disclaimer: I own nothing

AN: Thanks to everybody whoe keeps reviewing! This chapter is dedicated to my Dad.

fire

He laid on his sofa, another day had passed by, another day at work with Sara, he had to see her every day, he had to think of what had happened that night every single second…but he couldn't talk about it with her. Even if he'd really waned to, he wouldn't have found the strength and courage to do so. He could hear the rain outside, thunder and lightening took turns and ripped him out of his thoughts every now and then.

But what ripped him out of his last thoughts hadn't been the sound of the thunder, it had been a knock o his door. He wondered whether he should stand up and walk over to the door to answer it, or if he should simply pretend to be asleep. Another knock reassured him of what he had feared, the person was still there, the person still wanted him to open the door, the person probably still wanted to talk to him and it was probably something important that had to be discussed.

His weary footsteps were echoed in the empty and cold living room. It was right then when he realized how alone he really was. There was nobody he could return to when he came home from work, there was nobody he could wake up next to, there was nobody he could say goodbye to when he left the house…he was all alone. He tried to swallow and lock away the thoughts. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

SARA!

He was definitely surprised. There she was, the woman who had haunted in his mind and thoughts for the whole week, the woman that had kissed him in his dreams so often, and now he knew how it felt, now he knew how soft her lips really were. And now she looked at him, her wet hair hanging into her face, raindrops running over her face, her clothes totally soaked with rain. Her white blouse was totally transparent, the color of her blue jeans rubbed off on the sleeves of her blouse.

What would I give to be one of the raindrops that are running down her neck and…her décolleté and…oh my god, that was a bad day not to wear a bra Sara! He swallowed hard.

"Hey.", she said softly, her hands in the pockets of her jeans, looking down to the ground shyly, then biting down on her bottom lips and looking up to him.

"Hey…what…are you doing…", I am so stupid, isn't it obvious that she wants to talk to me? She wouldn't be here otherwise. Oh my Gosh I am even more stupid, I let her stand outside in the rain…she is still standing in the rain. Ask her in Gil. Tell her to come in…..TELL HER TO COME IN!

"Would you mind asking me in?"

Damn it! What does she think of me now! I did not ask her in…I am so stupid and…I am such an idiot…I…

"Okay, I get it I am going on your nerves, sorry for interrupting you from what ever you did."

SAY SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!

She was about to turn around and leave.

"Sara, come in. Sorry…I…am an idiot, come in. Please, you're getting to catch a flu if you stay in these clothes one more second." And I am going to totally embarrass myself if I will have to see her in that transparent blouse for one more second! And damn it, did I just sound as ifI would want to rip of her clothes and...no she knows that it's just because of the rain...does she?

She seemed to refuse.

"Sara, please.", he pleaded. I can't let her go home like this, she is going to freeze to death…she will be a walking ice block…she…

"I have a problem.", she said while entering.

Another problem? Isn't a transparent blouse enough? …does she know that her blouse is transparent? Should I tell her? But this would evidence that I was looking at her breasts and…she shouldn't know that. This is nothing for her to know! He cleared his throat. "There are dried clothes in the closet of my bedroom. You have to get out of this wet stuff. Try to find something you think might fit…I doubt you'll find something in your size…but…maybe you can find a shirt or so…I will get you some hot tea…do you want hot soup too or…something else?"

"Wet clothes aren't my problem.", she said softly.

Oh my God, what's wrong? She doesn't look as if she cried, but…she is good in hiding her pain…but the rain could have cooled her face down…what is wrong with her?

He stepped closer to her, holding her arm. "Sara…", he noticed that his voice was shaking. He swallowed hard. Calm down Gil. "…What…what is wrong?"

"There was a fire in my apartment house and…"

"…A fire? Are you okay? What about your apartment? Sara are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you…", he felt his heart beating faster, panic almost took control of him.

"…I'm okay…really.", she forced a smile. "And my apartment is okay too…at least I hope so. We are not allowed to go back into the building for forty eight hours, because of dangerous vapors, probably toxic."

"And you are really okay?"

She laughed softly. "Yes…yes."

Grissom's hand slipped over her arm, stroking up and down. "You have to change clothes."

She nodded softly.

"I guess you know where my bedroom is."

She smiled softly. "Yeah."

He softly caressed her cheek with his thumb. Then Sara turned away from him, walking over to his bedroom. He watched her leaving the living room, then turning around to walk over to the kitchen to get her some tea.

While he waited for the water to boil, he leaned against the kitchen counter. What if the fire would have been in her apartment? What if she would have been hurt? I should have told her what I feel for her! She could have been hurt, she…could have been dead and…GIL! She is okay. Stop worrying, she says she is okay! She is in your bedroom, she is getting dried clothes. She is okay and…SHE IS IN MY BEDRROM! Searing for clothes in my closet! IN MY CLOSET! His eyes widened. HOW naïve am I? How stupid am I? She is in my bedroom, I allowed her to rummage in my closet! This is…just another invitation for her to…How stupid am I?

He immediately left the kitchen, walking over to his bedroom. Without thinking he opened the door, entering the room.

Sara, who stood in the middle of the room, wearing nothing but her panties and had just been about to put on a white shirt.

OH MY GOD!

"Oh my Gosh! Grissom can't you knock the door or something before you just enter?", she turned away from him, putting on the shirt and then turned to him again.

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! I saw her bare breasts! How am I supposed to get this picture out of my head again? "I…I am so sorry Sara …I…oh my God, Sara I am sorry!"

"You should be!", she teased.

"Sara I am…so sorry." How will she ever forgive me this? How will I ever be able to stop thinking of…her body.

