Thank you all so much for your reviews, they make me so happy. Sorry I haven't replied to any, I'm usually at work when I read them.

Okay, not to blow my own trumpet or anything but I LOVE this chapter. I don't know what made me write this so well. And there are a few lines which totally tug at my heart strings.
Danielle, I am so sorry. I totally lost my trail of thought for this fic. However, like I've already said, I LOVE this chapter so I hope it makes up for my crappy writing so far.

Haha... mrsjorjafox, thanks for your suggestion but... I think I'll pass on that idea. Maybe when you make me a challenge I can create a character for you.
Oh, can I say one more thing? Detective Vega! I'm gutted. I cried.
That is all!

In the Woods
Chapter 3

Sara and Grissom make their way through the hospital towards the car park. The walk, which should only take a few minutes, has taken fifteen minutes as Sara slowly hobbles along with a pair of crutches.
"You okay?" he asks, walking beside her.
"Yeah." she replies, smiling up at him.
They find their way past the Emergency Room and out of the double glass doors.
"Why don't you wait here whilst I go and bring the car around?"
"No, we're almost there now. I'm sure I can make it."
When they arrive at the car Grissom takes the walking aids from her and lays them across the back seat. He then helps Sara into the car and gently lifts her ankle in.
"Thanks."
"You know what this reminds me of?" he smiles, his face close to hers.
"Ugh, don't say it. Please..."
"The first day we met."
Sara scrunches up her nose.
"That was a disaster." moans Sara, as Grissom kisses her on the mouth before shutting the door and moving around to his side of the car.
"It wasn't a disaster. We had a really great day until your incident." he smirks, settling in behind the wheel.
Sara laughs and rolls her eyes.
As Grissom puts the car into drive they start talking about that amazing, yet cringe-worthy, day from many years ago.

(Many years ago)

She'd just got off shift from work at the San Francisco Crime Lab and for the first time ever she was running late for a class. When she was student at University she was never late to a class, infact she was always the student to arrive first, but that day everything was against her being on time. All she wanted to do was arrive early and get started, afterall she was aspiring CSI. This was a new class and a new professor and she really wanted to make a good impression, although it was only a three week course. As she ran up the steps towards the hall her class was in she thought she could still make it in plenty of time, but opening the door of the classroom she realised that she was ten minutes late. She froze momentarily as the whole of the class turned to look at her, making a pink flush rise up across her cheeks.
"Nice of you to join us, Miss Sidle." came a kind sounding voice from the front of the room.
She looked down to see her professor writing on the chalkboard, he wasn't even looking at her.
"I'm... I'm sorry I'm late, I've just finished grave shift. There was a lot of crime last night." she said, trying to worm her way out of being late.
"Not a problem, Miss Sidle. I'm just pleased you didn't tell me that you overslept, I don't take kindly to that. You haven't missed anything, just an introduction." he said to her and then spoke to the
class as he looked from the board to the thick text book he was holding.
"Now, if you could all please copy down what I've written, just a list of what we'll be covering throughout the next few weeks, then we can get started"
Sighing, quite loudly, Sara took a seat on the edge of the back row and started to unpack her books.
"Oh, Miss Sidle, I'm Gil Grissom by the way." came his smooth voice.
He turned around and his eyes met Sara's straight away; drawn to her.
He inhaled sharply. He'd never, in his life, seen a more beautiful and intriguing woman. Her eyes were a delicious chocolate brown, which sparkled with a breathtaking effect, but he could also see a hint of loneliness in them, and her hair was hanging down in loose curls.
He felt a twinge of something in the pit of stomach; something he'd never felt before.
And she felt exactly the same.
The second his eyes met hers, she felt something stir deep within her; something completely new to her. It was as if his body, and every fibre of his being, was calling out to her. His eyes were a beautiful clear blue and as they watched eachother, Sara could've sworn she'd seen the oceans depths in them but there was also a hint of something else; a longing.
She swallowed.
He smiled at her and then, after an internal battle to tear his eyes away from Sara's, he began the class.
Sara was a model student, as she was in all of her previous classes, all the way through. She asked all of right questions and knew all of the answers to questions which were asked. She'd thought that this class would be boring but it was anything but. She was happy in this class; she was always excited to learn anything that would be useful in forensics, and the fact that everytime she looked towards her professor, only to find him watching her in return, excited her on a whole other level. Every few minutes she would put her hand up to ask a question and she could hear the rest of the class becoming impatient with her because it meant that there would be more details to write down, but she didn't care; the look of pleasure across Gil Grissom's face as her hand shot up made all the moaning about her worthwhile. All of the people in her class were professional scientists, all with a career in Forensic Science, yet they sounded like college kids with their complaints and Sara found it immensely amusing.
At the end of class Sara wanted to stay behind to speak with her sexy new professor but his next class started filing in as her class was packing up. She packed away her things and looked towards him; smiling her thanks, before leaving.
He thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest, her beautiful gap-toothed smile had affected him in a way nothing had affected him before. All he could think about during his next class was Sara Sidle. He wanted to see her again but he knew it was wrong of him because he was, sort of, one of her teachers. And although the course wasn't part of the University, it was part of a private seminar for Entomologists and Forensic Scientists throughout the country, it still felt wrong wanting to see her again.
Sara left the campus and made her way to a quiet coffee shop. After ordering herself an extra large coffee she settled down at a table and read, and re-read, through all the notes she'd made in class, smiling when she noticed that on the top corner of every page she'd written his name. Her mind kept wandering away from her notes though. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get Gil Grissom out of her head. His smile, his eyes, his brains, she was completely taken by him, and although she'd only known him for eighty minutes she felt like she had a pretty good idea who he was.
"Sara?" came a familiar voice, startling her from her thoughts.
As she looked up her eyes met with his and she gasped.
"May I join you?" asked Gil Grissom, gesturing towards the empty seat opposite her.
"Yes, please do." she smiled.
As he sat down he indicated to a passing waitress that he'd have a coffee and then he looked back towards a smiling Sara.
The next hour was spent talking about everything; from the coffee in their hands to their work as Forensic Scientists. It was like they had known eachother for years; there were no awkward silences and they found that they agreed and disagreed on the same things.

