Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.

Author's Note: Pretend it's New Year's Eve. And pretend there's no such thing as the swing shift and everyone still works together.

"Toothpaste? How can you tell?" Nick peered intently at the white stain on the navy blue bed sheet.

"You've never dripped toothpaste on a dark shirt while brushing your teeth?" Sara asked.

"Maybe when I was five," Nick said with a smirk. "I'm a big boy now."

Sara gave him a look. "Well yesterday's oatmeal incident in the break room would suggest otherwise."

"Hey, Warrick started it," Nick said defensively.

"Uh huh."

"He did!" Nick insisted.

"Can we get back to processing?" Sara struggled to suppress a smile, not wanting to reveal that she found Nick's boyish immaturity endearing.

"Fine," Nick muttered. He grabbed a swab and reagent bottle from his kit and knelt down next to Sara as he handed them to her.

Sara rubbed the swab over the stain and dripped the solution onto it. A smile spread across her face as it failed to turn blue. "Acid phos negative. You know what that means."

"Not semen." Nick sounded clearly disappointed.

"Told you." Sara shot him a smug smile.

Nick smirked back at her. "I'll go check out the bathroom." He sighed as he rose up from his knees, hoping they could head back to the lab soon. The whole team was working together that night, but everyone else had already left to start processing their collected evidence while Nick and Sara stayed behind to finish up.

"Hey, Sara," Nick called out as he walked back into the bedroom not two minutes later.

"You got something?" Sara turned around, only to watch Nick as he took a quick look around and then stepped toward her. The next thing she knew, she felt his lips on hers. But before she could process her thoughts enough to realize that she'd wanted to do this for longer than she'd ever be willing to admit and therefore respond accordingly to let Nick know this, he pulled away.

Nick pulled back with a smile on his face but it quickly faded when he noticed Sara's expression. He wasn't sure if she looked scared, confused, or pissed off; either way, it didn't look good for him.

"What was that?" Sara finally found her voice and said the first thing that came to mind.

Nick relaxed somewhat when he realized Sara wasn't upset and he wouldn't have to fend off any slaps or punches to the face. "Uh, it's midnight." He showed her his watch.

Sara finally remembered it was New Year's Eve as she heard the faint sound of fireworks outside in the distance. "Oh," was all she could think to say.

Nick still wasn't convinced he was in the clear, and he didn't know what to do or say. He hadn't really been planning on kissing Sara at midnight. It was a spur of the moment decision and he had actually been quite proud of himself for thinking it up. He'd get to kiss Sara, something he'd always wanted to do, and he could use New Year's as an excuse. But at that moment he was starting to think that maybe he should have thought it through a little more. "Sorry. I. Uh. I just thought-"

"Happy New Year," Sara cut him off with a smile. Though she was still in a bit of a daze, she did know that she enjoyed the kiss. And after all, she didn't want Nick to feel embarrassed, and she wanted to let him know that she did appreciate the sweet gesture.

Nick let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Happy New Year," he replied back with a smile of his own. He was now fairly certain Sara was okay with the kiss, so he decided to try his luck. "You know, technically it's still midnight." He glanced at his watch. "We've got thirty seconds, and there's plenty more where that came from." He cocked a suggestive eyebrow.

"We're standing in a crime scene." Sara pointed out the obvious instead of saying what she really wanted to say. Because of the rough year she'd had, she had already made an effort to come up with several New Year's resolutions that would help her continue to get her life back on track. And while kissing Nick wasn't specifically one of them, a few of her resolutions did have to do with him, and their kiss actually helped a bit with starting off on the right foot.

"Okay, well let's go outside then. The Denali's parked at the curb. We can turn the heater on. We'll be fine." Nick hoped his voice sounded more teasing than eager and hopeful. The SUV was roomy enough to do a lot more than just kiss, and Nick wasn't at all opposed to doing more, but he knew where to draw the line.

