Sara woke up with a pounding sensation in her head unlike anything she'd ever had before. As she became more alert, she realized that she wasn't alone. A feeling of panic hit her like a ton of bricks, especially as she realized that the figure she was sleeping against was Nick Stokes. As she began to disentangle herself from him, she noted that his shirt was unbuttoned part way, but that he still had his shoes on. As she sat up, her head began to throb even harder and a vague recollection of her throwing herself at Nick made it's way into her consciousness. All of a sudden she didn't feel well. She made it to the bathroom just in time to throw up. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, or the fact that Nick was in her bed, but either way, she did not feel ok.

She heard a sound in the doorway of the bathroom. As she glanced up, her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.

"Sar? You ok?" Nick's voice was soft and etched with concern.

She snapped at him defensively. "Do I look ok?"

He shook his head. "No." He took a cup from the counter and filled a glass of water for her.

"Thanks." Sara replied suspiciously as she took the water from him.

He just continued to study her. "I think we need to talk."

Sara let out an audible breath. "Why are you here?"

"I came to check on you." He replied softly.

Sara's memory was a little fuzzy. "Didn't Warrick do that?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, he did."

"Why did you come by? Why did you stay?" Sara's voice held a hint of apprehension.

"I came to see if you were ok. Warrick said you were pretty drunk. I stayed because you asked me to." Nick explained softly.

"Oh." Sara wasn't sure how to respond. And then snippets of thing she thought she'd said started to fill her mind. She groaned. "I made a fool out of myself didn't I?"

"Sara, you were drunk. Everybody acts at least a little foolish when they're drunk." Nick hoped that would make her feel better.

It didn't seem to. She leaned back over the toilet and threw up again.

Nick grabbed a towel and got a corner of it wet. He wiped her face with it gently and just sat on the floor next to her.

She looked at him slightly bewildered. "Why are you doing this?"

"You need someone to take care of you." He simply stated the obvious.

She didn't say anything, she felt too crappy to protest.

"Are you done throwing up?" Nick asked her as he studied her face.

She glanced at him and nodded. "I think so."

He helped her up off the floor and as she tried to steady herself on her feet, her knees started to give out. He caught her before she could fall. "I think you need to go back to bed, Sar."

Nick helped her back to her bed and then turned to leave the room.

As Sara lay down, she started to cry.

Nick stopped in his tracks and turned around. Concern washed over his face and he walked back to where she now lay curled in a ball, her back toward him. He sat down next to her on the bed and touched her shoulder. "Sar?"

She stiffened at his touch and tried to stifle a sniffle. "You can go now. You don't have to stay. I'm sure you have something better to do than take care of drunk Sara."

Nick smiled in spite of the situation. "Actually, I don't."

Sara hugged a pillow against herself. "You have a pretty pathetic life then don't you, Stokes?" She reached up and wiped the tears from her face.

Nick was quiet for a few moments as he contemplated what he should say next. He let out a deep breath. "Why did you leave, Sara?"

Sara was taken a bit by surprise at his question, and started to cry again.

Nick wasn't sure if it was the best idea, but he crawled onto the bed and molded his body against hers. He slung his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest as he murmured soothing noises against her hair.

Her crying slowly tapered off and she just lay there silently, sniffling occasionally. After a while, she began to trace Nick's fingers with her own, eventually lacing her fingers with his and leaning back against him, finally relaxing.

He whispered in the silence. "Why did you leave, Sar?"

Her voice was so soft, it was barely audible. "I was scared."

"What are you afraid of?" Nick's voice was thick with emotion.

"That you would leave." Sara replied softly.

Nick chuckled in spite of himself. "It was my house."

Sara chuckled. "That's not what I meant."

"I know. Sorry." Nick replied caressing her hand with his thumb. "You didn't even stay to find out." There was an edge of hurt in Nick's voice. "You wouldn't even talk to me."

"I'm sorry, Nick." Her voice was soft, tentative.

"Don't be sorry, just talk to me, Sara." Nick's voice was gentle.

"I don't know what to say." She let out a deep sigh.

"Let's talk about what we want to do about this." Nick answered.

Sara was quiet for a few minutes. "Did it mean anything to you?"

Nick stiffened slightly and then let out a deep breath. "Yeah, Sara, it did. It meant a hell of a lot. More than I think I can explain." He was quiet for a moment. "I was afraid that it didn't mean anything to you when I woke up and found you gone."

"I'm sorry I left. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just scared." Sara started crying again. She leaned back against Nick and let him hold her. Her tears finally tapered off. "It did mean something to me, Nick. That's why I was so scared."

"What do you want to do about this?" Nick asked tentatively.

"I don't know." Sara replied honestly. "I'm still scared. What if it doesn't work out?"

"What if it does?" Nick answered softly. "Don't you think it's worth the risk?"

Sara considered his words for a few minutes. "I'm not sure, I think it is. But I'm still scared."

Nick chuckled softly. "Me too. We don't have to decide anything right this minute."

Sara was quiet for a few minutes and then her voice had a slightly panicky quality to it. "Nicky?"

"Yeah, Sar?"

"I'm gonna be sick." She tried to climb of the bed toward the bathroom, but stumbled in the process, Nick sprang after her and helped her up and to the bathroom so she could throw up.

As he wiped her face with a damp towel, he smiled at her. "Sara, you make a lousy drunk."