Only Because It's You

Disclaimer - I don't own CSI, or anything else you recognise.

A/N: Told you I'd be back soon. And I'm back with a short, 3 chapter story. I know it's short because I had all 3 chapters written already. So this will be done in a few days, hopefully. It's just a bit of fun really, inspired by the show itself. Enjoy. =)

Chapter 1

"Hey," Sara smiled as she looked up from the piece of evidence she was looking over in the layout room and saw Nick leaning against the doorframe, looking like he had something on his mind.

"Hey," Nick nodded.

"Do we have a lead?" she asked.

"No, not yet. But Brass is looking into potential eyewitnesses," Nick explained.

"Well, are you here to help me go through this or are you just gonna stand there and watch?" Sara raised her eyebrows, a smirk twitching at her lips.

"Right, um, okay," Nick took a deep breath and walked further into the room. He couldn't believe how nervous he felt. This was just Sara. His amazing, talented, gorgeous, rather attractive, co-worker and friend Sara. Urgh.

"So, you're gonna help me then?" she asked, not quite sure if she understood what was going on.

"Yeah, um, after I, uh, after I ask you something," Nick answered.

"Okay," Sara nodded, a confused look on her face. "What's up?"

"Right, um, I'm just gonna come out and say it," Nick stated. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Sara's jaw dropped open as his words sank in. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, will you be my fake girlfriend?" Nick corrected himself, realising how that must have sounded. "You see, my sister's coming to Vegas for a visit with my nieces. And my mum and all my sisters have been going on and on at me for a while now for not having a girlfriend. But when I have one they complain that she's not right for me and when I don't have one they tell my to go out and find one. Anyway, the point is I thought if I could convince you to fake date me for a day that I could convince my sister that I'm with a decent girl and get my mum off my back."

Sara's mouth was still agape by the time Nick had finished his lengthy explanation. Was she dreaming? Or was it actually true? Had Nick really just asked her out, on a fake date? Yep, she had to be dreaming.

"That is, of course, if I can convince you to take me up on this quite frankly bizarre and out of the blue offer. But, please, I, uh… I need your help," Nick added.

"Wow," Sara blinked, finally finding her voice. "You want me to be your fake girlfriend?"

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind," Nick grinned.

"Why me?"

"Um, well, lots of reasons, I guess. But mainly because I know for a fact that my sister, and my nieces, will love you," Nick tried to explain.

"Love me, huh?" she raised an eyebrow. "I don't know about that."

"Well, I think they will," he smiled.

"So how long are your sister and nieces in town?" Sara asked, with a slight sigh.

"So your gonna do it then?" Nick's eyes widened in surprise and excitement. Okay, so maybe he was only fake dating Sara but it would give him a major insight into what the real thing would be like.

"You didn't answer my question," she insisted. "How long are they in town?"

"Just a day," he answered. "My brother-in-law is in California on some business trip thing and he'll be picking them up in his way home. It was my nieces' idea, apparently."

"Just one day?" Sara asked just to confirm it. "I have to pretend to be your girlfriend for one day?"

"Well, you don't have to, Sara, not if you don't want to or have other plans or anything. I'm definitely not forcing you to do it so feel free to say no," Nick added. "Unless, of course, you don't want to say no. If you feel so sorry for me and this terrible predicament I have found myself in, you could… oh I don't know, say yes."

"You're loving this, aren't you?" Sara scoffed, still avoiding his question for a moment. "When are they coming?"

"Next week, conveniently on your night off," he smiled sheepishly.

"So you've been planning this?" Sara raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I wouldn't say planning…"

"Putting some serious thought into it then?" Sara guessed.

"I suppose I might have asked around to make sure next Sunday was actually your night off," Nick shrugged his shoulders.

Sara shook her head and couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Fine, I guess I did think about it, about asking you to pretend to be my girlfriend. It's kinda a big deal for me. I mean, if I can get my mum off my back for even a week it'll be a miracle," he explained. "So, what do you say? Are you up for it?"

