Life or something like it

Rating: PG-13
Category: Drama/Angst
Archive: Please ask first I might say yes.
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI all affiliates belong to CBS.

Summary: The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.

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Chapter 6

It had been four months since their first date. She found it hard to believe there had ever been a time in her life where Brian hadn't been there. She saw him everyday after work and the time they spent apart, was peppered with phone calls during breaks.

So they had passed the awkward stages: public displays of affection, meeting the folks and the sex thing. The only way to explain it was that it came naturally, as if she had been waiting her whole life for him to arrive. When she thought of all the time she had spent thinking she would have to go through everything alone, she almost laughed.

She finally had someone of her very own, and yet... there were nights, when her subconscious got the better of her. Telling her things she secretly knew to be true. That the aching she had felt for the ten years that she had known Grissom- had not gone- it was just momentarily forgotten.

Of course by now he knew of their relationship. Everyone on the team knew. Sara was sure she had Catherine and the receptionist to thank in equal parts for that. At first it seemed that he would shut himself off again, and steadily ignore her. Like with Hank.

But recently he had spent more case time with her than the others- combined. He would open the door for her going down corridors, let her pick the radio station in his car and even took his bloody experiments out of the communal fridge in the break room.

When their hands would touch over a piece of evidence, the electricity had not gone. It had only changed a little. Evolved. Now he would no longer draw himself away as quickly as possible. He would wait and look to see if she was feeling the same thing too. Something was different, and she was beginning to think it was him.

As their 6 month anniversary approached, Sara began to get anxious. The surprise Brian had for her was keeping him in a constant state of excitement. He was due to be going away to Dallas for a big case, the day after the celebrations ended. This meant she saw him less than usual, while he prepared.

Into the space that his company had previously occupied, time spent with Grissom slowly crept in. First it was breakfast, after a shift when Brian usually picked her up. Next there was bumping into each other at the supermarket, and going for coffee afterwards. Now finally, sitting across the table from him at a local Spanish restaurant, she began to wonder what in the world was going on.

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