The night sky seemed especially bright with no lights to distract from the stars. Nick and Sara were sitting on chaise lounges next to the pool talking softly in the darkness and looking at the stars. Nick's parents had gone to bed hours ago and having slept most of the day, neither Nick nor Sara was tired.
"I just keep wondering now if that's the reason she broke up with me...and the reason that she wanted to get back together." Nick had been mulling over the fact that Amy was pregnant in his mind and now he and Sara couldn't help but talk about the case.
"It's possible...it would explain a lot..." Sara was fighting her own insecurities about the situation, but her friendship with Nick and his reassurances that he wanted her even if he could go back and rewrite history kept her mind from going into a tailspin.
"The thing I don't get though is John..." Nick's words trailed off as his brow furrowed. "Keller can be a jerk sometimes, but even he wouldn't kill someone; he'd just as soon leave some poor girl with a broken heart and damn the consequences."
"Sounds like a winner." Sara's tone was sarcastic.
"Yeah." Nick let out a sigh.
Silenced descended over them for a few minutes until Sara's curiosity got the better of her. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Nick let out a laugh. "You should know by now, Sar, that you can ask me just about anything." He noticed that her expression was serious though and he reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Shoot."
A tiny smile played at her lips. "If John is such a bad guy...why are you friends with him?" She really didn't understand Nick's sense of loyalty at times.
"I guess it does seem strange...but I've known him a long time, met him my freshman year in college; we pledged the fraternity together...and I guess he's like a brother. He's the kind of guy that'll never judge you...and sometimes you just need someone like that in your life." Nick's voice was soft. "I know he didn't do it, Sara...it doesn't add up, none of it does."
"Well, we'll just have to trust Grissom and Cath to follow the evidence and let it speak for Amy...and her baby." Sara felt a pang of compassion for Amy. Despite all that had happened and the way she'd hurt Nick, Sara was beginning to understand her as each piece slid into place. She was sure that she hadn't been maliciously trying to hurt Nick; she probably just didn't want to burden him with another man's child; or she'd been confused and all that had happened to Nick had just sent her into overload in addition to all of the hormonal swings that came with pregnancy.
"Yeah." Nick looked sad. "I wish she had told me...I mean I know it wasn't mine, but..." He let his words trail off again as he realized the implications of what he was saying.
Sara squeezed his hand. "Hey, we can't change any of it...stop playing 'what if', ok?" Her smile was genuine. "I don't want to start feeling guilty again for being with you..."
"You don't have any reason to feel guilty...the whole situation is just so damn complicated, but just because you and I happened while this was happening doesn't mean that they're connected...they just are." He let out a frustrated sigh. "You know, I remember when I first met you and part of me was really excited because here was this beautiful woman who was smart as hell and part of me wasn't sure what to think about you because you were here to investigate Warrick; and then I realized that even though Warrick was one of my best friends, I really wanted to get to know you...Sometimes stuff just happens. No one could bring back Holly Gribbs, but you came to us indirectly because she died. The choices people make influence the direction our lives take and the people in it; you can't go back and change things, you can only go forward."
"You thought I was beautiful when you met me?" Sara was grinning at him; not just because of his confession, but because she knew that everything he was saying was true. You had to take the bad with the good and hope that you could turn it all into something beautiful; that's what life was all about.
Nick laughed at her. "You better believe that I did...why do you think I had so much fun flirting with you for almost five years?" He stood up and pulled her with him. "Let's go for a walk...I want to show you something."
They fell into an easy stride as Nick led her down towards the small lake that lay out behind the house, the brightness of the stars lighting the pathway that led to a small dock. Crickets chirped and the occasional frog croaked, and Sara thought it was a sound that she would always link to this moment.
"I used to come down here to think when I was younger." Nick settled himself down on the dock. "I supposed you could say that I pretended that I was fishing, but there really aren't a whole lot of fish in here on a good day."
Sara smiled and sat down beside him, crossing her legs and slipping her arm through his as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. "This is really peaceful."
"Sometimes you needed that with a houseful of sisters and an older brother that wasn't all that interested in hanging out with me since I was a good six years younger than him." Nick brushed his lips against Sara's forehead. "There are a lot of birds that come by here though. I guess that's where I got interested in them...not the Discovery Channel they way some people think." There was a teasing tone in his voice and he heard Sara giggle.
"You do watch a lot of TV, Nick..." She couldn't resist the opportunity to poke fun at the reputation he'd garnered that he learned everything he knew about birds from the Discovery Channel.
"Football, Sara...football." He smirked at her.
"Speaking of football..." Sara cleared her throat. "Uh, about this Cowboys thing on Sunday..."
"You don't want to go do you?" Nick had expected that Sara really wouldn't want to go, given her lack of interest in sports in general. A Cowboys home game would be an experience unto itself.
"I didn't say that." She snuggled up closer to him. "I just don't know much about football and I want to be prepared."
That comment made Nick laugh because it was a very Sara-like comment. When they worked a case, she would delve into it and get to know everything there was to know about the victims and their hobbies if it meant that it would bring them closer to solving the case.
"I think you need to give me some insight into the finer points of football so that I don't embarrass you by cheering for the wrong thing." Sara wasn't sure she wanted to know that much about football, but knowing about football would help her to get to know Nick better, and that was something she was very interested in.
"So you want me to teach you then." Nick sounded a little smug.
"Fine, yes, I need you to teach me about football." Sara could tell he was up to something and she wasn't sure quite what.
"Well that could take time, so you'll have to be an attentive student." Nick's voice was slightly husky and he had a wealth of ideas just rolling through his mind about just how he could teach Sara the finer points of football.
Sara didn't quite pick up on his tone because she was focused on his last comment. "Since when have you ever known me to not be an attentive student?" She let out a yelp as Nick grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down with him to lie on the dock.
As he looked down at her from where he'd pinned her underneath him, he couldn't help but grin. "Now that was a tackle..." He leaned down to kiss her, mumbling against her lips. "And this is a little man to man...uh, woman coverage."