Author's Notes: Yay, I finished this story before it's birthday. I didn't think it was going to happen...but I still have a few days to spare.

Thanks to all who have read and reviewed. You guys are great!

My handy-dandy beta reader is enjoying the 100+ temps of the desert at the present moment, lucky vacation girl, and only my eyes have read this. All mistakes are mine, but hey, no one's flawless.

Jenny

Chapter Eight:

He felt her presence before he could see her, but nonetheless, he refused to acknowledge her presence in the warm desert sun. He couldn't believe after all of this time, here she was, standing in front of the crime lab as if she had never left.

A burst of rage bubbled inside, and the moment he felt her soft hand touch his shoulder, he jerked away, spinning around with fury in his eyes, "What are you doing back here? How dare you show your face here!"

"I deserve that." Sara admitted quietly, "That and a lot more...Greg...I had to see you again."

"That's real funny." Greg snapped, his anger beginning to soften, despite his will to keep Sara at a distance, "Because the way I see it, you haven't wanted to see me in six months."

"Greg, I'm sorry." Sara whispered, her voice strained with tears as she reached out to touch him once more, flinching slightly when he pulled away, "I wish I could change what I've done...but..."

"You can't."

The cold tone of his voice hurt Sara deeper than anything he had ever said to her in anger. She knew she had screwed up, she had hurt him, but she only now realized just how much damage she had done. A single tear rolled down her tanned cheek, and she made no move to brush it away. To acknowledge it would only spark an onslaught, and the last thing she wanted to do was break down in tears in front of Greg. This wasn't about her, this was about him.

"You look well."

"I'm as well as I'll be." Greg replied cooly, "If you bothered to call, you'd know that I may never have the same flexibility in my leg as I used to. You'd know I only recently was fully released back to work...you'd know...a lot."

"I'm trying to make amends." Sara replied quietly, "It's no excuse, but at the time I wasn't thinking clearly. Everything was just so overwhelming...I couldn't handle another emotional upheaval."

"Emotional upheaval? Is that how you classify our friendship?"

"Before you left, you told me you loved me. I sent you away. You then got in an accident. You have no idea how guilty I felt! How scared I was!" Sara said angrily, her face turning a light crimson, "My mother had just died! I was reunited with a brother I hadn't seen in years! I just couldn't handle anymore."

"Well, Sara, it was a real picnic for me." Greg snapped, his eyes still blazing, "Im sorry my accident put you out."

Sara shook her head, reaching out to grab his arm as he turned away, "That's not what I meant, and you know it! Why won't you let me apologize to you?"

"You said you were sorry. What more do you want from me?"

Sara released his arm, her voice trembling slightly, "I want you to accept my apology. I want us to be friends again."

"Sorry, Sara." Greg replied in a taunting and sarcastic tone, "Friendship doesn't have an on/off switch. It's not something you can have one minute and forget about the next. It's based on trust and right now, I don't trust you farther than I could throw you."

"We were friends once." Sara murmured, taking a step closer to the sniffling younger man, "At least, someone who resembles you quite a bit. We talked a bit, we walked on the beach a bit...then I made a huge mistake...I wasn't aware that our friendship didn't allow room for errors."

"You can't just ignore me for six months, come back, and decide we're going to be best friends again. What next? Are you going to tell me you love me too?"

Her silence spoke volumes to him, and shaking his head, he laughed dryly, "Months ago, Sara, I would have loved to hear those words come from your mouth. I would have loved to have seen even a remote possibility of us being together, but that's just too much to ask for now. I don't even want to be in the same room with you, much less hear that you still care about me, that you possibly care too much about me."

"I made a mistake Greg. Are you going to punish me over it for the rest of our lives?"

Greg turned to face the brunette, a wry smile on his pale face, "You just don't understand, Sara. I'm not punishing you. I could care less about you. We aren't friends anymore, we aren't anything."

"You're wrong." Sara replied, her left hand tugging on her shirt while her right twitched as if she wanted to reach out towards him, "If you didn't care, we wouldn't be talking. Your voice wouldn't be full of emotion. You would have walked away a long time ago. We've never been just friends. It's always been there, that spark...we just never acknowledged it."

"I did." Greg replied defensively, taking a step towards her, "You didn't. You couldn't. And now, it's too late."

"We're both alive, aren't we? It's not too late." Sara replied quietly, "I'm not asking you to get married, Greg, I'm asking you to be my friend. I've missed you so much, you have no idea..."

"I have some idea." Greg admitted with an embarrassed smile, a frown taking it's place as soon as he realized it had appeared, "It's too late, Sara. I'm not interested."

"You're lying. You're still here, you're interested. You're just scared."

"Of what?" Greg scoffed, kicking a patch of dirt with his shoe.

"My stupidity." Sara replied quietly, closing the gap between them, "You're scared I'm going to string you along and abandon you. You're scared that you'll remember the feelings you had, and that if something happens, it will be that much more painful to forget them a second time."

"This is not an appropriate time or location for this conversation." Greg replied quietly, "I don't want to get into this right now."

Sara's lip quivered as she quietly spoke, "Greg, I'm sorry...I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I pushed you away, I'm sorry I let you leave, I'm sorry I never contacted you after the accident. I'm sorry I showed up here after so long, and I'm sorry you had to see me in the hallway. A thousand times, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to do to show you I'm serious about this...I miss you, Greg. I love you too, Greg. I'm sorry."

Before either knew what was going on, she reached out and let her hand rest on the back of his head, pulling her lips towards his. As they connected, both felt the warm surge rush from their head to their toes, and after a brief second of hesitation, Greg melted into the kiss, his own hand entangling itself into her brown locks.

After a few minutes, they broke apart, their foreheads connected lightly, both breathing heavily.

"So, do you forgive me?"

He remained silent as he tilted his head for their lips to meet once more. Sometimes words just weren't necessary.

The End.