Howdy everyone! I know it's been really long since the last update, but there's a reason why I spent some extra time on this chap…

Enjoy,

So ;)

Ps scuby thank you so much for all your help, you're the best ;)

Chapter 17

"Gil?" I call him softly as I give a gentle knock to his door. He finishes scribbling on his notepad before looking at me above his glasses.

"Catherine, how may I help you?"

"I was wondering if Greg or Sara could give us a help," I ask nonchalantly, not betraying my yearning need to see Sara.

It's been a week that I haven't seen her. The lab has been overloaded with work so everyone has been working on the different shift according to the needs. Last I heard Sara was helping day and swing, unfortunately when I made it to those shifts she was either on a few hours break or had been called in a different one.

I miss her.

Not only that, last time I left her, I asked her to make a choice, to let me know what she wants. I figure that space was needed between us, but I miss her, I miss having her around, I miss my friend and I'm scare shitless that I might lose everything. I gave her my heart on a platter and I'm desperately hoping that no matter what she decides she won't crush it.

When I think about it there's a part of me that has good hope, I mean she wanted me to know things about her and all…but at the same time I don't feel like she really understood where I stood, I told her so, and I also told her what I wanted. I don't regret my choice I know it's for the best, but the less I hear about her and the more I'm telling myself that in the end I was right when I said that whatever was between us was just a by product of the ordeal we've been through.

"Hmm sorry, neither of them can," he answers. I frown a bit, it's probably he first time he denies me help. "They are both away at a seminar, they won't be here of all week. They apply for it months ago, it's on the calendar," he says slightly surprised that I wouldn't know.

I never watch that stuff except when I'm going to seminars myself.

"If you really need someone, Simon and Hudson from swing shift are assuring the replacement."

"Yeah, okay," I answer absentmindedly.

I walk out of his office feeling disappointed.

It's funny, I've never have so much feeling for a person that their mere presence can make me feel elated. The only thing I can compare those feelings to is addiction. I need to see Sara to feel okay, I need a daily fix. I've never been so much into someone that the simple fact to smile at them and have them returning me the smile makes me feel higher than any drugs could.

And yet another long week to go without any fix…

...

Sara came back about two weeks ago and yet except the three times I had a glimpse of her in the corridors I haven't had a chance to talk to her. She's been working on day shift ever since she came back, I'm telling myself it's just temporary but I'm starting to fear it is not. I'm starting to fear that she asked to change her shift in order to avoid me.

I called her several times and she never answered nor returned the calls. Then the only time I had an opportunity to speak to her she looked at me coldly, I smiled but she just walked away.

Actions speak louder than words so I've been forcing myself to slowly accept that she doesn't want to be with me. What bothers me though is the possibility that I might have lost a friend.

Nancy was right, love turns your life upside down and…well I'm screwed.

What irony, I had to actually fall in love with someone who doesn't feel the same. Love's a bitch.

...

I took some days off from work. Work has been exhausting, add to that the fact that I haven't been able to get my sleep rate back to normal again, and the fact that my feelings have been draining some of my energy, needless to say a little break is welcomed.

I stand to put the book I was reading back into its shelf, turning to go to the kitchen I see a car out of the window which reminds me of Sara's. I chuckle to myself, lately there aren't so many things that don't remind me of Sara.

I go to the front door and step out, thinking that some air might be good for me, it might help me to get over my 'Sara craving'.

I'm taken aback when I see Sara sitting on my front stairs watching ahead of her. I leave the door lightly ajar behind me a sit down next to her. She doesn't move or give any sign to acknowledge my presence. I glance at her and that's when I notice a bag next to her.

"You're…uh…" I clear my throat. "You're going somewhere?"

She turns to me, surprised that I'm here and a bit confused at my words. I nod in direction of her bag, she looks at it and then back at me, but doesn't answer. She loses herself again in her contemplation.

"I've been thinking," she starts after a long silence.

"That's never a good thing," I chuckle lightly.

She snorts and smirks. "I've been thinking about…'us'?" she asks more than says.

"Us?" don't get your hopes up Cathy, stay cool.

"Yeah…I suppose there's an 'us'… somewhere."

"Oh," I nod slowly. "So…how this bag you have besides you fit in with 'us'?"

Once again she avoids the answer. "Those things… you said you wanted…" I nod "I want it too…but…"

I stand. "Of course…" I mutter. "Of course there's a 'but'…let me guess…you can't, right?"

