"Gil?"

"Catherine?"

"How do you know when you are in love?"

Gil Grissom swallowed. He knew this would happen. She'd ask him some outwardly innocent question, while setting a trap for him to fall into. He had to chose his words with due measure to ensure the true intent of his heart was voiced. "I know."

A sigh greeted his reply. He took hold of her hand instantly seeking her touch, needing it.

Softly he half whispered. "I know I love you. I know I'm in love with you. Isn't that enough?"

She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his, uncertainty masking them. "Yes..."

"But?"

She squeezed his hand, now he had hold of her hand, she wanted to return the reassurance he'd offered, knowing the words she was about to utter could shatter all they'd striven so hard to create. "But..." She sighed, her words were stuck in her throat, surely it should be enough to know he was in love with her. Why was she being greedy, why seek answers to questions he hadn't raised?

"Go on." He encouraged her.

Knowing now the subject had been raised, it would not easily be forgotten, she took a breath to steady her nerves. With all the courage she could muster, she sought out his eyes, wanting to convey the love she felt, but was afraid her next words would disguise.

"Eddie said he loved me, was in love with me, he wasn't the only one." She offered him a melancholy smile. "All those promises of loving me forever were soon forgotten. I don't want to lose this love, our love; I'm frightened. Maybe one day you'll wake up next to me and think who is this person, why am I with her? I don't want to lose you, or our love, you mean too much to me."

A silence blanketed the room. It was as if the fates themselves that had brought them together, were holding their breath in anticipation of the course of this love.

His hand squeezed her hand, his eyes remained locked to her eyes, the love he felt for her reflected with something more, an understanding and concern for her.

"I'm not Eddie, I'm not any other man who has loved you and left you. I'm not naive, I'll know we will face times when this love we share is tested, but I believe in it, I believe in you. With those two truths locked in my heart I know we can only succeed. You need to trust in me, my love, our love."

She leant towards him, seeking out his lips to seal that promise of love he'd just uttered, knowing that mere words would be insufficient.

"So, how do you know this is real, worth holding on to?"

He looked at her for a moment, trying to read the cause of these current insecurities. Many others would become concerned at such questioning, fearing their lover was about to put an end to their relationship, or become angry by the doubting accusations. But not him. He valued her, the love he'd found with her too much. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her.

He took her left hand cradling it with his. "You have had my heart for such a long time, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to confess my feelings. Wait here and I'll prove it to you."

Catherine sat where he'd asked, nervously pulling on her lower lip with her teeth. She had needed his reassurances, but now he had left her presence she was frightened, worried as to what he was going to reveal as proof.

She did not have to wait long, as he reappeared with a document box, carefully placing it on the table before them. She watched enthralled as he opened the lid. Unable to contain her curiosity she asked, "What is this?"

He smiled a little nervously, unsure of how she would view the contents. "Mementos to remind me of my life shared with you."

She looked at him in puzzlement. "What?"

He dug into the box, foraging within its contents for a few seconds until his fingers grasped hold of his intended target. He grinned and held up a paper napkin, his grin widened as her puzzlement seemed to grow. "You don't remember."

"Gil, it's a white paper napkin! I've lost count of the number of meals we've shared, how am I…"

He stopped her by putting his right index finger to her lips. "First of all think about what you have just said. You've lost count of the number of meals we've shared. That should tell you something." He watched as the smile of realization lit her face, "I accept we've occasionally had a dinner or breakfast with the team, but with you alone I've shared over one thousand meals. Now this is very special."

He passed her the napkin; she noted the fact that the folds had been well worn. As she opened it, she recognized her writing, and was transported back twenty years, to a diner, where she shared her first breakfast with Gil Grissom. He'd literally run into her as she was on her way home from the club. She'd stumbled and fallen, grazing her hand and knee. As he'd helped her up, the shock of suddenly finding herself on the pavement, together with the fact that she'd not eaten the previous day, had made her unsteady on her feet.

On noticing this Gil had insisted on taking her for coffee to steady her nerves. Coffee had turned to breakfast, as they sat in the small diner, after three hours, which seemed to both of them like no more than five minutes, she'd made her excuses to leave. He'd given her his business card to contact him should she need help getting into night school, she'd given him her contact details in return, jotting her name and phone number on a napkin, this napkin she now held.

"Wow, I thought, you'd have lost this years ago."

"That's not all." He pulled out a newspaper article next. "The Mercer case."

She took hold of the article, hungrily reading it. "The first case we solved."

"You solved." He corrected.

"But I had help…"

"Take the credit Catherine. You broke the case, it belongs to you."

She leant forward kissing his cheek. "Thank you. Thank you for giving me the confidence to pursue my dreams."

He captured her lips for a brief sweet kiss, before smiling and returning to the box. He pulled out a photo, three faces smiling before a Christmas tree. Jim Brass was stood next to Gil, who had his arms around Catherine.

On seeing the image she half screeched. "Why did you keep this? I look like a poodle, whatever possessed me to perm my hair?"

