- Sara's Point Of View -

I rolled my eyes and blew off the fact that Nick just said he dreamed of me.

Naked me.

It's weird, it's possibly a joke, it's one more thing I have to think about, but mostly, it's unbelievable.

Men, hot men, such as Nick, are not supposed to think of me as sexy, or hot, or a woman they dream about having their way with.

I've never been that beautiful person, never will.

Nick's supposed to dream about a Texas Cowboy's cheerleader, big boobs, butts, curvy, provocative, and seductive. Not me, lanky long-legged Sara Sidle.

So, it's unbelievable.

I'm the one that dreams about Nick dreaming about me.

Oops! Oh God did I just admit that? Too late, no time to think, I just walked in Nick's house through the front door.

"Sara, honey, you can go ahead and take a room. Nick can sleep in the bedroom across from you; this way you can have your own bathroom." Mrs. Stokes advises me, and I nod, smiling as Nick leads me towards the bedroom. He ushers me inside.

"Okay, here you go. I'll be right across the hall if you need anything." He says kindly, handing me my bag. I nod and grin at him.

"Thanks Nick." I say, and he smiles, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

I fish around for something cool and breathable to wear to bed. It's so hot here, I feel like I could cut the air with a knife. The humidity kills me. I decide on a tank and a pair of shorts.

I take a deep breath, put my hair in a ponytail, and walk out of my room. I knock softly on Nick's door, and open it after he calls to me.

"Hey I-" I stop, my breath caught in my throat as Nick stands there with knee length shorts, and his shirt off. His beautifully defined chest, and arms, I just want to take hold of him and tell him how much I want him, and let him hold me.

A good minute passes as I stare at him.

He puts his hand behind his head and laughs embarrassed before turning to get a shirt on.

I knew the whole dreaming thing was too good to be true. There is no way a beautiful man could want an ugly woman. A.k.a. me.

"Sorry…" he says, but I finally catch myself staring after he puts a shirt on.

"Uhh…it's okay, I just came in to say goodnight." I say truthfully, even though the no-shirt ordeal was a nice bonus.

I wish he knew how much I love him.

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- Nick's Point Of View -

Sara knocked on my door, and I told her to come in. I was almost done getting dressed I just had to find a shirt. She opened the door, and leaned against the doorway.

"Hey I-" She starts, but I'm too distracted by her body. Immediately, I'm hit with how…hot one of my best friends is. Her hair is in a ponytail, beautifully exposing her neckline and upper chest. A tight camisole gripped her curves and accentuated them beautifully, and a short pair of shorts hugged her hips, making me want to take hold of her and never let go, telling her how much I wanted her, and needed her.

I had never seen so much skin on Sara before, and it was…beautiful. I stared appreciatively at her long, lithe legs, exposed arms and parts of her back, front, and midriff. I don't think Ive ever seen someone as naturally beautiful as Sara. I wish I could tell her, but I don't want to cause any problems.

"Sorry…" I say, embarrassed. I turn to distract myself by finding a shirt; I know Sara might have caught me staring.

"Uhh…it's okay. I just came in to say goodnight." She says, and I smile at her, finally getting that shirt over my head. It pops in my head that this might be the best time to ask her about the whole crying thing in the car.

"Okay, umm Sara, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything…" I start, and Sara takes a step into the room. I take a deep breath, and continue.

"Well after what you said on the airport, not wanting to talk, and on the plane, being scared, and I saw you crying in the car tonight." At this, Sara looks away. But I continue, because I need to get this out, and there might not be another chance, at least not one before we see my sister tomorrow. I step towards her.

"Maybe this is affecting you a little more than you planned on, and maybe there's something I don't know about, but-"

"I don't want to talk Nick." She says sternly, so I back down.

"I just thought you might need a hug." I say, lifting her chin and smiling at her. She smiles with watery eyes, and nods. I step towards her again, my arms easily enveloping her tiny frame. I press her into me as her arms glide around my neck. She squeezes me tight, holding on for dear life, and I squeeze back. She buries her head in my shoulder, and I let one hand glide across her back, holding the back of her head and caressing it gently.

"I'm sorry…I do want to talk to you…I'm just not ready yet." She chokes back a sob, trying hard not to cry.

