Title: Life Is Too Short
By: reversedsam
Pairing: Cath/Sara
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimers: They're not mine, but I promise I'll have them back by midnight.
A/N: All mistakes and British spellings are mine.
Summary: Catherine decides to go after what she wants.

***

Life is to short.

I've thought about that sentence a whole lot today.

It's been repeating in my mind since my conversation with Warrick.

He threw me for a loop with the whole marriage thing. I'm not really sure what he thinks about my reaction to the news.

I was shocked at first, upset and a little angry as well. Shocked because of the suddenness of it. Upset because he didn't tell me. Angry because not only did he not tell me he was getting married, but he didn't even mention it until I brought it up, until I asked him about the ring on his finger.

I thought we were good friends, I've considered him one of my best friends for a long while now. Clearly he doesn't feel the same. That's not something you neglect to tell one of your best friends.

I get that he didn't say he was getting married, that's what the whole 'eloping' thing is about. But I thought he would have at least told me the next time he saw me.

I am happy for him. I'm sure he doesn't think so but I genuinely am. He probably thinks I'm jealous, that I wanted him myself and truth be told I did entertain the thought at one time, but it was short lived. He's not the one I want. I'd never have let anything happen between us because I know my heart wouldn't have been in it. It would probably have ended badly and I'd never in a million years want to see him hurting because of me.

So he took a chance, went after what he wanted, decided to follow his heart and see where it leads him. That's what I'm jealous of. That's what I want to do. I'm not quite sure when it was I got so cautious, when I stopped taking chances and actually living my life. When I stopped going after the things I wanted. I think an attitude change is in order.

As he said 'life is too short' so I think it's high time I stopped thinking and started doing. I think it's time I went after what I wanted, and what I want is Sara Sidle.

'Lovers and co-workers, that never works'

Another sentence that's been bouncing around in my head.

I said it like it was a situation I've been in often. Yes I've been in relationships with people that I occasionally see about something work related. But I've never been in a relationship with someone I see daily, someone I work with full-time. So it's not like I can say with certainty if it works or not.

Especially since the relationships that work aren't gossiped about, there's no news there. So you only ever hear about the break-ups; the failed attempts.

I saw Sara's face when I said it. She probably thought I was referring to her and Gil. That one was all over the lab for months. Not that there was ever an actual relationship. Gil would have told me otherwise, we spoke a lot about his feelings for her and how he felt he couldn't act on them. I felt for him, I told him to go for it, but it's not his style, he doesn't take chances. Unless of course they're scheduled and planned beforehand.

So he pushed her away and watched as she got over him and moved on. I'm sad for him, he missed his chance, and convinced himself he was doing the right thing and hurt himself in the process.

I'm glad he did though. I know that sounds terrible and obviously I'm not glad he was hurting but I think seeing them together every day, if anything had of happened, would have slowly killed me.

Thankfully for me I have no such reservations, if I think there's a chance; I fully intend to go after it. I won't do as he did. As Warrick said, life's too short.

I don't even know if she's into women, nor do I have any idea how to go about finding out.

All I need to do is convince Sara that not only should she consider dating a woman, but the woman should be me.

So I'm guessing that now is when the fun really begins.

***

"Hey Sara."

"Yeah?"

"Shift is over in ten, wanna grab some food?" I shout over the car we're both working on.

"Sounds good. Let's go get changed, I'm starved."

I desperately want to ask her on a date. I will ask her out, and it will be sooner rather than later. But I figure it's best to start small, test the waters a little.

We head to the locker room to change, just talking over the case.

"So where do you fancy going?" I ask as we're changing.

"Anywhere is fine, as long as there's coffee." She jokes as she unzips her cover all and takes the tank top she wears under it off. She turns to get another top and I can't help but stare at her back, her skin looks so soft and I'm dying to reach out and see if it is.

"There's a new diner not far from mine if you're interested? They have a good veggie menu. I checked last time I was there." I say, snapping myself out of my Sara induced haze.

"You did?" She asks as she turns to face me, thankfully fully clothed.

"Yeah, in case you'd ever wanted to go there, pretty pointless if you can't eat anything."

"That's really sweet of you, the guys usually forget. Thank you." She says, giving me a full-blown smile.

I feel myself starting to blush at her compliment. "No problem, let's get going shall we?" I say, turning to grab my jacket so she can't see me blushing.

She follows me out of the lab to the parking lot. We decide to take both cars so I tell Sara to follow me.

I'm kind of glad for the time alone, I need to figure out how to ask her out without her freaking. I need to broach the subject somehow and find out if she's even remotely interested.

I rack my brain all the way to the diner to no avail. I'm determined to do this though.

As I get out the car Sara pulls in behind me, getting out of her car I see she's on her phone so I say quiet and wait for her to finish.

"For Christ sake, how many times do I have to tell you no? Stop calling me." I hear, then she slams her phone shut.

"Everything okay?" I ask as we walk into the diner.

"Agh, men." She says as we sit down. "It was Hank." She states before picking up a menu.

"Hank?" Who the hell does he think he is calling her after what he did? The waiter comes to take our orders and I wait for her to reply after he's gone.

"Apparently he's finished with his girlfriend and wants another chance."

"What a total ass hole." I state. I think I want to kill him.

"Yeah I know. I mean, as if I'm going to even consider it." She states, her voice full of incredulity.

"How many times has he phoned?"

"I bumped into him last week, he's phoned three times since."

"I can't believe the nerve of him." I tell her.

"I know, if he calls again, I'll do something about it. What is it with me and men? Why do I always pick the wrong ones?" She asks.

I laugh before replying. "You're asking the wrong woman there babe, my track record is just as bad."

"I think I'll stick to women in future." She states.

What the...? Oh my god, thank you lord. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought.

"Stick to women? You've dated women before?" I say as if I'm just asking in passing, not just about dying to hear her answer.

"Yeah, not that my track record there is any better, but at least they've usually been amiable break-ups."

"How come I didn't know that?" Like I care right about that right now. As long as I do know.

She shrugs before continuing. "I don't broadcast my private life or relationships, be it with a man or woman. But as you can see, I have no issues telling my friends." She smiles.

I can't help return her smile; there was a time I thought the word 'friends' would never apply to us. I'm glad I was wrong.

"So what about you? You ever date a woman?"

I can't believe how easy this conversation is. Especially seeing as how I've been both trying to initiate it and at the same time dreading it for weeks now. And he we are talking about it as if its a regular topic of conversation.

"Once or twice. Not for a while though." I answer.

"Me either, maybe I should give it another go." She smiles.

