Oh my god, what just happened there?

Sara concentrated on breathing in and out slowly as she walked down the hall, hoping that would stop the eratic beating of her heart. Unconsciously, she placed her hand on her stomach. The skin was still tingling through her jacket where Nick had touched her. She clutched at the material, mind spinning.

Just what the hell was that?

She took a steadying breath and forced a bland expression on her face as she entered Grissom's office. Hopefully some of his investigative single-mindedness would rub off on her and help her get her mind off Nick...And fast.

Thank god this shift is over.

Sara looked at her watch and yawned. It was almost two in the afternoon and she was finally giving up chasing evidence, at least for now. She'd had a headache for more than half her shift, but thankfully it had finally dissipated around noon.

She looked down at her blue button down shirt and shook her head with amusement. She'd inadvertently brushed against a white board and gotten a bunch of marker prints across the front.

Two shirts in less than 24 hours. That's gotta be a record.

All she had left was a tank top, so she pulled it carefully out of her locker and headed back to a stall to change yet again. It was a little skimpy for work, but since she was off she thought it would be OK.

She was just coming back out again when Nick entered the locker room. He stopped and stared at her, surprised to see her again so soon. And looking so... sexy.

"Sara. We gotta stop meeting like this." His lips quirked into a cute smile and she cursed her wardrobe change as she felt a flustered blush rising through her. She was sure her arms and shoulders must be glowing pink in addition to the onset of some telling goosebumps.

"Uh, hi." She rubbed her own arms nervously and cleared her suddenly tightening throat. "What are you doing here so early? Your shift doesn't start for a couple more hours."

"I wanted to check on my evidence. Well, our evidence- Warrick should be here any minute now, too." He looked down at his watch, not really noticing the time as he contemplated the opportunity that had arisen before him.

Once he'd gotten home last night, he'd tossed and turned for quite a while contemplating those few moments with Sara in this very room. A mere touch of her warm, soft skin under his fingertips had sent a shock of awareness through him; an awareness that had only dissolved after exhaustion finally forced him into a troubled, restless sleep.

All the while he'd toyed with the idea of just coming out and asking her how she felt about him; if there was a chance she had feelings for him...

Then why had she acted so strange around him last week? Why had she pulled back from him that day? She had clearly been avoiding him... but why?

And so he'd tossed and turned as he considered it all, including how she'd suddenly turned so skittish on him last night. What had spooked her? Had she sensed how he felt about her and was weirded out by it?

So many questions and no answers.

And here was the woman in question standing in front of him right now. What was he waiting for?

"So, long shift huh? You just heading home now?" He needed to warm up to asking the questions he really wanted to ask.

"Yeah.Yeah, I'm gonna grab a quick bite and then straight to bed." Her blush was revived when she realized she was discussing bed with Nick. She stumbled to cover it. "I... I'm pretty wiped."

Nick nodded, so caught up in his own inner workings that he didn't notice her subtle discomfort. All his CSI skills of observation were on hiatus as his mind ran over ways to phrase things so that he didn't freak her out.

"Uh, yeah... Yeah, I bet." He nodded slightly and took the plunge. "Listen, I know you want to get going but... Do you have a second?"

"Um, sure. Yeah... What's up?" She leaned back against her locker and hooked her fingers into the belt loops on her pants, desperately hoping she didn't look as nervous as she suddenly felt. He looked normal, but a tinge of seriousness entered his eyes and made her wary.

Uh oh. What's this about?

"Well, I was just wondering about something... About what happened last week."

She focused on keeping her breathing even. "What about last week? I mean, I said I was sorry and I meant it, Nick. I was way out of line when I-"

"No... That's not what I meant, Sara." A small grin tugged at his lips and she started to realize that he seemed a bit nervous. She waited for him to continue.

"Last week, before you... Uh, before you snapped at me- and don't apologize again. It's cool, honestly." He smiled at her kindly and then went on. "Even before that, you... Well, something was... weird." He looked bemused and she frowned.

"Something was weird? What? What was weird?"

"Uh... You, actually. You were weird."

Her eyebrows rose even higher. "I was weird?" Her mouth was going dry again.

Oh, this is not good.

Nick could tell she was trying to be patient, but he was certain he'd caught the briefest flash of panic in her eyes, and it was far from comforting to him.

Oh man. Get out before it's too late. Cut your losses and run.

But he had to know. The whole situation was getting to him, and he had to deal with it before he lost his mind.

"I mean... I know you said you were having a bad day but..." He drew in a small breath before he went on, and she felt her facade of calmness rattling.

"But what?"

"But why was I the only one you seemed to be avoiding?"

