Chapter Nineteen

Forty-five minutes later, Sara walked into her apartment with her groceries to find Grissom wide awake, reading one of her few non-scientific books.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes."

"Good. How are you feeling?" She set down the bags on the breakfast bar.

"Better," he told her, getting up off the couch to help.

"You don't have to do that," she told him, putting her hands on his chest to lightly push him away.

"But I want to," he replied, pulling out a can of chicken noodle soup. "Ah… good. You remembered."

"Of course I did." Sara took out a bowl to warm up the soup in. "You better really like this stuff. Or… you have to get sick a lot and stay here, because I bought a lot." She grinned at him, pointing to the other cans sitting on the counter.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Of course I like the soup," he said, putting his chin down on her shoulder. "But I like you more."

Sara laughed and playfully elbowed him in the stomach. "Sure you do."

"Ow!" he cried out in mock pain. "That hurt! And I do like you more."

"Sit down," she instructed, smiling at his sweet comment. "Soup's almost ready."

Grissom did as he was told and sat down. Sara pulled the soup from the microwave and set it down in front of him.

"Thanks dear," he said, catching her hand and pulling her close. "Thanks for everything. For waiting, for caring and loving me, for being amazing, and for just being you." He brought his lips down onto hers, kissing her softly.

When the kiss broke, Sara was a little dazed. "Where did that come from?" she asked, pulling out of his embrace to sit opposite him at the table.

"I was just thinking. We've known each other for ever, it seems, and I knew that you had an… interest in me. I just never really understood it, or why you did. This past year and a bit with you, Sara, have been amazing. The best of my entire life. And they've helped me understand. Catherine tried to get it into my brain, but I couldn't wrap my head around it. But it's slowly coming along, and I thought I'd let you know just how grateful I really am of you," he explained, looking down as the blush crept up his cheeks.

That confession had been harder than he'd expected it would be, but he was glad that he'd gotten it out without choking. He looked up for her reaction.

Sara was sitting shocked. Where did that come from? she wondered silently. Such a blunt confession from him was still a rarity, and when he did decide to show what he was really feeling, she felt privileged that he was letting her in.

She was so surprised, she couldn't speak. Tears welled up in her eyes and in the back of her throat; the happy kind. "I – wow."

Grissom smiled. She looked happy. Now they could move onto a conversation that wasn't so hard on him. "How's the case going?" he asked casually, sipping the soup.

Her voice returned, and putting on a stern glare, she said, "Griss, I told you. No work." The sparkle in her eyes told him that she wasn't angry at all. Just jokingly exasperated.

"Just an update? Please…?" He gazed at her, locking his intense blue stare onto her soft brown one.

Breaking eye contact, she grinned. "Alright. We caught the guy who did it. An employee of the hotel, actually." A thought occurred to her. "Speaking of the hotel… we may have run into a small problem."

"Who's we?" Grissom asked, finishing the soup and setting the spoon down.

"We, as in me and you, you and me… us." Sara said, feeling like she was stating the obvious. Taking his bowl, she stood up and went to the sink.

Grissom watched her move around the kitchen. "Oh. And what might that problem be?"

"The desk clerk in the hotel? Dorthy? The woman who gave us our room yesterday?" He nodded, remembering. "Well, Nick and I walked in, to talk to the manager, who wasn't there… but anyway, we walked in together, and she thought that we were there together, like a couple. She went on and on about how you and I had been at the hotel the night before. And afterwards, Nick cornered me and asked what the hell was going on between us. I said nothing is, or was ever going on."

She leaned against the counter, wondering how to bring up the fact that Sofia kept asking about them. Deciding to get to the point, she said, "And after that, Sofia asked about you for the second time today. She wanted to know where you were, wondering why I was working your case and not my own."

"Well," he said, unsure of what to do. "If you told Nick nothing was going on, then he has no reason to doubt you, right?"

Sara nodded. "And Sofia?" she asked again. "Are you going to do anything about her, and what she said?"

"What did she say the first time?" Grissom asked in a small voice, half afraid of what the answer was.

Sara looked up. "She asked if I'd ever been rejected by you." Even she couldn't ignore the catch in her voice and the new tears in the back of her throat.

Internally, she was mad. At herself. His rejection had been over four years ago, and they were together now, and happy. One time shouldn't have such a big impact on her heart. But it still did, and whenever it was brought up, it stung.

Grissom saw the pain in her eyes. "Sara…"

"Don't worry about it," she told him, swallowing the pain and tears. She walked over to the couch and sat down. "What exactly did you and Sofia talk about?"

"You, actually," he said, sitting down gently on the couch next to her. "She asked why I went after you the other night, and didn't stay to talk to her. I told her that I cared about you, and wanted to make sure you were okay. I think she got a bit mad at that… but it doesn't matter. Then she asked me if I wanted to have dinner with her sometime, but I told her that I already had someone to have dinner with."

"Ah… so sweet," Sara teased, kissing him on the nose before moving to his lips.

Grissom grinned, despite her teasing. He went to say something as they pulled apart but was interrupted by a ringing at her side. Pulling away from him, she retrieved her phone. "Sidle," she answered.

"Sara, it's Nick. We need you back at the lab, like, now," he said quickly.

"What? Why? I thought you said you'd finish on your own," Sara said, concern evident on her face.

"Yeah, I know what I said. Forget what I said! We've had a… development," Nick explained.

Her face grew hard. "What kind of development?" she asked coolly. She did not want anything interrupting her now that she was at home with Grissom. Work was over, and she shouldn't have to deal with it when she just wanted to be at home with the one who loved her.

Grissom winced at the venom in her voice. Whatever the caller was telling her, she did not want to be hearing it.

Nick's words burst Sara's bubble, and she knew her work day was in fact, not quite over. "Well, we searched Walker's apartment, and found a gun. Same calibre as the one used to shoot Bristonian. When printed however, his prints weren't on it at all. It is registered to him, though. I guess he never used it."

"What!?" Sara shouted.

"Yeah… the prints came back to a Krystal Shave," Nick reported.

"Who?" she asked, confusion overshadowing the earlier concern.

"The blonde in the pictures."

Sara swore extensively, causing Grissom to wince again. "Sorry," she whispered. "Do you know where she is?"

"No. She's still at large. That would be the reason we need you back. So hurry," Nick explained. "I'll see you in twenty minutes."

Sara hung up angrily and started grabbing her things to leave. "Problems?" Grissom asked tentatively.

"Yes! The guy we picked up? None of his freakin' fingerprints are on the murder weapon, even though it's his." She moved towards the door. "I'm sorry, Griss. I have to go. I'd rather stay here with you… so badly I want to stay with you... but I have to get back to the lab. So I'll see you later. Eat as much soup as you want."

Grissom stood up and followed her to the door. He could recognize her anger, and right now, it was boiling. "Be safe," he whispered into her hair, wrapping his arms protectively around her body. He tilted her head so he could see her better.

Kissing her softly, he said, "Use your head and not your heart, honey. Don't be stupid. Put the right person away and then come home. You're pulling a double."

Sara nodded, leaning into him momentarily before pulling away. Turning around, she headed out the door.