AN: Well, here we are – the epilogue and end of this story. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with it, and especially those of you who have taken the time to review – I've had quite a bit of negative feedback on the story, but your wonderful comments have made up for it!

At the moment, I don't have any plans on writing anything else in this universe, but I suppose you should never say never. I'm focusing on my "Buddyflies" sequel right now (18 chapters down and I have no idea how many might be left because the story has evolved beyond anything I was originally imagining!), but I do love Sam, and her and Sara's relationship, and if a story pops into my head, I might put it down on paper. For now, though, this is it…

Thanks to WalkerTRngr for the beta help – looking forward to diving into the next fic with you!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI

Epilogue

Grissom closes the door behind himself, listening for a moment, but the house is quiet.

"Sara?" he calls as he goes into the kitchen, putting the takeout he picked up on the way back from the university down on the table.

Hank comes trotting in through the open sliding doors to the deck, nose twitching as he sniffs the air for the source of the lovely smell from the food. "Hey, buddy, this isn't for you," Grissom tells him, scratching behind his ears, and quickly grabs the takeout bag again to avoid the dog finding it. He moves around the table and out the doors into the twilit backyard.

"There you are."

Sara turns at his voice, a smile spreading on her face. "Hey, I didn't hear you."

Soft music is coming from a portable speaker on the table to his left, but it's not enough to drown out much sound, so he can only assume she was distracted.

"What are you doing?" he asks, stepping closer.

"Hang on, let me show you…" she says, turning back to the railing she was focused on when he came outside for a moment, then darting past him to the other end of the deck. She leans down and fiddles with something before straightening up. "Tada!"

She's wrapped a string of fairy lights around the railing, which is now casting a soft glow over the deck and closest part of the yard.

"It's beautiful, honey," Grissom tells her, looking around the space.

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm." He puts the food down on the table, where she's already set a place for each of them, and tugs her to him for a hello kiss, which she happily returns.

It's July, and Sam's spending a month in Boston with her grandparents and cousins. While she's gone, he and Sara decided to do a test-run of living together – again – to see if they're ready for that step before broaching the subject with Sam.

So far, Grissom thinks things are going wonderfully. The relationship might still be new, but at the same time it isn't really, which caused both of them some headache until they sat down and just decided that there was no point in worrying about what they should be doing at this stage of their relationship, according to societal norms or whatever, and just go with what felt right to both them and Sam.

Hence their current state of (maybe not) temporary co-habitation. He has been vaguely considering just asking her to never leave, but he figured he'd give it the entire month before broaching the subject.

Sara's the one to break the kiss. "How was class?"

"It was good," he replies, opening the bag and extracting their food. He agreed to teach a summer course, only one two-hour class per week, and it's been nice – less crowded than his usual classes, only about a dozen students, and everyone very dedicated to the subject.

They talk about his class and the case Sara's working at the moment while they eat, about Sam's stories of the day – he missed her daily call but knows she loves talking to Sara, so he doesn't feel too guilty about it – and about how quiet the neighborhood has been in the last week or so, the locals escaping the stifling July heat for cooler destinations, or just a different kind of heat.

When the food is gone, they linger, sipping wine and just enjoying the moment, the soft, dark night, and each other's company. Then Sara shifts in her seat.

"I thought we could take a… night-time dip," she suggests.

His eyes stray to the pool and sun loungers lined up along it, finding two bath towels folded neatly on top of one of them. "Towels but no swimwear?" he asks, the implications already making his pulse pick up.

"We won't need swimwear for what I have planned," she counters, tongue darting out to wet her lips.

He remembers another evening spent in the backyard, after Sam's birthday party in the spring, remembers the feeling of her falling apart around his fingers, the overwhelming sensations of her mouth on him. And her words…

"I did say we were going to have sex in the pool at some point," she murmurs in his ear now, before rising to her feet and descending the steps down to the yard.

Grissom stays where he is for a moment, following her form with just his eyes as she rounds the pool. When she gets to the lounger with the towels, she pulls the sundress over her head, leaving her in a pair of striped panties and nothing else. How did he not notice that she wasn't wearing a bra during the whole meal?

She turns to face him, tilting her head to the side. "Are you coming?" As if he needed further incitement, she trails a hand up her stomach to cup one breast, eyes sliding closed at the feeling.

Pushing to his feet, he pulls his polo shirt over his head as he crosses the deck, tossing it behind him. Rounding the pool, he gets the button and fly undone on his khakis, stopping momentarily to let them pool at his feet before kicking them off. When he reaches her, he pulls her in for a rough kiss, hands sliding down to her butt to pull her against him.

Sara kisses back just as enthusiastically, her hands trailing all over his back, exploring and enticing. When he breaks away to catch his breath, she chuckles.

"So, I take it you're…" she grinds her hips against his, making him groan, "up for it?"

"Definitely getting there," he confirms, reclaiming her lips and pushing her panties down her hips. When they're gone, she returns the favor, ridding him of his boxers, until they're finally skin on skin from head to toe.

"Much better," she murmurs against his lips, wrapping both arms around his neck.

Grissom just hums in response, wrapping his own arms around her waist in a secure hold. Then, after making sure they're in the spot he thinks they are, he pulls her with him and jumps into the pool.

Unprepared for the water, she splutters as they both resurface.

"You are so going to pay for that," she vows, sending a wave of water his way.

"I thought we were going into the pool," he replies innocently, reaching for the edge of the pool to keep his head above water since they went in the deep end.

Sara takes a few strokes closer and wraps her legs around his waist, letting him keep them both up. "I was thinking a slightly gentler submersion," she grumbles lightly, pushing her hair out of her face.

