Sara knocks on his door just before 7, she wonders if he felt as nervous stood outside her home as she did his. Of course, he'd been in her place a few times (although she'd rather not think about her near DUI and the night she told him about her parents). Sara had been over before, once for work purposes and the rest of the team had been there as well and there was the awkward coffee after their wedding (she laughs at the thought of this). This time however, she was there for a date. Finally she rings the doorbell and hears Hank's paws come skidding up to the door as he barks excitedly, she hears Grissom a few minutes later telling the dog to calm down before he opens the door. "Hi." He smiles at her and leans in for a quick kiss on her cheek (he's surprisingly affectionate, Sara hadn't been expecting that).
"Hi." She smiles back at him.
"Come in." He steps aside and Hank runs up to her.
"Hiya Hank." She crouches down in front of him and starts scratching his ears. Sara laughs as he starts to lick her face and Grissom smiles warmly. Dogs are an excellent judge of character and apparently Hank had judged Sara worthy, he took it
"Hank down." Grissom tells him and the dog whines but obeys the command.
Sara stands and frowns "He's not doing anything wrong, I don't mind." She feels Hank's head nudging her hand, clearly after more scratches and she's more than happy to oblige.
"I'm trying not to give him bad habits" Grissom shrugs "No licking and I'm trying to keep him off the furniture." He leads her through to the kitchen and encourages her sit at the breakfast bar. "I hope lasagne is ok, vegetarian of course."
"That's fine." Sara isn't convinced she could eat anyway she's so nervous but when Grissom plates it up it and puts it in front of her, it smells so good and she feels her stomach rumble "I never guessed you'd be able to cook"
"Really?" He looks at her surprised "My Mom taught me. She thought it would help me impress my future wife."
She laughs at the boyish grin he gives her "As your wife, I can tell you that she was right. I'm very impressed."
"I'll let her know." He doesn't meet her eyes but smiles at his food. "That's the first time you've said it."
"What do you mean?"
"It's the first time you've referred to yourself as my wife." The sentence surprised her.
"Oh!" She looks up and meets his gaze and offers a half shrug and a coy grin "I am though. I'm your wife" And doesn't that feel great she thinks. "And you're my husband." Suddenly they both start laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. They're man and wife and this is really only their second actual date. "You're my husband and I really don't know anything about you."
Her comment surprises him and he realises it's true. "What would you like to know?"
"Where did you grow up?" Sara wants to kick herself. He's finally opening up and that's the first thing she can ask him.
"Marina del Rey in California." He wants to ask her the same question but he knows now that she was in and out of foster care so he decides to quickly change the topic "Do you want to watch a movie with me?"
The question catches her off guard "Uh sure." He points her in the direction of his living room and tells her to pick something from the DVD collection and he'll join her shortly. Sara looks at the shelf indicated by Grissom, his movie collection is almost as eclectic as he is.
"Have you picked anything yet?" He suddenly appears behind her with two cups of coffee.
"I was trying to get my head around your extensive Roy Rogers collection"
"King of the Cowboys." He puts their drinks on the coffee table and he's suddenly right behind her. So close he can smell the flowery scent of her perfume.
"Do you have a favourite?" She asks hoping her voice doesn't betray her nervousness. He reaches past her and selects a DVD and gives it to her. "Billy the Kid Returns" She reads.
"It's my favourite. We can watch something else though."
"No, this is ok." She reassures him and hands him the DVD to set it up before she goes over and settles on the couch. Hank follows her and jumps up placing his head in her lap, when Grissom turns around he's almost tempted to make Hank get off the couch but both Sara and the dog seem happy and he can't bring himself to tell the poor creature off. He does resolve though that the dog will not be joining them in bed (if and when we get to that stage he tells himself). So Grissom sits as close as he's able to with Hank in the way and instead settles for reaching an arm over the back of the couch. The hand at the end of the arm seems to have a mind of its own and about halfway through the movie he finds himself playing with Sara's hair marvelling at how soft it is.
The movie and ends and they have time for one more cup of coffee before work in which Sara pumps Grissom for more information learning that Cowboy films really are his favourite movies and he doesn't watch a lot of television, a little bit every now and again apart from baseball games, she doesn't have the heart to tell him she isn't much of a sports fan. Then when it's time to go to work he walks her to her car, gives her another kiss (on the lips this time) and tells her he'll see her at work.
… … … … … …
Things carry on as they are for a couple of weeks with Grissom and Sara having quiet dinners together before shift, sometimes taking Hank for a walk or watching a film, he's surprised to learn she loves romantic comedies (it's all about the ridiculousness of them she tells him). Grissom briefly entertains the idea of teaching Sara to play chess only to realise she already knows and will easily give him a run for his money, he tries scrabble and finds himself losing more often than he wins. No matter the activity the night always end the same way with a simple kiss on the doorstep as they head into work.
One night however, Grissom is walking through the lab when he hears it.
"Sara I just want you to know when we were in the shower I didn't see anything."
"Really? Gosh, I saw everything." Sara responds and Grissom freezes. Greg and Sara were in a shower together? He waits until he's sure they've walked past and takes a quick look and sees them both walking down the corridor in coveralls.
