AN: I'm sorry for updating so late...It's been more than two months...What can I say? I'm a slacker and I'm not inspired. Thank you all for your reviews :-) Well here it is a long chapter

Chapter 20 - Dinner

Sara had checked the car twice founding nothing weird. Everything was fine except for the frontal part that was really a mess. The only hypothesis was that Sabina Kitsch collided intentionally and killed herself. Sara needed to check with Catherine about the autopsy results.

'Catherine…' She thought to herself. A smile appeared on her lips.

It had been one of the strangest dinners Sara had. She had arrived a few minutes before 7 and she had been staring at the door during all that time until the agreed hour. She had been trying to decide if she had to come early or just to wait until 7 o'clock to knock at the door.

Before that, she had been thinking about turning off Catherine's offer. She even had picked up the phone to cancel the event, but something in the back of her mind told her not to do it. When all's said and done, it was just a dinner. She chuckle softly remembering it.

Now that she was at the break room lost in the memories of the dinner, she had to say to herself that it hadn't been all that she expected, but more. She had been so nervous when she was waiting for someone to open the door that she had to reassure herself a few times "It's not a date. We just agreed to eat at the same table". But the truth was that it had been completely the opposite.

When Catherine had opened the door, the only word that escaped from her mouth was "Hey" She was greeted in the same tone, cheerful and nervous.

"You're punctual."Catherine had said

"I try."She answered. They had been staring to each other for a few moments. Sara waiting for an invitation to enter and Catherine amazed that she had come. Something she thought wouldn't be possible, because she had had the feeling that Sara was going to turn her down.

"Are you planning for us to have dinner at the door?" Sara had said breaking the uncomfortable silence between them, Catherine had seemed to snap from whenever she was and invited her, not after apologizing for her rude manners. It was funny to see a Catherine Willows nervous, without her confidence. So Sara decided to tease her a little.

She had approached her while Catherine was closing the door. When the blonde turned over she found her a few inches away from Sara. The proximity was clearly a new bound on Catherine's nervousness. And Sara had to admit that she was nervous as well, but seeing the blonde in such a state gave her more control over her own feelings.

After a few seconds of looking at each other, Sara had raised a bag that held in her hands "Where do you want me to put this" She said.

Catherine broke her stare and directed her eyes to the bag, furrowing her eyebrows. "What did you bring?" She had asked quizzically, trying to catch the bag. But Sara held her out of Catherine's reach.

"Just a dessert" Sara had added with a smile.

"What dessert?"

"You'll see" She had said enigmatically.

"If my memory doesn't fail me, I remember telling you to bring only yourself" The blonde had said in a funny reprimanding tone. That had made Sara chuckle softly.

"And I did" She made a pause "But I brought some company" She had added raising again the bag. "Now that we have cleared this point, where do you want me to put it?"

"Well, taking in account that it's a dessert, I think that the best location will be the kitchen" She had said leading the way, followed closely by Sara.

"What's that smell?" Sara had asked with a puzzled expression.

"Oh just turkey! You'll love it. It's an old recipe from my grandmother." Sara had stop dead in her tracks. It couldn't be possible that Catherine didn't know that she was a vegetarian. Everybody in the lab knew that! "Maybe this whole dinner was not a good idea" She had thought to herself while Catherine continued explaining the secret recipe of her family and all the ingredients she had added.

Catherine had turned to her and seen a very uncomfortable Sara at the kitchen doors staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" She asked

"You cannot be serious." Sara had said still surprised that Catherine of all the persons didn't know that little detail. Of course they hadn't shared a lot of meals, but just enough to be aware that she didn't eat meat. "Geez Cath, even Grissom knows that I'm a vegetarian." She had said raising her hands.

"Noooo" Catherine said in a mocking tone.

"Yeah! What make you think I eat meat? How many times we ate the two of us?" She had known that she had made a mistake coming there.

After a few minutes, Catherine had busted into laughs. Sara had stared at her like she had grown up two heads. "What's so funny?"

"You have to see your face." Catherine said to her still laughing.

"Sorry, but I don't see the joke in here" The brunette replied still serious.

"Relax, Sidle. I was just teasing you. There's no turkey in the oven, so don't worry".

Sara hadn't seemed too convinced. "It's vegetarian lasagne, so don't worry." She had approached the brunette and given her a glass of red wine. Sara had taken a tentative sip from the glass.

"Don't worry I'm not planning to drug you" Catherine had said in a cheerful tone taking a sip from her own glass.

Sara's lips had curved in a tentative smile. "So… lasagne, eh?"

"Yep, but you'll need to wait a bit. So if you want we can get comfortable in the living room"

They had entered the living-room, a room that had plenty of photography of the Willows' family. Sara had scanned the room while sitting on the couch. Definitely it was the kind of room of a family, not the Spartan one that had been her house when she lived with her parents.

She stared at one of the photography's of Lindsey with her father. With time, the relationship between the young Willows and Sara had been improved. It had to be the death of her father what brought them close. Not too close, but enough to trust in each other. Catherine was aware of that relationship, and although at first she hadn't approved it, the time showed her that Sara was someone good to her daughter.

