Same disclaimers as always…

The sound of the bell brought Nick back from his nap.

"All right class. I guess that's it for today. I'll see you Wednesday, same time, same place." Grissom said as he started gathering all his books.

Catherine turned around to see Sara staring out the window, and Nick groggily opening his eyes. "Wow," she muttered to herself.

Greg and Warrick stood up, stretched, and gathered their books. "Is that guy boring or what?" Greg asked Warrick.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"So what do you guys have now?" Catherine asked all of them.

"Nothing until 2:00" Warrick and Greg said at the same time.

Sara slowly stood up, and gathered her books as well. "I've got English now."

"Me too," Nick said, a smile crossing his lips.

"Well, I'm done until 1:30, so what do you say we go get something to eat?" She asked Warrick and Greg.

They both nodded and headed for the door, Catherine following them.

Nick turned to Sara. "Looks like its just you and me, kiddo."

"Kiddo?" Sara asked giving him another glare.

"Ouch. Geez, Sar. If looks could kill, I'd be dead twice now. It just came out, sorry." Nick picked up his bag, and headed for the door. English was in the Humanities building, which was on the other side of campus, so he needed to hurry.

"Nick, wait. I'm sorry. It just hasn't been a good couple of days, ok?" Sara said catching up to him.

Nick stopped and turned around to face her. "Sara, don't worry about it. It's not like you're supposed to meet me, and we're immediately friends, or anything."

"Yeah I know, but I was just a bitch, and I'm sorry. I'll try not to be a bitch anymore. I just don't get along with people that well." They began walking to their next class as she spoke.

Nick laughed "How do you not get a long with people? Once you get past the tough outer core, I'm sure you're the nicest person ever. It just seems to me that you put this wall up around you, and refuse to let anyone in."

"How can you tell already? You met me like an hour ago."

"While people aren't you thing, they are mine. I could read you like a book." Nick pushed the door open to the Humanities building, and held it for her. As she passed him, he whispered in her ear. "You're a good read."

Sara backed away from him quickly, almost knocking over a passing student. She turned beet red.

Nick laughed, and put his arm around her waist. "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

Sara blushed an even darker shade of red, if that's even possible, but didn't pull away.

"Well, that was fun," Nick said standing up and stretching.

"Oh yeah. If you like unhappy books like 'The Dubliners'." Sara said standing gathering all her books again. "I really need to bring a backpack next time."

"Or you could always let me carry all your shit," Nick said with a smirk.

Sara put her hands on her hips. "Would you shut up about it, if I let you?"

"Mmhhm."

"Fine! Carry them," Sara said smiling.

"Hey. Why don't you smile more? You have such a pretty smile." Nick opened the door leading outside, and held it for her again.

Sara's smile quickly disappeared. "Are you serious?"

"Uh, yeah, Sara. I don't usually lie about something like that," Nick said heading towards the dorms.

"Oh."

"Hey, do you have anymore classes today?"

"No. You?"

"Nope. Which dorm do you live in?" Nick asked.

"Marycrest. How about you?" Sara was glad he changed the subject. She didn't like talking about herself, especially her features.

"Oh, I live in Stuart."

"Aw, man. You have to walk up and down that hill every day? That must suck!" Sara said as they neared the fork in the road. To their right was Marycest, and to the left Stuart Hall.

"Hey… Its good exercise." Nick said as she stopped walking.

"Yeah, well. Thanks for carrying my books, and I guess I'll uh see ya later." Sara reached for her books, but Nick didn't hand them over.

"I'll walk you to your room."

"Uh, ok." Sara turned and they started walking towards Marycrest.

"Ok, here we are." Sara dug into her purse in search of her key. "Ugh, I know it's in here somewhere."

"Hey look! Sara Sidle found a man!" Sara spun around to see Tasha Lucas hanging out of her dorm room, which was two doors down from Sara and Catherine's room, with a huge smirk on her face. "Never thought I'd see the day."

Sara turned back to her purse, and quickly searched for her key again, hoping Nick didn't even notice the 5'10" blonde who was the only other person from Sara's high school to come to the University of Las Vegas. She was also the meanest girl Sara knew. Tasha had actually pushed Sara down a flight of stairs once.

Sara could feel her hands shaking. She still couldn't find her key. She thought that once college started, the bullies went away, but she guessed she was wrong. Nick was confused. "Hey, Sar… Calm down, ok?" He put his hand on her shoulder, and could feel how badly she was shaking.

