Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to, I don't own any of these characters.

Note: This is an edit- I realised that writing and posting on the same day isn't a very good idea because I want to change some things (my mind is very active when I go to sleep!!!), and also I decided that Warrick's girlfriend shouldn't be a man! (thanks joey des anges!) Thanks for your reviews and your support! :) Ok, so here it goes -

Chapter Two

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"There," said Gil Grissom as he signed the last necessary form after his team had once again solved a crime, "All done." He had begun quietly talking to himself after his ear operation, just to confirm with himself that his hearing was still there. It had been a rough few months ever since his hearing had begun to deteriorate, and he had only just made it through when he decided that enough was enough, and something had to be done. It was just like solving a crime, he had repeatedly told himself - evidence had to be collected before it was solved, just like his hearing had to be fixed before he could continue a normal life, with normal relationships. Well, normal enough for him anyway. Gil had never been good at handling people, and this was often shown with his constant referral to Catherine as 'the people person' when it came to dealing with suspects or witnesses. Catherine often saw this as a cop out on his behalf, and he knew it, but it was true. He wasn't much of a people person, and this was also shown in his dealings with Sara. They hadn't talked to each other, or worked together for so long, and then bang, she asked him out to dinner. At the worst time possible for him, for both of them in fact, he reasoned. "I did the right thing though," Grissom mumbled to himself, rethinking the events of that night. "Didn't I?" he said, mumbling to himself. Then he heard it. A small noise, just quiet enough to hear, but not loud enough to notice. At least he thought that he heard it. 'Zip' There it was again! He listened harder. No one was supposed to be in the lab for a while. All the graveyard shift workers had gone home, and the day shift were using another part of the building, waiting for the lab to be rebuilt, after the explosion. Silence prevailed. Then he heard it again. "That's it," he said as he slowly got up from his desk, "Now I'm checking it out."

- - - - - - - - - -

As Sara slid into her sleeping bag in the breakroom, and settled down to sleep, the last thing she expected to see was Grissom standing in the doorway, staring down at her.

"Sara," said Grissom in a slightly reprimanding tone, "What on earth are you doing?" Sara jumped slightly, surprised to see him there. However, her surprise was quickly replaced with shock. 'At least he's talking to me now' Sara thought as she looked up at his tall figure, silhouetted against the dim light from the corridor.

"What does it look like I'm doing, " Sara replied back to Grissom, mirroring the same reprimanding tone he used on her, "going to sleep."

"I can see that," he said, moving over towards her, and squatting on the ground beside her sleeping bag, "but why here?"

"Don't worry," she sighed, "it has nothing to do with you, and it's not affecting my work in anyway, so -" she was cut off quickly by Grissom

"Anything that has to do with any CSI's life affects their work, and therefore has something to do with me, be it what you're eating, what relationships you have -"

Sara suddenly butted in, annoyed with Grissom interfering in her personal life "How do my relationships have anyth -"

"Let me finish, Sara," Grissom said. She stared at him for a few seconds, and then slightly nodded, "And finally, where you're living. Now tell me what you're doing here." He said the last part softly, and gently. Sara could see genuine compassion in his eyes, and she sighed heavily,

"Fine, I'll tell you. You would have found out soon anyway," she said defiantly, climbing out of her sleeping bag. She was dressed in a long mans shirt, and pyjama shorts. Grissom stood up, and gestured for her to sit down at the break room table beside him, by pulling out a chair for her. She sat down, slightly uncomfortable by the fact that she was wearing casual clothes, that, in fact didn't cover much, and not her usual work attire.

"So," Grissom said, looking at her with a slight smile, unaware of her embarrassment, "tell me what you're doing here, and maybe then we can work something out."

"Well," she said with a large sigh, "I was kicked out of my apartment by my landlord who decided to return from Europe six weeks early. He was supposed to write me a letter saying that I should be fully packed and ready to move by the time he got back, but, of course, it never arrived."

"Ok," he said slowly, taking in all the information.

"So to cut it all short, I ended up moving in with Catherine for a week, which, might I tell you, is not all that it's cut out to be" she added with a smile. "Imagine not being able to use the bathroom for a good hour every morning, and tripping over Barbie dolls every five seconds. Not that Lindsey's a great kid and all, but you know how I am with kids." Grissom smiled at this comment. Sara had always told him, and the rest of the team how bad she was with children, but they all knew that that wasn't true. Kids adored her, and she secretly adored them.