"Yeah me too." I say.

I excuse myself and head for the bathroom, I'm not sure she would have quite understood the happy dance I felt the urge to do at her admission. Once in the bathroom I try to get a grip on the elation I feel, don't want to head back with a Cheshire cat grin plastered all over my face. I don't want to give myself away just yet.

The rest of breakfast seems to fly past, she seems relaxed today, it suits her, gone is the tension she always seems to carry in work, and I have to say I love it. It's a rarity to catch her in this mood.

I can't help thinking back to before we actually became friends; I was missing out on so much. How did I not notice how funny she is before? Or how kind and caring she is? She's incredibly sweet too. I can only assume I was being a fool. Still we're friends now. That's all that matters.

My thoughts are interrupted by Sara.

"I think I best head home. I'm tired." She says stifling a yawn. I can't help but notice how sexy her voice sounds when she's tired, all gravely and low, it sends shivers down my spine.

"Yeah, I'm tired too. Let's go." I say standing up.

"Thanks for breakfast, we should do this more often." She says as we reach the parking lot.

"We should."

"Great." She smiles. "I'll see you at work." She says heading towards her car.

"See you tonight." I reply as I head to mine.

On the drive home I can't help think of our earlier conversation. She wants to try dating a woman again. Ya-freaking-hoo!

I need to ask her out, now I know she's into women I have no excuse not to.

'So why wait?' I ask myself, wasn't the point of the attitude change to take chances? To remember that life is too short? To go after the things you want?

I ponder my train of thought for a second before making a decision. Turning the car around and heading towards Sara's. As I said, I have no excuses. I'm going to do this now.

***

Okay, I can do this, it's just Sara and I'm only asking her out.

I say that to myself a few times as I stand outside Sara's door, finally getting up the courage to knock. I stand and wait for her to answer, I doubt she'll be asleep yet, at least I hope not.

"Catherine? Is everything okay?" She says as she opens the door, stepping back and gesturing for me to come in.

She's wearing shorts and a tank top, obviously ready for bed.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something." I say as I try to keep my eyes from wondering over her legs. She has the longest, sexiest legs I think I've ever seen.

"Okay, grab a seat." She says gesturing towards the sofa. "You want a drink?"

"Tea would be great." I reply. I don't actually want a drink, I accepted so I'll have a minute to compose myself.

"Sure, I'll be right back." She smiles as she heads for the kitchen.

As soon as I'm alone my head starts buzzing and half of me wants to run. Oh for Christ's sake Cath get a grip, you'd think I'd never asked anyone out before, I'm acting like a fool and that is about to change. I take a deep breath and compose myself as Sara returns from the kitchen.

"So what's on your mind?" Sara asks as she places a cup on the table in front of me.

"You actually." I say truthfully. I feel the nerves bubbling up again and fight hard against them. I will do this.

"Me?" She asks raising an eyebrow. "What did I do this time?" She jokes.

I smile at her attempt to alleviate the nervousness that's obviously rolling off me.

"Seriously though Cat, whatever it is, you can tell me."

I smile again at her use of that nickname, it sounds so cute coming from her.

Right, here goes.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out on a date with me sometime?" I manage to get out before my nerve goes.

I feel so much better as soon as I've said the words. I've said it now, the hard part is over.

I watch her face closely for a reaction but she just looks a little stunned.

"Wow." She says a few seconds later.

"Wow?" I repeat.

"Jesus I wasn't expecting that." She says with a smile.

"Sorry, I know it seems out of the blue but I've wanted to ask you for a while, and when you said you liked women I didn't have any more excuses to not ask." It comes out as a bit of babble, but I think she understood.

"I don't know what to say."

"People usually go with yes or no." I say with a laugh, albeit a nervous one.

"Catherine I'm flattered, seriously flattered but I don't have feelings like that for you."

Ouch. There you have it. That hurt a lot more that I thought it would. I feel like I've just been kicked in the stomach.

Immediately the embarrassment starts kicking in, along with the realisation that I've just made a total fool of myself.

"I'm going to go." I say standing up. Time to get out of here.

"No, please wait." Sara says, grabbing my hand. "I think you should stay for a few more minutes at least."

"Why? Not that I'm not enjoying the embarrassment, but I don't see the point." I don't mean to snap at her, I just need to leave.

"See, that's why. If you leave now things will be strained between us until you get over feeling embarrassed, and thinking I feel awkward. You'll snap at me and inevitably I'll snap back, which will take us right back to square one. Catherine we've been there and I won't let us go back. I'm not willing to lose our friendship over this, so please, sit down."

"You don't feel awkward?" I ask her sitting back down. She's right; I don't want to lose our friendship either.

"No, and you shouldn't feel embarrassed either. You took a chance, you should be proud of that. I know it doesn't help but I am totally flattered. I've never in my wildest dreams imagined you would ask me out."

Strangely, although I'm not even sure why, but it does help.

"I don't want things to be awkward between us either Sara but I don't see how they can't be, I feel like a total fool." I say honestly.

"Look, Greg has asked me out a million and one times and things aren't awkward between us. I asked Grissom out and things are good with us too." She reasons.

I take her words on board and think about them for a second.

"I can't act like it never happened though."

"Obviously not, but there's no way I'm letting this ruin our friendship. Look, I'm not about to start avoiding you or acting differently around you. Just stay and finish your drink."

She's obviously okay with this. My pride is far from okay though. Although I agree with her, I don't want this to ruin our friendship.

"Okay." I nod.

"Excellent." She smiles. "Now, subject change, how's Lindsey?"

And with that we've moved on. Her complete determination not to let this become an issue makes me feel a little better. Again, life is too short.

"She's great, calmed down a lot since starting at her new school." I say grabbing my tea and sitting back on the sofa.

I leave Sara's half an hour later feeling a lot better than I thought I would.

Okay so she's not interested and that hurts, not so much because of the rejection but because I now I know there isn't a chance.

But I'm determined not to mope over this, I'll move on, get over it and she's right I should be proud, I took a chance and asked her out.

As I reach home I flop down on the sofa and bury my head in my hands. God this hurts, I feel flat. The fact that I've got it so bad for her isn't helping.

Okay so maybe I will mope a little.

***

I arrive at work tonight feeling a little better. I'm a bit apprehensive thought, and I'm beginning to wish I'd never asked her out in the first place.

Despite our earlier conversation I'm convinced there's going to be some awkwardness so I prepare myself for that as I walk into the break room.

