DISCLAIMER: Not mine.
Nick didn't realise how much his relationship meant to him until he woke suddenly in the middle of the day and discovered he was unreasonably thirsty. He attempted for a few minutes to ignore that and go back to sleep, failed, and got out of bed.
The low murmur of his television startled him at first. Half-asleep though he was, he was fairly sure he'd switched it off before he went to bed, and so for a second Nigel Crane returned fully to his life.
It was, of course, not Nigel Crane sleeping on his sofa. Nigel didn't have long brown hair or a tendency to cover Nick's coffee table with case notes. Nick, calming down, managed to smile to himself. Case files and the Cartoon Network.
He poured himself a glass of cold water from the fridge and drank it gratefully, then set the glass down softly. He wasn't in a hurry to wake Sara up.
Feeling just a little like a voyeur, Nick went over and studied the scene a bit more closely. Sara had obviously come straight here from work, and she was still wearing the clothes Nick remembered seeing her in at the lab. Accompanying the case notes was a small stack of crime-scene photographs, a few pens - all of which were his - and Sara's keys and cellphone in a corner of the table. The TV remote and an empty coffee cup were on the floor beside the sofa on which Sara lay, fast asleep, with her legs dangling off one end and her head on an angle that looked rather uncomfortable.
He was never really clear on how long he stood there, just watching and thinking. He liked that she was comfortable enough to turn up and make herself at home. She'd probably been intending to sleep with him - he'd gotten used to being woken by Sara getting into bed, or waking to discover her asleep beside him - but had fallen asleep out here instead.
One of the reasons Nick liked to keep his relationship quiet, away from family and friends as well as co-workers, was because it was fairly weird. Sara hadn't quite committed to living with him yet - not for lack of trying on his part - and he put up with her coming and going because it was as much as she was able to give him at the moment. Watching her sleep on his sofa, it occurred to Nick just what a precious gift the trust of Sara Sidle really was.
He was slightly reluctant to wake her up, but if she slept in that position much longer he was going to be giving her back rubs for the next week. It wasn't an unattractive prospect, but he could think of better things they could do with their time. "Come to bed, Sara."
"Mmmm," said Sara, blinking up at him. "Hello."
"Hey babe. Look, you can't sleep there. Come to bed?"
Sara got up readily enough, despite her yawns, and followed him into his bedroom. Nick went back to bed and lay there, watching her in the dim light as she changed into one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxers.
He'd been well aware before that day of just how good it felt to go to bed with Sara instead of before Sara. And yet, as she switched off the light, got into bed, and settled her head into her favourite spot on his shoulder, he suddenly began to realise just how far she'd made him fall.
THE END