Hi guys. So I figured, it's around May 16th (depending on what country you're in)... why not post a chapter. It's not the right chapter exactly, but you get the gist. Well, all I can do is apologise for the extreme lateness of this. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and mailed me in the last load of months. You guys have been so great! Keep it up ;) r&r

This is for Basilia, Marielle, Nicole, Lauri, and Laeta. I'll get back to you guys soon. Thanks for staying in touch.

Not my best chapter - have been out of the swing of things for a while. The next will be better I hope.

Previously:

4:55am
Behind The One-Way Glass

Brass, Warrick, Sara and Nick were all silent as they watched Grissom exit the room. They saw Catherine stare after him and continue to look at the door through which he left, for a further minute after he had departed. In this short time they watched the woman they all respected for her strength and feistiness become silent. Catherine moved her eyes from the door as she made her way back to her chair. Neither slumping back nor leaning forwards, she sat down with her hands in her lap, and let her eyes rest on a random mark on the table before her, motionless.

The four spectators behind the glass could not find the words to express what they were feeling. They had just learned so much in so little time. As they exited their room they heard the click of a door and a voice coming from the opposite side of the glass.

"I'm sorry," it said.

Chapter 20 – Is This Goodbye?

May 12th – 10am
Catherine's House

A few moments ago, Catherine had felt relaxed for the first time all day. Sitting in front of her was a half empty bottle of red wine and the sofa was so warm and comfortable. Head leaning back, eyes shut, gentle music vibrating around her, she was feeling calm and cosy... then an uncomfortable thought entered her mind.

Catherine began turning the opened envelope over and over in her hands. Inside was a map, and indicated with a red circle was a small café. Another slice of paper reading 'May 16th – 4pm' was also contained inside the envelope. She began thinking hard. She was tired and desperately wanted to sleep, but the thought of Grissom's apology had started to whiz round her head. He didn't say much, but what he did say touched Catherine deeply. She knew he couldn't help saying what he had said in the interrogation room; she was finding it hard to refrain from saying anything herself. Unnoticed by Catherine, a small smile played upon her lips at the thought of Grissom.

Then suddenly, in one moment, one sudden decisive thought, Catherine came to the conclusion that she would not meet with Grissom, and, hopefully, from that evident act, everything would be finalised without words, and therefore without awkwardness.

May 15th – 9:15pm
CSI Breakroom

Surprisingly, the past few days had been a lot of fun. Not one word had been mentioned between Grissom and Catherine about their situation and it seemed to be going well. The other CSIs had also noticed a change in atmosphere in the lab and were grateful. The flirtation between the two senior CSIs had never been so blatant. This was relatively usual of Catherine and people somewhat expected it. Of Grissom however, the alteration in a small aspect of his personality was a pleasant change.

Catherine was walking towards the breakroom and, upon hearing the voices of Nick and Sara, slowed her pace and halted by the entrance, unseen by the people within.

"Yeh, but did you see them yesterday? I don't think you were there." Sara's voice came floating out of the room.

"Why, what happened?" Nick responded.

"Well, Grissom was sitting where you are now, eating some kind of snack bar thing. Then Catherine walked in, took one look at him, strolled over quite normally without saying a word, and wiped some chocolate of his lips!"

"Uh huh." Nick said, disappointed by the story's end.

"No that's not all. She sucked her finger for what seemed like ages, just staring at him, smiled and walked out of the room."

"So that was all she came into the breakroom for?"

"I don't know. Seemed like it. They're behaving so differently from when we saw-"

"Hi guys." Catherine decided she had better stop the conversation, as she had just seen Grissom coming towards the room.

"Oh, hi, Cath." Nick said, giving Sara a warning look.

"Where is everyone?" Catherine asked, smirking at the 'that-was-a-close-one' expressions on Sara and Nick's faces.

Just at that moment Grissom entered.

"Warrick's on his case already, I've just seen him," he replied to Catherine's question, as she began to pour out some coffee. As she did so she heard Grissom speaking to Nick and Sara.

"Right, you two," he handed a file to Nick, "Missing Person's Case. Get in touch with Brass." Grissom then turned to Catherine. "Cath?"

Catherine looked his way and listened.

"You're with me."

The was a pause as Catherine stared at Grissom. Then she asked,

"Are you sure?"

This should have been a bizarre question for Nick and Sara to hear, but considering the knowledge awarded to them a few nights ago, this question had them eager to hear more.

"Yes," Grissom replied, in a matter of fact sort of tone. "I'm very sure."

The left side of Catherine's mouth tugged up slightly as she smiled at her boss.

"You look very nice today, Catherine." Grissom continued in the same tone.

Sara and Nick looked sideways at each other and then straight back to the couple speaking. This conversation was beginning to get interesting.

"Thank you, Gil. I try my best." She paused, then, with amusement playing in her eyes, said, "you, however, should change your shirt," and walked towards the door.

Grissom's eyes followed her as she walked out of the room, having had the last gulp of her coffee. Without a word to the other two CSIs present, Grissom walked out of the breakroom and after Catherine.

Sara looked at Nick once again.

"What just went on here?" she asked.

Nick shrugged and they, too, made their way out of the breakroom.

May 16th – 1:35am
Crime Scene

There were several moments at the crime scene when Catherine and Grissom felt slightly awkward with each other. All night they kept saying the same thing at the same time. When it first started it was amusing, then the frequency of the occurrence began to get slightly weird.

"Stop it, Catherine!" Grissom exclaimed.

"I can't help it, Gil. You stop it." Catherine retorted, almost laughing at how annoyed Grissom was getting.

Grissom made an irritated noise, then said, "You're hungry, I can tell. Let's have some lunch."

