Sara couldn't help but smile as she wandered past the break room towards the end of her shift. It appeared from the array of files spread out across the table that Nick was still working on his case, or rather asleep on his case. His head was down on one arm and the other was sprawled out with a pen barely hanging onto his fingers. Sara stopped in the doorway for a moment, watching him in amusement, before walking over and tussling his shortly cropped hair.
Nick awoke with a start. "I was just taking a break." He sat up and let out a yawn and then realized that it was Sara who had woken him up. An embarrassed smile spread across his face.
"Looks like you need to go home and get some sleep." Sara observed with a smile. The case she'd worked with Greg had wrapped up rather nicely for the time being and a plan began to formulate in her mind as she regarded Nick.
"I can't." Nick protested with another yawn. He gestured towards the files. "I've got too much to do."
Sara perched on the edge of the table, crossing her arms over her chest and quirking an eyebrow at him. "And just how much do you expect to get done if you're sleeping on the job?"
Nick flashed her a sheepish smile, knowing that she was right. "What time is it?"
"The end of my shift." Sara smirked. She rested a hand on his shoulder and her smirk turned into a smile. "Why don't you let me drive you home, I have to come in early tomorrow anyway and I can just pick you up on the way in?"
Nick looked like he was seriously considering the offer. He was exhausted and if he was honest with himself, really shouldn't be sliding behind the wheel of his SUV and driving himself home.
"Besides, we still have to talk about the details of our little date with Greg and Tiffany." Sara still had a smile on her face and it widened almost imperceptibly at the thought that it might actually be a date, or at the very least, perhaps a precursor to a real date with Nick.
"Oh, yeah, that." Nick chuckled softly and then rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned back in his chair. He looked at Sara curiously. "Look, you know, we don't have to call it a date if you don't want to, Sara." He wanted it to be a date, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable if she wasn't into him.
Sara raised a single brow as if in challenge. "Who says I don't want to?" She wanted to leave the ball in his court and let him know that if he wanted to pursue her that she was going to let him. And if he didn't, well, then at least she'd know whether he had the backbone to act on his feelings, which from her observations were readily apparent.
Nick felt the corners of his mouth twitch up into a smile as he let out another chuckle. "Well then, it's a date." This was a very interesting turn of events as far as he was considered. He had wanted to ask her out for a while now, but he had picked up a vibe from her that she wouldn't be receptive to it, wouldn't be receptive if any man asked her out. Whatever had caused the change, he liked it.
"Let me take you home, so you won't fall asleep at the wheel." Sara had already begun to close the files he'd fallen asleep on and stow them into a box for storage in the evidence vault.
As Nick watched her he wondered in the back of his mind if all of this was just some sort of sleep deprived hallucination. Sure he'd worked with Sara a long time and they'd often been to each other's homes outside of work, in this business coworkers were more like family than mere coworkers; but Nick was curious what prompted this sudden change in her that she wanted their outing with Greg and his new girlfriend to be a real date.
Sara glanced at Nick who it seemed was still in a bit of a sleepy daze. She had finished packing up the files and she stood there with an amused smirk on her face. "Hey, I'll put these away for you; go get your things out of your locker. Ok?"
"Oh, yeah, sure." Nick yawned as he smiled and then stood up and just looked at Sara and the box she was holding. His brow furrowed just slightly as he considered what a date with her might be like. "Thanks for doing this." He gestured towards the box.
"Hey, don't get used to it." She smirked and then turned and headed out of the break room towards the evidence locker to return the box.
Nick just shook his head and let out another yawn and slowly made his way to the locker room to gather his things. A few minutes later he found himself standing in front of his open locker just staring, not quite sure why he'd opened it in the first place and realizing that it was a very good thing Sara had offered to drive him home.
"You know sleep deprivation has a similar effect on the body as intoxication does." Sara stood in the doorway of the locker room watching him with her arms crossed over her chest and her shoulder resting against the doorframe. "In fact somewhere around 50 percent of automobile accidents can be attributed to some sort of fatigue."
Nick nodded, a smile playing at his lips as he reached for his jacket and then closed his locker door. "Yeah, I know." Sara tended to ramble off statistics and factoids when she was nervous and it gave him some measure of pleasure that perhaps he might just be having that sort of effect on her.
"You ready to go?" Sara's head tilted slightly as she smiled at him. She really hoped she wasn't coming on too strong. She really didn't think Nick was awake enough to drive safely, but she also wanted an opportunity to talk a little more about this date, since Greg had left it up to them to meet him and Tiffany at this club that Sara knew pretty much nothing about.
Nick just nodded, suddenly aware of just how tired he really was as they walked out to her vehicle. He slowed his pace as they approached, watching her unlock the door and then smiling and letting out a chuckle as she opened the door for him. He quirked an eyebrow at her as he caught her eyes. "You know where I come from a man can be shot for letting a woman open a door for him."
Sara laughed, not quite sure if he was being serious until he winked. "My car, I have the keys." She dangled the keys in front of his face and then made her way over to the driver's side.
Nick slid into the passenger seat of her compact car and glanced at her as she turned the key in the ignition. "You mind if I ask you a question?" There was something that he'd been mulling over since he realized that he was going to have the pleasure of her company on Saturday evening.
"Sure." There was a moment of doubt in Sara's mind before she pushed it away and then smiled, craning her neck as she backed the car out of its parking spot.
Nick just wanted to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "You really want to call it a date."
Sara scoffed out a laugh trying to fight that sinking feeling. "I told you I did." She shifted into first gear and looked at him curiously. "Are you telling me you don't?"
She was willing to call his bluff because the last thing she wanted was to spend another four years pining after someone who didn't want to be with her, and she was willing to take the risk to push the issue because everything in that book that pointed out to her why Grissom wasn't into her, screamed out that Nick was.
A smile began to spread over Nick's face as he leaned his head back against the seat. "Oh, no, I want to call it a date. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't dreaming when you said that you wanted it to be one too."
Sara couldn't help but blush as she smiled widely and then tried to focus her attention on driving as she pulled out into traffic. "Oh."
"So since this is a date, what time do you want me to pick you up?" Nick wasn't about to waste this opportunity, he'd seen Grissom do just that time after time, not realizing just what he was passing over by not taking any action.
"Uh, seven?" Sara wasn't really the clubbing kind, and she really had no idea what time you went out for something like this.
"Ok, we'll go out and eat first and then meet Greg and Tiffany." Nick agreed with a mischievous smile. "Hey, Sara?"
"What?" The way he was looking at her made her feel a little nervous.
Nick looked at her inquisitively. "So are you gonna wear something sexy?" He reasoned that anything she wore made her look sexy, but he was curious if she wanted him to think she was sexy.
The thickness of his drawl when he spoke just then made Sara laugh and it gave her confidence as she arched both of her brows at him. "I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."