A/N: Just a little Christmas gift from me to my fellow Snickers… it's chalk full of good ol' Snicker fluff:-)

Disclaimer: I own nothing CSI except the computer game and Seasons 2 and 4 on dvd. (I buy them randomly, whichever's cheapest.) I'm asking for the board game and seasons 1 and 3, but that's all. Other than that, 'all I have is $2.00 and an old brassier hook.' (Kudos to anyone who knows what that quote is from) So, if you want to give those to me for Christmas, feel free. Other than that, I own nothing. Nothing CSI. Any characters that aren't on CSI (Or A Walk in the Park or Spongebob Squarepants or any other movie/TV show I might mention throughout) are mine. The rest belong to CBS, Fox, or whoever made all that good entertainment.

"I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me…" Nick crooned out of key in his thickest accent as he headed down the hallway of CSI to the locker room.

"Hey, bro. I heard you're getting out of here for a little while." Warrick grinned as he came out of the break room to say goodbye to his friend, who he could hear coming down from Grissom's office.

"Yup, Boss man just made it official. I have two whole weeks and I am going to Dallas!" Nick grinned from ear to ear. He didn't seem to notice that his twang had gotten a little thicker.

"Yeah, you're lucky, man. My family's here, so I'm on call for Christmas."

"Sucks to be you." Nick smirked and Warrick faked a laugh.

"I'll see you in two weeks then." They pulled each other into a manly hug and patted one another's back.

"Merry Christmas, War."

"Merry Christmas." He called back, chuckling as Nick resumed his song.

"PLEASE Have snow…and Mistletow-owowowow…" He was trying to pull a Mariah Carey and milk the song, but failing miserably.

"Ouch, who's killing the cat? I'll call the SPCA!" Greg shouted as he came out of the lab. "Ah, Nick. Singing, were you?"

"You bet."

"I guess you're going to Texas?"

"Of course! What about you?"

"Well, unlike some people, I only get one week off. And I'm going down to San Fran to spend it with my parents and my Uncle Bumpy."

"Uncle Bump—never mind, I don't want to know. See you in 2 weeks!"

"Merry Christmas, Nick. And, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"What wouldn't you do, Greg?"

"Uh… I'll think of something."

"Sure. Merry Christmas, Greggo." He slapped him on the back and walked a little further, poking his head in the various labs and offices to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If there was anyone in the lab who tended to be friendly like that, it was the charming Texan. He made sure he said goodbye to everyone, including Ecklie (even if it was to gloat to him that he had 2 weeks off, he did wish him a Merry Christmas), when he reached the locker room. The only one he hadn't seen was Sara, who was the only other person who was able to get 2 weeks off to go home for Christmas. Everyone else had family in Vegas and was asked to stay behind. It was no secret that Grissom was spending Christmas with Catherine and Lindsay.

Nick assumed that Sara had already left for the holidays. It was strange that she would leave early and get so much time off, but Grissom gladly offered it to her, since she had stored up loads of vacation time. However, Nick wasn't far off. Grissom was close to begging the two of them, for fear he'd get written up by Ecklie for refusing vacation leave to his CSIs. Besides, lately the two of them had become best friends, and he seemed to be a good influence on her. She wasn't as uptight, and she tended to smile more, and not come in on her days off.

When he opened the door, however, he saw something very unexpected. There was Sara Sidle, sitting on the bench, holding a letter in one hand and a card in the other, crying.

"Sara—" She jumped when he put a hand on her shoulder. When she saw it was only Nick, he could see her sigh with relief. "What's wrong?" He sat down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders, encouraging her to lean on him.

"Nick…" She sniffed. "I got this…from my parents…"

His face was full of concern. "Are they okay? What's wrong? What happened??"

"Don't worry, nothing serious."

"Good."

"It's actually petty. I don't even know why I'm crying…"

"Shh…want me to read the letter, or do you want to tell me?"

"I—I—"

"Wait now…" He stood up and grabbed a tissue, wetting it in the sink before handing it to her to wipe off her tears and calm her down.

"Thanks." She cleared her throat, still sniffling. "I was supposed to go home for Christmas. I had two weeks off. Normally, my parents come here since I can't get time off of work. But—" She started to cry and said something Nick couldn't even understand.

"I'm sorry, Darlin' what did you just say?"

"Sorry." She took a deep breath. "They're going on a second honeymoon. A Caribbean cruise. I'm going to be alone on Christmas…I had my ticket bought and everything, but they sent me this and cancelled…" She broke down again and began crying harder.

