Never To Late 2/12
Sara's Apartment 7:01
She paced back and forth. He chickened out! He wasn't serious. He's late! He's not coming. She had changed her outfit about 100 times before she settled on a pair of jeans and a ¾ sleeve Navy blue shirt. Her hair was relaxed and slightly curled at the ends. Why was she so nervous? It was just Grissom. But this was a completely new Grissom.
A knock at her door stopped her in her tracks. Taking a deep breath she opened the door. God, he never looked better. She rarely saw him like this, so relaxed in jeans and a dark green polo shirt.
"God, you look so sexy," she muttered in a whisper.
"I'm sorry?" he asked. He honestly had not heard her.
"You look good," she recovered.
"You look amazing. Shall we?" he asked extending his hand.
She took his hand as she shut the door with the other. To her surprise, he never let go of her hand as he walked her to the passenger side of the car. She looked at him in amazement as he opened the door for her.
Once she stepped inside, Grissom moved to his side and hopped in. He was surprised to hear Sara giggling.
"What's so funny?" he asked
"Nothing ... it's just ... I can't remember the last time a man opened the car door for me."
He smiled as he took hold of her hand.
"Sara, I have something to ask you?"
"What is it?"
"I um ... I ... one of the reasons I asked you out tonight was to ask you come with me to an entomology conference this weekend."
She let go of his hand slightly angry.
"So, this was all ... what ... some sort of bribe to get me to go with you?"
"No ... no never Sara. That's why I decided to ask you now as opposed to the end of the night. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I didn't want you to think I was going through all this just to get you to go with me. I care about you so much Sara. Forget about the conference. Whether you decide to go or not I still want to be with you," he paused "Sara if you go with me, we can have a fun weekend together in San Diego. If you don't, I'll think about you, being with you very minute of everyday while I am gone until I see you again," he finished.
She was silent for what seemed like hours to him.
"Okay ... I'll go," she said
"Really?" he asked
"That was quite a convincing little speech you made there."
"I just didn't want you to go running back inside. I wasn't expecting an answer yet."
"Well ... now that you've got one , what do you plan on doing about it?" she eyed him.
He started the car and took hold of her hand.
"Show you the second greatest thing in my life."
"What's the first?" she asked
He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it.
"You."
Carnivals and Coasters Amusement Park
Their ride to the park was spent mostly in a comfortable silence; Grissom's hand never letting go of hers. Her eyes lit up and they pulled into the parking lot.
"Are you serious!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah. Is this okay?" he said worriedly
"Of course! I haven't been to an amusement park since ... well since you said everyone needed a distraction."
He looked at her puzzled , then a light somewhere clicked.
Flashback
GRISSOM: Sara. Do you have any diversions?
SARA: Do I what?
GRISSOM: You max out on overtime every month. You go home and listen to your police scanner.
GRISSOM: You read forensic textbooks ...
SARA: Yeah
GRISSOM: Look, every day we meet people on the worst day of their lives. It's a lot to deal with. Everyone who's had any time on this job knows that you have to have a diversion in order to cope with what we see. What do you do for fun?
SARA: I chase rabbits. And ... I read crime books. And I listen to the scanner.
GRISSOM: You need something outside of law enforcement. Catherine has her kid, you know? I sometimes ... ride roller coasters. What do you do?
SARA: Nothing.
GRISSOM: Okay. What do you like?
SARA: I don't like anything.
GRISSOM: You've got to find something to like. You can't get too close to the victims.
SARA: She's special ... to me. I can't help it.
GRISSOM: If you don't find something they'll all become special and you'll burn out.
End Flashback
"And you stole my distraction?" he said.
"No ... not really. The coasters just didn't do it for me. But, watching all the children so happy and carefree. That is the best kind of distraction."
"I'm glad you found something."
"Yeah me too. But, I think I have found a new distraction." she smiled sweetly at him.
A smile crept across his face as he turned the car off and went around to her door.
"You know ... a woman can get used to this kinda thing."
"You should already be used to this kinda thing." he replied
She just smiled and laughed as he helped her out of the car. As they walked to the admission booth, he took a hold of her hand and laced his fingers with hers. She turned her face to look at him with a surprised expression.
He was being so open to the fact that he was with her. Hank never showed any kind of public display of affection. Of course Hank was in a serious relationship with another woman, but this was still a surprise for her. Especially from Grissom.
He paid their entrance fees and they entered the park. Off to the right they saw the midway, filled with arcade games and to the left was nothing short of the holy land for Gil Grissom. The coaster side of the park.
"Let's hit the games first." he said.
"I thought you wanted to ride the coasters?" she said
"Later"
"But doesn't the park close at nine?"
"Yeah but we have plenty of time. Don't worry about it."
She was about to reply when she saw a little blonde girl running straight for Grissom.
"UNCLE GRISSOM!" she screamed as she crashed into his legs.
"Hey Lindsey," wrapping his free hand around her. "Where's your mom?" he asked.
"Oh ... um ... she's coming. Hi Sara!" she said moving to place a hug around her legs.
"LINDSEY MARIE WILLOWS you get back here right this instant!" they heard Catherine yelling.
"Hide me" she said moving behind Grissom and Sara.
"Lindsey, you come here right now!" she said catching up to them.
Lindsey hung her head as she moved out from behind Grissom and Sara.
"Honey, you can't run off like that okay? I wouldn't want something to happen to you."
"It's just Sara and Uncle Grissom, they won't hurt me mom," she replied innocently.
"I know that honey, but you see all those people you ran past to get here? Any one of them could have reached out and taken you away. I don't ever want you to be taken away from me. Do you understand what I'm saying?" she said
"Yes mommy," she replied as her mom wrapped her arms around her.
"She can run fast," replied Warrick jogging up to the group.
"You have no idea," Catherine said.
Warrick looked up and noticed Grissom and Sara standing there ... holding hands.
"Grissom? Sara? Wow ... um ... hey guys what's up?"
"Just enjoying our night off," Grissom replied.
"Together?" he asked as Catherine jabbed him in the side.
"We were just leaving," Catherine said.
"But Mom …" Lindsey whined.
"No 'buts' honey. I told you an hour ago we were leaving. It's really time to go now."
"Come on kiddo, I'll give you a ride to the car," he said scooping the little girl up and hoisting her on his back.
"We'll catch you guys later" Catherine replied.
As they walked away, Warrick turned to face Catherine.
"Were they holding hands?" he whispered.
"That they were," she said leaning up to place a kiss on his lips.
"Ewwwww" came a voice from the lump of Warrick's back.
Warrick and Catherine both laughed as they made their way to the parking lot.
"I'm sorry Griss" Sara said
"For what?" he asked.
"Now everyone is going to know that we were here together."
He placed a hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes.
"So, why are you sorry? I'm not hiding my feelings, you, or my feelings for you anymore. We've wasted to much time not being together. I want everyone to know how much I really care about you."
He leaned down and kissed the side of her mouth.
"Come on, lets win you some prizes," he said leading her into the midway.