Previously:
She was trying so hard to stare at the dark blue glassed bottle on the bedside table and not allow her eyes to drift to Grissom's almost naked form, looming by the bed - it wasn't working.
"I'll go." She said in a whisper, nodding her head and wrinkling her nose as she started to make her way out of the room.
"Wait."
She turned back to him, eyes wide, waiting for his explanation.
"Stay."
Chapter 2 - Sidle Explosions
May 8th - 1:30am
Grissom's Motel Room
She did not say a word, but waited for him to continue. He didn't. She started to laugh. It was one of those awkward situations; when you think about it, it's actually really funny. Catherine was balancing on one foot standing half in half out of her boss's motel room, ready to leave, but keeping her eyes on the figure in front of her who was wearing nothing more than a towel round his waist. At that moment she also noticed that Grissom had his glasses on. This was what provoked the laughter.
"What?" He got no response but laughter. "Catherine, what?"
"Nothing." She replied, sighing, still with a hint of amusement in her voice. She thought for a moment and became serious again, "Why do you want me to stay, Grissom?"
He smiled to her. Catherine had now managed to achieve a stance on both of her feet and began to close the door behind her. She leant against it with her hands behind her back and on the door handle. She watched him smile. A silence surrounded the two CSIs for a few minutes. Now would be a moment, normally, when people would take in each other's appearances and look around, trying their hardest to think of something to say to break the uncomfortable silence, but the two people present in the room never faltered with their eye contact for a second.
Catherine's phone rang, its shrill ring sending both their skins cascading off their bodies. Catherine held her hand to her chest as she answered her call with the typical response.
"Hello?"
She turned away, putting her finger in her other ear and pressing the phone harder against the side of her face to block out the silence in the motel room, which wasn't the cause that was effecting her ability to hear the muffled voice amidst the banging beat of the music on the end of the line.
"Eddie? Is that you? I can barely hear you. Where are you?"
"What? Eddie I can't hear you. Hel-"
She looked at her phone.
"Huh. Phone's disconnected."
"Eddie?" Grissom asked, minute hostility building up inside of him.
Catherine looked at him and nodded.
"Yeh. I mean I think so. I couldn't hear a word he was saying."
When she looked up she noticed that, during her distraction, she had managed to move across the room and, more importantly, Grissom had managed to pull on a pair of comfortable jogging trousers and was now rubbing a different towel over his wet hair. She had to admit to herself that she could feel a small portion of disappointment at his newly arrived item of clothing.
He started walking slowly towards Catherine and kept going; even when he was centimetres away from her body and she could feel his breath sailing in every direction over her face, warming it; he did not stop. She started stepping slowly backwards in rhythm with Grissom's movements, aware that he was not quitting his journey, until she found something solid with her back. She could hear her breath loudly in her ears and attempted to make it less audible. Catherine was very conscious of Grissom's naked torso almost touching her own body, and it was beginning to become very distracting. Failing her efforts to control her breathing, she looked down, took in a deep breath and tried to speak. But something stopped her. Her gaze suddenly flashed to her left as she felt a warm hand run up her arm and stop near her shoulder. As Grissom's hand connected with Catherine's bare skin, sparks of electricity blazed from his fingertips penetrating her skin and inducing the small blonde hairs on Catherine's arm to stand on end. She looked at him, mouth open, revealing the white of her teeth, forgetting about the volume of her breathing.
"You're in front of my wardrobe."
Grissom's voice was deep in his throat as he spoke. Her lack of response caused a short pause.
"I need a T-shirt."
Grissom pushed her gently to one side with the hand that was resting on her arm whilst hearing her say, "Oh. Right," as she co-operated with him and moved out of his way.
Grateful for the diversion of the finding of a T-shirt, Catherine composed herself and perched on the end of the motel bed, still feeling the wobbly heaviness Grissom had provoked deep in her stomach. She tried to shake off the reaction, and the silence, by asking,
"Are you going to tell me why I'm here?"
"I was getting to that. Pass me that tall box behind you." He ordered as he pulled his T-shirt over his head.
She handed him the box whilst remarking, "It has a bumble bee on it."
He looked down at the colourful picture on the front of his T-shirt.
"I always like to look nice for you, Catherine." He responded with a smirk.
She shot him a look back, inducing him to change back the subject to the mysterious tall box and get to the point.
"Champagne!" Grissom almost yelled with enthusiasm. He continued. "Now would-"
"Grissom." Catherine interrupted.
His features, however, stayed neutral as he spoke over her obstruction.
"-you pass me that purple container next to the bed please, Cather-."
"*Grissom*."
He stopped and looked from the purple container to his colleague. She looked straight back at him, seeing him walk closer to her and his bare feet compress the carpet just in front of her.
"Champagne?" She inquired.
"Yeh...well. I was saving it for the reunion, but I'd just prefer to have it now."
