It's a Long Way Home: Chapter 3

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They both knew that the only way they were going to make sure that this worked was if they talked. They had tackled the two most daunting topics and genuinely felt better about the direction they were headed. They were intelligent people, they knew they had so much more to discuss and a long way to go still, but they were making progress.

Communication was never their strong point, but if the past two years had taught them anything it was that they were willing to do whatever it took to make sure they didn't make a mess of this again.

From the very beginning of their relationship, it had been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. They both were in agreement that the last two years had been the worst. Sara had spent the last few years convinced that Grissom didn't love her in return, and she knew she would never stop loving him, but she said nothing because she thought this was what he wanted. Grissom did the exact same thing.

Now they knew just how stupid they had been. If they had just talked about it, they would have understood exactly what the other felt, but neither of them had been willing to break the cycle they had gotten into.

After making great progress in such a short space of time, they decided to take a break from the talking, and just enjoy being with each other again. They had a lot of lost time to make up for.

After sleeping for a few hours, they shared another shower. Neither seemed willing to let the other out of their sight for longer than a few minutes.

Grissom was shocked that Sara still had all of his belongings here. He was sure she would have moved them to a storage unit somewhere. Instead, she had just boxed everything up in the room that he had claimed as his office and closed the door. She only went in there when she was looking for one of his books that could help with a case.

It had taken Sara a long time to come to terms with the fact that they were divorced, and it wasn't changing. She had considered putting all of his stuff into storage, but she dismissed that quickly. He had so many books and collections that were so valuable and precious to him. She didn't want them getting damaged in storage. She toyed with the idea of getting in contact with Betty and sending all of the stuff out to her, but she dismissed that thought even quicker. The thought of talking to Betty and having to answer questions about what had happened made her feel sick.

It was easier for her to just lock everything away in his office and forget about it. If you were to look through the house, but not the office, the only hint of Grissom you would find was a framed photo she had kept of them in their room. It was one of the rare days they had off together when they had first started dating. They had taken Hank to the park, and Sara took her camera and managed to get a great picture of the three of them. She hadn't been willing to let go of every reminder of the only family she had. On the bad days, it was nice to have it there to remind her of happier times.

That picture sat on her bedside table, beside another photo of her, Nick, Greg and Warrick taken around the same time as the photo of her, Grissom and Hank.

Grissom eyed them both carefully as he dressed in the clothes he had taken from the office. He could hear Sara humming to herself in the kitchen as she busied herself making breakfast. He felt he was transported back to a different time in his life, years before the divorce. He had to keep reminding himself that this was the here and now, there was no room for error this time.

They were scientists; surely they had done enough experimentation over the years to know what worked for them and what didn't. The trial was over now was the time for the real deal.

He padded softly towards the kitchen, stopping just inside the door as he watched her cook. He couldn't stop the grin forming on his lips, thinking about what a disaster she used to be when it came to cooking. It had just given him an excuse to spend a lot of time with her in the kitchen teaching her to cook.

Her beauty never ceased to amaze him. She was so effortlessly beautiful. Here she was, wearing a pair of jeans, a dark tank top and her slightly damp hair was beginning to curl. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever set his eyes on.

"You know, instead of standing there staring at me, you could make yourself useful and set the table for me?" Sara said, without even turning her head to look at him.

He chuckled to himself as he stepped away from the door frame, going towards the cupboards retrieving glasses and cutlery. It wasn't easy to try and sneak up on a CSI; their senses were extraordinary, trained to note every little detail.

He worked in silence, happy to just listen to her hum away to herself as she continued with breakfast. He set the table, got some juice from the fridge, and came back to help her dish up, carrying both of their plates over to the table for them.

They ate breakfast with easy conversation, catching each other up on different things that they had missed out on over the last few years. It was amazing how easily they had fallen back into this routine already.

Once they had finished eating, feeling much more energised, Sara decided now was the best time to keep going with what they came back here to do.

"Where do we go from here, Gil?" She was almost afraid to ask this question as if getting into this conversation could possibly change everything. They came back here to decide if they still had a future together, and if they did, how they were going to make it work. What if at the end of it all, they still didn't have the answers?

He didn't even hesitate in his response. "Wherever you want to go. I mean it. If you want to stay in Vegas, that's great, we'll do that. If you want to come out to sea with me, we can do that. If you want to go somewhere new and start over again, I'm ready." His hand found hers and he entwined their fingers. "Sara, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure this works. I know what I need in my life now, and I'm not stopping myself from having that anymore."

"My work had always been so important to me, and when I met you, you changed everything. That was why I was so afraid of letting myself admit my feelings for you. I knew you could change everything in my life, but I didn't know if I was ready for that." He gave her hand a soft squeeze. "I'm ready to embrace that change, wherever we go, as long as I have you I'll be happy."