"Let's not." Sara again responded with something completely opposite of what she wanted to say. Another kiss was certainly very tempting, but she knew, and she knew Nick knew, that they shouldn't do anything more while they were on the clock. She grabbed Nick's wrist to look at his watch. "Oh look, 12:01. That's too bad." She pouted with mock disappointment.

Nick over exaggeratedly sunk his shoulders and let out a deep sigh, in hopes that Sara would think he was feigning his own disappointment as well, while in reality his reaction wasn't entirely an act.

"So did you find something in the bathroom?" Sara asked with an innocent smile, acting as if their kiss had never happened.

Nick narrowed his eyes at her before answering. "Actually it's what I didn't find. No toothpaste, no toothbrush, no toilet paper, no nothing. Bathroom's completely empty."

Sara's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Why?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. The point is, it's empty. Let's go," he said impatiently.

"Fine. I don't think we're going to get anything more here anyway." Sara sighed.

They packed up their things and headed back out to their vehicle.

"So, I know it's not midnight, but at least we're not standing in a crime scene anymore," Nick said as soon as they were on the road.

"Give it up, Nick. The moment has already come and gone. You'll just have to wait another year," Sara replied, though she was beginning to think Nick might not have to wait a whole year.

"I'll be counting down the days then," he said as he glanced at her and smiled.

Sara rolled her eyes. She turned to look out the window and was quiet the rest of the way back, psyching herself up for what she planned to do after shift. Her midnight kiss with Nick made things a little easier, but she still needed to reassure herself a bit. She'd learned through experience that baby steps weren't always a good approach to things; sometimes it was best to just jump in and go for it, so that's what she intended to do.

She made it through the night without letting her nerves interfere with work, but as she headed for the locker room with more intention than just grabbing her coat and going home, she started to feel the butterflies in her stomach. She stopped just outside the doorway and listened to see if anyone was inside. She heard someone shuffling around and knew who it was. She took a deep breath before walking in.

"Hey," Nick greeted her without glancing in her direction as he stowed his things in his locker. "Got any plans for today?"

Sara didn't answer with words; instead she slammed Nick's locker door shut, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her until their lips met.

This time it was Nick who was caught off guard, but it didn't take him long to realize what was going on. He quickly and eagerly responded and found his hands instinctively reaching for Sara's hips to pull her closer.

Sara felt Nick kissing her back and drifted her arms over his shoulders, deepening the kiss. Many blissful seconds later, when her brain started to remind her that she needed oxygen, she pulled away.

"It hasn't been a year yet," Nick said, wondering why that was the first thing that came to his mind after he'd just shared a pretty amazing kiss with the woman he'd been wanting to ask out on a date for over four years.

Sara took a step back and crossed her arms as she leaned against the bay of lockers. "I know. But now that it's officially the new year, I have to start putting my resolutions into action."

"One of which would be to kiss a charming and attractive coworker?" Nick grinned.

"Yeah, I couldn't find Warrick, Greg's out in the field, Archie's out sick, and Bobby and David were busy, so I came looking for you," she teased with a smirk.

"What about Grissom?"

"Do you want me to take that kiss back?" Sara glared at Nick while trying to refrain from smiling.

"Who kissed who back?" Warrick asked as he and Catherine walked into the locker room.

"Sara kissed me but now she regrets it and wants to take it back," Nick explained as he eyed Sara.

"I didn't say that," Sara quickly replied as she stared back at Nick.

"Oh, so you don't regret it then?" Nick smiled.

Sara thought for a second, remembering her New Year's resolutions. "And what if I don't?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"And what if I don't believe that you don't regret it?" Nick answered Sara's question with a question of his own.

"Then maybe I should kiss you again to show you that I really don't," Sara proposed, her boldness stemming from her resolve to be more aggressive and assertive when it came to her love life.

"Maybe you should," Nick replied, desperately trying to sound nonchalant while his mind silently screamed at him, begging for another taste of Sara's soft lips.

