A.N: Uh, yeah... S'been a while! If I were you, I probably wouldn't remember what this story was even about so...

To recap: Sara was freaked out by a wacky gunman, and Nick was a friend when she needed one. Now Nick wants Sara, Sara wants Nick but neither knows about the other's feelings of course (otherwise, what the hell would I have to write about?)

When last we left our friends, Sara had recently taken out her frustrations on the very man who was causing them, poor Nick Stokes.

A crappy week went by and Sara hadn't caught even a glimpse of Nick since her little temper tantrum. She couldn't decide whether it was good luck or bad that kept them apart.

She felt nothing but regret for having been so harsh to him; he undoubtedly thought she was losing it again, and probably had no idea why she would be taking it out on him. And she'd been dying to apologize to him, but she'd chickened out every time she'd thought about calling him.

Another set of days off came and went (this time uninterrupted) and Sara pulled into the criminalistics wing parking lot detemined to be in a more postive state of mind, no matter what.

Yeah, well... That's what you said all last week...

While she was fairly certain that she hadn't been that bad to work with, she knew she hadn't been partcularly sunny either. Greg had given her the occasional concerned look but had had the good sense not to say anything, and for that she was grateful. And surprised. Greg seemed to have matured in leaps and bounds since he'd become a CSI, and she couldn't help but feel a little proud of her 'protege'. He was shaping into a fine criminalist.

With thoughts of Greg's improving skills still on her mind, Sara was actually smiling for a change as she walked down the CSI corridors. As she turned a corner, she ran straight into Grissom and he grabbed her shoulders before she fell backwards.

"Oh...Sara. Sorry."

She laughed lightly. "No big deal."

She grinned up at him and he marvelled at how nice it felt to see her smiling so freely again. He found that the small space between her front teeth ocassionally gave her a child-like quality, and his mouth twitched into his own version of a smile.

Despite having had a few ups and downs this past year, he was impressed at how easily she'd seemed to get through this last incident with the gunman. He'd been concerned at first, but she'd gone to her PEAP counsellor as he'd suggested and she seemed to be fine. He couldn't help but feel a little proud of her.

Grissom realized his hands were still on Sara's arms and he released them. "I was just coming to find you." He handed her a sheet of paper. "Death behind the Rio. Suspicious circs. You're going to have to go it alone... Greg's on another case and I have to follow up with my own from last night. O'Riley is on the scene."

She nodded. "You got it." Smiling again, she moved down the hall past Grissom.

Nick had watched the entire exchange from a lab across the hall with a frown. Sara had seemed a little too comfortable in Grissom's arms for his liking. And this in turn made him feel uncomfortable.

Even though she'd pissed him off royally last week, his annoyance had faded into a dull ache somewhere along the way. Now all he felt was a sort of unrelenting longing and it was starting to drive him a little nuts. It hadn't even mattered that he hadn't seen her since she'd flipped out on him; if anything, not seeing her made him want her even more.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

He left the lab quickly and headed in the opposite direction, all the while telling himself he didn't care about Sara and Grissom and whatever might be going on between them.

But deep down he knew he was just kidding himself.

Sara looked down at her shirt with dismay.

A huge rip ran across the section covering her abdomen just below her chest, thanks to a nail sticking out of the side of a beam she'd leaned against while taking a photo at the scene. It hadn't cut her skin fortunately, but O'Riley had commented that she looked like she had just been in a sword fight.

She grabbed her windbreaker out of the SUV, despite the fact that it was easily still 80 degrees outside. She didn't particulaly feel like giving anybody the glimpse of her bra that the slit was occasionally providing.

She put her evidence in the back and climbed behind the steering wheel, cranking the air conditioning to compensate for the heat.

Nick rubbed his jaw absentmindedly as he pulled into the parking lot.

Yawning and tired, he was ready to pass his evidence over for the various necessary tests and head home for some shut-eye while the results were being readied. He looked at his watch. He'd managed to cut his overtime down to just under 4 hours for a change. Maybe his luck was changing for the better.

He smirked at the thought.

Well, it couldn't get any worse.

Slamming his door shut he made his way inside, hoping he could dump off his evidence and be at home and in bed sleeping within the hour.

Sara dropped her jacket on the bench and dug around in her locker looking for a fresh shirt. She pulled on the blue shirt hanging at the back but it caught on something and as she yanked to free it, her elbow connected soundly with the inside corner of the locker.

Nick was just entering the room as she gasped out loud from the quick burst of pain that shot up her arm. She automatically wrapped her other arm across her chest to clutch at her throbbing elbow.

His eyes widened as he took in the slash torn across the front of her shirt and the look of agony on her face and then he rushed towards her.

"Sara... god, are you OK? Are you hurt? What happened?"

Nick had put his hands on her shoulders and started in with the questions before she'd known what was happening. She looked back at him in amazement.

"What? Am I... ? Um, yeah, I'm fine Nick...I..." Her words faded out as she found herself caught up in the warm concern in his eyes, and the way his hands were stroking their way up and down her arms.

"Are you sure? I mean, your shirt..." He looked down at her stomach, confusion in his eyes as they returned to hers. "And you looked like you were in pain when I came in..."

She couldn't stop herself from chuckling and he looked even more confused.

"I banged my elbow when I was trying to pull a new shirt out of my locker... I...uh, I tore it at a scene."

Nick smirked and laughed lightly himself. "Oh."

Then a change came over his face and Sara felt her regret renewed as he took his arms off her shoulders and stepped away. He turned his back on her and started to open his locker as he spoke. "Sorry, Sara. I didn't mean to outstep any boundaries there. I thought you were hurt."

