"So, I'm feeling a bit jipped here... Do I get a slow dance too, Sara?" Keith was smiling happily, as usual.

Sara weighed her options in the blink of an eye.

This attraction to Nick was ultimately pointless. In all the time she'd known him, they'd never progressed further than harmless flirting, and in all honesty she'd never wanted to... Or at least she hadn't wanted to before now. As surprised as she was to admit it, she had to accept that something had changed for her.

But she also knew that Nick would never go for someone like her. As flattering as everyone's comments about her appearance had been tonight, she knew she was far from a supermodel, and she was fairly sure that that was much closer to Nick's taste.

And more importantly, she'd already spent too many years hung up on a man who wasn't ever going to return her affections. The whole Grissom affair, or lack therof had put a serious dent in her self-confidence. In spite of how her mind was reeling over the whole crazy turn of events today and the mad rush of bizarre new feelings, she knew one thing for certain: Her heart definitely couldn't take it again- falling for someone who wouldn't return her love.

She slowly smiled back at Keith. "Of course you can have a slow dance." She took his hand in hers. "Let's go."

She didn't look back as they walked to the dance floor, afraid her eyes would betray her.


Nick stared at the ceiling in his bedroom, unimpressed and vaguely depressed.

Damn.

The night had not turned out the way he'd expected. Not at all.

He rolled over on his side, clutching a pillow. Unexpected was an understatement, even.

He'd continued to tell himself he was just feeling over-protective towards Sara and nothing more, even after she'd slipped back out onto the dance floor with Keith and held him almost as closely as she'd held Nick a few minutes earlier.

But he knew he'd been kidding himself when she'd slipped into the cab beside Keith, waving at the rest of them as they'd sped away. As he'd watched her disappear into the night he'd felt disappointment and regret weighing heavily on his heart.

But most surprising of all, especially since he knew it was totally irrational, he'd felt hurt. Betrayed, even. And that's when he knew: He was more than a little attracted to Sara.

In fact, the idea that she was probably with Keith right now, doing god knows what...

He squeezed the pillow tighter, suppressing images of Sara and Keith in a compromising position. It was like a small pin stabbing repeatedly at his heart. If he kept this up, he was eventually going to bleed out.

And so he'd been laying here for over an hour now trying to figure it all out. When exactly had his feelings for her... developed this way? How? And why now?

They'd always had a fairly decent relationship at work, although they operated in styles which could only be descibed as polar opposite. This understandably caused some tensions between them occasionally, but neither of them seemed to hold a grudge... at least not when it came to the other. He knew Sara tended to take things to heart, but she never really seemed to stay mad at Nick for very long.

He inhaled deeply.

So what's changed?

For the life of him, he had no idea. He just knew that it could only lead to no good. He scowled at the wall.

How do I make it go away?


Nick walked down the hall towards the meeting room, uncertain if Sara was working that night and desperately hoping she wasn't. He needed a little time and space to figure this all out, since he hadn't been able to so far.

He noticed everyone was already there... except Sara. He breathed a hidden sigh of relief. She was never late so she must be-

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm running a little late today. I hope you didn't start without me."

She grinned slightly, unable to look at Nick directly. He chewed at the inside of his lip, trying not to think about what Sara might have been doing to make herself late for work. Catherine noted the uncomfortable glance he trained on the table and her brain started its auto-analysis mode.

I wonder what's up with those two?

Before she could give it too much thought, Grissom began handing out assignments, seemingly as oblivious as usual to the moods and un-work related activities of his colleagues.


Nick was focusing on the lab results in his hand and didn't notice the two women approaching him from down the hallway. He almost jumped when Catherine's voice interrupted his musings.

"How's the D.B. going, Nick?"

He looked up suddenly and at seeing Sara beside Catherine, he seemed even more startled for a moment but he recovered quickly. Favouring Sara with a small smile, he returned his eyes back to Catherine. She didn't miss the small flush in Sara's cheeks as the younger woman looked away. Nick cleared his throat before speaking.

