I am so happy with the hits that this story is getting. I am glad that you are enjoying this story. Please let me know what you think, I want input to make my work better.

I'm really trying to wrap this up, honest.

Breakfast was…..awkward. Both Jim and Catherine were deep in thought as they ate their omelets. Jim was still half dazed as he sipped his coffee, he didn't get too much sleep last night. After their make out session on the couch, Jim was so wound up that he couldn't get to sleep until 2.

His sleep didn't last very long. At four he had a wake up call. Catherine was having a nightmare which woke him from a sound sleep. She screamed and kick at an unseen attacker, like she was fighting for her life. All he could do was hold her as tightly as possible so she wouldn't hurt herself. She finally calmed down and relaxed in his arms.

That was five. He didn't remember anything after that.

Across the table, picking at her omelet, Catherine thought about her dream. Again and again the faces of Adam, Eddie and her dad kept coming back to her memory. She wanted to talk to Jim about it, but how do you talk to someone about that?

The still of the morning got to Jim, he had to know what was going on, so pouring himself another cup of coffee, he decided to speak.

"Cath?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry Jim."

"Pretty rough night huh?"

Cath looked up, startled. "Did I wake you? I'm so sorry."

"You want to talk about it?"

"It's complicated. The dream was pretty strange. I was dreaming about Eddie, and Sam, and other people…..they were dead."

"Must not have been too dead though. You were putting up quite a fight." Jim said as he sipped his coffee. He wasn't sarcastic; he just stated it as a fact.

"A guy, his name was Adam; we dated a long time ago. He was trying to get me in my dream, he wanted to hurt me in some way, I'm not sure. It's like I couldn't swim fast enough. You know, that dream resembled my life in a lot of ways." She paused, not wanting to go on, but knowing that if she wanted any kind of chance with Jim, she had to tell him the truth.

"I'm a mess. I've been a mess for awhile. I can't keep a relationship with a guy to save my life because quite frankly, my choices suck. After Eddie died, it was all I could do to keep Lindsey from breaking down. I couldn't even focus on how I felt. It seemed like as soon as we got over Eddie's death, Sam died. It was a whirlwind after that; I couldn't catch up with it all. For the first time in my life I felt so empty. Hollow."

Catherine paused, taking a sip of her coffee. Jim had stopped eating and was focused on her face. That look she had in her eyes came back to him. It was the same look that she had in the locker room, the day he decided to take her on this vacation. Her eyes glassed over in tears that needed to be shed, but she was holding them back.

Jim spoke softly, "I've been worried about you for a long time now."

"Really?" Catherine's eyes focused back on Jim's eyes as he spoke. "Did it show that bad?"

"Well, you weren't getting any better after Sam died. You really didn't talk to anyone anymore. I'd be right next to you for 8 hours on a job and you might speak twenty minutes. Then there was Warrick."

"Oh. Yeah. That whole thing has been nothing but a case study in bad timing."

"Was there anything going on?" Jim wasn't trying to be nosy, but he couldn't help it.

"No, he was nothing more than a fantasy to me. He got married, and it got squelched. When he got his divorce, I figured I would leave him be as a friend and nothing more."

"Why are you telling me this Cath?"

"Because I really do love you Jim. I never thought that it would be this way. We've been good friends for so long, this whole vacation has turned our "friendship" on its ear, wouldn't you say?"

Jim smiled and put his hand on her cheek. "I guess it has," he admitted. "So what do you want to do? I didn't bring you to sweep you off your feet. This just….happened. Now what we do with it when we go home, now that's the question I have for you."

Catherine smiled a tired sad smile. "Do you love me Jim? Not just as a friend."

Jim stood up from the table; taking her hands in his he pulled her up to face him directly. He smiled, she looked so beautiful, he thought to himself as he spoke. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he gently put his hands on her hips.

"Catherine Willows I love you. I have loved you for quite some time now." Her face registered surprise as he continued. "Well not the kind of love that you're thinking of. You are one of my best friends. To see you go through all that you have in the last year has been heartbreaking to me."

"How so?"

"To see someone that I cared about, maybe even love, hurt like you have been hurt. I couldn't bear it. I wanted to see you smile again, laugh again."

Catherine smiled a smile that melted any hard exterior that Jim had put around his heart. "See, I got what I really was wanting all along."

"A smile is all you want?" Catherine's smile turned into a smirky grin. Her eyes glowed as she drew closer to Jim, her body pressed closely to his.

"Well, that's the original goal that I achieved. The plan is changed now." He lightly rubbed her back, the heat was rising between them, but he had to lay all his cards out on the table.

"What's the plan now?"

"I want you. All of you. You're not a mess to me Cath, you're a perfect match. I never thought that I could love anyone again after Rebecca. I see now that I can, and so much more."

Catherine stopped him with a kiss that got deeper with every passing moment. Her hands went through his hair as he brought her to the couch. They fell onto the couch in a tangled mess; Jim's hands were in her hair, touching her neck, face, everywhere as they kissed.

There was one more thing that Jim had to ask. He had to ask, it wasn't an option. He had to know where this was going, if she was really serious about what she said.

"Cath, stop, you're driving me out of my mind," he panted as she kissed his neck and proceeded to unbutton his shirt. "I have to finish what I wanted to say."

She straightened up quickly, a little embarrassed by her forwardness. "Ah, I'm sorry Jim; I did it again didn't I? Please, say what you have to say." She moved to get off, but Jim grabbed her wrist to keep her were she was at.

"It's ok, I want this Cath. Please listen. I want you, all of you, but on one condition."

"Whatever it is, I'll do it."

"Ok." He pulled out a small black box in his pocket. She gasped as he opened it. "Catherine Willows, will you be my wife?"

"Oh."

Yes, I am leaving you hanging here. Yes, I am sadistic. Please review, I value all of your inputs!