"You hurt me so bad…" she frowns and her tone is slightly defensive. She shakes her head a bit. "I understand things…but…it hurts."

"And you didn't hurt me Sara?" I reply sharply.

"When? After you hurt me?" she replies and I sigh. "I'm not for that….for hurt…what if you panic again? Where does that leave me?"

"Wait…what are you saying here?"

"Are you sure of what you want?" once again she avoids my question keeps on her tracks. "I mean…why would I want to have my heart crushed again? You know…"

I feel anger rising. "Sara, if you're only here to tell me that I'm going to hurt you, well, then…I don't understand why you're here."

"I'm asking…if you're sure about what you want?"

"Do you really think you need to ask me that?" my voice softens a bit.

"This…" she motions the two of us in a back and forth movement of her finger "…makes me vulnerable and insecure," she does look fragile saying that. "So it might seem stupid for you but for me…"

"You know what…" I start, if she can't trust me then we're pretty much screwed.

"Spare clothes," she states.

"What?" I gap a few times, not understanding where that came from.

"In my bag….there are spare clothes and the necessities," she elaborates.

"Necessities?" I repeat.

I know for a fact that there are no seminars going on, so it's actually worse than I thought.

"I see….so you're leaving…you're running away because you can't deal with it…deal with 'us'…" I nod repeatedly in a nervous way.

"I know what I want…"

"It's cool, I understand…" I keep on. I don't want to hear the many reasons why she can't or doesn't want to be with me.

"…and whether or not I show it…being apart from you…kills me…" I stop my rant as my brain catches up with her words. "Somehow ever since out second kiss…you…made your way so deep in here," she points her heart. "So deep in here that…most of the time I feel like those feelings were going to kill me…"

I wrap my arms around myself feeling suddenly very exposed. "What are you saying, Sara?"

"It sounds crazy, I know…I mean conventional relationship goes through courtship, dating and then…you know…but then again nothing has ever been conventional when it came to us…I want the courtship and the dating and all too…but I figured it didn't matter much if we did everything backward…I mean…I need to be with you…I need to be with you…" she struggles with her words.

My eyes are wide open and my heart is beating hard and fast. I'm afraid to be imagining all this, surely she's not saying what I think she's saying.

"Of course…there are factors I hadn't thought immediately about coming here…namely Linds…it kills me that we are apart…but I can wait for the right time for her to come…"

"Sara…" I put my hands up. "Slow down, slow down…what are you saying?" I'm sounding like a broken record, I realise that but I'm afraid to understand what she means, afraid that I'm probably crazy and reading too much here.

"I want us to be…together…I mean... together," she looks at me intently.

So I'm not hallucinating, she's really saying what I thought she was.

Not only does she want to be with me, she wants to move in…right now.

This is crazy…no this is bordering dementia, I mean…what the hell….okay I need to breathe. She can not be serious, I mean…she can't right?

Wow.

This is crazy, big time crazy.

I love her, and it's safe to say she loves me back. I did tell her that I wanted to be with her in the long term, maybe not in those terms but I know she got me right, it didn't seem so crazy to me then. I mean, this is what I want.

Yeah, but she's talking about a big step here.

She's got a point though nothing has ever been conventional with us. We never played by the rulebook so why starting now?

Hmm…I don't know…because it's crazy? Then again I'm crazy about her, big time crazy.

I'm crazy about her.

She wants to move in., to be with me. I want to be with her all the time. It's a big step alright but how bad can it be? I mean we've already seen the worse of each other so it can't really go downhill any further, can it?

This is crazy…

We've always shared that in common Sara and I, we never do anything by halves. If you're going to blow yourself up, might as well aim for the sky, right? Plus, if it's too soon we can still slow down.

This is utterly crazy, and at the same time it's typically us.

She stands. "This is what I want…among other things," she shoves one hand in her pocket and grabs her bag with the other. "Like I said…it's crazy, I know," she chuckles and shakes her head a bit before looking at me again. "I can wait…I'm patient," she shrugs and smiles at me.

There are so many emotions in her eyes, and I know she can see my own emotions mirroring hers.

My heart is pounding so hard in my chest, speaking words that can only be understood by someone else's heart…Sara's heart.

"I'm not," I reply not blinking.

