CONFESSIONS AND CASES

"Hey Catherine!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning at her widely as I enter the break room, walking briskly towards the coffee pot. Catherine gives me one of her grins, one of those, I-know-you-did-something-dirty-that's-got-you-floating-on-cloud-nine-and-as-soon-as-I-know-what-that-is-you-and-I will-be-having-a-little-girl-talk kind of looks.

"Hi Sara..." she says, and I catch the last of her look as I breeze past her.

Catherine is really good at saying exactly what's on her mind without speaking a word. Her eyes are amazing like that.

I think that's why Grissom might like her so much. She doesn't talk much.

"Warrick brown reporting for duty." I hear Warrick's familiar voice behind me, announcing his own presence. Since I have been here, I've really learned to like Warrick. He has a way of connecting with people, no matter what age group or background. Or skin color for that matter.

And he has a really, sexy, almost chocolaty smooth voice.

"Hey War." I say, turning to give him a huge grin. He looks at me with a puzzled expression, and I can feel his eyes boring into mine, so I turn away for fear he might realize why I'm so happy.

"What's got you riding the high wave?" he asks, chuckling. I just shake my head, still not having enough courage to face either him or Catherine.

"Ah, it's a guy isn't it?" Says Warrick as I turn around. My cheeks get red as he continues.

"What have you been doing Sara? Maybe I should inspect the new boyfriend before you go and do something extreme." I can't contain the smile on my face, or the redness in my cheeks as Nick walks in the room.

"What has Sara been doing?" Nick inquires, looking straight at me with a huge grin that makes me want to kiss him.

Unbeknownst to me, Catherine sees this.

"Not sure man, but Sara's got some new boyfriend apparently." Warrick answers, not getting it yet.

"Does she now?" Nick asks grinning at me. I nod. Catherine laughs behind me.

"Yeah, and I was just saying that maybe we should check him out first." Warrick says with a shrug. I burst into silent laughter.

"Oh, don't worry Rick, I think you'll approve. You already know the guy, and I have personal assurance that you are quite fond of him." Catherine spits out. All eyes are on her, and I feel my jaw drop.

Nick turns and looks at me with a huge smile. I just look incredulously at him. He walks up to me, and slips his arm around my waist.

"What the...when...you two! TOGHETHER!! No...you're joking..." Warrick says, beaming at us both.

"So you finally worked up the guts to ask her huh Nick?" Catherine says, peering at us over the brim of her magazine.

"Excuse me? What does she mean finally?" I ask, looking at Nick like she's crazy. After all, I'm going out with Nick, my total dream guy who I am totally infatuated with, and that is plenty and enough. Now they are sitting there trying to tell me he has liked me for as long as I've liked him?

It's just too much for one girl to take.

Nick gives me a lopsided grin.

"Umm... I have no idea what she's talking about Sara... humph, no idea at all." he says, and I can't tell who he's trying to convince, himself or me.

Catherine smiles at me, one of her signature I-wouldn't-believe that-load-of-crap-for-a-second kind of smiles.

"Bullshit you don't Nick Stokes tell me the truth right now!" I demand, noting the twinkle in his eye.

"Okay..." he surrenders with a shrug, "so maybe I do know..."

I raise my eyebrows in response, waiting for the whole truth.

"What? WHAT?" he asks, like there is nothing left to be answered.

"How long?"

Pause of silence.

"Four years maybe."

At that, I can almost feel my jaw hitting the floor. I can't believe this! Nick gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"This is just too weird..." Warrick mutters audibly as my mouth continues to hang open.

"Don't stand there like you haven't liked him for just as long Sara Sidle. I don't want to hear it." Catherine adds, and I feel my eyes get wide. Now it's Nick's turn to stare in awe, and I blush as his grip gets a little tighter on my waist and his chest puffs out slightly.

And then the worst possible thing that could happen in the course of human courting history happened.

Gil Grissom walks into the room.

"Sara's liked whom?" he asks, still flipping through case files, not noticing anything. When he finally looks up, Nick has let go of my waist and taken a step away from me, Warrick has turned back to the coffee machine, and Catherine hides once again behind her magazine.

"C'mon, Sara's liked whom?" he asks once again, this time with more persistence. My heart skips a beat, hoping Nick and I won't be in trouble. I take a step forward, and all eyes, whether obvious or hidden, are on me.

"Uh, Nick Gris. I've liked Nick for a while, and due to recent events, we've decided to see what that like might turn into in the future." I say. Gil just stares at me, giving no indication of whether or not he understood what I had just said.

"We're dating Gil." Nick comes up behind me, and his hand purposely brushes against my leg.

"Oh." Grissom says, still staring at me. Then he shakes his head as if to clear it of a dirty thought, and checks his watch.

"Alright, alright, let's do what we get paid for here people, assignments all around. Warrick Nick, you're together, murder at the slots. Ladies, if you'll have the pleasure of joining me for an evening of double homicide, right this way.

And with that he was gone.