Sara's breath left her altogether for a moment, although she wasn't conscious of it while she stared back in amazement at him. He was watching her so closely she felt like he was trying to read her mind. And she was scared of what he might find there.

"Nick, I don't..." She trailed off as she stared back at him. She could read on his face that there was no point in denying it. He had a vaguely skeptical look on his face, as though he'd known she would go the denial route. She needed to find a new tack, and fast. As she looked down at her thumbs hooked around her belt loops and considered her options, she felt Nick move closer to her. She slowly rose her eyes to his, and now he looked as uncertain as she felt.

But she was sure she was the more nervous one after he uttered his next words.

"Sara, is there something you want to tell me?"

The thinly veiled panic flashed in her eyes once more and he felt a little guilty. But he needed her to answer him, so he waited.

She wanted to move away from him, but she was backed up against the lockers so she stood her ground.

C'mon Sidle, you're a mature professional. You face tougher situations than this all the time at work.

But those situations hadn't involved dealing with the man who'd unknowingly stolen her heart. She wet her lips and gave him an even stare.

"Nick, I.. I don't really know what you're looking for here. What is it that you want me to say?"

He sighed and leaned slightly to the left. "Look, Sara... I know you-"

"Well, well... What have we here? Am I interrupting something?"

Nick's head swung around to see an amused Warrick standing just inside the doorway. Sara seized the moment and slipped out fom behind him. She flashed a bright smile at Warrick as she moved towards the door.

"Jeeze, Warrick. Your mind is constantly in the gutter these days. It's a wonder you can focus on work at all. I'm thinking you need to get yourself a date." She attempted a small laugh, but it sounded a little nervous even to her own ears. Warrick either didn't notice it, or he chose to ignore it as he laughed with her.

"Girl, you know I don't have any problems in that department. Besides, I'm thinking it's you and Nicky here who have something you want to tell me."

She stopped suddenly and turned at his repetition of Nick's words from a moment ago, and she saw Nick's eyes go slightly wider as well. But she needed to get out of there fast.

"Yeah, whatever Warrick. I think we both know I'm not his type anyway. And besides, with the amount of time you two spend together, everyone's starting to think that you're an item."

Nick tried to hide his disappointment at her words and managed a tight grin of his own. "Oh, Sara... now you know that's not true. Warrick is definitely not my type."

Warrick clutched his chest in mock anguish. "That hurts me, Nick. That hurts me."

Sara shook her head and decided to make her move. "You two clearly have some issues to deal with so I'll see ya around."

Nick's chances were slipping through his fingers as Sara moved towards the exit once more. He looked at Warrick's knowing glance and weighed the options. Was stopping Sara again worth dealing with Warrick's inevitable harrassment?

Hell yeah.

Nick followed her quickly out into the hallway. "Sara. Hold up a sec."

She stopped in her tracks, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She slowly turned around to face him, her brows arched in question.

"Sara, listen... I think we still need to talk, so-"

"Nick, I really don't know-"

"Sara." He put his hands on her forearms and she felt an immediateshiver that had very little to do with the air condioning. He stared into her eyes with a sort of patient amusement. "Humor me, OK? Meet me for breakfast tomorrrow morning after your shift."

She looked uncertain and he didn't want to give her a chance to say no. "Sara, please."

All she had to do was look into the warmth behind his brown eyes and she was sunk. Her brain was screaming "Don't do it!" but her heart decided to do the talking. "OK. OK, I'll meet you for breakfast."

He smiled shyly and she was sure she'd have given him anything he wanted at that moment. He let go of her arms, still smiling. "Cool. I'll call you in the morning, alright?"

"Yeah, that...Uh, that sounds good." She started to back up and she gave him another small smile as she began to turn away. "I'll see you."

"Yeah, have a good sleep. Talk to you in the morning."

Sara made her way slowly out to her car in a daze, hoping she was tired enough to get past the thousands of thoughts that were coursing through her addled mind.

Nick headed back into the locker room and didn't even have to see Warrick's face before he felt the urge to defend himself.

"Don't start with me, man. I told you there's nothing going on between us, and I meant it."

Warrick flashed him a cheshire grin. "What? Did I say anything?"

Nick shook his head, smirking. "Yeah, well... Let's keep it that way." He made his way out the door, calling out over his shoulder. "I'll meet you in the DNA lab."

Warrick closed his locker and considered the empty space where his colleague had just been standing.

Yeah, there's nothing going on between them.

Yet...

A.N: Yeah, I know, I know. I'm the devil. I think I've seriously become a professional at 'the story drag-out'. Yep, it's a skill! ;)