I take her bag, putting my hand over hers and wait until she lets go. I grab her other hand in mine and entwine our fingers. I break the eyes contact and lead her back in the house. I close the door behind us.

She let's me guide her into the house without any resistance. I lead us to my bedroom and then let go of her hand feeling the loss tingling my skin. I walk to my closet and open it, hard to believe but it's not full, I gently drop the bag in front of the closet and show her the two empty shelves.

"I'll make more room for the rest of your stuffs…the two last drawers are empty," I point the other furniture in the room. She nods in a little motion. "And if it's still not enough, there's one more closet in the guess room," I smile nervously.

This is actually happening.

"I'll let you sort it out," I add before stepping away of the closet. She comes next to me, opens her bag and put her neatly folded clothes on the shelves.

I'm three steps out of the room when I come back on my tracks and watch her while she's still facing the closet.

"What other things?" I ask.

She turns around and looks at me a bit confused.

"You said…'among other things', what other things?"

She walks closer to me. "I want…to spray you with the hose of the kitchen sink in the middle of doing the dishes…" I chuckle. "I want to flirt with you, tickle you when we should get ready for work…" she takes a step closer. "I want to argue with Linds about her curfew knowing that you and I are on the same wavelength…" she steps front again. "I want to be there for her as much as she'll allow me…"

She's as close to me as can be. "I want to make love to you and not having to worry as to why you're not at my side when I wake up…"

"Sara…" she silences me with her fingers delicately on my mouth

"Shhh…I know…" when she's sure that I won't speak she goes on. "I want to give everything I have to make this work on the long term…I want to be the person you want and need me to be…" she caresses my face in a feather like manner. "I want to be the right person….the one for you…" I can feel my bottom lip quiver. "I want to show you that this 'us' is right…among other things…"

Her lips are almost on mine. I couldn't speak even if my life depended on it. She smiles and then her lips are on mine.

It's like I could feel myself literally flying. The kiss is sweet and yet it holds so much. Her hands gently frame my face as mine hold onto her waist. She pulls back and we lost ourselves in each other's eyes. She smiles and takes my breath away, it's a smile she never offered me before, and if I hadn't already fallen for her, I'd fall right now at the sight of her smile.

I give her an Eskimo kiss and then lean in again to capture her lips. The kiss makes me light headed and there's this warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach. My knees buckle and I stumble a bit but she holds me and we laugh in our kiss. Her tongue delicately seeks entrance in my mouth. As I feel her tongue teasing mine, my legs completely turn into jelly and I guide us to the bed for I know I won't be able to stand any longer.

We refuse to break the kiss though so we fall half on the bed, our legs still out, but we don't mind the position, already too lost in what's more important, our kiss.

The kiss is slow and exploring, this is the first time that we can truly focus on nothing but the kiss. I could stay like this forever and still feel contented.

"Mom I…oops, o-kay."

Lindsey's voice makes Sara and I jump apart. We disentangle ourselves awkwardly as if we'd been burnt. Lindsey is looking at us from the doorway, trying hard to conceal her wide smile – something tells me that I'll never live that one down.

"Sara…" she smiles at Sara who makes a sound that could be translated by a greeting, her face would make a tomato jealous. "Mom," she singsongs teasingly. She clears her throat. "I'm sorry to disturb, but I'm going to borrow you my mom for a moment Sara, I need to ask her something," she smiles, oh my daughter is a brat.

Sara mumbles what I believe to be a 'sure, no problem', and returns to her blushing.

Lindsey turns in direction of her room and I turn to Sara taking her hand. "I'll be right back," I squeeze her hand and follow my daughter.

I barely step in Lindsey's room that she starts to giggle. I sit next to her on her bed, feeling like I was the teenager and she was the adult. She has a knowing smile on her lips, and enjoys my current state of panic.

"Yeah okay…I think we need to…"I start.

"Talk yes I know."

"As you figured, Sara and I…"

"Are together now…"

"So she might…"

"Be around a lot more if not all the time, I get it."

"Are you…"

"Okay with it? I can't say I have a problem with it, plus now I have material for future blackmail," she smiles brightly as shock writes itself over my face. "I'm just kidding mom, though your face is priceless."

I shake myself to get my thoughts back in order. "I want you to…"

"…Know that you're here for me, and if anything bothers me I should come and talk to you, and no matter what you love me more than anything."

"Yes and things might…"

"Change, but I'm always your priority."