"Maybe we should go out and get some strawberries," was the dry response she offered with a look on her face telling him this situation was bewildering to her.
Grissom chuckled at her response then took out a corkscrew from the purple container. Catherine sent him a questioning look, he held up the devise and lifted his eyebrows exclaiming,
"You never know when you might need one."
3am
Grissom and Catherine were both lying on Grissom's bed, taking the quarter full champagne bottle from each other's hands. Grissom had just made a comment that had caused Catherine to be thrown into a fit of giggles.
"Grissom! Never tell that story to me again! Ever!" She said in between breaths of laughter. "In fact, never tell anyone."
Grissom responded with furtive smirk on his face whilst Catherine began to calm down. The next question would not have been voice had the champagne not filled her with even more bubbles of confidence than she already had. She took a deep breath.
"I know you didn't come to meet up with old friends, Gil. Why are you even here?"
His face was blank. She continued,
"I'm sorry. I just thought there might be something you want to share."
Still no reaction from the man in front of her - he just turned his head and stared at her. She was unnerved and needed to break the tension in the atmosphere, even if the topic wasn't to his liking.
"You weren't a 'ghost' were you?"
This comment made him suddenly react.
"I don't want to talk about this, Catherine. This has nothing to do with you."
The deep cut inside her that his own comment induced caused her to react back.
"Why is it that when it's my personal business involving anything but you, you do all you can to wrench it out of me, but when it's yours, what? It doesn't matter? The rules don't apply to you, is that it?"
Catherine was on her feet now. Her voice was close to exploding; her emotions had magnified what felt to her like a thousand and one times by the alcohol in her system. She couldn't understand why he would not share this with her.
"I thought I had no personal business, Catherine." He too was now on his feet.
"Don't you dare bring that up, Grissom. We're over that."
"Fine, then I won't. This is not something I want to talk about with you, Catherine."
"With me? Right so now suddenly everyone else pulls rank above me, is that it?"
"No! This is just something I would tell someone like Warrick or Sara-"
"Sara!" Catherine's interruption was booming and plunged the room into a screaming silence. Her face was inches away from Grissom's. There was fire burning in her eyes, its flames vividly thrashing at the moist film covering them.
It was Catherine who broke the silence that went on for just minutes but lasted for days.
* * * * *
Thank you to everyone for all your reviews. Keep them coming :) they're so encouraging. I'll get part 3 to you asap.
She was trying so hard to stare at the dark blue glassed bottle on the bedside table and not allow her eyes to drift to Grissom's almost naked form, looming by the bed - it wasn't working.
"I'll go." She said in a whisper, nodding her head and wrinkling her nose as she started to make her way out of the room.
"Wait."
She turned back to him, eyes wide, waiting for his explanation.
"Stay."
Chapter 2 - Sidle Explosions
May 8th - 1:30am
Grissom's Motel Room
She did not say a word, but waited for him to continue. He didn't. She started to laugh. It was one of those awkward situations; when you think about it, it's actually really funny. Catherine was balancing on one foot standing half in half out of her boss's motel room, ready to leave, but keeping her eyes on the figure in front of her who was wearing nothing more than a towel round his waist. At that moment she also noticed that Grissom had his glasses on. This was what provoked the laughter.
"What?" He got no response but laughter. "Catherine, what?"
"Nothing." She replied, sighing, still with a hint of amusement in her voice. She thought for a moment and became serious again, "Why do you want me to stay, Grissom?"
He smiled to her. Catherine had now managed to achieve a stance on both of her feet and began to close the door behind her. She leant against it with her hands behind her back and on the door handle. She watched him smile. A silence surrounded the two CSIs for a few minutes. Now would be a moment, normally, when people would take in each other's appearances and look around, trying their hardest to think of something to say to break the uncomfortable silence, but the two people present in the room never faltered with their eye contact for a second.
Catherine's phone rang, its shrill ring sending both their skins cascading off their bodies. Catherine held her hand to her chest as she answered her call with the typical response.
"Hello?"
She turned away, putting her finger in her other ear and pressing the phone harder against the side of her face to block out the silence in the motel room, which wasn't the cause that was effecting her ability to hear the muffled voice amidst the banging beat of the music on the end of the line.
"Eddie? Is that you? I can barely hear you. Where are you?"
"What? Eddie I can't hear you. Hel-"
She looked at her phone.
"Huh. Phone's disconnected."
"Eddie?" Grissom asked, minute hostility building up inside of him.
Catherine looked at him and nodded.
"Yeh. I mean I think so. I couldn't hear a word he was saying."
When she looked up she noticed that, during her distraction, she had managed to move across the room and, more importantly, Grissom had managed to pull on a pair of comfortable jogging trousers and was now rubbing a different towel over his wet hair. She had to admit to herself that she could feel a small portion of disappointment at his newly arrived item of clothing.
