A/N Thanks to Cybro for her always wonderful and speedy beta work.

This is a response to a Response to a challenge issued Smyrczko at Yahoo! Grissom-Sara group. Must have the following:

G/S pairing

Either be the beginning, middle or end of a relationship

Mention of a current or former boyfriend/husband of Sara's

Fudge, blue jeans and a leather bomber jacket must all be mentioned

Reference to the Rascal Flatts' song "God Bless the Broken Road"

Contain the line "It's a crime to look so sexy."

Begin or end with "I should've been a cowboy."(I fudged on this one.)

Showdown

"What…?"

Catherine leaned against Gil's office door. He looked stunned and sad and angry.

He ran his hand over his hair for the fourth time in as many minutes. "Stop with the hair Gil. You are going to look like Don King soon."

"Are you sure about this?" He took his glasses and put them back on again.

"You are NOT listening to me."

"You said she is living with her ex-boyfriend." Gil stared stupidly at his desk.

"I said no such thing. This is how men get themselves in trouble." She moved closer to his desk. She had not expected him to be so upset. He was completely irrational. She wasn't sure how one dealt with an irrational Gil Grissom.

"The facts are that her ex-fiancé is in town. He is staying with her until he sorts out something or other. I am not sure what. That is all I know. I know nothing else."

He stared at the door as if Catherine was still standing against it. She walked closer and took his face in her hands.

"Snap out of it. You can't go stupid on me right now. What are you going to do?"

Gil heard Catherine speaking but could not process the words. He and Sara had been going out for six weeks, exactly six weeks to the day. Things were going well. They had kissed and fooled around but not made love. They'd had five breakfasts, three had been out, and the last two had been at her place. She was a good cook. He taken her to dinner four times and cooked dinner for three times. He was an excellent cook. They had been to two concerts, both of her choosing. Her taste in music was varied and interesting. He was impressed.

Everything had been fine. No, everything had been wonderful. He was man walking on clouds. His steps were lighter, his heart was about to burst. He was in love with her.

Catherine snapped her fingers. "Gil. I need you with me."

"What did Nicky and Warrick say?" He said almost drunkenly.

"Not much. They went out with Sara and Kevin."

He pressed his hands together in silent contemplation. "I should have known."

Gil kept talking mostly to himself. "I didn't know they were engaged. I mean I knew they were friends and that they dated. I did not know they were engaged."

Catherine watched his lips move for several minutes. "Gil, if you want me to help, I need you to tell me what you already know."

He looked at Catherine as if he just noticed her. "He was in the same seminar I met Sara in."

"He's a CSI?"

Gil shook his head. "Pathologist from San Francisco. He and Sara worked together when she was there."

"Okay."

His blue eyes found the stack of paper work he had been plowing through until Catherine made her entrance. "What did Nick and Warrick say?"

Catherine shrugged. "Not much. Just that they went out with them. He's a really nice guy, smart. That's about it."

Gil nodded and looked at the clock. Normally Sara would have called him by now. Up until this week she called him every morning just to say she was thinking about him and to make sure that he didn't stay at work too long. This week she avoided him, got to work precisely on time and left precisely on time. There conversations were sporadic and Gil found himself babbling, trying to restart their familiar banter.

"Too good be true." He mumbled.

"What?"

"Me and Sara. Too good to be true. Should have known better. Should have listened to my instincts."

Catherine snapped her fingers again. "Oh no. You are not falling into the abyss of self pity. We have no evidence that Sara is seeing this guy. You say that we only pay attention to the evidence."

He laughed bitterly. "The evidence is that Kevin Demitri is at least ten years younger than I am, at least as smart as I am. Oh, let's not forget that the last time I saw he had better body than Nick and Warrick put together AND he bares an uncanny resemblance to Pierce Bronson. The evidence is that I am nearly fifty years old, passably handsome, with hair is that going whiter by the minute and body that has seen better days. I am a realist, Cath."

She seemed to be in her own world now. "Better than Rick and Nicky put together AND as smart as you?"

Gil leveled her with a look.

"Sorry." She said. "If Sara wanted this guy, she would be with him. I mean she had him right? He asked her to marry him."

"Maybe he broke up her."

"Not according to Nick. She broke it off."

"Oh. Then why wouldn't she just tell me what was going on? She's been avoiding me like the plague."

Catherine tilted her head. "If you want me to help, I need to know everything. What exactly is going on with you and Sara? I mean I know you went out to dinner a few times."

"We have been dating. We were dating."

"What does that mean Gil?"

"We have had breakfasts and dinner. We went to some concerts. I cooked for her and she cooked for me. She called me everyday." The last words were added bashfully.

"You and Sara went to concerts? What kind of concerts? Who picked? How do you two have the same musical tastes?"