"My way was more efficient," he points out, leaning in to nudge her nose with his.

"I guess," she admits. "But…"

He cuts her off with a kiss, which quickly deepens when she slides a hand into his hair and pushes closer. Holding on to the edge of the pool with one hand, he lets the other trail over her skin, exploring her neck and down her back, along her thigh and up her side, finding her breast. When he rubs a thumb over her nipple, her legs tighten around him, and she moans into the kiss.

Grissom keeps up his ministrations until she breaks the kiss to gasp for air. He's about to lean down to replace his hand with his mouth, but realizes he'd have to develop gills for that to work, as they're both submerged in water up to their necks.

"What's wrong?" she asks breathlessly, picking up on him pausing.

"Downside of sex in a pool," he replies with a shrug, sliding his hand back up.

She seems to understand his conundrum, because she unwinds her legs from around his waist and pushes off towards the other end of the pool.

"Maybe a little shallower water would be better," she agrees, keeping a hand on the edge of the pool as she moves backwards from him.

He takes a few strokes to catch up to her, standing when he can feel the bottom under his feet and pulling her back into his embrace. Sara immediately wraps her legs around him again, pulling him down for a kiss while he continues moving through the water, until it's just lapping at the bottom of her breasts.

"Much better," he announces when he pulls away to finally kiss down her throat and wrap his lips around a nipple.

"Mmm, definitely," she agrees, arching against him and sliding a hand between them to wrap around him. "Better purchase too, I bet…"

Loosening her legs around his waist, she gets him lined up and he pushes forward, sinking deep into her with a long stroke, eliciting a long, low moan.

"Need to keep quiet, remember?" Grissom whispers in her ear before moving to her other breast, nipping at the soft skin, and setting a steady pace.

"I've seen like… oh, fuck, right there… three people since Monday," she counters, fingers digging into his shoulder as her other hand keeps his head in place. "And even if someone did hear us, they won't know where it's coming fr… oooooh…" She trails off, head falling back, and he feels her twitch around him. Slipping a hand between them, he pushes her over the edge quickly, claiming her mouth in a kiss to swallow the whimper she lets out.

As she keeps pulsing around him, he gets a steady hold on her slick body and starts towards the wide steps that form one side of the pool. Moving carefully so as not to slip or drop her, he finally kneels down on one of the loungers and leans forward, settling her onto her back, all without pulling out of her.

Sara's eyes flutter open and she frowns. "How'd we get out of the pool?"

He gets one arm hooked under her knee and pulls back before thrusting forward, deeper into her, and she hisses.

"You were a little… preoccupied," he notes, kissing the inside of her knee before letting his tongue dart out to lick at a few waterdrops. "I'll admit the water was… interesting, but also slippery. I was afraid my feet would go out under us and we'd both drown."

She chuckles a little, which morphs into a moan when he thrusts into her again. "Oh, but what a way to go."

Grissom leans down, opening her up further, and nips at the sensitive skin under her chin. "Honey?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Shut up."

In response, she slides her free foot up the back of his leg, digging her heel into his back. "Make me."

And, well, he can't turn down a challenge.

Kissing her hard, he picks up his pace, shifting his hold on her enough to change the angle, and soon, her nails are digging into his shoulders. Another few thrusts, and her entire body starts shaking beneath him, convulsing around him, triggering his own release, and he has to make a conscious effort not to collapse completely on top of her.

He buries his face against her throat as he fights to catch his breath, feeling her hand slide into his hair, blunt nails scraping against his scalp.

When his heart rate is more or less back to normal, he pushes himself up and pulls out of her.

"That was…" Sara starts, a dreamy smile on her face.

"Oh yeah," he agrees, kissing her before making to get to his feet. She doesn't release her hold on him, though.

"Stay. Turn around."

Unsure of what she's trying to accomplish, he does as he's told, sitting down on the lounger between her legs. She moves back a little, grabbing one of the towels and spreading it over herself, then tugs him back against her by the shoulders. Settling in with his head against her chest, he grabs the other towel and covers himself with it. No, the backyard's not overlooked, but it's one thing to be buck naked in the middle of sex, and another to just lounge around.

"I love your backyard," she announces after a moment, leaning her forearms against his shoulders.

He raises his hands to intertwine with hers. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I saw how private it was, but I am definitely not complaining."

"You better not be, mister."

Grissom relaxes back against her, gazing up at the dark sky, and they just lie there in silence for a long moment.

"I think you should move in permanently," he then says, voice low. She tenses briefly under him.

"Yeah?"

"If you're not ready, we can wait, I just… I wanted to ask."

"No, it's not that, I… I want to say yes, but don't you think we should run it by Sam first?"

He snorts. "Do you seriously think she won't be thrilled?"

"I know, I know, I just… I want her to feel included, you know."

His heart warms at her words. He knows she and Sam have a wonderful relationship, completely separate from him. They love each other, it's clear as day. And it's been good for Sam, too, having a woman around. She might not be a teenager yet, but she's definitely firmly in the tween category these days, and he honestly doesn't know what he'd do a lot of the time if not for Sara.

Turning his head to press a kiss to the inside of her wrist, he squeezes her hands, trying to somehow convey his gratitude without words.

"Then we'll wait until she's back. But I want it on the table – I want you to move in."

She lets out a content sigh, her breath brushing against his ear. "And I want to move in."

It's quiet, almost like she's afraid of putting it out there, and he lifts one of her hands to his mouth to kiss her palm.

"Thank you," Grissom says after another long, quiet moment.

"For what?"

"For… everything. For letting me back into your life, for giving me a second chance. For loving Sam. For… being here."

"There is nowhere else in the world I would rather be."