"Well, this woman claims she went into her suitcase, which she'd left in the back of her car since she'd returned from travelling last week and-"

"Wait a minute. I don't know many women who'd leave one of their bags in the back of their car for that long after a trip. Sounds a little suss to me." Catherine furrowed her brow.

"Actually, it was empty. She just put it in the back of her car until she could find the time to return it to storage. At least she thought it was empty. When she went to stow it away, it seemed a little heavy."

Catherine nodded in understanding. "Ah. Must have been a big-ass suitcase. So have you ID-ed the body?"

"I'm just heading to check with Det.Vartan right now."

Catherine nodded again and started to continue down the hallway. "Cool. Well, good luck with it. We'll see ya later."

She caught Sara smiling at Nick as she passed, and he grinned slightly in response, but neither of them spoke. As they rounded the corner, Catherine looked at Sara closely.

"So, what's up with you two?"

Sara frowned. "What do you mean?"

Catherine smirked. "You and Nick. You've both been acting weird since this morning. Something going on?"

Sara frowned deeper, unaware that someone had caught her out. She ignored the brief twitch of discomfort that swelled in her chest and spoke calmly. "I can't speak for Nick, but I for one am not acting weird. I think you must be seeing things, Catherine."

She looked unconvinced. "Mmmm hmmmm. Didn't you two have some big plans after your last shift, as I recall? Something top secret?"

Sara chuckled in what she hoped was an off-the-cuff manner. "Yeah, we did. And we went hand-gliding actually." She smiled now, adding the extra component so that Catherine couldn't read anything extra into that either. "With Nick's friend Keith. Then we all went out last night. And that's the whole story. Nothing weird about it."

The older woman was still eyeing her speculatively. "Riiiight." She looked even closer at Sara and it was all she could do not to squirm under the scrutiny. "So what's with this new sparkle in your eye, Miss Sidle?"

Sara's brows went up, and she tripped over her tongue as she attempted to deny it. "Spa... Sparkle? I...Uh... I don't know what you're-"

"So what's this Keith like? Is he as good looking as Nicky?"

This time Sara was speechless. And her uncomfortable blush was all the other woman needed to see.

"Ah hah! I knew it. Sara Sidle's found herself a new man." She grinned at Sara knowingly. "You hooked up with Nick's friend?"

Sara grinned in embarrassment. "Cath, I..."

"Don't worry Sara. I won't press the issue. I know how you like your privacy." She patted the brunette on the shoulder in understanding. "I just had to make sure. For a minute there I thought something had happened between you and Nick or something." She laughed as if the idea was outrageous. "Crazy, huh?"

Sara's stomach turned a bit at the other woman's clear distaste at the thought of she and Nick being anything other than just friends and co-workers. She tried to brush it off, but her own laughter sounded a little sickly even to her own ears.

"Yeah, you uh... You have an active imagination there, Catherine."

Catherine continued down the hall and disappeared into one of the labs. After a moments hesitation, Sara took a deep breath and followed her.


"Hey man... Just thought I'd check in, see how you're doing? I didn't catch you sleeping did I?" Keith sounded annoyingly chipper and Nick bit back a sour response.

"No, man. I haven't gone to bed yet. What's up?"

"Ah, I was just thinking maybe you'd be up for some para-sailing on your days off this week?"

"I thought you preffered hand-gliding, bro. Less work on those wussy arm muscles of yours."

Keith snorted. "Yeah, whatever man. So, you want to do it or what?"

Nick frowned, and as much as he didn't want to broach the subject, a part of him needed to know. "What... You're not going to spend all your free time working your moves on Sara?" He hated how snide he sounded to his own ears, but Keith didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, don't you worry. We're going out for dinner on Friday night actually."

Nick's heart sank. "Oh yeah? Cool. So I guess everything went... ah, OK last night?" Again, he almost hoped Keith wouldn't reply, and his friend just about answered his prayers.