Sara frowned at his back. Clearly he had taken what she'd practically yelled at him last week to heart.

I know you like to play knight in shining armour Nick, but I don't need your help...

She now realized those words couldn't have been more wrong. The longer she was without him, the more she knew she needed him, even if the most she could ever hope for was his friendship. And even that much was in doubt right now. If only she could turn back the clock and stop herself from being such a bitch to him...

But it was too late for that now. What she really needed to do was apologize, and there was no time like the present.

She moved a little closer to him and looked down at her hands uncomfortably.

"Nick, I... I owe you an apology."

He stopped what he was doing and slowly turned to face her. He felt a tinge of hope at the look of regret behind her eyes but he remained silent, waiting for her to continue. She smiled sheepishly.

"Last week, when I..." She stopped speaking for a moment and let out a big sigh. This was harder than she thought. "I'm so sorry I snapped at you last week. I don't know what I was thinking. I... I was having a bad day, I guess." She smirked self-consciously. "Anyway... You didn't deserve it and I'm really, really sorry." She put a hand tentatively on his forearm and looked at him with genuine regret. "You're the last person in the world who should have to put up with my shit... I... Well, after how great you've been to me and everything." She shook her head slightly. "I'm just so sorry."

She looked down at her hand resting on his arm and felt suddenly unworthy. She pulled it back slowly and again clasped her hands together nervously.

Nick had let her say her piece, all the while amazed at how remorseful she actually seemed. It wasn't like they'd never argued in the past 5 years, but she'd never apologized quite like this before.

Although, if he was being honest with himself, he'd couldn't help but admit that he'd never been quite as hurt by her comments before either. But he could tell that her regret was genuine, and that she really felt bad about the whole thing, even if he wasn't sure she was being completely honest with him about the reasons for her treatment of him. He still couldn't pinpoint exactly when she'd started to pull away from him that day, but it had been long before her harsh words.

But he knew now wasn't the time to bring it up. He was just relieved she was talking to him again. He couldn't stop the slow smile from forming on his lips.

"Apology accepted."

Sara's relief was immeasureable, and Nick grinned a little wider at the smile that spread across her face as she questioned him.

"Yeah?"

He nodded, laughing lightly and grabbing one of her hands. "Yeah."

She smiled at him gratefully, warmth suffusing her body as his fingers closed around hers. She couldn't think of what to do next, so she spoke again. "Well, I'm really glad, Nick. I didn't like the idea of you being mad at me." She smiled timidly and later, in hindsight, she couldn't believe she actually uttered the next words that came out of her mouth. "My world felt a little lonelier somehow."

Nick's mouth suddenly went dry and he looked downward before she could see the pleasure her statement had brought him. He instantly regretted his decision when he found himself staring at the bottom swells of her breasts covered by a pale blue bra, peaking out from the rip in her shirt. He tried to swallow but his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

He took a small breath and raised his eyes again, releasing her hand from his as he did so. Still smiling (he hoped normally), he slowly turned back to his locker and pulled out his jacket. "Well, I better get going." He rubbed the back of his neck as he turned back towards her. "I'm beat."

She nodded, a little disappointed he was leaving already. But judging by how her body had reacted to just the simple act of his holding her hand, she figured it was probably for the best. Her hands began to miss the contact instantly and she started to fidget with her pager. Her nerves seemed like they were electrified all of a sudden.

So when her pager started to beep in her hands, she jerked her arm up in surprise and it clattered to the floor.

They both bent to pick it up at the same time and not surprisingly, banged heads. Sara slowly leaned back, the pain in her elbow having been replaced by the fresh one in her forehead.

"Ow." She rubbed her head gently, eyes squinched shut again.

Nick retrieved the pager and rubbed his own forehead, smirking. "Damn, Sidle... I always knew you were hard-headed."

She tried to smile but her throbbing forehead distracted her. "Look who's talking..." She grimaced in pain and he chuckled lightly as he moved closer and put his hands on her waist and looked into her face.

"Are you OK? I'm sorry, hon." He smiled sympathetically, but Sara was a little caught up in what he'd just said.

Did he just call me 'hon'?

She stared dazedly back into his face, now just a few inches from hers. "Uh, yeah... Yeah, I'll be OK. Just give me a second."

Nick had unconsciously started to move his thumbs slowly to and fro across her abdomen, and as one of them contacted with her bare flesh, she drew in a sharp intake of breath. He looked at her with concern.

"What? What's wrong? Are you sure you're OK?"

She nodded mutely, her eyes a bit wider as she came out of her daze. Suddenly Nick became very conscious of her bare skin beneath his fingers.

Just a moment ago, he'd thought that just looking at her was going to undo him, but this...

This is worse. Much worse.

He looked back at her at a loss for words. "I... Uh..."

Sara suprised him by plucking the pager from his hands as it started to beep again. She looked down at the display, relieved to be looking somewhere other than at Nick. Her pounding heart seemed to be shaking her brain loose and she needed to get it back on track fast.

Before she did something stupid.

"Oh... It's Grissom. I have to go..." She turned and grabbed her jacket off the bench, thinking it was probably better if she got out of there quickly. She could change later... When Nick was gone and her pulse returned to normal.

She plastered a smile on her face and tried to infuse her tone with lightness as she moved towards the door. "I'll see ya later, Nick. Get some sleep."

Before he could even try to respond, she was gone. Nick stood staring at the place where she'd been standing even more confused than ever.

What the hell just happened there?