After Bloodlines, Sara's life will change in seven days... with a little help from her CSI colleagues.

SEVEN DAYS IN THE LIFE OF SARA SIDLE.

THURSDAY: Grissom.

"Let's go." Grissom said softly, reaching for her hand. "I'll take you home."

Grissom drove, glancing at her now and then, wondering what to say.

"Were you at a party, Sara?" he asked at last.

Her reaction was immediate and angry.

"Oh, yeah." She said sarcastically "Like every Thursday night."

Grissom turned his attention back to the road.

Sara regretted her words. Why was it that every time Grissom tried to talk to her, she felt this irrepressible need to fight? Why did she have this need to rattle him or even offend him? Why-She sighed and looked outside. She knew why.

She wanted to see him show some kind of feeling, at least once. Even if it was only anger, she would have welcomed it. Only, he'd never do it, would he? He'd never show any strong emotion. Not anger. Not to mention love or desire-

He would only show concern; concern for a coworker who had drank too much.

She closed her eyes, wishing she had a delete key in her brain; a convenient key that she could use to erase tonight forever. Or not just tonight, but this whole year-

She took a deep breath before turning to him.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok." He said, maddeningly calm.

Sara glared at him. This response was just so typical of him, and so irritating; so devoid of feeling that it seemed as if he simply didn't care.

"By the way," she said impulsively, "I congratulated Nick on his almost promotion."

"Sara," he sighed, "I know you were angry-"

"Yeah, I was pissed." she admitted, "I still am; I'm disappointed, too. I mean, I thought I was doing a good job-"

"You are" he said immediately.

"But not enough for a promotion." She retorted

Grissom glanced at her and continued driving.

"Do you know what pissed me off the most?" she continued, "That I got the news from him. It felt like a blow on my face. You should have told me, Grissom. It was a matter of simple courtesy-"

"You're right, I should have." He admitted quietly.

"Why didn't you?"

"I didn't know what to tell you."

Sara looked away. She couldn't take any more of these evasive responses from Grissom. She was glad to see they were approaching her street. With some luck, she would be able to get off his car without hearing some 'talk' about the dangers of alcohol.

Grissom looked for a place to park

"Sara," he said before she could even reach for the door handle, "Wait."

"Grissom, if it's about tonight, I promise it won't happen again-"

"I know that." he interrupted. "I just wanted to tell you this: You are doing a good job, but giving you a promotion would have been a mistake."

"Why?"

"Because it would have bound you even more to your job."

She glared at him.

"So, there's a double standard here? Nick can be bound to it, but I can't?"

"Sara, Nick has a healthier attitude towards his job. You're letting it take control over your life-"

"You should look in the mirror before you preach, Grissom."

"Exactly." He admitted, "That's precisely why I'm preaching, Sara; I know what I'm talking about. You're young; you can still have a life-"

"-I like my life-" she argued.

"- and I don't want you to become like me." He finished.

Sara looked at him.

"There are worse things-" she muttered.

"Yes." He admitted, regretfully "Like drinking."

She opened her mouth but no sound came. She looked at Grissom, and for a brief moment she saw something in his eyes –Tenderness? Regret, maybe?

"Grissom, I made a mistake and I regret it." She said, "I'm ashamed, if you want to know the truth. I just-" she paused, gulping. "I just wanted to be a good investigator and now I've messed up-"

"Sara-"

"-I've disappointed you."

"Sara, I'm not disappointed. I'm worried; this was a lapse of judgment and the consequences could have been devastating." He softened his tone, "But they weren't." he looked at her for a moment, gathering courage to add, "And I'm grateful that you're not losing your job because frankly I don't want to work or live without you near me."

She turned to look at him in the eye, wondering how sincere he was, but before she could take any delight in the tone of his voice or the meaning of his words, she immediately remembered that Grissom had done this before. He knew how to bestow words and little gestures at moments of crisis; tiny morsels of affection and crumbs of love that were always enough to make her happy. Happy enough to forgive and forget-

Sara shook her head.

"You don't have to do that." She said

"Do what?"

"Patronize me." she said, looking away, "I feel bad enough about this without you saying things out of pity."

"Sara, it's not pity." he took a deep breath, "I'm serious. When that cop started talking, I thought there'd been an accident. For a second, I thought I'd lost you."

"Grissom, I'm sorry." She said sincerely.

"It's all right, Sara," he said, trying to smile, "just don't do it again"

"I won't." she said.

They remained silent for a moment.

He took a deep breath.

"Sara," Grissom said solemnly. When she turned to him, he said, "I know you have feelings for me-"

She gaped. He had never acknowledged this in so many words.

"I wish you didn't-" he added softly, "You see, I've let my job consume and…I just don't know anything about relationships," he admitted with some difficulty, "Except what I see in the course of my job, which isn't encouraging-"

"Grissom-"

"I kept you at a distance because I just didn't think I could give you anything, but you just…" he shook his head, "You keep expecting things from me, and you insist on seeing me as a role model-"

"I admire you," she said quietly, "What's so wrong about that?"

"Oh, Sara, I'd need a whole night to tell you." He said tiredly. He looked at her, and again, she saw something. Tenderness, definitely.

"Sara," he said cautiously, "I think a few days off would do you good-"

"I don't need any time off" she protested, "What I need right now is something to keep me busy-"

"Then learn to knit." He said curtly. "Take dancing lessons -"

"Besides," she interrupted, "You're not the right person to tell me this. When was the last time you had a vacation, Grissom?"

Grissom sighed.

"I can't remember." He admitted, "But this isn't about me. It's about you."

Sara looked outside, refusing to accept his suggestion.

"All right." Grissom said quietly. "All right, Sara."

She thought he was dismissing her, so she reached for the door handle.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She muttered, but before she could open the door, he spoke and his words froze her on the spot.

"Uh, I won't be coming to work tomorrow. I'm taking a few days off."

"What?" she turned.

"I've been thinking about you, Sara. Yesterday I finally realized that if I want you to do something, I'll have to do it myself first. And if I'm going to be your role model, I'll have to be a better one. So- I'll start by taking some days off. Two weeks to be exact."

"Two weeks?" she asked, stunned. "You are taking two weeks off." She repeated, growing more and more skeptical, "And what are you going to do, go camping at the body farm?"

"No," he smiled calmly "I'm going abroad." He said, and he chuckled when he noticed her expression of disbelief, "I'm leaving tomorrow night." He added, while searching something in his shirt pocket.

"Where are you going?"

"Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. They have a butterfly reserve and I'm going to help them classify their specimens. Plus, I'll be fishing and hiking. I'm taking a vacation, Sara." He looked pointedly at her, "I figured that if I do this, you will too. Eventually." He found the brochure he'd been searching for and offered it to her. "It's a beautiful place; they're off season now, so it's easy to get a room in a nice hotel"

Sara hesitatingly took the brochure.

"I'm glad you're doing this." She said, looking at the pictures. "Really, Grissom."

When she handed the brochure back, he refused to take it.

"Keep it." Grissom said, smiling faintly.

TBC

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Note: that Grissom is one lucky guy! Lake Atitlán is beautiful!