A/N Thank for all the lovely reviews. Thank to Michelle and Jennifer for all her hard work. Thanks to Jennifer for pointing out and double checking the legal issue. In case you haven't notice I've not mentioned what state they are in. I have certainly alluded to a state but suffice it to say that you must be 18 to consent to sex with someone that is 14 years older than you are.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Observation

He didn't know how long she'd been standing there. Since he had pulled his suitcase from the closet? While he neatly folded three work shirts? As he tossed his underwear on top of his jeans?

"Hi," she said softly, startling him. He squared his shoulders and turned to face her.

Her outfit was young and surprisingly free spirited; a form fitting white T-shirt, silver hoop earrings, matching necklace and indigo jeans. He wondered about a jacket. The weather was so unpredictable this time of year.

"Hello," he returned wondering what she was thinking about the suitcase, wanting desperately to hold her, but keeping himself from doing so. "Where did you go?"

"Kelly and I went to lunch." Her voice was calm, but her eyes were infinitely sad. She nodded towards the suitcase. "Going somewhere?"

He shifted his jaw, emphasizing his underbite. "To Brass' for a few days."

"Oh." They looked at each other for a few moments, both scared and more than a little nervous "I guess you're still mad at me."

"Sweetheart," he sighed, and walked across the room, reaching out his hand to her. "Come sit."

Sara took his hand and followed him to his side of the bed where she took a seat next to him. "I'm very sorry about the things I said last night." He took another deep breath and lowered his head a bit so that he could see her eyes. "As God is my witness, I will never ever do anything like that again."

Her eyes softened and she gave him a gentle smile of encouragement.

"It wasn't about the trip. It wasn't about the argument." He took a deep breath and forged on, "I wrote your mother."

Sara blinked. What in the hell... "You-my-Mom. Why'd you do that?"

"Because I needed for her to understand that my intentions are honorable where you're concerned. I know your family is very important to you, and I wanted to assure her that I was here for the long haul."

"You-" She swallowed hard. "-are?"

His eyes bright and shinning, he gave her hand a squeeze as he lifted her fingers to his lips. "I am."

"Oh." A bright grin nearly split her face and she suddenly understood what giddy meant, "That's just-" Her pony-tailed hair swung a bit as she cocked her head to the side. "I don't understand. Did my mom say something nutty? She comes off a little flighty sometimes, but really she's not that crazy..."

"She was completely lovely." One of his half smiles made an appearance in a way that made Sara blush. "If not a bit stern and protective."

Sara smiled, but it quickly dissolved into a frown. "Then what's wrong."

Grissom cleared his throat and skimmed his curls with his free hand. "She mentioned your birthday. She didn't say the day, so I went in to your wallet to look at your license."

"Okay..."

"Sara, how old are you?"

"Seventeen," she said easily, her eyebrows still bunching together in confusion, her whiskey colored eyes free from any worry or concern.

The sigh that came from him this time was mournful. "Sweetheart… I didn't know that."

"Everyone knows, though. Melinda, Marg. It's like, what do you call it? An open secret? How can you not know?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea... but I didn't."

"Oh," was all Sara could think to say. She looked behind him at the suitcase on the bed. "That's why you're leaving? Cause I'm 17?"

"Yes."

"I don't...You care about that!" Sara sputtered making him chuckle lightly despite the gravity of the situation. "Yeah,cause I'm going to rat on you." She laughed at her own sarcasm. "Gil that's just- Well that's just silly. We've already had sex and I'll be 18 in three days." Sara waggled her thumb index and middle finger at him

"Sara," he tried again. "Essentially, I'm an officer of the court. My integrity in all areas of my life is very important. If it ever comes out that you were 17 when we met, I can make a case that I didn't know about it. But now that I know, I have to follow the rules."

"Gil..." she whined putting her head on his shoulder. He thought about removing it, but simply could not bring himself to do it.

"Honey," his voice was equally forlorn. "I don't want to go, but I have to. It's just three days, and then we're off to Catalina and this-difficulty will be behind us."

