A/N: Aww, reviews, yay! Thanks, y'all :)

My internet hasn't been working that well for the past day or so, so I haven't been able to get this up as quick as I would have liked, but hey. So thanks for all hanging in there. I seem to write best at the really early hours of the morning, which can be a huge pain in the ass, but I've been writing a little every night. Now I guess I'm not only an insomniac, I'm an insomniac with no life.

True to his word, when Sara emerged just over half an hour later from the crime lab, Nick was standing waiting for her. Leaning up against the side of his four-wheel drive, he seemed to be lost in thought and didn't even see her until she walked across the parking lot and waved in his face, grinning slightly.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Nick jumped slightly, and then smiled. "Oh, hey. Sorry. I was thinking. You ready to go?"

"You'd better believe it, considering you're dragging me away from my paperwork for this."

"Hey, don't try to tell me at the end of this that you didn't enjoy yourself. You get free food and great company- what more could you want?"

Sara smirked. "Okay, I'm not disagreeing on the company point, but you're not paying for my breakfast. I told you, you don't have to pity me."

"I'm not. Can I not just take my friend out for breakfast without getting picked on? Jeez, Sara…" Nick pretended to look hurt as he moved around to the driver's side of the car.

For a moment, Sara felt minorly guilty, but she knew Nick well enough to know he was kidding. Without saying a word, she climbed into the other side of the vehicle and fastened her seatbelt as Nick pulled out from the parking lot.

It was a short drive to the diner, but Nick and Sara always had the tendency to talk together wherever they were. They made comfortable conversation as they drove the five, maybe ten minutes to the diner, chatting about everything from the case to their plans for the next week. Everything, that is, besides the thing they were both thinking about- Hank, and what had happened the previous shift. Sara decided to herself on the way that she would avoid the topic as long as she could; Nick made his mind up that he was going to make Sara tell him exactly what was bothering her.

Less than ten minutes later, the two were seated at their favourite window booth at the back of the diner. They both always knew where to sit without having to discuss or even think about it; Sara liked to sit with her back to the rest of the small restaurant, focusing out the window, and Nick liked to be able to watch everyone else inside with them, and see when their food was arriving. It was a comfortable habit they both had with each other without even realising it.

They both quickly placed their orders, and then returned to their conversation about Greg's latest choice of music in the lab, with so-called offensive lyrics that seemed to annoy the day shift immensely, amusing the two of them no end. Sara chuckled slightly and then returned her gaze to the window, focusing on the many busy people crossing the street in the morning sun outside. She spoke suddenly, not really to Nick so much as just speaking her thoughts.

"I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a regular, nine-to-five office job."

Nick looked at her. "Yeah, me too. Y'know, with the Post-Its and the meetings…"

"…and the suits and the heels" Sara finished off. "Yeah. It's weird. I just can't picture either of us ever working like that. Can you?"

"No way. I mean, even if we worked days or something, maybe. But I never figured myself for an office-job kinda guy, I guess."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment before Nick spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"

"Well it's a little late now." She smirked at him. "Of course you can."

"You promise not to bite my head off, or get all defensive or start lying to me, or whatever?"

Sara furrowed her brow slightly. "I know what you're gonna say. Last night. Yeah, I… didn't really act like myself, I guess. I never run away from what I'm scared of, and yesterday I did. People change. Your point?"

Nick leaned back into the soft leather of the booth slightly, looking at her directly across the table. "No, it's not that. I get it. You wanted to avoid a possible situation, and I get it. You don't need to worry that I'm gonna judge you for that, or whatever." He smiled gently at her. "I was just wondering… I mean, I wanted to kind of check… how are you doing with all this, Sara?"

She didn't say anything; instead, she reached out and picked up her fork, twirling it between her fingers slightly. Nick decided to carry on.

"I mean, I didn't want to just come out and make you talk to me about it. Catherine sort of told me what happened, and said you'd be a little sensitive and everything, but I figured hey, you're Sara- you're strong, you'll be okay. And you seemed to be okay. And then last night, when you freaked out about it, I realised that you're probably not as okay with everything as you've been telling people – and maybe even telling yourself – that you are. I mean, you and Hank went out for, what, a year? It's not like you can get over something like that in three weeks."

Nick didn't realise his glance had wandered as he'd been talking, and he had ended up staring out the window beside them. He turned his gaze to Sara, and saw that she too was staring past him out the window, a look of hurt on her face. Nick instantly regretted saying anything.

He spoke quietly. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business. I shouldn't have said anything. I mean I-" He stopped talking suddenly as he saw Sara had shifted her glance from outside to the pattern on the tablecloth of their booth, as a single tear spilled out and rolled down her face.

"Oh, Sara, I-"

Sara finally managed to speak, which she had just seconds ago been afraid to do, for fear of bursting into tears. "No, Nick, just…" she paused, leaning back and looking up and the ceiling. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore. I mean, what good does crying do?"

"It helps. Well, from what I've heard, anyway."

"No it doesn't. I learned very early on in my life that crying doesn't fix anything. All it does is make a mess and make you feel even worse. I'm not gonna cry again. I've cried too much about there. I must have contributed to about half of Kleenex's total income this year. I'm not gonna cry again." She sniffed quietly, and fanned her slightly red eyes with her hands, breathing in and out. "Okay. I'm okay. Sorry. I just… I haven't really talked to anyone about… what happened."

