The dark, early morning sky grew lighter. They sat upon a flat rock saying nothing; just enjoying the silence that came so easily. There was no need to say a word or make a move. The breeze tousled his short curly hair and rustled the paper in his hand. His companion turned to look at him and smiled to herself. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and sighed softly. This was how it was meant to be; just two people with no worries about the world around them enjoying a beautifully colored sun rise. The only thing that would make it perfect would be if he had left the crossword puzzle behind.

Sounds from outside the office intruded upon his solitude. Nick and Warrick were making bets about who was going to solve their case first. Catherine and Sara were still working a crime scene. His cell phone rang, interrupting the progress he was trying to make on the paperwork before him. She called to let him know that she was on her way back. He just listened to her voice as she shared her thoughts about the crime. She knew she would have to brief him on their findings when they arrived when he didn't answer a question immediately. He was enjoying the moment of near perfection.

They sat in comfortable silence, each doing their own thing. She was missing her daughter as she talked to her on the telephone. He concentrated on the science section of the paper, pretending not to listen to the conversation in front of him. He moved to hold her as she hung up and sighed. They hadn't said much in the past few weeks that wasn't work related, but then nothing needed to be said. She laid her head against his chest and just listened to his heartbeat. The silence was comforting to both of them, but it wasn't perfection.

The morning light shone into her living room. He watched her face as she slept on the couch. Hoping to avoid waking her up, he slowly pushed himself into a standing position from the floor. She shifted in her sleep and mumbled something incomprehensible causing him to stop in mid step. When she settled back down, he slowly exited the house like a man on a secret mission.

She woke up to an empty room. This wasn't unusual, but today they had a rarity to look forward to- both had part of the weekend off at the same time. She looked around seeking some evidence that he would be back soon. As she entered the kitchen, the front door opened.

"Hey, you," she said hoping to surprise her visitor. He didn't say anything but looked at her intently as he set down a black duffel bag. He had been hoping to get back before she woke up.

"Good morning. I, uh, I went to get breakfast," he explained. She looked at him quizzically until he held up two small paper bags. "When did you wake up?"

"Just a few minutes ago. I missed your snoring," she teased as he handed her one of the bags.

"I don't snore." She gave him her 'you have-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. "Okay, maybe I do sometimes."

She smiled triumphantly and opened the bag, "So what have we got for breakfast?"

They laid out the food he brought and ate in companionable silence. As she gathered the trash from their breakfast, he moved to the living room and opened the paper to the crossword puzzle. She joined him on the couch to read the front section, occasionally glancing at him as he puzzled over the clues. The silence stretched between them encompassing the entire house. Finally she couldn't handle the silence any more. She threw her paper onto the coffee table, "Okay, that's it!"

Her exclamation startled him from the puzzle he was working on. He lowered the puzzle to his lap and looked at her. "What?"

"Gil, we have the day off. The first full day off together, and we're sitting here like an old married couple. Let's do something, I don't know- fun, unusual- that means no museums." Catherine looked at him expectantly. Sometime during the years that they had been friends something changed between them. They both knew it, but neither wanted to jeopardize the deep friendship they shared by acting on it. Instead they continued to spend their normal time together; although, lately he had taken to following her home to unwind on her couch. Over the last month he began to keep an overnight bag in his Tahoe for when he fell asleep on either the couch or the floor at her place.

"Something unusual? I thought museums qualified as unusual here," he teased. He caught the small pillow that Catherine threw at him and smiled. He glanced at the sections of the paper that was strewn about the floor. "How about we go to a race?"

"A race?" Catherine looked at him for a moment before realizing that their day off coincided with the Las Vegas Stampede. "No! Grissom, no! It'll be crowded with tourists and..." Grissom just smiled as she continued to list reasons why they shouldn't go.

When she finished, he replied, "You said no museums."

"Let me amend that. No bug or science exhibits. This is a day off, a day of relaxation." She paused trying to come up with a good excuse to avoid anything related to their work. "Besides, the last exhibit we went to gave me nightmares for two weeks."

Grissom laughed as her eyes told him she was teasing him. "Okay, how about something dull and unexciting, like an art exhibit."

"Sounds like fun. I'll go change." Catherine stood up from the couch and headed toward her bedroom. The pillow that she had thrown at Grissom hit her square in the back. She turned around and glared at him before shutting the door to the room as his laughter filled the house.