AN: Again, thank you so much for all the reviews! It's great. I was talking to one of my friends though and they said there was a similar scene in an early episode of Friends. Sorry, I had no idea about that, I've only been watching Friends for the last few years and have only seen a handful of the earlier eps from reruns. So if you think I ripped it off, just so you know, it was totally innocent!! Halo glows over head

PS: It's getting closer to Christmas now and I've still yet to find a chocolate covered George Eads. Seems he's still only got eyes for Jorja, but if any of you come across him on e-bay or Amazon (registered trademarks) then let me know!! And if there's only one, I get him, if there's enough I'll try to get Santa to put one under each of your Christmas trees!! Again, thanks for taking the time to read my musings that have made it from my head onto the computer, and for reviewing too!!! You're all awesome and I'd send you all Christmas cards if I could!!

PSS: I own nothing again except for 2 seasons of CSI DVDs, 3 novels and the computer game. I'm asking for comics, the other 2 seasons and the board game for Christmas. Other than that I have NOTHING but a big ball of lint and some empty pizza boxes.

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"Nick?!" Sara stood up, still dazed from shock and lack of oxygen, confused about what had just happened. "NICK!" She called after him as she watched him go up the front steps into the large farmhouse style home.

Nick went in the house, walking past his mother without a word. "Nicholas, are you okay?" She asked, full of concern as he continued, not noticing her.

Staying silent he walked into the family room and shut the door. Taking a seat on the couch he put his head in his hands, cursing his male libido. He had most likely just ruined the best friendship he had ever had. Forgetting where he was, all his mind could think of was him kissing Sara Sidle, and that was all he wanted to do. Now he felt like he had taken advantage of Sara and what she had promised him. She had agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend, but he had used that and kissed her.

He chastised himself again when his mind wandered back to how wonderful it had felt to lie over her and kiss her. As much as he wanted it to be for real, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her he was falling in love with her. He was falling fast and falling hard. Telling someone who had been his best friend for four years just didn't seem right. If she wasn't ready to bolt back to Vegas yet she certainly would if he told her. He had already ruined the best friendship he'd ever had with a woman, and it just so happened to be with the woman he loved. Nick felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place as he sighed deeply, trying to figure out what to do and how to apologize to Sara.

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"Nick?!" Sara got up and excused herself from the gathering of Nick's family to find him. "Wh—" She was completely lost. Why had he run off like that? Was he that repulsed at what he had done? She for one certainly hadn't minded. Running up the steps that Nick had just gone up, she opened the door and called his name again. "Nick? Where did you go?" She was about ready to cry. That not the reaction she had hoped for when she kissed him back, and now she was worried that in doing so she had ruined their friendship forever. She bumped into Evelyn, not even seeing her as she walked aimlessly down the hall.

"Sara, honey what's the matter? What's going on?"

"I wish I knew myself. Where did Nick go?" Never had she sounded so desperate and lost, even to herself. This was not 'Sara Sidle, Criminalist'. This was Sara Sidle, falling in love with her best friend.

She gestured towards the door Nick had just gone through. "He just went into the family room. He seemed upset. Do you know what happened?"

Sara choked back a sob. "I think I may have an idea."

"Oh, dear, nothing happened between you two did you? I know Nicolas must love you. The way he's always talked about you, you're all he's talked about since he met you. And goodness knows he's never ever brought a girl home with him. I know he loves you."

Sara felt like if she didn't get out of there she'd burst into tears. "I'm sorry, excuse me."

Wiping the unshed tears out of her eyes she slowly opened the door to the family room. "Nick?" Her voice sounded so small and quiet, like that of a frightened child.

"Yeah." He answered, his voice deadpanned as he sat on the edge of the couch, his head still in his hands.

She sat down next to him, but not close enough to touch. Right now she had no idea what he felt, and as much as she wanted to know she was worried. Neither said anything for a few moments, the tension hanging thick in the air.

"Look, I—"

"I was—"

They both started at the same time.

"Sorry, you go ahead." Nick told her.

"No, that's okay. You." She really wanted him to start.

"Okay." He sighed. "Here goes. I think, well, um…" He looked the room as if to look for some inspiration. "Well, first of all, I'm sorry. That really got out of hand and I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward position or anything at all. I acted like a jerk, and well, to be blunt, I was thinking like a guy: with my pants instead of my brain. And I feel like I used you, and I'm so sorry."

Sara opened her mouth to speak, but he trudged on, "and, I feel like this is very dangerous for us to get into, it's uncharted territory. We're best friends, and, well," He began to fumble again. "Should something, umm, ever… happen, well, with, uh with us…" He couldn't look her in the eye as the room became increasingly warmer and his face became redder. "Well, I wouldn't want it to be because something like that happened and you felt inclined to play along."

"Nick,"

"I mean I know you were only doing your part in playing along,"

"Nick."

"But I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. If this is getting to weird, then…"

"NICK!"

"What?"

"Slow down."

"Sorry." He looked sheepish.