It was as I they were Soulmates.
"Sara, would you like to come into the woods with me?" he asked.
"Excuse me?" she replied, almost choking on a mouthful of coffee.
"No. NO. Sorry, I mean... No, I didn't mean..." he stammered, finally realising how perverted he sounded.
Sara giggled.
He took a deep calming breath.
"I am so sorry. I meant to say that I need to collect a few species of insects for our next class and I was wondering if maybe you would like to come with me. Or at least tell me where I could go to find some. I didn't mean..."
"I'd like that." smiled Sara, cutting him off.

His eyes lit up.
After finishing their coffee and ordering some food to take out, and after dropping Sara's things off at her apartment, they made their way, by foot, into a woodland area.
For hours they walked, talked and laughed, their conversation flowing easily. Grissom pointed out the occasional bug or butterfly and told Sara a bit about the creature, thrilled to find her genuinely interested in them. Often they'd stray away from the hiking trail in hopes of finding more weird and wonderful insects. They talked and talked the whole time; their conversations ranging from the most simple of things to the most extravagant. Everything was comfortable between them and neither Grissom nor Sara had ever experienced someone who they could talk with so easily.

When they reached a small stream, with water so clear you could count the rocks along the bottom, Grissom used the stepping stones to cross first and preceded the help Sara across.

Graciously she accepted his hand, her fingers fitting through his perfectly, and she stepped across. She smiled her gorgeous gap-toothed smile as she jumped off the rock and landed on the grass in front of him.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." he replied, his eyes sparkling with desire.
Ever so slowly they leaned in and kissed softly. For a long time their mouths gently caressed eachothers.
Fireworks exploded behind Sara eyes and she couldn't stop the soft moan which escaped her lips as they pulled apart.
Both smiling they continued to walk along, now hand in hand, but now it was in an easy silence brought on by the sensational kiss they'd just shared.
They followed the trail by the stream, which would eventually lead them out of the woods, until Grissom had filled each jar he had with an insect or fly.
They were almost back at the park; they could hear children playing and dogs barking through the thicket of trees, so they decided to cross the widening stream and head somewhere for a coffee and a sit down. Again, Grissom stepped across first and then held out his hand to help Sara over. She was just about to fit her fingers through his when her foot slipped off the moss covered rock which she was standing on, sending her crashing backwards down onto the grass.
She was completely mortified but she tried to laugh it off.

