"Forgive Me"
Ship: Nick/Sara
Romance/Angst
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to the creators of CSI. And I don't own the song. It belongs to Evanescence. It's called Forgive Me and is from their CD Origin. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated. Please no flames. I'm new to this.
Nick stormed out of the locker room and ran as quickly as he could to his car. He had to get as far away from her as possible right now. Nick hated to cry, but right now he felt like he could very easily let the salty droplets of water slide down his face. He opened the car door, got in, and slammed it. He tried his damnedest to get the key in the ignition and just race out of there, but his hands were shaking, making it almost impossible to get that damn key into the slot.
"Come on! Dammit! Calm down Stokes so you can get the hell out of here!" As he tried his best to get the key in, Sara came running out of the lab.
"Nick! Nick, wait!" She screamed out but Nick pretended not to hear. He finally got the car to start and peeled out of the parking lot. Sara ran up to where his car had been not a minute ago.
"Dammit." Sara held her head in her hands. She wiped her face with her hands and closed her eyes tightly to try to keep the tears back. "What did I do? What did I say?" she whispered to herself. She headed back to the lab to get her things, and as she did, she recalled the events right before Nick had stormed out of the locker room.
:Flashback:
Nick and Sara had just finished a long, exhausting case. The case hit a little too close to home for Nick. A young boy had been molested for a long time, and then at the young age of 10, he was raped and then killed. Nick remembered the sideways glance he had received from Catherine when assignments were handed out. She was the only one who knew about Nick's past. He and Sara worked the case with everything they had. They refused to stop until they knew who did it. All the evidence pointed towards the neighbor who was also the little boy's babysitter. The young woman had had a very troubled life growing up, and it had a serious effect on her development. Sara could tell that Nick was having a hard time with the case but she didn't know why. She knew that cases involving children always got to him, probably as much as cases involving raped or beaten women affected her. Sara wanted to ask what was wrong but decided to wait. She didn't want to pry and at that time she just wanted to focus completely on the task at hand. After the interview and confession from the young woman, Nick left the room behind the mirror. Sara went after him to see what was going on. Sara found him in the break room at his locker.
:End Flashback:
She didn't want to think about it any more. The fight was just too much. She never
thought she could say those things to anyone, especially Nick, but he had said some pretty hurtful things too. Sara drove back to her apartment. She wanted to go to Nick's and apologize, but she just couldn't see him right now and he probably didn't want to see her. Sara just walked into her apartment, set her things down, and crawled onto her bed. She didn't bother to change. She just laid there and cried herself to sleep.
Sara had only slept for a few hours. She just kept reliving the fight over and over in her dreams, only each time it became worse and worse. She decided that she would apologize to Nick that night during shift. Sara arrived about an hour early. No one else was there yet except for Grissom. Sara wondered if he ever left. She decided to wait in the break room until Nick arrived.
As shift came closer, the others arrived, but Nick no where to be seen. Just before shift started, Nick came through the door, looking at the ground, avoiding all eye contact with anyone. He sat as far away from Sara as possible. This did not go unnoticed by Catherine and Warrick. Everyone at the lab knew that Nick and Sara had been dating for almost a month now. Although they kept it out of the lab, they usually sat next to each other and talked. At times, it was almost sickening to see the two together; they were so sweet with each other. But now, it was like Nick was avoiding Sara like the plague.
Grissom strolled in, looking at his clipboard. Without looking up, he started the evening.
"All right. Warrick, Nick; robbery at a store on the Strip. Sara and Catherine, B & E at a jewelry store." He handed out the folders and then left just as he had entered. Nick was the first one to get up and leave. He didn't bother to wait for Warrick. Catherine was the first to speak up.
"What's going on?"
"We...We had a fight. Yesterday. I don't know how it started. We had finished our case on the little boy who was raped and killed and we came back here. I went to talk to him and then... I don't know what happened. He stormed out of the locker room. I went after him, but he drove out of here as fast as he could. I feel horrible. I don't know what I did. He was so upset yesterday."
"Damn." Warrick just shook his head, trying to figure out what could have set Nick off. Catherine had an idea.
"I was going to apologize, but he obviously doesn't want anything to do with me."
"Just give him some time Sara. Just trust me."