"You're right I am," Catherine said quickly. "Let's go, master."

3:20am
Coroner's Lab

The most awkward situation of the night, however, was when an unexpected visitor happened upon the CSIs. Dr. Robbins had been divulging the information he had on the dead bodies found at the crime scene when a knock on the door told them someone was outside. A woman in a lab coat entered and told Catherine there was someone to see her outside the room.

"Not right now. Uh, who is it?"

"He didn't give a name, Ms. Willows," the woman responded.

"Go see who it is, Cath. I can finish up here."

"Alright."

Catherine snapped off her latex gloves and headed out of the room. As she turned towards her visitor, a surprising sight met her eyes.

"Simon!" Catherine exclaimed, eyes and mouth both wide with shock. Simon was standing right there in front of her, with a determined look on his face. "What are you-?"

"I just fancied seeing you."

Catherine's excitment of seeing Simon was higher than she would have expected. She walked towards him and smiled.

"It's good to see you again, but really, you shouldn't be here."

"I know, sorry about this. Will you see me after you finish work?"

"Sure. I get off at 8."

Simon smiled in a self-satisfied, arrogant sort of way that made Catherine feel very uneasy.

"Just don't let Gil know I'm here, alright?"

"Uh huh," Catherine replied, knowing that she gets progressivly disgusted with this man each time she sees him. "Why are you here again?" She asked in a blatently irritated manner.

"Like I said, I just fancied seeing you again."

"Right, well you've seen me." And with that Catherine turned on her heel and started to walk away. She pushed the coroner's door open, but as she did so she heard Simon's voice call out her name. Grissom heard the shout and turned his head fast towards the direction of the door; his eyes met Catherine's. She could immediately see the stunned expression evident in Grissom's features. Sighing and closing her eyes, Catherine stepped back out into the hall. She knew Grissom wouldn't follow.

"Catherine, come to dinner with me."

Catherine's short laugh was one of disgust and surprise. She answered, "No. What are you doing here at this time anyway?"

"Why won't you?" Simon asked sincerely, ignoring the latter part of Catherine's sentence.

"Well, I..." She started, but could not think how to continue.

"Well, you what?"

"It just wouldn't feel right, ok?" She said finally. "Excuse me... I have work to do." Catherine turned, still with an expression of surprise on her face.

"I came all this way just to see you, Catherine."

She ignored this comment and made her way into the coroner's room.

"Who was that?" Dr. Robbins asked a few minutes after she entered.

"No one in particular," Catherine answered. She looked at Grissom as she said this and knew he knew who it was. "I'm sorry, Gil."

Out of the corner of her eye Catherine saw Dr. Robbins glance at her as she said this, but was grateful for his silence on the matter.

"No need to apologise, Catherine." Grissom seemed to be fairly comfortable with the situation now that he had recovered from the initial shock of the presence of Simon. This was progress in their relationship according to Catherine. She knew he was hiding what he really felt, but she was glad he was. Things were going back to the way they used to be; neither admitting their feelings for the other. Catherine smiled affectionately at Grissom and they continued with their work - a curious Dr. Robbins taking them through the details.

7:30am
CSI Breakroom

Having identified the murderer in their case and then finding him dead in a small park, along with his murderer, Grissom and Catherine entered the breakroom at the end of their shift. Sara was mumbling to herself as she was filling out forms and Nick was flicking through a paper with a steaming mug of coffee.

"Nice work on the case guys," Grissom said as he entered with Catherine.

"Thanks," they simultaneously responded.

Sara resumed her mumbling, "Name... Sara Sidle. Date... 16th May..."

Catherine brain did some sort of strange double take as she realised that this is the day she would be meeting Grissom at the café. She glanced at him but he was not paying attention to what Sara was saying. He was too busy engaging in a conversation about birds with Nick.

"Ms. Willows?"

Catherine spun around and saw a woman at the entrance to the breakroom.

"Yeh?" Catherine said, curiously.

"Here's a memo for you," the woman said holding a piece of paper towards Catherine.

"Oh, thanks," Catherine said, taking the piece of paper. Once again surprise overtook Catherine's thoughts as she read what was written. She read the words crowding the paper over again until she was sure she was receiving the correct and rather presumptuous meaning.

'i won't give up. i know how you feel. come to dinner with me. simon'

The idea of dinner with Simon had tempted her since he first asked, however, she knew she wouldn't because of Grissom, and so thought no more of it. Screwing up the memo, Catherine said,

"Right, well I'm off home," Grissom looked up. "Goodnight, all," she said.

"Night, Cath." Sara and Nick replied.

Grissom, however, lifted himself from his chair and walked towards Catherine. They walked out of the room together and stopped just inside Grissom's office.

"Goodnight, Catherine," he said, raising his hand to her arm, tenderly. Catherine's stomach suddenly started wriggling awkwardly at Grissom's touch. She realised after a few seconds that what she was feeling was nervousness. She wanted to go to the café so badly but knew they would go through all their arguments again, and she could not take that.

On a sudden impulse as Catherine said, "Goodnight, Gil," she gently snaked her arms around his waist and pulled him softly into a hug. She felt his hand slowly stroke the back of her head as she leaned against him, and felt a small stinging sensation in the corners of her eyes. It felt very much like a significant 'goodbye' hug. They both pulled away simultaneously and Grissom's hands cupped both of Catherine's cheeks. Their lips met for a few short seconds and then they parted. Catherine slowly turned and walked out of his office, with a silent tear rolling slowly down her cheek.

I thought this one would be happier but it didn't turn out that way. Sorry. I apologise for the writing - I'll get back into the swing of things soon. Might re-post this one slightly different or something.

Next Chapter... May 16th!!!!!

It's nice to be back. Cath