Nick woke up feeling a little disoriented. It took him a minute to process that he wasn't at home in Vegas, that he'd gone to California with Sara, but in his groggy state, he was having a hard time fitting the pieces together, especially since Sara had snuggled up against him while they were sleeping and had an arm across his waist and her head on his shoulder. He had a vague recollection that she'd insisted they share her bed since the fold out bed was no where to be found and he vaguely remembered something about finding a copy of the Kama Sutra. He closed his eyes and decided to just savor the moment because he reasoned that the chance that he and Sara would ever be like this again was pretty remote. Besides, if he woke her up at that moment, he was fairly certain that she would be completely mortified.

Sara felt someone stir slightly and then as her eyes fluttered open, she realized that it was Nick and that somewhere in the night she had cozied herself up against him and slung an arm across his waist. She was glad he was still asleep because she thought if he woke up and found her like that, he'd probably freak out. She watched him for a moment and couldn't help but smile as she looked closely at his face. Damn, it always seemed so unfair that men had the most beautiful eyelashes, and Nick was no exception. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh and as she did, she felt Nick's fingers caressing her arm.

Neither one of them moved or said anything for a few minutes, and then Nick spoke in a whisper. "This is kind of nice."

Sara's eyes fluttered open again and she found Nick looking at her. She was surprised that she didn't feel awkward about waking up like this. She found herself smiling at him. "How did you sleep?"

A smile spread over his face. "Really good. You?"

"Good." She let out a soft chuckle. "I guess I moved in my sleep."

"It's ok, I'm not complaining." He was trying to measure her reaction.

Sara closed her eyes again and smiled. "This is nice, but we really should get up."

Nick couldn't help but caress her arm again. "What time is it?"

"Mmn I don't know, but we should probably get up soon." She murmured.

Nick chuckled softly and continued to caress her arm. "Well, you're going to have to get up first then."

Sara's voice was tired. "Five more minutes."

"How about ten?" Nick suggested sleepily as he closed his eyes. "This is really nice."

"Ten is good." Sara agreed snuggling closer to Nick and smiling as she felt him wrap his arms around her waist.

They fell back to sleep and an hour and a half later they finally got up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you going to give me the Sara Sidle hometown tour?" Nick looked at her mischievously as she pulled the car onto the road.

She tried to stifle an embarrassed smile. "There's not much to see."

"So does that mean you won't show me?" Nick looked at her curiously.

She smiled. "I didn't say that. I just said that there isn't much to see. But if it'll make you feel better we have to drive through Marshall to get to Nick's Cove."

Nick smiled. "I still can't believe there's a cove named after me."

"Don't let it go to your head." She smirked at him.

"So do any of your friend's from high school still live here?" Nick asked tentatively.

Amusement flickered across Sara's face. "Probably." She glanced over at him. "But again, there's not much to tell. I wasn't popular in high school like I'm sure you were, so if you're looking for any embarrassing stories, you're not going to find them."

"Who said I was looking for embarrassing stories? I'm just curious about what makes you Sara." His expression was soft.

Sara felt her cheeks getting a little warm. She smiled a bit self consciously and pointed out the window. "Welcome to Marshall." She pulled up in front of a small store and parked the car. "I thought maybe we could grab something to eat since we didn't have breakfast."

He grinned at her. "Sounds good." Nick followed her inside and glanced around as she made her way to the back of the store. It seemed that there was a little bit of everything on the shelves.

Sara glanced over her shoulder and noticed how Nick was meandering behind her, taking in the scene. She was contemplating a bunch of bananas when she felt Nick's hand slide around her waist and his warm breath against her cheek.

"There's some guy checking you out at the front counter." Nick whispered softly.

Sara giggled. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, he's looking over here right now. Want me to tell him to stop staring?" Nick's voice was laced with amusement.

"Are you jealous?" Sara teased.

He looked at her with a smug expression. "Maybe a little."

A surprised smile flickered across Sara's face. "Good."

Nick chuckled. "You like that I'm jealous. Hmm." He tightened his grip around her waist as Sara picked up two bananas.

"Maybe I do." She couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she headed for the front counter, stopping to pick up a bag of bagels and a couple bottles of water on her way. Nick kept his arm around her waist the entire time.

A man who appeared to be in his early thirties smiled as Nick and Sara approached. "I thought that was you, Sara."

"Hi, Jake." Sara smiled back.

"When did you get in?" He asked.

"Yesterday." She reached for her purse.

"Let me get that, Sar." Nick's drawl seemed more pronounced than normal.

As if seeing him for the first time, Jake looked over at Nick and offered his hand. "I'm Jake Peterson."

Nick took his hand and shook it. "Nick Stokes. I'm a friend of Sara's from Vegas."

Jake smiled. "Oh, I heard about you." He glanced over at Sara. "Your mom said you were bringing your boyfriend up with you when she was in with your dad a few days ago."

Sara felt her cheeks burn at the word 'boyfriend'. "How much do I owe you?"

"Four dollars and twenty-eight cents." Jake replied with a smile.

Before Sara could get her money out, Nick handed Jake a five dollar bill. "There you go, man." Nick smiled widely.

"Thanks." Jake put their purchases in a paper bag.

Sara glanced over at Nick. "You didn't need to do that."

"I know. I wanted to." He just smiled at her.

Sara turned toward Jake. "I guess we'll see you around. Tell you mom I said 'hello'."

"Will do." Jake grinned.

As they turned to leave, Nick glanced at Jake. "So, Jake, did you go to high school with Sara?"

Jake nodded. "I sure did."

Sara rolled her eyes and took Nick's hand and began pulling him towards the door. "Nick, he's not going to tell you any stories about me." She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jake to emphasize her point.

Nick arched both eyebrows at Jake and grinned as Sara pulled him towards the door. "Nice to meet you, man. We'll talk later."

"Nick." Sara couldn't pull him out of the store fast enough as Jake waved at them and just shook his head in amusement.