"Look, you don't need to feel bad. I know how you want to convince them, and I know what it feels like to come home single year after year and your family pushing you to get with someone. I understand completely why you did that, and I feel the same way."

"If only you did…" Nick thought hopelessly.

"But I think I'm a good actress, and I'm not uncomfortable. As long as you don't try to get me indecent in front of your family." She winked at him.

"Ah, but what about when my family's not around?" He teased her.

"Stokes if I didn't know better I would say you're flirting with your own girlfriend."

Nick laughed as he leaned into her slightly; glad she wasn't begging him to drive her to the airport. "You'd better be careful with what you call me. You're surrounded by Stokes here." They jumped when the door opened and Evelyn poked her head in.

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yes, we're fine. Nick and I just needed a moment to talk about something, isn't that right, honey?"

"Yes, my shnookems." He grinned when she leaned over and placed a small chaste kiss on his lips.

"Okay, just checking on you. Not that I wanted to butt in and stick my nose where it doesn't belong but Nick your sisters were very concerned. But I'm glad everything's okay."

"Oh yeah." Nick agreed.

"Yes, to be honest, I just found everything a little overwhelming, where I'm an only child and all. Nick just wanted us to have a little alone time since he knew that I wasn't used to such a large family." She cuddled up next to him and leaned her head on his chest, looking very sweet and innocent for his mother. Again, she leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips, and Nick couldn't stop grinning.

"Okay dear. I'll let the others know you two are okay."

"Thank you Mrs Stokes."

"You're welcome Sara. And please call me Evelyn."

"Okay. Thank you Evelyn." The door closed and Sara kept her head on Nick's chest as she looked up at him, grinning. "And the Oscar goes to…"

Nick laughed out loud. "C'mon, when everyone's home for Christmas mom always makes hot chocolate for us before bed."

"Awww…"

"Hey! It's the best hot chocolate you'll ever have! I promise! C'mon!" He stood up and practically pulled her up off the couch.

"You're such a kid!"

"Of course I am! It's Christmas!" He grinned and jumped up and down.

"And you're crazy. Come on, little Nicky."

Nick stopped and looked at her seriously. "Oh you haven't met little Nicky."

"What?"

"Maybe you'd like to meet him someday." His eyes shone with playfulness.

"Nick, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Li'l Nicky." Innocently, he cast a glance downwards towards his pants.

Sara gasped when she realized what he was talking about, and her jaw dropped to the ground. "NICK!" She smacked him over the arm. "You are the epitome of disgusting!!" She couldn't believe he'd say something like that, but couldn't help laugh at the same time.

Nick couldn't help but laugh out loud as she grabbed a pillow from the couch and beat him over the head with it. "C'mon, I want hot chocolate." He took her hand and led her out of the room, laughing.

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They sat around the living room with several of Nick's sisters and their families. Donna and Melanie each went to their own homes with their families. The rest, who lived outside of Dallas, were staying at Evelyn and George's.

Sara and Nick were sitting squished together in a large chair and a half, the entire living room blocked. She had no idea how it was supposed to work Christmas day when everyone was here. Leaning against his chest, she yawned and her eyes started to droop closed.

"Hey, Nick why don't you take your little lady on up to bed." Luke said, grinning at the new couple.

"Sar—hey Sara." He nudged her.

"Mmm…yeah?"

"You tired?"

"Mmm…" She never answered but placed her head back on his chest.

"We had to get up early this morning to catch our flight out from Vegas, and she had a rough shift at work the night before. We both should be getting to bed." Nick announced as he tried to nudge Sara to wake up. "C'mon, let's go to bed." He smiled, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Nicolas, I told Lucas to bring your things up earlier." Evelyn told them. "But I'm sure you can show her to your room."

Nick wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "My—my room?"

"Yes."

"Where am I sleeping?" He had assumed the spare bedroom would be for Sara.

Evelyn gave him a strange look. "In your room, Nick."

"Oh." He tried not to look surprised. Glancing over to Luke for help, his big brother took the hint.

"Nick, things have changed since when I was dating Susan. Mom doesn't expect you to be an angel." At this, Nick's face turned bright red. Sara was waking up was starting to clue in on the conversation too, her face changing colour to match Nick's. "Besides, I married when I was only 25. You're 32, and I know you haven't exactly been a good boy." Luke winked at him.

Nick opened and closed his mouth, making him look somewhat like a fish as no noise came out. His parents were always very conservative, especially when it came to sex.

"Nicolas, I'm sure that if you're serious enough about a girl to take her home then you're serious enough to pleasure her."

"Mom!" He couldn't believe he heard that come out of his mother's mouth.

"Nicky, when I was your age, I was married and had five children. And I certainly didn't get that way by being celibate. The reason we didn't believe in sex before marriage was because it was normal to get married when you were 19 or 20! But until 32? Only a priest can do that!"

"Mom…" He groaned.

