Title: When the Rain Comes
Chapter 3: There's Nothing Like Rain in the Morning
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the characters…just borrowing them for a while!
Pairing: Sandle.
Rating: T
Synopsis: Now that Greg and Sara are finally together, will they stay that way? An old flame of Greg's shows up and jealousy and danger get in the way of his and Sara's happiness. Will it ultimately be enough to ruin their relationship?
Sara was sitting on her couch in front of the TV, idly swirling the metal bowl around, causing the popcorn inside to tumble from side to side. She wasn't paying attention to either her actions, or the cheesy drama flick mutely playing out on the television. She was in mental overdrive, wondering what in the heck had gotten into her, and why. She was kicking herself for freaking out about an old girlfriend of Greg's that he hadn't seen in years, probably. Rational girlfriends don't do that. Since when have you ever been rational, Sara? she asked herself,scoffing.
She knew she'd probably hurt Greg's feelings, and she resolved that she should make it up to him. She picked up her cell phone, dialing Greg's number, but her thumb hovered over the 'send' button. She could picture him now, with Tori at the restaurant where he had been going to take her for a romantic dinner. Sharing conversation and laughter with someone else. And the doubts came rushing back, flooding her and filling her once again with uncertainty.
Everyone in her life had found some way to let her down hard just when she was starting to get comfortable. And Greg hadn't let her down yet. Her heart was telling her that he loved her and would do anything to make her happy, but her experiences were overwhelmingly telling her that she was in for a fall. She wanted to trust him. But she didn't want to sit around and wait for the inevitable, if indeed it was coming. And why didn't he introduce me as his girlfriend? "Ugh!" Frustrated with herself for being unable to control her jealous thoughts, she got up from the couch, dumped the untouched popcorn into the garbage, and started the hot water going in the shower. I'm just PMS-ing. No need to overreact about this. There is nothing going on between Greg and Tori. He loves me.
"I've swabbed the metal to find traces of any accelerant that shouldn't be there," Greg demonstrated to Tori, who was watching him as he went about his task. "And, I've run the swab through the GCMS to determine it's chemical components."
He picked up the sheet of paper that came out of the printer, scanning it.
"And?" she prodded, "what is it?"
He read off the chemicals that the GCMS had detected. "Benzene, toluene, hexane, xylene, and lead."
"Definitely an accelerant," she said. "But what kind?"
"Well, it's jet fuel. Definitely belongs. The fuel tanks exploded. Nothing probative. Well, at least in terms of a criminal investigation."
Tori was looking at him funny, with her head cocked sideways. Smiling. "What?" he asked self-consciously.
"I don't know…" she said. "It's just…you really like this job, don't you? You just have this confidence I've never seen in you before."
He nodded, looking down at his sample. "It's different. I just feel like I get to help people. Find truth. Be one of the good guys. It's clichéd, I know…"
She shook her head. "Not at all. You know, I really admire you for going after what you really wanted, instead of playing it safe." She looked at him intently for a few moments, then leaned forward swiftly and planted her lips on his.
Sara was walking down the hallway towards Grissom's office when she happened to glance over at one of the lab rooms. Through the glass wall, she saw Greg. But that wasn't what shocked her. She saw him in an embrace with Tori, and they were kissing. Stunned, she looked away quickly and continued down the hall, tears burning her eyes.
Greg was startled, and for a moment just sat there. Then he leaned back, gently pulling her hands away from his face.
"Tori-" he began.
"I know," she interrupted, looking down. "I'm sorry. That was stupid. I don't know what got into me. You know," she looked up at him whimsically, "I just got to thinking about how happy we were…back then. How much fun we had together."
He nodded. "I remember that too, Tori, but do remember why we broke up? We could never make it work. We were too much alike. Sure, we had a lot of fun when we were together. We had some…really happy times. But we also tore each other apart. Remember those battles we used to have?" She smiled. "It just…didn't work. And Tori…even if I thought it could work now, you know I'm with Sara. And I'm really happy."
"You really love her, don't you?" Tori said. "When you talk about her…it's like…wow. Your eyes light up."
He smiled. "She's amazing. I don't know how to describe it, really."
"So…no regrets?" She smiled up at him wistfully, putting a hand on his face and tracing his jaw line gently.
He shook his head. "No."
"Well…I should probably go back to Chicago as soon as my conference ends tomorrow. It was…really good to see you again, Greg."