She laughed softly. "It's okay…it's your room…you shouldn't have to knock the door before you're allowed to enter…you…"

"…I should have knocked. Please don't get this wrong Sara, I didn't enter because I wanted to catch a sight on your breast, I…" Oh great Gil…you should be able to control yourself! It was already almost impossible to control yourself when her shoulder leaned against your chest, but now…oh my God I have to find a way to control myself, she…she is not allowed to notice that I…Oh my God! Think of something causal…think of something totally un-erotic, think of…sporks. Sporks are the most un-erotic, most useless utensils that exist and…it works. "I had just…"

The sound of the kettle interrupted him. He swallowed hard. "The water is ready…I'll get you some tea." THANK GOD!

"Okay…although I'm more in the mood for a vodka after this.", she said joking.

Like me… He left the room. Oh my god, she looks so stunning in this simple white shirt, It's just a shirt and…a total simple shirt and…she…she is wearing one of my shirts! She is so beautiful. I will never wash this shirt again after tonight!

A few seconds after he had taken a cup out of the cupboard and had placed it on the kitchen counter, he heard her footsteps in the living room. He filled the cup with water and put a teabag in it. Then he walked over to the living room.

Sara had taken seat on his sofa, she had wrapped herself in the blanket he had laid on before she had arrived. Grissom handed her the cup and sat down next to her, leaning forward, supporting his weight on his arms, his elbows rested on his thighs.

"Thanks.", she said softly, staring into the cup.

"Are you freezing or…can I get you something else? I…just tell me what you need and I'll get it for you."

"Everything's okay. Thank you."

"You can sleep in my bed tonight, I'll take the sofa.", …although I would prefer sharing the bed.

"I don't want to cause any trouble…I…I just didn't know where to go to…I…"

"…I am glad you came here Sara.", he looked at her, now leaning against the back of the sofa. His arm made its way around her shoulders.

Feeling more than comfortable with being close to him Sara curled up against him, snuggling against his chest.

He couldn't help but loving being that close to her. Her hair was smelling after the smoke of the fire. Again he got filled with fear. She could have been hurt.

"Gil…if…if it feels awkward for you to have me here then…I mean I can maybe sleep at Nick's apartment…I just wasn't sure if Nick would be alone and….I know that Greg is at Mia's tonight and…"

So she was sure that I would be alone…great! This shows pretty much what everybody thinks about me! "You should maybe get a shower…your hair still smells after the fire." Damn it this was harsh! Just because I don't have any friends that I could 'hang out' with…I shouldn't be that harsh to her.

Sara had immediately pulled away from him. Staring at him.

"I…I'm sorry. I…sorry.", he said softly, trying to reach for her hand.

But she wouldn't let him. She pulled more and more away from him and now sat on the other end of the sofa. She stared at him, her legs pressed against her body, her knees pressed against her chest, her arms hugging her legs. "What's wrong?", she sounded desperate.

He sighed. "Sara…it was just that…You said that…you didn't know where to go because you thought they'd all have dates and…so you came to me. I…it just feels like…"

She came closer to him again, now kneeling on the sofa, facing him. She laid her hands on his arm. "I'm sorry…I didn't really think about what I was saying…it's…I didn't even think about where I could go to…I…I knew that…if I needed someone to…be there for me, then…I mean, you would be there for me and…I honestly just started thinking about where I could go if you'd send me away when…when I started to feel that you don't feel comfortable with having me around here."

"I…Sara I feel comfortable with having you around here. What's funny…because I thought I wouldn't." He reached for her hands and took them both into his. "Sara…we should talk about…what happened when…", he cleared his throat. "…what happened when we said goodnight to each other after we had been out with the others and…"

"…do we really have to talk about this?"

Wait a second! Is it her who doesn't want to talk now? Whoa! I have to mark this day in my calendar, with a big red circle around the date, the day that Sara Sidle didn't want to talk with me about how I usually tend to run out of every serious conversation, but is doing exactly what she is always criticising.

"I…I don't feel…I mean…is it really necessary to talk about what I did?"

"Sara…I just want you to know that…", he took a deep breath. "…I felt more than comfortable with that."

A bright smile flashed over her lips, then she looked down on their hands, she blushed and bite down on her bottom lip.

"Sara, I…I would love to…to go out with you again and…this time maybe without the others." Did I just ask her out? DID I JUST ASK HER OUT? Oh my God! This was so much easier than I ever thought it would be! Oh my God! What if she says that she does not want to go out with me, what if she does not want to…have dinner with me …what if she says 'no'?

She smiled softly. "I would love that."

She said 'yes'! No, she said it even better! She said she would love to go out with me! His heart was literally jumping.Hell I am close to hyperventilate!

She laughed softly, then she reached up for his cheek and caressed it with her thumb. "I have never seen you smiling that bright."

Oh my God, now I will blush! Don't blush! Calm down Gil!

"I should take a shower before I go to bed…I mean I don't want your sheets to smell after smoke…and…"

Sara in my shower, Sara in my bed…oh…Gil, don't think of her that way! You shouldn't think of her like that when she is sitting right next to you and…can see everything that is going on with you…or parts of you and…think of sporks! Calm down, think of sporks, go search a towel for her! Think of unattractive, boring, idiotic, useless sporks…only utensils made of plastic…and now go and search a towel for Sara!

TBC

okay, I hope no-one got that 'spork' thing wrong. 'Spork' (for those who are not from YTDAW) is a 'nick name' for Sophia...meant in a negative way ; )

Thank you for taking the time to read. I hope I can update soon, but sometimes real life sucks...

I hope you liked this chapter : )

and beforeI forget, I want to great everybody from YTDAW: ) :waves: