Chapter 15

A/N: This is a short chapter, but it was need to set the course of the next few. It won't be long before the next one is up, I promise. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything CSI related.

New Years Invitations.

It's been ten months, give or take a few days since she left Las Vegas and with only two weeks til Christmas, Sara has been contemplating the future.

In his last email, Grissom had told Sara that he wanted to see her, they had resolved many of their issues and conversation was now much easier between them than he ever thought it would be. His reasoning, that the only true way to measure their progress was to actually spend time together and Sara had to admit that she agreed.

Thing was though, she wasn't sure if she was truly ready, despite her own desire to see him again. She had told him she trusted him and she knew that he had earned that admission from her. Over the last few months, he had been open with her and told her things that he most likely would not have been able to if they were face to face.

Now that he was no longer employed full time at the Crime Lab, Grissom could arrange his schedule to suit not only himself, but her as well. He had made sure she knew that, giving her the chance to decide when and where, if she so chose.

Because of the hours that Sara worked, and the fact that she often worked on her days off, she had already accrued enough holidays. Sara knew that she wanted Grissom to come to Washington, because she knew she would feel more comfortable on her home ground. There was plenty to do in Washington and if things went really well maybe they could spend a few days out of the city.

Having made the decision that she wanted him to come to her, Sara now had to decide if he was to stay with her or in a hotel. Part of her wanted him to stay with her, but the other part felt uncomfortable, worried that being in such close proximity without the safety net of being able to retreat to his or her own space would be too stressful.

After a lot of thought, Sara came to what she hoped was going to be the right decision. She had told him she trusted him and now was the time to prove it. She would invite him to stay with her; after all she had a spare room all ready for visitors that had never been used. Sara quickly pushed aside the unbidden image of Grissom in not her spare bed, but in her bed, wondering where the hell that had come from.

With her decision firmly planted in her mind, Sara was about to send off an email when she changed her mind, instead dialling Grissoms home phone number.

She wondered how he would react to her invitation. Surprised? Probably. Happy? She hoped so. She was still contemplating how he would react when his answering machine picked up.

Damn! Oh well, just as well maybe.

"Hey Grissom. It's me Sara. I guess you must be out bug hunting or something, but I wanted to ask if you would like to come to Washington in the New Year. You can stay with me if you like. Call me back and let me know if that suits you so I can organise the time off. Bye."

There had been no reply when she went to work the next day and she felt herself getting anxious. What if he had changed his mind? Maybe she shouldn't have asked him to stay with her. Maybe she had been too forward? She fretted on it all day at work and was distracted enough for Rod to ask her what was wrong.

However all that changed when she got home that evening to find a message on her answering machine from Grissom.

"Hello Sara. I'm sorry I missed your call I've been out of the city at a crime scene. At least our answering machines got to hold a conversation.

Thankyou Sara, I would love to come and stay, but only if you are really sure. I can easily book a hotel room. Let me check out flight details, but you should be able to go ahead and organise your time off. I can't wait to see you and I'll be counting the days."

Sara let out the breath she had not realised she had been holding as she turned off the machine. Her stomach fluttered at the husky tone his voice had held when he had said he would be counting the days. He sounded truly happy at her invitation and she knew in her heart that this was going to work and that the timing was right.

As she went about getting herself some dinner, she couldn't help but feel a little excitement at the thought of seeing the one man she truly cared about again. She hoped the next few weeks would go quickly. This had been a hard year for both of them; her leaving had hurt them both badly. But out of the bad, good had come and she knew it would be worth it in the long run.

Grissom sent the details of his flight the next day. He would arrive on the second and depart on the eighteenth. Her time off was approved without any problem, Rod being only too happy to encourage her to take time out from her job and things were falling into place.

She and Grissom didn't talk too much about his visit, deciding to stick to things like plans for the Christmas period. Sara was not working this year. Shock! Horror! Her boss had invited her to join him and his family for Christmas dinner, which is apparently an annual thing for his team, so Allison and Richard had invites too.

Catherine had insisted on having Grissom over and Warrick, Greg, Jim and Nick (who wasn't going home this year because he was working) were going too. It was looking like a good ending to the year.

But looks can be deceiving, can't they?