Chapter 8

Confessions

"C'mon Sara" Catherine tried to coax the younger woman. Sara opened her eyes, and looked in to the blue pools in front of her. "Sara, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

"Maybe I don't need help!" Sara spat.

"Now, we both know that's not true." Catherine smiled at Sara. "So tell me, what are you running away from?"

Sara just looked at Catherine. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again when no sound came out. She tried again and said "I can't tell you."

Catherine shook her head. "Ok. I'm not going to force this out of you. But if you wanna tell me, then just talk to me, ok?"

Sara nodded her head "sure". The brunette just watched the blonde for a moment. Suddenly she remembered something. "Hey Cat, didn't you have something to tell me?" she asked the blonde.

"I did, yeah. But uh, you're not gonna wanna hear it…maybe I'll just keep it to myself on second thought." Catherine tried to smile at Sara, but she didn't quite manage it.

"No. Go for it Cat. I'll behave, I promise" the brunette grinned.

"Ok. Just remember I warned you though…" Sara nodded and Catherine continued. "Well, I guess first off you should probably know why I came here tonight. I came here because…well, I was worried about you. I mean, it's not like you to take time off, let alone taking time off without telling anybody."

"In my defence, I don't have to tell everyone when I want time off. I only had to ask Grissom." Sara replied.

"Oh, I know that…I just thought that you might have said something to us all before you left." Catherine smiled. "You know, that would have saved me from a very embarrassing scene in the break room." Catherine blushed and looked at Sara.

"What did you do?" Sara asked locking eyes with the blonde.

"That's really not that important…"

"What did you do?" Sara repeated.

"I uh, just, well…" Catherine took a deep breath. "I practically attacked Grissom in the break room." She blushed again.

Sara just laughed at her "you didn't?"

"Oh yes, yes I did."

Sara just kept laughing "I can't believe you!"

"It's not funny! In my defence he should have just told me you'd taken leave. That would have diffused the situation. But oh no, that would be WAY too convenient."

"Oops." Sara said, stopping her laughing at Catherine and looking rather sheepish.

"What?"

"Um, well…Grissom asked me if I wanted him to tell you guys I was going away and I told him not to. So, I guess that's probably my fault that he wouldn't tell you, huh?" Sara replied.

"But why would you tell him that?" Catherine asked confused.

"Because I didn't want anyone coming after me…I didn't want to have a big conversation about why I needed to get away. I just wanted to go away and well…to be left alone." Sara shrugged.

Catherine shrugged and then asked "is it something at work that's getting to you?"

Sara nodded "You could say that."

"Then why don't you tell me what it is? If its cases, then I can have Grissom be more careful about the ones he gives you." Catherine replied.

"Because it's not cases. It's more…" Sara paused, searching for the right word, before locking eyes with the blonde and saying "personal."

Catherine could see in Sara's eyes that she was both trying to reach out to her, and trying to keep everything hidden at the same time. "Like I said, I'm not going to force you to tell me what's wrong. I just think that it might do you some good, ok?"

Sara nodded at Catherine to show that she understood. "So, what was it you were going to tell me? I presume you didn't even mean to tell me about your attack on Griss." Sara grinned at the blonde beside her.

"Ah, no. That wasn't my intention." Catherine said with a grin.

"So, what was your intention then?" Sara asked with her head cocked to the side studying the older woman.

"Well. I told you that I was worried about you, and I was. But Sara, I think it's more than that." Catherine looked at the brunette, who was still watching her. "I know you won't want to hear this Sara…" Catherine said averting her eyes.

"Just tell me Catherine." Sara replied softly.

"Sara, I like you." Catherine spluttered.

"I like you too Catherine."

"NO!" Catherine said, "No, I mean I like you, Sara." Catherine looked exasperated. "I know that you don't want to hear that, but…" Catherine stopped as Sara started laughing. "WHAT!?"

"I'm sorry," Sara replied, trying to stem her laughter "but that is really, really funny!"

Catherine looked as if she was about to cry. "I KNEW you'd laugh at me! Greg is so full of shit. He said you wouldn't laugh, and I believed him! I'm such an idiot. I'm just gonna go…" Catherine tried to stand up and leave but Sara grabbed her by the arm before she could.

Sara's laughter had ceased and pain filled her eyes. "Don't go."

"Why should I stay Sara? Obviously confessing my love to you was just one big laughing fest for you. So, why the fuck should I stay? I lay my heart on the line, and you just laughed at me."

"But Cat…I wasn't laughing at you!"

"Then what were you doing?" Catherine spat. "Because I'm sorry to say this, but you were laughing."

"I know I was. It's just…" Sara stopped. She wasn't sure if she could say the next words.

"Just what, Sara? You'd better have a pretty bloody good excuse."

Sara grinned "well, what you just told me, is pretty much what I didn't have the guts to tell you." Sara replied. "I like you too Catherine. God, you have no idea! I just…I just couldn't tell you that."

"Why should I believe you?" Catherine asked. She was still hurt, and she wasn't ready to take a risk that was going to bear no reward for her.

"Because I'm telling the truth. Do you really think I'd lie to you Catherine?" Sara asked her.

"No." Catherine whispered. "But why did you leave? Why didn't you just tell me this?"

Sara grinned at her, "You're kidding right?" She looked at her and continued "because you are THE Catherine Willows. Someone like me doesn't go up to you and go, 'hey, I think I love you. Wanna go out on a date?' That's not how life works."

"You know," Catherine said with a smile sneaking onto her face "I'm really not that bad."

"Really?" Sara said with a smirk.

"Really." Catherine replied. "You should've just asked."

"Well, how about it then?" Sara asked.

"How about what?" Catherine asked confused.

Sara took Catherine's hand in hers and looked into her eyes, "I really like you. Would you like to go on a date with me some time?"

Catherine's mouth dropped open. "Are you shitting me?"

"Uh, no. I mean it. Would you like to go out with me…get dressed up, go to a restaurant. The whole thing." Sara said with a grin.

"Have you been planning this Miss Sidle?" Catherine asked with a smirk.

"Uhhh…" Sara replied blushing.

"I would love too Sara." She said with a smile.

Sara could do nothing but smile back. She was ecstatic. She had finally told Catherine that she liked her. But not only that, she had a date with Catherine Willows. She had a date with the woman of her dreams.

"You know," Catherine said "you're really cute when you blush like that."

Sara blushed again, this time a much deeper shade of red than she had ever thought possible.

Thanks for reading. Please review for me. Let me know what you think of it so far, and anything else you might wanna say. The next chapter's gonna be kinda short, so I'm hoping to get that up within the next hour. So, please bear with me.