decided

that his night with Lady Heather hadn't been a complete and total

mistake; it had served to remind him how to please a woman, allow him

some practice. And there was no woman he wanted to please more than

Sara. He felt a feral male pride in knowing that he had pleased her; her cries still echoed in his ears, her heat still lingered on his skin.And god, how she had pleased him.he couldn't believe what an amazing trip this conference had been. Grissom concentrated on the road long enough to take an exit

and get off the ramp and onto the road, then he couldn't help but

look at Sara again. The whole weekend had been marvelous and

unexpected. For the first time in his life, Grissom was disappointed

to be returning to work. Sara made a soft sound in her sleep,

shifting beneath her seatbelt, and Grissom felt his body long for

her. He wished he could turn the Tahoe around, head back the

Colorado, and spend a lifetime in that hotel room with Sara. But

Vegas was only an hour away.

The orange signs of a road construction crew made Grissom slow

down, and he obediently stopped for a man in a yellow vest with a red

stop sign. Behind the man, a huge yellow and black machine took a

load of dirt across the medium. The workmen looked just as anxious

and annoyed to be working on the interstate as the drivers behind

Grissom looked to be stopped on the interstate. Willing to sacrifice

four minutes of travel for the betterment of the highway, Grissom

smiled reassuringly at the man with the sign and took the opportunity

to watch Sara sleep.

The light sleeper had awakened by the lack of motion and

mumbled, "Grissom?.. Is everything OK..?" She squinted, waiting for

the blur of sleep to pass, and turned her head to meet Grissom's

adoring gaze. Memories of the previous night in his bed came rushing

back--along with the realization that they were going back home. Sara

felt hope and dread in her chest all at once. Grissom stroked her

face with the back of his hand, and she smiled, but gently pulled

away. He frowned, but before he could say anything, Sara looked at

her watch. "I've been sleeping for three hours? Gris, you should have

woken me up sooner! How close are we?" Her voice was strained

slightly in the last sentence. "We should be in Vegas in an hour or

so, depending on how long these guys hold us up." "An hour. Great."

There was obvious sarcasm in her voice. Grissom watched her, puzzled.

She avoided his eyes as she reached over and pushed the radio on, the

volume so loud Grissom jumped. He sat completely still, observing her

like an insect, not sure of what else to do. She reached into her

purse on the floorboard and pulled out a Ziploc bag of soy nuts, and

stuffed a handful into her mouth with shaking hands, face turned so he

couldn't see her emotions.

The man in the yellow vest waved them on, and Grissom had no

choice but to drive.

He searched his brain as he drove, and realized she must be

having second thoughts, regretting their evening together. He felt

pain, anger at himself, and shame. She'd been quiet all day, ever

since they'd checked out. He had chosen not to fully see it, but now

he realized. He turned the radio off and reached out to touch her

shoulder. "Sara...do we need to talk." "No. It's fine." Her voice was

strained. "Sara, please. If I need to apologize for my actions last

night...I shouldn't have let it happen. I should have thought of you.

I really didn't"-"God, no, Gil, it's not that!" She angrily turned

her head, and he saw a lone tear streaming down her face. It ripped

into his heart. "Sara..." he reached for her, but she looked away,

again."Watch the road, Grissom." He sighed and took the wheel with

both hands. "Tell me what the matter is, Sara. Please."

Defeated, she slumped against the seat, fiddling with the bottom

of her shirt, staring at her fingers. "Well, I don't know, it's

just...These past few days were so great. And now, it's back to the

routine, and...I know things won't be the same. Between us. You'll go

back to your work and your bugs, and I'll be left out in the cold.

Ever since I've known you, Grissom, there's been this pull between

us, and I've been in love with you, and I had no idea if you felt the

same way. Every once in awhile, you'd throw me a bone, let me think

there was some chance. Then you'd break my heart." Grissom's knuckles

turned white on the steering wheel, feeling her words cut to his very

core. She loved him. Sara stared straight ahead at the road, not

trusting herself to look at him. She continued. "And then, this

weekend, we came so far, and... it was heaven, Grissom. But there's a

huge part of me that knows that that will all have to stay in

Colorado. That you can't love me in Nevada, that you'll pull back

into your shell and shut me out, as soon as we go into that lab." The

tears were flowing freely now.

Her words circled in his brain. And...she loved him. In one

swift movement, Grissom changed two lanes, surprising Sara, and

pulled to a stop in the `emergency only' side shoulder. "What are you

doing?" He placed the Tahoe in `park', and unbuckled his seatbelt,

moving his body towards Sara, reaching out and taking her

by the shoulders. "Sara, look at me." Slowly, she did.

"I didn't realize I'd hurt you so much before, Sara. If I could

take it all back, I would." He flicked a tear off of her cheek, then

cupped her face in his palm. The tears kept falling. "Please, Sara,

stop crying...I'm so sorry. You don't know how much I hate that I did

that to you. But please believe me, Sara, I will do my best to never

do it again. I know I've been a fool, but...Sara, I love you. I love

you, too. I do." The words were so unfamiliar they almost felt thick

on his tongue, but it was accompanied with a freeing sensation that

made it wonderful. Sara's eyes shone in surprise. He repeated the

words. "I love you. Sara, I told you back in Colorado...I'm not a

poet. I'm not...there are so many things I'm not, Sara." He chuckled

at this, and a smile turned up a corner of her own mouth. "But you'll

have to take me as I am. This is all I've got. And I can't promise

that it's going to be perfect. This is a whole new world for me. I'm

going to screw up, a lot, and you'll have to bear with me. Can you

take me as I am? Will you be willing to stay with me while I do a

whole lot more stupid things and disappoint you a whole lot? Because,

Sara...that's all I can promise. I'm not good at this. I'm going to

hurt you more. I wish I couldn't say that, but it's true. I'm human,

and I'm a human who does not deal with people very well. You know

that. You know me more than anyone. You'll have to help me. Will you

tell me when I hurt you, when I'm doing something wrong? Will you

hang onto me, let me grow and find out how to do this right? Will you

stay by my side?" His eyes, pure and blue, glittered with sincerity

and a passion to learn how to love. Sara's tears turned to tears of

happiness. Thoroughly touched, she could only nod. He looked so

earnest and innocent, pleading for her love. She wondered if he

really feared that she'd deny him. All her fears melted away, and she

kissed him. They held each other like lifelines as cars sped past, in

another world and on their way to hundreds of distant destinations.

Grissom and Sara released from their embrace, renewed and with

hearts full of hope. Grissom eased back onto the interstate, miles of

road and a promising pink sunset stretched in front of them. The

Tahoe launched them into the future at sixty-five miles per hour, and

Grissom and Sara reached for each other's hands, resting their

entwined fingers in between the front seats.

And the lights of Vegas waited for them, a little over an hour

away.

~THE END~