"I know you do…shh…its okay…" I assure her, hold her close as she beats back tears. I run both my hands up and down her sides, and she shivers. My hands halt on her hips, and I feel bare skin underneath my thumbs. She relaxes a little, taking her hands from the back of my neck and letting them rest on my upper chest, parallel with her head.

I wonder what's running through her mind right now. She must have something big going on, because something's been eating away at her for quite a while.

Suddenly, I feel her hands start to move on my chest. Downward, downward, downward they go, slow as can be. I shiver as I realize just how good her hands feel on me, and that I have her so close to me that I could kiss her if I wanted to. Her hands reach my waist, and I guess she knew what might happen if her hands trailed any further, so she broke off and found my hands, taking them from her hips and letting them dangle.

She didn't even look up at me as she quietly laced all our fingers, taking both my hands in hers.

I breathed in deeply, and let her rest against my chest for a minute. I was about to speak, but she beat me to it.

"I'm still scared." She admitted, and out of impulse, I kissed the top of her head, setting my head on hers.

"I'm still here." I reassured her. I felt her breathe in deep and step closer, finding a better spot on my chest.

"You know, I'm here now. For this entire trip, I'll be a room away. Whenever you're ready, just tell me. It doesn't matter where; I'll make time for you." I told her, and it was quite true, but it was also an open invitation of help.

She dropped my hands, and I feared the worst. But I felt her hands run up my back, under my arms, until finally; they stopped right behind my shoulders. She stood on her tiptoes and put her head on my shoulder too.

"I'd like that." She said as my arms wrapped firmly around her back.

"I'm just across the hall if you need anything tonight okay? Absolutely anything at all." I said, and she nodded on my shoulder. I wanted to hold her, and kiss her, and tell her that everything was okay. Here she was, crying because something huge was affecting her, and all I could think about was how much I…loved her.

I love her.

Oh my God.

She pulled away gently from me, a single tear still streaming down her face. She reached up to catch it, but I beat her to it, stopping her hand with my own to cup her cheek and wipe the tear away. My fingers took a wisp of hair that had escaped her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear. And then she did something that surprised me.

She covered my hand with hers. I felt her thumb move slowly and gently across the back of my hand, and I caught her eye. I smiled, and she smiled behind watery eyes. And as we smiled at each other, I came to a realization that took me four years, but has been there all along.

I've always loved her.

- Sara's Point Of View -

I smiled at Nick, finding his kindness unbelievable. It made me love him so much more, which hurt so much more because he didn't know.

He doesn't know my problems, he doesn't know the reasons for my hesitations, but he does know me. Part of me. I feel like he doesn't know this huge chunk of my life, and it's true. The only thing that's stopping him from knowing is…me. And that makes me so sad.

I felt another tear fall down my cheek, and I closed my eyes in shame. Yet suddenly, I felt Nick's warm lips kiss it gently away. He backed off, and I smiled broadly. He had kissed me. He leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"No more tears from the beautiful woman." I shivered as I listened to his voice, as I listened to it call me beautiful. I shivered again as I felt him snake his arm around my waist and pull me close, a satisfied, excited shiver that made my heart beat faster.

"Hey, tomorrow, before we go see Kayla, I'm gonna take you to see the horses. They were always my support system when I was younger. Whenever I was lonely, or in a fight with anybody, or the house was way too crazy, I'd go down there. They were my best friends, always there to listen. Kind of like you, you're my support system today, huh?" he asked me quietly, and I closed my eyes and nodded. It was nice to hear his voice talk to me gently, and hear it echo in his chest. I zoned in on the feeling of him rub my back.

"They are very therapeutic." He said, and I remembered something.

"I'm scared of horses Nick." I said seriously, and he chuckled softly.

"Don't be afraid. They definitely don't want to hurt you. I'll go down with you. Don't worry, you'll love them." He said, but I still worried.

"I'll still be scared."

"Sara, sometimes, I think, it's good to do something you're scared to. It keeps us sane. That and being loved." he thought aloud. Easy for you to say, I think, you're surrounded by love here. I can't go anywhere and have that…

Nick seemed to read my mind. He squeezed my sides for support, and I leaned on him. I felt so sad whenever I looked at Mrs. Stokes, because I knew I would never have that kind of motherly love from my own mother. All I had were friends, and their families to make up for the one I had lost, that's how it's always been.

"Sara? Are you okay? Sara?" Nick looked down at me, and I sighed.

