Sara wondered to herself if she was making a huge mistake. Nick had called her three times at last count and she hadn't bothered to call him back. The way he had taken off without saying a word had thrown her for a loop. Thoughts drifted through her mind that maybe Nick had been more hung up on Amy than she'd first thought; that maybe despite the fact that he'd said he wanted to be with her, part of him wanted to be with Amy. There was a certain element of fear that she might never know for sure that he wanted her more than he had ever wanted Amy.

She'd gotten a phone call from Warrick; she hadn't bothered to answer that call either. He'd left a rambling message about how he was sorry he'd given her and Nick the third degree and how he knew this whole situation was probably tougher on her than she wanted to admit. He'd said that he wanted her to know that she could come to him anytime and talk; what with Nick having gone to Texas for who knows how long. The message had touched her; made her cry actually, but she wanted to keep her head clear and so she hadn't called him back.

The one phone call she did make was to Grissom. There were a few things that she needed to straighten out with him. The day that he'd found out about her relationship with Nick, he'd let her know not too subtly that he was worried that they were setting themselves up for a fall; and as a result the entire nightshift as well. She knew that he meant well, that he had a right to be concerned, but it was still her choice and Nick's choice and they were adults. That phone call had been difficult but necessary, and in the end Grissom had told her that he hadn't meant to be unsupportive; just that he cared about them both and he wanted what was best for them, and what was best for the team. For some reason, that left a smile on Sara's face. Grissom seemed to be incapable of separating the members of the team from the team as a whole, and she realized that it was because they were a family of sorts and that's how a family was. She'd spent most of her life wanting the family she had to change and in the end, she'd found a family in the most unexpected way.

Nerves churned in Sara's stomach as she considered whether she should call Nick. In his last message he'd mentioned that he was heading off to bed and she reasoned that he didn't need her waking him up if he'd actually gone to sleep. Besides, if she talked to him, talked to anyone really, she might not be brave enough to do what she had planned.

She was roused out of her thoughts by an overhead speaker.

"We are on our final approach to Dallas/Fort Worth and will be landing shortly. Local time is 7:00am and our local weather is 85 degrees with an expected high of 101. Welcome to Dallas/Fort Worth and enjoy your stay."

Sara let out a sigh and tightened her seatbelt. No one knew she was coming and she hoped that Nick's statement that she'd left an impression on his parents meant that she'd made a good impression, especially since she was going to show up on their doorstep unannounced. For some reason the swarm of butterflies in her stomach intensified and for the first time since she'd made the decision to take a little time off herself and follow him to Dallas, she felt like throwing up. She didn't know if he wanted to be alone, or if he'd be glad to see her.

Thankfully, deplaning didn't take very long and once she'd gotten her rental car she bought a map so she could find the Stokes' ranch. Grissom had provided her with the address and their phone number in case she got lost; and he'd told her that he was proud of her for taking such a risk. The unspoken message there was that he was too afraid to take that kind of risk himself and he admired her courage.

She was lost in thought until she was pulling up to the entrance to the ranch. She stopped and just stared at the house which was set fairly far back from the road. For some reason, she'd never really thought about what sort of house Nick had grown up in. He'd just been Nick and he had etched out a modest existence for himself in Vegas. The sprawling ranch house before her spoke of money and privilege and she suddenly felt as if she didn't belong in his world.

Squashing those thoughts, she turned the car into the long driveway and slowly made her way up to the house, noticing what appeared to be a small lake and a guest house behind the main house. She turned the engine off and took a deep breath before she garnered her courage to pull herself out of the car and head up to the front door.

She hadn't really expected anyone to answer the door right away; given the size of the property, she'd expected to have to knock a few times.

A surprised but smiling Jillian Stokes answered the door. "Sara."

Sara immediately fumbled with her words. "I'm sorry I came without calling first...I should have called..."

Jillian opened the door wide and gestured for her to come in. "Nonsense, you're always welcome...you helped find our boy...and he cares about you quite a bit from what I understand."

As Sara walked into the house, she felt her cheeks burn a little at Jillian's comment. Here she was in a part of Nick's life that she'd not been invited into and it felt a bit awkward. "I haven't had time to find a hotel yet...I just wanted to see Nick." Her brow was furrowed and it was evident that she was worried about him.

Jillian flashed Sara a smile that was so much like Nick. "You're not staying in any hotel, Sara. Give me your keys and I'll have Bill get your bags...I think Nick is still asleep...he's staying out in the guest house; I haven't seen him since last night anyway." She took Sara's keys and propelled her towards the back door. "It's just on the other side of the pool, dear."

Sara wasn't going to argue as much as she would have liked to. She just wanted to see Nick, to make sure he was ok; that they were ok. The functional yet elegant architecture of the house spilled out into the backyard where there was a pool and a covered out door kitchen ending in a small guest house. Sara strode purposefully towards it, softly opening the door and stepping inside. There was no sign of Nick in the main great room, but there was a small hall leading towards the back of the house and so she headed that direction assuming that's where the bedroom was.

The door was slightly ajar and she poked her head inside to find Nick asleep and sprawled out across the bed, not looking particularly peaceful. She slipped inside and made her way over to the bed, kicking her shoes off before softly sinking onto it and laying down next to him. She scooted over towards him and reached out to smooth out his brow, leaning in to softly kiss him before taking his hand in hers.

The sensation of her lips against his caused Nick's eyes to flutter open and he wondered for a moment if he was dreaming. His sleep laden voice was a bit raspy. "Sara?"

"Hey." She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him again.

"I was hoping you'd come...I wanted you to come, but I wasn't sure you would if I asked you to." He smiled at her, his expression tired and drawn.

She stroked his face gently, concern evident on her face. "Have you gotten any sleep?" She could tell that if had slept that it hadn't been very restful sleep.

"A little." Nick let out a sigh and then smiled at her. He couldn't even begin to express how happy he was to see her.

"Well I haven't had any." She snuggled closer to him, smiling as he slid an arm across her waist and looked into his eyes. "You said something in your message you left on my voicemail about kissing me goodnight."

"Yeah, I was kinda thinking that I should have done that before I left." He wanted to memorize every nuance of her face and have it burned into his memory.

"Well I'm here now." She smiled softly, the butterflies in her stomach finally quelled.

"Yeah, you are." Nick smiled at her and then gently leaned in and kissed her.