A/N: As promised, the epilogue of the story is here. I really meant to get it up sooner, but time somehow escaped me. Next thing I know, weeks have gone by, it's nearly August, and school is starting next week (yes, next week. August 3rd, to be exact).
Anyway, I hope this ties up a few loose ends and is satisfying to all who have been reading. Thank you so very much for your comments, and please, tell me how you think it turned out.
Emily
Disclaimer: Do I sound rich? Do I seem like someone who would allow the writers to put Grissom and Sara together? No. Therefore, I must not own anything. Damn.
He'd known almost immediately, before opening it, what the contents of the letter would say. He knew, the moment he saw his name scrawled on it in Sara's messy writing, that the letter would not contain a message of love. Sara wasn't the type to write such things; she was more of a verbal person. He didn't open the letter up right away, though. He thought for a moment, for thinking was what he did best. Sara had been different ever since their engagement party. She had seemed…happier. He didn't know what it was, or why it was, but he had the eerie feeling that the radiant smile that would often appear on her face was not for him.
He took a deep breath and lifted the letter of the table, carefully opening it and pulling out its contents. He felt his heart drop as a ring fell onto the table with a clang. Hands shaking, he unfolded the note, and felt his heart break as he read her words.
Dear Grissom,
I don't know how to start this. I suppose you already have an idea as to what I might need to say, for you always were smart. The ring, which you have undoubtedly found, might also have given you a clue of sorts.
So why, why I wonder, is it so difficult to say the words, or rather write them? I suppose I should be telling you this face to face, instead of leaving you with naught but a letter. Yet I am, I guess, somewhat of a coward when it comes to confrontation (as you know).
I wish that things had been different. I wish that everything had gone according to my plan. In that plan, we would have lived happily ever after, desperately and completely in love with one another. Yet as you know, life isn't always that kind to us.
I am rambling, I know. I am delaying the inevitable-the part where I explain why I left. The part when I confess all of my sins (of which there are plenty), and the part in which I hurt you even more. Part of me just wants to end this letter here, tell you I really do love you and that I just can't do it. But another, stronger part of me knows that at the very least, I owe you the truth. So the truth I will give you.
I cheated. I lied to you and I cheated on you. It was about six months into our relationship when it started. I will not go into details, or try to excuse my actions. What I did was unpardonable, and I do not expect you to forgive me. However, I will try to explain my later actions. I guess I fell in love. Or maybe I had always been in love with him and it took me six years to finally see it. I don't really know. All I can tell you is I cheated on you with Nick Stokes, and I fell in love with him.
It was not his fault. The blame rests solely on me.
I…I don't know what else to say. We are both leaving; on your desk, you will find our resignation forms. We are moving to Montana where there is a lab with openings for both of us. I ask you, for your own sake, not to contact either of us. It is best if you just try to forget.
You deserve someone special, someone who will love you will all her heart and soul. I could never be that person; no matter how hard I tried. I would never love you with all I had. And here I go, I realize, trying to make excuses for what I have done. Here I am doing the exact thing I swore I wouldn't do.
Again, I am rambling, for I do not know what else can be said. So, I suppose I will end this letter here.
Goodbye Grissom. May you find someone else who you may love and who may love you in return.
Sara Sidle
Grissom didn't cry, nor did he throw a fit; that just wasn't him. Instead, he merely stared at the letter in his hands, his body numb, and his only coherent thought being so this is what heartache feels like.
He didn't know how long he sat there, nor did he care. He finally caught a glimpse of the clock, and decided to leave for the only place where he could submerge himself in something else, and hopefully forget Sara and her betrayal for the time being: the lab.
Something was wrong, Catherine thought as she sipped her lukewarm coffee, grimacing at the taste. Thirty minutes ago, their shift had started. And there was still no Grissom to be seen. Odd, considering Catherine had seen his truck in the parking lot earlier.
Stranger yet, Nick and Sara were also both missing. She wondered if perhaps Sara had fallen ill, and Grissom had needed to go home to her. Then again, she had never known Sara to be held back by illness…
"I think I will go find out what is going on with Grissom," said Catherine to an equally confused Warrick and Greg. They nodded in agreement and Catherine got up to solve the case of the missing boss.
She found him in his office, staring blankly at his desk. Upon closer inspection, she found that he was staring at two slips of paper.
"Hey Gris. What do you have?" she asked, sitting across from him. Wordlessly, he shoved the two papers across for her to look at. She furrowed her brow in confusion. They were two forms of resignation. She let in a sharp intake of breath as she saw the two names inscribed on the tops.
"Nick and Sara?" she questioned. He nodded, and looked up. For the first time that day, Catherine was able to get a good look at him. His eyes were swollen and baggy, as though he had not gotten any sleep in some time.
"She left me." It took Catherine a moment to comprehend his words. Once she did, however, she let out a gasp.
"Sara? That doesn't sound like her. Maybe she just got cold feet and will be back soon…" Grissom was already shaking his head.
"She' s gone for good. She didn't just leave me. She left me for another man." Catherine quickly put two and two together.
"Nick?" she ventured. By the crestfallen expression on Grissom's face, she could see that she had hit the mark.
"Said they'd been having an affair for some time. Didn't love me anymore. Loved him I guess. They ran off to Montana." For once, Catherine had no words for the man in front of her. So she did the only thing she could think of. She walked around his desk and lay a comforting had on his shoulder.
ONE YEAR LATER
"I got another email from Nick and Sara today." Warrick's voice was low, as his eyes darted around for any sign of Grissom. Seeing the man nowhere in sight, he continued talking to both Catherine and Greg.
A few weeks after Nick and Sara had left, Nick had emailed Warrick. In the email, he had apologized for his actions, trying to explain why they did what they did. He had asked Warrick to read the email to both Greg and Catherine as well. They had started regularly emailing one another, each email Warrick showing to his fellow two CSI's. For obvious reasons, Grissom was never told about any of this.
After leaving Vegas, Nick and Sara had gone to Montana, as they said they would. They had married in a small chapel, in a small ceremony. A few months later, Warrick had received word that the couple was expecting a child.
Now, Warrick held in his had a letter from the couple, paired with some pictures they had sent. The email told everyone they were doing fine, everything was perfect. Sara had given birth to a baby girl that they had named Casey.
The pictures were of the three. One in particular seemed to capture the family dynamic especially well. It had been taken in the mountains, though by whom, Warrick did not know. It showed the three of them; Nick had his arms wrapped around Sara, who was holding an infant. The two new parents gazed down at the child with love.
Warrick had never seen either Nick or Sara look so happy.
Later that day, he was walking down the hall when he bumped into Grissom.
"Warrick, how are they doing?" Warrick was sure his expression mirrored that of a deer caught in the headlights.
"Who?"
"Nick and Sara."
"Err…"
"What I mean to say," Grissom took a breath, "what I mean to say is are they happy. Is…is she happy?" Warrick thought back to that picture, of the small family. He nodded.
"They really are."
Grissom nodded. "That's all I needed to know." And with that, he walked away.
A/N: Not much else to say. Again, I hope you enjoyed the final installment of this story. It is DONE. No, there will not be a sequel. Sorry. Nevertheless, please, leave your reviews. I love to hear from you!
Emily