A/N: For disclaimers and stuff please see chapter one.
Additional notes: Thank you to Gomey for the beta :-) Sorry this took so long to get here.
-----
Chapter 7
It was merely twenty minutes later when Lindsey arrived home. Catherine stood up immediately on hearing her key in the door, ready to intercept her before she saw who was in the living room.
To his credit, Andrew had only lifted his head to acknowledge that he had heard her arrive. He had made no attempt to go to her. Nevertheless Catherine directed a look at Grissom that asked him to watch Andrew, and the nodded response he offered showed her that their unspoken communication was still intact.
She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her, and met Lindsey in the foyer.
"Hey, honey!" she smiled.
"Mom, I saw his car in the driveway, you don't need to pretend he isn't here," Lindsey said as she hung her jacket on the coat rack.
Catherine frowned, momentarily confused, before she realised that by 'he', Lindsey meant Grissom, and not Andrew.
"…I take it the 'non-date' went well then," Lindsey was continuing. "Don't worry, I'll grab myself a drink and then I'll be out of your way."
Catherine followed as Lindsey headed for the kitchen as she spoke. "Baby, I'm not trying to pretend that Grissom isn't here – "
"Mom, you know my thoughts on the subject… But, you'll do whatever makes you happy. I just hope – "
"Lindsey, I'm not trying to talk to you about me and Grissom," Catherine interrupted her, having to raise her voice slightly for it to be effective.
Lindsey stopped at the louder tone, and turned away from her task of retrieving water from the fridge, to face her mother.
"Honey, Grissom isn't the only visitor here tonight. Andrew's here."
At the mention of her boyfriend's name Lindsey visibly paled, and her eyes widened. "Andrew?"
Catherine nodded. "I tried to call you, but your phone was off… He seems to genuinely not know why you took off without talking to him, that's why I let him in… But if you tell me you don't want him here, then he's gone."
"I didn't take off," Lindsey said, quietly, her face crumpled in concentration, as if she was trying to decide what to do.
"No," Catherine said, sympathetically. "You just left without telling him where, or why, you were going... Or so he says."
Lindsey raised her eyes to meet her mother's. "He told you the truth… I didn't tell him my reasons for coming."
"Which are?" Catherine prompted softly.
"I wanted to see my Mom?" Lindsey said, with a small smile.
Catherine grinned. "And?"
"I just needed some space, Mom… People need space every now and again, don't they?" Lindsey answered her, seriously.
Catherine didn't need mother's intuition to know that she wasn't being told the full story, but this attribute did fill in some of the gaps for her in her head. She was fairly sure she knew what it was Lindsey was still keeping from her, and while she longed to confront it, and help, she knew that Lindsey had her reasons for not telling her, and she would respect that.
Catherine stepped forwards and pulled her daughter into a short, supportive, hug, then, pulling back, she said: "I get the feeling Andrew's trip was so impulsive that he probably hasn't arranged a place to stay…"
"I'm not ready to see him."
Catherine nodded. "Okay… Did he hurt you?"
Lindsey shook her head, and Catherine nodded again. "You're sure?"
This time Lindsey nodded.
"Okay… Well, I'll see what I can do about his accommodation… You need anything before I go?"
Lindsey smiled, gratefully, but sadly. "No thanks…"
Catherine hugged her one more time and then left her in the kitchen, closing the door behind her as she returned to the living room.
-----
Andrew had started pacing about five minutes after Catherine had left the room. His path did not stray to anywhere near the door, though, so Grissom left him to it.
Andrew would sigh with frustration or confusion every now and again but, otherwise, there was no sound in the room. Clearly the younger man's mind was elsewhere, and Grissom was still distracted by Andrew's earlier words.
Both men were lost in their own thoughts about Willows women when the older of the two subjects stepped back into the room.
Andrew stopped in his tracks and looked at her with hope filled eyes.
She smiled regretfully and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Andrew, she's not ready to speak to you."
Andrew's shoulders slumped. "Did she tell you what's going on?"
"No, she didn't. She said she just needs some space. She'll talk to you when she's ready."
"And how long will that take?" he asked, an edge of impatience to his tone.
Catherine sighed. "I don't know… But I'll speak to her; try to get her to talk to you soon… Right now, though – "
"I know," he interrupted, sadly, "I need to leave." He walked towards the door. "Tell her I love her?" he asked, stopping in front of Catherine.
Catherine nodded. "Sure… Do you have somewhere to stay?"