Sara and Nick are laughing as I walk in and my first thought is how beautiful she looks when she laughs. Okay Cath get it together, you need to stop thinking like that.

"Hey you two." I say as I grab a seat.

"Hey Catherine, and how are you today?"

"I'm okay thanks Nicky." I lie.

"Hey, you want a coffee?" Sara says.

"Please."

"Nick?" She asks as she gets up and heads over to make the coffee.

"No thanks. I gotta head out. I'll see you both later." He states as stands and heads towards the door.

"Catch you later Nicky." I shout after him.

A few seconds later Sara places a cup of coffee in front of me. "Thanks." I say without looking at her.

See, I knew this would happen; I feel awkward and sit in silence looking at the table as she grabs a seat next to me.

"Catherine."

"Yeah." I say lifting me eyes to meet hers.

"We don't need to do this okay?"

I know what she's talking about and I remember I did promise myself I wouldn't let this happen so I do the only thing I can, take a deep breath and get the hell on with it.

"You're right, we don't. So how are you today?"

"I'm good thanks." She smiles.

"Anything new on the case?"

"Unlike me I know, but I haven't even looked, wanted to wait till you got in."

God why does she have to be so sweet? Why can't she be a bitch? This would be so much easier for me then.

"I'm shocked." I tease. "You're usually the first to get to work."

"Yeah I know, didn't feel like today. So you wanna grab breakfast after shift?" She asks.

"And already thinking of leaving time, I'll start to worry soon." I say laughing.

I contemplate her offer of breakfast for a second before replying, half of me wants to say no. "Breakfast sounds good." I reply.

The initial awkwardness I felt gets easier as the night goes by, we're mostly working but it's as if nothing has happened, which is good.

Well on the surface anyway. Inside I still want to go home, curl up, eat too much ice cream and wallow.

A few hours after shift has started I find myself sitting in the locker room on my own, just thinking, having left Sara in the lay out room going over evidence.

"Catherine? You in here?" I hear Jim shout from the other side of the door.

"Yeah Jim, come on in."

The door opens and he starts to say something but stops mid sentence then walks over to sit next to me.

"You okay?" He asks.

I think about lying for a second but figure it might help to talk about this.

"Honestly, no."

"Something I can help with? Want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure where to start."

"Work related or personal?" He questions.

"Personal." I say taking a deep breath. I know he won't even be remotely bothered about me liking a woman, he's seen everything a thousand times, if anything it'll be the fact that it's Sara that shocks him.

He doesn't reply, just waits until I'm ready to continue. "I'm in love with Sara." I state.

His expression doesn't change at all. "Have you told her?" He asks as if that's something he hears daily.

"I haven't told her the extent of my feelings."

"Maybe you should."

"I don't think so. I asked her out. She said she doesn't have feelings like that for me."

"Ouch." Comes his simple reply.

"Yeah. But you know what, that's okay. I took my chance, she's not interested. Life's sucks like that sometimes."

"But now you have to deal with knowing she's not interested."

"Exactly. I need to get over all these feelings I have for her. That's hard to do when you work with someone and spend so much time together. I feel a little awkward around her, but she's determined that this won't affect our friendship. I don't want it to either but I need to get over her before I can really be her friend.

"I wish I knew what to say to make it better." He says sincerely.

"You're listening, that's enough." I assure him. "Maybe I should take some time off?"

"Maybe you should. Go on vacation for a few days with Lindsey. Take your mind of everything."

That's a good idea. "I think I might just do that."

"I know it's no conciliation but I think she's a fool for turning you down."

I smile at his attempts to cheer me up. Bless him.

"Thanks Jim."

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is." He smiles.

I feel a little better having got it off my chest; I've never been the 'keep it bottled up' type.

"So, where do you think I should take Linds?" I ask changing the subject.

"Disney of course." He laughs. "But that might be because I love it. Don't tell though, I have a reputation to maintain."

"Your secret is safe with me." I joke back. "Thanks for listening."

"Any time."

***

It's been a few months since I asked Sara out and it hasn't affected our relationship at all. We're better friends now than before. Yes I still have feelings for her but I'm slowly getting over it.

I decided to take Jim's advice and take some time off, of course I had to wait three weeks for it but it was worth it. I feel so much better for it. I find it hard to be unhappy when I'm with my daughter, so two weeks away from everything with her has done me the world of good.

I'm not even dreading going back to work tonight, in fact I'm looking forward to it.

"Hey." I say as I walk into the break room to find Sara and Gil.

"Hey Cat. How was the vacation?" Sara enquires.

"It was excellent thanks."

"Glad to hear, you have pictures I hope?" She smiles.

"I hate to interrupt ladies but we have work." Gil says interrupting our conversation.

"Yes thanks Gil the break was fine, and I'm good thanks for asking." I deadpan, earning myself a laugh from Sara. I smile at her as I grab myself a coffee.

"Sorry. I was a little preoccupied. How are you Catherine?"

"Just get on with it will you?" I joke. He can be so oblivious sometimes, still it's actually one of the things I find funny about him. "What we got tonight?"

"Well, it seems there's a two day conference in Miami about new fingerprint techniques and Ecklie wants two of us there." Sara tells me. "Of course he's chosen me to go because it gets me out of his lab for a few days. We know how much he loves me." She grins.

"And I was hoping you would go with her, everyone else is on a case." Gil adds.

Hmm, more time off work sounds good to me. Okay so it's not technically time off work but a few hours a day at a conference is good enough.

"I'll have to see if my sister can have Lindsey but I don't see it being a problem." I tell him.

"Good." He says as he stands. "I have a scene to get to, call me when you can confirm."

"Will do. See you later." I say as he leaves.

"So no work tonight?" I ask Sara as I sit next to her and hand her a coffee.

"Nope, we have to leave tomorrow so it's pointless giving us a case."

"I think I like this coming back to work stuff." I say with a grin.

"You know, I've really missed you."

"Thanks. I've missed you too."

"It's been strangely quiet around here, I hated it, I'm really glad you're back."

There she goes with that utter sweetness again. I want to hug her so much, just for being so nice. She makes me feel so special with just a few words. I can't help wonder how she'd make you feel if you were in a relationship with her, especially if she makes me feel like this now and we're only friends.

"Plus the guys have been trying to pick on me, because I was the only woman." She says with a grin.

I can't help but giggle at the thought "I can't believe you let them get away with that."

"I didn't say they got away with it, I said they tried to." She says giving me a massive smile.

My stomach starts to flutter a little, I love her smile. You've still got it bad, I tell myself.

"Right, I'm gonna go phone my sister. I assume since we leave in the morning that we get tonight off?"