He smiled back, "I think you look cute. Anyway you can't complain about your hair look at Jim."

She snorted on examining the photo closer and seeing Jim's comb over, an attempt to hide his rapidly thinning hair. "Next you'll have a photo of Ecklie through his toupee phase."

Gil chuckled. "Ah now you now about my secret retirement fund. I often wondered how much he would pay me to destroy that particular image."

Catherine traced her fingers over the images in the photo, before wistfully asking. "We were so happy then, why didn't you stop me from marrying Eddie?"

Gil moved towards her, putting his arm around her shoulders, then kissing the top of her head, delighting in her gentle move towards him, so her head was resting on his shoulder. "You were in love with him Cath. I wasn't about to break your heart, make you choose."

She sighed. "I know I'm sorry." She sat back up, leaning towards the box. "What else have you got in there?" She pulled out a wedding invitation. "You kept this?"

He shrugged. "I may have lost you, but I wanted to remember the happiest day of your life."

She shook her head. "You're wrong. The happiest day of my life was when you confessed your love for me."

He took the invitation from her hands, placing it back in the box, then gently placed his hands on either side of her face. He leant in capturing her lips with his, his tongue gently pressing against them, requesting entry to her mouth, which she gladly allowed. After a few moments of closeness, he drew back a little, resting his forehead against hers.

"If I'd have known…"

"Shhh." She pressed her fingers to his lips. "It wasn't all bad. We had good times Eddie and I. I'd be lost without Lindsey. I guess I regret wasting so much time after Eddie."

He smiled, kissing the tip of her nose. Reaching into the box, he pulled out a sonogram image. "Do you remember giving me this?"

She took hold of it, gently tracing the outline of her baby girl with her fingertips, tears beginning to well behind her eyes. She nodded. "I told you I wanted you to always be there for her. Things were not so good with Eddie and I, I was scared, I needed the reassurance that she would have you as a role model."

He chuckled, "I'm not sure many people who knew me back then would agree with you."

She looked at him, her face serious, the threatened tears receding. "No, don't doubt yourself Gil. You are and always have been a wonderful addition to Lindsey's life. You have shown her that she can trust in people. That is the greatest gift you could have given her. Thank you."

"I should be thanking you. Lindsey is an important part of my life. As are you."

She leant across and pulled a beer cap out of the box. Twirling it in her fingers she smiled. "Couldn't fit the vodka bottle in there then?"

He winked at her. "Calamari and beer? The apology dinner."

She chuckled. "Boy was I pissed with Eddie."

"I know." He chuckled. "I think I've still got the wounds to prove it."

She shuddered. "I'm sorry, that case brought back so many bad memories."

He put his arm back around her, squeezing her shoulders. "I know, but they're only memories. The good thing about that is we have time to make new memories, happier ones to replace them."

She smiled, rubbing her head against his chest, needing right then to be as close as possible.

He reached for the box, pulling it onto his lap. He brought out a small box, passing it across to her.

"What's this?"

"Open it and see." He grinned, watching her closely as she opened it.

"Gil?"

"I bought it years ago. I just couldn't find the right time to give it to you."

"But…"

"Here, let me put it on." He took the pendant out of the box, unclasping it and quickly fastening it around her neck.

The cool metal against her skin had a comforting feel. She touched it gently. "Why?"

"I saw it in one of the stores in the mall. You know the rhyme is wrong, that's what made me think of you."

"Ladybird, Ladybird fly away home?"

"That's right. The original was a plea from farmers and gardeners it was Ladybird, Ladybird, fly into my home. That was my wish for you that you would fly into my home. I just never got to ask you until now."

She smiled, and then catching sight of a piece of paper on the top of the box, she quickly caught hold of it. She opened it and started to read it aloud.

"Dear Catherine,

If you are reading this I ask for your patience, as it means that once again I have failed in my intent. I have tried so many times to tell you how I feel, but my tongue will not do my heart's bidding. So I resort to writing this down. Why now? Why today? Because last night you kissed me. In that one kiss I felt more love, more comfort than I have in all my years. I know now that I love you with all my heart. You and your kiss are the best things in my life. I just hope you accept this declaration of my love as I offer my heart.

Gil"

He leant across, gently kissing away the tears that had started to fall from her eyes.

"I…I didn't realize…I'm sorry. I should have made it easier for you." Catherine smiled at him. "So if we hadn't of gone for coffee after shift last year, I'd have got this?"

"It was eating me up inside. I couldn't concentrate any more I needed to tell you how I felt, so this was my back up plan."

"I'd have still said yes, I love you."

"I know. That's why I know this is real. Do you believe me now? Are you willing to trust your heart to me for a lifetime."

"Yes. Thank you. Thank you for not getting mad, for loving me for all these years. There is nothing I want more than to share my heart, my love with you."

Their lips joined once more, long languid kisses to prove the truth of the words they'd just uttered. Confident that their love for each other would last an eternity.

The end