"Sara…"

"…is very nice, and I'm sure we will learn to know each other providing she survives her current embarrassment."

"Are you…"

"Going to be okay? Yes, and I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Good. Anything…"

"I'd like to ask? Actually yes, Elie is coming, we're going to go to the bookstore and I was wandering if I could spend the week end at her place, her brother has that new collection of old films and we'd really like to watch them all, or at least a big part. And yes before you ask I did my homework, and no I have no tests coming next week. So?"

"Considering your grades lately, I suppose it's fine, if you promise…"

"To be good and call you, I promise," she pouts a bit and put on her kitten look, knowing that I can't deny her when she does that. I sigh, silently admitting defeat. "Thanks mom!"

"You're a brat you know that," I chuckle.

"Yes, but you love me," she beams.

"I love you," I kiss her forehead.

No doubt my baby has grown up, sure there's still a lot to do and talk about but, the bases are settled.

The doorbell rings, interrupting our moment.

"That's Elie," she stands and starts to exit the room.

"Linds, we'll…"

"Have to talk more seriously I know. I love you mom," she winks at me.

"I love you too, baby."

I watch her going but then she reappears. "By the way, I love that smile, it suits you," my smile widen at her words.

And with that she goes to the door, and less than ten seconds later, the cheery voices of happy teenager fill the house. I stand and decide to go check on Sara. I find her sitting on the bed where I left her a few minutes ago. I sit next to her and take her hand in mine.

"Five minutes together and already busted by my daughter," I laugh nervously.

"Yeah…is she okay?"

"Oh yeah, don't worry about it."

"Like I said earlier, I can wait for the right time…"

"Sara, Linds and I talk, she knows and we'll talk again after the week end, we'll see then okay?"

"Okay," she smiles shyly.

"Think you can face her again?" I tease her. She blushes again and laughs. We stand, still hand in hand and start to go, I hold her back and kiss her briefly before leading her to the living room.

…

Once over the 'kiss incident' we had a rather good time and not awkward time with Lindsey and her friend. The girls left for bookstore about an hour ago and since then, Sara and I have been sharing a quiet time. First we cuddled on the couch and then we decided to have a nap.

We haven't talked at all, not that there's a lot to say, I think we just needed a little time to take everything in.

I've been awake for five minutes now, Sara and I are both on our sides facing each other. She's still sleeping, while I'm just watching her.

I let my hand slowly trace the lines of her face. She sighs in her sleep as my hand penetrates the jungle of her soft hair. She moans softly and blinks her eyes open.

We stare at each other, a smile graces her lip once she reaches full consciousness. She tilts her head toward my touch and shuts her eyes to lose herself in the contact.

She closes the distance between us and captures my lips in a sensual kiss. She tastes my lips, and it's not long before our tongues starts duelling together in a slow dance.

She shifts her position to hover me, one of her hands delicately undoes the buttons of my shirt, spreading it apart before touching the skin of my heaving chest. Her hand slowly goes down to my stomach, the way her eyes are attentive to my every reaction is like a caress over my body.

The first time we slept together there was a certain desperation, a need to be intimate with the other, this time though, the desire is there, but there's another need, the need to explore and discover one another completely.

We undress each other and start to map each other's body meticulously. Our voices mingle in breathless moans, whimpers, and silent cries. Our hands are warm, shy but at the same time unwavering. I take my time to admire how beautiful she is and physically express her how beautiful she makes me feel.

Our hunger and seem somehow insatiable, the higher we get and the higher we want to go. For the first time of my life I wish for the night never to end, for the world to always stay still, while we are as close to each other as our bodies will allow.

We make love with our bodies, our hearts, our souls and our eyes, and for precious moments we are one.

…

Sara stirs and turns her head to the door, yawns, never leaving Morpheus' arms. I watch her from the doorway of our bedroom. She's lying on her stomach, the sheet covers her from the waist down, leaving one of my favorite parts of her anatomy exposed to my adoring eyes: her back.

We've been officially together for seven months now, I won't say it has been a smooth ride, though compared to all we've seen those past years it was relatively easy. It turned out that we agree on a lot of things, but also that there are a lot – and I do mean a lot – of things we don't agree on, so we had fights and arguments, many of them could have been the end of us. We made it through though, because there is one thing we're absolutely sure about, one thing we fully agree on: we're absolutely, utterly, completely, madly, unconditionally crazy about each other.

