Part four

Grissom's eyes fluttered open slowly. Strange. He didn't immediately recognize his surroundings and took a moment to get accustomed to his environment. This was not his couch, or his living room. Then it hit him. Right. He was still at Sara's place. Grissom glanced at his watch and was surprised to see he'd slept for almost 9 hours. It must have been months since he'd slept like this. Maybe it was because of Sara's comfy couch. Maybe it was because a gigantic weight had been lifted from his shoulders last night. He never would have imagined it, but telling Sara about his otosclerosis and about his feelings…Yes, Gil. Your feelings…felt like one of the best decisions he'd ever made. And lord knows he'd made some awful ones in his life. Like trying to fool himself into thinking he could forget about Sara. And pushing her away as a result of that. He gave himself a mental shake. No more of that. It was time to move on. He'd dwelled on the past for too long.

"Hi."

Sara's voice came from somewhere behind him. Grissom pushed himself up to a seated position and turned around to look for her. Sara stood in the doorway to her bedroom, looking refreshed and well, happy.

"Hi yourself. I guess I fell asleep", Grissom said apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't make better company."

"It's fine. Besides, you're cute when you're asleep."

Grissom's eyes grew large with astonishment. It must have been 40 years since someone had called him cute.

"Anyway", Sara quickly said, hoping he wouldn't make some kind of wisecrack about the little slip of the tongue. "How are you feeling? A triple shift can be deadly."

"Actually, Sara, people can recuperate from 14 days of insomnia with only 14 hours of sleep."

"Okay. That's fascinating, Grissom. But how are you doing?"

Grissom chuckled and smiled at her self-consciously.

"I'm fine. I feel great, really", he said as he got up and walked over to Sara, who eyed him with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

There was something almost predatory in his gaze and stride as he made his way over to her. Sara's heart was beating more frantically with every step he took towards her. But as he reached her, he simply took her hand in his and placed a kiss on it. The gentleness of the gesture caused Sara's eyes to flutter closed and she let out a long sigh. There was nothing she could do but stand there, hoping her knees wouldn't buckle, and let his gentleness wash over her. Sara felt his lips linger a moment and then move from her hand to her face. Grissom's whiskers tickled her skin as his lips caressed her cheek. At first she hadn't been too enthusiastic about his new facial hair, but the feeling of it was exciting and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Griss", she moaned.

He moved away from her a little to look into her eyes.

"You know, you could start calling me Gil."

"I could. Gil", she said.

"I like that. It sounds nice coming from you."

"You mean you don't want me to start calling you poopie-head?"

"If you want to spend to rest of your life nicknamed Muffin."

Sara laughed out loud. I seemed like such a long time since the had enjoyed this level of comfort around each other. It felt like coming home.

"Sara", he almost whispered.

"Yes."

"I'm happy we talked. I'm glad you understand. I wasn't sure you'd give me another chance. As a matter of fact, I wasn't sure I deserved another chance. Probably not."

Sara looked at him compassionately. She realized this must have been a struggle for him. He had hurt her, in ways he would never fully understand, but it didn't matter. This was a new start. A blank slate both of them.

"Probably not", she teased.

Grissom gave her his best mock-hurt expression.

"It's not too late, I think", she then said, more seriously.

Relief washed over Grissom. That's all he needed to know for now. She hadn't given up on him. And this time he'd wouldn't fail her.

He kissed her lips tentatively. Sara's arms moved around his neck and she pulled him close, deepening the kiss. To Grissom it felt like his body was on fire. And if Sara's wildly beating heart was any indication, this joining of lips was affecting her just as much.

After a long moment they slowly parted and rested their foreheads against each other, their breathing slowly calming down to a normal rhythm.

"I…", Grissom started.

Sara only groaned in response.

"That was…", he started again.

"Yeah", she breathed.

They silently exchanged glances.

"I should go", Grissom finally said.

"I know."

"I need to head over to my place to take a shower and change. I have to be at work in less than two hours."

"What a coincidence. So do I", Sara joked.

"Well, don't be late. You don't want to piss off your supervisor", Grissom replied with a sly grin on his face. He winked at her.

"Never."

He smiled sheepishly at her.

"We'll need to work some things out. Proper professional conduct and everything."

Sara said nothing.

"You know, if you still want to see what happens."

Then she smiled.

"I'd like to find out."

The End.