She nods her response.

"Good. I can go fill Lindsey in before I leave. I'll head over to my sisters now then, instead of phoning, since we have no work." I say as I start to head out of the break room.

She heads out after me and we walk to the parking lot together.

"I'll see you in the morning then."

"See you then. Night Catherine."

By ten the next morning Sara and I are on our way to Miami.

The flight goes by quickly. Flying bores the crap out of me, so it helps to have someone to talk to. We looked over my vacation photos and just chatted, I love how relaxed she always seems to be when we're not at work.

Soon enough we're on our way to our hotel having hired a car.

"Where is this hotel anyway?" Sara asks as we climb into our newly rented car.

"Apparently it's not that far from Miami's CSI HQ and I'm pretty sure I remember where that is. Besides, if we get lost this things got sat nav." I reassure her.

"Good. Get a move on then, I need food." She jokes.

Twenty minutes later and we're all checked in and heading to our room.

"Conference doesn't start for a few hours so we got time to eat." Sara smiles.

"Ecklie's a tight ass." I declare as we reach our room. "He couldn't have stretched the budget for two rooms."

"Probably didn't see the point, since we're both women and well...he's a tight ass." She laughs.

We both stop dead in our tracks as we get inside and find only one bed.

"Typical." Sara says shaking her head. "I'll go back to reception and get this sorted. I don't think Ecklie is this much of a tight ass." She jokes. "Back in a second."

Twenty minutes later she's back.

"Okay so we're stuck here." She says.

"What?" She cannot be serious.

"Because of the conference they're booked up, can't give us another room till tomorrow, and apparently we're not the only ones stuck like this." She shrugs. Then throws her bag on the bed and starts to unpack.

She doesn't seem even remotely bothered by this turn of events unlike me.

"Sara they have to find us somewhere, where the hell are we meant to sleep?"

"Well, I'll take the sofa and you can have the bed."

"Sara, Lindsey would be cramped on that sofa and you're practically Amazonian, there is no way you're sleeping on that."

She giggles at my little outburst but I'm not finding it funny. Sharing a room with her is one thing, sharing a bed is totally out of the question.

"Yeah, so you can take the sofa short stuff." She jokes. Damn her finding this funny.

"This is so cliché." I state as I flop down on the sofa.

"Slightly." She laughs. "Look it's a total none issue, we share the bed, it's only one night and we're both big girls."

She sits down next to me before speaking again. "Catherine I'm fine with this as long as you are. If not, tell me and I will take the sofa."

It's not that I don't trust myself or anything like that but I dread waking up in the morning with her knowing the only reason she's there is circumstances, not because she wants to be.

"No, it's fine. I was being stupid." I tell her.

"Good, now let's go get food." She smiles.

I still can't believe how fine she is with this, as if it happens every day.

"Jesus woman, how much do you eat." I joke.

"What can I say, we amazons need our food." She laughs as she drags me out of the room.

She seems to have a knack of putting me at ease, something I've been immensely grateful for of late.

I'm still not looking forward to this but her attitude reassures me a little. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought.

***

'Okay I can do this. It's fine. We're just sleeping in the same bed' I tell myself as I get ready for bed in the bathroom.

The day had been pretty uneventful, the conference wasn't bad though. A lot of interesting stuff, plus Sara looks adorable when she's fascinated by something.

"Tomorrow should be interesting." Sara says as I exit the bathroom. "I'm looking forward to seeing what that software can do."

"You're a geek sometimes you know that?" I joke as I sit on the opposite side of the bed to her. She's already in bed but she's sitting up looking at tomorrow's schedule.

"Yeah but that's one of the reasons you love me." She jokes back as she's putting the paper down.

"Dream on Sidle." I say as I pull the covers back and climb into bed.

Okay am I meant to be the nervous? Is my heart meant to be beating this fast?

I need to get a grip.

"Night Cat." She says as she flicks the light off and gets herself comfortable.

"Night." I reply.
I turn so my back is to Sara hoping the 'out of sight, out of mind' trick will work, obviously it doesn't. I'm not sure how I'm meant to sleep. The woman I'm in love with is curled up in bed with me and I have to fight the urge to turn and snuggle into her every second. This is so not conducive to a good nights rest.

Forty-five minutes later and I'm still not asleep. I'm pretty sure Sara is but I'd have to roll over to check and temptation is close enough as it is.

I'm just about to give up and get out of bed when I hear a whisper behind me.

"Catherine, you still awake?"

"Yeah, can't sleep." I reply.

"Me either." She says. As the blankets move off me I realise she must have sat up.

I turn so I'm on my back and look at Sara. "What's the matter? Why can't you sleep?" I ask her.

She doesn't reply and I'm just about to ask her again, thinking she didn't hear me when she turns to face me. I can just about make her out in the darkness, the tiny amount of light coming through the curtains highlighting her face and shoulders.

She regards me for a second before moving closer and lying back down. This new position puts her flush against my side and my temperature immediately shoots up.

She props her head up with one hand as the other comes to rest on my stomach.

"Sara?" What is she doing?

She doesn't reply, and I watch, mesmerized and confused as hell as she moves my top up a tiny bit and runs her fingers back and forth across the now exposed skin of my stomach.

She dips her head down and places tiny kisses on my shoulder. Oh, that feels nice.

"Sara? What are you doing?" I ask her as my body starts to react to her gentle touches.

I feel almost disappointed when she lifts her head back up and her hand stops moving.

"I think we need to talk." She says.

Understatement of the century. I am confused as hell here. I have no idea at all what she's playing at.

"Yeah." I answer, my brain hasn't got over the confusion yet so that's the best I can do.

"Can we talk in the morning?"

What the hell? She wants to wait until the morning? I need answers now, I'm about to tell her that when she speaks again.

"I'd just really like to hold you." It comes out as a whisper but I hear it loud and clear.

How am I supposed to refuse her that? I want to cry at the sweetness of her. I feel my heart melting and know whatever she wants right now is what I'll give her.

I know I should make her talk, but I can't refuse her, and if I'm honest; I don't want to. I've wanted to fall asleep in her arms for months.

I can't find the words to reply so I just nod at her.

She immediately pulls the blankets back over us then slides her hand around my waist, pulling me as close as she can. Her head moves to rest on my shoulder and I lift my hand to run through her silky hair. God this is amazing.

I sigh in total contentment as her breathing evens out with sleep. I feel my own eyes dropping even though my mind is still full of confusion. So I concentrate on the feeling of being in her arms, the rest can wait.