Of course with time we learn more about each other and our fights though passionate tend to be less frequent. One thing's for sure, life with Sara is never boring, it never falls into some kind of routine, I can only hope for it to stay that way.

"See something you like?" she mumbles, her voice thick with sleep.

"I'd say," I reply, biting my bottom lip before joining her in bed. I straddle her lower back, silently forbidding her to move. "I missed you," I tell her caressing her shoulder blades lazily with my hands , then bending to kiss her skin.

"I think I figured from the way you wore me out earlier," she says smartly. I love the smoky timbre of her voice when she just woke up.

I chuckle, biting her shoulder lightly and she moans. "I don't remember any complains."

She had to go to a three days seminar, and she came back this morning and I had to show her just how much I had missed her. Generally speaking I miss her as soon as we're apart even if she's just in the next room, so those three days were excruciating – and I don't even want to think about the phone bill.

I kiss her neck and she reaches back with one of her hand to hold my head in place. She turns a bit so we can kiss, the kiss is deep but short. I straighten up and massage her shoulders.

She sighs loudly with a low moan in appreciation "Oh, this is good," she states and I can't help beaming at her words.

"Linds called while you were asleep," I inform her.

"Oh, shame I missed her."

"She wanted to talk to you too, so she'll call back in the evening."

"Great," I can see the corner of her lips lifting up in a smile. "How is it going?"

"She arrived well, and she's excited by the program they're going to have," I sum up.

"Excellent."

Linds found a two weeks training course in dance and art. I couldn't be prouder of her, my baby girl is growing up fast and I think that she starts to see what she'll want to do in the future, and she's expending all her energy to make her hopes, ambitions and dreams come true. Of course she still has some time to figure things out, but it's so good to see her finding something that makes her happy.

My hands on Sara's shoulders seem to take a life on their own as they start roaming lower, brushing the side of her breasts teasingly, before reaching her lower back. The familiar and yet somehow always new hunger for Sara sets back in the pit of my stomach.

"I love your back," I confess her.

"Really?" she frowns, and though her eyes are close I know she's very awake.

"Uh-huh," I kiss her skin once more. "I love your scars…" Sara's back is covered with different marks. "You think I'm weird to love them?"

"No…" she replies though I can see that she doesn't understand.

"I love them, for different reasons."

We tend to forget that the people we love are vulnerable, mortal. Her scars help me never to forget.

I caress a long scar under her right shoulder blade, remembering the story behind it. Rueben and her were playing monkeys, moving from rope to rope – ropes which were attached to the surrounding trees. One rope gave up and Sara fell and a sharp rock broke her fall. "Some remind me of how reckless you can be sometimes," I bend over, my parted lips linger on her flesh I let my warm breath brush the scar before trailing my lips on it and kissing it at the end of the short journey.

Sara tenses a little and bites her lips at the sensation.

"Some remind me how you survived to dark times and that I'm indeed very lucky to have had the chance to meet you," I reverently rest my fingers on cigarette burns and other cuts, some out of many scars her parents made. I kiss them gently, delicately.

"Some, just remind me that I could lose you in a snap of fingers," with my tongue, I trace the scars left by the bullet she received in the forest and the few cuts. Those scars also remind me of how alive I am, and how much I owe it to her.

She moans and one of her fist is holding the sheet while her breathing becomes shallow and irregular.

"They all remind me never to take you for granted," I rake my teeth on her skin and she curves her back with a long whimper. "They always remind me that every moment spend with you must be cherished for they are precious," I run the flat of my tongue on some of them, this time Sara arch up and sets me a bit off balance, but I keep my position.

Last but not least and not to spoil anything, I love that it is one of her most erogenous areas of her body, but I'll keep that for myself.

My lips, teeth and tongue tease all her back, Sara calls my name softly and contracts her muscles as I awaken all her senses. I readjust my position so I'm straddling the back of her thighs. I swiftly take off my shirt before leaning against her back again. She cries out when she feels my already hard nipples on her now sensitive flesh.

My hands knowingly run over her body, communicating with Sara's body in that secret language that we are always perfecting. I grab her breasts from behind and tease her nipples, pinching them. I then kiss my way down to her legs and mark her body, with bites, she curses under her breath, and buries her head on a pillow as her voice becomes louder.

