- Nick's Point Of View -
I slid the barn doors open, and the sound of heavy feet pounding and horses neighing and nickering filled the air. My eyes shot to Sara, and I watched her take a step back.
I flipped the light switch, and each and every horse's head popped out from inside its stall. I smiled and breathed deeply; there truly is nothing like the smell of a horse stable.
"Nick…" Sara whimpered, and I went over to her, and placed my hand on the small of her back.
"They don't look so happy to see us." She said in the same tone, tensing up and wringing her hands.
"Hey, now you have the complete wrong idea. They're excited to see us, they haven't gone out yet today and they're a little bored, all cooped up in here." I say, but my attempt at reassurance seems to have no affect on Sara.
I step in front of her, and hold a finger in front of her lips, stopping her from talking. Her mouth opens and closes, and she looks into my eyes.
"You trust me right?" I ask, and she nods. I smile.
I turn and walk to a stall in the middle of the barn and pet Shiloh, the horse that I have loved since the day he and I met. He also happens to be the nicest, easiest horse here, perfect for Sara.
I turn back towards Sara with a large grin on my face. "C'mon, he won't hurt ya…" I say, my hand outstretched for Sara to catch. She looks around and groans a little, before walking towards me. I smile gently as she reaches me, immediately taking my hand in hers. Shiloh lets out a deep breath, and she jumps back in surprise.
"I told you he doesn't like me…" she insists, a moderate amount of fear flashing in her eyes. I squeeze her hand gently, and pull her towards the horse.
"He's just trying to smell you; it's their way of getting to know who you are. Here, come on the side so he can see all of you." I say, letting go of her hand to push her hip to the side. She steps to the left, now only inches directly in front of me. I smile, and try to push down the raging amounts of testosterone that having her in such close proximity is sending coursing through my body. Instead, I focus on Shiloh's wise old eye, and tell him wordlessly to be good.
"Go on, pet him. He won't do anything." I say squeezing her hip slightly, and wondering if she's about to turn and yell at me for it. But she smiles a little, and I relax, using my other hand to pet the horse in front of us.
"He's such a nice boy, aren't you Shi?" I say, stroking his face affectionately, trying to show Sara the obvious calmness of the horse. She turns and looks at me, and I smile at her worried, yet determined face.
"He won't hurt'cha. You know I wouldn't let you pet a horse that I thought might hurt'cha." I encourage her, and she smiles and nods.
"Of course you wouldn't…" she says, incredibly softly. I smile, motioning with my head towards the horse. She takes a deep breath, and nods her head in determination. She turns slowly, and faces Shiloh once again. I put both hands on her hips, letting her know I'm still here, and it's still okay.
Her hand reaches out slowly; Shiloh's wise eye following it's every movement. Her fingertips touch the fur of his cheek, and she waits. I smile at him as he remains stationary, and her fingers touch his fur. He remains still. Her palm, and then her entire hand run along his cheekbone, in a steady, fixed path, and Shiloh relaxes. She lets out the breath she was holding, and lets a little bit of a laugh come with it.
Shiloh starts to close his eyes, feeling the tension in the air dissipate and knowing his duty was complete. I smile and watch the interaction, as Sara's fright slowly melts away. She gains courage, and starts tracing the rest of his face with both her hands. I laugh a little as Shiloh's eyes close, thoroughly enjoying the attention. Out of the blue, he opens his mouth and his tongue comes out and stretches, in a kind of horse yawn. He catches Sara by surprise, and out of instinct, she stepped back.
This causes a number of things to happen.
Firstly, this action allowed Sara's entire back to be pressed flush against my front. I don't think it's necessary to reiterate what amount of hormones went rushing through my body.
Secondly, since my hands were on Sara's hips, and she stepped back without warning, my hands slid to a lower, slightly more…private place of Sara's anatomy. Let's just say my hands have certainly never been there before, and that wasn't helping my hormones slow down by any means.
Lastly, it's common nature that when you step back in fright, your hands automatically fall to your sides. But, I'm guessing since my arms were in the way, Sara's instinct decided to put her hands on top of mine. This factored largely into the silence that overcame us after our realization of what had just happened, and in what sort of position we were, sunk in.
Shiloh opened his eyes again, and I swear I could have caught the hint of a smile, he was laughing at me, and what position I was in.
"Nick…I…" Sara said, still frozen to the spot. I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth, trying to prevent this moment from getting five times more awkward. I think Sara knew what I was doing, but I'm not sure.
"It's okay. Just relax." I say calmly as I move my hands to her hips once again. She breathes in and out and looks back at me.
"I'm so sorry…I didn't know what he was doing so I guess I freaked." She explains, and I smile. She gets so worried over the littlest things sometimes.
"It's okay Sar. He likes you a lot. He was very comfortable, just sittin' there gettin' pet. You made him the envy of the barn. All the other horses want that new, pretty girl to come pet them." I say, doing my best to lighten the mood. Sara blushes and turns back to Shiloh.