"Oh, alright," Sara nodded, rolling her eyes and trying to focus of the evidence in front of her again. "But just so you know, I'm doing this only because it's you, and because you know that if you try anything funny, at all, I'll kill you. And hide the evidence."

"Yes, ma'am," Nick nodded, trying to stop a smirk from forming on his face. "Scouts honour. I'll be the perfect gentlemen."

"Now, gloves on," Sara instructed, pointing to the evidence in front of her.

Nick winked and did as he was told. Oh yes, being on a fake date with Sara was going to be fun.

The next week went by fairly quickly. Sara surprised herself at how much she was looking forward to going on a date with Nick. Even if it wasn't a real date or they weren't going to be alone at all the whole time they were on this 'date', she couldn't help the butterflies that filled her stomach at just the thought of being with him. And she relished in the fact that it was most likely a one time only thing so she was going to make sure she enjoyed herself and took full advantage of the situation.

Nick sighed as he sat at the wheel of his Denali, waiting for Sara to emerge from her apartment building. They agreed that he was coming over about an hour after shift had ended, after he'd gone home and freshened up. He'd made sure to call ahead, and she'd insisted she only needed 5 more minutes. That was 20 minutes ago. And Nick was starting to get annoyed. Normally, he wouldn't care much if Sara was running fashionably late but they had to meet his sister and his nieces at the airport in just over an hour and he'd learned from experience that traffic was unpredictable.

But thankfully just as Nick was about to get out his car and bound towards Sara's apartment to see what was keeping her, she came out all by herself, wearing an apologetic smile as she stopped next to the driver's side door.

"Sorry I was so long. I just couldn't decide what to wear," she tried to explain. "Do I look okay?"

"Yeah, you look fine," Nick rolled his eyes.

"Just fine?" Sara raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, you look amazing, stunning, exquisite, gorgeous…" Nick added with a sarcastic tone. "Are you ready to go?"

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Nick, but yes, I'm ready when you are," Sara smiled as she made her way round to the passenger side door.

"Finally," Nick mumbled under his breath.

"Heard that," Sara smirked as she slipped into the car.

"Good," he smirked back.

"Just drive," Sara glared half-heartedly at him.

They drove in companionable silence for a few minutes as Nick concentrated on the road, and the lack of traffic that had bewildered him.

"We should, um, you know, maybe think about our story. You know, how we got together and stuff," Sara spoke up. "Get our story straight."

"Yeah, I guess we should," Nick nodded in agreement. "I can't exactly go around telling my sister that we first went out four months ago when you're saying two months. We've got to be on the same page."

Sara nodded. "Exactly. So when did you ask me out?"

"Why do I have to be the one that asked you out?" Nick questioned. "Why can't you have asked me?"

"Because it's just not what a women does; it seems like more of a man thing to ask out a close friend," she insisted.

"Ah, is that so?" Nick raised a curious eyebrow, trying not to smirk at her at the same time.

"When did you ask me out?" Sara repeated.

"Um, how about… four or five months ago?" Nick suggested.

"Five months sounds better," Sara decided. "So let's say, you asked me to breakfast at the diner and maybe neither of us realised that it was an actual date until…"

"You kissed me," Nick interrupted.

"I kissed you?" Sara raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, you kissed me when I walked you to your door," Nick smiled, proud with his quick yet plausible idea.

"Fine, I kissed you," Sara accepted defeat and tried to hide a blush as it crept onto her cheeks. That was actually quite romantic. You know, the fairytale kind of stuff. "But on our hypothetical first date? I dread to think what hypothetically happened on the second."

"Oh, I don't think my sister will want to hear about anything like that," Nick chuckled slightly nervously. The thought of Sara like that sort of caught him off guard. But he sort of liked it.

"I hope so."

"And speaking about my sister, I should probably tell you some things about her," Nick decided.

"Yeah," Sara nodded. "I bet she knows all sorts about me."

