Chapter 12: Yes' and No's

She takes the silver key into her hand, admires it for a second, and then hurdles herself into Nick announced. "Tackled by a line-backer." She shuts him up quickly: sporadically placing kisses over every inch of his face that she could reach. "So, uh- I'm guessing the answer is yes?" To say that Nick is surprised by her outburst would be a mere understatement. Abruptly her movements stop.

"What gave you that idea?" A tiny smirk plays with her lips and her eyelashes bat against each other.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's the fact that your ovaries are not imprinted on my stomach." Amusement seeping into his voice. She rakes her smoldering eyes over his skin.

"You're not funny mister." Sara pokes her finger into his bare chest. "But I would love nothing more than to move in with you." With a sweet and final kiss, Nick slings her over his shoulder and bounds purposefully towards their bedroom. Oh, and about breakfast, wait, what breakfast?

The afternoon comes equipped with lunch out and a rented movie. The Notebook was a movie that Sara had wanted to see since it premiered in the theaters, but do to her working schedule she never had the chance to pop in and see it. So, Nick graciously suggests they rent it. When the movie is rung up and paid for, Nick and Sara head home, walking the three blocks towards the apartment complex. She uses her key, 'my key', to unlock the main door and waits while Nick collects the mail from their slot. Most of it is junk mail and is tossed in the trash can found by the elevators. Minutes later both are curled on the couch, glasses placed on coasters you know to avoid those nasty rings that are left behind and never wash away, and the movie spinning in the DVD player. The synopsis of the movie is about a young woman being courted by two very handsome men during World War II. But only one man truly holds her heart. Halfway through the movie Nick apologizes as his legs slip out from under her head as he makes his way towards the bathroom. When she hears the door close she sighs in slight despair. Even though he's a few feet away, she can't help but miss him already. Her attention eventually shifts back to the movie and the plot slightly mirrors her own life. Two men playing tug of war with her heart, but only one is strong enough to keep it. Grissom's at one end and Nick's on the other. But even without pulling Grissom's flat on his face, the limp end of the proverbial rope stuck to his palm. Nick held her heart from the moment she looked up at him on that rooftop, throwing dummies onto a platform. And when they went to the chapel, the alien priest was right, 'she's gonna get ya.' She proved his statement wise and true: she got him, because she didn't have to pretend. Nick comes back to her, lifting her head and setting himself back onto the sofa. She comfortably places her head back on his thigh, shivering when the tips of his fingers comb through her hair.

By the time the end credits roll, Nick has Sara blanketing his front and drooling on his shirt. His arms are wrapped in a protective way around her back, safely holding her to him, just in case she slips away. He jumps slightly when the phone gives a shrill echo, proving that it actually works. "Shit, sorry honey, I didn't mean to wake you." Sara just mumbles 'phone' and when Nick guides her onto the cushions once again, she's knocked out cold.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nicky." An obnoxious Texan drawl drips into his ear. He winces slight at the pitch of it.

"Um- I'm sorry, who is this?"

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to introduce my self. I'm Tara, our parents used to be good friends. We went boating and skiing in Vermont, and-"

"Yea, I remember now. But uh- what are you doing calling at- he stares at the clock on the stove 10 at night?"

"Well, I was in this big town all by my lonesome and I thought you could show me around." He rolls his eyes amused at the fact that she called the city of Las Vegas a town.

"Um, actually-"

"Oh, you're probably working right? I didn't mean to disturb you. Maybe we can get together tomorrow night-"

"No."

"Friday?"

"No."

"Well, when's good for you?"

"Listen Tara, we haven't seen each other since middle school, and you and I were never really close anyway. Your family became stuck up white trash, and we stopped talking. I don't want to see you or get together with you-"

"Surely you're not turning me down."

"I am, I don't think my girlfriend would understand."

"Oh screw your girlfriend. What I want, I always get!"

"Yeah well, consider this the second time you've been rejected by me." He hangs up long before her shriek of anger can reach him. He looks into the living room and sees Sara still curled up with blankets spread out before her. That woman in there, with no make-up on, her hair if French braids, and wearing his boxers and Texas University t-shirt well his brother's technically, is the woman he wants to wake up to every morning and fall asleep with every night. Sara gives him a face to the woman in his dreams. She's here in the flesh and every fantasy he's ever had, she fulfills. At 30, he's found his soul mate. His mother once told him, "Love is seeing an imperfect person, perfectly."