Post-Butterflied
Disclaimer: Author looks around, shuffles through papers Nope, still no CSI rights. Darn, and I thought they'd just materialize this time.
Chapter 24
For a few blissful moments, Sara was unaware of exactly where she was. She just enjoyed the comfort and warmth of Grissom being so close to her. Eventually she knew she'd open her eyes and remember where she was and what she was doing. For a few minutes, she just wanted to enjoy the plain uncomplicated world of not quite being awake or asleep.
"Morning sweetie," Grissom kissed her.
"Mmm. Morning," she mumbled.
"How did you sleep last night?" he asked.
"Pretty good, actually," she slowly opened her eyes.
"Good, do you think you're ready for the lecture, or should I plan on going solo?" he questioned.
"No, I came along just so I could teach with you," Sara sat up, "I can still help you out."
"Are you sure? Because if you don't want," Grissom started.
"I'm fine, we're going ahead as planned, I'm sure of it," she cut him off.
"Okay, well I'm going to shower since I didn't last night, I'll see you when I get out," he slid out from under the blankets, temporarily allowing the cool room air to hit Sara's legs.
Sara flipped the blankets back over her body and laid back down on the bed for a few minutes. She finally decided she had better get up or she was going to fall asleep again. She got slowly got dressed and waited for Grissom to be finished in the bathroom.
"Aren't you looking handsome?" Sara asked as he emerged, wearing nice clothes.
"I have to look nice, it's part of teaching," Grissom straightened his collar.
"I like it," Sara smiled.
"Don't get too used to it, I'm not dressing this way at work," Grissom shook his head.
"That's a shame," Sara slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
The lecture had gone well and Sara had been surprised at how comfortable she had been in front of the large crowd of students. She figured it was the fact that Grissom was always nearby. After the seminar, several students even cornered her and asked her a lot of questions. She answered most of them with ease and found she actually liked knowing she was helping teach the students. The feeling of having students that were interested in hearing everything she had to say was great.
"Ready to go?" Grissom asked.
Sara was surprised to find that he had packed up all of their stuff and was ready to leave, "Wow, I didn't realize I was taking questions for that long. I'm sorry guys, but I have to be going."
"Thanks for staying and answering questions," one student said, "a lot of the guest lecturers are on such a tight schedule that they don't have time to."
"Yeah, it was really cool hearing from two real criminologists," another student said, "thanks."
"You're welcome," Sara smiled, "I'm glad you enjoyed our lecture."
"Was that so bad?" Grissom asked as they walked away.
"No, I really enjoyed it. I'm glad you made me come with you," Sara told him.
"I didn't make you, I strongly suggested it, that's all," he grinned, "the students seemed really engaged when you did your part of the lecture."
"They loved your bug stuff too," she teased, "that's far more interesting than my piece."
"Well, the next lecture is in twenty minutes, do we go sit in, or should we just get out of here? Go eat or something," Grissom suggested.
"As much as it would be fascinating to hear another forensic scientist speak, I think I'm going to have to say we should ditch this place," Sara smiled.
"Fine with me, I've been to more than enough lecture series, it's always the same basic things, more interesting to you if you're still a student," he told her.
They got to their car and Sara opened the trunk so that Grissom could put their box of lecture materials in. Grissom closed the trunk and took Sara's hand.
"Let's walk to that old coffee shop we met at a few times," Grissom suggested, "it's only a couple blocks away."
"Okay," Sara agreed, "I haven't been back since the last time we were there."
"I remember," Grissom said, "you were becoming a CSI and you weren't sure where you were going. So we said goodbye."
"At the time I thought I just had a 'schoolgirl' crush on you, but when you called me a few years ago to come to Vegas, I jumped on the chance. I realized after working side by side with you for a while, that it was more than a simple crush. I was just afraid for the longest time you wouldn't return my feelings," she explained as they walked.
"I thought at the time, it was wrong to be attracted to a student of one of my lectures. Then when Holly Gribbs was killed, I knew you were just the person to call in to investigate the situation. I never thought you'd stick around for four years, but I am really glad you did. I'm only sorry neither one of us said anything sooner," he said.
"Oh well, we can either sit here and think about what we might have had if we weren't both such big chickens, or we can be glad that we are together now," Sara told him.
"You're so right, you have no idea how lucky I feel to have you," Grissom turned to her, "I really mean it, Sara."
"I do know how you feel, I feel the same way," Sara leaned over and kissed him.
"We're just two lucky people then, aren't we?" Grissom laughed.
"There it is, it looks the same on the outside," Sara pulled open the door and held it for Grissom.
"Thank you, you know the guy's supposed to do that," he teased.
"You think I can't hold a door open for you?" she asked.
"Wow. It looks just the same inside too," he paused, causing Sara to bump into him.
"Exactly the same. This takes me back," she looked around, "hey look, our table is free."
"How convenient is that," Grissom lead her to their old table.
"This is officially bizarre if it's the same wait staff as before," Sara laughed.
"I hope not, the owners were pretty old then, I can't imagine they're still here," Grissom said.
A young, college-aged woman came to their table, "Do you folks need a menu or do you already know what you want?"
They ordered the same coffee they both had back so long ago. Aside from the waitress, the coffee shop was exactly the same as it had been so many years ago. They got their drinks and reminisced about the time they had spent together there.
"This trip has turned out amazing," Sara sipped her coffee.
"I know, it's been so much better than I could have imagined," Grissom agreed, "I'm so glad I didn't come alone."
"To think I could have been working some boring murder case back in Vegas," Sara laughed.
"And I could have been all alone here in San Francisco. I would have been thinking about you the whole time anyway," he told her.
"I would have missed you too," Sara leaned across the small table and kissed him.
"I've been thinking a lot the past couple days," Grissom said slowly.
"Oh yeah," she said suspiciously.
"I love you. I spend most of my time with you, and there's no one else I'd rather be spending all this time with. What I'm trying to get at, and I know I'm terrible at this, I think we should get married. Will you marry me Sara Sidle?" he asked.
Sara was frozen in place as Grissom had pulled out a beautiful diamond ring while he spoke. She realized she was just staring at him and he was getting more and more nervous while he waited.
"Of course I will," Sara jumped up and threw her arms around him, "I love you."
After hugging and kissing, Grissom carefully slipped the ring on her finger.
"You scared me for a minute there," Grissom laughed nervously, "you were quiet for a little too long."
"I was just so shocked, I couldn't speak," Sara now started to cry.
"Why are you crying?" Grissom asked, thoroughly confused.
"I'm happy, I'm really happy, I can't help it," she tried to wipe away her tears.
"I'm glad that you're happy," he kissed her again.
"I couldn't be happier," she whispered.
"Let's go back to the hotel," he suggested.
"Okay," she stood and took his hand again as they walked back to their car.
A/N: I just realized that this is officially the longest story I have written. There was a tie for second longest with two 21 chapter stories. I can't believe how long this story is, I never thought it would last this long. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this!
