"Nick, seriously, this is fine." Sara insisted as she took the sleeping bag from him. He had spent ten minutes going through his linen closet before realizing that all of his sheets were sitting in the laundry room waiting to be washed.

"You could just take my bed and I could sleep in here." He offered sheepishly. If he hadn't gotten her the cat, she wouldn't have needed the clean sheets in the first place.

She raised an eyebrow. "I am not taking your bed. This is fine. Thank you."

"Ok, but that's been up in the hall closet for a while, it probably smells musty." He was giving her one last opportunity to take him up on his offer.

She rolled her eyes. "Nick, this is fine. Now go to bed." She motioned towards his bedroom door with one hand as she held onto the sleeping bag with the other.

"Ok." He flashed a lopsided grin and turned to go back to bed, stopping at the door and glancing at her as she disappeared into the guest room. He closed his door behind him and crawled back into bed, punching his pillow a couple of times and tucking it under his head. Less than five minutes later there was a soft tap on his door.

"Nick?" Sara's voice was soft.

Nick's brow furrowed as he sat up in bed. "What's wrong? There wasn't a spider in the sleeping bag was there? Do you need me to kill something for you?"

Sara tried to restrain a chuckle. "You left your gun in my room."

"Oh. Ok." He got out of bed and walked over to where she stood, holding the gun out to him. He took the gun from her and leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Thanks."

"And don't worry; if I find a spider, I think I can handle it. I don't need you going S.W.A.T. on me again, as charming as that was." She couldn't hide her amused smile.

"I'm glad you thought so." He unconsciously puffed his chest out a little.

She let out a laugh. "Go to sleep." She shoved him softly and then turned and walked across the hall to the guest room.

Nick stood there for a moment just watching her and thinking about what a remarkable woman she was. He shook himself out of his reverie and closed the bedroom door, putting the gun in the top drawer of his dresser before padding back towards the bed and climbing in. He lay there for a while, his thoughts wandering a bit about all that had happened and for some reason all the strength that he'd shown to everyone else over the last week just fell apart as he realized how close they all came to losing Sara. His throat began to constrict and he choked out a sob. He had been affected by the situation far more than he'd thought and he realized that having her stay with him was as much about him needing to know she was ok as it was about her need to not be alone. Another sob choked its way out and he felt unbidden tears stinging his eyes. Uncontrollable sobs began to wrack his body and he tried to muffle them with his pillow so that Sara wouldn't hear him. The last thing he wanted was to be a burden to someone who needed him to be strong.

A few minutes later, there was a soft tap at his door again as Sara opened it. Her voice was thickly laced with concern. "Nick?"

He didn't respond as he hugged the pillow tighter. He didn't know what to say and he couldn't stop crying either.

She made her way over to the bed and slowly sat down on it next to him, reaching over and stroking his hair much the same as he had done to hers.

It seemed to make him cry all the harder. Nick didn't really tout himself as a macho man, but he really didn't like to cry in front of people either. He couldn't explain to himself why he was crying and certainly couldn't explain it to Sara either, except he was just so damn thankful that she was alive.

She continued stroking his hair as she made shushing noises.

As his sobs tapered off he choked out words without thinking. "I was so scared, Sara."

She furrowed her brow and trailed her fingers along his forehead. "What scared you, Nick?" She wasn't sure what was going on with her dear friend who just a short time ago was smiling and laughing with her.

His voice broke as he spoke and he sat up and reached out for her. "Sara."

She let him pull her against him, resting her face in the crook of his neck as he held onto her for what seemed like dear life.

"Oh, Sara, I was so scared. I could have lost you. I don't think I could have lived with myself if something had happened to you." The emotion in his voice was thick.

She held onto him trying to reassure him with her voice as he held onto her. "I'm ok, Nick. I'm here. Everything is going to be ok."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes as he just kept holding onto Sara, as much for comfort as to reassure himself that she really was ok, that she would be ok. He hadn't expected that he would be so affected by all that had happened.

"I'm so sorry." He pulled away and tried to smile. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

She reached over and touched his face, wiping the traces of tears away. "You didn't wake me up."

"That sleeping bag sucks, doesn't it?" He tried to lighten the moment with a joke.

Sara smiled. "It is pretty nasty."

He sniffled and let out a chuckle. "I told you. We can still trade you know."

She nudged him. "Scoot over, I think I'll keep you company for a while. You look like you could use a friend."

He smiled at her as he scooted over and lifted up the covers. "Are you hitting on me, Sidle?" His tone was full of teasing, but he was thankful for her discernment that he didn't want to be alone.

She scoffed at him as she lay against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "And what if I were?" She laughed. "You wouldn't know what to do."

He put his arms around her and chuckled softly. "Don't be so sure."

"Oh, so now you're hitting on me." She scoffed again.

He laughed again and shot her words back at her. "And what if I were?" He held her a little closer. "You wouldn't know what to do."

She smiled and closed her eyes whispering under her breath. "Don't be so sure."