Finally he finds Sara about to go into the locker room and he doesn't quite know what to say "What's this I hear about a shower?" Sara responds by laughing and he doesn't know how to react to that.
"I uh need to get changed, but Gil if you wanted to come over for breakfast I'll be willing to tell you all about it." She doesn't look at him as she looks through her locker looking for her spare clothes.
"I need to walk Hank." He responds and then he wants to kick himself, he turned her down for the dog?
It doesn't seem to phase Sara "Your place then?" He's relieved she didn't seem to mind his faux pas and he's in a better mood for the remainder of the shift and is quick to leave once the day shift come in and take over.
Sara arrives at his townhouse about 30 minutes after he does and he's briefly frustrated that he has to wait for her to finish fussing the dog before she finally stands and greets him.
"Hi." She greets him softly after giving him a brief kiss.
"What took you so long?" He asks after returning the kiss and she just tells him that she had some paperwork to finish. "I hope that you like waffles." He knows she does, he's been paying attention when she orders at the diner, sometimes instead of her very healthy oatmeal and fruit option she'll order a plate of waffles covered in cream and strawberries. He also knows he's onto a winner when she rewards his suggestion with a huge smile. "But first Hank." He tells her, her grin doesn't falter. She loves the dog.
They take a brief stroll around the block, Hank stops and sniffs everything and pees on almost as much. Grissom notices that he seems to have adopted Sara as his human as well, he hopes that makes her want to come and spend more time with them (him).
He puts the plates in front of her on the counter and she smiles and tucks straight in mumbling a quick thanks after swallowing the first mouthful. "So, this shower?" He finally asks.
"You're still on that?" She asks surprised apparently that he'd care who she showered with. "Did you not read the report or get the memo?"
"What memo?" He frowns.
"Team showers improve team cohesion." Sara deadpans without missing a beat. "The memo from Doc Robbins about the mould or the report from the fire department hazmat guys about the decontamination shower, or the post bio-hazard paperwork both Greg and I left on your desk about halfway through the shift."
He feels a little guilty, perhaps he shouldn't have skipped out of work at the first opportunity and instead looked at some of the paperwork that was on his desk. "I had plans after work and decided that the paperwork could wait and besides…"
"Besides what?"
"I was a little distracted." He takes a couple of mouthfuls of his waffles. "And I was a bit frustrated that apparently Greg managed to shower with my wife before I've even shared a bed with her." The statement nearly causes her to fall off her chair and she can't help but cock an eyebrow at him. "Another waffle?" She can't do anything but nod.
"He had his eyes closed." Sara tells him and he looks relieved. "I didn't look either."
Grissom smiles and holds up the OJ carton "Well good. Refill?"
Breakfast is over and she helps him with the washing up, he has a dishwasher but he's not ready to let her leave yet but eventually they make their way towards the hallway and both stand fidgeting awkwardly, neither really sure why this is so hard. "You could stay." Grissom finally manages to get out.
"I'd like that." She tells him quietly.
He doesn't want to make her feel pressured and he'd like their first time to feel less forced than this. "There's no pressure Sara. We could just sleep?" The relief she feels is evident on her face and she nods. He leads her towards the bedroom. "There's a spare toothbrush under the sink. It's new" He indicates towards the door of his en-suite bathroom, he doesn't tell her he bought it for her. Whilst she's in the bathroom he pulls out an old cotton t-shirt and pair of sweats for her to wear before putting his own pyjamas on. She comes out of the bathroom and thanks him for the clothes and he leaves her to get changed and goes and completes his own before bed routine. When he comes out he notices her on the far side of the bed facing away from him and he slips in next to her. "Goodnight Sara."
"Goodnight Gil."
He awakens a few hours later and the first thing he notices is that whilst they were asleep they both seem to have migrated together and he was spooned behind her. He rolls onto his back and she, still asleep, turns with him settling against his chest. He wraps an arm around her and she slings a leg over his, one of the legs of his pyjama pants had ridden up and his bare skin comes into contact with hers. The second thing he notices is the sweats that he'd left out for her last night are folded on top of his dresser. Sara isn't wearing any pants. The thought hits him like a freight train and he tenses up, this tension in turn wakes Sara. "Are you ok?" She mumbles against his chest.
"Good morning." He responds. "I'm fine."
"It's probably afternoon by now." She still hasn't opened her eyes.
"Same thing." He sounds distracted Sara thinks and he is. He's trying not to focus on the fact she's in his bed and not wearing any pants. "I'm going to let Hank out." He needs to get out of there fast he realises. Something else was awake and he meant what he said earlier. There was no pressure. He quickly gets out of bed but can't resist turning back for a look. The bed covers had slipped down and he can see the skin of her long legs under his Hennepin County Sheriff's Office t-shirt but more importantly he can see the look of uncertainty on her face. He realises that his reaction was a little strong so goes back towards the bed and he kisses her. "I'll be back." He reassures her.
… … … … … …
It's first time they share a bed together after that first morning things are a little less awkward and for two weeks it's good. They go to bed together most days sometimes at her place after Grissom goes home and sorts the dog out. God forbid he doesn't look after the creature that seems to be worming his way into Sara's heart a little quicker than he is but most of the time seems to be spent at his place.
Then one shift they pick up a case together and everything changes.