Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1
Part 4 of 4
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"Sara?" called Grissom as he wandered around his home at 2pm. Sara's bedroom door was wide open, with the bed sheets stripped and sitting in a pile on top of the mattress, but she wasn't there. She wasn't in the living room or kitchen and, since the bathroom door was also open, he knew she wasn't there either. "Sara?" he called again, finally stopping by the phone and letting his eyes fall on a note.
Grissom,
Just gone out for some supplies. Be back soon.
Sara
Crumpling the note up, he tossed it in the trash and walked into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator to confirm his thought that there was already food there and then wondered what Sara had gone to get. After pouring some orange juice for himself, he took a seat on the couch to wait.
It was only ten minutes later when Sara returned, struggling to open the door with one hand while holding a bag of groceries in the other. Grissom rose from the couch and crossed to open the door, immediately taking the bag from her.
"The food you bought the other day not good enough?" he asked with arched eyebrows as she gratefully let him take the bag.
"I wanted to show you what gourmet food is really about," she teased.
"With vegetarian? Not possible," he deadpanned.
"You know better than to assume without checking out all the evidence," she grinned.
"What are we having then?"
Sara swatted his hand away as he started to reach into the bag to unpack the contents. "Is it 5pm?" she queried.
"No," he replied with a confused smirk.
"Then it's not time for you to find out what we're eating."
Scowling at her, Grissom tried to side-step Sara to peer into the bag again, but she pushed him away.
"This is my house you know, Sara," he pointed out.
"Yes, but this is my food until I choose to share it with you. Don't you have something else to do?"
"No," he replied simply, once again trying to reach the bag. Disbelieving of how playful he was being, Sara was just about to tell him what he could do with himself when he was saved by his ringing cellphone. "Grissom," he said into the phone, walking away from Sara to take the call.
Sara worked quickly to store away her newly bought groceries while Grissom was distracted by his call. She was still thinking about his playful attitude and wondering what had brought it on and, more importantly, how long it would last.
"I'm sorry," said Grissom sincerely as he walked back into the kitchen.
"Work?" she asked, unable to remove all traces of disappointment from her tone, though she made a valiant attempt.
"Yes. Ecklie has some questions about the timeline and I need to answer them so that he knows what he's talking about when they talk to the suspect."
"They have a suspect?" she smiled. He nodded and she continued, "Don't worry about it, Grissom, I understand."
"It shouldn't take me too long though, I'll try to be back for 5." Sara started to interrupt, but he stopped her by adding, "How about we put dinner back to 5:30 and I'll make sure I'm definitely home for then?"
"Sure, but don't rush on my account."
"Like you said earlier, I need to taste the evidence to prove my theory that gourmet and vegetarian do not belong in the same sentence," he commented with a teasing smile. "I'll call you if I'm going to be late," he said as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, "but I will be home for dinner."
Sara stood in stunned silence and watched the door close behind him. His last words to her had sounded so intimate; not just the words themselves, but his tone of voice and the look on his face. She was under no illusion that things between them were suddenly going to change just because she had been staying with him for a few days, but she was convinced that he had let some of his guard down and was willingly letting her see a different side to him.
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"Hey," smiled Sara into the phone as she saw Grissom's name appear on her caller ID. "If you're calling to tell me you're going to be late or can't make it at all, don't worry about it, I'll box some up and bring it with me."
"Sara –"
"And don't worry," she continued, ignoring his attempted interruption, "I'll make sure Catherine isn't around when I drop the food off."
"Sara," he said firmly to stop her babbling, "I'm calling to tell you that I'm just leaving now; in fact, I'm walking through the parking lot at the moment."
"Oh."
"I'll be there in twenty, is that okay?"
"No."
"No?" he laughed. "What do you mean no?"
"You said to put the meal back to 5:30 and it's not 5:30 yet," she said haughtily.
"So I'm not allowed to come home?"
"No."
