Chapter Sixteen
A cool breeze blew in from the open window in Lilly's room. The young woman lay in bed, trying desperately to push the thoughts from her mind so that she might sleep. Lilly could hear the cars that drove along the road just outside her apartment. Wearily, she got up, donned her bathrobe, and headed out to the kitchen. The young woman grabbed a coffee mug from one of the cupboards and filled it with milk before popping it in the microwave. When the timer went off, Lilly took the mug and sat down at the dining table. Cradling the cup in her hands she let the warmth seep into her cold body as she sat thinking.
Lilly was tired of fighting with Greg. Either he could forgive her or not. If he didn't the least the both of them could do was be civil with each other. Taking a small sip of the warm milk, Lilly contemplated what she could say to Greg to make him see her side of things. She hadn't wanted to act that way towards him on Valentine's Day, it had just happened. She had been surprised and she hadn't thought about what Greg was feeling.
Shaking her head, Lilly stood and walked back into the kitchen. She finished the milk and placed the mug in the sink. As she turned to go back to bed a shadow fell over the window, blocking the stream of moonlight that was coming into the living room. Lilly stood still, her heart racing.
"It's probably just a stray cat or something." She said to herself, trying to shake the fear that she felt, "Yeah right Lilly, like a cat would be THAT big." The shadow moved and Lilly could make out the shape of a person. "Okay I'm really freaking out now." The empty room stood in eerie silence, Lilly's heart was beating wildly now, and her breathing was ragged with fear. The shadow then disappeared as quickly as it had come. Lilly swallowed the lump of fear that had risen in her throat.
"I was just imagining it." She said to the empty apartment, "yeah that's all it was. Just a figment of my imagination." Having rationalized what she saw, Lilly headed back to bed. She didn't sleep for the rest of the night, her mind racing with possibilities of what the shadow might have been, but Lilly knew what it was, and no rationalized thinking could make her forget the outline of a human being.
~*~*~
Still slightly shaky from last night's scare, Lilly walked into the CSI lab, ready for another day of work and emotional sparring with Greg.
"What happened to you?" Nick asked coming up beside Lilly in the hall and pointing out the dark bags under her eyes, "You look awful."
"Thanks Nick." Lilly said sarcastically, "Way to make a girl feel special."
"Sorry." He replied.
"It's okay," Lilly said with a sigh as she wearily rubbed her forehead, "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"This thing with Greg has got you a little messed up huh?"
"How did you..." Lilly started, surprised.
"Warrick told me." Nick said interrupting her.
"How did he know?"
"It was his idea."
"Oh."
"Well I'll see you around." Nick left Lilly standing in the hallway, her mind reeling. Warrick was the one that had told Greg to be her secret admirer? Why would he have done that? Lilly shook the questions from her mind tiredly. She had too much going on in her head, and she needed a break from it all.
~*~*~
"This is it." Lilly thought, "Today I'm going to talk to him about what happened, and he's going to listen to me." Lilly walked determinedly into the trace lab resolved that today was the day she made Greg listen to her. The lab tech looked up from the evidence he was working on, and Lilly was hit by the animosity in his eyes.
"Hey Greg." She said with a small smile.
"Hey." Greg said stiffly, his tone dissolving any and all courage Lilly had.
"When did you get in?" She asked, trying to regain her nerve.
"A while ago. I wanted to get a jump start on this evidence we found." He said.
"Oh, well did you find anything?"
"No."
"Oh. Look Greg..."
"We've got work to do." Greg cut her off.
"Right." Lilly smiled weakly and they fell into silence.
~*~*~
Greg glanced over where Lilly was processing the clothing that the vics had been wearing. She looked troubled, her eyes were blood shot and there were large bags beneath them. It almost seemed like she had not slept the past night. She looked so miserable that Greg wanted to go over there and hold her in his arms, and never let go.
"Stop it!" He chastised himself; "You're only making it worse."
"But she looks so distressed." He fought with himself.
"That's because she's feeling guilty about the awful way she treated you and she's trying to make you feel sorry for her."
"No, Lilly would never do that."
"Yes she would, or did you already forget what happened on Valentine's Day?"
"Alright, enough! You don't have to bring that up." Greg shook his warring thoughts from his head. He quickly looked back over at Lilly and his compassionate side won out.