Pretty soon I feel sleep start to overtake me.

When I wake the next morning I find myself alone in bed. I listen for the shower but don't hear anything.

She's gone. Whatever the hell that was last night has obviously freaked her out and she's gone.

I roll over with a groan as I feel the misery settling in the pit of my stomach.

My heart leaps when I see a folded piece of paper on Sara's pillow. Please don't let it be bad, please don't let it be bad. I repeat to myself as I open the note.

Cat Gone to find us some breakfast, didn't fancy anything from room service.
I know we need to talk and I didn't want you to think I'd left. Sara

I read the note a few times as if it'll magically change if I read it again. In the space of two minutes I've gone from almost crying to elation.

I can't help but think about last night as I get myself showered and dressed.

I have no idea what that was all about. She offered no explanation whatsoever at all for her actions and I didn't ask her to.

She wanted to wait till today to talk. I wish I'd have asked her last night, made her explain, any form of explanation at all would have done. Just to save me the confusion I'm currently suffering.

I exit the bathroom just as Sara is coming back into the room and I stop in my tracks. I feel as awkward now as I did when I asked her out. Damn why did I not sort this last night.

"Hi." She says giving me a shy smile.

"Hey."

"I got us food." She says holding a bag up. "Did you get my note?"

"Yeah." I reply as I make my way over to the tiny sofa and sit down. "Thanks for being so thoughtful. I did think you'd gone."

"Not a chance." She reaches into the bag she brought and smiles big as she takes out a single orange rose and hands it to me. "It has a meaning, it's kind of cheesy I know, but I just saw it and thought..." She trails of as an adorable blush tinges her cheeks.

"It's lovely. Thank you." It breaks my heart she's so sweet. Is it any wonder I'm in love with this woman?

"So I'm guessing you want an explanation for last night?"

And here come the nerves once more. Her actions just now have only served to heighten my confusion.

"Please. I'm going crazy here. I'm confused as hell."

She sits on the sofa next to me and turns so she's facing me.

"Okay, so let's talk."

***

I think Sara is waiting for me to ask her a question and I don't know were to start.

"Let me start okay?" She offers.

Thank god for that, we might have been here a while until I my brain dealt with the million questions currently running through it and actually picked one.

I nod my reply and wait for her to talk. She takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I know last night was out of the blue and you're no doubt wondering why I did what I did."

"Just a little." I tease, trying to ease the tension a little. Yes we need to have this talk but I don't need to have grey hair by the end of it.

"This might take a while. So you gotta let me finish okay?" She smiles.

"I have time." I reassure her.

She smiles again before continuing.

"It kind of started when you asked me out, as I said at the time I had never in a million years though you would ask me out so I'd never thought of you as anything more than a friend."

What's she saying here? Now she does think of me as something more?

"Sara what..."

"Please just let me finish before I lose my nerve." She cuts me off.

I nod once more and wait for her to carry on.

"After you left that day it was pretty much all I could think of, I was shocked to say the least and I don't think I've ever been more flattered in my life." She gives me a huge smile and I can't help smile back.

"Obviously there was awkwardness but you may have noticed my refusal to let it become an issue. So I tried to spend more time with you to show you I was okay with it, there was no need for you to be bothered or embarrassed."

Easy for her to say. It killed me being around her all the time.

"That's when I noticed my feelings starting to change. I started looking forward to spending time with you. Started hoping we got put on cases together, stuff like that."

I'm dying to talk here but I bite my tongue and let her continue.

"First I just put it down to the fact that we were finally friends, I tried not to think too much about it, until I found myself noticing other things. Like how beautiful your eyes are, how much I love your smile and when you laugh, then other stuff like err...how hot you look in blue or how sexy you look whenever you wear you glasses." She turns away a little as she says this to hide her blush.

I don't care though; I'm far too busy smiling and dealing with the butterflies that have settled in my stomach.

"Then I'd find myself thinking about you when we weren't together, wondering what you were doing, I'd want to call you just to hear you voice. Then when you were away I absolutely hated it. I missed you like crazy. I missed how much fun you are, and how you always tease the guys, I missed how you always call Grissom on his shit, I missed watching you work. I missed that smile." She says giving me a smile of her own.

"I realised I made a big mistake saying no when you asked me out. I was going to just ask you out but I wanted to talk to you first, I didn't want it to seem like I was messing with you, but I couldn't seem to find the right time. Then last night, I really tried to fight it but you were so close and I just couldn't help it, I needed to show you how I felt. I know it confused you and I'm sorry for that. Basically what I'm trying to say is, Catherine would you like to go out with me sometime? ...Anyway, that about covers it. Feel free to shoot me down now."

I just sit here looking at her like an idiot, letting her words sink in. She wants to go out with me.

She stopped talking at least a few minutes ago and I still haven't spoken. She's starting to look nervous, not that I blame her she just put herself out there.

"Catherine? Say something, anything. I mean I'm pretty sure you're going to say no, and I understand, I mean it's not like I thought you would be waiting around for me or anything, and I'm an idiot for not..."

"Sara!" I say cutting her off. That's the first time I've ever seen her babble.

"Yeah." She looks petrified as she answers.

"Ask me again." I know that sounds stupid, but I need to know this is real. I need to hear her say it.

"Catherine, will you go out with me?"

"Yes Sara, I'd love to." I say with a huge smile.

"Really? Oh thank god. I thought for sure you'd say no."

"Not a chance."

"Good." She's practically beaming at me and it's a beautiful sight.

I realise I've been fiddling with the rose she gave me since we started talking; I remember something she said before.

"So what does it mean?" I ask, holding up the rose. "You said it had a meaning."

"It doesn't matter." She says as the most adorable blush creeps across her cheeks. Now I have to know.

"Come on woman, tell me."

"Well I didn't know what ones to get you so the florist asked what I wanted it for, she said different rose colours have different meaning, orange has a few..."

Shells babbling again so I cut her off. "Get to it woman." I tease.

She raises her eyes to mine as she speaks. "She said it was the perfect way to say 'be mine'."

If I wasn't in love with her before, I sure as hell would be now.

I can't find to words to describe how I feel so I gently set the rose down next to me and bring my hand up to cup her cheek. I run my thumb over her bottom lip and her eyes flutter closed. I stop its movement until her eyes open again then lean in, bringing our lips together.

The first touch of her lips on mine makes me shiver in delight and my breath catches as I feel the slightest pressure of her tongue on my bottom lip. I slide my tongue out to meet hers and we both groan at the contact.

My hand snakes around the back of her head to pull her deeper into our kiss.

