The song "Jingle Bell Rock" resounded throughout the halls. Its two weeks before Thanksgiving, Sara thought, why are Christmas songs playing? She sighed and walked over to the layout room.
"Hey Greg," She said sitting by him.
"Hi Sara," Greg smiled at the older woman, "How's life?"
"Like it usually is," Sara grinned and looked at her case file. Warrick and Nick walked in, engaged actively in their conversation. Nick looked up and waved at Sara. Sara grinned and waved back. Catherine walked in talking on the phone, probably to Lindsey.
"Darling, no, please just stay home. Oh you did? Okay, see you in the morning, love you!" She hung up. Warrick grinned at her and she went over and sat with them. Greg walked calmly over and joined into their conversation. Sara watched them sadly. As much as she tried, she could never ever casually join into their conversation. She felt like an outsider among them, as if she could never be part of that group. Her stomach dropped as she thought of how lonely and depressing her life was. Grissom walked in and he practically saved her life, from boredom at least.
"Nick, Sara, homicide at the Seven Hills district. The Richardson family, victim is 45 year old male. Three kids were killed as well. It is a family of six," Grissom handed Nick the card, and Nick walked out slowly waiting for Sara. He smiled at her.
"I'm driving," he said before she could say anything. Sara acted mad and they both laughed.
In the car, Sara switched radio stations. Christmas music blared out from every station, she looked up at Nick.
"Ever wonder why, the week after Halloween, there are so much Christmas things?" Nick laughed.
"I know! It's like the malls have been taken over by Santa. Even Las Vegas feels too Christmas-y nowadays," He grinned, "But I do love thanksgiving, my parents are the greatest when it comes to dinner. We have a huge family, so my mother and all of the other women get together and cook a big dinner while the men watch football." It was Sara's turn to laugh, but her laugh seemed a little sadder. She looked out the window. Nick sensed her uneasiness, "Hey Sara, what's wrong? We don't force the women to cook, they want to. They can watch football if they want!" He put a hand on her back as they stopped at a red light.
"No, Nick, it's not that," Sara said tearfully. Oh shit, she's crying, Nick thought.
"Sara, what's the matter?" His concern was evident in the tone of his voice.
"It's nothing," Sara said. Nick continued to drive, he looked at her worriedly. They got to the crime scene. The neighborhood was fairly nice, and the house where the murder had taken place seemed pretty nice. Detective O'Reilly came out to see them.
"Oh, you guys didn't have to come anymore; I tried sending your supervisor a page." Sara sighed.
"What happened?" She asked.
"The mother was insane. She confessed soon after it was called in. She and her husband were always fighting," O'Reilly began. Sara's stomach dropped like a stone, "There were three kids. Two died, a young girl lived. Her aunt's been contacted. Anyways, the mother brutally stabbed the father." Sara put her hand to her forehead and the last thing she remembered was darkness.
Blurry images flooded her mind as she woke up. A ringing was present in her head, as well as splitting pain. Her forehead felt wet and cool, she looked and saw Nick pressing something to her temple.
"You okay?" He asked, "You kind of lost it." He looked really worried, more so than he was in the car.
"What happened?" Her voice cracked.
"After O'Reilly told us what happened, you screamed and fainted." It was odd, Sara didn't remember screaming. She sat up and found that Nick carried her to the backseat of the Denali.
"Nick, were you wondering about why I was sad in the car earlier?" She asked. Nick nodded, confused about where this was going. Sara was nervous. She hadn't told anyone but Grissom this, and Grissom had done all in his power to help her but it just didn't help, "When I was little, I grew up the same exact way that the little child in this family did. Except I have one living brother who is in rehab somewhere far out in Colorado," Sara sighed. Nick held her hand with both of his. Sara sat up, and Nick pushed her down gently.
"No, don't over exert yourself. Lie down for a while," He said soothingly.
"My mother stabbed my father to death," Sara started crying, "So I don't have anyone to be with during the holiday, that's why I hate Christmas and Thanksgiving." She put another one of her hands on top of Nick's.
"Hey Sara," Nick said, "Come with me to Texas for Thanksgiving."
"I don't know," Sara said slowly.
"Oh come on! What's holding you back? My mother would love to see you again, come on, please?" Nick pleaded adorably. How could Sara refuse?
"Okay," she said, "I'll come." Nick grinned.
"Lets go, I have to go book some plane tickets and tell my mom I'm bringing a friend!" Nick patted her back. Sara smiled sincerely. This year, she had a hell of a lot to give thanks for.
A week later
"Sara!" Nick said waving for her to go over to where he and Warrick were sitting. Sara grinned and sat by them. Warrick stood up and shifted over so that Sara could sit down. He sat down into a paper coffee cup. He started laughing
"Thank God this isn't hot, damn I'm tired!" Warrick exclaimed.
"How's Tina?"
"Okay, I guess," Warrick answered. He turned and looked at Sara.
"So, are you doing anything fun next week?" He asked her.
"Are you?" Sara replied.
"Nah, Tina and I are staying home. She wants to cook me Thanksgiving dinner," Warrick smiled, "You still haven't answered my question."
"I'm going to spend the holiday with Nick and his family," Sara said.
"Are you two...?" Warrick asked.
"No, no," Nick answered almost immediately.
"Yeah, we're just friends," Sara answered back. But in both of their minds they wondered, Are we…?
A/N: Okay, I know it was kind of short. But this is kind of a cute lighthearted story, but even though it started out dramatic it'll be sweet and fluffy. Pairing? N/S of course! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!