"Are you okay?" he asked walking over to her. Lilly looked up startled.
"I'm fine." She said quickly turning away from him. Greg breathed in deeply, gathering his courage. He reached out slowly and hooked a finger beneath Lilly's slender neck, gently forcing her to face him.
"Are you sure?" He asked genuinely concerned.
"I said I was fine Greg." She said, her voice rising in volume.
"Well I'm sorry if I was worried about you." He said, matching her tone and volume, "Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again."
"Good, make sure you don't." she said angrily.
~*~*~
She had come in that day hoping to make things right between them, but now Lilly was yelling at Greg because he was concerned for her.
"Isn't it ironic?" she taunted herself. Greg was only trying to find out if she was all right, but instead of telling him what had happened that night; Lilly was biting his head off. For some idiotic reason she didn't want to tell him about the person outside her apartment.
"You idiot, why don't you just tell him?" she screamed inside her mind, "He wants to know what's going on."
"Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again." Lilly heard Greg yell, and before she knew it, she was fighting back with words that possessed the same, if not more, bite than his own had.
"Fine." He yelled in reply to her words. Greg turned to walk out, but Lilly's pride would not let him leave that easily. After all, she had to have the last word in everything.
"And while you're at it," She heard herself saying, "make sure you never talk to me again."
"I'll do you one better," he yelled back, "I'm going to ask Grissom to get you another partner on this case."
"Good, you're an awful CSI anyway."
"Well you're not much better." With that final attempt at a retort, Greg marched out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him.
In the deafening silence that engulfed the room, Lilly leaned against the wall, gulping in air and sliding down to the floor. Tears flowed down her face in an unstoppable flood. Why had she done it? Why couldn't she keep her emotions in check? Lilly had never been one to fly off the handle before, but whenever it concerned Greg, Lilly couldn't trust herself not to put her foot in her mouth.
Weakly, she stood and gathered her wits about her. She could not show that she was hurt, but she knew that everybody in the lab would have had to be deaf not to hear the hurtful words that were being said. She took a couple deep breaths before opening the door and going out to face her co-workers.
~*~*~
The rain pelting the windows outside mirrored Lilly's mood. Gil had graciously allowed Lilly to leave soon after her encounter with Greg. The young woman had returned home gratefully, and collapsed on her sofa for a good, uninterrupted cry. Now she was settled down, mostly, and sat watching a movie on the television with a container of BEN AND JERRY'S in her hand, and a box of tissues beside her. She sat curled on the sofa, occasionally reaching for a tissue to dry her wet eyes. A light knock on the door startled her, and Lilly quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before standing up to answer the door.
~*~*~
"Why am I here?" Greg thought as the rain pelted him, soaking through his clothes and leaving him drenched. After the fight with Lilly, Greg had taken the time to cool off and gather his wits about him. He knew that both he and Lilly had been too emotional to handle the situation rationally. He knew it could have gone a LOT better, but it had already happened and he had to fix his mistake. Greg also knew now that he had to tell Lilly how he felt, he had to tell her that he could no longer go on living like he was, and that she had to make a choice. He had to know what she felt before he could go on living his life. He lifted his hand to knock again when the door suddenly opened. Lilly stood before him, her eyes red rimmed, watering, and surprised.
"She's been crying and it's all my fault." Greg yelled at himself. Unable to bear looking at her, Greg looked over her shoulder and saw the chick flick that had been paused; "Well maybe it's not solely my fault."
"What are you doing here?" Lilly's voice permeated his thoughts, and Greg found that he was unable to think of an answer to her question. He just stood there like an idiot as Lilly looked at him. Her gaze hypnotized him, and his mind would not function correctly.
"Greg?" Lilly asked perplexed. Suddenly Greg did the only thing he could think of. He took Lilly's face between his hands and stepped closer. He saw Lilly's eyes widen, but he couldn't stop now. Greg leaned in closer and gently brushed his lips against hers. He felt her stiffen and he felt like he should pull back, but he was too far in, he couldn't go back. With a burst of hope, Greg leaned in further and recaptured her lips in a tender yet passionate kiss. He felt as if he was floating on air as he tasted the ice cream on her lips, felt the softness of them, and Greg knew that he truly loved Lilly.