Nick held her and pulled her against him as she cried into his shirt. "Shh, shh, Darlin' don't cry. I've got an idea. There's always plenty of people at home for Christmas and one more certainly wouldn't hurt. How'd you like to come home for Christmas with me?"

She put her head up, trying to stop the tears. "You mean it?"

"Why not?" He grinned.

"But—no I don't want to put you out—"

"Nonsense. Do you realize how many people are around at Christmas time back home? They won't notice one other person."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Positive?"

"Yes!" He laughed and hugged her close. "I mean it. No one should be alone on Christmas. Being from a big family I'm a firm believer of that."

"But only if your parents won't mind."

"Sara, I'm a big boy, I can decide who I want to take home for Christmas and show off to my family." Her expression suddenly turned from relieved and happy to panicked and worried. He laughed again. "I'm kidding, they'll love you, Sara."

"Okay." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you so much Nick." She gave him a huge hug, still crying slightly.

"Now why are you crying?"

"Because I get to have a real Christmas. To tell you the truth, even Christmases back home aren't that great. My parents are usually working their bed and breakfast… and I end up working for them."

"Oh. Well I'll make sure this is a very special Christmas for you. Now stop that crying!" He grinned and kissed her forehead as she hugged him again. "Crying when you're happy… you're emotionally screwed up, aren't you?" He teased.

Sara laughed through her tears. She noticed the wet spot on his shirt where she had been crying. Fingering it she blushed. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. With nieces and nephews like the ones I have, I'm used to being barfed on and peed on. Don't worry about a few tears."

Sara couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, matching Nick's expression. He loved that smile, that she didn't show nearly enough; the cute gap between her two front teeth making her look that much more irresistible to him. "Thank you, so much."

"No problem, Sar."

"When does your flight leave?"

"Tomorrow at 8:00. But don't worry, there's so many flights going from Dallas to Vegas they're never full. Do you have a ticket bought for Frisco?"

"No one calls it Frisco, unless they're trying to be cool and failing miserably." She teased, causing him to blush. "But yes, I do have one booked."

"Well don't you worry, I'll get them switched over."

"How will you manage that?"

"Oh, just you wait and see. I'll flip on the ol' Stokes Texan charm, and the ladies at the counter won't be able to resist me."

Sara couldn't help but laugh when they saw who would be serving them at the ticket counter. He was a very flamboyant and clearly gay guy who seemed to be eyeing Nick appreciatively.

"You gonna flip on the ol' Texan charm?" Sara asked in a fake accent.

"Darlin, that was a sorry attempt at the Texan twang, but in two weeks I'll have y'all talking like a real Southern Belle. Whoo-wee, doggy!" He grinned as he spoke in a very exaggerated accent, causing Sara to laugh out loud.

"Nick… we're next… what are you gonna do? Give him that big grin? You know most of the ladies can't resist that."

"The question is, can you?" He quipped back, secretly wishing she would fall for him, like he was for her. She paused for a moment, a hint of panic in her eyes, but he didn't seem to catch that. "I'll have you know, I've got a better idea. Just play along."

"What?"

"Just play along."

"Okay…" She was very confused as he took her hand and pulled her towards the counter.

"Hello."

"Why, hello there." The man whose nametag said 'Lance' said with a large smile as he got an eyeful of the gorgeous Texan.

"Yeah, umm we've got a little problem here. You see, me and the little lady just got hitched her in Vegas, and I'd like to take her home to visit my family, isn't that right sweetie?"

"Uh, uh yes." She put on a huge grin, smiling dreamily at him, but it was her secret that she wasn't acting. "I just can't wait to meet them, honey."

"Oooh can I see your ring?"

"Umm, well…" Sara froze.

"We're waiting until we get home. I have an antique ring at home that's been in my family for generations. And I want her to wear it." He grinned and she tried not to act surprised when he bent down and kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Oh that's so sweet." The attendant grinned, looking at Nick.

"Well, she has a ticket to go home to her family in San Francisco and we'd like to get that changed to Dallas Texas." He handed him the tickets.

Lance clicked some keys and looked at the computer, clicked a few more and looked at the monitor again. "Mmm hmm. Mmm hmm…hmm. It can't be done."

"What? I'm sure it can." He grinned and leaned in. "You need to do this. I'll pay the fee. But you have to change it. Please?" He batted his eyelashes and Sara tried so hard not to laugh at him.

Lance's smile got wider when Nick turned on the "ol' Texan Charm". "Hold on one second." His fingers moved even quicker over the keyboard and in a few minutes he smiled. "Done. Just a $50.00 fee."

"Sure." Nick pulled the money out of his wallet.

"Nick, you don't have too—" Sara protested.

"No, I've got it, don't worry… honey." He grinned and winked at her.

