A/N: Didn't get much reviews for the last chapters, think I have lost some
readers for leaving them hanging for too long huh? Anyway, thanks for all
those who had read and reviewed. This is the last chapter and will answer
the question that you have been asking since chapter 1. Does she LOVE him?
Well, read to find out!
*****
After nearly taking Nick's head off for disturbing him over a simple matter, Grissom ended the conversation abruptly and turned to face Catherine. 'So, what's the problem?' he repeated.
She shook her head, looking almost dazed. 'It's too sudden. Too much to take in at once. I'm all in sixes and sevens inside.' She stepped further away from him and spread out her hands as if warding off an attack.
'It would be so easy to give in to my feelings, to accept what you're telling me and forget all the hurt and misunderstandings that's gone before. But I know in my heart that would be a mistake. I don't want anything to harm our friendship Griss. We were doing just fine before all this blew up in our faces. Why can't we just go back to the way we were?' she said pleadingly.
Once he'd set his mind on a specific goal, Grissom went after it with single-minded concentration and could no more fathom her waffling at this stage of their relationship than he pretended to understand the complicated workings of the female mind.
What he did next was as much a shock to him as to her. Unable to stand it any longer, Grissom walked over to Catherine and did the one thing that he had wanted to do for years, ever since he realized how much her wanted her. He kissed her on the lips, hard.
At the first touch of his lips on hers, Catherine struggled, but his arms were holding her tight. Then, she stopped struggling and gave in to the pleasant sensation of the kiss, and the man that was kissing her. It was a totally new sensation, something that she had never felt before with any other man. Perhaps this was the indication that this was the real thing?
After they broke apart, each breathing heavily, she simply stared at his serious, summer-blue eyes, his wonderful, unforgettable face, not saying anything. Then, the tears started falling.
'Don't cry darling, please?' His hands were stroking her back and leaving trails of tenderness in their wake.
'Come on, I think you've had enough for a day. Time for bed.' He said as he led her towards her room.
Before leaving her to change and get ready for bed, he looked at her searchingly. 'I'm sorry if I was a little forward just now. It was rather ungallant of me to take advantage of you like that.'
She gave him a weak smile and walked over to him. 'I don't mind, in fact I think it brought me to my senses, to realize what I was missing. Just like sleeping beauty, I needed to be brought back to life, by the man that loves me, and ' she paused, looking at him with something akin to shyness before continuing, ' whom I love in return.'
He gave a groan of delight and pulled her into his embrace. His lips closed over hers with such sureness and passion that all the dark, terrible doubts she'd entertained about their relationship over the past months sank into oblivion.
The most unique and glorious thing was not the love that they had for each other, but the trust that they had forged from all the tears and misery- not just in the moment but in tomorrow and all the long lovely years that stretched ahead.
*** THE END ***
*****
After nearly taking Nick's head off for disturbing him over a simple matter, Grissom ended the conversation abruptly and turned to face Catherine. 'So, what's the problem?' he repeated.
She shook her head, looking almost dazed. 'It's too sudden. Too much to take in at once. I'm all in sixes and sevens inside.' She stepped further away from him and spread out her hands as if warding off an attack.
'It would be so easy to give in to my feelings, to accept what you're telling me and forget all the hurt and misunderstandings that's gone before. But I know in my heart that would be a mistake. I don't want anything to harm our friendship Griss. We were doing just fine before all this blew up in our faces. Why can't we just go back to the way we were?' she said pleadingly.
Once he'd set his mind on a specific goal, Grissom went after it with single-minded concentration and could no more fathom her waffling at this stage of their relationship than he pretended to understand the complicated workings of the female mind.
What he did next was as much a shock to him as to her. Unable to stand it any longer, Grissom walked over to Catherine and did the one thing that he had wanted to do for years, ever since he realized how much her wanted her. He kissed her on the lips, hard.
At the first touch of his lips on hers, Catherine struggled, but his arms were holding her tight. Then, she stopped struggling and gave in to the pleasant sensation of the kiss, and the man that was kissing her. It was a totally new sensation, something that she had never felt before with any other man. Perhaps this was the indication that this was the real thing?
After they broke apart, each breathing heavily, she simply stared at his serious, summer-blue eyes, his wonderful, unforgettable face, not saying anything. Then, the tears started falling.
'Don't cry darling, please?' His hands were stroking her back and leaving trails of tenderness in their wake.
'Come on, I think you've had enough for a day. Time for bed.' He said as he led her towards her room.
Before leaving her to change and get ready for bed, he looked at her searchingly. 'I'm sorry if I was a little forward just now. It was rather ungallant of me to take advantage of you like that.'
She gave him a weak smile and walked over to him. 'I don't mind, in fact I think it brought me to my senses, to realize what I was missing. Just like sleeping beauty, I needed to be brought back to life, by the man that loves me, and ' she paused, looking at him with something akin to shyness before continuing, ' whom I love in return.'
He gave a groan of delight and pulled her into his embrace. His lips closed over hers with such sureness and passion that all the dark, terrible doubts she'd entertained about their relationship over the past months sank into oblivion.
The most unique and glorious thing was not the love that they had for each other, but the trust that they had forged from all the tears and misery- not just in the moment but in tomorrow and all the long lovely years that stretched ahead.
*** THE END ***
