It's Just The Way
Summary: Angsty yet fluffy Sandleness. Songfic. I don't own the song 'Pretty Girl (The Way)' by Sugarcult or CSI. Please review! V x
Sara didn't want to hear what Grissom was saying to her, the words pounded in her ears and she needed to get out of the room but she couldn't. Sara found it hard to look into his eyes because everytime she did her heart broke just a little bit more. She knew that she only had herself to blame for falling in love with Grissom but she never wanted it to happen. When she was a little girl Sara had always dreamt of falling in love with someone who would love her back and never hurt her but so far that hadn't happened and she wondered if it ever would now.
"Sara," Grissom was saying in his gentle, soothing voice even though the words hurt her more than she could ever express. "I care about you so much and I don't want to hurt you but I'm your supervisor and that's all."
Sara looked up at his, her eyes locking with his. "That's it, is it?" She demanded. "Is that the only excuse you can come up with?"
Grissom looked hurt now too. "No, Sara it's just...I don't know."
Sara smiled humourlessly. "You just have never felt like that about me?"
Grissom looked down at his hands. "I've always liked you Sara, you are so good at you're job and you are a great person but I just don't love you like that."
Hearing him say those words didn't hurt Sara as much as she thought they would. Somehow it gave her the strength to move on. She stood up and walked towards the door.
"Thank you." She said before opening the door.
Grissom looked confused. "What for?"
Sara shrugged, the moment had passed. She left his office and walked down the corridor.
Sara headed for the locker room, she flung the door open and heard the crash of metal on metal. She rested her head on the cool metal and sobbed.
"Hey." Greg Sanders said, edging carefully into the room. "Are you okay Sara?"
Sara looked around at him. "I'm just great!" She exclaimed, noticing her reflection in the locker room mirror.
"Sorry." Greg replied, knowing that it had been a stupid question.
Sara looked hard at him. "Aren't you going to make a joke about this or anything?" She asked.
Greg looked surprised. "No, of course I'm not." He looked hurt for a moment, he was known as a joker but he would never make fun of anyones pain.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"It's okay." Greg assured, taking a seat on one of the benches. "Is there anything I can do?"
Sara was touched by Greg's kindness and felt guilty for lashing out at him. Shutting her locker door Sara sank down onto the bench beside him. Greg reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, just his touch made her burst into tears again.
"I'm sorry." She said eventually. "I shouldn't be putting you through this."
"Don't worry." Greg assured her again. "It's alright. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be."
Sara managed a small smile. "Thank you Greg."
"It's no problem." He said, blushing ever so slightly.
"I'm not used to seeing this side of you." Sara commented.
Greg blushed again but didn't say anymore about it. "So are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to guess?"
Sara looked at him. "Nah, you wouldn't want to know and I can't burden you with my problems."
"Sara." He said honestly. "You're always here for us when we need someone and now it's our turn to be there for you." He paused. "Well my turn."
"Thanks Greg." She said with another small smile. "But I'm okay now honestly."
Greg took her face in his hands and made her look into his eyes. He didn't believe her.
At Greg's touch Sara felt a jolt of electricity through her body, she never felt anything like this when she was near Grissom.
"I'm not gonna force you to tell me." Greg told her. "But if you need to talk you know where to find me."
"Thanks." Sara said quietly, wiping her eyes on a tissue Greg had offered her.
"Obviously the tea and sympathy comes at an extra cost." Greg joked.
Sara laughed, and to both of their surprise she hugged him.
"Well payment in advance is good." Greg grinned, Sara hit him lightly on the arm.
"Hey!" He exclaimed. "That's no way to treat Vegas' best free counsellor now is it?"
Sara kissed him quickly on the cheek, nervous about his reaction. She couldn't take rejection again, not this soon.
She got up from the bench and pulled her handbag out of her locker.
"See ya Greg." She said before heading off.
"Wait!" He called out, grabbing her by the arm.
Sara stopped in tracks and turned around. Greg kissed on the lips gently, let go of her arm and ran off down the corridor ahead of her, his face bright red. Sara couldn't help smiling to herself, until recently she hadn't realised how much she had in common with Greg.
3 Months Later:
The entire graveyard shift, including Grissom, were sat drinking in a bar on their night off. They were celebrating Sara and Greg's three months anniversary. Grissom watched as they joked and talked together, Catherine and Warrick laughed with them and Nick looked on in amazement at how Sara had managed to put up with Greg for three months.
A few drinks later Greg put his empty glass down. "Right we're going off home now." He said, standing up and helping Sara to her feet. "I've got to get this one off to bed."
A very drunk Catherine giggled from where she was sat very close to an equally drunk Warrick.
Outside in the cool Las Vegas night Greg put an arm around Sara's shoulders.
"I love you." He whispered in her ear so that she could barely hear it."
"You know what Sanders." She replied, turning to look at him. "I love you too."