Sara awoke the next morning to a loud knock on her door. She sighed as she rolled out of bed, looking at the clock on her bedside table. 11:30am. She was slightly impressed that she'd been able to sleep that long. Then again, after being with Nick, she found it difficult to get to sleep, still thinking about what happened between them outside. With a sigh, she half jogged to the door and opened it.

"Wha—Nick?"

"Happy birthday!" She laughed. He sounded more happy than she did that it was her birthday.

"Thank you," Her laugh turned to a smile until she saw Nick's eyes glance quickly at what she was wearing. Or what she wasn't wearing more like it. She blushed, "I uh…give me a second…" She quickly jogged to her bedroom and grabbed a bra from her chest of drawers. She slipped her arms out of her khaki colored tank top and put the bra on, placing her arms back through the straps when she was done.

Walking out of her bedroom, she found Nick standing in the same place as before, "Sorry about that…" She blushed again.

He smiled at her and closed the door, "Nothin' I haven't seen before, Sar'."

She had to clear her throat at his reference to what happened in the car. She didn't want that conversation to start again, "coffee?"

Nick shook his head, "No, thank you. I'm here to collect you for…well, I was going to say breakfast but it's more like lunch now."

"You're taking me out to lunch?"

"Of course I am, it's your birthday!" He was like a child and she thought it was the cutest thing ever. Laughing, she looked at him.

"Nick, you don't have to take me to lunch. I can just make something here."

"Sara Sidle, go in your bedroom, have a shower, get dressed and let's get going," He took a small step closer, "That's an order."

She tilted her head to one side, "Bossy, aren't we, Stokes?"

"You love it, Sar'," He winked at her and in that moment she realised that he was right, she did love it. She laughed nervously and turned to do exactly what he said.

Nick decided to sit on her sofa and wait for her when he heard her turn the shower on in the bathroom. His thoughts began to travel to Sara and the shower. How she would be naked with the water running over her body, how she would be running her hands over her body as she lathered the soap to wash herself…He swallowed hard. He had to shake these thoughts. It wasn't fair that she was vulnerable right now and here he was, being the male he was and imagining her naked.

A distraction. He walked over to her kitchen deciding that maybe coffee wasn't so bad after all. He made a fresh pot and then poured some into a coffee, trying to concentrate on the steam escaping the cup and not Sara. He listened as the water stopped when his thoughts began to switch again. Frustrated, he picked the cup up and took a sip, not caring that it was burning his tongue.

He turned and leant his back against the counter, coffee cup in hand as his eyes travelled over her apartment. He'd been here before but it looked a lot emptier. His eyes wandered to find pictures of her and Grissom in silver photo frames scattered around the room. She looked happy. So much happier than she'd been looking lately. His eyes kept scanning the room until something caught his eye. He walked over and picked the object up. It was a picture of him and Sara mid-laugh. His arms were around her waist with hers around his neck and they looked happy. Nick smiled sadly, Sara rarely smiled these days and part of him wished he could have gone back to last christmas when the picture was taken. Before the awkwardness between them.

Before she married Grissom.

"Done!" He jumped, put the photo back and swung around to find Sara there, "I didn't know what to wear so…" She trailed off. Sara was wearing a red halter neck with black jeans that hugged her figure perfectly and Nick noticed she was also wearing black boots with a small heel on the bottom. His eyes went to her hair and he noticed she hadn't straightened it like she usually did. He smiled as she blushed, seeing his eyes looking at her body, "I'm sorry, am I too overdressed?"

"No, Sar'. You look amazing," He smiled at her when she noticed the coffee in his hand.

"I thought you didn't want one."

"I uh…I got thirsty." Whilst thinking about you naked…He wanted to slap himself, "Anyway, are you ready?" Sara nodded and grabbed her purse which Nick guessed contained her money, her cell phone and her car keys from the back of the sofa. Nick watched her and walked over to her, reaching across and slipping the bag off her shoulder. She couldn't help but shudder as his hand grazed her arm.

"You won't be needing this. I'm paying for lunch, we're going in my car and there's no way you're taking your phone. I'm not going to allow you to get called into work on your birthday, Sar'," She opened her mouth to protest but Nick cut her off, "No, Sar'."

She rolled her eyes, "fine." She allowed him to place her purse back on the couch and waited for him to finish his coffee and place the cup in the sink before she followed him out of her apartment, getting into Nick's car.