Grissom practically jumped across the barrier of water and crouched down by her side.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I can't believe I did that." she laughed.
He stood up and held out his hand to her.
She took it and pulled her self up, but she clearly wasn't fine.
"Oww..." she cried, and as her left foot touched the ground she fell down again.
"Sara?"
"My ankle." she said, gritting her teeth.
Crouching down again Grissom carefully removed her shoe and examined her badly swollen ankle, apologising every few seconds when she hissed with the pain.
"It looks like a sprain."
"Great." said Sara sarcastically.
He pulled her up and put his arm around her waist to help her walk back into town, taking a longer route as they were on the wrong side of the stream and Sara couldn't get back across it. He could feel the heat from her body as she leaned against him and he felt twangs of excitement surge through him.
Eventually they made it back to Sara's apartment and she sighed with relief. Her ankle was throbbing and she knew that it was swollen up to the size of a grapefruit.

After he'd settled Sara on the sofa and hastily wrapped her ankle with a bandage he laid a bag of frozen peas over the swollen area.
Taking a seat beside her he smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"I'll be fine." she smiled. "Luckily I'm off work for the next few nights. I just hope I can make it to your class in the morning."
"Don't worry if you can't make it in, I can stop by with some notes for you, if you'd like."
"Thanks, but I'll try to be there."
He smiled and looked at his watch.
"I've had a wonderful day, Sara."
"Me too." she said, returning his smile.
Her smile sent a fire bolt through his body, making his next words almost impossible to speak.
"I'm sorry, I have to go. I have a meeting with someone from the Police Department and Crime Lab."
"Oh... Okay." she said, obviously disappointed.
"I'd really like to see you again, Sara. Outside of class..."
"I'd like that too."
She dug around in her bag until she found a business card with her details on it. She quickly added on her home number and her email address before handing it over.
He accepted it and passed her one of his.
"If you can't get hold of me leave me a message, or I'm staying at the Hilton whilst I'm here."
Sara inhaled softly but it didn't go unheard by Grissom.
"What's wrong?" he asked, tenderly running his thumb over the back of her hand.
She sighed. "I've... just realised that you're only here for a few weeks."
There was a long, slightly uncomfortable, silence as they both thought about how to make a long-distance relationship work but knowing that it never would.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I have to go."
She nodded her head as he stood up to leave.
"You can... You can come back later, if you want to. If it's not too late. I mean I have wine in the fridge and we could order food in." she said hopefully.
He smiled.
"I'll see what time we get finished."
He kissed her softly on the lips and made his way to the front door, knowing that he wouldn't be back that night. Not that he didn't want to, because he did; he really did, but it would be unprofessional of him; afterall, he was still her lecturer.
But maybe, just maybe, he would return another night.

GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR GS GSR GSR GSR GSR GSR

By the time Grissom and Sara enter their bedroom that night they're still talking about the first day they met.

"I knew that day that I wanted to marry you." says Grissom, as he helps Sara undress.

She smiles shyly.

"Me too."

She pulls on one of his t-shirts and sits down on the bed. She should really have shower but the pain in her ankle is making her feel a little dizzy and uncoordinated and she doesn't think she could stand on one leg whilst she washes herself down, not even with the help of her husband. She lays back as he lifts her leg on to the bed and lowers it down on to a fluffed up pillow.

"How's the pain?"

Sara looks at him.

"On a scale of one to ten, ten being immense pain, I'd say… fifty."

"Sara, you're not going to sleep if you're in that kind of pain, please take something for it."

"Gil, I'll be okay." she says softly, but knowing that he's right. She just can't bring herself to take anything, knowing that the tablets the doctor prescribed will undoubtedly make her sleepy.

Gil undresses and pulls on a pair on black pyjama bottoms before settling down next to Sara.

"I still can't believe you tried to humiliate me in front of a room full of Scientists." says Sara, taking his hand in hers.

"I didn't try to humiliate you." he says. "I just wanted you to know that I wasn't a soft touch and that I didn't tolerate late students unless it was an emergency."

Sara laughs. "But I was late because of work."