"I trust you. But I had a back up plan ready incase I didn't get a chance to apologize tonight." Sara turned to Warrick. "Warrick, I need you to convince Nick to go to this bar with you tonight." She handed him a slip of paper with an address on it.
Warrick just raised his eyebrows. "Please. Whatever it takes. Just get there about an hour after shift." With that Sara left.
"I'm coming too. I need to see what happens. These two deserve a break with all that has happened to them. They just need to be together and be happy."
Warrick went out to the parking lot and found Nick there, already in his Denali. Warrick opened the passenger side door, and when he did he was greeted with a blast of sad, depressing country music.
"Nick, man... what is this crap?"
"Huh? Oh.. Warrick. Nothing." He turned off the radio.
"Look, I don't know what's going on... but tonight you're coming out with me. I know a good bar we could go to. You look like you need to relax a bit."
"I dunno man. I just wanna go home after work and crash."
"I'm not taking no for an answer. It's been too long since it's been just the guys hanging out. We can drag Sanders along too and rag on him about his new girlfriend. Come on, it'll be fun."
Nick tried his best not to, but his lips curled up a bit at the idea of teasing Greg about his love life.
"All right! I'll take that as a yes, you are going."
45 Minutes after Shift
Sara was nervous. She hoped this worked. She didn't want to go out there and do this, but she didn't have much of a choice. She just wanted Nick to know how she felt and have him know it was genuine. This was the first thing to come into her mind.
"What is this place?" Greg asked as the three men and Catherine walked into the bar.
"Well Greggo, judging by the people and the alcohol... I'd say it was a bar. If you really want to be a CSI man, you have to be more observant."
"Hardy-har-har. Very funny. I know that. But why did we come to this bar? There are other ones closer to work."
Warrick replied, "Because a friend recommended it to me. Come on, lets sit over by the stage. Maybe there will be some kind of entertainment tonight."
A man walked up onto the stage with a mic. "Hey folks. Thanks for coming here tonight. For those who are new here and don't know, tonight is Karoake Night. For any of those brave enough, you are invited to come up here to sing your lil hearts out. And for those of you who wish to drown out those you think are...well...horrible, may I suggest ordering a beverage from the bar."
A few people went up to sing. They were okay but not too great. Catherine even convinced Greg to go up there with her to sing a little duet. It was a funny sight to see. Greg just hammed it up on the stage. Nick was about to ask if they could leave when something caught his eye. He saw someone moving towards the stage: a very familiar brunette.
"What's going on, Warrick?" Nick asked.
"I have no idea man." Warrick replied, which was the truth. He wasn't sure what exactly Sara had planned, but he was beginning to piece it together. Sara slowly walked to the center of the stage and took the microphone.
"This...This is for a certain person. He knows who he is."
The music started. It was a slow song. Sara sang along. He was mesmerized. He just stared at her.
Can you forgive me again?
I don't know what I said
But I didn't mean to hurt you
Sara just locked her eyes with Nick as she sang. She didn't bother to look anywhere else.
I heard the words come out
I felt that I would die
It hurt so much to hurt you
Then you look at me
You're not shouting anymore
You're silently broken
Sara's eyes started to tear up, but she refused to cry; she had to finish.
I'd give anything now
to kill those words for you
Each time I say something I regret I cry "I don't want to lose you."
But somehow I know that you will never leave me, yeah.
She stepped off the stage and walked over to Nick. She just stood in front of him and sang to him.
'Cause you were made for me
Somehow I'll make you see
How happy you make me
I can't live this life
Without you by my side
I need you to survive
So stay with me
You look in my eyes and I'm screaming inside that I'm sorry.
And you forgive me again
You're my one true friend
And I never meant to hurt you
She reached out and touched his face. She wiped away the single tear that had fallen from his eye.
As tears fell down her face she said, "I'm so sorry Nick. I never meant what I said. I-I-I-"
"Shh. It's okay. It's.. it's not your fault and it has nothing to do with you. I just... The case hit a little too close to home, and it hurt so bad and I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry."
Nick stood up and hugged Sara. She hugged him back with equal need. She needed him and he needed her. He lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Come on, lets go to my place. I...I have to tell you something that you need to hear."
A/N
Well reviews are welcomed and so is constructive criticism. I wrote this a while ago but wasn't able to put it up onto FanFiction. Sorry if it sucked. I'll try to get better.