"So she dumped you?" Greg looked at Nick incredulously. He had always thought Amy was hot; perhaps a bit too flirty, but so was Nick and so he thought maybe they were a good match.
Nick's jaw tightened. "I don't really want to talk about it, man." He'd had his fill of sympathetic glances since word had started making its way around the lab. He kept garnering glances that were more pity filled than anything else.
"I heard she cheated on you too." Greg kept running at the mouth. He wasn't doing it maliciously, he was just trying to get his facts straight and he was inwardly cursing himself or not picking up on just what kind of girl Amy really was. He was usually a much better judge of character.
"Look, Greg, can we drop it?" Nick sounded a bit curt, but he just wanted to focus on the case at hand and get the rest of the evidence processed.
"Sorry." Greg was genuinely apologetic. "If she was a guy, I'd kick her ass for you." He wasn't sure what to say, but he wanted Nick to know that he thought the circumstances truly sucked.
Nick let out a chuckle at the comment and then quirked an eyebrow at his friend. "Well if she was a guy, I wouldn't have dated her in the first place, but thanks anyway." He shook his head in amusement as Greg headed out of the layout room to see if the results were back in trace from the case he was working with Warrick.
It wasn't more than a few minutes later when the concerned voice of Catherine Willows interrupted Nick again. "Hey, Nicky, I heard about what happened..." Her words trailed off as he looked up with a clenched jaw.
He just nodded and let out a sigh. "Is there anyone that doesn't know?" Nick had never been one that wanted his whole life exposed to everyone else, but in the last month it seemed that nothing about his life was very private anymore.
Catherine could tell that he was frustrated. "I'm sorry, Nick...everyone is just concerned." It was clear from his demeanor that he was tired of talking about it.
"I've been dumped before, I've even been cheated on before...it's not the end of the world and I'll be fine. Can't I just come to work and do my job without everyone wanting to know every detail of my life?" Nick knew that Catherine was only concerned, but she was getting the full brunt of his frustration at the moment. He just wanted his ordeal of a month ago to fade into the past in more ways than one and everyone wanting to know how he was doing after his breakup certainly wasn't helping.
An understanding smile spread across Catherine's face. "I guess we have been a little too overprotective of you haven't we?" She had probably been the worst offender, having always acted a little maternal towards him; after Nick's parents had returned to Texas, she'd sort of taken over the roll of his mom.
"Yeah, you have." The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a smile as he studied her face.
She had an apologetic expression on her face as she stepped towards him. "I'm really sorry." She arched a single brow. "And for the record, if I'd known what I know about her now, I would have..."
"You and everyone else, Cath." Nick smiled at her. "And I probably wouldn't have listened; I've never been one to take advice about my love life, just ask my mom."
Catherine chuckled. "Oh, I think that's a universal problem all parents have." Her thoughts drifted to Lindsey who seemed to be more and more argumentative as she sought to gain her independence. She turned to leave and nearly collided with Sara. "Whoa, where's the fire."
"Sorry, Cath." Sara was grinning as she rounded the corner into the layout room and directed her attention towards Nick. "We got a hit in CODIS."
Nick arched his brows and smiled back at her. "And?"
"DNA matched the boyfriend. Brass is picking him up. We need to meet him down at PD." There was just something about working a case with promising leads that lit Sara up like a Christmas tree.
"That's what I like to hear." He set the items he'd been examining and stowed them back in a box to return to the evidence locker. "I'll meet you outside in a few minutes." He was already picking up the box and moving towards the door.
By the time he headed out into the parking lot, Sara was standing in front of his Denali with her arms crossed over her chest. "Catherine giving you the third degree?"
Nick let out something akin to a snort. "Her and everyone else." He smiled at her, glad that he felt like he could just be himself around her and not worry about her pressing him to tell her anything he wasn't ready to. Maybe that's why that thought had gone through his head earlier when she was still sleeping next to him. Someone like Sara would be quite a catch.
Sara felt a sudden rush of sadness for him as she climbed into the passenger seat, glancing over at him as he slid behind the driver's seat. He'd been through so much and yet he managed to keep from getting bitter; something that she'd come close to staying. Her counselor had helped her to see that staying angry at other people really only hurt her in the end. She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't really heard what Nick had said until he reached over and gently nudged her elbow.
"If you'd rather not, just say so...I'm a big boy." His face had a mixture of hope and trepidation on it as he waited for her to respond.
"Huh?" Sara knew she couldn't fumble her way through this, he'd obvious asked her something important. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said..." She looked at him apologetically.
"Oh." Nick looked relieved and then nervous all over again. "I was beginning to get a complex there." He took a deep breath and repeated himself. "It's just that I was wondering...I mean, I haven't slept that good in a long time...I know it's pushing it, but I was hoping..."
If he hadn't been so serious, Sara would have laughed at how nervous he looked and the thought occurred to her that maybe this was how he acted when he asked a girl on a date. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "So you're asking me if I'll sleep with you again, aren't you?"
He let out a soft chuckle and rubbed his hand over the nape of his neck as he realized exactly how that sounded. "I guess I am, aren't I?"
She considered his request for a brief minute before she answered him. "I did say that I'd be there for you as long as you needed me to be."
"So that was a 'yes' then?" He didn't want to get his hopes up that she'd be willing to actually sleep with him on purpose, even when Amy had shared his bed after his ordeal, he'd never really slept as well as he had with Sara. Maybe it was because it wasn't about sex, or maybe it was because he didn't feel like he had to impress Sara, but whatever it was the thought of her laying there beside him to comfort him in case he had a nightmare gave him a certain measure of peace.
"Yeah." Sara smiled at the relief that washed over his face. She wasn't really sure it was really a good idea given where her thoughts had drifted to earlier, but she reasoned that he couldn't possibly be attracted to her since he'd just been jilted by a woman that he'd been convinced was 'the one'.