Note: Hi all, thanks for the sweet reviews! I'm glad you liked it. Next chapter's here, hope you enjoy it! x.

2.

As soon as Catherine was inside his townhouse again, she let herself fall down on Gil's couch and looked around. She heard Gil in his kitchen and assumed he was fixing them some drinks. The house still looked the same. The same stuff, same photographs… It was as if he'd been there every single day the last year instead of being away. She noticed that the photograph of a six-year-old Lindsey, Gil and herself was still hanging above his television. She remembered that afternoon quite good; she'd been on his doorstep the evening before after Eddie had given her a blue eye as a gift for Valentine's Day instead of a normal present. She'd slept at Gil's place with Lindsey, and the day after, Gil had taken them to the park. Lindsey had been having so much fun; she loved hanging around with her uncle Gil. Catherine smiled while she was reminiscing that afternoon. That hád been a good day.

When Gil entered his living room again, he saw Catherine staring at the picture above the television with a smile on her face. He remembered that afternoon as if it was yesterday. He liked the fact that Catherine remembered it too. Gil knew he needed to tell her what he felt. Tonight. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to Catherine before he said: "That day was nice, wasn't it?"

Catherine turned her face so she could face him and nodded with a smile before she said: "It was. She's growing up so fast…"

Gil handed her a glass, and after Catherine took her first sip, she smiled again and said: "Screwdriver. It's been a while since I've been drinking that."

Gil smiled a small smile and started drinking as well. Catherine was the one and only one he shared Screwdrivers with. For a moment, he felt as if he was twenty-five again. As if he'd just met Catherine, and they had breakfast after she'd finished her shift in the French Palace. That breakfast included Screwdrivers at least three times a week. He missed those days.

"How long are you staying here, Gil?" Catherine's question surprised him. He had to admit that the subject of staying in Vegas hadn't even been on his mind yet. But now that he'd seen her again, Gil knew he would never be able to leave this town again without her.

"I'm not sure. I'm thinking of finding a job here, teaching at UNLV perhaps. I'm not sure I want to leave again, I… I don't know if I can."

Catherine smiled. "Well, I'm glad your back. I missed you. We all missed you."

"I missed you too. How have you been, Catherine? I'm… I'm sorry I haven't emailed you back that often, I.."

Catherine interrupted him with a soft smack on his shoulders and said: "You emailed me back only once, mister. But you're forgiven. I know you've been busy, with your work and everything, and I understand spending time with Sara was far more important than emailing me." She smiled and continued. "It's okay, really. Don't apologize."

Gil shrugged and said: "But I am sorry. It wasn't very nice of me. You're still my best friend."

Catherine smiled. "Well, that's nice to know. And in case you're interested, you're still my best friend too," she said with a wink.

*

Three Screwdrivers later, Gil finally dared to ask her the question he'd wanted to ask her all night. "So, you and Vartann, huh? When did that happen?"

Unfortunately for Gil, Catherine's eyes start to light up at the drop of his name. She smiled and took the last sip of her drink before she started talking. "Yeah, me and Tony. We ran into each other after work, it's kind of cliché actually. I had a faulty tire, and he helped me fix it. I offered him coffee to thank him afterwards, and, well, I guess that's were it started. One thing led to the other, and now we're here.."

The smile that was plastered on her face was inevitable. No matter how bad Grissom wanted her to secretly not love Tony, he could tell she did. The look on her face when she talked about him said everything. He couldn't hide the sadness in his voice when he said: "I'm happy for you, Cath."

The sadness in Gil's voice when he said that to her was noticed by Catherine. She tried to look at his eyes, but his were desperately avoiding hers. Catherine hated to see him sad. Then she whispered: "You don't sound too happy for me."

Gil only shrugged and smiled. He was starting to doubt his plans of telling her how he felt. When he dared to let his eyes meet Catherine's, he saw she was staring. She looked into his eyes as if she would be able to see through him if she just kept staring long enough. Gil hated that stare; he knew she would be able to see through him eventually. Catherine suddenly said: "You are happy, right? You and Sara?"

Catherine could tell she'd hit the nail on the spot with the question she'd just asked. She saw the change of the look on his face as soon as she had said those words. "Gil, what's going on? You two aren't having problems, are you?" Catherine could see he was battling the words that he wanted to get out of his mouth. She placed her hand on his and said: "You know you can tell me, right?" Catherine felt him getting tense when their bodies connected, and she suddenly felt a little afraid of what he was going to say.

As soon as Catherine's hand touch his, he felt a shiver going through his body. He knew she'd felt it as well, it wasn't possible she'd missed that. Gil's feelings were running through his body, all his emotions were running circles around his brain. He didn't know what to do. A couple of hours ago he had been sure that he was going to tell Catherine that it was her he loved. But he suddenly wasn't so sure anymore. Catherine's worried eyes looked at him, and he knew he had to tell her. But he felt terrible. He knew he was ruining so many things if he told her about his feelings. His relationship with Sara, her relationship with Tony, their friendship and his dignity were probably on the line as well.

Gil cleared his throat before saying: "Cath, it's complicated. I'm not sure if I should tell you this."

"You can tell me anything, you know that right?" She hold his hand firmly, waiting patiently for him to answer her question.

Gil closed his eyes briefly before he said: "Catherine, I really don't know if I should tell you this. It could change everything in my life, in your life." Catherine didn't encourage him. She just sat there, looking in his eyes, waiting for him to make a decision; tell her what he wanted to tell or dismiss the entire conversation and talk over the subject.

Gil looked into Catherine's eyes and he immediately knew why he loved her so much, how much he'd missed her and how much he needed her. He decided that actions would probably speak louder than words. Perhaps the alcohol did that a little bit for him as well. He moved himself closer to her. She didn't back away from him. He moved his head closer to hers, never losing the connection he had with her eyes. The moment he brushed his lips on hers, he felt like he was in heaven. The softness of her lips, the taste of her mouth.. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Catherine didn't back off as soon as Gil's lips hit hers. She was surprised, and that was an understatement. She was confused as hell. Gil's lips touching hers was something she'd been longing for so long. Until she had met Tony. But now Gil was sitting in front of her, kissing her. And it felt perfect. Absolutely perfect. When she felt herself deepen the kiss, Tony flashed through her mind. And then Sara flashed through her mind. And that was the moment she pushed Gil away from her.

Confusion was spread all over Catherine's face as Gil opened his eyes and heard her say: "I'm sorry, I.. This is wrong. I.. I go. I'll get a cab, or something."

Gil watched the object of his affection get out of his house as soon as possible. And then he realised that he'd probably done the most stupid thing he could've ever done.

Note: And that was chapter two! Hope you liked it, please let me know! x.