"So then you came here?" Grissom asked.

"No! Of course not! Why would I give up there? I stayed with Nicky for two nights, and that just became too weird, with all his video game obsessions. He made me play Nintendo with him the entire time I was there. And you know how I couldn't use Catherine's bathroom?" Grissom nodded, "Well, I actually didn't want to use Nicky's!" she added with a laugh.

"So, then what happened?" Grissom asked. He was obviously hooked on her story.

"Then I went to Warrick's place, but then his new girlfriend got jealous and practically threw me out the door!" This caused Grissom to smile, as he imagined Sara and Warrick trying to explain to Warricks new belle who exactly Sara was.

"Continue, " said Grissom.

"Then Greg offered to let me stay with him, but I only stayed one night, because his place was, well, to be frank, weird. It was just like my older brothers bedroom when he was a teenager, except it was a whole apartment. Picture semi-naked women posters all over the walls, and this shag carpet rug that he swore was originally grey." Grissom smiled. "He had some good CD's though, but he played them all the time, so I couldn't sleep. Then I stayed with Archie, but only one night, because all his computer equipment stayed on all the time and kept me awake. It was clean though, which was a nice change from Greg's. The David offered to let me live with him, and he's cute and all, but he has this 'thing' for me, you know? And I wasn't sure if I'd wake up one morning and find him staring at me. So then I decided to stay at the lab. And now you've found me on night two, and I guess I can't sleep here anymore." She added the last part defiantly, as if to make a point.

"Hang on," Grissom said, "I never said that you couldn't sleep here." Sara could tell that he was slightly annoyed. "It just doesn't look that comfortable. Why don't you try a motel or something?"

"Are you kidding?!" Sara laughed out loud, "Oh yeah, that would be a great idea. Just leave all my stuff lying around a sleazy motel for the owners to peek through while I'm at work."

"Hey, hey" he said "calm down! It was only a suggestion. Maybe not a motel, maybe a hotel?"

"And I'm supposed to pay for this fancy hotel how?" she said with a laugh.

"Well, maybe," Grissom paused

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe you could stay with me for tonight. I have a spare bedroom that I think is fine,"

"Oh, no no no." said Sara suddenly interrupting Grissom. She was now unsure and slightly nervous, "I couldn't do that, not with everything that's happened, everything that's going on." she trailed off,

"Just for one night, and then you can have a look for apartments tomorrow." Sara's eyes narrowed slightly,

"Ok, fine. But only for one night. And then I'm moving out." She said defiantly as a small smile appeared on Grissoms face.

- - - - - - - - - -

'What am I doing?' Grissom asked himself as he walked Sara to his car. He was suddenly nervous, and this sudden mood swing was causing him to sweat slightly. Sara had changed clothes, out of her pyjamas into the clothes she had worn to work that day. Grissom had told her not to bother getting changed, it would hold him up even more. She became annoyed when he told her this, the same way that Grissom was annoyed at himself for saying it. She refused to go, until he caved in and let her change. The truth was, he didn't necessarily want her to get changed - he thought that she looked beautiful in her old worn pyjamas, but she was obviously uncomfortable wearing them in front of him.

"It's hot, isn't it?" said Sara as she climbed into Grissom SUV. 'Maybe it not just my nerves making me sweat then,' Grissom thought to himself. He grunted and nodded slightly in agreement, as he closed the car door and started the engine. The car rumbled into life, and he pulled out of the parking lot, swinging the car onto the road. Sara had wanted to take her car, but it had been so long since she, or anyone for that matter, had been to his townhouse that he was worried that she might get lost. Sara told him that this was impossible, that there was no way she would get lost, but Grissom would hear none of it. So there she was. The woman who he had turned down not one month earlier, sitting beside him in his car, staring out the window, her back towards him and her forehead against the glass. Her hair was no longer dead straight as it had been during working hours. Little waves of hair had escaped, and formed a small halo around her head, lit up by the city lights. He wasn't sure if she was asleep or just daydreaming, but he knew that waiting to arrive at his house, his home, where he lived in privacy, where he could live in silence. "How things have changed," he murmured to himself quietly as they drove through an intersection, and turned right into his street, "how they have changed."

TO BE CONTINUED.