Andrew smiled at his own thoughtlessness. "I didn't exactly think this through… But this city's full of hotels. I'll find somewhere."
"You can come with me," Grissom said, startling both of them with his sudden contribution to the conversation.
They turned to face him, questioning looks on both faces.
"I'm sorry?" Andrew said.
"You can come with me… We'll see if my hotel has an empty room… If not, you can… sleep on my floor."
"That's very kind of you, Mr Grissom, but I couldn't ask – "
"You didn't ask. I offered… Catherine and I both know how dangerous it can be to wander the streets of Vegas late at night."
After apparently thinking this through for a minute or so, Andrew nodded his acceptance. "Okay… Thank you."
Grissom just shrugged, and Andrew turned back to Catherine.
"Please ask her to call me," he said, quietly.
"I will… Things will be okay, Andrew," she smiled reassuringly.
"I hope so," the young man said, then he walked out of the room.
Grissom and Catherine followed him, stopping at the threshold of the front door after Andrew had passed through it.
Grissom checked outside to make sure Andrew was out of earshot, then spoke quietly to Catherine.
"You know more than you're letting on," he commented.
"She hasn't told me anything… But a mother has a sixth sense when it comes to her children… I'll talk to her in the morning. I think she does need to talk to Andrew though. And I know that she doesn't like putting him through this."
Grissom nodded. "I hope she's okay."
Catherine smiled. "Thanks. She will be… And thank you for taking Andrew."
"Don't mention it… But, I should warn you… If he ends up sleeping in my room, and he snores, I will be calling in a return favour."
Catherine laughed. "Then let's hope it doesn't come to that."
The now familiar awkward silence enveloped them again as they both tried to figure out how to end the evening.
Eventually they spoke simultaneously, both then conceding to let the other speak first, and therefore not making any progress at all. Finally Grissom insisted that Catherine should speak, and wouldn't take any argument.
"Okay," she said, smiling. "I just wanted to say thanks, for dinner… I'm sorry this evening didn't exactly go as planned."
Grissom returned the smile. "It's all right. Every date I've ever had in Vegas didn't – "
He stopped when he realised what he'd said, the look of surprise on Catherine's face being what alerted him to his wording.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean – "
"I know what you meant," Catherine interrupted, ensuring that she was smiling.
Grissom nodded, feeling that unease settling again, so choosing to change the subject as quickly as possible.
"I'll call in the morning. To see what Lindsey would like me to do with Andrew… If that's okay?"
This time Catherine nodded. "That's fine… I'm gonna cancel my early meeting. I need to be here for Linds… I might not be able to organise that drink with Warrick and Greg either."
"Don't worry about it… I'll try to catch them at the lab before I go."
"It would have been good to – "
"Cath," he stopped her, subconsciously placing his hand gently on her arm as he spoke. "Concentrate on Lindsey… We can do it some other time."
"You're practically finished with the case, you won't be here much longer."
"I can be spared for a few more days," he smiled.
She simply smiled in response, as conflicting feelings danced through her heart – part of her pleased he might be in Vegas longer, but part of her anxious about the opportunity to spend more time with him. The feeling of his hand against the skin of her arm was stirring feelings she had long ago determined to forget and she wasn't sure how much longer they would manage to remain that way.
Seeing Catherine glance uneasily at his hand, Gil quickly dropped it back to his side, with a whispered, "Sorry."
Catherine's lips twitched briefly into a sympathetic smile then, sensing another silence approaching to engulf them, she forced the smile to widen and said:
"Well I should go and call Conrad." Seeing Gil frown, she added: "About tomorrow."
Gil nodded. "Ah yeah… I'll talk to you in the morning."
And Catherine nodded. "Yeah… Thanks again."
"I enjoyed it," he smiled.
"I enjoyed it too."
He hesitated as if, perhaps, there was something else he wanted to say, but in the end he just wished her goodnight and walked to his car.
Catherine waved to the men as they drove away then she closed the door. Leaning back against it she rested her head back and closed her eyes, her evening with Gil replaying in her mind.
She'd had butterflies fluttering in her stomach all night, and they remained now. His comment about his 'dates' played again, and she once again felt a crushing feeling in her chest; the touch of his fingers on her skin lingered, and she cursed herself for allowing it.
As the last words she said to him echoed through her thoughts she took a deep breath and forced back the tears that were gathering in her eyes.
"I enjoyed it too."
And she had.
And that frightened her.
TBC…