"Hey, you know a gentleman never kisses and tells..." Nick hadn't thought it possible, but his heart sank even further. Keith continued. "But don't worry about your friend, buddy. I really was a gentleman. A simple kiss goodnight and she sent me on my merry way."

Nick was holding his breath now. "Really? You didn't even go inside?"

"Nope. And not from a lack of trying..."

Nick laughed softly, surprised once more at the intensity of the relief that rolled through him. "Sooooo... She shot you down, huh?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, man. After all, I'm taking her to dinner. We're just taking things slow." He ginned into the phone and Nick could visualize his white teeth taking over his expression. "And I for one find that refreshing in a woman these days."

Once again, Nick wanted to groan, but he held back. "Well, you embrace that, man. It's probably the best you're gonna get in the end." At least that was what he was hoping.

Keith laughed on the other end. "Look, are you up for some para-sailing or what?"


Nick somehow managed to finish out the week with minimal interaction with Sara, and he figured it was for the best. He should probably keep his distance until he got over this sudden infatuation.

He sat down in front of his locker and changed out of his work shoes, then stood up and pulled his shirt over his head. He was still buried in the shirt when he heard someone clear their throat. He yanked it the rest of the way off and was surprised to see Sara standing there.

"Sara... I thought you were gone."

She opened her locker quickly, trying to avoid being mesmerized by the lean, muscular plains of his bare torso.

"Um, yeah... I did. I... I forgot my car keys."

Nick nodded and played with his watch idly. Sara grinned awkwardly.

"Uh, Nick?"

His heart beat a little faster. "Yeah?"

She licked her lips without realizing it. "You... Uh... You going outside dressed like that?" A slight tinge of colour crossed her cheeks and he looked down, embarrassed.

"Oh yeah... Heh. Might get a few funny looks in the hallway, huh?" He grinned sheepishly and grabbed a t-shirt out of his locker. Sara closed her own locker up again as he pulled it over his head.

Man, I'll say...

"Well, I guess I'll see ya..."

She started to move away, but she paused. Something had been troubling her all week. Well, actually, two things had been troubling her.

First, there was this sudden unexplainable crush on Nick. She'd convinced herself it was just the excitement of the day, or something in the air... or basically anything but a real attraction. She'd hoped the promise of her impending date with Keith and the passage of a week would have brought her to her senses, but neither had. And if anything, this strange desire had only gotten worse, despite the fact that she'd barely seen Nick all week.

Which brought her to dilemma number two:

Is Nick avoiding me?

They'd both been heavily involved in separate D.B. cases that week, so it wasn't totally inconceivable that they wouldn't have crossed paths much , but still... Usually they would have had some overlap in the labs at least. Which begged the question, if Nick was avoiding her on purpose, was it because he'd figured out the truth? Had she given herself away somehow?

Maybe when we were dancing...

She squared her shoulders and turned around to find Nick still watching her. He smiled kindly. "You forget something else?"

"Yeah. I mean... No. Actually, I just... I wanted to ask you something."

He watched her intently, brows raised slightly in question. "Yeah? What's up?"

She gnawed on her lip for a second and then took the direct route like she always did. "Nick, have you, um... Have you been avoiding me?"

Shock rippled through his veins. "Uh, what? Avoiding you?" He didn't know what to say.

Damn, we've both been so busy this week, I was hoping she wouldn't notice.

"Yeah, I... Well, it just seems like you've been making yourself scarce since the other night when we... When we all went out. I was just worried that I..." She grinned nervously. "Nick, did I do something wrong, or something that pissed you off? Because if I did I-"

"Whoh, Whoh there, Sara." Nick stepped closer and shook his head slowly. "You didn't do anything wrong and I haven't been avoiding you, honestly." He shrugged. "It's just been a busy week, you know? I mean, you've been as busy as me, so..." He smiled gently.