~*~*~
Lilly tensed for a moment, her body reacting to the shock her mind was feeling. Greg was KISSING her! She couldn't believe it, her deepest wish was coming true, but she was too shocked to return the kiss. Finally, after a long time, Greg pulled away and allowed Lilly to catch her breath. A look of anxious anticipation filled Greg's eyes. Lilly was still in too much shock to form any words, but she knew the longer she stayed silent, the more worried Greg would become. So she gathered her wits about her and said the first thing that popped into her head, "Wow." Greg smiled and leaned back in, and this time Lilly met him halfway. She melted at the tender caress of his lips, and Lilly was grateful for his strong arms that were wrapped around her waist for her legs were quickly turning to jelly. Lilly pushed away all the thoughts, the fears, and the doubts that crowded her mind and focused on the kiss, her FIRST kiss! She'd been waiting for this for twenty years and now it was finally happening and she couldn't believe it. The two of them let out all of the emotions and passion that had been building up inside of them for the past months.
Finally the need for air pulled them apart and Greg and Lilly stood in the rain breathing deeply. Lilly looked at Greg, the rain beading on his face, and saw the tenderness and the care and, dare she think it, love in his eyes. Her heart warmed as she realized that she was in love with him, she was in love with Greg Sanders and she didn't care who knew.
~*~*~
Gil Grissom sat at his desk pouring over papers and worker evaluation sheets. A knock sounded on his open door, bringing him out of his work mind set. Captain Jim Brass stood in front of him, a look of pure distress on his face.
"We just got a call Gris," He said, his tone flat, "Lilly's missing."
~*~*~
There you go guys, they FINALLY kissed! I'm sorry it took so long for this update, but I must say that I think it was well worth the wait, but what do y'all think? Please review and tell me what you all thought of this chapter. And, don't even think for a second that this story is done, because I have AT LEAST ten more chapters to go before I'll even CONSIDER ending this story.
Still to come: What's with the mysterious shadow outside Lilly's window? What the heck happened to Lilly? And how's Greg gonna handle it? Stay tuned to LILLY OF THE VALLEY to find out.
A cool breeze blew in from the open window in Lilly's room. The young woman lay in bed, trying desperately to push the thoughts from her mind so that she might sleep. Lilly could hear the cars that drove along the road just outside her apartment. Wearily, she got up, donned her bathrobe, and headed out to the kitchen. The young woman grabbed a coffee mug from one of the cupboards and filled it with milk before popping it in the microwave. When the timer went off, Lilly took the mug and sat down at the dining table. Cradling the cup in her hands she let the warmth seep into her cold body as she sat thinking.
Lilly was tired of fighting with Greg. Either he could forgive her or not. If he didn't the least the both of them could do was be civil with each other. Taking a small sip of the warm milk, Lilly contemplated what she could say to Greg to make him see her side of things. She hadn't wanted to act that way towards him on Valentine's Day, it had just happened. She had been surprised and she hadn't thought about what Greg was feeling.
Shaking her head, Lilly stood and walked back into the kitchen. She finished the milk and placed the mug in the sink. As she turned to go back to bed a shadow fell over the window, blocking the stream of moonlight that was coming into the living room. Lilly stood still, her heart racing.
"It's probably just a stray cat or something." She said to herself, trying to shake the fear that she felt, "Yeah right Lilly, like a cat would be THAT big." The shadow moved and Lilly could make out the shape of a person. "Okay I'm really freaking out now." The empty room stood in eerie silence, Lilly's heart was beating wildly now, and her breathing was ragged with fear. The shadow then disappeared as quickly as it had come. Lilly swallowed the lump of fear that had risen in her throat.
"I was just imagining it." She said to the empty apartment, "yeah that's all it was. Just a figment of my imagination." Having rationalized what she saw, Lilly headed back to bed. She didn't sleep for the rest of the night, her mind racing with possibilities of what the shadow might have been, but Lilly knew what it was, and no rationalized thinking could make her forget the outline of a human being.
~*~*~
Still slightly shaky from last night's scare, Lilly walked into the CSI lab, ready for another day of work and emotional sparring with Greg.
"What happened to you?" Nick asked coming up beside Lilly in the hall and pointing out the dark bags under her eyes, "You look awful."