"We've said all of this before, Gil. When you came to me in Costa Rica, I feel like we had this exact same conversation. We started over there, we got married, and then things fell apart. I can't go through all of that again." For most of her life, Sara had built up walls around herself. It was the only way that she could protect herself. She had let them down with Grissom and let him in, and then after the divorce they had gone straight back up. She reverted back to her old ways of locking everyone out. Right now, she was letting him in again. She was vulnerable, but he needed to see exactly how she felt.

"I don't know what the future holds, Sara, neither of us does. I know I've said this to you before, but this time everything is different. I can't go back to a life without you, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen." He knew there was nothing he could do right now to prove that to her. "I know I've broken your trust more than once, and I know I definitely don't deserve all the chances you have given me. The only way I can show you that I'm serious is with time, Sara. But I promise I will prove it to you."

Follow the evidence.

The evidence never lies.

Those lines swirled around in her mind, repeating them again and again. The evidence was that every time they had tried a relationship, it didn't work. It didn't work in San Francisco. When she came to Vegas, he turned her down for five years. When they finally started dating, that came to an end when she left. When he came to Costa Rica, things got better, they got married and life was good. But, she left again, and he never followed, and they divorced. The evidence was clear. All of their past attempts had just been horrible failures.

On the other hand, though. She followed him to Vegas. She didn't give up even during those five years of hell. He followed her to Costa Rica. He came back to Vegas. Then, she went after him. Maybe the evidence was showing her that they didn't give up, that no matter what bad things happened; they couldn't give up on each other. There was no easy answer to their problem.

"To be with the person who really gets you, loves you for exactly who you are. Believe me, it's worth the risk."

Those were her words to Morgan only a few months ago, back to haunt her now. Grissom was that person, the person who got her, who loved her exactly how she was. She knew that there would never be anyone else for her.

Finn had tried more than once, to get her back into the dating scene, but Sara had only ever laughed it off. That was the last thing she would ever do. It was impossible to try and make herself un-love Grissom. She had tried, more than once when she had first come to Vegas. Maybe it had never worked out because she wasn't ever supposed to stop loving him.

"Okay then, I trust you." And she did. Something about him was different this time, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly that difference was.

"I know we have a lot to work on, but I have no doubt that two intelligent people such as ourselves can figure it out." Grissom said with a smile, trying to lighten the situation.

Sara laughed more than she should have at that comment. "Do you know how many times I've thought that to myself? Except, it was the fact that for two extremely smart scientists, we're really clueless about so many things."

He laughed at this too, nodding in agreement. "Well, I've said before that I don't mind being wrong because it inevitably leads me to be right. I know I'm right about this. I'm done with being wrong when it comes to us."

Sara took a moment to just look at him. She saw nothing but sincerity in his eyes. He truly meant everything he was saying. She felt something that she hadn't felt in a long time; optimism. To her, her future contained nothing other than work. She would continue to live alone in the house they had bought, with only work and her friends to fill up her life. She had accepted that life. For a lot of her teenage, and young adult years, that was how she assumed she would live anyway. This was her chance to give herself the life she had always secretly dreamed of.

"What do we need to work on? What do I need to do to make sure this works?" Grissom asked her, still holding her hand in his, unwilling to let go of it.

Sara gave a little sign, running her free hand through her mostly dry hair. "Can I point out the obvious? This time, let's not live in different countries. It would be nice to be in the same time zone again for a change."

Grissom smiled and nodded. "I meant what I said earlier, wherever you want to go, I'll be with you. I'm not letting you get away from me again."

She couldn't help but smile at his words. She would admit, it was a little strange hearing all of this coming from Grissom, the man known for being so inept at conversation. He really was going all out to show her that he wasn't giving up on this.

"The last day has been great. We've talked about so much that we've neglected for so long. It needs to stay like that. We can't bottle things up anymore, or assume we know what the other is thinking without asking them. And, you have to stop telling me how you feel through other people, okay? Start telling me."

He knew she was talking about his conversation with Heather, but also Dr. Lurie all those years ago. "It's still something I have to work on, but I'm going to keep working on it every day until I get it right. I want you to do the same for me, I want you to tell me if you're not happy, or anything you're worried about."

"It's a deal." She agreed, smiling.

"So, anything else?"

"Only one." He raised his eyebrow, curious. "I want our dog back."

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A/N: Another chapter up! Not sure how I feel about this one, but my good friend Charlotte made me feel better so I thought I better post it. At the moment, I'm planning one more chapter and an epilogue, but that could change. If there are any questions/situations you think Grissom and Sara still need to discuss, let me know, and I'll write them. I'm really enjoying writing this fic. Another question, what do you prefer the idea of, Sara and Grissom staying in Vegas with Sara as lab director, or both of them off travelling the world? Let me know! And let me know what you thought of the chapter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, you all make writing so much easier!