"Well, what am I supposed to do, hang around here to kill time? You know if I do that I run the risk of getting caught up in something and then being late for dinner."
"It'll take you twenty minutes to get back here and it's now 4:50, so you only need to take up twenty minutes of time, Grissom," she sighed.
"Alright," he grumbled. "What are we eating again?"
"Nice try," she chuckled. "I'll see you in forty minutes."
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Grissom let out a growl of frustration as he turned his key in the lock for the second time and felt it turn, yet still couldn't get the door open. Realizing the deadbolt was on, he banged on the door to attract Sara's attention.
"Hi," she smiled as she opened the door to him.
"Hi yourself. Why is the deadbolt on?" he demanded, attempting to push past her. She stood her ground and he nearly crashed into her, but just managed to keep his balance.
"So that you couldn't get in without me letting you."
Sara knew she was taking a risk, but she was silently praying that his earlier good-humor was still there, albeit hidden beneath the stern look on his face.
"You do remember that this is my house, don't you?" he asked seriously, but gave in to a grin as Sara laughed at him.
"Of course, but I didn't want you arriving too early and interrupting my cooking extravaganza."
"An extravaganza?" he queried, arching a brow. She finally stepped back to let him into the house and he closed the door behind him. Removing his jacket, he hung it up before walking to the kitchen.
"Don't even think about it," she warned, raising a hand in a 'stop' motion. "It is 5:28, you have two minutes to wash up and then dinner will be served."
Grissom raised an eyebrow at her quizzically, but said nothing. He proceeded to his room and Sara heard the door close softly behind him. At lightning speed, she set the table for their meal and then placed her specially-bought centerpiece in the middle of the table where he could not to fail to notice its presence.
"Can I come out now?" called Grissom and Sara couldn't help laughing as she turned around and saw his head peering round the corner of the hallway, looking at her hopefully.
"Yes, but you're late," she chastised, "it's now 5:31."
"Is that going to be your excuse if the extravaganza doesn't turn out as it should, you're going to blame me for being late?"
"Well, I am now," she grinned. "Sit down and get ready to feast," she smiled.
Grissom did as she said and took a seat at the table. The center-piece caught his eye immediately and he looked at Sara curiously. "What's that?" he asked.
"A plant," she deadpanned. He rolled his eyes at her. "It's a thank you gift," she said.
"You got me a plant as a thank you gift?" he queried with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, you got me a plant as an apology, so I figured it would do," she grinned. "Anyway, this meal is the real thank you, as I know you'll find it memorable, but the plant is something that can live on past this meal, something that can be nurtured." She stopped talking and dipped her head, slightly embarrassed at what she had just said as she knew a different meaning could be read into the words.
"Did you nurture the plant I gave you?" he asked softly.
"Yes," she nodded and he gave a satisfied smile. "Although," she added, "I don't know if it will have survived the fumes." She hadn't considered the effect of the fumigation on the plant, or on any of her plants and a worried look crossed her features as she thought about the consequences.
"Hey, it's okay," smiled Grissom. "If anything has happened to the plant, I'll just have to buy you a new one."
"Just make sure you don't do it for the same reason as you did last time," she said without thinking. Grissom's smile fell. "I'm sorry," she said hastily, "I didn't mean it like that."
"It's okay, Sara. Anyway, where's this food you promised me?" he asked by way of a subject change.
Letting the discussion drop, Sara started serving their meal. She had planned three courses, hence the early meal time, and the starter was homemade tomato and basil soup.
"If you ask me for some crackers to eat with this, I may be forced to kill you," she grinned as she placed a basket of warm bread on the table.
"But saltines are so nice," he smirked.
"And so incredibly bad for your blood pressure," she retorted.
"This looks and smells wonderful, Sara," he said genuinely.
"So, you're admitting vegetarian food can be wonderful, huh?"
"This is only soup," he shrugged, "I'll reserve judgement until the main course. Besides, looks can be deceiving."