"Okay, thank you, darling." She said, her voice sickly sweet.

Nick loaded their luggage on the conveyer belt while Lance got their tickets. It took a little longer as he was busy watching Nick's butt while he lifted the suitcases, but Sara didn't notice, because she was too busy getting an eyeful as well.

"And here's your tickets. Have a nice time." He handed the pair the new tickets and waved at them. "Bye."

"Thank you." Nick nodded and walked off.

"Lance likes you." Sara teased.

"So, I got your ticket changed, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." She took her boarding pass from him. "And thank you."

"You're welcome…honey." He grinned and she shot him a playful glare.

"You know, when we get back to the lab I can tell them you flirted with a man at the airport to get what you wanted."

"Hey, I'm not saying I enjoy it, but if it works, why not?" He grinned and winked at her. "As far as I'm concerned, it takes a real man to be that comfortable about his sexuality that he doesn't have to constantly prove it."

"Real men, like… Lance?" She asked with a sly grin, getting a loud laugh from Nick.

"Nick I know I said thanks but thanks again. Thank you so much. You really don't need to be doing this." She said as they took their seats in the large jet.

"Sara, I told you not to worry about it."

"But, I want to repay you somehow. How can I repay you?"

"I have an idea."

"Nick…" She said, warning him playfully. She knew his reputation, and while it wasn't all true, she liked to tease him about it.

"No, nothing illegal. Don't worry. But, there is something you can help me with, but if you don't want to, that's okay. Cause it could get a little weird and I don't want to get you into a sticky situation."

"Who did you kill and where is the body?"

"Very funny."

"Nick, just tell me."

"Okay. Here goes." He took a deep breath. "Would you like to be my girlfriend for two weeks?"

"What?" Her stomach did a flip when she heard 'be my girlfriend'… but the two weeks thing really threw her for a loop.

"Well, see, I've got five sisters and a brother, and all of them are married with children. And every time that I come home without a girl, they are intent on setting me up and marrying me off. It gets very stressful. And I know if you just come as a friend, they will try and push us together."

Sara couldn't help but wonder if that would be a bad thing.

"Now, I'm all for romance, but these guys can become a little to obvious and start poking their noses in my business a little too much. I mean, I love my family but they can be a bit overbearing when it comes to that."

"I can imagine." Just her parents drove her crazy when it came to her not being married. She couldn't imagine a huge family after her like that.

"But, if I say you're my girlfriend, they'll be very excited, but once they meet you they'll calm down and won't be nearly as pushy. And they'll get off of our backs."

"Okay, well that makes sense."

"Yeah…if you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to…" He was worried she might bolt off the plane, and he breathed a sigh of relief when the plane sped up for the takeoff, soon lifting off the ground. He sucked it back in, however when she finally answered.

"Sure."

"You will?"

"Yes… I mean it makes perfect sense. I know what it's like being chastised at our age for being single."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God you will."

"Let me guess. You already told them you were coming home with your girlfriend?"

"No, but when I called last night and said I was bringing you, the squeals that came from my mother and my sisters that happened to be around her at the time kept me from being able to explain that you and I are just friends. They assumed you're my girlfriend."

"Oh. I see." She wore a slightly frightened expression. While she was sure his family would be nice, since they did bring up the man sitting next to her to be a perfect gentleman, she was worried about how pushy and intimidating they would be.

"Yeah. My family's the main reason I moved to Vegas. I love them, but I needed to go somewhere where I was a nobody, and not the youngest member of the Stokes clan, or George II. That's my Dad's name."

"I don't know your dad, but now that you mention it you do look like a George."

"Oh, you too?"

"Well there is something sexy about a man named George." She winked at him.

"Yeah, I saw that movie you had in your locker. A Walk in the Park. What a cheesy movie that looks like."

"Hey, the guy was in a towel. I don't care if it was cheesy."

"If I'm gonna be in this relationship I don't want you lusting over this George Eads guy."

"Well you know you do kind of look like him." She winked.

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"Is that good?"

"Oh yeah." Sara wore a huge grin on her face.

"Huh. Well, at least my 'girlfriend' thinks I'm hot." He shot her a 1000-watt smile. He had managed to get up the courage to ask her to be her fake girlfriend. And she never ran away screaming. Maybe soon he'd get up the courage to ask her to be the real thing. He smiled to himself. This was going to be a very fun Christmas.

TBC….

A/N: I am doing exams in university, so I may not get this updated as frequently as I'd like, but I'll try to get it finished in time for Christmas!!!! If not, I'll just keep working on it after:-) Now press that little purple button on the bottom of your screen and REVIEW:-)