"I'm scared again." I admitted, and Nick looked tenderly at me.

"Of what? Name one, I'm sure I could come up with something." He said, like he was Superman or something.

"I'm scared of going back to my room alone." I said. He hugged me tight for a minute, and I awaited his response.

"When I was eight years old, Dallas saw the worst thunderstorm it had in twenty-six years. I, of course, was scared out of my mind. There were trees shaking, and noises outside, the wind was howling, everything. My parents had five scared kids, fifteen scared horses, and no solution. We all had to go to bed eventually, and the storm wasn't letting up. We all couldn't sleep with mom, so she came up with a great idea. She called us into her room, and she said 'Kids, I know this is tough and you're scared. I'm scared too, and I need you to help me here. Take this, and when you're sleeping and you get scared, just hug yourself tight, and pretend I'm there.' Then she gave us all one of her shirts, and sent us to bed. It worked brilliantly, we could smell her kitchen spices and perfume smell, and it put us all at ease. It felt as though she were right there beside us."

He let a minute pass before asking the next question.

"So Sara? You want one of my shirts?" he asked, and I just stared at him. How could he…care so much? I nodded in response to his question, and stared in awe as he went over to his suitcase and pulled out his all-time favorite shirt.

His Texas Cowboys football jersey.

I smiled, tears coming to my eyes as I was touched by his kindness. He tossed me the shirt and watched me put it on over my ponytail. When I slipped my head and arms through, he nodded his head in approval.

"You look hot." He said, "All I need now is some chicken wings and beer."

I sighed and pretended to be mad, but I still wiped my eyes.

"Hey…" he said, and I went to him, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him tight. His compassion, sympathy, and thoughtfulness, brought tears to my eyes. I released him, and he looked into my eyes.

"Thank you so much." I said, "I mean, this is…I can't believe you would…thanks Nick. I really…needed you." He smiled at me, and took my hand affectionately.

"C'mon Sar." He said, leading me out of the room and towards mine. He shut the door behind us, and I made my way over to my bed, covering my legs up, but sitting so I could talk to Nick.

He came over after I settled in and sat opposite of me.

"I don't know how you couldn't feel safe in this shirt Sara. Now you're a Cowboy. Girl I mean. All you need's a hat." He joked, and I smiled. I liked Texas.

"Nick?" I asked, and he turned, waiting for my answer.

"I…I'm really glad you're sister is going to be okay." I said, and he smiled, taking my hand.

"Me too. Don't know what I'd do without her." He said, and I smiled slowly, looking down at my lap. His soft fingers touched my cheek, and I looked back at him.

"You okay?"

I smiled softly.

"I decided I'll go see the horses with you tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night Sara." He said, moving forward and taking me in his arms for one last time. I smiled, thinking, maybe, it will be okay.

"You'll be alright tonight?" he asked, and I nodded assuringly.

"I'm a Cowgirl. Relax." I joked, smiling, and for once, really feeling kind of happy, and kind of hopeful.

"Okay. Remember, wake me for anything." He said, his hand gently curling hair behind my ear again. I let one hand rest on this arm and his fingers played across my cheek.

"Alright. Good night Nick. I…"

Nick seemed to lean forward at this, as if that would help whatever I had to say come out faster.

I love you.

I love you.

"I…"

I love you.

Come on say it!

"I really appreciate everything."

Nick relaxed, and smiled.

"Anything for a pretty woman." He said, and I laughed.

"Which one would that be?" I teased, trying to get his attention off me, and not believing what he said.

"Why," he said, leaning forward, "she's right here." He kissed my cheek, and when he pulled away, I blushed furiously.

"Good night Sara."

"Good night Nick."

He turned off the light, flashed me a grin, and closed the door.

I nearly screamed with excitement. Nick Stokes had kissed me three times, and he was just…ugh I didn't even know the perfect word to explain it.

Oh!

There it is.

Perfect.

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

Maybe he loves me. He sure acts like he does.

Maybe I'm over analyzing.

I lie down, take my hair out, and feel the softness of his jersey. It smells like him.

Like perfect little him.

All my problems just melt away.

Except my brother.

My brother never goes away.

Half of me says Nick would understand, but the other half of me is so scared, and so ashamed of my past, I don't even want to attempt to bring it up.

So I close my eyes to go to sleep, snuggling into my blankets and my problems.

And Nick's jersey.