Sara shook her head and sighed in mock-exasperation as she took her seat opposite him. They ate in silence, with Sara working hard to suppress a laugh as she watched Grissom devour the soup, obviously enjoying himself.
"Just as well your bowls aren't patterned," commented Sara when Grissom's spoon scraped the empty bowl for the fifth time, "I don't think there would be any left now."
He looked at her and smirked sheepishly. "It was good," he admitted, "and I don't like waste." Sara stood and reached for his bowl to clear it away, but he stopped her. "I'll do it," he said softly, reaching for her bowl and dropping it into his before carrying the bowls and their spoons to his dishwasher.
"Don't even think about it," warned Sara as she followed him and stood in front of the stove before he could sneak a peek at what was cooking. "You only have to wait a few minutes."
"Exactly, so why can't I just see now?"
"Because one of the keys to good food is presentation, so you'll see this when it's been correctly assembled onto the plate, not while it's in its various pots and pans. Go and sit down," she ordered.
Grissom cocked his head at her, raising an eyebrow in challenge, but then thought better of it and walked away with a wry smirk. He could hear Sara moving around, but couldn't quite see what she was doing. Becoming impatient, he busied himself by moving to the living room to turn on his stereo. Quiet classical music soon filled the air and he nodded approval at his actions before resuming his seat at the table. Sara had still not appeared a couple of minutes later and he was just standing up again to see if she needed help when she emerged with a refilled bread basket.
"It'll just be a moment," she told him before walking back to the kitchen. "There you go, enjoy," she smiled as she placed a filled plate in front of him. "Is there a problem?" she asked after he had stared at the food silently for a few moments.
"No, I'm… just wondering what it is."
"Ricotta cheese and spinach wrapped in filo pastry," she supplied, "with a light tomato sauce on the side."
"You made this?" he asked with a manner of slight awe.
She nodded her head and said, "Try it, I think you might like it."
Sara waited for him to start eating before she took a bite of her own food and smiled as he chewed for a long time before swallowing, allowing himself to savor the mixture of flavors.
"It's… very nice," he said eventually when he could no longer withstand the look she was sending him.
"Very nice?"
"It's different," he amended.
"Very nice and different. Wow, don't go overboard or anything," she teased sarcastically.
"I'm just having trouble reconciling this food with your cooking abilities."
"You've never really sampled my cooking abilities before, Grissom. The last few days have just been standard fare, I wasn't making much of an effort, but when I set my mind to something, I achieve my goal," she informed him, adding a soft, "usually," at the end, which did not go unnoticed by him.
"You must have spent a lot of time preparing this," he mused quietly, wondering if she had been cooking the whole time he'd been at work.
"Some things are worth the time and effort," she stated, shooting him a coy smile.
Grissom dipped his head and returned his attention to his meal, steadily filling his mouth with another bite as soon as the previous one was finished so that he didn't have to talk. However, his plan backfired as, due to the rate he was eating, he was finished long before Sara. He contemplated just sitting silently, but his eyes inadvertently drifted to Sara and she was beginning to get annoyed.
"Would you quit watching me eat," she said with irritation, but tempering it with a grin.
"Sorry." He tried to divert his eyes, but he was in his own home, so it wasn't as though he had a lot to study or commit to memory. His gaze soon drifted back to Sara and he picked up a piece of bread to give himself something to do. "There seems to be an Italian theme to this meal," he commented eventually, "with the tomato and basil soup and then using ricotta cheese in the main course. Is the dessert Italian as well?"
"Wait and see," she replied, giving nothing away. She took the remaining bite of her food and pushed her plate away. Grissom automatically cleared her plate and she followed him to the kitchen once more. "Dessert is in the fridge, are you ready for it now, or do you want to wait a while for the rest to digest?"
He checked his watch before replying, "Probably best to eat now, it would be just my luck that I'd wait and then get called in to work before I got a chance to eat."
"Okay, go take a seat and I'll bring it in."
"You don't have to serve me, Sara," he said seriously.
"I know, but I want to," she smiled.