I've wanted to do this for so long. I let her dominate the kiss until my own need becomes too great and I bring my other hand up to tangle in her hair, using my grip to pull her head back, breaking the kiss.

She doesn't open her eyes, just tries to lean back in, but my grip in her hair prevents her. I want to kiss her senseless but I want to tease her a little first.

I wait until she opens her eyes then giving her my sexiest smile I lean back in slowly, stopping just short of her waiting mouth.

I slowly run my tongue over her bottom lip then take it between my teeth and gently bite it. I pull back and then repeat my actions until she whimpers. Jesus that's sexy.

I waste no more time, capturing her lips with mine, plunging my tongue into her mouth, shivering as she moans into the kiss.

I only pull back when my hormones start demanding more. I rest my head against hers as we both get our breathing under control.

"Damn but you're good at that." She tells me as she pulls back a little. I watch as her eyes immediately fall to my mouth and her eyes darken with desire.

"It takes two." I tell her.

Her eyes are still looking at my mouth and I really want to show her exactly what that look does to me. "Sara stop looking at me like that." I warn.

She finally makes eye contact with me. "We need to go soon." She says in an attempt to change the subject.

"I know. We should eat." I reply. But damn the kissing seems so much more appealing.

"Yeah." She smiles as she puts some distance between us. "Besides, we have a date to organize."

***

Sara and I talk some more as we eat breakfast. I think it's starting to sink in. I thought that I was never going to get the chance to be with her and I was very slowly coming to terms with that, now within the space of twenty four hours everything has changed. If I was to say I'm elated it would be an understatement.

I'm incredibly excited as well. I can't remember the last time I felt as strongly for someone as I do for her. So I can't help but be excited about all the possibilities her revelation brings. I'm not stupid, we're not about to promise each other forever but I really want to give this a go, to see if we could have something. I don't mean to get ahead of myself but I can't help think that if it does actually work out the 'something' we might have would be special.

Our conversation is brought to a halt by the ringing of the phone. Sara goes to answer it.

"Hello. Oh yeah, thank you. Our new room is ready." Her gaze shifts to me and I can see she's not sure what to say, she doesn't want to assume anything. I think I can cover this. I want her in my arms when I wake tomorrow.

I stand and walk towards her placing my hands on her hips once I reach her.

"Can you hold on one second please?" She says down the phone before covering the mouth piece with her hand and talking to me.

"The other room is ready, I don't..."

Whatever she was about to say is cut off when I lean in and gently kiss my way up her neck to her ear. "We don't need another bed Sara." I tell her. My voice is low and comes out as an almost whisper and I smile as her body shivers in response.

I don't wait for her response; simply turn around as if nothing has happened. Smiling to myself.

"Thank you for calling but it won't be necessary now. Thank you." She says before hanging the phone up.

"Oh you are evil." I hear over my shoulder as she wraps her arms around my waist.

I turn in her arms and give her my best innocent look. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now come on, it's time to go." I say with a smirk.

"Yeah, but just one thing before we go."

"What?"

She gives me an innocent look of her own before leaning in and capturing my lips in a searing kiss.

My hormones roar back to life and in no time at all I'm moaning into her very talented mouth. Just as my hands start roaming, needing more contact she pulls back.

"Two can play that game Catherine." She laughs as she releases me and makes her way to the door.

I open my eyes and give her a seriously incredulous look. Is she actually thinking that I'll be able to concentrate on anything after that? She's insane.

I'm standing in our room, in front of the mirror, brushing my hair and all ready to climb into bed with Sara. We have just had a fabulous day. I couldn't even bring myself to be bored at the convention, yes it was work but I was with Sara, somehow she manages to make even the most mundane things seem fun.

She disappeared after the convention finished, telling me she had something to take care of. I got a text message twenty minutes later telling me to meet her at the car.

I found her with a picnic basket and another rose; this time pink. Apparently they mean thank you. She said she wanted to thank me for agreeing to go out with her, as if it wasn't something I had wanted for months.

She told me that she didn't want to wait so we had our first official date this afternoon. A picnic in the park. It was so much fun. I absolutely adore the care free, relaxed side of her. I wish more people got to see it.

So we sat, talked, joked, held hands all the regular date things and I have to admit I loved every single second. There was also a whole lot of kissing; I loved every second of that too.

I feel Sara wrap her arms around me from behind, breaking my thoughts and I lean back into her.

"What are you thinking about?" She asks.

I look at our reflection in the mirror and smile. I watch her do the same before we make eye contact via the mirror. "You." I say bringing my hands up to cover hers. "This, us."

"I know. I'm amazed to be honest. If someone would have told me a few months back that I'd be here now, I'd have laughed and assumed they were insane."

"I'd have been ecstatic." I say with a smile. I know that comment could be taken the wrong way, but I don't want that.

She doesn't reply and I watch in the mirror as she gently tilts my head to the side. Her fingers slide my hair from my neck and she lowers her lips to the newly exposed skin. Her eyes close as her lips touch my skin and her slow kisses move to my ear. I'm not sure right now what I'm enjoying more, feeling her kisses or watching her touching me.

"Your skin is so soft." She whispers before kissing the spot behind my ear then turning her attention to my ear lobe.

My eyes are trying to close, my body demanding I focus all my attention on her touch but I'm mesmerized by our reflection.

Her hands move from my stomach to my sides and slowly slide under my tank top. She moves them to my back then runs her hands slowly upwards; the feel of her hands on my skin is incredible.

Her kisses have returned to my neck, her tongue deciding it wants to play too.

"I love touching you." She husks as her hands move to my sides and slide back down. Oh this feels nice. The gentle stroking of her fingers on my skin is so good.

"I can't keep my hands off you." I'm not sure if she's saying this to me or herself.

Her hands slide around to my stomach once more, and my breath catches in sheer anticipation of where those hands are headed as they inch upwards, oh so slowly.

Her eyes meet mine again in the mirror, my breath is ragged already. "I want to learn everything about your body." She says directly into my ear. I whimper at the implication of her words. Her hands haven't stopped their slow journey upwards and I see her watching them move higher as she continues kissing my neck.

"I want to know what you like, how to please you."

My hands grip table in front of me as I feel her fingers graze the under side of my breasts. And my legs threaten to give out. The combination of feeling her touches, hearing her husky, lust filled voice and seeing her reactions to touching me is electric.

"I want to know exactly how to touch you, and exactly where to touch you to make you moan." Her hands cup my breasts as she speaks and as if on cue I moan her name as my head falls back onto her shoulder. "I want to kiss every single inch of your perfect body."

