Disclaimer: CSI isn't mine, it never will be. How sad.
A/N: Ugh. I'm wondering how this chap will go, I always start them with no idea, and the whole thing just comes to me, so hopefully this isn't total shit.
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Sara stood in front of her mirror. She had put on her new dress in anticipation of her dinner with Nick. She felt so grateful to Catherine for her help. She had been so… businesslike, about helping Sara. After taking her for that haircut, she had insisted on taking her to buy makeup, lots of makeup, and showing her how to apply it. Sara had never known how much most women went through before a date until now.
"Man, Cath sure knows a lot about this stuff. Well, I guess she did a pretty good job." Sara smiled at her reflection. Then made a little grimace, Nick better appreciate all this work.
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Nick stood at home in his walk-in closet, looking around at the clothes strewn everywhere, it was the typical single man's closet. He picked up a pair of black slacks. His first-date pants, he knew it was silly, but he almost always wore these on first dates, it seemed they were good luck. Now all he needed was a shirt, sometimes he wished he had a woman around to help him out. He picked up a red shirt, a deep, wine red, with gold pinstripe. He had bought it only the week before, the salesgirl had been cute.
He knew Sara would be arriving within the hour, he still had to do his hair and clean up the apartment. He quickly pulled on his clothes, the shirt was a little tight, but he didn't mind, it showed off his muscles. He jogged into his bathroom, and pulled out a bottle of hair gel, the way his hair grew, it would tend to lie flat on his head, giving him a grade school picture look. He didn't really like that. It was okay for work, but on dates, he would spike it, he found that the women that he dated preferred that look. Once he got it just the way he wanted it, he cleaned up the bathroom, making sure to lower the toilet lid.
Once his bathroom was clean enough, he ran around tidying the rest of the apartment, he surveyed it thoroughly. "Pretty good. Cleaner then it's ever been. I need to date Sara more often, it's the only time I've ever had a clean apartment." He checked his watch, he had 20 minutes. He had to get going, he wanted to get her some flowers. He ran down to his car, luckily he was on the first floor, so it wasn't a long run. He hopped into his car and drove the 5 minutes to the flower store, he had called to reserve two dozen red calla lilies. He had heard from Catherine that those were her favourites. He checked his watch, by the time he had picked up his order, he had ten minutes left, "Shit!" He thought to himself, Sara was always early for everything.
He hopped back into his car, careful not to drop the lilies, and drove home at warp speed, he was just praying he wouldn't get stopped for speeding, but luck was on his side. When he arrived back, there was no sign of Sara's truck, but he didn't have enough time to really look. He needed to get back and put the spinach pie in the oven, it needed to cook for an hour, which would give him plenty of time to make small talk.
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Sara pulled on her coat, it was pretty chilly out, and her dress wasn't really designed to keep her warm. She had decided to only put her lipstick on when she arrived at Nick's complex, since she really didn't like to wear it for longer then necessary. She pulled into Nick's complex, and pulled out her portable mirror. She slicked on a layer of red lip-gloss, and Tada! She looked like a model. Hopefully Nicky would agree.
She ran inside, she realised she was a little late. She saw Nick's door, she was little nervous, even though he had been the one to ask her out. She took a deep breath and knocked. Nick opened the door after about 30 seconds, obviously he had been doing something inside.
"Heeey Sara" He said, his eyes wide, evidently he was shocked by her new look. "What happened?"
Sara wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad response, but she answered truthfully, "Catherine happened. Don't you like it?" She asked with a fake frown.
Nick stared and stammered, "I love it… But… Wow… You look… Like… Someone else!"
Sara loved the effect she was having on Nick, who knew? A dress, heels, and some lipstick, and guys just melted. She'd have to remember that next time she asked Grissom for something. Suddenly, she looked at Nick, she'd been so caught up in his reaction to her that she hadn't noticed him, he looked… it had to be said… He looked hot. She loved the shirt he was wearing, they almost matched. She stared at him, then leaned in and hugged him, it was neat to see him out of work.
Nick turned and backed away, "well hon, that spinach pie I promised is cooking, but it'll be a little while, while we wait, I got you something." He went into the kitchen and came back with her lilies.
Sara gasped, the flowers were beautiful. "How did you know my favourite flowers?"
Nick laughed, "Catherine."
Sara laughed with him, "who else? Oh, shit, I better put these in water, don't want them to wither." She walked into the kitchen and beckoned to Nick for help, he pulled out the one vase he owned, and Sara filled it with water and deposited the lilies inside. She inhaled the scent of the cooking pie, "mmm, Nick, that smells fabulous!"
Nick stroked her hair, "well, only time will tell if it tastes fabulous too, though knowing this recipe, it may be the best thing you've ever tasted."