I torment her with my tongue on the back of her knees, and even from where I am I can smell her arousal which only renews my desire for her. I trail my wet muscle on each one of her thighs, bite her ass cheeks and make my way upward again until I'm completely lying down on top of her.

I bite one of her earlobes when I push my knee against her centre and slowly grind myself against her. She gasps and struggles to keep her breathing under control. Her fist is so tightly balled that her knuckles are white, a very thin layer of sweat has appeared on her skin and she's almost imperceptibly shaking.

I roll us on our side, staying behind her. I pass one arm around her neck, resting it on her chest and let my other hand sensually rove over her curves.

Sara lets out a strangled moan when I cup her for the first time, feeling her arousal coating my hand in seconds. She starts to beg me to give her what she needs and I'm more than happy to oblige.

She cries out when I'm inside her and moves her body rhythmically to adjust with the pace of my fingers. When I feel her close, I bite on her neck and suck hard on her flesh. With the hand I have on the top of her chest I can feel her heart beating hard at an erratic pace.

Her voice breaks in her throat as she reaches her release. Her whole body stiffens before shaking violently a few times.

I give her time to come back from her heights of pleasure, I kiss the now angry red mark of my teeth on her neck, she takes the hand I have around her neck and entwine our fingers tightly. When I feel she's ready, I pull my hand out of its lovely and warm cocoon. I hold her to me feeling her heart slowly returning to its regular pace. I pepper her shoulder with light kisses and affectionately rub my nose against her skin.

She let's go of my hand and turn around in my arms, then she shifts her position until the moment I'm completely lying back and she's almost on top of me.

She kisses me deeply, slowly, silently expressing me what she couldn't say with words. When she pulls back I feel tiny drops falling on my face and realize that she's crying. The concern in my eyes must be evident because she smiles immediately.

"I love you," she whispers on my lips before kissing me again.

The second time she pulls back the gleam of desire is in her eye. She takes my hand and run her tongue on my fingers, before taking each one of them temporarily prisoner of the hot cave that is her mouth.

I kiss her again, I can't keep track of what's happening as I feel her hands travelling on my body.

…

"For the last time Cath, we're not lost!" Sara laughs slowly, shaking her head.

"Oh yeah, last time I heard that, it was the beginning of trouble, so excuse my suspicions," I tease her.

"Trust me Cath, we're not lost."

"It doesn't really feel like you knew where you're going though," I keep on and she sticks her tongue at me.

She decided to take me out tonight, and I've started to be a bit sceptic when we left the limits of the city and headed to the desert. Right now I feel like she was driving aimlessly, but her expression suggests that she knows where she's going, of course she could be bluffing. I don't panic though, I know for a fact that we have a map, the GPS is fully operational and last but not least we have a jerry can full of gas in the trunk.

It's a dark and clear night in Nevada, no clouds in the sky and just enough wind. I'm about to ask Sara if we are there yet when she answers before the question passes my lips.

"Ten more minutes sweetie I promise."

I chuckle and look at the landscape passing us by.

We finally come to a stop in frond of a large building in the middle of nowhere with a wide dome.

"You took me out to an observatory?" I ask stating the obvious. "And here I thought you'd take me in the desert to watch the stars, lying on the hood of the car, while I'd hold myself at least ten minutes before ravishing you on it…again," I wink at her and she blushes as she remembers.

"Well…hold on that thought, the night's still young."

I beam at that. She takes my hand and we start to walk toward the building. "I didn't know there was an observatory in Nevada," I state. "Why do I have the feeling that it's not the first time you've come here?"

Sara grins and shakes her head lightly, I guessed it right. "There are two observatories in Harvard. I actually followed the astronomy courses along with the physics."

"You graduate in astronomy?"

"Actually I failed the last exams, and then Grissom came along and…you know," I smile knowingly. "I did manage to complete the courses and graduate on my third year in Vegas. I've always been fascinated by what's up there."

"So, are we going to contact mothership right now?"

"Really funny," she laughs softly.

We enter the building and one man greets us. "Hey Dwayne, this is Catherine, Cath that's my friend Dwayne, he works here," she introduces me to a tall man, not older than Greg, wearing a Metallica t-shirt under a light blue shirt. He has a deep green eyes, a shy smile and smooth feature, his hair are mildly long and if it wasn't for his week old beard he wouldn't look older than 18.

"Nice to meet you," he says smiling at me while gently shaking my hand.

"Nice meeting you too."

