Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or its associated characters...etc.

Author's Note: This is the longest chapter yet! Amazing what you can do when reviews are fueling you, (hint, hint). Anyway, thanks once again to my faithful reviewers, it makes me so happy when I get such flattering responses. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, I spent an awful lot of time on it.


Sara trudged wearily up the steps to Nicks apartment. She pulled out the spare key Nick had given her and unlocked the door. "Hey Nick, it's me." She announced. The sound of the shower told her where Nick was. She dropped her things into the guest bedroom and took out her "lounging" clothes. She needed a shower too, and she also needed to figure out how to get that blood off her pants. She pulled the pants out of her bag and rubbed at the blood furiously with a moist towelette.

Nick stepped out of the bathroom to find Sara perched on the edge of the couch. She had a handful of shredded towelette and looked resigned. He had seen her frantic rubbing and almost laughed. "You trying to start a fire or something?" Nick chuckled. Sara gave him her best glare but failed miserably, she loved it when Nick teased her.

"No. I'm not trying to start a fire. I got blood on my pants, and it won't come off."

"Sara. Use cold water! You know what, just give them to me. I'll have the blood out in a jiffy."

"Nick, I had no idea you were so domestic." Sara was impressed and just a little amused. Nick shrugged.

"Growing up in a family with six kids...you learn some things." he grinned. Sara suddenly looked serious. She got up off the couch and touched Nick's arm gently.

"Thanks...for everything." She bit her lip and hesitated. Then, throwing caution to the wind, she brushed a soft kiss onto his lips. Without looking at Nick, she rushed into the bathroom, her face redder than the ripest of tomatoes. Nick felt like his heart was about to burst. A smile spread over his face. It was so big it actually hurt. He felt giddy with excitement, like he won the lottery, only better. Nick grabbed his coat and shouted to Sara.

"I'm gonna go get some groceries OK? I'll be back in fifteen minutes." He didn't wait for an answer and hurried out the door. When he got to the car he sped off in his Tahoe. Unable to contain his emotions any longer, he rolled down a window and shouted at some nearby cars and passerby. "SHE KISSED ME! SARA KISSED ME! WAHOOOOOOOOO!" The elderly couple looked at him strangely, but smiled. Young love. They thought tenderly. A group of skateboarders gave him the finger, but he had already driven off, still thinking about Sara. He wasn't the least bit embarrassed about his public display, because right then, he realized that he was falling in love with her.


Sara was having a mild panic attack in the shower. What the hell was I thinking! It was completely irrational behavior, totally spontaneous. But... so utterly right! She smiled when she remembered the kiss, he had been so surprised, and truth be told, she had she. Somehow, at that very moment, her heart had finally regained control and showed Nick how she felt in the simplest way possible. She laughed out loud. I think I might just be falling for Nick! Sara weighed her emotions against her fears and decided that she was ready to take the plunge.
Nick got home right as Sara was coming out of the bathroom. Sara looked nervous, and so did he. He dropped the bag of groceries on the table. Nick cleared his throat an stared at his feet.

"So, um...I was thinking we could make pasta. I got marinara, so no meat sauce to worry about. And Forensic Files is on today, so maybe we can watch that..." When Nick got nervous, he sure could ramble up a storm. Sara felt a little disappointed. I guess he wasn't as excited about the kiss as I was. I'm such an idiot. It was just a harmless kiss, nothing important.

Nick was getting continually more apprehensive, it looked as if Sara had totally forgotten about the kiss. Even if it was just a peck on the lips...it meant something...right? I was getting worked up over nothing...she's not ready yet. Both walked over to the kitchen and began to unpack the groceries. They kept up their usual banter, but their emotions were in turmoil.

I want this relationship to work so badly. Why won't she let me in?

I'm ready now! I really am! I think... But why didn't Nick say anything?


Thursday rolled around pretty quickly. Warrick, Catherine and Greg were huddled in the break room that very day, talking in hushed voices. Grissom appeared at the door, and Catherine motioned frantically for him to get in and to shut the door. Catherine took charge.

"Ok, so everyone's finished their cases?" She looked around for confirmation. Greg and Warrick nodded enthusiastically. They had worked incredibly hard to wrap up their cases. They needed all their time for this. Catherine murmured her approval and turned to Warrick.

"Warrick, have you got the restaurant all sorted out?"

"Yup. It's perfect. Reggie said we could get over there early to set everything up."

"Nice. Greg, you got all the clothes?"

"Oh yeah, and the dress I picked out for Sara...HOTTT." Catherine sighed and chuckled.

"Are you sure you got the right size suitfor Nick?" She asked. Greg smiled and almost laughed out loud when he remembered what had happened when he tried to get Nick's measurements.

.:Flash Back:.

Nick sat in the breakroom with his latest assignment, poring over photos from the crime scene. Greg sauntered in cheerily. Almost too cheerily. He plopped himself down next to Nick and pulled out his crossword puzzle. Nick glanced sideways at him and returned to his files. Greg cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. How the hell am I supposed to ask Nick about measurements? "Oh Nicky, I saw this suit that you would look so handsome in, let me know your measurements Dahling..." Oh God. He had a tape measure tucked into his pocket as a last resort, if he couldn't get those measurements verbally, he'd have to do it the old fashioned way. The lengths to which I will go for my friends... He cleared his throat again.

"Greg, do you need a cough drop?" Nick looked annoyed and amused at the same time.

"Eh, no, I'm good. Um, you know that suit you wore to court last week?"