Her attention focuses on my already hard nipples. Teasing, circling her fingertips around the now hypersensitive buds as she continues talking. Her voice alone is driving my higher, and her touches are making me weak. I can't help but whimper in pure want as she continues her ministrations. "I want to watch you arch into my hands. I want to hear you when you climax under my touch." If she keeps this up she won't be waiting long. "Oh god Catherine, I bet you taste so good."

"Sara, fuck..." My body is on fire. I'm arching into her touch and whimpering with need even as her hands retreat back down my top. Once at my hips she spins me around and crushes our mouths together.

I kiss her with every single ounce of desire she's just instilled in me. Dominating her mouth and loving the whimpers my efforts earn me.

I feel her slowing our kiss down until it becomes a languid exploration. I can't decide which I like best.

A second later she pulls back, breathing just as hard as I am.

I want her now, my body is aching for her, but the logical part of my brain tells me it's too soon.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away there." She says with a shy smile.

I laugh at her admission. God help me when she gets a lot carried away. "Trust me, I was not complaining." I assure her.

"Come on." She says as she pulls back from me. "I want to give you a massage." She declares with a smile as she pulls me towards the bed.

"You don't have to do that."

"I know but I want to. Now come on, lie down."

I do as instructed and lie flat on my stomach. "Besides, I really just wanted to stare at your ass for a while." She laughs. I laugh along with her, marvelling once more at this relaxed side of her.

"This okay?" She asks as she straddles the tops of my thighs and settles herself.

"Yeah."

"Good. Now just relax."

Her hands find my shoulders and she slowly and softly works out every knot she finds. I make a note to ask her where she learned this tomorrow.

Her gentle touches move to the bottom of my back and she works her way upwards, pushing my top up as she goes. Unlike before, these touches are meant to relax not arouse and within minutes I feel like a puddle under her hands.

I feel myself starting to drift off as she moves so she can massage my legs too.

The last thing I'm aware of before sleep overtakes me is her pulling me into her arms and kissing the top of my head.

***

I wake in pretty much the same position I went to sleep in. I can't remember the last time I slept so well.

I cuddle in as close to Sara as I can and gently, so as not to wake her, I move my leg so it's draped over hers. I wrap my arms around her and sigh in contentment. I could get used to waking up like this.

"We have to check out in three hours." I hear.

I prop my head on my hand and smile down at her.

"I thought you were still asleep."

"Been awake a while actually, too comfortable to move, plus I was thinking."

"About?"

"Going home, work, us, and what happens when we get home?" She looks a little worried, she's obviously done some serious thinking, now if she'd just let me in on it.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I'm worried that this thing we've started here will fall apart when we have to deal with the reality of it back home."

"Why would you think that?"

"I'm worried about work for one; it's not exactly looked on highly to be in a same sex relationship in law enforcement. Plus we have a boss who has it in for me; Ecklie's just looking for an excuse to fire me."

"Then we keep it to ourselves for now, he doesn't need to know. I know I won't let it affect my work and I'm damn sure you won't either, it won't be a problem Sara."

"Then what if you change your mind when we get home? Decide that back in the real world this isn't what you want."

God how could she think that. I've been in love with her for months. Granted she isn't aware of that and I'm not about to say it this soon but I thought I had been clear.

"I asked you out back home remember, before all this. Before you even thought of all this I wanted a chance to be with you. That won't change just because of our location. Should I be worried about you changing your mind?"

"Of course not." She states. "I'm over thinking aren't I?"

"Yes and no, they're valid points and we'll deal with them when the time comes. But rest assured I'll want to be with you just as much when we get home. In fact, I do believe I owe you a date." I smile.

Thankfully I seem to have eased her fears somewhat. "Yes you do don't you?" She smirks. "How about we have dinner at my place before shift tonight? Consider it our second date."

"I thought I owed you the date?" I ask smiling.

"This way you owe me two. I'm thinking ahead." She shrugs.

"In that case, I accept." I smile.

"Work wasn't the only thing I was thinking about. I was thinking about Lindsey too." Her expression isn't giving anything away and I start to worry a little about what exactly she's been thinking.

I nod then hold my breath as I wait for her to continue. Yes I'm in love with her and yes I want to be with her but I'm a package deal. I need to know she's going to be okay with that.

"Well." She starts, she sounds cautious and I start to worry more. "I realise that it's very early in our relationship and I have no idea how you want to handle this. So if you think it's too soon I understand but I was hoping you'd bring her with you for dinner tonight."

I sigh as the relief washes over me. She's looking at me with the cutest hopeful expression. I usually only see a look like that when Lindsey wants something new.

"You're amazing you know that?" I tell her. "If you're sure you're ready I'd love to bring her."

My words earn me a smile. "Of course I'm ready. She's a great kid. Plus I want to get to know her better. I want her to like me. Obviously she's the most important person in your life, so I want her to be comfortable with me."

"She already likes you so you don't have to worry about that and thank you for thinking of her, for worrying about what she'll think of you. It's been a while since somebody did that."

"Do I look like a fool?" She asks. "As I said, I'm looking forward to spending time with Linds. I may have been stupid enough to turn you down when you first asked me out, but not now. I'm serious when I say I want this to work. I'm willing to do whatever it takes for us to actually have a chance."

I am in awe of this woman, I realised long ago that she's an all or nothing type of person, once she decides she's going to do something she gives it her all. I just never realised what that meant until now.

"Me too." I tell her.

"Now." She says turning so we're lying face to face. The mischievous smile she's giving me making me smile. "Change of subject, enough seriousness for one day." She smiles. "About or conversation last night."

"Which one?"

Her eyes darken slightly and I'm pretty sure I know what conversation she means. Teasing her is fun though.

"The kind of one sided conversation we had before I gave you a massage."

"Oh yeah, the very one sided conversation we had when you were groping me." I say laughing, her shocked expression making me laugh harder.

"See, you're evil. If it bothers you so much I'll make sure I don't do it again." She tells me with a smirk.

"Actually, I was thinking you didn't do that enough." I tease back. "Yes, I vaguely remember you driving me crazy with more that just your hands." I admit. "Your sexy voice in my ear, made me weak." I tell her. My own voice drops as I speak, my mind replays the scene and my body reminds me it very much liked it.

"I want you to know I meant it. If we do..."

"If?" I cut her off. "I think it's safe to say when." I also know that it will be sooner rather than later, the way my body reacts to her I won't be able to hold back for long.

