Disclaimer: CSI does not belong to me, but I've been a really good girl this year, so maybe Santa can bring me a few shares. If not, I'll continue having fun with the characters without pay. :P:P

A/n: Okay, I have the feeling that I'm getting too OOC with this. Or at the very least too cheesy. Please let me know what you think.

Chapter 5

Sara squirmed to get comfortable in her seat. She'd picked up a book on one of their ten minute layovers, but she just couldn't get into it. Her talk with Gil had helped, but whenever she thought of the road ahead she tensed up. She'd gone so many years just putting the past behind her, and the prospect of facing it head on was daunting. Each successive memory from her past was bringing her closer to the one that was the most painful. She'd told Gil about that day, but she hadn't gone into detail. She didn't look forward to delving more deeply into that day.

Luckily she didn't have to right now. There were other, nicer memories. Of course it wouldn't take much to be nicer, and that was a good thing. Even the happier moments of her childhood were spoiled in the end. She found herself rubbing a spot on her ring finger, and realized that she'd forgotten to remind Gil about picking up the ring. She found herself upset. Not with the thought that the ring wouldn't be picked up, she knew that Gil would either remember, or the jeweler would call and remind him, but she was upset that she had forgotten. Granted, she had a lot on her mind, and they had been interrupted, but she wasn't usually a forgetful person. She'd learned long ago the cost of being forgetful.

After the puppy incident, a couple of months went by with relative calm. The Inn had picked up more business, so her mom was too busy with guests to find reasons to chastise her father. As for him, he got the cast off his arm and spent most of his time in his workroom. Sara, more lonely than ever, spent most of her non-school hours helping out where she could.

Brian never called or visited, though Sara had never expected him too, so most of the cleaning fell on Sara. She didn't mind. She liked to imagine where each guest was going to, or coming from while she cleaned their room. She never actually got to talk to the guests, her mother strongly discouraged that, but she got the sense that she knew them, just by knowing their choice of luggage, or how each person unpacked. Some would put everything away, neatly folded and hung up, others lived out of their suitcases and left clothes strewn about the room. Luckily Sara didn't have to clean these rooms, just make sure that the towels were replaced, and that they had everything that they needed.

Things were fine that way until the day the James's came to stay. They were a young family, the parents in their thirties with two children. The older boy was two years older than Sara, but he seemed so much older. The other child was an infant daughter, and the parents seemed to spend most of their time with her, leaving their son to his own devices. The day she met Derrick James was the day Sara realized that maybe boys weren't so stupid after all. Well, she as to learn that wasn't the case, but for the time being, she was bitten by the smitten bug. The day they arrived Sara had been dusting the hallway table, daydreaming of what she would be when she grew up, and pretending that she was working on and archeological dig, and the feather duster she was using to dust with was a brush she was using to dust away dirt from some priceless artifact. She had been distracted by the sound coming from the front door, and looked up to find the family traipsing in. At first she just turned back to her work, but something made her look back, and there he was, silhouetted by the light in the door, the sun shining off his golden locks, and a smirk on his face like he owned the world.

Laura rushed to meet them, and the parents followed her, the father holding the little girl. The boy, however, didn't follow them. Sara looked back down at the dusting and watched his approach out of the corner of her eye. He stopped right next to her. "Hey there, Cinderella."

Sara's eyes snapped up to his. "Excuse me?"

"I was saying hi, you know, as in hello?" He turned and leaned on the corner of the table she was dusting.

Sara barely kept from rolling her eyes. "I know that, but why did you call me Cinderella?"

He chuckled. "Well, as I don't know your name, and you're cleaning, it seemed to fit. Why don't you tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine, and we'll get to know each other."

All Sara could think was that this guy was SO cheesy, but he was also very cute. She decided to play along. "My name is Sara, and yours?"

"Names Derrick. So, what's fun to do around here?" He had leaned one elbow on the table and when she looked up, she found herself looking directly into his eyes. They were a pure deep green. Her mind went blank. "I…"

"Sara Sidle, get back to work?" Her mother yelled from the doorway. Sara jerked straight up and nodded. Derrick just smiled and slowly walked into the other room to his parents, passing Laura as she went. As he passed, he winked at her. When he was gone, Laura turned to Sara. "You finish that dusting and then make sure you take out the kitchen trash. And don't talk to the guests. If they ask you a question, refer them to me, and nothing else." Sara nodded and, satisfied, Laura walked away.

Sara discovered, however, that it was impossible to ignore Derrick. He seemed to find her no matter what she was doing, and it didn't take long before she had developed one whopper of a crush. His family was staying for two weeks, and it only took him four days to talk her into going swimming with him. Secretly of course, which meant she had to sneak around on her mother. She did her work so that Laura wouldn't complain, but afterward she'd rush to their meeting place and spend hours just talking to Derrick. She found out that he had been adopted because the James's had thought they couldn't have children, and that ever since little Julia was born they'd been paying less and less attention to him. He acted like this was okay with him, but Sara could see the hurt in his eyes.