"Well, if you're late because of a Science related reason… that's okay too." he smiles cheekily. "But I always hated, and still do, late unruly students. Like I said, I'm no soft touch."

"Oh…" whispers Sara, her eyelashes fluttering. "But, Mr Grissom, you are, and always will be, a soft touch. I only have to look at you and you go weak, and your heart starts to pound a little faster. Isn't that right, Professor? Even all those years ago, one small smile from me made you feel things you'd never felt before."

He swallows and tries to clear his throat.

"I… well…" he sighs.

Sara giggles as he leans over and kisses her cheek.

"Okay, you win. I'm a soft touch. My name's Gil Grissom and my utterly gorgeous wife makes my knees turn to jelly. She always has and always will."

They fall into silence as he turns out the light and lays on his side to face her.

"Gil?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you come back to mine that night?" she asks.

He stays silent for a long time, not unsure how to answer but unsure of what the answer is, as he replays that night over in his head.

"I… I don't know, Sara. I was your professor; it would've been unprofessional of me."

She opens her eyes and turns her head to face him, feeling a little hurt.

"But if that's the case, it was unprofessional when we kissed, and it was unprofessional that we spent the day together. And it was extremely unprofessional that you spent the next night making love to me." she whispers "So why not that first night? I didn't want anything to happen; I just wanted you with me. We were both adults." she says.

"Honey, are you mad at me for that?" he asks softly, placing his hand across her stomach.

"No, of course not." she lies, feeling silly that she actually is feeling a little put out. "I just… that night I really wanted you to come back. That whole day was perfect, even with the sprained ankle, and I just didn't want it to end."

"Believe me, Sara. I never wanted that day to end either. You have to understand that the day I met you I didn't have a clue what all those things I was feeling actually meant. I'd never felt like that before. I really did want to go back to you that night but I thought it was wrong. And I was scared of what I was feeling."

"So, what changed your mind?"

He smiles.

"Well, on day two you were even more intoxicating and I couldn't help myself. I'd actually past caring if it was wrong; I just wanted to spend time with you. And…" he adds, trying to lighten her mood. "I felt sorry you; hobbling around on your bad ankle. You looked so adorable." he chuckles.

Sara giggles. "I was in agony on day two but at least I could walk a little. And you helped ease the pain."

"Those three weeks were amazing, Sara, I just wish we hadn't lived too far away from eachother. Maybe we could've continued seeing eachother and then maybe we wouldn't have danced around our feelings for so long."

"You." she says. "You danced around your feelings."

"Okay, I danced around my feeling. You were honest with me from the start. For that, I am so sorry."

They fall into a long silence, again.

Sara groans as she twists and turns on the bed, unable to get comfortable lying on her back. Her ankle's pounding and aching and she feels nauseous with the pain. And just to top off rising mood she feels tears sting her eyes, but whether caused by the pain or from the hurt from all those years ago she isn't sure.

"Gil?"

"Yeah?"

"I… I think I need to take something for the pain, its getting worse." she cries, biting back her tears.

"Okay, what do you want?"

"Can I only half of one of the tablets off the doctor?"

"Sara, they're too small to half. Why not take one?"

"Gil, I…"

She shakes her head.

"Honey, it'll be okay, I promise." he says, sitting up. "It'll help ease the discomfort. It might make you a little sleepy but I'm here with you, you'll be fine."

She takes a while to think about it, he can almost hear her internal battle.

But as takes a deep shaky breath she nods her head. "Just one."

"Okay, I'll be right back." he says, getting out of bedding and padding in to the bathroom.

Within moments he returns with a glass of water and Sara's tablets.

She swallows one and drinks the whole glass of water and makes herself comfortable beside her husband. They must be good tablets because within minutes the pain turns into a dull ache and her eyes become really heavy.

Feeling around for his hand she takes it in hers.

"I love you, Gil Grissom." she slurs.

He smiles at the sound of her voice.

"I love you too, Sara Grissom." he says and kisses the top of her head. "Sweet dreams, honey."

THE END

Well, if I think of anything for an Epilogue there might be a final chapter, but I'll leave it like this for now.

I hope this was okay for you guys. And I hope I've done Danielle proud (finally).

Thanks for reading.

Lynne xo