CSI fic: How It Starts
This picks up where "How It Started" left off.

How It Starts, part 2
by Joanne Soper-Cook
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Jim/Gil
Rating: PG 13
Warnings: Discussion of suicide

Author's note: This picks up directly after Gil's phone call, "I'm outside in the driveway."



"You shouldn't be here." Jim holds the door open. He is careful to mask his features, careful to maintain his illusion that everything is fine.

"I had a hunch, Jim. Surely you can understand that." Grissom isn't sure what he's looking at: Jim is fastidious about housekeeping, but right now the livingroom looks like the roof flew off. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Yeah," Jim says, "Sit anywhere." What he really means is, //Why aren't you leaving?// Grissom wanders into the bedroom, looking for clues. "Hey!" Jim follows close behind him. "I thought you meant you were gonna -- don't go in there."

Grissom sits down on the rumpled bed. "Is this a problem, Jim?" The bedcovers are a mess; Grissom puts his hand in them and brings out the detective's sidearm. "There is a problem."

"Look, Gil...I'm your friend, okay? Is there something you want?"

Grissom pats the bed. "Come sit down?"

"What?"

"Sit down next to me." When Jim hesitates, "Come on, humour me."

Jim sits. They exist in silence for some time, next to one another. Their sides are touching: thigh, hip, arm. Grissom can smell Jim's aftershave cologne, the trace of fabric softener on his sweatshirt. He can feel the heat of Jim's body, burning through his clothes. In silence, Grissom reaches for Jim's hand, takes it in both of his own. He traces the lines in Jim's palm with his index finger, mapping the topography of the detective's hand. "How bad does it hurt?" he asks.

"Bad." Jim watches Gil's finger, endlessly tracing: head line, heart line, life line. "I thought I was over it. I'm not over it. It just went underground."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well." Jim shrugs. "I should have known better."
Gil Grissom doesn't say anything. He tugs at Jim's hand, drawing Jim closer, and then he lies backwards, lowering them both. He curls their bodies together, and tucks Jim's arm around his waist, and they are holding each other.

They stay that way for a long time.


The End.