A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update, things have been pretty busy lately.  Although that's not really an excuse since I've already written the whole thing so all I have to do is upload the chapter.  But whatever.  This chapter's pretty long so hope that makes up for the long wait.  Enjoy!

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Chapter 7 – Making a Move

Nearly a week had passed since Sara slept over at Nick's.  Sara's cases had gone well, nothing too upsetting like that double murder/rape case that they had.  But she knew the lucky streak would end soon, and sure enough, it took only six days.  That night she was on a sexual abuse case involving two young sisters.  She couldn't believe it.  Two sexual assault cases in one week.  She hoped she could make it through this one without making a scene like she had the last time.  The only good thing was that she was working with Grissom and Catherine; they didn't bother her as much as Nick usually did, constantly asking if she was okay and offering to handle all the difficult situations himself.

"Hey, Sara," a female voice interrupted Sara's thoughts.  "Jackie's got something on those prints we lifted from the bedroom mirror," Catherine informed her.

"Okay.  Let me know what she says.  I'm still trying to figure out these fibers," Sara said, nodding towards the microscope in front of her.

"Alrighty," Catherine said as she continued down the hall to the print lab.  When she got there she saw Jackie talking to Nick.

"Thanks a lot, Jackie," Nick said.  "Warrick's lifting more prints from the car right now.  I'll be back when he's done."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jackie sighed, looking a little overworked.

"Hey Cath," Nick said when he turned to leave and saw her come in.

"Hey.  How's the case coming?" she asked.

"Fine.  Two drunk knuckleheads carjacked an undercover officer on a stakeout." Nick sighed and shook his head.  He was amazed at how stupid some people could be.  "I heard you got a tough one tonight," he said, changing the subject.

"Yeah.  Sexual abuse, two sisters and their stepfather."  This time it was Catherine who sighed and shook her head in disgust.

"Sara doing okay?" Nick immediately asked.

"Yeah, so far," Catherine replied.  "You know, she's a big girl Nick." Catherine smiled.

"I know," Nick smiled back.  "I'll see you later." He headed for the door.  "Thanks again, Jackie," he called out as he left.  He ran into Kate as he continued down the hall.

"Warrick's done processing the car.  And Greg matched the blood we found on the officer and the suspect's shirt," Kate told him.

"Great," Nick said.  "Jackie matched the prints we lifted from the beer bottle, so that pretty much seals the deal," he said.

"Excellent," Kate said.  "You wanna cash in that rain check from last week and get some breakfast after?"  She realized they hadn't had a meal alone together in a while.

"Uh, I'll think about it.  Ask me again after shift," he smiled as he continued down the hall to the CSI garage to find Warrick.  He felt bad about possibly turning Kate down again, but for some reason he felt he had to make sure Sara would be okay after the tough case she was working that night.

Sara was relieved that shift was finally over.  Surprisingly, it had gone better than she had expected.  Not only did they solve the case and prove the stepfather's guilt, but Sara had made it through the night without crying or having an outburst.  She entered the empty locker room to grab her things, looking forward to having the next night off.  Although, she quickly realized, she would probably end up coming in to the lab anyway, like she did so many times on her nights off.

"Hey," a familiar voice said as Sara heard the locker room door open.

She looked up to see Nick smiling at her.  "Hi." She gave a weak smile back.

"Did your case go okay?" Nick asked as he opened the locker next to Sara's.

"Yeah."

Nick looked at Sara and could tell that she was telling the truth.  She looked a little tired, but other than that she seemed okay.  He was relieved that the case hadn't gotten to her like the one the other night had.  "You're off tonight, right?" he asked.

"Uh huh."

"Me too," Nick smiled.

Sara just looked at him, wondering where he was going with this.

"Have any plans?" he asked her.

"Not really."

"Good.  Because you do now."

"I do?" she looked at him.

"Yep.  With me," he smiled.  "I think you could use a little R and R after the tough week you've had.  Nothing too exciting, just dinner and a movie or something.  We don't even have to go out.  We just can order takeout and rent a movie if you want."

Usually, Sara would have accepted without hesitation; they had done that sort of thing several times before when they both had the night off.  But because of the feelings she thought she was starting to have, she wasn't sure if time alone with Nick was a good idea.

"Um, well actually, I thought I would come in and finish up some paperwork," she said, which wasn't a total lie.

"Sara."  Nick's tone suggested he wasn't too fond of that idea.

"I have a big court date next week.  I wanted to prep for that." This time she lied.  She had been prepping for two weeks; she was more than ready.

"C'mon Sara, you need to take a break from all of this," Nick said.  "Please?  I'll even let you pick the movie.  Anything you want."  He paused for a second.  "Well except those cheesy French movies that you like so much for some reason."

Sara couldn't help but laugh.  "Well since I had my heart set on a 'cheesy French movie' I guess I'll have to turn down your offer," she teased.

