Chapter 14: Worth It

Sara was pacing in the tiny cage of a room, hoping to turn the almost inevitable tears into something she knew how to get out of her system: anger. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't feel angry, she just felt heart broken.

She didn't know how long she'd been in her room when she heard a knock on the door, but it couldn't have been too long; she still had her heels and sun dress on. She turned and stared at the door as if something cataclysmic had just happened, as if no one had ever knocked on a door before. She stood staring so long that it happened again, this time louder and more urgent.

In a few quick strides she was at the door, and threw it open, eager and nervous all at the same time. He was there, on the other side, just as she'd hoped.

His sparkling blue eyes pierced the confines of the emotions she felt, and all of a sudden the only thing that mattered was that he was here, on her doorstep, and he had come after her.

"Why did you leave?" he quietly asked.

"So that you'd come after me." Sara dropped her eyes. "I had hoped you would, at least."

Grissom brought a warm, strong hand up and cupped her face, his thumb rubbing soothing circles over her cheek, coaxing her to look up at him. "I don't know what happened today..." Sara shrugged a bit and shook her head in agreement, "but I hated it."

"Me too," Sara whispered. They gazed into each other's eyes and shared a moment of stillness and stasis, where they simply were.

That ended when their bodies flew together like magnets seeking their polar opposites, their lips meshing together and sliding over each other, tasting and savoring like they should have their dinners. Grissom pushed them back into her small cabin, the door swinging shut behind them. Grissom turned and trapped Sara between him and the wall, never wanting to let go as he kissed down her neck, her fingers tangling in his hair.

"Sara?" came his breathy question. All she could do was moan in response as he kissed the sensitive flesh behind her ear. "Please... please tell me this... this isn't about sex." He got out between kisses, his hands moving up and down every piece of exposed, tanned skin he could find.

"It's not..." Sara said as her hands flew around his torso, pulling his polo from his khakis and running her hands over his back as his lips took hers again and they slowly moved toward the bed, undressing as they went.

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Grissom pulled Sara's sweet sheen body closer to his, gently kissing her lips.

"Don't fall," he chided.

"I won't if you don't let me go." Sara smiled and buried her head in his neck. She sighed in the simple moment of contentment: her nails absentmindedly running through the sparse hairs of his chest, his arms wrapped around her, their breath gently slowing after their love-making. Doubt still gnawed at her, however, and made her stiffen in his embrace.

Grissom felt the shift and pulled her closer. "What is it?" he asked, terrified of the answer.

"I..." Sara stuttered a bit, stopped and started again. "What happens when we get home?"

"We take a cab back from the airport, go home, and unpack. Then I believe we both start work the next night, so we have one day to get used to sleeping during the day again." Grissom stated it as if it were the only logical conclusion.

"Riiight...." Sara sighed, dejected.

"You meant about us, though, didn't you?" Grissom quietly asked, stroking her arm lightly.

"Yeah."

"Well," Grissom took his time, planting a lingering kiss on her forehead, "I don't want this to end. But it won't be easy."

"I know that," Sara sighed, and snuggled closer to Grissom's warm body. "But I think it'll be worth it... worth the time and energy."

Grissom sighed deeply, but happily. "It will."

"So then?" Sara prodded, kissing the exposed flesh under his jaw.

"Then what?" he asked, distracted by Sara's wriggling.

"Maybe we should make an addendum to our trip home." Sara brushed up against Grissom, stretching like a cat to whisper in his ear.

"Yeah?" he practically moaned, grabbing her by the waist and almost having to flip them around to get her under him on the small bed. "Like what?"

"Like...cab home from the airport," Sara giggled a little as his beard tickled the sensitive skin of her arms as he kissed up the inside of her elbow, "go home, unpack, maybe catch a quick nap... then..." Sara trailed off as Grissom kissed up her neck. She arched into his lips, leaning her head back into the pillow with a moan.

"Then?" He asked between kisses.

"Then?" Sara laughed, pulling away and practically slamming herself against the wall as she ducked from under Grissom's arms with a smile. "Then... your place or mine?"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"I want to take you on a date."

Sara moved on Grissom's chest and sat up, trying to find his face in the dark. Her hands sleepily swatted at her eyes. "Huh?"

"Had you fallen asleep?" Grissom asked, His face contorting with guilt in the dark.

"Um, maybe?" Sara was still fussy and warm, and had no concept of time. "Yeah, I think so."

"Sorry." Grissom whispered, letting his arms drape over her and coax her back to the pillow of his chest.

"No, what did you say?" She asked sleepily, snuggling back down into his arms.

"I want to take you on a date," he repeated, smiling into her hair and letting his hands graze over her back. Their voices dropped to the whispers that the dark and sleep brought, but didn't require.

"Like, a real date?"

"Yup." Grissom laughed a bit as Sara yawned.

"Where would we go?"

"Anywhere you wanted to."

"What about," she was interrupted by another yawn, "excuse me–what about where you want to go?"

Grissom was quiet.. Thinking for a moment. "That would be anywhere you are."

"Romantic." Sara chided.

"Truth." Grissom declared.

"I'm sleepy," Sara whispered after a moment of silence. Grissom kissed the top of her head, one of his new favorite things to do.

"Then sleep," He said simply, wrapping her deeper in his embrace.