"What exactly did happen Sara? I mean, Cath told me that you were having a rough time after finding out that Hank was cheating on you… but is that it? I mean, there has to be more…"

"Exactly, Nick. There had to be more. Plain and simple- he wanted more. I wasn't enough for him. He's pretty serious with that Elaine. And why wouldn't he be? She's perfect. So I found out, and he found out that I knew – I bet one of the other EMTs told him. So he came to find me at the police station and we talked in the hallway and that was it."

Sara saw Nick clench his jaw slightly. "And then you went and hung out with Catherine, right?"

"Yeah, we went to a bar. She was trying to be nice, shouted me a couple drinks, and insisted on regaling me with a million and one stories about her cheating ex-boyfriends and ex-husband, and telling me that men are scum. I think that was about all I took in from her all night." She laughed to herself.

"But you didn't really talk to her about everything that happened?"

"No, not really. I mean, what was there to say? All I wanted to do was go home, and I figured the less I talked, the sooner I could get out of there. I just don't really like talking about what's bothering me. I hate whiners."

"Sara, there's a difference between whining to someone and talking to them instead of bottling everything up inside. You can always come to me. Even for whining. You know that, right?" He smiled across at her. She smiled back.

"Yeah, I know. I just… didn't really feel like talking to anyone."

She paused as their food arrived at the table, and focused intently on her scrambled eggs as Nick picked up where she'd left off. "But it's not like you've been through this kinda thing a lot… well, recently, anyway. And after a year? Man, that's just scummy."

"I kinda think now that he was just with me because he couldn't be bothered to break up with me- like, I wasn't even worth that. Or maybe he just felt sorry for me. I don't know. It just frustrates me."

"What does?"

"Everything. I mean, all I hear is "Sara, get a life; Sara, leave your house once in a while; Sara, get out more. And I finally-"

Nick waved his arm at her lightly, his mouth full of bacon and toast. He chewed quickly and swallowed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… who's been telling you to get out more?"

"Everyone. Gissom. My neighbours. You did, once."

"I did?"

"Uh-huh. I was getting all worked up about the case, and you told me to get out more."

"Oh, yeah. Oh, Sara, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you deserve to have some fun once in a while."

"Yeah, and that went well. I did try. I finally did try. I tried to actually talk to people outside of the night shift. I tried to make some actual friends and have a life… and hell of a lotta good that did me, too. I make a good friend, who turns out to be a murderer who's been lying to me the whole time I knew her, and then I start dating someone who turns out to have been cheating on me the whole time. It's like… sometimes I just wonder what the hell I'm supposed to do. You go out, and you have friends, and you go on nice, normal dates with nice, normal people, but oh, no, not me, not Sara. God forbid Sara have an actual regular, human relationship with someone. People always get on at me for trying not to get too close to people, but this is why, Nick. This is why! Don't you get that?" The fury and anger in her eyes burned as she leaned over the table on her elbows, facing him, demanding an answer.

Nick reached over and held lightly onto her arm with his hand, leaning over to her side of the booth too. "Yeah, I do get that. I know it hurts, Sara, to have been lied to and betrayed, and to work so hard for something only to have it completely fail when you least expected it to. That's okay. Just talk. Let it out."

She rolled her eyes. "You sound like my shrink or something."

"If you want me to be, I will. Bring on the dorky glasses." His smile made her relax a little, and she started to talk again.

"It's just… I've always been like that. I only make acquaintances when I have to. I keep to myself. I stay reserved. I make friends with the people I work with. And then one day I realise that although this is who I am, maybe I should change. So I try to go out and be a better person, and make more friends, and change everything about the old Sara… and I end up exactly the same as I was before."

"Well I, for one, happen to like the old Sara very much."

She sighed bitterly. "Well you seem to be the only one who does- me included." She took another mouthful of her breakfast. "It just bugs me that for the first time in my life, I tried to actually look outside work to find someone, and it all blows up in my face."

"Maybe someone's trying to tell you not to be looking so hard outside the lab." Nick wiggled his eyebrows at her. Sara snorted.

"You'd better not be talking about Grissom. I'm eating, here."

"And, ladies and gentlemen, she makes a joke! The old Sara seems to be making a comeback." He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm seriously. Grissom… never gonna happen. I figured while I was attempted to get over everything with Hank, I might as well get over everything with Grissom. Living in hope only leads to inevitable disappointment."

"Aww, Sara, c'mon. It's not that bad. Try a little optimism once in a while."

"I did. It didn't work. And then when everything comes crashing down I say to myself 'See, didn't you see this coming?' I tried to be optimistic about Hank, and we both know how well that went."

"I'm serious, though… you're over Grissom?"

"Yeah, I guess I am. Living with a tiny hope is just not enough for me anymore."

They both quickly finished their meals, and Sara yawned as Nick left to booth to go and pay for their food. She sat up to protest about his payment for her meal, but before she could say a word, he turned around and raised his eyebrows at her. "Don't even think about it. My treat, remember?"

Sara let out an exaggerated sigh of defeat as she got up out of her seat and walked over to where Nick was standing. "Let's roll."

"Let's. You want me to drop you home, or back at the lab, so you can get your own car?"

"Home's good. I can take a cab in tomorrow. I'm so tired, I just want to go to sleep."

"Alrighty." They walked out to the street to the vehicle together, their arms brushing against each other slightly before they separated and moved to their doors.

"Hey, Nick?"

"Yup?"

"Thanks for talking. I really do feel a lot better now."

Nick beamed at her, before getting into the driver's seat. "Good."