One day, a week after Derrick and his family had arrived, Laura asked Sara to go into town and pick up some flour for some cookies Laura was making for the PTA. She decided to invite Derrick along so that she could show him around town. When they got to town she showed him the bowling ally, and the pizza place where the cool kids hung out after school. He slung his arm around her shoulders and told her that if she wasn't there, the place wasn't cool. Sara blushed a deep red and ducked her head. He cupped hr chin in his hand and lifted her face to look in her eyes. "Never accept anything but respect from people, and when someone pays you a compliment, just say thank you." He grinned and looked up. "So, where do we get this flour? I want to get it to your mom so that you and I can go hang out on the beach."

Sara, her blush subsiding, pointed to the small store across the road. "Over there." They glanced both ways, then crossed the road. On entering the store, Sara went directly to get the flour, and headed for the cashier. The owner of the store, Ray Mitchell was working the cash register, and he smiled at her when she walked up.

"Hello Sara dear, is that all you'll be needing?" He reached for the flour and rang it up.

"Hello Mr. Mitchell. Yes, that's it." When he told her the amount, she dung into her pockets, looking for the money her mom had given her.

"Sorry, I put it here somewhere." She murmured. "I know mom gave it to me."

Mr. Mitchell's smile turned wistful. "And how is your dear mother? Is she feeling okay?"

Sara nodded. She wasn't sure why, but people were always asking how her mother was doing. What she didn't know was that when her mother would come to town she would use make up to make bruises on her arms, and in other discreet places, bruises she would accidentally/on purpose show people in order to illicit sympathy, and maybe a discount on whatever she needed to buy. This had led the town to believe that Bill was abusing her, and she didn't feel inclined to correct them. But, as Sara didn't know that, she just smiled and said she was fine. Sara finally found the money and handed it over. He handed her the change and said with a smile. "There you go sweetheart, tell your mother she's in our prayers."

Sara just smiled, nodded, took the flour and left. They walked slowly back to the Inn, and had almost reached it when Sara saw a yellow kitten being chased by one of the local boys. The boy had a belt in his hand, and he was swinging it at the cat whenever it came into range. Without knowing it, Sara emitted a growl and ran after the boy, dropping the flour as she ran. She couldn't see anything but the boy with the belt in his hand, and she could see the kitten had stopped and was cowering near a rock. The boy had raised the belt when Sara reached him. "Jimmy Williams! You leave that cat alone!" She ran up to the boy and he turned around.

"Go back on home Sara; this is none of your business." He pushed her away and turned back to the cat.

Sara regained her balance and without thinking reached over and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the kitten. He turned and grabbed her hair, pulling her around. "I told you to leave me alone. Do I have to teach you a lesson too. Maybe you're no better that that bitch cat that scratched me." He'd barely gotten those works out before he was pulled around and shoved to the ground. Derrick stood over him, leaning down to pick up the belt.

"I believe you owe Sara an apology." He said, sneering down at Jimmy.

Jimmy backed away, crawling on the ground. "Hey, hey I'm sorry man. I didn't know."

"Didn't know what? How to treat a girl? Well that's for sure, but I think it's something you'd better learn real quick. Now, tell Sara you're sorry and get your ass out of here."

Jimmy mumbled an "I'm sorry", and then got up and ran away, tripping over loose rocks as he went. After he'd gone, Derrick turned to Sara.

"Are you okay?" He dropped the belt and walked over to her, helping her up from where she'd fallen to the ground. She nodded, and he put his arm around her, and they turned to walk to the house. The kitten, seeing that the coast was clear, made a break for it, heading in the opposite direction..

When they got back to the house, they sat down on the porch swing. Sara smiled at him. "Thanks. I didn't really think before I acted. I just couldn't stand to see that kitten get hurt."

Derrick reached out and pushed her hair behind her ear. "Hey, that's what I like about you. You stand up for the little guy. And you're so darn sweet." He leaned forward, and before Sara knew what was happening, he'd laid his lips on hers.

Sara had barely realized that she was getting her first kiss when she heard the front door slam. "Sara Sidle, what the HELL are you doing?!" Her mother rushed out onto the porch, snatched Sara up and pulled her away from Derrick.

Sara stuttered, trying to explain what had happened, but all her mother could see was that this boy had had his hands on her little girl. "So, while I'm thinking you're out doing what I asked you too, you're too busy out here letting this boy fondle you"

Derrick stood up. "Mrs. Sidle, I'm sorry. We did go and get the flour, but there was some trouble on the way back, and we kinda forgot it." He was going to add something, but Laura didn't let him. She backhanded him, causing him to fall back onto the swing. At just that moment Derricks parents were walking around the corner and they caught the hit.

Before she knew what was happening, Sara had been sent to her room, for an undetermined amount of time, and Derrick and his family had packed up and left. Sara hadn't been able to say goodbye to him.

Sara blinked, and came back to the present. That had been the first time she'd ever felt liked for herself, and she had often wondered what would have happened had things been different. Logically she knew that she had been young, and Derrick would have left anyway, but her first love should have been happier. That's why this trip was so important. She wanted her last, and best love to last forever.

TBC