I've officially started a new job- first day of 9 to 5 and I'm already exhausted but I really wanted to post today so I re-worked what I had before and wrote this. It's a bit shorter than the other chapters but I hope you like it!

Thank you for all the reviews so far- please keep 'em coming!

Disclaimer: I own zilch.

Paramour

(Exposure)

Greg rolled over beneath the duvet wrapping the warmth of the material around himself as his eyes were focused on the ceiling above him. He had planned on ignoring his phone ringing but he could see the small red light flashing in the corner of the room reminding him that someone was attempting to get a hold of him. It had last for just over an hour but with an exasperated sigh Greg pulled himself up padding towards his phone angry at whoever it was that had left a message.

"Of course you're not taking my fucking calls..." The sound of Sara's voice startled him slightly- mainly because he didn't know what he'd done to deserve so much anger.

"You're a jerk you know that...A jerk. You're just like those guys I dated in high school and even some of the ones from college...oh wait I screwed you then too didn't I?"

That line gave it away- she wasn't talking to him. They hadn't known each other before she'd moved to Vegas and he most certainly hadn't slept with her before. But instead of stopping it and returning to bed Greg continued listening, swallowing hard at the way she left the message.

A part of him felt heartbroken knowing that all of this time Sara had been with someone else that the hope he'd had for them had simply just been one-sided. But most of his body wanted to comfort her because she was obviously hurting.

Another frustrated groan Greg motivated himself to get dressed. He headed to the kitchen finding the bizarre list of indigents that his Papa Olaf had instructed him to mix the first time he had woken up with a hang-over. Greg smiled slightly being able to predict the look the look Sara's face once she saw the liquid.

The drive over to her side of town was quite the streets barely awake as 7 am loomed over Las Vegas- the party goers had already fallen into a drunken slumber and the people living there were still only just waking up. Greg couldn't help but run through the things Sara had stated as problems with her relationship.

He knocked on her door waiting with a bottle of unappealing liquid in one hand and coffee he had stopped to pick up in the other. Greg knew she would be resistant to talking but he couldn't leave her hurting the way she was without attempting to support her.

"Greg..." She croaked her eyes squinting against the light.

"I thought I'd bring around the Hojem special hang-over cure..." He beamed letting her lead him to the kitchen.

"That's very sweet...but how did you know I was hung-over?" She asked with a small smile as she attempted humour.

"I got your voice mail..." He paused. "I mean it wasn't for me but I accidently received it..."

"Oh..." Sara glanced at him attempting to gage how bad it had been, her memory of the previous night was fuzzy to say the best and the sight of the half empty whiskey bottle sitting on the coffee table did nothing to help improve how she felt.

"Here..." Greg handed her both the coffee and the hangover mixture that he had brought her waiting for her sit down at the breakfast bar before he went about making toast.

"So how bad was it?" Sara asked wincing slightly.

"How bad was what?" He frowned slightly retrieving plates from one of the cupboards. It was odd how well he knew his way around her place; they spent a lot of time together and knew each other's houses as well as their own. It was the sign of a good friendship- Greg had told her the first time he'd made himself a cup of coffee without having to ask her were anything was.

"The voicemail..." She looked up at him wide eyed and worried. Her relationship with Grissom was meant to be a secret- no one was supposed to know.

When Grissom had first told her that they were to keep the fact that they were together a secret it had hurt her feelings. Sara had found herself confused and upset as to why he didn't want anyone to know but eventually she had simply just accepted that was the only way that it would work.

The longer they continued their secret love affair the more it felt as if it was simply self preservation.

"It...Was bad..." Greg nodded placing a plate with toast in front of her.

"What did I say exactly?" She asked a part of her not wanting to know, silently thanking Greg for not being too explicit in bringing up the details of her drunken call to Grissom.

He remained silently pushing her coffee towards her not wanting to go through the details he had heard about Sara's private life considering that she hadn't told him and obviously didn't want him to know.

"Can I listen to it?" She asked.

"Are you sure you want to hear it? We say a lot of things when we're drunk...a lot of things that we regret saying no matter how truthful they are." Greg wanted more than anything to protect her from the hurt that she was experience. He wanted to wrap her up in her arms and keep her safe from the cruelty love seemed to constantly be showing her.

"Greg...please...I need to know what I said..." Sara insisted taking a sip of the coffee he had brought her hoping to treat the fuzziness that had settled into her consciousness.

"Okay..." He nodded slowly pulling his phone out from his pocket finding the message and pressing play placing the phone in the space before them.

Sara's drunken voice filled the kitchen and with every sentence that was uttered her cheeks became slightly redder. She couldn't bring herself to meet Greg's eye and once the message had ended she turned away from him slowly strolling to the French doors in her house looking out at the small yard.

"I really need to trim those rose bushes..." She commented her voice dead-pan as she attempted to ignore the weight of the silence that was lingering between them.

"Sara..." Greg slowly walked towards her. "You need to talk to someone about this...and I understand if you don't want to talk to me. But you're not happy..."

"I can't..." She swallowed tears. Sara told a lie- she did want to talk to him about what was going on, how unhappy she had been but she realised that she couldn't- she was embarrassed. She had always sworn to herself that she would never let a man treat her that way and here she was with a broken heart.

And it dawned on her that she was the only person to blame.

Greg was standing behind her now; he could see her stony expression in the window. He placed his hands on her shoulder, gently kneaded them. He looked worried- his brown eyes were gleaming with an emotion that he only reserved for her.

"Sara...whoever he is...he doesn't deserve you..." He paused running his tongue over his lip.

"He...he doesn't realise what he's doing..." Sara replied her heart conflicted at the fact she was defending him after how much Grissom had hurt her.

"You need to be with someone who does realise it...who wants to make things better..." Greg took a deep breath the words he wanted to say sticking in his throat before he could finally spit them out. "Sara you are everything I've ever wanted...and if it were me...I'd do my best to never hurt you...to never be the guy that makes you feel like you're not enough."

"I wish I'd chosen you..." Sara whispered the words coming from nowhere settling between them. The things she had been thinking about seemed to bubble up from nowhere becoming present like clouds in a rain storm.

Greg didn't say a word he watched her knowing that she would regret telling him. Tears seemed to well up in her eyes and she began to walk away from him. He wrapped his arms solidly around her shivering body bringing it closer to his own holding her as tightly as he could.

"I'm sorry..." Sara mumbled into his neck, her tears dampening his skin but he didn't care.

"It's okay...it's going to be fine..." Greg muttered softly into her ear, holding her even closer against his warmth.