He started walking slowly towards Catherine and kept going; even when he was centimetres away from her body and she could feel his breath sailing in every direction over her face, warming it; he did not stop. She started stepping slowly backwards in rhythm with Grissom's movements, aware that he was not quitting his journey, until she found something solid with her back. She could hear her breath loudly in her ears and attempted to make it less audible. Catherine was very conscious of Grissom's naked torso almost touching her own body, and it was beginning to become very distracting. Failing her efforts to control her breathing, she looked down, took in a deep breath and tried to speak. But something stopped her. Her gaze suddenly flashed to her left as she felt a warm hand run up her arm and stop near her shoulder. As Grissom's hand connected with Catherine's bare skin, sparks of electricity blazed from his fingertips penetrating her skin and inducing the small blonde hairs on Catherine's arm to stand on end. She looked at him, mouth open, revealing the white of her teeth, forgetting about the volume of her breathing.
"You're in front of my wardrobe."
Grissom's voice was deep in his throat as he spoke. Her lack of response caused a short pause.
"I need a T-shirt."
Grissom pushed her gently to one side with the hand that was resting on her arm whilst hearing her say, "Oh. Right," as she co-operated with him and moved out of his way.
Grateful for the diversion of the finding of a T-shirt, Catherine composed herself and perched on the end of the motel bed, still feeling the wobbly heaviness Grissom had provoked deep in her stomach. She tried to shake off the reaction, and the silence, by asking,
"Are you going to tell me why I'm here?"
"I was getting to that. Pass me that tall box behind you." He ordered as he pulled his T-shirt over his head.
She handed him the box whilst remarking, "It has a bumble bee on it."
He looked down at the colourful picture on the front of his T-shirt.
"I always like to look nice for you, Catherine." He responded with a smirk.
She shot him a look back, inducing him to change back the subject to the mysterious tall box and get to the point.
"Champagne!" Grissom almost yelled with enthusiasm. He continued. "Now would-"
"Grissom." Catherine interrupted.
His features, however, stayed neutral as he spoke over her obstruction.
"-you pass me that purple container next to the bed please, Cather-."
"*Grissom*."
He stopped and looked from the purple container to his colleague. She looked straight back at him, seeing him walk closer to her and his bare feet compress the carpet just in front of her.
"Champagne?" She inquired.
"Yeh...well. I was saving it for the reunion, but I'd just prefer to have it now."
"Maybe we should go out and get some strawberries," was the dry response she offered with a look on her face telling him this situation was bewildering to her.
Grissom chuckled at her response then took out a corkscrew from the purple container. Catherine sent him a questioning look, he held up the devise and lifted his eyebrows exclaiming,
"You never know when you might need one."
3am
Grissom and Catherine were both lying on Grissom's bed, taking the quarter full champagne bottle from each other's hands. Grissom had just made a comment that had caused Catherine to be thrown into a fit of giggles.
"Grissom! Never tell that story to me again! Ever!" She said in between breaths of laughter. "In fact, never tell anyone."
Grissom responded with furtive smirk on his face whilst Catherine began to calm down. The next question would not have been voice had the champagne not filled her with even more bubbles of confidence than she already had. She took a deep breath.
"I know you didn't come to meet up with old friends, Gil. Why are you even here?"
His face was blank. She continued,
"I'm sorry. I just thought there might be something you want to share."
Still no reaction from the man in front of her - he just turned his head and stared at her. She was unnerved and needed to break the tension in the atmosphere, even if the topic wasn't to his liking.
"You weren't a 'ghost' were you?"
This comment made him suddenly react.
"I don't want to talk about this, Catherine. This has nothing to do with you."
The deep cut inside her that his own comment induced caused her to react back.
"Why is it that when it's my personal business involving anything but you, you do all you can to wrench it out of me, but when it's yours, what? It doesn't matter? The rules don't apply to you, is that it?"
Catherine was on her feet now. Her voice was close to exploding; her emotions had magnified what felt to her like a thousand and one times by the alcohol in her system. She couldn't understand why he would not share this with her.
"I thought I had no personal business, Catherine." He too was now on his feet.
"Don't you dare bring that up, Grissom. We're over that."
"Fine, then I won't. This is not something I want to talk about with you, Catherine."
"With me? Right so now suddenly everyone else pulls rank above me, is that it?"
"No! This is just something I would tell someone like Warrick or Sara-"
"Sara!" Catherine's interruption was booming and plunged the room into a screaming silence. Her face was inches away from Grissom's. There was fire burning in her eyes, its flames vividly thrashing at the moist film covering them.
It was Catherine who broke the silence that went on for just minutes but lasted for days.
* * * * *
Thank you to everyone for all your reviews. Keep them coming :) they're so encouraging. I'll get part 3 to you asap.