"So how is Lindsey?" Sara had asked her

"She's doing ok. She's at my sister's." After a pause, Catherine had said "She talks about you sometimes"

"Really?" Sara had asked surprised

"Yeah, you caused a good impression during….during …Eddie's case" The blonde had added looking at the photograph of Lindsey and her father.

Sara had been uncomfortable. Eddie's case was a thorn in her side. She hadn't been able to solve it. Yes she had closed it sending the drug dealer and the singer to jail, but sooner or later they would be out…and then what? She didn't think that was enough for a little girl who's father was murdered, neither for Catherine, although they were divorced, Eddie had been in a great part of her life.

Catherine had sensed the distance that Sara was putting between them. She had seen that Sara was lost in her own thoughts and she knew that part of the guilt the brunette was feeling was because of her. The words she had told her the day she was closing the case, kept replaying in her head. She had regretted those words, and she was determined to do whatever it took it to erase them or at least fix the damage they'd done.

She took another sip of wine. "You did your best" Sara looked at her with unemotional eyes. She had built a wall in a matter of seconds. Catherine didn't know how to jump that wall. She tried again to reassure her "You did your best, Sara".

"What a great bed time story for your little girl" Sara had said reminding Catherine's words. There was guilty in her words.

Catherine was going to say something when Sara cut her off. "You know that they are going to be out of jail in a few years? What will happen then?" She had said absently.

"We'll deal with it" The blonde had said in a serious tone. "You didn't have another option. You saw a chance to get them out of the streets and now they are in jail. Maybe not for the sentence they deserve, but at least they are in jail"

Sara didn't seem convinced. She had failed to Catherine and to Lindsey and that's something she would never forget to herself. She had tried to compensate it being there for Lindsey whenever she needed her, but with Catherine it had been different. They hadn't been in the best terms, arguing constantly, but after Sara's suspension, things had changed.

A strange smell brought her from her thoughts. Catherine had noticed too. Realization fell on her face.

"Oh shit! The lasagne!" She had said getting up from her spot and running to the kitchen. Sara had left the glass of wine on the table and followed her. Her walk was steady; she was suspecting what she would see when she would open the door to the kitchen.

A fog of smoke was covering almost all the kitchen. Catherine was trying to put the tray over the counter.

"I can't believe it" She had said upset trying to disperse the smoke coming from the trail

Sara had approached to her smiling. Catherine noted her expression and pointed a finger to her. "Don't you dare say anything"

"You know, Cath…" The brunette said opening the windows of the kitchen to make disperse the smoke. "I'm amazed by your skills in the kitchen" She said in a mocking tone.

Once all the windows were opened she went next to Catherine and observed what was supposed to be a lasagne. "Yep definitely is not turkey"

"Neither lasagne" Catherine added with her hands in her hips. "Do you think we can save anything about it?"

Sara raised her eyebrows and with a sigh she added " I'm sorry Miss Willows, but I think that it didn't survive"

Catherine's head went to her chest in a surrender gesture. Sara put a hand in her back and said to her "Oh come on! It's not so terrible…it's only a bit … burned"

"A bit burned? Sara, do you see anything that it's not black in this meal? It's completely burned!!" The blonde had said a bit loud gesturing to the tray.

"Ok, it's burned, maybe if we scratch the surface we can eat something" Sara took a knife and tried to do what she had said. The surface was as tough as a rock. "Ok, that wasn't a good option"

She looked at Catherine and saw the blonde's face full of disappointed. Catherine had wanted to make it special, and in fact she did it, and obviously she had, but not in the way she had expected. She took a deep breath.

"Ok, this goes to the garbage" She had said picking the tray and throwing the contents there. "Let me find what we can do" She had added looking in the fridge.

"Er… Cath"

"What?" She said without looking at the brunette and searching for something to cook.

"Do you really think it's a good idea that you cook again seeing the results?" Sara had asked tentatively.

Catherine had turned to her "What is that supposed to mean?" This time the blonde asked a bit offended.

"Well, no offence but I think it's obvious" Sara had said looking at the garbage were their meal was.

"So I suck at cooking, that's what are you trying to say?" Catherine said adopting a defensive posture. Her tone didn't leave any doubt that she was now really offended.

"It's not like the lasagne was intact" Sara had said chuckling.

Catherine looked at her like she was ready to jump at her. "You think you can do better than I do?" She had said in a defiant tone.

"Well admit that it's not difficult" Sara had said joking. She looked at Catherine's eyes and saw the challenge in them. She had stared at her for a brief moment. The corners of her lip turned up "You know what?" She finally had said never leaving Catherine's eyes.

"What Miss Sidle?"

"I'll do it"

"You do what?" Catherine had said starting to lose her patience.

"I'm going to cook for you" There had been determination in Sara's voice

A laugh had escaped from Catherine. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah" Sara had said taking off the jacket she was wearing and rolling up her shirt's sleeves. "So…get out of there and let me cook"

Catherine had been surprised by this outburst. It had been supposed to be the contrary. She had been the one to invite Sara for dinner and now that dinner was ruined and Sara was going to cook for her … the same Sara Sidle who was always ordering meals.

