A/N: Sorry this one is sort of short. I'll post Part 5 ASAP.
Part Four
Grissom came home from the lab for the second time in 24 hours to find Sara sound asleep. However, this time she was curled up in the middle of his large, king sized bed. He smiled at her still form, dropping his jacket on the chair in the corner. Moving into the bathroom, he noticed an old pair of his sweatpants in the hamper with one of Sara's tank tops. She must've gone running, he thought. He shed his own clothes and tossed them into the hamper before climbing into the shower.
Sara awoke to the sound of water running somewhere near by. She rolled over, tossing her pillow aside and stared at the door to the master bathroom. It was partially open and she knew that Gil was home. Crawling from the bed, Sara made her way to the bathroom, peeling off her T-shirt, and stepping into the shower with Grissom.
"Hey, did you sleep well?" he asked, his arms immediately going around her and pulling her into his embrace.
Grissom was dropping light kisses into her hair and Sara planted sleepy ones across his chest. She shrugged in response to his question and clung more tightly to him. They stood locked together for a long time and Sara had no desire to move. Having someone to hold onto made Sara feel all that more comfortable with herself and even with her past and although Grissom still didn't know the outcome of her brothers trial or the turmoil that she had been through recently, he wasn't turning her away because of her past. He was still here, clinging to her, keeping her steady, and waiting for her to tell him the rest of her story.
"Can we just get cleaned up and get out of here?" Sara asked suddenly, looking into Grissom's worried blue eyes, "I think I'm ready to tell you the rest of the story."
Grissom just watched her a moment, trying to register the truth in her eyes. It was there. She was hurt and scared, but she was ready and determined. She wanted to tell him and she wanted to get the truth out. Moving his hands up and down her back in a move that was meant to warm her and reassure her, Grissom felt more than physically connected to the woman in his arms.
"Sara, I-" Grissom paused, not sure that the words in his mind were words that he was ready to speak. But it was now or never. What he wanted to tell her was the God's honest truth and nothing that she could tell him would change that, Sara had a right to know. "Honey, I love you."
Sara's eyes filled with tears as soon as the words left his mouth and he wasn't sure if she was disappointed or overwhelmed. He pressed his forehead to hers and didn't say another word. He wouldn't push her, if she wanted to return his sentiment, she would. He loved her and she knew that, that was all he needed.
"Gil, I- I love you, too."
The words were so soft that he had to strain to hear them. He kissed her temple hard as tears formed behind his eyes. He tightened his grip on her, a futile attempt to fuse their bodies together, before he took a small step back and shut off the water. Grabbing two large bath towels once again from the closet, Grissom wrapped one around Sara then proceeded to wrap the other around himself.
Together, they moved into the bedroom where Sara on the bed's edge once again and watched as Grissom dug out something warm for her to wear. They quickly dressed in sweats and T-shirts before Grissom lead Sara from the room again.
As Grissom stood at the stove, stirring the soup he had started, Sara sat at the breakfast bar. She picked up the piece of bread lying on the counter in front of her, tearing it into smaller pieces in order to keep her nerves at bay.
"My brother didn't go to trial for four months after Greenworth brought me home," Sara said quietly, getting Griss' attention, "And living at the bed and breakfast with my mom was a nightmare. My life basically consisted of going to school and locking myself in my room to study. I mean, I was only in sixth grade so I didn't have to study too much, but it was an excuse to avoid my mom. Not that she tried to talk to me or anything, she couldn't even look at me without crying, it was horrible. . . my dad was a different story. He treated me like glass, like if anyone breathed on me too hard I would break. It was unnerving at times. We lived on the beach. My back yard was the ocean but my dad wouldn't even let me go outside alone. He drove me to school every morning and picked me up every day. I wasn't allowed to ride the bus and I wasn't allowed to have any friends over or go to anyone's house. He was terrified that someone would cause me to runaway again."
Grissom nodded, not looking at Sara as he spoke, "He saw you hurt once and it broke him. He didn't want to be forced to see you hurt again. Men have a way of doing that, Sara; it's the same situation as a mother becoming overwhelmed with adrenaline to protect her child in a dangerous situation. Men don't like to show emotion, honey, but when the people we love are hurt or in trouble, we become protective of them, it's in our nature."
