PRESENT DAY: LVPD CSI LAB

THURSDAY APRIL, 16th 2003; 10:30 pm

"Tessa, you're home" I was startled out of my day dream, when Nick came into the break-room. I stood and hugged him, relishing the surprised look on his face.

"I thought you weren't supposed to be home, until tomorrow?" He asked me.

"Well I decided why delay it? I've been home almost 24 hours." I replied laughingly.

"And you never called to tell me?" Nick questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Well maybe she needed sometime to recover from her journey before she called anyone." Sara said as she came into the break room, Warrick on her heels.

"Or maybe she used the time to recover from the big news." Warrick offered.

"What big news is this?" I asked, laughing. "Let me guess, Hell has finally frozen over and Sara's getting married." I stopped laughing, noticing that nobody else was laughing. "You didn't tell her?" Sara asked, turning to Nick. I looked form one to the other. "Tell me what?" I asked, just as Catherine, Grissom and Greg walked into the room. My friends all looked like they didn't want to tell me what was going on.

Finally, Greg spoke up. "Umm, well, Nick and Sara are getting married."

To be honest I was totally unprepared for this revelation. I was a little thrown by all of this, but I plastered a smile on my face. "Congratulations you two" I said hugging them both.

"Tessa, you don't officially start work until Monday night, do you?" Grissom asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, rob told me, when I was talking to him this afternoon.' I replied.

"I just thought I would stop in and see everyone for a few minutes. But I really should get going. I have plenty of unpacking to do. And I have to make sure that Meghan gets to bed at a decent hour. Haylee probably has her still up playing rummy." I said. "I'll talk to you guys later." I headed for the door. Once inside my Tahoe, I headed for home, thinking about how, in a few short months my best friend would be marrying the man I still loved.

Of course, I would never admit that now. How could I?

As I drove I thought back to that night………..

MARIO'S RESTURAUNT

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTES
SATURDAY JANUARY 10th

2003. 6:30pm

We had been waiting only fifteen minutes for our food, but it seemed like we had been waiting forever. Maybe it seemed like forever because it had been almost that long since I the last time I had had dinner with Nick.

We had done some catching up on the ride over. I had suggested the restaurant because Nick, proclaimed to k now very little to Boston. And besides that, it was new and I had wanted to try it for sometime now.

"So how do you like being on the other side of the desk, Tessa?" he asked me conversationally.

"I never thought I would ever say this, but I honestly don't know why anyone would want to be a supervisor. It's a lot of work for one and for another, no matter how many people say that they respect you there are always those that don't." I replied.

Nick laughed. "There are always going to be those types of people, no matter where you go or the people you work with, Tessa. Except for those of us back home of course."

"Even the dayshift goonies?" I asked him, with a small smirk on my face.

"Ok then those of us that work the night shift then." He relented. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"You know when I first moved here, I felt …."

"What, Tessa, what did you feel?" Nick asked his voice soft.

I swallowed, pushing back the lump in my throat. "I felt scared, alone and most of all, I felt guilty. Damn, Nick I still do."

"Why do you feel guilty Tessa?"

I stared at him in amazement. "Why do I feel guilty? Gee Nick I don't know, maybe

Because when you needed me to be there the most I wasn't there. I feel guilty because it was the man I was going to marry who tried to kill you."

"Tessa, you did what you had to do, I don't hold that against you, I have told you that time and time again. And it was Jason that tried to kill me, not you so I don't want you to feel guilty about that."

I looked down at my plate silently, realizing that I was no longer hungry.

"Come one, I'll take you home." Nick threw some money on the table and taking my arm, he lead me out of the restaurant.

He left the next day, and when he hugged me goodbye at the airport, he whispered in my ear "let go of the guilt Tessa, you have nothing to feel guilty about, you haven't done anything wrong." The words echoed over in my mind as I drove home.