"Please be my guests," he says tilting his head toward the giant telescope.

"Come on," Sara tugs me gently.

I'm taken aback by the beauty of the sky. I never watched the stars quite like that and I have to say that my breath is literally blown away, and having Sara next to me, explaining everything is all the more exciting, I just love her nerdy side. She tells me about the life and death of the stars, explain me how their masses will determine if they'll die as a little white, a nova or a supernova. She also tells me how their colors indicate their temperature, and that against what we could think, seeing how they teach about warm and hot colors, the red stars are the coldest ones while the blue ones are the hottest. She shows me constellations and tells me about their story.

"This is amazing," I tell her after a moment.

"Wait, for the last one," she states before turning to Dwayne who's so quiet in his corner that I had completely forgotten his presence. "Dwayne, can you…?"

"Coming right away," he answers before typing on computers, entering new direction for the telescope to move like he did several times before. Once he's done he turns to Sara and winks at her. "I'll be out smoking then," he says before leaving the room.

I look at Sara quizzically, eager to know what she's up to. Sara just grins before looking through the telescope. She stays silent for a while but I can see her smiling before she pulls back.

"Alright, go ahead and look," I do as I'm told and see a new pack of stars, just as beautiful as the ones we saw before. "Do you see the slightly red one at the bottom of this group?"

"Yeah I see it," I answer, my eyes still on the telescope.

"Just above there are blue ones and light green ones."

"Uh-huh."

"Do you see the big bright one?"

"The pale yellow one?"

"That one."

"Yeah I see it, it's huge…I know I sound like a broken record, but this is truly magnificent."

"That big bright one…is named 'Catherine'."

I lift my head up and watch her sceptically. "You're pulling my leg?" I ask her with a light smile.

"Actually, I'm not, it's really its name."

I beam at my new found discovery. I look at the star again. "Well this is nice. You know I knew there were great women named Catherine, the Impress of Russia or the French Queen, but I had never heard about a star with that name. I'm named after a star…" I giggle.

"Actually you're not…"

I look at Sara again. "Well, the star's name Catherine and my name's Catherine," I state the obvious. "Of course I doubt my parents knew that when they named me but still," I chuckle.

"No, I mean, yes, what I meant is that you're not the one named after the star," she repeats, struggling for her words. "It's the other way around," she adds before handing me a roll of paper.

I frown slightly, intrigued at what's going on, take the roll and unroll it. I have to read the content at least three times to make sure that I understood it properly.

"You…named star after me?" I ask out of breath, feeling my emotions overwhelming me.

Sara smiles, "Yes, I did. It's super corny I know but…" she sighs and laughs lightly. "It's funny you teased me about losing ourselves in the car earlier, tomorrow," she glance at her watch, "Well, in a few hours now, it'll be a year since that day we got lost in the desert. I know it's weird to celebrate that day but in spite of all we had to go through I, just can't forget those days, but for very good reasons," she pauses. "I found you… we first kissed…my life took a big turn," she says never leaving my eyes.

I can feel tears gathering in my eyes, and my heart is trying to break my ribcage with its crazy pace. If it's possible Sara's look becomes more intense, taking my breath away. I can see unconditional love pouring out of her eyes.

"We've been together for almost ten months now and everyday I'm falling in love with you again. If I could hold the moon and the stars in my hand I'd take them and give them to you…I can't do that for obvious reasons, so I thought that if I couldn't go to the star then it'll come to me," she smiles nervously. "This love you give to me, the way you love me…you're like my guiding light during the dark times in my life, you're always there for me, you made everything meaningful and well, like that star you brought light into my life. And just like that star you're beautiful and unique."

My heart swells with emotions, my tears fall gently along my cheeks, I feel so much that words won't ever be able to express. I do the only thing that I know will convey completely my feelings, I put the paper safetly away, then cup her face and kiss her senseless, knowing that my kiss will translate what my heart is saying.

"I love you too," I tell her with a shaky voice once I pull back from our kiss. She beams and I kiss her again. I pull back again when my chest is burning and look at her intently before resting my forehead against hers. "We need to take the road again and drive for five minutes," I tell her.

She tilts her head back and looks at me with a slight confusion.

"I want the hood of the car to be warm when I take you on it."

She laughs, this glorious laugh of her, my favorite melody. We kiss again passionately.

We stayed to watch my star a while longer before heading back home.

