Catherine was crying in the locker room. The case she was working on involved a child being raped, tortured, and dumped in her the trash can. Cases with children broke her heart—how could people do that to innocent lives? To top of all that off, she got in a fight with Grissom, her supervisor and significant other of one year.

She had always loved Gil Grissom—for his mind, his dedication to his profession, for his kindness, and his thoughtfulness. But tonight was different—she felt he insulted the way she let her emotions out in cases that involved children. Her mind flashed back to the fight they had earlier in his office.

*******************20 minutes earlier***************************

Catherine stood in front of his desk and said in a constrained tone, "I can handle this, Gil. Just let me take care of it."

Grissom stood up and put his hands on his desk. "Catherine, you are getting too emotionally involved and that could compromise the case. I am going to remove you from this case. I am going to give this to Warrick." Grissom reached for the phone to call Warrick over to his office when Catherine snatched the phone out of his hand and slammed it down in the cradle.

Catherine glared at him with fire in her eyes. "No! I won't let you take this case away from me. I am this close to cracking this close! Take me off this case and that poor child's killer will walk free." Catherine had tears welling up in her eyes.

"I know how worked up you get on cases like this and right now, this case needs the attention of someone who will let the evidence speak for itself. You should know that in our profession, we follow the evidence and right now, the evidence is not pointing us in the direction of a killer." Grissom said with a sigh as he sat back down in his chair. "I know this is hard for you, believe me, I don't like it anymore than you do, but we can't let our emotions get the better of us."

Catherine's temper got the better of her. She knew Grissom was right, but she felt like Grissom was berating the hell out of her for being human. "Well, sor-ry for being a human being." Catherine paced around in front of Grissom and raised her voice at him. "I know in our profession, we can't let our emotions get the best of us. I know that, you know that, everybody in this damn lab knows that! But that bastard just dumped her in the trash as if she belonged there! Gil, she was a 9 year old child! The same age as Lindsey! I am sorry that I don't have the ability to act like a statue with no emotions like you do… " The moment Catherine let those words out of her mouth, she knew it was a mistake.

Grissom was staring at his desk while Catherine paced around in front of his desk until she uttered those last hurtful words. Grissom stared up at her with a hurt look in his eyes. Catherine felt ashamed of herself. "Uh, I am sorry. I didn't mean that last part". She couldn't bear to look at Grissom. After a minute of silence, Catherine just walked out of his office.

**********************9 am the next morning***********************

Catherine Willows wearily opened the door to her house and started dropping all her jacket, her purse, and work bag onto the floor as she slumped onto the couch. Thank God, I am home, Catherine thought, I don't think I can even get to the room. I am too tired. Thank goodness, I am off tonight. I don't think I would have made it through another night of work. I am exhausted. She and Warrick processed all the evidence from the case all night and finally found DNA evidence that linked them to the murderer of the child. Catherine nearly jumped for joy when they found the link that led them to the murderer. At least, she would be able to sleep in peace knowing that she found justice for the poor child and the family.

Catherine tried to look around the living room, but couldn't really find the strength to lift her head off the comfy couch. She was about to call Lindsey's name out to see her daughter, but she remembered Lindsey went off to a friend's house for the weekend. Linds isn't here….oh well *yawn*, I think I will just sleep here on the couch…I can't seem to get up.

Just as Catherine was about to drift off to sleep, she flashed back to the fight with Grissom. She didn't mean to say he was a statue with no feelings. Though he rarely showed it, Gil Grissom was a passionate man—and not only with his work. He loved with all his heart and he showed how much he loved Catherine and Lindsey every chance he got. It's just Grissom knows how to control his emotions at work. He knows that any emotion could lead into bias of the evidence. I didn't even say anything to him when I left work. I need to apologize to him…tell him that I love him…but I am tired. Sleep… sleep….sleep…thought Catherine as sleep overtook her. She slept so soundly that she didn't notice someone entering her home later in the late afternoon.