A dessert of panacotta followed and they ate in silence once again before Grissom broke it to say, "I thought you wanted me to look after myself, yet you're plying me with a dessert that is essentially all cream?"
Sara blushed as she remembered her comment and then hesitantly met his gaze. Shrugging, she replied, "How many Italian desserts do you know of that are actually healthy?"
"Well, there's –"
"Don't start," she chuckled. "It's easy to make, alright?"
He gave a smug grin and smiled at her as he finished eating. "The meal was wonderful, Sara."
"Gourmet?" she queried.
"I don't know if I would say that," he replied seriously, smirking at her glare, "but I would say it was certainly sumptuous."
"That'll do," she smiled. "Thank you for letting me stay here, Grissom, I know it couldn't have been easy for you," she said seriously.
He knew instantly what she meant, that he had to share his home with her, let her see a part of his life that he strove vehemently to keep private.
"I was glad to help out," he said honestly.
The atmosphere became charged as their eyes locked and Sara cleared her throat before rising, saying, "I'll just put these in the dishwasher and then pack up my car."
"I'll clear up, Sara," he said, taking her plate away from her and absently brushing his hand against hers.
"Thanks," she murmured, walking away.
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Little had been said between Grissom and Sara as she had put her bag into her car. She had thanked him again for his hospitality, to which he said there was no need, and she had then said she would see him at work.
Grissom had re-entered his house as Sara drove away and he didn't arrive at the lab until about twenty minutes after her. He ensconced himself in his office until the start of shift, only emerging to hand out assignments. There were the usual grumblings about trick-rolls, which he let wash over him and then Catherine complained about being partnered on what sounded like a relatively straight-forward burglary.
"Nothing is ever straight-forward until all the evidence is collected, Catherine," pointed out Grissom, looking at her over the top of his glasses. "Take Sara with you and if something else comes in I'll let you know." As she started to protest again, he added, "Or you can stay here and work on paperwork while Sara works solo, it's your choice."
Sending him a sharp look, Catherine muttered a complaint as she stalked past him and left the room. "Sara, take your own vehicle in case I get called away," she called, not waiting for a reply.
Grissom waited until everyone else started to leave the room and then called Sara back. She turned towards him with a curious look before striding back fully into the room.
"Can you drop by after shift please, Sara? You forgot something at my house."
"Uh, sure," she smiled. "What did I forget?"
Apparently not hearing her question, Grissom gathered his folders and walked away, leaving Sara to stand and watch the spot on the floor he had vacated.
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"Hey," said Sara from the doorway. Grissom shifted his gaze from his paperwork to her and raised his eyebrows questioningly. "You asked me to drop by after shift," she shrugged, puzzled by his apparent confusion.
"Oh, I meant drop by my house," he said.
"Oh, uh… okay. So, what did I forget?" she asked, repeating her unanswered question from earlier.
He looked up at her again and sighed, "I need to finish this before I can leave. Can you meet me at my house in about forty-five minutes?"
"Sure, I'll see you there," she agreed, realizing he was too engrossed in his work to enter into any discussion of what item she'd left in his house.
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Grissom answered the door as soon as Sara signaled her presence. "Hey," he greeted, stepping back to let her inside.
"Hey," she smiled, walking into the living room and waiting for him to close the door and join her. She automatically looked around, trying to spot something that belonged to her, but she found nothing. "So, what did I forget?" she asked for the third time in as many hours, fully expecting an answer at last.
Not meeting her gaze, Grissom said, "Nick still doesn't realize that you've been staying here rather than being back in your own apartment?"
"No, and hopefully he never will," she replied. "Thanks for not dropping me in it."
"I'm hardly likely to announce that you've been staying with me, Sara," he stated, his tone edgier than either he or Sara would have liked.
"Yeah," she agreed hesitantly, trying to hide the hurt she was feeling and mentally kicking herself for feeling that way when she knew she shouldn't have expected him to say anything else.
