The water in the bathroom stopped and a few seconds later Nick heard a crash followed by a thud and a stream of curses. He jumped off the couch and rushed to the bathroom door. He called out as he knocked. "Sara? Are you ok?"

A muffled voice called back through the door. "Uh, sort of. I guess I'm still a little dizzy."

"Do you need help?" His voice had a note of concern in it.

"Yeah." Sara answered muttering something under her breath that Nick couldn't quite decipher, but assumed was a few choice curse words.

He opened the door to reveal a soaking wet Sara holding a towel around herself. He crouched down and looked her in the eye. "Hey, you ok?"

She wore an embarrassed grin. "Uh, yeah, I think I only bruised my pride and maybe my butt."

"Put your arms around my neck." He prepared to help her up off the floor.

Sara hesitated. "Uh, if I do that, I'll lose the towel here." A bit of color infused her cheeks.

"Do you trust me?" Nick raised an eyebrow at her expectantly.

She nodded not too convincingly. "I think so."

"Ok." He stood up for a moment and grabbed another large towel and unfolded it, holding it in front of himself. "Put your arms around my neck and I'll wrap this around you. I promise I'll keep my eyes closed."

Sara started to chuckle. "This is ridiculous you know. It's not like you haven't seen me naked."

Nick grinned at her. "True, but if this makes you more comfortable, that's what we'll do."

Sara slid her arms around Nick's neck burying her head in his shoulder as the towel she'd held around herself dropped from her torso.

Nick wrapped the towel he was holding around her back as his arms gripped her body and he helped her off the floor.

As they came to a standing position, Sara lifted her head to glance at Nick. True to his word, his eyes were closed. An amused smile formed on her lips and she leaned up and pressed her lips softly to his.

Nick's eyes fluttered open in surprise, but then closed again as he smiled into the kiss. He searched her eyes as they broke apart. "What are you saying? Do you want to give this a shot?"

She nervously nibbled her lower lip. "I'm still really scared."

"You didn't answer my question, Sara." He furrowed his brow.

She let out a deep breath and rested her forehead on his shoulder.

Nick closed his eyes and tension was evident in his jaw. He let out a deep breath and opened his eyes. He scooped Sara up and carried her into her bedroom, depositing her on the bed in the towel. "I'll get your clothes." He returned to the bathroom and picked up the clothes she'd brought in there to change into and returned to her bedroom.

Sara lay on her bed in the towel and looked up at Nick when he walked back in. "Can we talk?"

A slightly annoyed expression crossed Nick's face. "Only if you get dressed first. Remember, I have seen you naked and honestly, Sara, it does things to me, so if you want to talk, you'd better get dressed."

"I'm sorry." Sara's face clouded.

Nick let out a deep breath. "Don't apologize for being attractive, Sar. Just don't kiss me if you don't know what you want, ok? I'm not sure I can handle it. I'll be in the other room."

Sara was left alone with her thoughts. She changed into a pair of pajama pants and a tank top and just lay back on the bed contemplating what Nick had said. She honestly didn't know what she really wanted. She was definitely attracted to him, but the reality of dating him scared the hell out of her. And then there was Grissom. She was scared to death of what he might think about her dating Nick. She had a feeling that he wouldn't particularly like it, and in some respects that made Nick all that much more appealing. Still, she cared about him, a lot, she just wasn't sure she wanted to risk their friendship for something that was unknown, untried, and unproven.

Nick sat down on the couch and rested his head in his hands. Damn, did she have any clue what she did to him? How in the hell could she play with his emotions like that? Did she really think that she was just another notch on his belt? He really cared about her and right at that moment his heart hurt like hell. He just didn't think he could handle losing her as a friend, and he'd felt like he'd already come pretty damn close after they'd slept together. He heard the sound of footsteps and looked up.

Sara stood there with a concerned expression on her face, holding onto the wall for support. "Uh, can we talk?"

Nick stood and walked over to her, putting his arm around her waist to steady her as he helped her over to the couch.

She nervously bit her lower lip as she looked over at him. "I'm sorry, Nick, I wasn't thinking."

"Do you want to try this?" Nick looked at her, his expression was open, and it was as if he'd laid his soul out for her to read.

She furrowed her brow as she studied him. "I'm still really scared, Nick. I don't want to lose your friendship if it doesn't work out."

Nick nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know, I was thinking the same thing. I don't want to lose you either."

Sara reached over for Nick's hand.

He looked up at her with a bit of uncertainty.

She gave his hand a squeeze as she met his gaze. "I think though, that if we don't give this a try, we'll regret it. I mean, I don't think either of us is going to try and deny that we're attracted to each other."

Nick chuckled and smiled at her, squeezing her hand. "No, I'm not about to deny that, I think I made that pretty obvious the other night."

Sara blushed at the memory and glanced away before looking back up at him. "Yeah, you did."

He studied her for a while.

A smile tugged at Sara's mouth. "So, if we're going to give this a try, where do we start?" Sara's stomach rumbled loudly interrupting the conversation.

Nick laughed as he glanced at her stomach. "I'd say ordering some food might be a good place to start."

Sara began to laugh and then a sheepish expression crossed her face. "I've got a Thai place on speed dial."

Nick grabbed the phone and handed it to her raising an amused eyebrow at her. "You know, you really need to get out more."