A/N: There are subtle references to other G/S fanfics throughout all of MPL, used with the greatest respect. I hope the authors don't mind (let me know if you do and I'll remove it). Brownie points if anyone can pick them all out, you can e-mail the answers to me at kingraffea@hotmail.com!
46
Grissom screeched to a halt outside Sara's apartment at exactly 6:38 PM. As he raised his hand to knock, the door swung open and Sara, chewing her lip, appeared in the doorway. There were deep circles under her eyes, and Grissom wondered if she'd gotten even less sleep than he had.
They stared at each other, both too nervous to speak until finally Sara broke the silence. "Oh for heaven's sake, I feel like we're two junior-high kids on their first date." Grissom managed a small laugh at that, and she held up her finger in a "wait" gesture. "One sec, let me just grab my stuff."
As she disappeared back into her apartment, Grissom was left standing outside, searching his mind furiously for a way to implement Catherine's suggestion. As Sara came toward him and locked her apartment door, the answer hit him. This was the perfect way to show her that she could have control! He waited as they crossed the lawn in front of her complex. As she turned her back to him to go the passenger side of his car, he called, "Oh, hey Sara!"
She turned, but before she could ask what he wanted, something came flying toward her head. Instinctively, she snatched it out of the air. Opening her hand, she discovered that the projectile was Grissom's key ring. "You trying to knock me out or something? Didn't your mama ever tell you not to throw things at people's heads?" Grissom only smiled at her. "Ok, so what's the deal? Is this your revenge for me teasing you earlier? You're going to tease me with your car keys? Cause let me tell you, that leaves something to be desired."
"No tease, Sara." He waved his arm toward the driver's seat. "All yours."
Sara stared at him. "No way." He nodded. "Let me get this straight," she said slowly. "You want me to drive your car. Me, the one who you think drives like a maniac."
"Yeah, pretty much. Now get in the car, Sara. I want to take you to get some dinner before shift."
She blinked. "You, Grissom, are a nut." She shook her head at him, but climbed into the driver's seat. "Last chance. You sure you're ok with me driving your Beamer?"
He nodded again and leaned over to turn the key. "You're in the driver's seat, Sara," she told her as the engine turned over. "You'll be fine, just keep your speed somewhere under 100 and I won't scream."
She scowled at him, but the expression on his face told her that he was joking. "Ok, then." She checked the rearview mirror, hid a smile, and floored it down the driveway. Looking over at Grissom's shell-shocked expression, she slowed to a normal speed and smirked at him. "That's what you get for throwing things at me. So where do you want to eat?"
"How about that deli Greg likes? I know you like their vegetarian sandwiches."
Sara nodded. "Works for me. I like that Heidi girl who works the counter. Between her and me, we'll get Greg converted eventually."
Grissom faked a frightened look. "You two will try to suck me in!"
Sara choked on a laugh and shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "That's not usually an activity for three, Gris."
He snorted. "You and your dirty mind just keep driving."
As she pulled into the deli's parking lot, Sara reached over and squeezed his hand. "Thanks for letting me drive. I know it must have been a terrifying experience for you." She grinned. "Next time I won't go so easy on you."
Flicking a finger over her hand, Grissom grinned shamelessly. "Who said anything about me liking things easy?"
She pulled her hand away, laughing. "Save it for later, Romeo. First things first, let's feed me."
They entered the deli laughing. "You sure you don't want to try the veggie combo, Grissom? It's good!"
"Hey, for you I'll even eat vegetables." He nodded to the clerk behind the counter. "Two, uh . . . veggie combos." They took their sandwiches and sat down, chewing in silence for a few minutes.
Grissom didn't want to ask. He really didn't want to, but he needed to know. "So . . . did you reach any conclusions about us today?"
Sara stopped chewing. Swallowing a bite of her sandwich very deliberately, she frowned. "Well, no. Not really. I mean, I'm calmer, but I still don't know what to do about us." She saw that Grissom had blanched. "No! I don't mean like that. I mean I don't have any better ideas about how to balance 'Grissom' with 'everything else'."
Grissom let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "We can work on that. We have two very good brains. Between the two of us, we ought to be able to figure something out." He sighed with relief, able to eat again. "Just as long as you're not going to give up on this, Sara, we can work out anything."
She popped in the last bite of her sandwich, swallowed, and giggled lightly. "That was probably the most romance-novel-ish speech I've ever heard you make, Grissom. You sure you haven't been studying?"
"Not from romance novels, I haven't!" He pushed back his chair, laughing. "Ready to go, my long-suffering Victorian heroine?"