"I'm still surprised he hasn't figured it out though," said Grissom a moment later.
"Maybe he's not as good an investigator as you think," she teased.
"Or maybe we're just good at hiding evidence," he shot back, his eyes twinkling and his mouth curving into a half-smile.
She didn't know how to continue the conversation from there, so opted for a quiet, "Maybe," before asking determinedly, "What did I forget? I thought I packed everything up last night."
Grissom remained silent, but took a few steps towards her, keeping his eyes firmly locked with hers until Sara dropped her gaze.
"You forgot this," he murmured, raising his hands and resting them either side of her face. Sara immediately looked up, finding him staring at her intently. Her eyes meeting his was all the incentive he needed and he slowly, but gently, brought his lips to hers. She let out an involuntary gasp, but didn't pull away and he took advantage of her slightly parted lips to deepen the kiss.
When he finally raised his head and let his hands drop, Sara looked at him with a stunned expression. It took her a moment to regain the power of speech, but she eventually said, "I forgot that, huh?" He shrugged, but couldn't stop the grin forming on his face. "Well, I think we need to make sure I don't forget it again, don't you? I think I need another sample to add to my memory."
He let out a low laugh and his facial expression morphed from a grin into a smile that Sara found devastatingly sexy. "Who am I to refuse?" he said huskily, drawing her to him again.
"What prompted this?" asked Sara when they parted again. "Don't get me wrong," she added as she noticed his worried look, "I'm not complaining, it's just… well, it's kinda come out of the blue." He raised his eyebrows. "I've been staying here for the last few days, why today?" she pressed.
"I realized that this can be kept just between the two of us until we are ready to share it," he replied softly, prompting her to look at him sharply.
"So, you used to think that I would tell someone about it?" she asked with a mixture of hurt and anger.
"No, of course not," he sighed. "I just didn't think it would be possible to keep our private lives private, away from the prying eyes of our co-workers."
"You didn't trust me," she said bluntly.
"No, Sara, I always trusted you," he said adamantly. "I just thought that someone would pick up on it… Catherine, or Nick."
Sara looked at him closely and saw his tone reflected in his eyes; he was telling the truth.
"And because they didn't pick up on the fact that I've been staying here, you figure they won't pick up on the fact that we're… together?"
"They will eventually, I know that and, to be perfectly honest, Sara, I don't want to hide it. I just think we need to give ourselves time to adjust first."
"You're worried about what people will think, what they'll say?" she asked quietly.
Taking her hands and staring into her eyes, he replied, "I don't care what people think or say, Sara, not anymore, as long as you are happy. We are both intensely private people and I think we need to get used to being with each other outside of work before we let anyone know that we're together."
He gave her a look that asked if she was in agreement and she nodded her head. "Yeah, I can understand that. You seem to be jumping to conclusions though and assuming I want to be in a relationship with you," she said pointedly, but with humor lacing her tone. "Where's your evidence?"
Grissom's eyes crinkled with amusement as he squeezed her hands before releasing them. Stepping away from her slightly, he looked her up and down before replying, "I'm still at the evidence gathering stage, but I can provide you with a full report once I'm finished if you wish."
"Well, just ask if you need help conducting any experiments, after all, I am known as a science nerd," she grinned. He stepped towards her again and reached for her, but she evaded his grasp and walked to the door. "It will need to be later though because, right now, I need to go home and check that my apartment is bug free."
"I never thought I would say this," said Grissom, "but I'm actually glad that you had to get some bugs killed, since it got us to this stage." She flashed him a grin and he added, "But, if any of the roaches survived, give me a call, I'll see if I can train them into racers."
"You'll never change, will you?" she sighed, watching as he approached her and then placing a soft hand on his cheek. He shrugged and she smiled at him. "Don't though, I like you just the way you are."
Before he could reply, she had exited his house and left him staring after her in wonderment.
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The End
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A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews, it's nice to know that people enjoy my fics and it encourages me to write more :-)