Silence surrounded them for several minutes. It was Sara who finally spoke. "I'm sorry I was being so stupid about the trip, and I'm sorry I thought you knew about my age."

He slipped a strong arm around her waist. "It's not your fault. We still have a lot to learn about one another, but there's still all this good stuff between us. There's warmth, passion, and despite my awful behavior last night Ihope there's trust. And I was only angry because I didn't ask the right questions."

She didn't want to be in the house without him. Didn't know how she could sleep without him there. It was only three days but it made her terribly sad that she was forcing him out of his home. But, her other side was terribly proud of him: of his integrity.

"I'll miss you," she whispered.

"Not any more than I'll miss you."

Sara

The phone is ringing and I'm not really sure if I should answer it. I mean, I live here now, don't I? No invitation was given nor accepted. .One Saturday Gil just said, "this was madness," that I hadn't been to my place in weeks and hardly any of my stuff was still there. So, I gave notice and put my furniture in storage.

It scared the shit out of me. Still does. I don't know the rules here. Who knows I live here? I'm sure Jim knows but what about his mother or Greg? Mostly his mother IMs and emails, and Greg only calls his cell so it hasn't really been an issue. But today, the first day Gil has been gone, the landline has rung three times.

The first time I ignored it. The second time I looked at the caller ID. It said unknown caller, so it was probably just a telemarketer. But now it's ringing again. I leave the apple I'm slicing and walk over to the phone.

The caller ID says: Alana.

I pick up the phone.

"Hello," I say in my most confident voice, though my mouth is dry and my heart has just about stopped.

"Oh. I think I have the wrong number." Her voice is cool and precise. "Is this-" And she repeats Gil's number.

"Yes it is," I say.

"Oh," she responds, a bit confused. There's a long pause, where you know what the other person is thinking and they know what you are thinking and the situation is moving from awkward to damn well embarrassing. Only, for once, I'm not the one getting embarrassed. If she really wanted him, then she shouldn't have left him.

"Well..." She's trying to regain her composure. "May I speak with Gilbert."

Gilbert? Who calls him Gilbert? I bet his mother doesn't even call him that.

"Gil isn't in," I say pleasantly. I return to my apple, thinking this might take awhile.

"Well, I'll just call back. " She hangs up before I can respond.

"You just do that."

Gil

It occurs to me that Alana might call while I'm gone, and that Sara might answer the phone. She never does, but it is her home too, and she has every right. Brass was the first person to tell me that Alana was back in town from consulting with the Tate in London. Apparently, he saw her at a poker game that we both drop in on from time to time.

She's called a few times since she's been back. Nothing terribly persistent, but certainly something I'm not willing or able to deal with at the moment. My focus right now is settled on making sure that Sara and I are on the right path. The age thing has… Well, it's messing with my head. But she'll be legal in a few days, and the Sara I fell in love with when I thought she was 22 is the very same Sara that I now know is only 17. It's not going to be easy, but I still think we can deal with the age difference.

Of course, I'm certainly not going to go around announcing her age, but at least I won't be committing a felony-any longer. There is a co-habitation,common law loophole but it's not really clear when we started living together so better safe than sorry.

Peter was right. Alana and I don't belong together and it seems a bit absurd to think that I had ever considered her my soul mate: honestly believing that we'd one day find our way back to one another.

Now that I'm with Sara, I know that was never a viable possibility. Sara KNOWS me. She knows my bad habits; my lusty nature, my propensity to flirt with pretty women, the contradictory jealously I feel when she does the same thing. And the things she doesn't know yet will come to be known naturally. But even with all of that, she still cares for me, doesn't hold any of it against me, sees it all simply as my traits and not as faults to endure.

There's nothing about me that I'm ashamed of, or feel the need to over explain. I don't worry that she'll think I'm strange or sexist or difficult. She already knows that I am those things, and it doesn't seem to matter.

With Alana I tried to change, or to suppress those things. I tried as hard as I ever had. With Sara, I just am.

TBC