*************************9 hours later***********************************

Catherine sat up from the spot on the couch and looked around. Gosh, it's dark already. Am I working today? No, I am not. What time is it? Catherine thought groggily. She looked at her wristwatch. It's 6pm already…gosh, how time flies. Catherine got up from the couch and stumbled in the dark trying to go to the kitchen. As she was rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she saw the light in the answering machine flickering.

Catherine pushed the messages button. "You have one new message," answered the monotone voice of the answering machine.

Grissom's voice filled the answering machine. "Hey Cath, go in your backyard. I left you something there." Catherine was curious. He left something for me. I wonder what it is.

Catherine could see through the windows of her home that the early evening sky had set in. As Catherine opened the door to her backyard, she was greeted with a surprise. Her backyard was filled with candles and flower petals all over the ground. Near the flower garden, a blanket was set up with a picnic basket on it and more flower petals.

"Hi" A smooth baritone voice filled her ear from behind. Catherine whirled around and saw Gil Grissom standing with a big bouquet of Gerber Brights—Catherine always loved those flowers because she thought they were the happiest looking flowers in the world.

Catherine's eyes filled with tears and she pulled Grissom into an embrace. "Oh Gil, all this…." She was speechless. "I am sorry…about what I said in the office. I didn't mean to say that. I am sorry… about being too worked up about this case. You were right…I should know better--" Catherine's rambling was silenced with Grissom's kiss.

Grissom stepped back from her and handed her the flowers. "Just wait, I have something else for you." Grissom took her hand and sat her on the blanket. From behind the table, Grissom pulled out an acoustic guitar and sat down in front of her. Catherine was surprised. She knew Grissom learned how to play guitar as a kid with his dad, but he never played for her. She had always asked him to play for her, but he always refused saying that he was rusty and wouldn't sound good.

Grissom tuned the guitar quickly and looked at her. "Darling, I know you have never heard me play guitar…and after today's argument…I just wanted to let you know how much I love you. That I am more than a statue with no emotions," Catherine looked down in embarrassment, but Grissom cupped her chin gently and made her look at him. "I know… it's true. Tonight, I want to disprove it. Now, I am not the best singer or guitar player…but still…I just want to let you know that I love you."

Grissom started plucking the strings and started to serenade her with the most beautiful lyrics,

"If ever you wondered if you touched my soul yes you do
Since I met you I'm not the same
You bring life to everything I do
Just the way you say hello
With one touch I can't let go
Never thought I'd fall in love with you...

Chorus:
Because of you, my life has changed, thank you for the love
and joy you bring
Because of you, I feel no shame, I'll tell the world it's because of you

Verse 2:
Sometimes I get lonely and all I gotta do is think of you
You captured something inside of me
You make all of my dreams come true
It's not enough that you love me for me
You reached inside and touched me eternally
I love you best explains how I feel for you...

Chorus:

Because of you, my life has changed, thank you for the love and the joy you bring

Because of you, I feel no shame, I'll tell the world it's because of you

Bridge:
The magic in your eyes
True love I can't deny
When you hold me I just lose control
I want you to know that I'm never letting go
You mean so much to me I want the world to see,
It's because of you

Chorus:
Because of you, my life has changed, thank you for the love and the joy you bring
Because of you, I feel no shame, I'll tell the world it's because of you
My life has changed thank you for the love and the joy you bring
Because of you, I feel no shame, I'll tell the world it's because of you..."

At the end of the song, Catherine was practically sobbing. She couldn't believe that Gil Grissom actually sang her a love song. She leaned over and kissed Grissom passionately to let him know how much she appreciated his gesture.

Grissom pulled away to get some air and gave her a crooked grin. "Wow, I scored some brownie points with you, huh? I hope that means no more statue with no emotions…" He chuckled briefly as she smirked at him when Grissom's face suddenly turned serious. "You know I meant every word…I know I didn't write the song, but that doesn't make it any less true. I love you." He looked intently in her eyes.

Catherine's heart swelled with love for the man in front of her. She moved the guitar out of his eyes and snuggled closer to him, "You are not a statue….I love you." Grissom cupped Catherine's chin gently once again and looked in her eyes before pulling her closer for another heartwarming kiss.

The End