AN: Thanks to Rhee for beta reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI!

Summary: the Xes and the Os... just a fluffy GSR piece

Spoilers: 807 I guess but nothing of this would ever make it into a CSI episode... SIGH

X Stands For Kiss, O Stands For Hug

Sara raised her eyebrow, giving the girl sitting next to her a questioning look. "What are all those Xes and Os for?" She asked, curious as always.

"X stands for kiss and O stands for hug." The girl told her. "Don't you know that?"

Sara shook her head. "No."

"My Mom always writes me a note and puts it in my lunch box and she always finishes with XOX." A smile flashed over her lips. "And this is a letter for Brian Cooper and because I really like him I end it with XOXOXOX"

Sara sighed.

"Well maybe if you were prettier the boys would send you letters, too." The girl shrugged.

At that moment poor seven year old Sara felt her little heart break for the first time.

-.-.-.-

He raised his eyebrows, giving Troy Miller a questioning look. "What's that?" He asked, trying to hide his curiosity.

"Sadie Dennis wrote me another love letter." Troy laughed. "Look at these silly Xes and Os."

Gil wondered what those letters stood for. No girl had ever written him a love letter. "Why is it silly?" He asked.

"Kisses and hugs." He chuckled. "Why would I want to kiss and hug her? She's not even pretty."

So X stands for kiss and O stands for hug, little Gil thought by himself. "I think she's nice."

"If it was just about being nice you'd get letters, too." Troy said.

That was when Gil Grissom got suspended from school for the first and only time in his life. It seemed to be such a random thing but Gil Grissom would never forget the one moment that stained his perfect record – he should have known better than punching someone in the face.

-.-.-.-

20 years later Sara Sidle was sitting in a room together with 200 other scientists, listening to a bunch of boring lectures, trying to remember why exactly she was there.

As she tried to stifle a yawn the man sitting behind her started to chuckle. A minute later Sara received the first non work related post-it note in her life.

-.-.-.-

35 years had passed since Gil Grissom had learned about the Xes and Os. He had never received a love letter nor had he ever given one to a girl; or woman, had never written silly little post it notes or ever even wasted a thought on doing so. Until today.

He had watched the pony tailed woman sitting in front of him go from excited to bored to death within the last four lectures and for some weird reason he felt like he needed to cheer her up. So he took his pen and scribbled a short note on one of the yellow post-its that had been handed out to them earlier.

-.-.-.-

I guess I will have to go down there and teach the class myself. Reading it made her smile. She had no idea who the guy was but it amused her that she was not the only person that felt the urgent need to replace the professor.

She felt like she needed to reply. PLEASE! She reached behind her back and waited until he grabbed the paper.

-.-.-.-

He smiled when he read the woman's response.

Actually, I am the next speaker, so don't fall asleep or you'll miss all the good stuff. He handed the post-it back to her.

She read it and turned around, giving him a beautiful smile.

At that moment, for the first time in his life, Gil Grissom fell in love with someone.

-.-.-.-

Smiling about his latest note Sara couldn't help but turn around. She needed to take a look at her new found pen pal.

Their eyes met and she felt her heart skip a beat. At that moment Sara fell in love for the first time in her life.

-.-.-.-

Sara sighed, looking into the bathroom mirror. She looked tired, burned out, sad. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face as her eyes fell on the reflection of the golden wedding band on her finger. God she would miss him, more than he'd ever know.

At that moment – for no apparent reason - that one painful moment of her past entered her mind again. But for the first time the memory did not make her sad, it actually gave her a nice idea of how to remind Gil of how much he meant to her.

-.-.-.-

I love you XOXO - S

The letters appeared on the mirror as he was taking a hot shower and the steam settled on the cold surface.

As he reached for his towel his eyes fell on the mirror and he couldn't help but smile. As horrible as the day had been – saying goodbye to Sara had broken his heart and hurt more than he ever thought he could hurt – this definitely managed to cheer him up.

Kisses and hugs.

THE END