His spoke evenly. "I'll have you know that we have a lot in common. She picked them. We went to a Rascal Flatts concert and an Eric Reed concert."

"Okay I know who Rascal Flatts is. Who's Eric Reed?"

"Jazz pianists. Used to play with Wynton Marsalis."

Catherine nodded. "What do you guys talk about? You go to concerts. You don't have to talk at concerts…

"We talk about everything. We talk about what we want out of life. We talk about our childhoods. We talk about you guys and work. Sometimes it's like I found a female me. It's like we are the same person. I swear she can hear me think sometimes."

He found Catherine's appraising eyes. He was old and foolish. He had waited to long to get a life. "Why would she do this Cath? I mean, why? Everything was going so well. She's avoiding me and not returning my calls. I should have known. I kept giving her the benefit of the doubt. Told myself she was busy, maybe a little nervous about us. I am so stupid."

"You talk about evidence. The only thing we know for sure is that Sara is avoiding you. You have no idea why. You just started this relationship. Maybe she thought you wouldn't understand. People get their signals crossed when they are first starting out."

He refused to look at her. He was sure that pity would be reflected. "I am no good at this. I have made a mess of it and she's probably trying to spare my feelings."

Cath took his face in her hands again. "What have you done with fire breathing Gil Grissom? The man who throws coffee pots and slams my ex-husband up against a wall? The guy who makes the lab part like the red sea when he's angry? You gonna let this guy take your girl? Maybe he did come back to town to sweep her off her feet. Dammit Gil. Stand up and be a man. I wish this was an old western. You should have been a cowboy."

Gil was confused by the transition. He studied his friend's pupils. "I should have been a cowboy? Are you on drugs again?"

"You do better with black and white. If was the old west you would go find this guy and have a shoot out at high noon. You'd kill him because you'd be better prepared. Then throw Sara over your horse and take back to your hermetically sealed frontier home."

Gil shook his head. "The sad part is I completely understand your train of thought."

xxxxxxx

He looked at himself in the mirror. Catherine head popped up over his right shoulder.

"You look amazing. Got your blue jeans on. Got your hair perfectly coifed. Got the turtleneck happening. You wearing your bomber jacket?"

He looked skeptical. "Should I?"

"Gil. It's cold and it makes you look sexy."

"So I just show up and what…?"

"You ask Sara what's going on. You tell you care about her, that you love her and you want to make things work and whatever she's done or not done doesn't matter to you."

"What if he's still there?"

"Play it by ear. You have good instincts."

xxxxxxx

Sara stood looking at him for several long moments.

If he gets any sexier I am going to embarrass myself. It must be a crime to look that sexy. I am already embarrassing myself because I am standing here like an idiot.

He studied her face. It did not appear to be one laced with subterfuge or lies. She looked like she was happy to see him. She was smiling slightly. Her chocolate eyes were gentle and soft.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." She looked at the roses in his grip. "Those for Mrs. Lawson?"

"What…?"

"My next door neighbor. They must be cause you don't seem to be offering them to me."

He thrust the dark red roses at her. She grinned happily as she buried her nose in them. "Thank you."

She looked his other hand where he gripped a white box. "That must be for Mrs. Lawson then."

"No. It's for you too." He said inanely.

She took the white box and pulled at the red ribbon that held it close. "Is this your mother's fudge? How did you get hold of your mother's fudge? Did she send me another box? There was more last time." Sara said with playful suspicion.

"I made it myself. It's Mom's recipe."

Sara was mortified that tears sprung to her eyes. "You are so sweet. You are so very sweet."

He walked moved closer to her and put one arm around her. "I didn't mean to make you cry. Why are you crying?"

She mumbled into his neck. "Here I have been avoiding you and you show up at my house with flowers and homemade fudge. I am an idiot."

"Whatever it is…" Gil said pulling her close not caring about the flowers. He just wanted Sara to stop crying.

"Who's an idiot?" The voice was behind Gil playful and light. Kevin Demitri walked swiftly down the corridor as he took in Sara's tear streaked face.

"Hey Sunshine. What's wrong?" He rested on hand on Sara's shoulder. All three now filled the small entrance to Sara's apartment.

Gil tensed. His eyes went from clear glass to dark sky. Kevin stepped away from the man but kept his hand on Sara's shoulder.

"Dr. Grissom."

"Kevin."

Through her emotional haze, Sara felt Gil's body tense as he pulled her closer to him.

"Kevin, Mark called. He said it was important." Kevin looked at the two of them and disappeared into Sara's bedroom.

Gil stared at the closed bedroom door. Sara pulled him inside the apartment and closed the door behind him. For the first time he noticed that she was wearing a t-shirt with no bra and a pair of short boxer shorts.

"Those Kevin's?" He gestured to the shorts.

Sara looked at him for several second her mouth open. "Well, I'll be damned. You are jealous. You are so jealous. Is that what this is?"