She smiles at me before continuing. "I know it's too soon for sex now, but when we decide it's time, I want you to know I meant what I said last night. I want you to show me how to please you." She says, lowering her voice.

Oh good god, my eyes close as the images wash over me. I'm damn sure she's doing more than okay on her own; she seems to know exactly what to do to make me ache for her.

"I want to satisfy you. Actually, I want to be the best you've ever had." She smirks.

I can't believe how my body is reacting to her words. "Sara, trust me, you satisfying me won't be a problem. We'll learn together, I want to know how to please you too." I tell her. The thoughts that statement gives me make me shiver. I can't wait to have her writhing beneath me.

I think I need to stop this conversation.

She leans in a little to whisper in my ear and I gasp as I feel her fingers teasing my inner thigh. "I can't wait to feel you arching beneath me." As she speaks her fingers move higher.

"Sara..." I say as my breath hitches.

"Right come on. We need to get ready to go." She says as she rolls away from me and gets out of bed. She turns and looks at me then starts laughing.

"Oh you are so going to pay for that." I tell her as I half heartedly throw a pillow at her.

She catches it with ease. "I'm looking forward to it." She winks before dropping the pillow and disappearing into the bathroom. I groan and bury my head in the remaining pillows. She's going to be the death of me.

***

I can't help but feel a little disappointed as Sara and I arrive back in Vegas, we head to the airport parking lot, Sara left her car there before we left.

"What's up?" Sara asks as we get into the car. "You've been quiet since we landed."

"To be honest, I'm sad we're home."

"Why?"

"I liked having you to myself while we were away. I liked it just being us for a while and I know now we're home that's going to change."

She smiles before replying. "I liked it too and I know what you mean, I'm not ready to share this with anyone either." She leans in for a quick kiss. "But there isn't much we can do; we'll just make damn sure we make time for each other."

"We will, starting tonight. We'll be there at six."

"Good, looking forward to it."

We drive in silence to my place. As Sara cuts the engine and turns to say something I lean in and kiss her. We're both breathless when I pull back and I decide now would be a good time to repay her for her antics this morning.

I lean back in to kiss her neck; her head falls back, giving me more skin to explore. I flick my tongue over her pulse point as I slip my hand up her top.

Her skin is so soft; I want to feel more of her. Her hand comes up to the back of my head to tangle in my hair.

I gasp into her neck as I cup her breast. The feel of her hard nipple covered by the silk material of her bra is sexy as hell. I brush my thumb over her nipple as I suck hard on her pulse point. I know I'm leaving a mark but I don't care. Especially not since she started arching into my hand and moaning.

"Catherine..." She says with a whimper as I keep teasing her nipple and kiss my way up to her ear.

"You like this baby?" I whisper as my thumb circles her nipple.

She doesn't reply, just nods and whimpers again. "I know what would feel better...my mouth." I husk into her ear.

She moans low in her throat at my words.

Just as she's arching into me again I remove my hand and pull back from her completely. I loathe doing so, I want to touch her so much but this is about payback...well, a little anyway.

It takes her a second to realise what's happened and she focuses her gaze on me, looking confused as hell and I have to admit that one look at her desire filled eyes and I'm wondering why I stopped myself.

I give her my best smirk as I open the car door. "Payback's a bitch, don't you think?" I tell her, loving her groan of frustration.

"You can not do that to me." She states.

"I believe I just did." I reply.

"I'll be forced to retaliate, you know that don't you?"

Oh god, what have I done. I don't think I can handle her teasing me. I'll be damned if I'm about to admit that though. So I just smirk. "You can try Sidle. I'll see you later." I say as I close the car door and walk away, laughing to myself. I turn and smile at her as I reach my door. Damn I've got it bad, and I couldn't be happier.

I find my sister curled up on my sofa as I enter the living room.

"Hey sis." I say as I flop down next to her.

"Hey, didn't know what time you'd get back, figured I'd wait around in case you weren't back in time for the school run."

"Thanks. Everything been okay?"

"Yeah, everything's been fine. How about you, hope you weren't too bored."

I can't help the huge smile as I think there is no way in hell I could associate the word bored with how I've felt these past few days.

"Hmm, what's that smile about? Okay spill it, you've met someone haven't you?" She accuses looking a lot more interested than she did a few minutes ago.

Damn my sister for knowing me so well. "Why assume that I'm smiling just because I've met someone?"

"I'm your sister; I've known you all your life, so I recognize that smile. Plus, you didn't deny it." She says with a grin. "Now come on I want a name."

My sister knows I date women so she's not going to be surprised by that. I'm thinking she will be surprised that it's Sara, especially after listening to me mope for days after she turned me down.

Impatience gets the better of her and she doesn't wait for my reply. "So are we talking male or female? You must have met someone there because I know you went with Sara and we know..."

She trails and looks at me, shock written all over her face. I think I may have given the game away when I practically swooned at the mere mention of Sara's name.

"Sara? It's Sara? I thought she wasn't interested. You so have to give me details now."

I proceed to tell her pretty much everything that happened and how I felt about it and how happy I am about it.

"Wow Cath." She says when I finish talking. "I can't believe she's ready to take on Linds so soon."

"I know, she's amazing." I smile.

"Well I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

"So come on, get to the good stuff. Is she a good kisser?"

"You have no idea." I grin.

"Wow, that good. I'm jealous, she got any brothers?" She says laughing.

We chat for a while until I realise it's time to go get my daughter. Nancy and I leave together and I drop her at home before going to pick Lindsey up.

"Hey baby." I say leaning in for a hug as she gets into the car.

"Hey mom."

"How was your day?"

"Boring."

Informative. I think to myself, wondering whatever happened to the days when she couldn't wait to tell me all about her day.

"We're going to Sara's for dinner tonight. Is that okay?"

"Sara from work?"

"Yeah."

"Sweet."

Lindsey knows I've dated women before so it's nothing out of the ordinary to her. She also knows I only let her get to know people I'm serious about.

"Sara will probably be around quite a bit in future." I say tentatively, I don't want her to feel left out but I don't want to overwhelm her either. Plus, she's a very smart kid; she'd figure it out by herself.

"Why? Are you two dating or something now?"

"Yeah. What do you think about that?"

She just shrugs.

"You're okay with that?"

"Yeah. What time is dinner? I'm hungry."

My daughter has a lovely ability to dismissing everything she doesn't deem important enough and move the conversation to herself. Oh how I love teenagers.

"Okay, well how about I call Sara and we grab some take out and take it over now? Save her cooking."

"Sweet. I get to choose the take out though."

***

Next part of Life Is Too Short.