Act 30: Catherine

I can't remember the last time I laughed that much. Earlier when Sara left me panting I was plotting how I could get back at her, but I guess she was victim of some instant karma because not three minutes after I joined her in the kitchen Rueben has started to tease her mercilessly; to Sara's dismay all her siblings arrived one by one in the kitchen only to follow Rueben's train of thoughts and they all ended up telling stories about cooking incidents in which Sara was the principal suspect.

I laughed so much that I was crying, it was the best payback ever and it was served to me on a silver platter.

The good mood didn't leave us during dinner and I heard a lot more stories, although this time each one of them was taking turns in the spotlight.

Now we are in the room they use to relax. There are huge ebony bookcases with books going from the floor to the ceiling; there's a pool table; on one side there's a piano and other instruments; there are also two couches and four stuffed armchairs; I have to admit that if I could afford it I'd have a room like that at home.

Sara and I are currently sharing an armchair, I'm sitting on her laps while she's holding me to her.

Hazel and Lindsey come to stand in front of me sporting matching grins as if they were conspiring together.

"Can we go to the fort?" Hazel asks.

"Sure," Sara answers with a frown probably not understanding why Hazel is asking for her permission.

"Actually I was asking Catherine," Hazel specifies. "I know it's late, but I promise it's safe up there. The seven of us can fit in and jump all at the same time and it wouldn't crash."

"You're not going to throw her off, are you?" I quip.

"Oh no, I'm not one of the barbarians."

"Vikings," Sara corrects her. "Not barbarians."

"The point is that I'm a pacifist, so I don't push anyone overboard. We'll be super careful."

"I'm fine with it," I smile.

Hazel and Lindsey high five each other and then leave, speaking animatedly in hushed tones; I can't help but chuckling at the sight of their interaction.

Sidney and Howard invite us to play pool with them, Russell keeps reading a book while Charlie and Rueben are in the corner of the room playing chess.

"What do you think they're doing in the tree house?" I ask to no one in particular.

Without missing a bit Howard replies "Smoking pot."

My cue slips and I miss my shot as I hear this then I look immediately at Howard who has a neutral expression on his face.

"Howie!" Sara reprimands him.

"What? You weren't older than Lindsey when you had your first joint," Howard shrugs.

For a second I believe him then the next I feel silly for thinking that he was serious. I'm reminded of that time with Brenda Collins when Sara joked about leaving her alone in her car, she had said that with a straight face, Grissom and I fell for it and of course Sara milked that cow for all it was worth adding a 'don't worry, I cracked open the window'.

That dry humour of hers can be unsettling at first but once you get to know her, it's easy to know when she's joking. Now I can see where she's getting her sense of humour from.

"Howie, stop teasing. Don't worry Catherine we don't do pot. Right, Charlie?" Russell declares.

"Correct. I always say cocaine, meth, ecstasy, LSD are fine, but pot is where I draw the line… you got to give kids standard," Charlie says without looking up from the chessboard.

"Ah freaking ah Charlie, join them, why don't you?" Sara berates her brother. "You guys are morons…"

"Oh come on we're just joking," Howard finally cracks a smile. "She got it," he points at me, I'm smirking to signal them that he's right, I did get that he was just pulling my leg.

For some reason, however, Sara seems truly upset and she tries to walk away but Russell gets in her way and wraps his arms around her.

"Now, now, don't be so grouchy," he says with a pout.

"That wasn't funny," Sara mumbles.

"Yes, it was," he insists, then without warning he starts tickling Sara who is soon squirming to get out of his embrace.

"Idiot," Sara punches him lightly on the shoulder and comes back to the pool table.

"To answer your question, Hazy is probably showing her our telescope and they're having girl talk," Howard informs me.

We play for another hour or so then we wait for Hazel and Lindsey to come back to call it a night.

I can sense that Sara is preoccupied by something. She refuses to meet my gaze for several minutes, in the end I corner her in the bathroom when she's finishing to get ready for the night. I circle her waist with my arms and lean against her back.

"You know you can talk to me about anything," I remind her softly.

"Howie was really joking about the pot thing," she says in a whisper.

"I know," I smile. I gently turn her around so we're facing one another. "Hey, I know he was joking," I assure her.

"Okay."

I have the feeling that the issue runs deeper than that and once again she doesn't open up to me. I want to push her to talk to me; part of me is hurt that she's putting up walls between us and another is angry at myself because I do believe that our fallout a few weeks ago is the reason why she's so reluctant to talk to me now.

"I trust you," I tell her. I cup her face and plunge my eyes into hers. "And I trust your family, okay?"

She scrutinizes me for a few seconds then nods slowly her acceptance.

I take her in my arms and hold her tight, delicately scratching the back of her neck because I know it soothes her.

It's not the first time that she keeps me at bay and when she does I feel like she was pushing me away and I hate that.

Damn it.


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