Sara folded her hands over perky breasts. He lifted his eyes to her stern eyes.

"You avoid me. You won't return my calls. You don't tell me that your ex-fiancé is in town. You take him out with our friends. What am I supposed to think?"

"Well, I have been avoiding you for a week. Seems to be that you should have sniffing around days before you found out Kevin was in town."

Gil raised his voice. "I trust you…trusted you. I figured you were busy or tired. I guess you were!" He almost shouted at the closed bedroom door.

Sara put her hand over his mouth. "Stop it." She hissed.

He removed her hand. "You stop it. What the hell is going on here? Are you seeing him again? Are you two back together? Is that what this is?"

"No! We are just friends."

"Then why couldn't you just say that? Why couldn't you tell me? Why have you been hiding and not talking to me?"

The raw emotion of his voice nearly knocked Sara off her feat. When he hadn't said pressed her despite her flimsy excuses and cool behavior. She had told herself it was because he didn't care. Only he did care. He cared enough to trust what she said. He believed her and believed in her.

"I am sorry. I am so very sorry." She said slowly.

He dropped his head. He refused to look at her. "You can tell me anything. You didn't have to lie. You could have told me if you were confused. I mean you were engaged to the guy. I understand that."

It was Sara's turn to pull him close. "No. No. I am not confused. I know what I want. I might not know how to do this but I know that I want you. Come here."

She pulled him over to the couch. "I didn't tell you Kevin was here because he asked me not to tell you. You specifically."

"Why?"

"He's intimidated by you."

"Why?"

"Now, about Kevin. I should have not caved to him. I should have told you. He's so impressed with you and he thinks so much of you. He just couldn't do you this weekend in addition to everything else."

"What is the 'everything else'?"

"He is going to tell his parents that he is gay. They come here twice a year from Jersey. He's also introducing him to his boyfriend."

"Mark?"

Sara nodded.

"Why is he…?"

"He thinks you are the epitome of masculinity. He says you are the forensic version of Hemingway. He didn't want his idol to think less of him I guess."

"Didn't you tell him that I could care less?"

"I tried. He just couldn't do it. He just couldn't. He talked about how women fawn over you and men admire you. When I told him that we had been seeing one another he nearly didn't come. I mean your ex-fiancé, your idol, and your parents who don't know you are gay. Finding out all at once."

Gil smiled. "So when you two were together…."

"It took me about one week with that big ole ring on my finger to realize there was something wrong. He didn't want to have sex. He didn't want to fool around. We were utterly comfortable with one another. I looked at him and said, 'I will not be your beard but can I keep the ring?' He said no."

She kissed him solidly. "He said you would buy me a bigger one."

He relaxed under her touch. "I thought I was so good at hiding it when I first met you. Did I make a fool of myself tonight? I mean, I did make a fool of myself."

"Are you kidding me? You showed up looking sexy, carrying flowers and homemade chocolate and ready to fight for me. I might post it on the internet."

Later, after Kevin had left to pick up Mark, Gil rubbed her naked back.

"Now I can wear your boxers." She said softly.

"You are making me leave here commando?" He kissed her neck. "You are beautiful."

"Thank you. So are you."

"You know that stuff they say about me at those conferences. It's not true. I don't chase women."

"I know but they do fawn. Kevin was right about that."

"Yeah, well, I am under the age of seventy five. Until they started hiring guys like Warrick and Nick that made me a hot commodity."

He laid a hand flat across her naked flesh.

"When is Kevin coming back?"

"He's not. He and Mark are getting room at the Bellagio. He was just here trying to scrounge up some courage. Honey…"

"Hmm."

"I am sorry that I lied. I should have told Kevin that I couldn't do that. That I wouldn't lie to you."

"I understand. I have not exactly proved myself to be very trustworthy and understanding."

"I won't ever do it again." She turned over and looked him squarely in the eye.

"You don't give up on me. I won't give up on you. Besides, we have a song already."

"We do? How did I miss that?" She smiled and kissed his beard.

"With your permission, I think it should be "God Bless the Open Road.""

"In honor of our first concert." Sara sniffed. "Oh dear. I can't believe I am crying again."

"I love you." The words were out before he knew it. To his astonishment, he wasn't scared that he said them. He felt free and happy. So what if she didn't love him just yet, though he thought she did. She would eventually. They were meant to be together. He knew that now. She was worth every lonely night, every awful date, and every lonely morning.

Gill gathered her in his arms, helping her snuggle close to him as she began to cry in earnest.

"You don't have to say it just because I said it. It's okay." He said truthfully wiping tears.

"No. No. I love you too." She peppered his face with kisses. "First you show up jealous then you tell me you love me. When you get started, you don't slow down."

"I have wasted too much time. I am not going to waste another minute. Besides we already have a song."