"So he wasn't trying to bite me or anything?" she asks tentatively. I chuckle.
"Nah, he wasn't. Just talk to him if you're scared. He's like a big baby." I say.
"Okay…" she says, and reaches out for Shiloh again, this time much more confident. His head turns toward her, and she almost pulls away.
"Hi there Shiloh…" She says, nervousness wrapping around the confidence in her voice. I smile; she's pretty brave to be facing such an obvious fear.
"Hey Sar, what made you so afraid of horses anyway?" I ask, seeking out opportunity to make her feel more relaxed.
"Nothing in particular really," she thinks out loud, "I guess, they were always bigger than me, and had such incredible power, I was afraid of them."
"Well," I say, trailing my left hand across her waist as I slipped out from behind her, "you seem to be catching on quite quickly."
Her eyes widen as I lean on Shiloh's stall, on the other side of his head, letting her stand alone.
Shiloh's head turns and looks at me, and I pet him and chuckle.
"What?" Sara asks as Shiloh nuzzles the side of my face.
"Shiloh's thanking me for bringing a hot girl down to the barn to see him."
Sara blushes and purses her lips in her daily effort to control her smiles. As of yet, she's been completely unsuccessful.
"He was one of your best friends, wasn't he?" she asked, reaching out to pet Shiloh as he again turns to her.
I nod. "Still is. I think that makes about eleven best friends I have."
Sara raises an eyebrow, questioning the identities of the people.
"Well, there's him, you," she blushes as I continue, "Catherine, Rick, and Gris, mom, my brother, Simeon, Lightning, Matt, and my dad."
Her brow furrows.
"Simeon…"
I smile. "Frat bro." She rolls her eyes at me, still unconsciously petting Shiloh.
"Matt?"
"Best friend through high school and college." I say, and she grins.
"Lightning?"
"Two stalls down." I say, pointing my thumb to the right. She smiles.
"No offense, but I've had enough horses for one day. I think I might head up without having the pleasure of meeting Lightning." She jokes, and I nod.
"That's okay. Lightening is the kind of horse I'm listing in the 'Might hurt you' category." I say, quite truthfully. He tends to bite anyone he doesn't know.
She smiles.
"Thanks for looking out for me."
"Always am."
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- Sara's Point Of View -
I smile at Nick's comment, and take what he says to heart. He really is always watching out for me.
"Ready to head up?" I ask, trying to sound as optimistic as possible about going to the hospital, given the circumstances.
He nods slowly, and looks at Shiloh, petting his friend without making a move towards the barn door. I know exactly what he's feeling right now. He loves his sister, and he wants to see him, but he doesn't want to see her so beat up. It's hard to see someone you love so dearly in such a bad state.
I smile gently and step closely to Nick, taking his hand. His gaze meets mine, and suddenly, I feel incredibly nervous, excited, and in love. He leans over and kisses my cheek tenderly.
"We'll talk later." He whispers in my ear, and I nod, knowing that putting another thing on Nick's mind is probably the last thing he needs right now.
"I'm sorry…" I say, looking away, trying to keep the slight amount of hurt that I am feeling out of my voice. Nick's fingers gently come to my chin and direct my eyes toward his. The feel of his thumb caressing my cheek gently sends chills through my body, and I hold on to his forearm.
"Don't worry; it's a good talk Sar. I think we just need to lay our cards on the table." Nick assures me, and I smile broadly. I give him a quick kiss, pecking his cheek. When I back away, he beams at me for all he's worth and I laugh, hugging him close to me and walking backwards in his embrace. We stumble around for a little before I stop and look into his eyes.
I can't help but feel how movie like this whole thing is with him. Heck, we're on a farm, stumbling around hugging, kissing (okay we're not really kissing, but it's a start), and flirting; it just all seems so unreal. As Nick and I walk up to the house, his arm slung around my shoulder, I pinch my thigh, just to make sure I'm not dreaming.
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A/N –
Okay. Well, I have a few comments about the story, and a few about this past Thursday night's actual C.S.I. episode.
Story wise, I'm thinking this story is going to have no more than fifteen chapters, giving me room for about six more.
I know I know, up till now, this story could be rated as G as a Disney movie, but I promise it'll get better. I mean, I can't exactly have these guys making out with Nick's sister situation, and especially with what you're about to find out about Sara.
As for the C.S.I. episode of 1/13/04:
Nicky halba espanol con soltura! Muy sorprende, no? (Translation: Nick speaks fluent Spanish! Very surprising, isn't it?)
OKAY WHAT THE FRICK on the whole Sara/Grissom interaction. Why doesn't she just throw the towel in and give it up? Sara is waaaay to beautiful for Grissom, why doesn't she Nick in the way she sees Grissom?
And is it just me, or does anyone else think Nick and Catherine are getting kinda close lately?
WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THAT EPISODE???? SOMEONE TELL ME!!!
Oh, and review will ya?
Lots-a-love,
The Notorious Cat