AN: Thank you for the reviews, here is the next and last chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 3: Just like that?

The scent of freshly made coffee in the air finally woke Sara up from a good night's rest, something she actually hadn't had in a long time, even with her sleeping on the couch.

She laid there for a few more seconds, then she yawned, stretched and got up before
walking into the kitchen, where she found it empty. But that didn't stop her from picking up the coffee mug that was placed on the counter for her, or pouring the dark liquid in it, or even adding the sugar and cream that was there for her too. Once she added and stirred the ingredients to her liking, she took a few sips while her backside was against the counter as she savored the good taste.

After taking a few more sips while waking up more, she was finally curious on where Grissom was, so she placed the mug down on the counter before going through the house as she called his name out, but there was no reply and she didn't find him in any of the rooms, which included the utility room, garage and attic, and when she opened the sliding back door to look out in the small backyard, she still didn't see him.

Frowning a little, she shut the back door before walking toward the front door, and when she opened that, she peaked her head outside and looked toward the right, seeing the car was still in the driveway.

She did a small sigh as she closed the front door while thinking. 'Where could he be?'

She continued to stand there a few more seconds while trying to think on where he might be, then after finally seeing the time on the clock, she slowly smiled as she grabbed her carry-on bag before heading to the bathroom to change.

When she was ready and had grabbed her sunglasses to block out the early morning sun, she made sure she grabbed the keys to the house before walking out, locking the front door behind her before walking the few blocks to where the beach was.

Then the moment it came in view, she saw the only man there, sitting down on the sand as he faced the ocean, and even with the distance he was from her, she knew it was Grissom, so after her first steps on the sand, she took her shoes and socks off before picking them up and walking towards him.

When she was close enough, she spoke while moving her sunglasses so they were on top of her head now. "I figured you would be here."

He use to tell her that as a child, when he wasn't looking for bugs or finding dead animals to dissect, his mom could find him at the beach. He loved it the most when it was just him before it got crowded.

He cleared his throat a second later. "I wanted to take a walk, I guess my feet had a destination in mind. I'm sorry if I worried you, I thought I would be back before you woke up."

She sits down next to him, shaking her head. "That's ok, and you probably could have been, but the smell of the coffee woke me up. Thank you for it though, it was very good."

He nodded. "You're welcome, and thank you."

She looked out in the ocean for a few seconds before looking over at him, asking with a little concern in her voice. "Did you get any sleep?"

He gives her a little shrug. "A little. My mind just couldn't settle down long enough."

He did end up waking in the middle of the night, and once that happened, it was very hard for him to fall back asleep, so the minute it became light enough he went for his walk and ended up here, lost in thought and the track of time.

Sara nodded in understanding, there were so many questions going through her mind and on the tip of her tongue, but she still didn't feel like this was the right time to talk about it, so she kept her mouth shut and looked out at the ocean again as silence washed over them once again.

After a few more minutes of silence Grissom breaks it when he spoke softy, but it almost like he was saying it more to himself than to her, even though she could still hear it. "I guess it's weird how life can go. For the first time in my life I have nowhere to call home, my center point is gone."

When he started traveling he didn't have a permanent residence or stayed in a place long enough to really call home, so the only place, after what had happened between him and Sara, he called home was his mom's. Now once the house is sold it won't be true anymore, which really it didn't feel like it was at this point anyways since she wasn't there anymore, her presence was what made it feel home to him.

Sara turned her head to look at him while she swallowed the lump in her throat as she thought. 'So much for holding back on what happens next', and as he was still looking out at the ocean, she could see he was trying real hard to hide the pain that's been in him for so long, no doubt longer than the passing of his mother, so without even thinking, she placed her hand on his arm and whispered. "You do Griss, you've always had one with me."

Grissom felt her hand on his arm as he also swallowed the lump in his throat, then when their eyes met, Sara wasn't expecting the response that he gave her next. "I wish that's true, Sara. But it isn't anymore, and hasn't been for a long time. Things have changed." Before she could reply, he shocked her even more. "I'll sign the papers before you go back to Vegas, then you can officially be free of me."

He had been thinking about this a lot while he was sitting here through the morning. He knew he needed to make a decision, so he finally made it so she could have her whole life back in every way that counts.

She removed her hand from his arm like it was just burnt while exclaiming. "What!? Griss..."

Grissom cuts her off as he stood up, grabbing his shoes in the process. "You don't need me anymore Sara. I see you are a stronger woman than the last time we've been together.
I bet more than ever before, or more than you've given yourself credit for."

He turned to walk away, but Sara shook her head as she stood up, this wasn't happening again. "You are right, I don't need you anymore and things have changed big time on how I feel about that. I've been proving that these last few years." Her tone of voice made him turn around while she spoke again. "Yes, I may have felt like something was missing in my life, but I dealt with it the best I could, the only way that I could. In fact, the only way I felt that I could. And guess what? I'm still living."

"Then why are you trying to sto..."

But she cuts him off. "But before you start taking that the wrong way, it really isn't the point I'm trying to make here." She took the few steps toward him before she stopped right in front of him, speaking with more emotion. "I may not need you like I've always thought I had to to survive." She took a breath before continuing. "But I still want you in my life."

He opened his mouth to try to speak again, but she cuts him off a second time when she placed her finger over his lips. "Yes, even after everything that we've been through, it is true, I still want you. And only my heart knows why." She then sighed. "So you can sign those papers a hundred times for all I care, it won't change anything. I'll never be free of you." She then removed the finger from his lips as she looked down at his left hand, then she took it and brought it up between then while speaking again after she looked back into his eyes. "And I think with this ring still on your finger, you aren't as ready to let me go as you claim to be."