"Okay, okay, fine," he jokingly grumbled.  "As long as it doesn't have too much dialogue.  I hate reading subtitles.  You shouldn't have to read anything when you're watching a movie."

"Well then maybe you should just learn French," she smiled as she shut her locker.

Nick gave her a look.

Kate entered the locker room and smiled as soon as she saw Nick.  "Hey.  Have you made a decision about breakfast yet?" she asked Nick.

"Uh, yeah, sure, why not.  Let's go."  For some reason Nick felt a little embarrassed accepting Kate's breakfast offer with Sara standing there.

Sara silently moved past Nick and Kate to the door, not really wanting to hear about their plans.

"I'll call you," Nick said to Sara.

"Okay," Sara said as she left.

"So, where to?" Nick turned to Kate, trying not to make a big deal of his plans with Sara.

"Um, MGM? I love the omelets at Café Bijou," Kate said, wondering why Nick was going to call Sara.  She knew he was off that night.

Nick smiled when Kate mentioned the French themed restaurant, after he just had his conversation with Sara and her strange movie choices.  "Sure, omelets sound great."

As Nick ate his omelet, he tried to pay attention to the conversation he was having with Kate, but he kept thinking about Sara.  He was looking forward to seeing her that night.  They often did this kind of thing when they both had the night off so it wasn't anything new, but after Sara had spent the night at his place he'd been thinking a lot about her.  Especially since Kate had mentioned that she thought he and Sara were together.  Now that he thought about it, he realized that dating Sara wouldn't be such a bad thing.  She was extremely smart, had a sharp and sarcastic sense of humor that Nick loved, and she was, of course, beautiful.  Why hadn't he seen this before?

"Earth to Nick," Kate said.

"Huh?" Nick realized Kate was talking to him.

"You okay?  You seem a little out there this morning," Kate said.

"Oh, sorry.  Just a little tired I guess," Nick apologized.  "Were you saying something?"

"Yeah.  I was just asking if you're like me and think all those reality shows on TV are lame."

Nick laughed.  "Definitely.  I see enough real life greed and stupidity in this job, I don't wanna watch it on TV."

"Although I did sort of watch the very first 'Bachelor' show," Kate admitted.  "But then I kept thinking, 'I'm so much better than all of these girls, I would totally win if I was on the show'," she said.

Nick smiled.  'The Bachelor.'  That was kind of how he felt, having to choose between women.  He was having fun with Kate, but he also liked spending time with Sara.  Kate or Sara, Kate or Sara…

After breakfast with Kate, Nick tried to get some sleep, but ended up tossing and turning for several hours.  Eventually he gave up and dragged himself out of bed.  For some reason he was anxious about his plans with Sara.  He'd done this sort of thing with her several times before; he wasn't sure why this time was any different.  They were just two friends hanging out on their day off.  So what if Kate pointed out that he and Sara were so in tune with each other that it seemed like they were a couple?  That's why they were so good at solving cases, why the two made the best partnership out of the night shift.  So what if Sara was smart and funny and beautiful?  That's why he liked her so much, why she was one of his best friends.  Friends.  They were friends.

Instead of sitting around and stressing over it, he decided to go for a run around his neighborhood to clear his head.  His strategy proved effective, as he came back feeling a lot better.  Furthermore, the lack of sleep had set in, and after a quick shower he slumped into bed for a long nap.

They had decided (well actually Sara had decided) to rent a movie and order Thai food.  Although Nick kept his house neat and clean, he had the urge to tidy up some more.  As Nick was straightening up the magazines on the coffee table, the doorbell rang.  He went to the door and quickly looked through the peephole before opening it.

"Hi," Sara greeted him with a smile.

"Hi," he smiled back.

They both looked at each other for a second and then burst into laughter when they noticed what they were wearing.  Sara was wearing her favorite pair of faded jeans and a black baby tee.  Nick was also wearing faded jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Well I guess great minds dress alike," Nick joked as he gestured for Sara to come in.  "Did you wanna go and get the movie now and order the food when we come back?"

"Sure," she said.

"Okay.  Let me change my shirt first."

"Okay," Sara smiled.

Nick disappeared into his bedroom in search of another shirt.  A few seconds later he emerged as he was pulling a navy blue shirt over his head, allowing Sara to catch a glimpse of his well-defined abs.  Wow, how much does he work out?  She didn't see Nick as the kind of guy who would spend countless hours at the gym, pumping iron and obsessing over his image.  But whatever he was doing, it seemed to be working just fine.  Whenever he wore a short-sleeved shirt to work Sara never failed to notice his strong arms, with their perfectly delineated muscles, big but not too big.  She wasn't blind.  And she was a woman, after all.

"Alrighty, let's go," Nick said as he opened the front door for Sara, his bicep muscle flexing in the process and causing Sara to smile to herself as she headed out the door.