Sara narrowed her eyes at him. She turned to Warrick and Catherine and cleared her throat. "So, uh, what are you guys doing today?" she asked them, not feeling quite bold enough to continue any further with Nick while her other coworkers were in the locker room.

"Nothing too exciting. Catch up on some sleep and then head over to my sister's," Catherine answered as she quickly put on her coat and shut her locker, wanting to leave to give Nick and Sara some privacy. "Come on, let's go," she said to Warrick, who had been leaning against his locker with his arms crossed, intently watching Nick and Sara's conversation.

"But this is getting interesting." Warrick knew how the situation would end, after four years of flirting it was only a matter of time, but he wanted to see exactly how it would unfold.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "This coming from someone who was so excited about a day full of football on a new plasma screen."

"Your sister has a plasma TV?" Nick perked up. The thought of high resolution football was almost as exciting as another kiss from Sara.

"Yeah. It was my brother-in-law's Christmas present to himself," Catherine explained. "You guys should come by. My sister won't mind," she said to both Nick and Sara.

Nick glanced at Sara to see if he could gauge from her expression if she was planning on continuing their conversation, or if his chances for another kiss were gone. Sara stared back at him with a relatively blank expression, but he thought he detected a mischievous glint in her eye. He turned back to Catherine, intent on replying with a 'maybe,' but Sara spoke first.

"I think I'll probably just stay home and relax. College football's not really my thing anyway. But thanks," Sara said to Catherine with a polite smile.

Nick hoped Sara was trying to tell him something with her reply. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired, I think I'm gonna relax at home for awhile, but maybe I'll stop by for the Fiesta Bowl," he replied.

Catherine smiled, knowing she probably wouldn't be seeing either Nick or Sara that afternoon. "Okay, well you two get some rest. Happy New Year," she added as she and Warrick made their way out.

"Thanks. You too," Nick and Sara both replied.

"Later," Warrick said as he followed Catherine out, leaving Nick and Sara alone in the locker room.

"So." Nick turned to Sara. "Exactly what kinds of resolutions require you to kiss your attractive coworkers? Maybe I should add them to my list of resolutions," he said in a playful tone.

"Unless you have a plan to fend off angry husbands and boyfriends, I'm the only female in this lab who isn't married or involved with someone," Sara pointed out, somewhat ashamedly.

"I know," Nick smiled.

Sara could feel her cheeks getting warm. "Well that's not a part of my resolutions anyway," she said with a smirk. "Well not exactly."

"Well are you going to tell me what they are exactly or do I have to guess?" Nick was getting more curious by the minute.

"This year I've resolved to have a more active personal life," she replied vaguely.

Nick was flattered that her "more active personal life" apparently involved him. "So all I get is a kiss? That's not very ambitious, I'd have expected more out of you. What a disappointment," he teased, feigning a hurt expression.

Sara took a seductive step toward him. "I never mentioned any of the specifics of my resolutions."

"So there's more?" Nick's voiced sounded overly eager.

Sara hadn't planned on being this aggressive, at least not this early on, but there was no turning back now. "Well, that depends." She took another step closer to him and draped her arms over his shoulders. "How tired are you? And how many bowl games are you willing to miss?"

Nick swallowed. "I didn't really want to see the Orange Bowl anyway." His gaze was locked on Sara's lips, which were just inches from his own.

Sara knew enough to know that the Orange Bowl wasn't for another three days. "Well okay then. I guess for once I won't have any trouble following through with my resolutions. But I suggest you go home and get some rest first."

"Why?" Nick's lust clouded mind wasn't able to figure out why she wanted him to go home and sleep when other parts of his body had clearly figured out that she had just suggested they do something else, together, that, while possibly involving a bed if they so chose, certainly didn't involve sleeping in it.

She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You'll need your energy. We have a long weekend ahead of us."

All Nick could do was stare speechless as he watched Sara walk out while her hot breath still lingered in his ear.

- The End -