"Thanks Nick." Lilly said sarcastically, "Way to make a girl feel special."
"Sorry." He replied.
"It's okay," Lilly said with a sigh as she wearily rubbed her forehead, "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"This thing with Greg has got you a little messed up huh?"
"How did you..." Lilly started, surprised.
"Warrick told me." Nick said interrupting her.
"How did he know?"
"It was his idea."
"Oh."
"Well I'll see you around." Nick left Lilly standing in the hallway, her mind reeling. Warrick was the one that had told Greg to be her secret admirer? Why would he have done that? Lilly shook the questions from her mind tiredly. She had too much going on in her head, and she needed a break from it all.
~*~*~
"This is it." Lilly thought, "Today I'm going to talk to him about what happened, and he's going to listen to me." Lilly walked determinedly into the trace lab resolved that today was the day she made Greg listen to her. The lab tech looked up from the evidence he was working on, and Lilly was hit by the animosity in his eyes.
"Hey Greg." She said with a small smile.
"Hey." Greg said stiffly, his tone dissolving any and all courage Lilly had.
"When did you get in?" She asked, trying to regain her nerve.
"A while ago. I wanted to get a jump start on this evidence we found." He said.
"Oh, well did you find anything?"
"No."
"Oh. Look Greg..."
"We've got work to do." Greg cut her off.
"Right." Lilly smiled weakly and they fell into silence.
~*~*~
Greg glanced over where Lilly was processing the clothing that the vics had been wearing. She looked troubled, her eyes were blood shot and there were large bags beneath them. It almost seemed like she had not slept the past night. She looked so miserable that Greg wanted to go over there and hold her in his arms, and never let go.
"Stop it!" He chastised himself; "You're only making it worse."
"But she looks so distressed." He fought with himself.
"That's because she's feeling guilty about the awful way she treated you and she's trying to make you feel sorry for her."
"No, Lilly would never do that."
"Yes she would, or did you already forget what happened on Valentine's Day?"
"Alright, enough! You don't have to bring that up." Greg shook his warring thoughts from his head. He quickly looked back over at Lilly and his compassionate side won out.
"Are you okay?" he asked walking over to her. Lilly looked up startled.
"I'm fine." She said quickly turning away from him. Greg breathed in deeply, gathering his courage. He reached out slowly and hooked a finger beneath Lilly's slender neck, gently forcing her to face him.
"Are you sure?" He asked genuinely concerned.
"I said I was fine Greg." She said, her voice rising in volume.
"Well I'm sorry if I was worried about you." He said, matching her tone and volume, "Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again."
"Good, make sure you don't." she said angrily.
~*~*~
She had come in that day hoping to make things right between them, but now Lilly was yelling at Greg because he was concerned for her.
"Isn't it ironic?" she taunted herself. Greg was only trying to find out if she was all right, but instead of telling him what had happened that night; Lilly was biting his head off. For some idiotic reason she didn't want to tell him about the person outside her apartment.
"You idiot, why don't you just tell him?" she screamed inside her mind, "He wants to know what's going on."
"Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again." Lilly heard Greg yell, and before she knew it, she was fighting back with words that possessed the same, if not more, bite than his own had.
"Fine." He yelled in reply to her words. Greg turned to walk out, but Lilly's pride would not let him leave that easily. After all, she had to have the last word in everything.
"And while you're at it," She heard herself saying, "make sure you never talk to me again."
"I'll do you one better," he yelled back, "I'm going to ask Grissom to get you another partner on this case."
"Good, you're an awful CSI anyway."
"Well you're not much better." With that final attempt at a retort, Greg marched out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him.
In the deafening silence that engulfed the room, Lilly leaned against the wall, gulping in air and sliding down to the floor. Tears flowed down her face in an unstoppable flood. Why had she done it? Why couldn't she keep her emotions in check? Lilly had never been one to fly off the handle before, but whenever it concerned Greg, Lilly couldn't trust herself not to put her foot in her mouth.
Weakly, she stood and gathered her wits about her. She could not show that she was hurt, but she knew that everybody in the lab would have had to be deaf not to hear the hurtful words that were being said. She took a couple deep breaths before opening the door and going out to face her co-workers.