"Yeah, right," he smiled awkwardly as he kept his eyes fixed on the road so he hoped she wouldn't pick up on the pink tinge in his cheeks. His sister probably did know some things about Sara. "Well, Angie is my big sister, she's the eldest and there's nearly a ten year age difference. She works as a family lawyer, dealing with divorces and child custody issues. And it was through work that she met her husband, Chris, almost fifteen years ago and after eight years together they finally married when Angie was six months pregnant with my eldest niece, Lauren, who's now seven. They went on to have Abby two years later."

Sara silently nodded, letting the information register in her mind.

"And I think that's about it," he shrugged.

Sara nodded again and let out a soft sigh.

"Oh, that and they'll love you," Nick grinned.

About 20 minutes later, Nick and Sara were stood waiting near the entrance of the McCarran International Airport. The Dallas to Las Vegas flight was due in any minute and Sara's nerves were beginning to swirl in her stomach. This was an incredibly big deal for her; she'd hardly met any of the family members of any of her ex-boyfriends, she could count all her encounters on one hand, so the thought of meeting Nick's sister when she was playing his girlfriend was daunting. She definitely didn't want to mess it up.

"Hey, you can breathe you know," Nick chuckled.

Sara forced a smile and half a laugh. "But, um, but what if they don't like me?"

"They will like you," he insisted, placing his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "Why wouldn't they?"

Sara smiled and was about to say something else when she was cut off by 2 very excited little girls screaming for their uncle. Showtime.

"Uncle Nicky!" his nieces, Lauren and Abby, shrieked as they ran into Nick's open arms.

"Hey you two," Nick smiled at them as he pulled away. "How are my two favourite nieces doing?"

"We're fine, Uncle Nicky," Lauren giggled.

"Well, that's good," he chuckled before looking up and straightening up as his sister, Angie, approached. "Hey."

"Hey, baby brother," Angie smirked as she enveloped Nick in a bear hug.

Nick tried to stifle a laugh as he pulled out the hug. "How was your flight?"

"It was fine," she shrugged before looking over at Sara, stood awkwardly to one side. "But we seem to be being very rude. Hi, you must be Sara."

"Yep, that's me," Sara smiled a bit too enthusiastically.

"Sorry, Sar," Nick smiled softly. "Angela, this is Sara, and Sara, this is Angela."

"Angie," she corrected her little brother. "I haven't been Angela since high school."

"Nice to meet you, Angie," Sara added.

"Yeah, you too," Angie smiled. "It's great to finally meet you in person; we've heard lots about you."

"I figured as much," Sara smirked at Nick who pretended not to see it.

It was then that Angie noticed her daughters hiding behind her slightly. "Come on, girls. Stop being shy. Say hello to Sara."

The younger girl, Abby, smiled up at Sara first, closely followed by Lauren. And as they did so, Sara felt herself relax a little and let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Come on then ladies," Nick smiled as he glanced round at Angie and Sara. "Let's get out of here."

Lauren and Abby took one of Nick's hands each and walked with him towards the exit, leaving Angie to fall into step with Sara behind them.

Angie chuckled. "All of his nieces and nephews adore him, not just my two. They all seem to think he's just amazing."

"I'm not gonna argue with you there," Sara smiled, not missing a chance to help Nick convince Angie that they were made for each other.

Angie gave Sara a knowing look. "I guess you're just gonna have to get used to sharing him then."

After a day of visiting museums and an adventure park, the girls were exhausted. And no one could blame them; Nick would have happily joined them in a nap on the backseat of his Denali had he not been driving. He dropped Angie, Lauren and Abby at the hotel Angie had insisted they were going to stay at so they could have a couple of hours rest before they were having dinner with Nick and Sara at Nick's place. This gave Nick about 2 hours to prepare the meal and work out more of their story and relationship with Sara.

Thank you for reading. What do you think? I hope you like it. This was really quite fun to write. Note to self: need to never doubt what I write, especially if it's about a certain pairing from a certain show. I'm working on it. More to come soon. Review please.