"Yeah, I noticed," Sara said softly.
Grissom turned and smiled at Sara. She returned the smile before looking back down at the food in her hands.
"Anyway, when the trial finally rolled around, Greenworth contacted my father because the prosecution wanted me to testify. That drove my mother crazy. My father, not being Mark's father, wanted me to testify against him," Sara explained, "And I wanted to. I was scared, terrified really, but I knew that if I didn't testify, no one would stick up for me. So I went to court with my mother and father, and my mom cried the whole way there. I remember staring out the window while my father talked to me but I didn't really hear him. I watched the beach pass me by, the city I had grown up in, and all I wanted to do was get on a raft and float away. I kept wishing that I had never been born."
Grissom placed a bowl of potato soup in front of Sara before moving around the bar to sit down beside her with his own bowl. They both began to eat slowly and silently; Sara because she was trying not to cry and Gil because he didn't want to push her.
"We pulled up in front of the court house and my father let me out of the car with my mother. She took me by the arm and dragged me into the building as my father went to park the car. When we were standing in the middle of the lobby, she started screaming at me, telling me that I'd better keep my damn mouth shut or I would never see Mark again. I told her that I didn't care, I told her that I hoped he died and . . . and she hit me. For the first time in my life, I had made my mother so angry that she actually hit me," Sara took another large bite of her soup to hide the sob rising in her throat.
She hadn't noticed that Grissom had stopped eating. He had set his spoon down and was now watching Sara intently, feeling the pain and sadness radiating off of her. Tears spilled from her eyes and she pretended not to notice as she kept eating. Feeling his hand suddenly on her face, Sara dropped her spoon and closed her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Sara."
"I am too, in a way. I'm sorry that I let the things my mother did and said get to me. I should have just let it all go, I knew that she didn't love me the way she loved Mark and I should have just stayed away from her after what happened. My mother had always been very protective of Mark. She wouldn't let my father punish him in any way because she felt that it was her fault that Joshua had left them. It was, of course, because she had cheated on him, but my father didn't like the way my mother handle the situation. He felt that they were being divided by me and Mark. My mother of course, doing whatever he could to protect me, and my mother doing whatever she could to protect Mark. After she hit me, things only got worse," Sara's voice trailed off slightly at the end and she opened her eyes to look at Grissom.
He was crying. Fresh tears were in his eyes and wet tracks were making their way down his face and into his beard. Sara reached up a hand and brushed away a stray tear as he had done for her. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment before they each looked away at the same time.
"What happened during the trial, honey?" Grissom asked quietly.
Sara shrugged, "It was pretty basic. I went in and sat there as both sides gave their opening statements before Mr. Greenworth called me up to the stand. When I finally got up there, I couldn't stop shaking. I was so nervous," Sara explained, "Everyone was watching me. My parents, Mr. Greenworth, Mark. They were all watching me and this woman, my brother's attorney, kept asking me all these questions, personal questions that I felt like I couldn't answer in front of everyone. . . I didn't want my father to know what had happened to me. I didn't want anyone to know that Mark had- that he had-"
A sob broke from Sara's throat and she buried her head in her hands. She cried heavily, her shoulders shaking with each sob that racked her body. Gil's arms where around her, pulling her against him, and rubbing his hands protectively up and down her back. He whispered words of comfort in her hair, telling her that everything would be all right.
Taking a deep breath, Sara pulled away from Grissom. She looked up into his eyes, looking for some sort of reassurance that he wouldn't leave her after she told him the rest of the story. She found it there, in the deep blue of his eyes, Sara found what she needed to go on.
"Mark touched me, Grissom. He would grab me and touch me and tell me that I deserved it. He scared me so bad that I was afraid to tell my father what had happened. He made me believe that I was the one doing something wrong by not letting him touch me. He had me convinced that my father wouldn't want me if he knew what I had done," Sara's voice was quiet and shaky and Grissom's breath had become ragged with tears. "And I had to tell the judge everything. I was so scared that my father would be just as disgusted with me as my mother was, I thought that he wouldn't love me anymore either."
Sara and Grissom were silent for a long time. They leaned into each other, Sara laying her head on his shoulder and him stroking her hair.