Sara had started to put things out of the fridge. Mostly had been vegetables. She had started to cut and peeling. Catherine had watched amazed how quickly the brunette was moving around the kitchen.

"Why don't you stop staring at me and start to do something?" Sara had said with a half smile without looking at her.

"What do you want me to do?"

They manage to prepare a decent meal, a mix of vegetables, eggs, and other things. But it was good. Really good. Catherine had to admit that this was better that a burned lasagne. While they had been eating Catherine had wondered where Sara had learnt to cook.

"So now, you're not only a Dr. but you're a chef too". The blonde had said taking a bit of their meal "And a very good one I must admit!"

"I only cook when there's a tray full of burned lasagne" The brunette had said laughing.

"In that case we should burn lasagne more often" Catherine had replied with a wink.

"And when it's worth to cook for someone" Sara had added almost in a whisper.

Catherine had looked at her surprised. She hadn't known how to take Sara's comment. The brunette had saw the confusion in her face and stared at her.

"That was meant to be a compliment, Cath. It's only when you have good company that it's worth cooking for someone else. At least for me"

Catherine had smiled, blushing a bit. She had cleared her throat. "So where did you learnt to cook so well?"

It had been then that Sara explained to her part of her past. The B&B that her parents manage and how she had to cook for their lodgers. She had explained to her how her mother taught her and how she had managed to do a few recipes on her own.

Obviously it wasn't that Sara was really proud of it. But as she had said, she didn't like cooking and she always tried to avoid the kitchen as much as she could, but in certain moments she felt the necessity of cooking. Mostly for survival, as she had called it, and other for a special person.

Catherine had felt flattered. In those moments while they had been eating and Sara had been talking the way she had been talking to her, Catherine had felt special. It only had taken to Sara a few words to make her feel that way. She was opening to her. Slowly, but she was doing it. And every time she did it, Catherine was surprised again. There were so many things she didn't know about the brunette, and every time she wanted to know more and more.

They ended eating the dessert Sara had brought. Tiramisu.

"God…this is really good" Catherine had said not after a moan of pleasure. Sara had watched her ate the cake, a smile on her lips. Not only it had been a pleasure eating the cake, watching Catherine's face while she was eating it was pleasant too. A lot of thoughts crossed her mind. She had tried to hide her blush at the images that formed in her mind.

"Don't tell me you made that too" Catherine had asked surprised, misunderstanding Sara's blush.

"Oh no, my skills are not that good with desserts" She had said taking a sip of wine. She had got caught staring her.

They had continued talking about everything and nothing. Time had passed and the hour of departure, arrived without notice. Although they were going to see each other in a few hours, the farewell had been uncomfortable. None of them had known how to react or what to say. They had been on the porch. Sara with her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and Catherine learning on the doorframe.

"I'm sorry about the dinner" Catherine had said a bit nervous.

"Please, don't be sorry. I didn't expect to cook, but it's been a pleasure." Sara had said shyly.

"Now that I know that your skills as a chef are so good, I think I'm going to have more meals with you" She had said laughing nervously.

"Whenever you want" Sara had added quickly. "Maybe tomorrow I can give you the opportunity to redeem your lasagne"

Catherine had been caught by surprise. She had looked at her smiling brightly. "Ok, I take it as a challenge" She had added.

"Good" Sara had said.

Before Sara could do a move, Catherine had approached her and had planted a kiss on the brunette's cheek, lingering a bit, catching her by surprise. She then had whispered in Sara's ear

"Thank you"

"What for?" Sara had asked confused, still not making a move.

"For cooking and making this dinner special" Catherine had said looking at Sara's eyes.

Sara had looked at her. There had been something in Catherine's eyes that had kept her still. She hadn't wanted to leave, she had wanted to lose herself in those blue eyes.

"You're more than welcome" She finally had said.

They had been staring at each other, none of them making a move for several seconds. Catherine had opened her mouth to say something but had closed again.

"I'll see you at work" Sara had said starting to leave when suddenly she had turned to Catherine.

"Hey Cath!" She had called. When the blonde had looked at her she had add "Just tried not to burn something else, ok?"

"Oh, shut up!" But she had been smiling.

"Well seems like someone is in a good mood" Greg said interrupting Sara's thoughts.

She took a sip of her coffee trying to hide the smile that was on her lips. A smile that since she had left Catherine's house never faded away.

Greg seated next to her staring at her. He was starting to be annoying.

"Stop staring at me, Greg" Sara said without looking at him

"Are you going to tell me what put you in such a great mood that you can't erase that stupid smile from your face?" He said arching his brows and looking at her with funny eyes.

"That's not your business"

"Ahh I see…." He said turning serious. He put her best face of investigator. Suddenly he smiled from one side to the other. "You had a date!" He exclaimed pointing a finger to Sara.

"Greg, do you know that pointing a finger to someone is rude?" She said to him seriously.

"You are not going to tell me anything, aren't you?"

A smile appeared in Sara's face "Nope" She said leaving in search of the blonde.

I'm sorry if this chapter disappoints you. I can't do better, but I'll try with the rest of the story. I'll try to update more often but now it's going to be quite difficult...anyway. Thanks for reading