Everyone stared at the spot he had departed through, and then we all exchanged glances. Nick's hand touched mine, and I looked at him. He offered me a weak smile and I returned it.

"Well, that was...not so bad I guess." Catherine tried, "I'm going to go before something truly eventful happens."

She got up, and walked through the door. But at the last second she turned around and threw Warrick a look that read get-your-ass-out-of-there-so-these-kids-can-talk.

"Uhh, yeah, me too, gotta go, meet you out there..." he said and jogged over to Catherine and out the door.

When they were gone, I sighed, loud and sad. Nick gave me a half smile and curled my hair behind my ear. I reached for his hand and intertwined our fingers as my head went forward almost automatically, leaning into Nick for support. I gave him a hug, wrapping my free arm around his neck as I felt his free arm go up my back, his hand settling behind my head.

"Sorry about that." I say, not sure what just happened.

"Sorry for what darlin'? What Grissom does isn't ever your fault." he says, and I can't help but smile at how he calls me darling. His accent increases whenever he talks softly, or soothingly, or whenever he's having such a blast in life that he just screams with joy.

That southern accent gets me every time.

After combing through my hair, his hand glides to my back, and I feel his thumb make gentle caresses across my spine. Does he have any idea how cute and comforting he is?

"I guess not. But that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to spending the night with him. Or Catherine really. I'm sure she'll grill me about us, and to tell the truth, there isn't that much to grill. And about everything I told you...I don't want to give that away okay?" I say, and Nick gazes at me with a smile.

"Of course Sar. I won't say a word." He kisses my forehead, and again, the huge butterflies that apparently live in my stomach flutter to life. I just can't get over what Nick brings out in me, or how he acts around me. It's quite unlike what his reputation portrays him to be. He's always so gentle and caring, making sure I come first, and never pushing me to go too fast. I've never had that before, and I'd have to say, it's nice.

"I'll see you later okay?" I ask, giving him one last glance, and squeezing his hand. He smiles and nods, and I kiss him on the cheek.

"Definitely. Good luck tonight. With Cath and all." He says, squeezing my hand to prevent me from walking away just yet. I step back in front of him, placing a hand gently on his upper chest.

"Thanks, lucky dog. You get to work with your best friend!" I half exclaim, half complain. I go to walk off, but that hand stops me again, jerking me back. I loose my balance, but his arms reach out to steady me.

"Who judges that?" he asks with a boyish grin.

"Wait...judges what?"

"Who is the one who says Warrick is my best friend?" he asks, but I still don't catch on.

"Maybe he's my best guy friend in Vegas. Did the judge ever consider that? What about my brothers? They could be my best friends. And what about my favorite girl friend..." he says, and I blush at the meaning of this.

"Okay Mr. I-charm-like-a-pro, I gotta go. Contrary to popular belief, I do want to keep my job."

We smile at each other, not really knowing where this is going now. I blush and look away, but gentle fingers direct my eyes back to his. He stares without fear at my lips, and I start to get nervous.

Really nervous.

Okay, so kissing is not that big of a deal. I don't want to make myself out to be some virgin freak either.

But Nick, as we have already gone over, is one of my best friends in the world, and right now, if we broke up, I could get over it. There have only been little kisses on the cheek. Heck, if he broke up with me right now, I would even consider a potential romance with him in the future. But once we get into really kissing and such, my heart, and quite possibly a nice chunk of our friendship, might break.

Plus, I don't exactly want our first real kiss to be in the break room. I was kind of hoping for somewhere a little more special.

"Alright," he breaks the silence softly, his accent increasing again, "you'd best get movin'"

"Yeah." I say, still gazing into his eyes.

"Bye." He says, placing a hand on my stomach and sliding it around to rest on my hip.

"Bye." I say, squeezing his chest slightly to say wordlessly I-really-want-to-stay-but-I-have-to-go-and-I'm-hating-it.

He chuckles, and leans in to kiss my cheek. I breathe outward as he does, enjoying the sensation of his tender lips on my skin. His lips leave, finding their way to my earlobe. He nibbles playfully for a moment before kissing my cheek again and backing off. I just grin at him.

"Later cowboy." I say, shoving against his chest playfully. He squeezes my hand and lets go.

"Later hun."

I just throw him a smile, and head out the door.

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Well, I don't even get to the crime scene without avoiding the terrible questions. I think it should be a rule that anything a couple does not want to give away about themselves, that should be that. Although, if Cath and Gil ever did get together, I know I'd want to know all the details.

"So...when did this whole thing happen? Did Nick just ask you to go out with him, or what?" Catherine asks as she drives. Luckily Grissom drove himself. I would never have said anything in front of him. I know Catherine and I aren't the best of friends, but I don't seem to have a problem opening up to her like this. I do know she's close to every person on this team in her own way though, kind of like our mother.

"Umm...no, it was kind of decided by both of us." I say finally, trying to sort through my thoughts still and say the right thing without giving too much away.

"When?" she continues, not pressing, more like inquiring.

"Last night. We went out for breakfast." I say, definitely not bringing up the drunken man.