~*~*~
The rain pelting the windows outside mirrored Lilly's mood. Gil had graciously allowed Lilly to leave soon after her encounter with Greg. The young woman had returned home gratefully, and collapsed on her sofa for a good, uninterrupted cry. Now she was settled down, mostly, and sat watching a movie on the television with a container of BEN AND JERRY'S in her hand, and a box of tissues beside her. She sat curled on the sofa, occasionally reaching for a tissue to dry her wet eyes. A light knock on the door startled her, and Lilly quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before standing up to answer the door.
~*~*~
"Why am I here?" Greg thought as the rain pelted him, soaking through his clothes and leaving him drenched. After the fight with Lilly, Greg had taken the time to cool off and gather his wits about him. He knew that both he and Lilly had been too emotional to handle the situation rationally. He knew it could have gone a LOT better, but it had already happened and he had to fix his mistake. Greg also knew now that he had to tell Lilly how he felt, he had to tell her that he could no longer go on living like he was, and that she had to make a choice. He had to know what she felt before he could go on living his life. He lifted his hand to knock again when the door suddenly opened. Lilly stood before him, her eyes red rimmed, watering, and surprised.
"She's been crying and it's all my fault." Greg yelled at himself. Unable to bear looking at her, Greg looked over her shoulder and saw the chick flick that had been paused; "Well maybe it's not solely my fault."
"What are you doing here?" Lilly's voice permeated his thoughts, and Greg found that he was unable to think of an answer to her question. He just stood there like an idiot as Lilly looked at him. Her gaze hypnotized him, and his mind would not function correctly.
"Greg?" Lilly asked perplexed. Suddenly Greg did the only thing he could think of. He took Lilly's face between his hands and stepped closer. He saw Lilly's eyes widen, but he couldn't stop now. Greg leaned in closer and gently brushed his lips against hers. He felt her stiffen and he felt like he should pull back, but he was too far in, he couldn't go back. With a burst of hope, Greg leaned in further and recaptured her lips in a tender yet passionate kiss. He felt as if he was floating on air as he tasted the ice cream on her lips, felt the softness of them, and Greg knew that he truly loved Lilly.
~*~*~
Lilly tensed for a moment, her body reacting to the shock her mind was feeling. Greg was KISSING her! She couldn't believe it, her deepest wish was coming true, but she was too shocked to return the kiss. Finally, after a long time, Greg pulled away and allowed Lilly to catch her breath. A look of anxious anticipation filled Greg's eyes. Lilly was still in too much shock to form any words, but she knew the longer she stayed silent, the more worried Greg would become. So she gathered her wits about her and said the first thing that popped into her head, "Wow." Greg smiled and leaned back in, and this time Lilly met him halfway. She melted at the tender caress of his lips, and Lilly was grateful for his strong arms that were wrapped around her waist for her legs were quickly turning to jelly. Lilly pushed away all the thoughts, the fears, and the doubts that crowded her mind and focused on the kiss, her FIRST kiss! She'd been waiting for this for twenty years and now it was finally happening and she couldn't believe it. The two of them let out all of the emotions and passion that had been building up inside of them for the past months.
Finally the need for air pulled them apart and Greg and Lilly stood in the rain breathing deeply. Lilly looked at Greg, the rain beading on his face, and saw the tenderness and the care and, dare she think it, love in his eyes. Her heart warmed as she realized that she was in love with him, she was in love with Greg Sanders and she didn't care who knew.
~*~*~
Gil Grissom sat at his desk pouring over papers and worker evaluation sheets. A knock sounded on his open door, bringing him out of his work mind set. Captain Jim Brass stood in front of him, a look of pure distress on his face.
"We just got a call Gris," He said, his tone flat, "Lilly's missing."
~*~*~
There you go guys, they FINALLY kissed! I'm sorry it took so long for this update, but I must say that I think it was well worth the wait, but what do y'all think? Please review and tell me what you all thought of this chapter. And, don't even think for a second that this story is done, because I have AT LEAST ten more chapters to go before I'll even CONSIDER ending this story.
Still to come: What's with the mysterious shadow outside Lilly's window? What the heck happened to Lilly? And how's Greg gonna handle it? Stay tuned to LILLY OF THE VALLEY to find out.