Sara stumbled to her front door after hearing an irritated Nick Stokes pound at the door for about a minute or so. She was trying her hardest to get there, but her head was pounding and she kept stumbling and knocking into things.

"Sara, open this door right now!" He ordered, one hand on his hip, as the other continued to swat at the door. Finally, Sara opened the door, looking hopelessly dazed and hung over, an overemphasized grin on her face. Nick took one look at her, grabbed her by the upper arm, and slammed the door.

"Heyyyyyyy….Ow!" She protested as she tried to free herself from his grasp, but it was no use with his iron grip. His hold on her hurt, but the reverberating sound of the door slamming reeked havoc on her ears. She put her free hand up to her ear as he angrily deposited her on the couch.

Sara rubbed the part of her arm where Nick had grabbed her, not even concentrating on the seething form glaring over her. She felt like a little kid in big trouble, and when she finally looked up at him, the concerned and angry expression she found frightened her and made her ashamed.

"What the hell is going on with you, Sara?" Nick started, hands on his hips.

"I'm sitting on my couch getting chewed out…"

"Don't get cute with me, Sara. How much did you drink last night?" Nick demanded, his orbs beating into her own. Sara wasn't often intimidated by people, but at this moment she was. He was so angry and concerned with her, that it scared Sara as to what he may do. Instead of admitting her faults, Sara put up a barrier of sarcasm and dryness that only further ticked Nick off.

"I may have had one too many. You should've come home with me like I asked, but you had to go wreck the whole mood."

Nick had been looking up at the ceiling in frustration as she continued on her sarcastic spiel. He hated that she always tried to cover up her pain and feelings with that ever-present wall. Nick was concerned for her. Ever since he'd been buried alive, Sara had become extra emotional and attached to Nick. She wasn't overly dependent or throwing herself at him, but she was coming on to him more, seemingly afraid of losing a chance. Nick loved Sara. He really did. But he didn't want them to get together out of confusion and pain. He wanted them to get together out of love.

"Sar, you weren't thinking straight. Do you remember anything about last night?"

Sara smirked and walked over to where Nick was standing.

"I remember the part when I touched you and I can distinctly recall feeling some sort of reaction…" Her hand wandered to the mentioned place and Nick stopped her hand, placing it strictly next to her side again.

"Do you also remember the part when you tried to flash me?"

"Yeeeesss…." No. Oh shit. Sara didn't realize she'd gone and done something incredibly stupid like that. No wonder he was pissed. She'd made a fool of herself in front of Nick and she couldn't even remember what she'd done.

Nick had learned to see right through her and could tell she was lying. Sara didn't remember a thing past when she was groping him. He admitted that he got a little excited because he did like Sara, but he didn't want it to happen like that. She didn't know what she was doing, and he wanted her to remember every voluptuous, perfect, savory moment.

"Bull, Sara. You don't remember a thing." He called her bluff, putting his strong hand on her back and leading her back to sit on the couch. Sara reluctantly obeyed. "You see that line?"

Sara looked around, obviously not getting it. "Huh?"

"You just crossed it, Sar. I really care about you, but I can't believe you're letting Brass get to you like this. It's not healthy. You can't go out and get insanely drunk and hit on guys like they have to feelings."

Tears started to form in Sara's eye at the prospect of having hurt Nick. She never want to hurt her, but her damn baggage was getting in the way again. Brass getting shot had affected her more deeply than she ever imagined. Sara didn't realize how much Brass meant to her until he was almost gone. She'd shut down – completely, when he was admitted to the hospital. Jim was like a father figure to her. He put her in place after the lab explosion when she pulled her gun on a suspect and when she arrived at work hung over. He listened to her problems and actually cared, unlike Grissom. His warm, fatherly persona had quite an effect on her, giving her the confidence she sometimes lacked, but put on a front to cover up. Jim could always tell when she was scared and brought her back to reality. When he almost died, Sara got scared. Very scared. And she started lashing out. Sara had been going out to the bar on almost every one of her nights off. Occasionally, she returned to work hung over. And now she had Nick to answer to. Nicky Nicky Nick. Hurt, angry, staring-her-down Nick. She suddenly felt sober.

"Nick, I'm sorry…"

"Sorry's just a word."

Nick's words cut into her heart and she didn't know what to do. She half expected him to walk over and slap her or shake her around like her father did to her mother when they disagreed. Sara knew Nick would never do that, but something inside her always made her fear it. In her house, that was how you dealt with problems. Nick was slowly trying to show her what love could be; what a real relationship could be.

Sara was just silent as she looked down at her hands. What did he want her to say if sorry wasn't enough? She didn't know what else to do. Why was he still here if he was so angry? Sara was surprised when Nick gently walked over and sat next to her on the couch. His large, warm hand went to her back, stroking it soothingly. Sara was confused – why was he being so nice when he was so upset with her?