"Yeah?"

"It was pretty spiffy." Spiffy? Greg mentally slapped himself. "Anyway, I need a good suit, for next week."

"Why?"

"Um, my cousin's friend's girlfriend's brother is having a Bar Mitzvah."

"Ooook...?"

"So, can I borrow it?"

"I think it's a bit big for you..."

"Oh really? So...whatsizeisit?

"Huh?"

"What size is it? You know, I've never truly known my exact clothing size, and I've never really gotten myself fitted properly, you know with t-shirts it's one size fits all... and if I knew your size I could do a comparison and kinda..."

"Greg, it's still in the locker room right now, just go take a look. Now shut up and leave me alone. You're sort of freaking me out."

"How about shoe size?"

"Greg, have you been sniffing the Luminol or something?" Nick's attention was completely on Greg now. Greg looked uneasy. His fingers fumbled with his pencil and it dropped under the table. He got on his hands and knees to get it and found himself face to face with Nick's shoes. He was struck with inspiration. As quickly as possible he whipped out the tape measure and measured Nick's foot.

"Greg, what the hell are you doing down there?" Nick bent down to take a look. Greg shoved the tape measure down his pants and sprung up, hitting his head on the bottom of the table.

"Hehe, here's the pencil." He said unnecessarily, holding it up for emphasis. "Tricky little blighter...I'll go now...hehe." Greg ran from the breakroom, rubbing his aching head, leaving a confused Nick behind.

Greg was tallying up the measurements in his head. Hmmmm, that's about eleven and a half inches...makes him a size twelve and a half.

.:End Flashback:.

The suit had been in Nick's locker just as he said. Greg just grabbed the whole thing and sent it to Auntie Lisbet, hopefully Nick wouldn't be missing it anytime soon. Catherine grabbed the bags and unzipped each of them. She fingered the fabric of the charcoal gray suit and whistled in admiration of the superior quality of the fabric. When she saw the dress her eyes widened.

"Nick is gonna have some real eye candy today! Never knew you had such good taste in clothing Greg! This is just wonderful, really wonderful! Gris?"

"I called in Nick and Sara, we have about an hour to set everything up now." Grissom replied. Greg looked confused.

"But it's their day off!" Greg hissed nervously. Catherine laughed.

"Why do you think we needed Grissom? Who gave them their day off on the same day? Who made a valid excuse to call them in on their day off?"

"Oh." Catherine glanced at her watch.

"Ok. We gotta go set up now. Move out!" The four CSIs trooped out the door.


They arrived at the restaurant ten minutes later. They all piled out of their cars and walked into the restaurant. It was then that Warrick noticed a large bag that Catherine had pulled out of the trunk of her car.

"What's that?"

"Some things to set the mood." Warrick didn't question her further. Catherine motioned to her companions.

"Ok. Warrick and Greg, you're with me. We're setting up some decorations. Grissom, you know what to do." Grissom nodded and set down his kit. He drew out a roll of yellow police tape and a jar of what looked suspiciously like blood. Greg saw the jar and and pointed at it.

"What do we need blood for?"

"Fake crime scene." Grissom said without looking up. He took a small pipette and dipped into the jar, which actually contained real blood, one of his experiments. Luckily, it didn't smell too bad. That would have ruined the romantic atmosphere. He mused. Grissom paused in front of the restrooms. He grasped the pipette and strategically dripped trails of blood from both doors. He stood back to admire his handiwork. Greg emerged from the Men's room, where he had placed the dress bag containing Nick's suit, and headed to the Women's room, to set up Sara's clothing. Grissom pointed to his blood spatter. "Watch the blood Greg! It has to look convincing!" Greg stepped carefully over the blood and grinned.

"Nice work Gris." Grissom grinned smugly and grabbed the police tape. After securing the bright yellow tape around the outside of the restaurant, he went back inside to see how Catherine and Warrick were faring. They had festooned the walls of the restaurant in bunches of white christmas lights. Catherine was busily attaching a timer and looking at her watch.

"Ok...I'll set it for 8:00, that should be good." She looked up and clapped her hands.

"Everything ready?" She smiled and motioned to the kitchen area. "We can watch from there..."

The four CSIs grinned and hid behind the doors, all the chefs were looking at them curiously, but they didn't care one bit. No way were they missing a moment of this.


Nick and Sara had been enjoyed a Forensics Files marathon when Nick's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and when he heard Grissom's voice on the other end, he sighed.

"Gris needs you and me to come in. Double homicide at some restaurant across from the Tangiers. I told him to give us an hour to get there, he said there was no rush..." He told Sara apologetically. Sara pulled herself up and stretched.

"Let's go..."


The arrived at the "crime scene" forty minutes later. Nick stepped over the police tape secured around the perimeter and grabbed Sara's hand to help her over. They stepped into the restaurant. It was almost pitch black.

Catherine had turned off all the lights and instructed the chefs to turn off the kitchen lights as well. They were done cooking anyway. The kitchen staff had been reluctant to follow her orders but she glared at them furiously. The head chef meekly obeyed; no one could defy the "Catherine death stare." Now the entire kitchen staff, as well as the four CSIs, were huddled behind the big swinging kitchen doors. A tuft of brown hair and a pair of curious eyes appeared at one of the tiny windows. "They're here!" Greg squeaked. Warrick grabbed him by his collar and jerked him down. "Shhhhh!" The group looked on in silence through the tiny crack between the doors. This was going to be so good!


TBC...OOOO, cliff hanger!