A/N: Claire, if you want to write your own R-rated version of this, you have my very full permission. You are the smut queen, and I bow down to you. Or you could just, y'know, update your own story. :P
Everyone else, thanks so much for the reviews. They made my week. :)
Sara licked her fingers, sat on the couch inside the sleeping bag she'd insisted on having for the first half of the movie. A plate of s'mores rested on her lap.
"Nick, I gotta say, you were right; these are amazing." She smiled at him as he walked over with his own plate to join her.
"What'd I tell ya? Technically, they're meant to be made with regular, plain chocolate, but, considering our limited resources, our Snickers bar versions aren't bad, huh? Now, provided we can get that microwave cleaned out by morning…"
"Okay, was it my idea to let the marshmallow grow and grow until it exploded all over the inside?" She turned on the sarcasm. "Uh, no."
Nick mumbled incoherently, his mouth full of gooey marshmallow and nutty chocolate, and she whacked him lightly on the arm. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that… because I didn't." They both smiled as he swallowed.
"I said, I seem to recall you giggling hysterically at the time."
"Okay, hysterically is an exaggeration. Now, you got any more for me?" She gestured at her empty plate.
Nick laughed in amazement. "Sara, your plate was full a minute ago. Didn't you take, like, six?"
A sheepish expression crossed her face. "What? They're really good."
"Indeed they are. The caramel is amazing. I might just make 'em this way from now on." He carefully inspected the confectionary in his hands once again before taking another bite, moaning in exaggerated ecstasy as he chewed.
Sara glared at him. "Now you're just being mean." Her left eyebrow flitted up slightly as she tried to hold back a smirk, and, without warning, she stuck her arm out and swiped the last s'more from his plate, cramming the whole thing in her mouth before Nick had time to protest. He quickly swallowed his last bite before turning to her, a look of shock across his face.
"Okay, so not called for."
A giggle escaped her full mouth, and she nodded, chewing away until she finally gulped triumphantly and grinned. "Last time you mess with me, Stokes."
"Well, the joke's on you. You've got chocolate on your face." He suddenly brought his hand up to her face, catching her by surprise as he gently wiped a smear from the corner of her mouth, his fingers cradling her cheek. A feeling of uncertainty came over her, and she smiled shyly in spite of herself.
"Uh, thanks."
Nick "No problem. Now, we've got ten minutes – you wanna go make the popcorn?"
"Sure." Expecting her to shimmy out of the sleeping bag, his brows raised in amusement as Sara stood up, clutching her plate in one hand and the top of the sleeping bag in the other, and hopped across the floor to the bench. She expertly – and one-handedly – located a pack of popcorn, placing it in the microwave and punching the numbers in, before getting two sodas from the fridge. She had just turned around to head back to the couch when she was surprised to see Nick leaning his head against the soft arm of the sofa, chuckling as he watched her.
She smirked. "What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head grinning. "You're so cute."
A slight flush spread over her cheeks, and Sara's didn't answer, as she bounced back to the couch, causing Nick and herself to giggle a little. The popping sound on the other side of the room began to get louder, and Sara stood up and finally climbed out of the sleeping back, unzipping it to its full length before draping it over Nick and the empty spot where she would sit.
"It'll be comfier this way." She felt an explanation was called for, and he nodded approvingly. She passed him his beverage, and left hers on the coffee table before going back to wait on the popcorn, focusing her eyes on the expanding bag as she spoke to Nick across the room.
"So, uh… if I get a little freaked out or whatever, we'll change the channel?" She hated herself for sounding so vulnerable, but the protective tone of Nick's reply found her not minding quite so much.
"Absolutely. There's always something on Discovery." He smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry."
She smiled back as the microwave beeped, and deposited its product into what had become dubbed the lab's 'popcorn bowl'. Switching off the lights on her way back, she made her way back over to the TV, settling herself down under the makeshift blanket and placing the bowl on top, resting on her lap and Nick's.
He looked questioningly at her. "Lights off? That's okay?"
"Yeah. I figure I need the whole experience. Plus, I'm a lights-off kinda girl, anyway." She flashed her gap-tooth grin at him as she popped some kernels into her mouth, and he smirked back at her.
"I assumed you were." He scooted a little closer to her on the couch as he flicked to the correct channel. "Let's go."
Sara's eyes were wide, and her short-but-still-existent nails dug into Nick's arm, which she'd been gripping tightly since ten minutes into the movie, in between bouts of burying her face in his shoulder, promising herself she wasn't noticing the firmness of the muscle beneath, or the clean, manly scent that lingered on his skin and clothes. The sudden cut to a commercial break provided an appropriate distraction.
"Jeez, Sara." Nick pried himself away from her, rubbing his arm gently as he winced. "I know this is my left arm and all, but I'd still like a little feeling in it by the end of tonight, if that's okay."
She smiled guiltily. "It's scary!"
"Sara, this is pretty tame. Look at how bad the acting is – it's impossible to take seriously."
"Easy for you to say; you've already seen it before."
"You wanna change the channel?"
She looked at him, horrified. "God, no! I have to find out who the mask guy is!"
"O-kay…" He took another handful of popcorn, nonchalantly slipping two pieces into Sara's open mouth before placing two in his own, as if it were nothing. Sara felt her heart rate escalate ever so slightly, and they sat in silence for a minute or two, alternately plucking popcorn kernels from the bowl atop their thighs, resting against each other.
The commercials ended, and Sara rested her head against Nick's arm, pulling the sleeping bag further around her left side. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt him lift his arm up entirely and wrap it around her, holding her protectively close to him and resting hand on her shoulder; a seemingly insignificant move that, in the darkness and confinement of their current situation, seemed incredibly intimate. As touched as she was by his sweetness, Sara let a yawn escape her, remembering how tired late-night movies always made her, and thinking how nice it was to have someone to rest her weary body on.
Her tangled train of thought was interrupted by what flashed on the screen before them, and she gasped. Nick's arm squeezed her a little tighter, and his hand found hers underneath the nylon of the sleeping bag. She clutched at it gratefully, and looked into his eyes, smiling.
Through the blinds of the break room window, Grissom saw that the lights were switched off, but someone was watching TV, and he paused on his way to the lab's garage. He knew Sara was still around, but he assumed she'd be investigating her case, and his curiosity peaked further. Peering through the slats into the room, he could just make out the shapes of two figures huddled under a blanket (was that his sleeping bag? He thought he'd lost that!), watching what appeared to be a horror movie on TV. Removing his glasses and squinting a little, he realised it was Nick and Sara, looking cosier than he would have expected, despite Sara's petrified expression, and Nick's concerned one. He shrugged to himself and carried on, his brows furrowed in thought. Was there something he wasn't being told?