Nick took her by the hand and led her into the living room. He sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to him. Sara obliged and sat down, looking into his eyes, deciding what he wanted from her.
Nick looked back at her, her brown eyes looked amazing with a little makeup. He'd never seen her with more then lip-gloss on before. Her lips looked a lot fuller then normal, or maybe it was that red lip-gloss she had on. He found it hard to resist her. The two sat in silence for what seemed like hours, just taking each other in. Sara continued to look at him, a million thoughts ran through her head, he had the shirt rolled up to his elbows, exposing his arms. It was a little thing, he'd probably rolled them up to put the pie in the oven, but for some reason, she found it supremely sexy.
All of a sudden, Nick shifted position, so that he was no longer facing her. He leaned back into the couch, Sara moved so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. He reached forward and picked up the clicker. "Hey Sar', um, I got a movie a few nights ago, you're into porn right? Joking!" He hollered, dodging her fist for the second time in as many days. "Man, you think these little girlie hits are cute but they hurt!"
Sara laughed "wimp," she cuddled closer to him, "seriously, what are we watching?"
"Hold your horses, babe. That's the oven timer, dinners ready. Maybe we'll have time to watch later. I got "The Ring", scary movies are great for dates." He added with a little wink.
Sara rolled her eyes, "funny, I love horror flicks, anyway, you're gonna burn that fabulous spinach pie, cowboy, go get it!"
"Shit!" Nick exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He ran into the kitchen, and suddenly, the same wonderful smell from earlier filled the room.
Sara stood up and headed into the kitchen. "Nicky, that looks perfect. God, I'm starving!"
Nick laughed, "thanks Sar', growing up with a mom and five sisters, you learn a lot about this stuff. Let's go to the table and cut this sucker open."
Nick carried the pie to his dining table and put it down. He pulled Sara's chair out and put her napkin n her lap for her. Then he stationed himself across from her and cut into the pie, putting a piece on Sara's plate, "I'll get the salad. It's Caesar, I made the dressing myself." He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a blue porcelain salad bowl; he served her some salad before serving himself.
He sat down and handed her a beer, he had already put them into an ice bucket next to the table. "Dig in Sar'." Sara wiped off her lip-gloss with her napkin and reached for her purse, she pulled out her keys, Nick realised she had a bottle opener on her keyring. She opened her beer and tossed it across the table to Nick.
He tossed it back. "S'okay Sara. I was a frat boy." He put the cap between his teeth and tried to pull it off.
After several attempts, Sara tossed the keys back, "yeah right, use it before you break your teeth, frat boy."
"Oh shut up." Nick said, but he accepted the bottle opener.
They ate the pie in silence, but Sara obviously loved it, she ate quickly, and had a second helping. When they were done Nick leaned forward, obviously very satisfied with himself. "So, Sar', did I do good? I've been making that since I was 15."
Sara laughed, "It was fabulous, Nicky. Sometime you'll have to teach me how to make that."
Nick took on a fake look of concern. "I dunno… It's a secret family recipe. You can only see it if you're a member of the Stokes family."
Sara raised an eyebrow. "All in due time Nick, all in due time."
Nick was totally caught off his guard by that remark. "Pardon me?"
"God Nick, I was joking."
Nick tried to backtrack, "I knew that." But Sara was having none of it.
"Come on, let's go watch that movie, I haven't seen it yet, but I've been dying to!" She jumped up from the table, and ran around to his seat. Then she grabbed yanked him up by his forearms and pulled him into the living room and onto the couch. She as she was sitting, she tripped and landed in his lap, Nick blushed.
"Man Nicky, you sure are nervous!" Sara gave him a cheeky grin, "it's cute." She added, with a little peck on his cheek. "Don't worry if the movie's too scary, you can always hold my hand." She winked.
Nick held out the clicker and hit power, then play, Sara had wanted to see The Ring for so long, but she'd never had the time. She kept stealing little glances at Nick, she'd never pegged him as a horror movie fan. She suspected he wasn't. Every time anything remotely scary happened, he'd move closer and tighten his grip on her shoulder. She thought it was so cute, she wasn't scared at all.
By the time the movie ended, Nick was practically embedded in Sara's side. They just turned off the TV and lay there together for a while, just like in Sara's truck. It felt nice, Sara hoped this wouldn't be the last time they did this.
After nearly an hour of just enjoying each other's company, Nick got up. "Look Sara, I really enjoyed having you over tonight. Can we do this again? I mean, it is the Christmas break, we have plenty of time."
Sara smiled, "I'd like that. Now get back here, I'm getting chilly, let's keep each other warm." She winked at him, he winked back, she hoped it wouldn't be the last time.
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A/N: Ooher. That took a long time to write. R&R ASAP. Oh, and I don't own "The Ring"