"So, do you know which French movie you're gonna torture me with tonight?" Nick asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the local video store.

Sara smiled.  "Actually, I thought I'd be nice and get something in English."

"Oh, thank God." Nick let out a sigh of relief.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood.  But I still get to pick."

"I suppose it would be too much to ask for no chick flicks?" Nick asked hopefully as he turned off the ignition.

"Yes it would," Sara smiled as she got out of the truck.

They went in and Sara started to browse the new releases along the back wall as Nick followed her.  Fifteen minutes later she had reached the end of the alphabetized shelves of DVDs.

"I can't decide," she sighed.

"I have one in mind," Nick said.

Sara just looked at him, a little afraid of what he was going to say.

"Don't worry, it's a good one," he said as he walked to the shelves with the older movies, Sara on his heels.  He found the aisle he was looking for and scanned the shelf until he found it.

"Bonnie and Clyde?" Sara said when she saw what he was reaching for.

"Yeah, have you seen it?"

"No."

"Well then we have to watch it, it's a classic.  Beatty and Dunaway, how can you lose?  Besides, it has everything.  Action, suspense, comedy, romance, drama."

"I don't know…"

"C'mon Sara, please?" he begged with his saddest puppy dog-eyed look.

Sara couldn't help but laugh.  "Okay, fine," she said.

Nick's mouth did a one hundred eighty degree turn as he flashed his mega-watt smile.  "You'll like it, I promise," he said.  He headed toward the checkout counter as he reached for his wallet but then suddenly stopped and turned to her.  "Hey, can we use your card? I think I have some late fees on my account."

Sara rolled her eyes.  "You know, you're gonna have to pay them eventually," she smiled as she grabbed the DVD from him and went to stand in line.

They checked out the movie and drove back to Nick's house.  They sat and watched TV as they waited for the food to be delivered.

"Hey Sar, what do you want to drink?" Nick called from the kitchen.

"Whatever you're having," she answered back from the living room, absorbed in a forensic show she was watching on Court TV.

Nick returned to the living room with two beers, handing one to Sara.  Just as he sat down on the couch next to her, the doorbell rang.  Nick let out an exasperated sighed as he put his bottle on the coffee table and got up to answer the door.  He came back with their food and sat down.

Sara tried to stifle a giggle when she noticed Nick's beer sitting on a coaster on the coffee table.

"What?" Nick gave her a look.

"I can't believe you have coasters," she said.

"So?  I like my furniture without water stains.  Who doesn't?"

Sara raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, can we start the movie now?" he said.

"But they didn't get the results back from the mitochondrial DNA test yet," Sara whined, referring to the TV show.

"Okay, we're starting the movie." Nick grabbed the remote from her before she could get a chance to talk him into waiting until the end of the show.

They ate their food and started the movie.  Throughout the movie, Nick stole glances at Sara to gage her reaction.  She was thoroughly engrossed in the movie and Nick could tell she was enjoying it, which made him happy.  She needed to get her mind off the stressful work week.

"So, did you like it?" Nick asked as the credits began to roll, signaling the end of the movie.

"Yeah, it was alright."  Sara lied, and she knew Nick knew it.

"C'mon, just admit it.  You loved it and I was right," Nick teased.

"Your ego need a boost that bad?" she teased back.

"Can you never admit you're wrong?" Nick shot back with a smile.

Sara scoffed and grabbed the remote, shutting off the DVD player to watch TV.

"I'll take that as a no," Nick laughed as he got up.  He gathered the empty take out containers and beer bottles and took them to the kitchen.  He returned with two cold beers and sat down on the couch.  Realizing Sara was in the bathroom, he quickly changed the channel to Animal Planet.  His favorite show, "Wild Birds of the World," was on.  When Sara returned, he handed her the other beer, which she accepted without a word.

"So is this your way of admitting I was right?  By letting me watch my favorite show?" Nick asked when Sara didn't say anything for several minutes.

"Maybe," she said, feigning anger.

Nick smiled and took a sip of his beer.  "Well then, thank you.  I'm glad you finally came to your senses and admitted you were wrong," he said as he put his bottle on the coffee table and put his arm around Sara.

"I said maybe," Sara replied, poking him in the side, causing him to flinch.  She didn't know he was ticklish.  But Nick knew Sara was, and he started to tickle her, causing her to squeal.  "Okay, okay! I admit it!  You were right!" she cried out between giggles.

"See?  Now was that so hard?" he smiled as he replaced his arm around her.

Sara smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.  "So do we still have to watch this bird thing?"

"Yes," Nick smiled.

An hour later as the show was ending, Nick unconsciously yawned.

Sara looked up at him.  "Sorry, are you tired?  I should go."

"Huh? Oh, no.  You don't have to go.  I mean, unless you want to."