When she saw the ring on his finger yesterday her heart nearly jumped out of her chest since she felt that should be enough proof that he wasn't as done with their relationship, without actually signing the papers, as she previously thought.

He swallowed another lump in his throat as he looked at the hand she was holding before he whispered. "But why, Sara? you can have..."

"Why do you think?" She paused for a second. "I guess I can understand that you might have a little doubt about this after my part in this mess, but I do love you, and the second that I had met you, it has always been you." She cupped his cheek before running her thumb up and down as she finished. "You are IT for me. So sure, I can maybe be with any other man in the world as you claim I can be with, but they wouldn't be you, so I wouldn't be looking at them for very long, probably not at all."

He looked deeply into her eyes, searching for something in them before looking down at her left hand, seeing her ring finger was bare, just like yesterday, which she saw where his eyes were now looking and had a feeling on what he was thinking, so she lifted his chin back up so he could look into her eyes again before she used her other hand and pulled the chain that was around her neck out from under her shirt, showing him her ring as a small smile grew on her lips. "See, never far from my heart, where you've been all this time."

He looked a little shocked, he couldn't believe it. After seeing the missing ring yesterday, he felt that maybe she had let him go for good this time. But now a new hope surged through him as he dropped his shoes on the sand before cupping her cheek.

His touch on her cheek made her want to close her eyes as all these wonderful, familiar feelings washed over her. This was the first time she had felt his touch in years, or at least when it was him that initiated the touch, but she stopped herself from getting lost in the new but familiar feelings so she could her him speak softly after he had taken a deep breath. "Things are so messed up right now, I don't even know where to start to make it right." He closed his eyes as he moved his forehead to hers. "I'm so sorry Sara, I never wanted it to be like this between us."

She swallowed the emotion before replying softly. "I know that, and I never wanted it to be like this either, you have to believe me."

"I do."

After a few seconds of silence while their foreheads were still touching, he pulled back to look into her eyes again. "So now what?"

She gives him another little smile as removed her hand from her chain, then she slipped her fingers through his left hand, feeling his ring against her skin, something she had missed dearly, as she replied. "We deal with things here, then maybe when we are done we can go somewhere else for a week or a little longer to clear our heads as we deal with this difficult time together and talk about anything and everything so we can sort things out." A little unsure about this last part, she finished with a cautionary tone. "Then if you want, you can come back to Vegas with me, where we live out our lives together in our home."

It was a few minutes of silence, making Sara wonder what he was thinking about since his face was completely unreadable, then he slowly smile and asked. "Is it really as simple as that? We just live out our lives, together?"

Sara nodded with her smile getting a little bigger. "Yes, it is. It has always been like that, if only we weren't so stubborn/stupid to see that before."

He took another breath as he ran his thumb up and down her cheek, letting a part of his vulnerability out, something he's been very scared to do since he's seen her yesterday. "I'm not strong enough to do this without you anymore. I just can't do it."

She shook her head with a sniffle as she squeezed his hand, reassuring him. "You won't have to, Griss. I'm right here for you."

He paused again before speaking, which when he did, it was like he was amazed by what he was saying. "Like you've always been."

As she nodded with tears in her eyes. "Yes, and always will be, no matter what."

After he wiped her tears away he brings her closer to him before he started to lean toward her, but stopped before his lips touched hers as their hearts started pounding in anticipation.

He wanted her to choose whether she wanted to take that final step over the line, which she did a second later when she pressed her lips to his, and not long after, they brought everything they had felt in that kiss, a kiss they literally hadn't had in years but to them it felt like forever ago.

When they pulled back, they place their foreheads together to get their air back, and when they did, he whispered with a hint of a smirk. "You were right, I really do hate that." She chuckled a little as he continued, getting more serious, after clearing his throat. "I could have never let you go either. No matter what has been said or done in the past or just a few minutes ago, you are IT for me too."

He pulls back a second later to look into her eyes, which they were tearing up again so he ran his thumb up and down to wipe her tears away. "I do love you, Sara. I've always loved you, so if you are welcoming me back into your home, I'll never leave it again."

Not hesitating a second, she replied back. "I love you too." Then she sniffled again as she wrapped her arms around his neck before giving him one more smile. "And before I forget, welcome home, Griss."

He smiled and pecked her on the lips before bringing her to him so she was now safely in his arms, he then whispered. "It's great to be back, the best place in the world to be."

She squeezed him tighter in agreement, knowing that to them, they felt more at home when they were in each others arms than in an actually building/house with walls and a roof. They've felt like that since they held one another for the first time, and the time they had spent apart had not changed that feeling for them at all.

They knew they still had things to work out, and it could take time to get them back to where they were before their whole mess began. But if they were willing to take that first step forward, which they were willing to do, they knew they could work out their problems because like they've always thought, when they were working together towards the same goal, nothing stood in their way and nothing was too impossible for them to overcome.

AN: That's it, happy ending, which was what the doctor ordered, Right? Please review.

I hope that despite the sadness that surrounded it, you enjoyed it. Once the idea came to me I knew I had to write it, and it helped me a little through my own pain. Now, I'm not guaranteeing or promising anything, but I may write a sequel to this. I'm not sure about it though, I don't want to force anything. But don't worry, I still have a few more stories I'm working on, been working on, so I'll be back again soon. I just have to get my mind back in it after receiving the shock that I did last week.

Thanks for reading, reviewing and showing your support (this one meant a little more extra to me than the others), I hope you enjoy the rest of your week and take care. And as always, GSR4ever!