"Well, I'm glad you two finally got together. Warrick and I were sick of watching you flirt with him all the time." She says joking, and I shake my head at how hypocritical she's being, seeing as how her and Grissom do the 'smile and flirt subtly' thing all the time.

Hello! It's our jobs to notice things other people try to hide! I don't say a word about it though. I value my life. She seems to notice my silence though, and figures she better fix what she just said.

"But no, I am really happy for the both of you. You two look good together you really do." She says firmly as we pull up to the scene of the crime.

"Thanks Cath, that really means a lot to me." I say truthfully. We share a smile as we get out of the car, her smile a bit wiser, mine a bit more infatuated, but two smiles nonetheless.

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- Nick's Point Of View -

"Yo, Rick, hold up buddy." I yell down the hallway, jogging to catch up.

"Took you long enough, what were you two doin' in there?" he asks me with a laugh.

"Nothing. Just talking." I say, any joking absent from my voice. He looks over at me, and chuckles.

"Talking huh? So that's what they're calling it these days..." He says, still not realizing how completely serious I am.

"No man, not kidding. I'm taking it slow with her. She's not some girl I picked up on the street. This is Sara we're talking about. Neither of us can afford a casual sex relationship." I say, and the laughing has completely vanished. Warrick nods his head seriously, understanding where I'm coming from.

"That's good. I think you're each what each other needs right now."

I nod my head as he slaps me on the back.

"Yeah. Me too."

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- Sara's Point Of View -

I'm not sure if God let me get through the night without a Grissom confrontation, or if Grissom himself avoided me, but we barely passed a word between us all shift. Now, I just need to talk to someone else on the team. I don't even need it to be Nick; I just need some human contact.

Lucky for me, Catherine and I joked and talked all the way home. I feel like our relationship is improving, maybe she finally forgives me for not sticking with the Eddie case and all.

I'm really glad.

So, because of her, I am in a significantly better mood when I return back to the lab. I have to drop some stuff back off to Greggo, so I head down there.

"Hey Greg, I brought you a boatload of presents. This should make up for your Christmas stuff, since I have a feeling you'll be processing 'til then." I say as I drop a huge, slightly heavy paper bag on the counter in front of him.

He looks up at me with an expression commonly seen at a funeral.

"You were just going to not tell me or what?" he asks.

Okay. Sara's completely lost.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, hoping to get to the bottom of this.

"You and Nick." He states, still looking sadly away at the ground. I take an audible breath in.

"Oh...Greg...I'm sorry. It didn't even occur to me we let you know. How can I make up for it?" I ask, sincerely regretting what I had done. He just shrugs his shoulders, still not looking at me.

This isn't a Greg-wanting-attention moment either, he's seriously disappointed. I think he feels left out sometimes, like he's not really part of the team. That might be his reasoning behind wanting to go into the field, no matter how hard he sticks to his 'out from behind the printer' story.

Suddenly, an idea hits me. I go around the table and touch his shoulder. He turns to look at me, but I don't give him enough time to process what's going on. I place both hands on his shoulders, lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek.

When I back away, he just stares at me in awe. I smile widely at him, and he just shakes his head in shock.

"Don't tell Nick I cheated on him. We'll keep this as our little secret, okay?" I say, joking about the cheating, since it's only just a kiss on the cheek. He just nods his head, and I wink at him before walking out of the room.

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Heading down the hallway, I spy Warrick and Nick walking towards me. I wave, taking a deep breath unconsciously. I have to admit, I'm nervous of what Warrick might say.

"Hey girl." Warrick greets me as he and Nick reach me. Nick slips an arm around my waist momentarily, squeezing my hip and then letting go. I blush and smile, squeezing his forearm.

Warrick just chuckles and starts to walk on down the hallway. I fall into step with them, in the middle of the two.

"Sara, promise you'll tell me if this guy does anything to you? I'll rough him up; teach him a lesson for sure. Just give me a call." Warrick says, and I know past the joking face, there's the serious big brother gene that he has kicking in.

"Definitely." I say, turning to Nick and letting my eyes do the talking. He just raises his hands in mock surrender, and I laugh.

"Besides," Warrick leans over to whisper audibly in my ear, "if things don't work out between you two, maybe you and I can arrange something..." Warrick waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"Hey!" Nick exclaims playing along. I love it when we do this, get this little mini-scenario going and keep it up as long as we can.

"Sorry Rick, but Greg already reserved a spot." I laugh. Nick looks at me, and I mouth 'We'll talk later'. Nick just nods, laughing with Warrick and me.

"Damn..." he mutters.

We continue to walk, joking about assorted things.

"Thanks guys. I'm really glad I've got you around." I can't help myself but add some lovey-dovey remark to the moment.

They both smile.

"Anytime." Says Warrick with a grin that reveals his white teeth.

"You know it." Says Nick, smiling affectionately at me as he purposely allows our hands to brush one another.

I'm so lucky to have friends like this.

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Well, that's all for this chapter folks. Hope you enjoyed it!

TheNotoriousCat

P.S. – Do I need to remind you to review??