I'm sorry for the long delay... I hope this chapter meets your standards;) Suddenly I find myself in a very HP-kind of mood. Well, I'd never leave you hanging because of that.
Thank you a million times for the amazing and sweet reviews! You are my lifegivers, my oxygen-suppliers!
This is for you!

Love,
Jellicos

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Chapter seven: The fights

"Cath, if they're happy then it's all that matters, right?" God I hated it when he was being all rational! No, it wasn't all that mattered! She was happy without me, that's what mattered! Shit Willows, get it together!

"Yeah, whatever. I still don't think it's gonna last." I muttered, ignoring the look he was shooting me. It wasn't true, I did think it was going to last. That was the damn problem.

"Care to elaborate on that Catherine?" I almost jumped at the voice. That gorgeous melodic voice that made my insides shiver like warm jelly. Fuck, I was screwed.

And there it was; the dare-look. That was it! Fine, she's straight I get it! She's in love with Gil, I get that too. I don't get why, and I have a strong suspicion that a mental collapse has to do with it, but I get it. Now why the hell does she need to throw it in my face?

She doesn't want me? Fine! Then she'd better stay the hell away from me!

"What? You need me to spell it out for you now Sidle?" I asked; my voice cold and my eyes fixed on my work, not on her. I wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved as Warrick made his way out of the room. But as I heard her speak I realised it wasn't either of the two.

"What the fuck is your problem Willows?" Wow, my whole body cringed when she used my last name, worse than that was the hurt in her voice. "That I'm dating Gil, or that he's not dating you?" For a moment I just sat there, looking at her. There was something smug about her, like she thought she was on to something, that she had me cornered. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was she serious about this? It was only 24 hours since I kissed her! One look and I knew the answer. Not only did she think I was straight, she thought I had the hots for Gil. Oh god! Could she really be that stupid?

"If I wanted him, I'd have him." I stated simply, trying to ignore the look in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure." Did she just snort at me? "Like you got Warrick?" Sara leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed, looking like she just put the final nail in my coffin.

By now I was running on nothing but anger, on frustration and hurt from the last few weeks, and especially from the last few days.

"And you're assuming I'd want either of them based on what?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her when she smirked.

"Well, they meet your fucking-criteria right? They both have dicks." Forget the nail in my coffin; this was her kicking me down and spitting on me. She flinched a little as I stood up much too fast.

"Well, I haven't taken a closer look so why don't you tell me?" I spat back.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She was getting angry, and that was just what I wanted.

"You've fucked at least one of them, so don't come calling me a slut." I took a few steps closer. She might be taller, but when I'm mad I can make the tallest of men cringe. "Is he good?"

"What!" Was that her guard that just dropped a split second out of sheer surprise?

"Does he make you cry out? Moan his name? Beg for more?" I was so far out of line I couldn't see the damn line behind me anymore, but right now I could care less.

"Fuck you Catherine." She whispered and swallowed hard. I couldn't read her face and I was not sure I'd want to right now. So I backed off a bit.

"No thanks, I have a date." Throwing my hair over my shoulder I went back to work, pretending she wasn't watching me from the other side of the room.

"A date? Does he make you cry out his name?" She quickly seemed to regain her attitude as she used my own words against me.

"Haven't slept with her yet." I said to the evidence as coolly as possible. "Don't you have work to do?" I looked up just in time to see her back as she stormed out of the lab. Well Willows, you just came out to the girl of your dreams after pissing her off to no end. How do you feel?

Slamming a beaker against the wall didn't help much, but every little relief was welcome right about now.

Great, this was just great.

Leaning my head on my elbows with my hands in my hair, I sighed. 24 hours ago I had kissed her. For a brief moment she'd kissed me back and I'd lost my footing completely. This wasn't just some crush. But it didn't matter. All we did was fight, hurt each other. She was dating Gil.

I did have a date tonight. Kennedy, the cute brunette who waited tables at the diner I frequented off the strip. She wasn't old, like 27 or something. But she'd been flirting with me for months now. Yesterday after the whole thing with Sara, I'd asked Kennedy out. The girl had actually blushed and stuttered out an excited yes. Somehow I couldn't shake the feeling that I had asked her out only because Sara didn't want me.

But no. Kennedy was gorgeous. I was gonna go out, have a great time and forget about Sara and Grissom.

"Cath?" I cringed at his voice.

"What?" I didn't look at him, I couldn't. He'd pissed me off enough today, without realizing it of course. And that alone pissed me off even more. How could he be so completely oblivious?

"It's from Lindsey's school." My head snapped up and I saw him holding up his cellphone. Confused, I looked at my belt clip and saw that my phone was out of batteries. How the hell did that happen? I'm always careful to charge it.

"Thanks." I grabbed the phone from him without another word. "Willows." My stomach turned to knots as I heard the stern voice of the principal.

"Ms Willows, this is Mrs Mitchell. We need you to come down here to pick your daughter up."

"What happened? Is she alright?" I was standing, my body turned rigid and my blood cold. If Lindsey was hurt…

"She got into a fight with a couple of classmates. She's fine, a few bruises. But I'm sending them all home until we can decide what to do."

"I'm on my way." I snapped the phone shut and trust it into Grissom's chest as I walked past him. My mind was spinning with scenarios as I raced down the hallway.