She pursed her lips, half-smiling. "Are you sure? Because, honestly-"

"I'm sure, Sara. Seriously." He put his hands on her arms, frowning lightly. "What brought this on, huh?"

She felt a small pleasure at his touch on her bare arms but quickly stifled it. She blew out a small stream of air. "Man, I don't know... I guess... Well, I really had a lot of fun the other day Nick, and I..." She looked at him shyly. "I guess I still worry too much about things. I don't know." She turned away and Nick immediately missed the contact.

He frowned some more at her back, guessing the real reason for her case of the nerves. He decided to be as direct as she'd been. "Or maybe..." He waited as she turned back around to face him again. "Or maybe you're just a little nervous about your big date tonight.

It was Sara's turn to feel surprised.

Well, I guess he's been talking to Keith...

She wasn't going to make anything more of it, but then she noticed that the small smile on Nick's face didn't quite reach his eyes.

Is he unhappy about my date with Keith?

Sara felt her mouth go dry. "Nick, uh..." She cleared her throat. "Are you... Do you have a problem with me going on a date with your friend?"

Now Nick's mouth went dry. "What? Uh, no... No, not at all."

That had sounded unconvincing even to himself.

Shit. I think I'm busted here.

And he was right: Sara wasn't buying it. But not in the way that he thought

"C'mon Nick. I think I've developed my lie detector pretty well over the years. Clearly you have a problem with me going on this date." Her eyes were a little brighter than normal and she crossed her arms over her chest. She was confused by his reaction, and as she began to figure out what was going on, she felt her heart withering inside her chest.

"Sara I-"

"Right, Nick. I get it. Obviously you don't want me to go out with Keith. I don't know if it's because I'm crossing some line between your work and personal life or..." She swallowed heavily. "... Or maybe you think I'm not right for him... I'm not good enough for one of your friends."

Nick looked aghast at this last statement. "God, Sara... That's not-"

"No, Nick... Nevermind. I never should have invaded your life like this. God knows you have enough friends without me cramping your style. I should never have asked you to do something that day. Man, I was so stupid..."

Nick felt as if she'd slapped him. "Whoh now. Just hold on. You're putting words in my mouth now, and you're totally off base here. I said nothing about having a problem with this date." He moved towards her again, but she raised her hands in front of her to ward him off. His stomach dropped when he saw tears glistening in her eyes. She wasn't shouting, but her tone sounded angry. And hurt.

You just had to ask her, didn't you...?

His nerves stretched tight as she continued and he silently cursed himself for hurting her, even if it had been inadvertently.

"You didn't have to say anything Nick. You have been avoiding me this week. I haven't been imagining it at all, have I? And now I know why. I could see it clear as day in your eyes just a minute ago." She started to back out of the room.

"Sara! Come on. You're not lis-"

"No, Nick. You listen. I'm not that desperate for dates. I don't need to go out with one of your precious friends." She swiped angrily at a tear that threatened to fall and reveal her weakness. "But you know what? I happen to like Keith, and I'm going out with him whether you like it or not."

She turned and stormed angrily out the door and Nick moved to follow her, almost running into Warrick as he entered the locker room. Warrick put his hands on Nick's shoulders to stop the collision.

"Hey now- easy! Where's the sale?"

When Nick made to keep moving down the hall, Warrick held him back. "Hey, hold on man... Grissom needs you before you cut out. Said it's important."

Nick hesitated, desperately wanting to clear the air with Sara but knowing that even if he did catch up with her she probably wouldn't be interested in hearing him out anyway. Maybe he should just wait until she calmed down...

He exhaled noisily and Warrick eyed him curiously, noting the strained expression on his friend's face.

"Lucky I caught you, since you seem like you're heading somewhere in a hurry... What's up, man?"

Nick shook his head sadly as he slowly moved down the hall towards Grissom's offiice. "Damned if I know, Warrick. Damned if I know."