Sara stared back at Nick, her mouth inches from his.  Well, it's now or never, she thought, as she moved closer to kiss him gently on the lips.  She was tentative at first, but when Nick didn't pull away, her emotions took over and she began to kiss him more hungrily.

Nick was caught off guard, and his first instinct was to kiss her back.  When he felt her hands move up to the back of his neck and into his hair, he still hadn't registered what was going on.  It took the sensation of her tongue in his mouth and the pressure of her body as she leaned into him to finally realize what he was doing.  He cupped her face with his hands as he gently pulled her away.

"Whoa, whoa, Sara, hold on."

Sara looked up at him.  It took her a second to realize he had just rejected her.  She quickly pulled away.  "Sorry, I just…" She didn't know what to say.

"Don't be sorry, that was one hell of a kiss," Nick smiled.

Sara blushed, but didn't look at him.  "I just thought, well this past week, we've spent a lot of time together, outside work I mean, and…" she trailed off, staring down at her hands in her lap.

"Sara--"

"Is this about Kate?" Sara quickly realized as she finally looked at him.

"What? No," Nick said, which was the truth.  He did like Kate, but it had nothing to do with why he pushed Sara away. 

Sara, however, didn't believe him.  "Look, you don't have to lie on my account.  I'm a grown woman, I can take the rejection."

Nick sighed.  "Sara, you're one of my best friends," he said, which was also the truth.  "And I'd be lying if I said I haven't been feeling anything between us these past several days."  He paused and turned to look her in the eyes.  "Sara, you're an incredible woman.  You're beautiful, you're smart, you're funny in your own cynical, quirky little way…"

Sara smiled at that, but waited for Nick to say the big "but."

"But," he continued, "I value our friendship way too much to risk what we have.  What we have is really special to me, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost that."

Sara broke their gaze and looked down at her hands again.  She didn't know how to respond.  On one hand she was flattered by what Nick had said, but she couldn't say that she wasn't just a little disappointed.  After a minute, she finally spoke.  "You're right.  I'm really sorry."

"I told you, you don't have to keep apologizing," Nick smiled.

"Sorry," she apologized again, causing them both to laugh nervously.  "Well just forget I said anything.  Or, um, did anything.  Momentary lapse.  Rare momentary lapse," she smiled.

"Are you sure you're okay?  That's twice in one night that you've admitted you were wrong," he teased.

She tried to give him her infamous glare, but she didn't have the heart.

"So, friends?" he smiled, extending his arms for a hug.

"Of course," she smiled as they hugged.  "Well I better get going," she said as they broke apart after a long while.  They both got up and went to the front door.

"See you tomorrow?" Sara said as Nick held the door open for her.

"Of course," he smiled.

He watched her get in her Denali and drive off before he shut the door and went to sit down.  His mind was reeling from what had just happened.  He wasn't sure what exactly did happen, it all went so fast.  Sara's kiss had caught him off guard, so his 'best friends' speech was completely improvised.  He barely knew what he said, let alone if he actually meant it.

He replayed his speech in his mind.  Well, he did consider Sara to be one of his best friends.  And he did think that Sara was an incredible woman.  But did he mean what he said when he told her he didn't want to risk their friendship?  Or was his 'speech' just a lame copout?  Did he just punk out and miss an opportunity of a lifetime?  No, he quickly assured himself, I made the right decision.

Right?

Sara pulled out of the driveway in a daze, unsure of what had happened seconds earlier inside Nick's house.  All she remembered was kissing Nick and then listening to his 'let's just be friends' sermon.  Had she initiated the kiss?  She had no idea what possessed her to do that.  It wasn't that she'd never thought of doing it before, it was that she didn't think she'd ever have the guts to do it.  She knew she wasn't drunk; she'd only had two beers, and that was over a span of several hours.

Did Nick admit that he'd been having feelings for her?  She wasn't really sure if that made her happy or angry.  It definitely made things more complicated.  If Nick hadn't said anything, she probably would have just put her feelings for him in the back of her mind and never thought about them again.  But he did say something, and now they were two people who had mutual feelings for each other.  And to top it all off, Nick had decided that he'd rather just be friends. 

As she drove home, she thought about what Nick had said, and by the time she arrived at her apartment complex, she decided that he was probably right.  They had such a great friendship, and if things didn't work out between them, that friendship would undoubtedly be changed, if not lost.  And Sara knew she didn't want that.  Besides, she reasoned, dating a co-worker was always complicated.  She didn't even want to think about what happened when she dated that EMT whose name she couldn't even bring herself to say, even in her mind.  And he wasn't even really a co-worker.  Imagine what damage she could cause if she dated someone she actually worked with, day in and day out?

She pulled into her assigned parking space and turned off the ignition.  A small smile crept to her lips when she remembered her amazing kiss with Nick.  What would it be like to do that with someone she actually worked with (not on the job, of course), day in and day out?