Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still don't own or profit from CSI.
Note: This chapter is short and is written from Grissom's perspective. _
Grissom was speechless. He figured that surprised Sara a lot less than it did him. She left him speechless often; just last Tuesday, he had completely lost track of a conversation with Doc Robbins about the entry and exit wounds of a gunshot vic because Sara had suddenly walked into the morgue, and as she had bent over the DB on the next slab over, he had eyes for nothing except the way his Sara was so gently fingerprinting the vic.
Turning his thoughts back to the present and pained by the thought that he would surely make the wrong choice due to his social ineptitude, Grissom tried to figure out the puzzle sitting in front of him. Sara had just asked him to leave, but he could just hear Catherine's voice in his head yelling at him that his leaving might actually make things worse. Not that things could get a whole lot worse. Grissom took two tentative steps toward Sara's hunched over figure, then stopped, too nervous to get too near her. Shuffling his feet and starting at Sara's bowed head, he listened to her quiet sobs, watched her shoulders shake, heard her labored breathing, and felt immense pain knowing that he had done this to her. Just then, he knew what to do. Or at least, he hoped he knew.
Grissom covered the rest of the distance between himself and Sara with a few steps, quickly bent down and planted an awkward kiss on the top of her head and said, "Sara. I am going to leave now. I know that's what you want, and I respect that. I am going to come back, though, later this afternoon. Will you promise to let me in?" Grissom's heart was pounding in his chest; if Sara said no, he would likely lose her forever. He and Sara had had shared a lot of awkward moments these past few years and had had a few arguments, but he felt that this time, something was different. Guilt washed over him as he felt the full impact of her words; Sara had given him chance after chance after chance. She had never given up on him, and yet, he would hardly give her the time of day because it might affect his job. I'm supposed to be a genius. If I'm so incredibly intelligent, why is it that I've been content to hide my feelings for Sara behind excuses for so many years? If I was really a smart man, I'd never have hurt her the way I have.
"Fine," Sara sighed heavily. "I'll be here."