"What happened?" He asked, following me. I didn't even care that he was following me. Lindsey had been in a fight, a physical fight apparently since she had bruises. What had happened? God I was gonna kill her! And then get her ice cream for being safe. Damn kid!

"Linds was in a fight. I have to go." I said in a strained voice as I threw the door to the locker room open and reached to grab my things.

"Is she alright?" Was he still there?

"Yeah, a few bruises. Look…" I finally turn to face him as I grabbed my purse and jacket from my locker. "Can we talk about this later? I have to go pick her up."

"Yes, of course." I didn't let him say anything else as I rushed through the building, ignoring the looks cast after me and the few people trying to get my attention.

It was a quick drive. I must have broken at least twelve different traffic laws on my way. She was in so much trouble!

The joined anger from the last few days was just fuelling my rage and it took me about five minutes to go to the principal's office, get the short version of the fight, grab my daughter and throw her in the passenger seat of my Tahoe. It was dead quiet for an entire four seconds before I started yelling at her. Lindsey of course had her defence all set up. Damn teenagers!

"I don't care what they said; you never punch someone in the face Linds!" I shot to my right as I tried to send angry glares at my daughter and speed home through the horrible Vegas traffic at the same time.

"Of course you don't." Lindsey muttered. "You never care!"

"Don't turn this on me!" I protested and got a much too good death-glare back. Damn, when did she pick that up?

"Why not? You are never around, and I had to protect my friend's reputation! In case you didn't know, you are supposed to protect the ones you care about!" She'd turned towards me, crying out like only a fourteen year old girl can.

"Linds I don't have time for this." I sighed, my hands gripping the steering wheel much too hard. Was this really what she though of me?

"What? Your date starting early or something?" Surprised, I looked over at my daughter who had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked out the window with a nice pout on her face.

"What?" My jaw dropped at her comment and I could see it was the reaction she was looking for as she tried desperately to hide the smirk on her face.

"That waitress… Kennedy?" She even pretended to think.

"How..?" I didn't get to finish my question, which was kind of good because I honestly had no idea what to ask. Lindsey knew about my date with Kennedy, but how?

"She called the house." She said with a shrug. With that sorted out, my next problem was that I'd never told Lindsey that I like women too.

"Lindsey, look…" I started, but again she cut me off.

"Mom, if you're gonna give me the 'sometimes girls like other girls' speech then don't bother. You never even asked me why I was in that fight in the first place." She looked a bit hurt and I was beyond confusion at this point.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Was the first thing I came to think of to ask. There where too many questions in my mind right now, and most of them had to do with how Lindsey knew I dated women and if she was really ok with it.

She sighed.

"Tracy Morgan got picked at in school because her mother's dating Ms Miller, the science teacher. They started calling her names and I stepped up." I didn't realize I'd pulled up in our driveway. My eyes where completely focused on my little girl, who obviously wasn't that little anymore. Her friend had been picked on because her mom was dating a woman and Lindsey had come to her defence. I couldn't speak.

"I like Ms Miller, and Mrs Morgan is like the coolest adult I know. They're really cute together." She sighed.

"So… you're ok with…" I didn't finish. Suddenly I felt like Lindsey was the older of the two of us and I didn't like that feeling at all. It didn't help that she was giving me a look that clearly stated she thought I was being ridiculous.

"You liking women?" She asked and I was amazed at how easy she said it. It was as if it was the most natural thing in the world and I suddenly wished that I could say it like that.

"Of course I do mom, I'm not an idiot." She rolled her eyes. "Unlike you…" She muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" I grabbed her arm as she tried to get out of the car.

"You're an idiot mom!" I loosened the grip around her arm out of pure surprise. She'd never talked to me like that!

"Lindsey! Watch your mouth!" I scolded, but she just shook her head.

"No, you're an idiot mom. Kennedy?" She looked at me. "When are you going to ask Sara out?" With that she got out and slammed the car door shut.

For several minutes I just sat there. What just happened? Was I that obvious? It took me a while and a lot of deep breaths to get my heart to stop racing and my mind to stop repeating her name over and over again.

Lindsey knew. But how? And why did she want me to ask Sara out? She knew about Sara and Grissom. I know she did, she asked me! But…

My head was spinning.

Deciding this had been a day of more confusion than should be legal, I figured a good shower and a long nap was in order. I'd need to talk to Lindsey, but I most likely needed to collect my thoughts first.

I didn't even know what to say to her.

Sighing I got out of the car, groaning as I heard my pager go off. Well, at least there was one thing I hadn't forgotten to charge.

My heart stopped as I looked down to see who'd paged me. Biting my lip I wondered for a brief second if this was a sign. Sara's name flashed over the little LDC screen and my palms started to sweat. This was ridiculous! I wiped my hands on my jeans and walked to the door. Should I call her back? Well, it could be about a case so I couldn't really ignore it.

"Shit!" Standing outside the door I looked down my side only to realize I'd forgotten my purse in the car. Cursing under my breath I realized I'd either have to forget about Sara Sidle, or I'd have to get my belongings sewn to my sleeves.

…I probably have a sewing kit in the den…

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You know what to do my darlings…. ;) It's right there, to your left... please? I know you want to... ;)