Fall had arrived in September, technically. But, Catherine declared the first day of fall to be the first day when she had to rake the leaves. And that day was today...later. "Tonight is Lindsay's Autumn party at school. Those leaves can wait until tomorrow would be the first day of fall. Oh shit, I have to remind Gil about tonight. He probably forgot."

Catherine quickly made her way inside to the phone and dialed his home number. "Grissom." Came his voice across the phone lines.

"Hey Gil, it's Catherine."

"Hey Cath." His voice became more friendly

"Uh, what time do you want to come over tonight, for Lindsay's school party?"

"It's October 24th already?"

"Gil, I can't believe you! You know how important this is to Lindsay." Catherine whined

"Relax Cath. Actually I was going to call and see if maybe I could come by a little early, maybe have lunch, if that's okay, I mean if you're not too busy."

"It's fine Gil. Just out of curiosity, why do you want to come by so early?" she asked, her tone sounding much lighter

"I just, we haven't had a non-working lunch together in a while, that's all."

"Well, that sounds wonderful Gil. I'll be looking forward to it. Listen though, Linds and I need to drop by the mall and pick up some things for her Halloween costume. She wants to go before the stores run out of all the good stuff."

"Okay. So does one o'clock sound good?"

"Sounds great."

"See ya later. Bye."

"Bye." Catherine smiled , hanging up her phone. She had a couple hours before Gil would be over so she wanted to get going. "Lindsay!! Let's go."

Lindsay came bounding down the stairs and was more than ready to go. They shopped for 1 hour, gathering everything they would need to turn Lindsay into a beautiful princess. They bought a tiara, a long dress, some fake pearls and eyelashes and of course a purse and a pair of shoes.

At one o'clock exactly Gil was knocking on the door. Catherine greeted him wearing a pair of faded jeans and a beige turtleneck sweater. Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders and over her sweater. She looked lovely.

"Hey Gil, right on time." She smiled, letting him inside

"I can smell the soup. Smells great. I haven't had a bowl of homemade soup in a long time."

"It's a little chilly outside, I thought it would be perfect."

"It is."

"It won't be ready for a while, so do you want to have a pop or something while we wait?"

"Sure."

Catherine lead the way into the kitchen and pulled two cans of coke out of her refrigerator. Gil was looking at her backyard through the window.

"Uh, Cath...don't you think you should rake the leaves."

"Yes, but I'm trying to put it off. I hate that chore, so does Lindsay. I tell her that she has to help if she wants to jump in them."

"Well, while we wait for the soup, would you like some help with those leaves?"

"Gil, that's very sweet, but I couldn't ask you to do that."

"I offered Cath, besides, I happen to enjoy raking leaves and jumping in them. Please, I insist. It will be fun."

"Okay." She agreed

"Should we ask Lindsay to join us?"

"She scurried over her friend's house the second we got home. Megan's mom is letting the girls help her make apple cider and donuts."

"That sounds nice."

"It is. Lindsay loves it."

Catherine and Gil made their way into Catherine's yard. The multi-colored leaves crunched beneath their feet as they walked to grab two rakes. They started at opposite ends of the yard and began to gather the leaves into a big pile in the center of the grass. Whilst they were raking, the conversation flowed easily between them. They talked about work, Lindsay, laughed at old stories and soon enough all the leaves raked into a neat pile.

Catherine was turned away from him for a second and Gil took the opportunity to take a handful of leaves and throw them at her. When she felt the leaves hit her back she turned around slowly with her mouth wide open. "Gil Grissom-" she began but was cut off with another handful of leaves being tossed in her face.

The leaves fell from her body, most of them anyway as Gil stood laughing. "Gil I cannot believe you did that, you are in big trouble mister..." Catherine huffed with a little smile. "I cannot believe you are laughing at me, you better wipe that grin off your face or-"

"You'll what?"

"I'll do this!" she squealed, shoving him backwards into the pile of leaves, landing on top of him. Once he was on the ground, she shoved some leaves in his face. Looking up at him she smiled, her blue eyes dancing with what he thought to be love, but he wasn't quite sure. What he was sure of was that her eyes were sparkling right now and he would do anything to make them sparkle like that forever.

After a moment, Catherine got up and began to throw more leaves at him. He in turn threw them at her and tickled her to the ground. "Gil, please...stop!" she laughed. Soon he stopped and he was hovering over her slim body. He saw her eyes sparkling at him, and her lips curve into a slight smile. Her lips looked so kissable right at that very moment and he knew what he had to do. He inched his head closer to hers and placed his lips on hers and kissed them gently.

At the contact Catherine's eyes closed and she kissed him back, just as gently. His lips lingered a little longer than necessary before he pulled back. She still felt his warm breath mingling with hers in the air as her eyes fluttered open to meet his.

There, her eyes were sparkling again. He knew his were too. But her face read something he couldn't quite understand. "Cath, I'm sorry, was that wrong of me?"

She paused a moment before answering. "No. I'm sorry, I was just surprised. It wasn't wrong though. It felt very right." She whispered

"Good." He whispered back. He once again closed the distance between them, kissing her again, forcefully. He covered her mouth with his, caressing her soft lips. He couldn't get enough of them. Catherine kissed him back, just as passionately, wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. Their tounges dueled together each taking their turn exploring the curves of each other's mouths before they broke apart gasping for air, their lips swollen.

Catherine held on to Gil as he pulled them to a sitting position. He could tell he was crushing her. They continued to stare at each other as they sat in the pile of leaves. Gil touched his fingers to her silky golden hair that was glistening in the sunlight, mixing perfectly with the autumn colors that surrounded them, gently brushing the leaves that were stuck in her hair. "Leaves." He whispered. She smiled at him and leaned into his touch.

"We should check on the soup." She said quietly. He offered his hand to help her stand. She gratefully took it and she began to brush leaves off her clothes as did Gil, before walking into her house. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer as they walked into the warmth of the house.

Wordlessly Catherine poured them each a bowl of soup and they stood in her kitchen eating it.

After a while she set her bowl down and walked closer to him. She placed her hands on his chest and slid her hands up and down before relaxing them around his neck. Gil in turn held on to her waist and they stood looking at each other. "Gil, this...does this mean that we are going to..."

"If that's what you want."

"It is what I want. You are what I want."

"Cath, I've felt this way for so long, for so long I've wanted to kiss you..."

"I'm so glad you finally did." She smiled, pressing her lips to his.

"Me too." He answered her after their kiss. He pulled her closer and she lay her head on his chest as he held her close. "I think that I'm falling in love with you Catherine."

She pulled back slightly at his remark and whispered, "Gil, I've already fallen in love with you."

"Okay scratch that first remark, I fell in love with you a long time ago, and I've been in love with you ever since."

Catherine let out a little laugh as he kissed her head and pulled her back into his arms. She sighed contently.

"Cath, wake up."

"Mmmm." She groaned, rolling over.

"Come on Cath, don't you know what today is?"

"What's today?" she murmured sleepily

"October 24th."

"So..."

"So, don't you want to go rake leaves?"

Catherine smiled and rose from her pillow. "I would absolutely love to."

"Gil." She started, after he hovered on top of her in the leaves.

"What."

"One year ago today, just as the leaves changed, we changed our relationship. I'm so glad we did." She smiled

"Me too darling, me too." He answered, kissing her lips.