Sara woke up smiling, her dreams had been filled with Nick. The last few days had been really amazing. Before Grissom had rejected her offer of dinner, she would never have thought of Nick as anything other than a friend. And even then, her impression of him was shaped by the frat boy image that he projected, or rather that she assumed about him. It was easier that way, to form an opinion about someone and leave them in that box, than to dig a little deeper and see them for who they really were. She could dig into the evidence, but people were another story altogether. And here was Nick, being so real with her. Her image of him had been shattered and another one had replaced it. A real person, who took the time to care about her, to take care of her. She wasn't really sure what to think. For three years, she had hoped that Grissom would take notice of her, would be attracted to her, would want to date her. Now she realized that she had put Grissom into a box too. She realized that she didn't really know who Grissom was. She wasn't sure anyone did, except maybe Catherine. That thought made her smile. She was glad that Catherine knew the real Grissom, someone needed to. It just wasn't going to be her.

Sara got out of bed and headed for the shower. She knew she would feel much more refreshed afterward. An idea formed in her mind and she smiled. After she was ready, she would stop by Nick's and surprise him with dinner before shift. He had done so many nice things for her the last few days. She just wanted to do something nice for him.

Nick woke with a smile on his face. After Warrick had dropped them off at the lab, Nick and Sara had stood in the parking lot talking. An hour had gone by before either of them had noticed. It was his yawning which had caused Sara to take note of the time, and then she insisted that he go home and get some sleep. He had hugged her and headed to his Tahoe with a wave and a smile. He thought about her all the way home. Even as he made himself something to eat and watched a bit of TV before going to bed, his thoughts turned to her. And now upon waking, he realized that he'd dreamed of her too.

As he got out of bed, he commented to himself with a chuckle, "Boy, Stokes, I think you've got it bad."

He made his way to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for work. As he stepped out of the shower, he heard a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" He yelled as he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He opened the door slightly to find Sara standing there, bags of food in hand with a bemused grin on her face as she took in his appearance.

"Boy, Nick, this is getting to be a habit." She teased, even as color flushed her cheeks.

Nick's face also had a flush of color, "Hey, Sara. I was just getting ready for work."

With a grin and a raised eyebrow, she asked, "Can I come in, or do you want me to stand out here on your porch?"

"Sorry, yeah, come on it. I'll just go put some clothes on." Nick opened the door to let Sara in feeling a bit flustered.

"No need to change on my account," Sara responded with a blush. An embarrassed Nick retreated to his bedroom to get dressed. Sara felt foolish. Why had she said that to him? What was she trying to do, throw herself at him? Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to come see him before work. She should have at least called so she didn't catch him in a towel. Although the sight of him in that towel. She had to admit that Nick was sexy as hell. The thought brought a smile to her face, just as Nick returned to the living room wearing a pair of dark Chinos and dark long sleeved shirt.

"Hey, Sara." Nick greeted, feeling a bit more comfortable now that he was properly clothed. He sat down on the couch next to her.

"Hey, Nick." Sara answered turning her eyes away from him. She felt so embarrassed and now wished that she had just waited to see him at work.

A concerned expression crossed Nick's face, "Sar, is something wrong? Are you ok?" He reached out and touched her arm.

She looked everywhere but Nick's face. "Uh, I'm sorry, I should have called before stopping by." She started to stand, but Nick's hand on her arm pulled her back into the couch.

"Hey, tell me what's going on?" Nick's voice was gentle.

Sara looked up and finally met Nick's gaze. He looked concerned for her. She blushed. "Nick, I'm just really embarrassed." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"About what," He inquired.

She turned her eyes away again before she answered, "Catching you in a towel again, making that comment. You probably think I'm throwing myself at you to try and forget about Grissom."

A moment of silence elapsed between them before Nick spoke, "Are you?"

Sara had a shocked expression on her face. She couldn't believe Nick had just said that. "What!? No, I'm not throwing myself at you! Not to get over Grissom anyway." Her face turned a deep shade of red at what she had just said.

Nick took Sara's hand in his, "So you are throwing yourself at me then?"

Sara looked up at Nick with a horrified expression on her face to see him wearing a bemused grin. She pulled her hand away from Nick's and buried her face in her hands, "I'm so embarrassed."

Nick reached over and place and hand on her shoulder gently, "Sara. Sara. Please look at me."

Slowly she looked up at him, her eyes were moist. She noticed a gentle expression on his face that she couldn't interpret.

As she looked at him, he spoke, "Sara, I care about you. I care about you a lot. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was scared though. Scared of what seems to be happening between us. Scared for our friendship. Scared of what it might mean at work. But most of all, I'm scared that you want me because you're rebounding from Grissom. I don't want you to want me like that. I want you to want me because you want to be with me, not because you want to forget someone else."

Sara looked at him intently, "Nick, I don't think I'm rebounding."

Nick took a deep breath before continuing, "Sara, I need you to be sure. I want to make sure if we decide to let this progress further that it has a chance."

Sara looked away, tears began forming in her eyes. "I'm so confused, Nick."

Nick noticed her tears, "Hey, come here." He enveloped her in a hug, "I know, I'm confused too." He held her like that for a while, Sara's head on his chest, her arms around his waist.

Nick tried to lighten the moment, "Hey, was it my imagination, or did you bring food in with you?"

Sara looked up at him and smiled, "Yeah, I brought food. I know how much you like to eat." She sat up out of his embrace and reached for the bags she brought in with her. "I hope you like Chinese."

Nick smiled, "Sounds good. I just hope you brought me something with meat in it."

Sara winked, "You Texans and your meat."

Nick just laughed and switched the TV on. As they ate, they watched a Food Network special on unlocking the secrets of how certain foods were prepared. As they finished their dinner and reached for the fortune cookies, Nick commented, "I'd always wondered how these were made."

Sara looked at him and replied with a smile, "And now you know."

Nick noticed the time, "Hey, we should probably head into work." He began cleaning up the food containers.

"Yeah," Sara agreed and began to help.

They finished cleaning up from dinner, turned the TV off, and headed off toward the CSI Lab. Separately.