"Hey," he caught her hand as she was about to leave, "don't be a stranger. Call me sometime. Ok? Let me know how things are going."
She nodded. "I'll do that."
Sara locked herself into one of the bathroom stalls for the short remainder of the rest of the shift, crying bitterly. The one relationship in her life that she had actually felt good about had come crashing down in bitter disappointment, and she felt as though she had been deeply betrayed. She'd given him her heart, and he'd crushed it. Eventually the tears dried, and the steely wall around her heart had already begun to go up again. He's not worth it, Sara. He's just like the other cheating bastards you've dated.
Drying her cheeks, she headed out of the bathroom and signed out for her shift. As she left the building, she heard Greg call her name but kept walking. The morning was gray and cloudy and the overcast sky was spitting rain. It looked just like she felt. Sad.
"Wait, Sara!" Greg ran to catch up to her. He caught her elbow and pulled her around to face him.
"What do you want?" she asked, with no little hostility apparent in her voice.
Taken aback momentarily, he was silent for a second, then asked, "Hey, why didn't you call me last night? And I haven't seen you all shift. What's going on, Sara. Why are you avoiding me?"
"I don't know," she said bitterly, "I thought I'd let you and Tori have some quality time together."
"Sara. Tori is just a friend. There's nothing going on between us. Why would you think that there was?" he asked, confused at her angry attitude.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the part where you shoved your tongue down her throat tipped me off," she spat angrily, jerking her arm away from him and continuing on to her car. The rain began coming down a little harder now, making a gently pattering noise on the car windshields.
"You saw that?" he said, then quickly darted after her, putting himself between her and the door of her SUV. "Sara, she kissed me. I did not kiss her back. If you had been watching a split second longer, you would have seen that. I told her that nothing could happen because I was with you. She left."
"Well, it's not too late to call her and get her to come back, Greg," she said cynically, "She's so perfect for you, Greg. She's everything I'm not. She's funny, she's beautiful, she looks like a supermodel, and you have similar backgrounds. She'll only have to change one letter in her name when the two of you get married. I'm so sorry I was in the way of you and her getting back together. I'll just get out of your way now. Now move out of mine so I can go home. It's raining."
Greg was taken aback by the open hostility in her voice. He'd seen Sara mad before, but he'd never been on the receiving end of all that anger. "Sara, Tori and I broke up because we knew we could never work. And even if we could, I love you. I've been in love with you for 5 years. Please…don't do this."
She looked him intently in the eye, and for a moment he thought he saw her harsh glare soften. Until she said coldly, "Greg…move." He silently stepped aside and let her get in her car. He just stood there as she started the car and drove away. Then the skies opened and the rain poured down, soaking everything unlucky enough to be caught outdoors by its wrath. And still he stood there, feeling helplessly out of control of his own life. Feeling like she had been ripped away from him and he hadn't been able to run fast enough to catch her. Feeling as though his heart had just been torn out by the woman he loved more than life.
Tears streamed down his face, blending seamlessly with the rivulets of rain that ran down his face and splashing down to earth to rest in the puddle at his feet.
TBC
joeypacey405: Haha thanks! I will definitely add too it. About the happy ending, I'm workin on it! LOL
NothingButSarah: LOL yeah if Greg were mine...jealous would not suffice! LOL!
SleepyHead22: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the writing style. I have a tendancy to rush things sometimes so I've been trying not to do that.
jewelbaby: Yeah...there's no way I could ever share Greg. I'd want all his sexiness for myself!
csi-sam-sanders: Yeah, no kidding. Especially one as pretty as Tori. Hope you enjoyed this chappy!
speedracer15: In relation to N/T...howd you guess? LOL. shhh...don't tell anyone!
Unlikely-to-bear-it: OMG, I love it when Greg gets all Norwegian too! I have some more of that planned.
Mrs. Aaron McKay: I'm glad you like my last story, hope you enjoy this one as much!
theresa: sorry this update took a while. enjoy!
jlo: glad you like the story. here's the update. hope you like it.
LocoGreggo: Thanks for the review! This story's taking a little longer, but I'm definitely keeping going.
loveforever: glad you enjoy the first story! i have a basic idea of how this one's going to play out but some things are still totally up in the air! lol
avalon88: here's the update! hope you like. it took awhile but the emotions took a while to get right.
jewelbaby: Here's more! Enjoy.
Heather: Don't we all wish we had a bf like Greg...so sweet!
kegel: Yeah, it had a cute beginning...and now the angst takes over! Muhaha!