"Sara…" His voice dropped to a gentle tone now, "I don't want you getting hurt. If you keeping throwing yourself around like this, someone is going to take advantage of you. Last night you crossed a line, so I forced you to go home, which you weren't too happy about."

Sara smirked slightly, imaging her tiny, frail little body protesting against Nick as he forced her out of the bar and into his truck. She must have been screaming bloody murder.

"I gave you some Tylenol and put you to bed. I hope you don't mind."

Sara suddenly became aware of the possibilities and glanced down at her clothing. She was in her pajamas, which means Nick must have changed her. He saw her in her underwear? What? How was that fair. Sara felt she was well due some compensation. Now she needed to see him in his underwear.

"I didn't look, don't worry." He smiled a little and rubbed his neck uncomfortably. Truthfully, he had been so turned on by the sight of her in her matching lacy black bra and panties that he had to leave immediately. As soon as she was changed, Nick bolted out the door as quickly as possible to erase any foul thoughts from his mind. He shouldn't be thinking about her when she was in such a vulnerable state.

Sara intended for Nick to see her like that when the night began, but she expected to be lucid. She couldn't believe she'd gotten so drunk off her ass that she couldn't even undress herself. Well, Nick must've had a party with it, though he put on the tough guy, not-affected-by-women's-lingerie-even-when-she's-drop-dead-hot persona. Nick was a gentleman. A perfect, Southern, chivalrous good guy. Yep.

"I don't know what to say." Sara laughed a little uncomfortably. "I mean…thank you for taking care of me. Who know what would've…"

"Let's not think about it, Sara. We both know you made a mistake, so let's just move on. You're okay, right?"

Sara stopped breathing as Nick reached out and stroked her hair lovingly, placing her brunette locks behind her shoulder.

Nope, she wasn't okay. YOU'RE TOUCHING ME! Sara screamed in her own head. She managed a nod, but avoided his caring gaze. God, he was so perfect. And now she'd messed it up.

Sara found the courage to finally look at him when he kept stroking her hair, and then his hand fell to her shoulder. When her eyes met his, he cutely flipped the tip of her nose a little, causing her to smile.

"I may have been drinking last night, but I was pretending when I came on to you." Sara told him boldly, praying that he wouldn't shut her down. By the way he was touching her, she thought the statement would be safe.

Nick's hand fell from her shoulder down to her hand, barely brushing against her arm on the way down, sending shivers down Sara's spine. He clasped her hand with his in support, stroking the back with his thumb. Their hands looked perfect together.

"And it wasn't an accident that I…reacted to it." Nick admitted, twisting his lips a little uncomfortably. It was so unfair for guys. Girls could be aroused and no one would be the wiser, but for guys, there was no hiding it. He'd been flat-out caught, but somehow he didn't mind.

"What are you saying?" Sara asked hopefully.

"I'm saying that…I'd like to give this a try. But when you're ready."

Sara's heart pounded in her chest. He was actually saying the words she'd dreamed about for so long. They danced circles around each other at work constantly, but never admitted their feelings. It felt so good to have it all out on the table. He did like her, like she'd suspected. Sara smiled, and for the first time in weeks, Nick saw true happiness in her eyes.

"I'm ready." She whispered as she leaned into him ever so slightly. Nick hesitated momentarily, but then his lips descended in slow motion upon hers. The feel of her lips was just like he'd imagined. Soft, supple, and just…heavenly. He began to move his lips slowly with hers, gently kissing and nudging, caressing Sara's lips with his own. Nick knew he had hit the right tempo when Sara's throat elicited a satisfied moan. It was so feminine and tender the way it came out, and reminded him to handle this woman he adored with care. Nick gently cupped her neck with one of his large hands, tilting her head to the side to give him better access. His kisses became more insistent, and he tugged at her lower lip with his teeth. Sara's flushed lips opened readily to him, and his tongue swept inside for the first time. The taste was dizzying, and he was glad he was sitting down. The taste of Sara. A taste that he'd dreamed about for years, now lingered in his mouth and in the air around them, and it could only be described as perfect. He felt her tongue begin to work with his, battling gently for power, massaging each other with passion like two loves reunited after years.

Finally, after several minutes, they both pulled away for air. Gasping slightly, they gazed into each other's eyes. Sara's gaze shifted momentarily and saw evidence once again of Nick's attraction to her. Nick's face blushed a little and he laughed.

"See what you do to me, Sidle?" He raised his eyebrows and kissed her soundly on the lips once more. "But I am very good at finding evidence, and I bet anything you've got some on you, too."

Sara giggled in anticipation as Nick pushed against her gently, leading her to lay down. And in the next few minutes, Nick found more than enough evidence of her arousal. He remedied that problem. Several times.

A/N: I hope you don't mind how I portrayed Sara – she's a little dependent and whiny in this fic, but that's just what I felt like writing. ; ) I hadn't written a damsel in distress fic about Snickers lately, so I had to. Hope you enjoyed, and please drop me a note!