Sara dropped her purse, spilling all of the contents: her cell phone, a pen and pencil, small notebook, pack of gum, lip gloss, a mirror, and a few other odds and ends. This just caused more people to stop in the halls, and stare at her. Usually Sara was calm, and wouldn't let anyone get to her, but Tasha was one of those people who just didn't go away, no matter what.

Sara bent down, to pick everything back up again, noticing that her key wasn't in her purse. "Shit! I must have dropped it somewhere. Dammit!"

"Sara…" Nick bent down to help her pick everything up.

A few tears escaped her eyes, and started to roll down her cheeks. 'Oh my God! I'm crying! What the hell is my problem?'

Tasha had finally gone back into her room, and the hall was beginning to clear. Sara sat down and leaned up against the wall. She put her head in her hands, and closed her eyes.

"Sara?!" It was Catherine. "Sara, what's wrong? Nick?"

Nick looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders. He scooted over next to Sara, and put an arm around her, pulling her into a hug. He didn't know what else to do. She reluctantly leaned into him, and buried her face in his chest. She felt like she was back in high school all over again.

Catherine unlocked the door, and took all of Sara's books, and her purse inside. She came back out into the hall and bent down next to her old friend, and roommate. "Hey, why don't you take her inside? I'm going to go out to dinner with Warrick and Greg. I'll bring you both back something, ok?"

Nick nodded, and helped Sara to her feet. She slowly walked into the room, and slumped down in the chair in front of her computer. Nick closed the door, and walked over to her. He knelt down in front of her, and put his hand on top of hers. She shook it off, and stood up abruptly, walking away from him.

"Sara. Look, I know we just met, and all, but…"

"What?" Sara asked sitting down on her bed, picking up the yo-yo her brother sent with her. He said that she should practice so she could come home with something useful to share with the family, which was really just her mom and 15 year old brother.

"I just want to help you."

"Help me? Help me!!" Sara threw the yo-yo against the wall, causing it to break into several pieces.

Nick flinched. She was small, but she had quite an arm. Sara lay down on her bed, and brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. Nick didn't know what to do. He'd seen girls cry before, but not like this. And they'd never had such an effect on him as she did now. So he went over to her bed, and sat down next to her. He brushed her hair out of her face. It had completely fallen out of the bun it was in earlier. He wiped the tears off her face with his thumb.

"Did you have any bullies growing up?" she whispered.

"Some."

"She was my worst. She made high school the worst four years of my life. She made fun of my smile, how smart I was, how I looked. She pushed me down the stairs once. I broke my arm, and sprained my ankle. My face was so bruised… And that just caused her to make fun of me more. Called me Sara Gimps-a-lot for a month and a half." Sara sat up, and leaned against the wall.

Nick scooted back on the bed, so he was sitting next to her. "I was called 'Stokey' for a year. I got in a fight with some guy who weighed 100 pounds more than me. I was only 5'6" until my senior year. I guess I shot up another inch or two over the summer between junior and senior year, and then two more inches after graduation. Didn't have my first date until prom senior year. And I didn't even like the girl."

"Stokey?" Sara asked.

"Yeah."

"That's pretty lame! If they're gonna call us names, why can't they think of anything better?" A smile began to tug at the corners of Sara's mouth.

Nick laughed and turned to look at her. "Why did she make fun of your smile? Its gorgeous."

Sara blushed. "The gap in my teeth, I guess. I just hate my teeth, and lips. They just don't look right."

Nick inched closer to her. "I think you're beautiful, Sara." He reached up and cupped her cheek.

Sara wanted to move away, but she couldn't. He had her trapped.

Nick moved in a little closer, and brushed his lips against hers.

Sara froze. She didn't know what to do. She'd only been kissed once before, and that was just spin the bottle.

Nick pulled back. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"Nick-" She was cut off by the sound of the door creaking open. She quickly hopped off the bed.

"Hey!" Catherine said walking into the room, holding a plastic bag full of food. "Sara, I brought you a salad, and a bottle of Root Beer. Nicky, I have for you a hamburger and French fries, and a bottle of Pepsi. Enjoy!" And with that she was gone.

But before Sara or Nick could even move, she popped her head back in the room. "Oh, Sara. Since it's your birthday, and all, we're gonna order a pizza tonight to celebrate a bit, ok? I invited Greg and Warrick, since you don't really know anybody. But if you wanna invite anyone else, that'd be cool, too. Anyways. Just be here around 11:00pm."

"It's your birthday?" Nick asked, standing up next to Sara.

"Yeah. I'm finally 18." She laughed sarcastically.

"Well, happy birthday!" He said leaning down to give her a gentle kiss on the cheek.