On the way back I did take her on the hood of the car…and inside too.

…

After hours of lovemaking we're lying in each other's arms, still trying to be under each other's skin. I'm wrapping her side, one leg tangled with hers, my arm drape over her stomach, my head on her shoulder. She's holding me tight against her, while caressing the arm I have on her abdomen.

"I still can't believe it," I say thoughtful.

"What?" she asks softly.

"I'm your shining, burning, ball of dust and gas," I smile biting my bottom lip.

I can feel her light laugh reverberating all over her body. "You have the geekiest way to entertain the magic of romance."

We laugh together and I lift myself up a bit to dive into those intense brown orbs of hers. My expression is loving, adoring, "It was the best gift I've ever received," I confess her, my voice laced with feelings.

Some people have their star on a walk of fame, mine is up there shinning brightly thousand light-years away from us, burning intensely, just like my love for Sara is burning in my heart. Now, I have a constant reminder of that beautiful and priceless thing I have: Sara's love.

I kiss her softly. "I love you."

"I love you too, Cath," she replies before kissing me again.

I move the kiss to her neck and bite on it. She chuckles, "Be nice now."

I stop and look at her "Or what? You're going to spank me?" I smirk at her teasingly.

She rolls us over so she's now on top of me. "You think I won't do it again?" she says with a feral smile.

When her lips connect with mine again I know that even though dawn is near, as far as we're concerned our night is still young.

She was right earlier, that day we got lost marked the turn of our lives. It was the beginning of a new life for me.

And that day she came to my place with her bag in hand was something more. It was the beginning of a new era.

It was the beginning of a very crazy era… a crazy 'extremely good' era.

The End

Yes Folks, it's over that's why it took me so much time I wanted to wrap it up properly. Ok, so the two observatories of Harvard are real, I made researches. Then either I missed it or there really is no observatory in Nevada ( closest one was in Arizona)…but I thought that since I had enough power to manipulate nature and put a forest in the middle of the desert, then my powers were good enough to put an observatory there as well :P

Another good ride, which I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. I'd like to thank all of you who took interest in the story and all of you who took a little time to review, it always mean the world to me, you guys are the best :) : freddie-4884, In-between, Nico79, bene, bleed4her,Cellen8, reader; Rain Addict CM, Kirky123, chawkchic, Casara, tgz87, Gryffindo620, hotranger, chimp1984, Gentry, tanama30,Harley Quinn Davidson, Piper Gilmore, cathandsaraforever55, SamSidle82, Wizardsoul, Tiger87, CatherineWillowsCSI, Chelsee6,lanti, csi7, smishe0ne, Boulou Boulou, clarkson04, Fooly-Fool22, Sky45, Piper-Leo-alwys, jessievamp06, strawberrytears, clickclaire, BlueJaz, Em,lfromny, willowpowered, SaraCat4eva, Ponys, wee idgie, Aqua Bubbles, I.love.you.miss, angelimmortal, Buckster, Rach5, caesaraugusta, ry, Axiegirl21, CSILOTRGirl, jazzman31,Gembot, Xx.Get.Over.It.xX, Sara Lya, Bonegee, fivexfive, harassedbytheFBI, Dreade Demon of Night, CanDs, Roguex1, Maggsie, pocketninja,dolphin18paradise, hrem,cathsarafan, SaraLou, OriginalAngelStyle, Marg Ryan, JustSteph, Titpom1, 143csi4ever, eunicemax, Rachel452, goldentail, Chic-a-go-go, SenselessLust,JJ, S.L.

I'd like to make some special mentions:

To scuby , once again if it wasn't for you there wouldn't have been any story, you challenged me into a one shot – I obviously failed the 'one shot' part of the challenge :P, and you inspired me. Thank you very much for always be at my side, guiding me, helping thinking thing through, and arguing with me, you're the best ;)

To Immi, you allowed me to use that brilliant mind of yours, and helped me through the details all along, even though you don't necessarily realise it. You rock! \m/ ;)

To Max, you help me in your way and I can hear you wondering why I'm putting this mention to you, well to thank you first and then because I can and want to. :D

Once again thank you all for everything, putting up with Mojo's mood, and always encouraging me with your sweet words it's thanks to you guys that I keep on doing this.

I'm going to give Mojo a short break – that little sparkle deserved it, and then I shall be back soon. :)

Thanks for reading.