Disclaimer: If it's familiar to you, it doesn't belong to me
A/N: YGM post-ep based on Nick's "you gotta get out more" line to Sara. My take (i.e. wishful thinking) on those scenes that got left on the cutting room floor.
"You wanna go out, somewhere?"
"Now?" Nick was tired, and truthfully he just wanted to go to sleep. In fact, he'd just climbed into bed when Sara had called.
Sara immediately regretted calling, realizing he was probably sleeping. "Uh…well…no, I mean, whenever," she stammered.
Nick sensed that this was more than just a simple invite for breakfast; he could tell something was on her mind. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes," he said and hung up.
Fifteen minutes later, Nick arrived at Sara's apartment, and from there they went to their favorite diner, the one they usually went to for breakfast after shift. They sat in silence, companionable silence, as they waited for their waitress and then for their food. As they ate, Nick eyed Sara, wondering what had prompted her invitation.
"What?" she finally looked at him when she noticed he was staring.
"Do you have something to tell me or are we gonna sit here all morning in silence?" His tone was only half teasing.
"I'm supposed to have something to tell you?"
"There's got to be a reason why you waited until I was just about to go to bed to ask me if I wanted to get breakfast. I saw you in the locker room before I left," he reminded her.
"You told me I needed to get out more," she smirked. "And I didn't say it had to be today," she added, addressing his complaint about her interrupting his sleep.
"And I didn't say I'd rather sleep than spend time with you," he smirked back at her.
Sara looked down at her plate to try and hide her smile. Sometimes she didn't know what she did to deserve such a good friend like Nick.
They ate in silence for several more minutes until Sara spoke. "Why are you so quiet?" It wasn't so much that he was quiet, but he didn't seem his normal, cheery self. She knew he was probably tired, but that usually didn't dampen his spirits too much.
"It's nothing. Just this case Catherine and I had."
"The hunter?" Sara had heard a little bit about it.
"Yeah. This guy takes out a million dollar life insure policy behind his wife's back, and then stages his suicide to look like a hunting accident so his wife can collect the money," he explained.
"Wow."
Nick sighed as he picked at his eggs. "It just amazes me that he loved his wife so much that he would do that." He looked up at her. "So this is your idea of getting out more? Having breakfast with me?" he teased, changing the subject.
She had no response, and being slightly embarrassed that he thought she didn't have anyone else to call, which was true, she only smirked at him.
He responded with a grin. "You know, I know a couple guys-"
"No. No way."
"They're really nice guys-"
"No, Nick. Forget it. I'm not some charity case."
"I didn't mean it like that."
She knew he didn't. He was just trying to be nice, like always.
"Okay, so how about you and me go out?" Nick asked casually, as if he were just thinking out loud, following the logic of the conversation, suggesting he never had the intention of asking and would never have asked her otherwise. Which wasn't entirely true.
She looked at him, not really sure she'd heard him correctly. "Go out?"
"Yeah."
"Like on date?" Her expression was a slightly puzzled one. It wasn't that the idea was so preposterous, she liked Nick, as a friend, and he was a nice enough guy, it was just that she didn't think she was his type at all. She didn't know what exactly his type was, but she was sure she wasn't it. The word around the lab was that Nick was quite the ladies' man; she didn't know if it was true or not, but she'd heard him talking to Warrick or Greg on occasion about his dates and knew he did go out from time to time. Which of course wasn't especially noteworthy. She knew he had more of a life outside of work than she did. Most people did.
"Sure, why not?" He saw the situation as a perfect opportunity to ask her, taking the safe way out, asking her but not really asking her. He had thought about it before, many times. Over the year and half they'd been working together, they'd gotten to know each other pretty well, and Nick thought they got along great. He'd dated other women over that year and a half but never found anyone he wanted to go out with more than once or twice. And he finally realized the reason for that was that he kept comparing them all to Sara, and they just didn't measure up. Of course he only knew Sara as a friend and had no idea if there was anything between them beyond that, but he sure wanted to find out.
Sara thought for only a second before replying. "Uh…thanks, but I'll have to say no."
Nick opened his mouth, ready to respond to her acceptance of his offer, but when he realized she'd said no, he was speechless.
"You don't get many rejections, do you?" she said, toying with his ego.
"Actually, not really, but…" he decided to ditch the modesty act, but still didn't know what to say.
Deep down, maybe she really did want to say yes, and maybe if she'd thought about it a little more she might have changed her mind. But she couldn't ignore the underlying issue that they were coworkers, as well as friends, which Sara felt would make things complicated, awkward, and even a little scary. She fed him a textbook excuse. "Look, Nick, you're my friend, and my coworker-"
"Right. Say no more," he cut her off. "It was just a thought," he shrugged it off like it was no big deal, trying to hide his disappointment.
"And I appreciate it. Really. But I think this is something I have to fix on my own, you know?"
"Sure."
The waitress brought them their check, and Sara grabbed it before Nick could. "I invited you, I'm buying," she said when she saw Nick was about to say something.
"Suit yourself," he said as he slid out of the booth and followed Sara to the register at the front of the diner.
Nick drove them back to Sara's apartment to drop her off before heading home. He parked the car and got out to walk her to her door.
Sara unlocked her front door and opened it before turning to Nick. "Thanks for coming."
"You're welcome. And thanks for breakfast." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. When he pulled back he smiled at her before putting his sunglasses back on and heading back down the walkway.
Sara was momentarily speechless. It was just a friendly, chaste, kiss on the cheek, but it had made her heart practically leap into her throat, sending tingles down her spine and causing her legs to temporarily feel like jelly. He had soft lips. She almost scolded herself for wondering what it would be like to feel those lips on other parts of her body. And not just her lips. "Hey Nick," she called out impulsively.
He turned around. "Yeah?"
She could tell from his tone that he was almost expecting her to say something, like his kiss had some magical power that would make her change her mind about that date. And the fact that he was arrogant enough to assume that, combined with the fact that he'd been right and it did change her mind, almost made her change it back again. Almost. She smiled at him. "See you tonight," was all she said. She'd torture him a little. She didn't want to boost his ego too much.
But she was too excited to wait for very long. So, just as she was about to go to bed, knowing Nick was probably doing the same, she called him.
"Hey," she said when he picked up the phone.
Nick grumbled. "Now what?"
Sara stifled a laugh. "Um, I was just thinking about your offer."
"My offer?" Nick didn't immediately catch on, his sleepiness clouding his memory.
"Yeah. And I've changed my mind."
Nick finally realized what she was talking about, but his shock prohibited him from saying anything.
"Nick?" Sara said, wondering if he was still on the line.
"Yeah. Uh, okay. Great," he managed.
"Okay."
"You did just say that you'd go on a date with me, right?" Nick clarified, making sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Yeah," Sara chuckled.
"Okay." Nick sounded relieved.
Sara couldn't help but smile to herself. "I'll see you tonight. Get some sleep."
"Okay. See ya." Nick hung up and fell back onto his pillow, letting out a content sigh, despite the fact that he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep now, for fear that if he did, he'd wake up and find that the whole thing was a dream and that he didn't really have a date with the most beautiful woman he'd ever known.
- The End -