"Oh Nicolas, don't be so embarrassed. Lucas convinced me to let you two sleep in the same bed, but I really don't understand what all the fuss was about before about not letting you. It's your decision." He opened his mouth. "Except now since there's no other room. So, Nick be a gentleman and take your girlfriend to bed." His eyes widened. "I mean, take her up to go to bed." He blushed even more. "I mean… go to sleep!" Flustered she left the room, leaving Nick and Sara with his siblings and their spouses. The children had all gone to bed before.

"I think that definitely tops it as the strangest and most embarrassing conversation I'd ever had with mom." He said.

"Yeah, that was odd."

"Well you have me to thank, little bro." Luke grinned up at him and Nick shot him a glare. "What? I didn't think she'd go into details. But I did tell her it was no big deal for you to sleep together since you've been doing the nasty since college, maybe before."

"WHAT?!"

"Hey hey, I'm kidding! But I did convince her that it's normal now for people to share the same bed even when they're not married. So, go on to bed, I'm sure you're both very, uh, tired." He winked at the pair and the rest of the Stokes smiled at them knowingly.

Nick decided to give up. If he said anymore, he would dig himself in deeper, and possible admit to doing more things than he'd like to think of. There were some moments of college life that he'd rather just forget.

"Okay," He stood up, deciding not to say anything more as he helped Sara up out of the large comfortable chair that, at that moment, she seemed particularly fond of. "Well, we're going to bed. Goodnight."

"Ooooh…" A few of his sisters oohed and awwed over the couple.

"Guys…" He looked over at them, pleading silently for them to give it up.

"Our little Nicky's all grown up." Kerry said with a smile. At the mention of 'little Nicky', Sara thought of their conversation earlier and began to giggle.

"What's so funny, Sara?" Asked a puzzled Emily.

"Nothing." Nick knew exactly what she was laughing at. "C'mon Sidle, let's get you to bed."

"What's so funny about Little Nicky?" Joanne asked, getting a loud laugh from Sara.

The rest of the crowd sat there, puzzled at the loud laughter of Nick's, up until now, seemingly quiet girlfriend. Suddenly, realization dawned on Luke and he grinned from ear to ear. "I think I know."

"What?" Nick asked, dreading he hadn't figured it out.

"Little Nicky?" Sara, who had controlled her laughs down to quiet giggles, snorted a laugh again. Raising an eyebrow, Luke looked at Nick. "She's named it, right?"

"Umm…what?" Nick asked, pretending to play dumb.

"Oh come on, every girl names their guy's peni—"

"Okay, okay I got it we're going to bed." Nick interrupted him, his face bright red, and pulled Sara up the stairs, away from the loud laughter of his sisters and brother in laws, as they realized what Luke was talking about.

Sara couldn't help but laugh despite her embarrassment. "Little Nicky." She chuckled.

"That was probably the most embarrassing evening I've ever had."

Sara's expression darkened slightly. "Sorry."

Nick mentally smacked himself in the head (AN: Get it? Head? Mentally? Oh never mind.) as he realized how that probably sounded. "No, no I didn't mean it that way. If anything, it's my fault."

"Nick—"

"No, don't worry about it." He kissed her on the forehead. "Listen, I didn't think my mom would put us in the same bedroom. She's never let the others do 'that under her roof until there's a ring on their finger'." He imitated his mother with a falsetto voice.

"Oh." Sara couldn't help but giggle at his impression of her.

"I guess she's trying to change with the times, but I'm sorry I really didn't plan on this happening. I'll go back downstairs once I show you my room and sleep on the couch."

"No, that's not necessary. Like your mom said, you've only got so much room. And at Christmas Eve it's going to be even less room. So we really shouldn't waste this when someone else might need to sleep on the couch."

"But I don't want to make you feel—"

"Nick, it's okay. Don't worry. We're both adults. It's fine. I'm sure your bed is plenty big for both of us—"

At that moment he opened a door that was marked 'Nick'. Inside, was a very neat bedroom that looked like it had been recently transformed from a boys' room into a man's room. There were still a few model airplanes on shelves and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a double bed, which seemed hardly big enough to be called a double. This bed was somewhere between twin and double, and Sara knew they would have to be close so they won't fall off the sides of the bed.

"Okay, so it's a bit small. We'll manage." She said, hoping she sounded confident.

"Yeah." He prayed his body would behave. As much as having Sara in his childhood bed excited him, he was very worried about what might happen if he let himself loose control. He valued certain parts of his body and he didn't want to insult Sara, because he had seen her angry before. Thankfully, it was never directed at him and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Well, I have to get ready." She got her pyjamas and things out of her bag that Luke had brought up earlier and went down the hall in search of a bathroom.

A few minutes later, she walked back down the hall and opened the door, just in time to see Nick slipping on a pair of clean boxers. "Oh my God! Nick, I'm sorry." She had her hand over her eyes, even though she'd pretty much seen everything.

"Uh…" He chuckled nervously. "It's okay. I'm sorry I thought you'd be a little longer. Uhh, I'm dressed now, you can take your hand down."

"Oh, sorry." Her face was red and she lowered her hand to see him standing in a pair of boxers, his muscled chest and abs staring her in the face. "Uhh—" It was her turn to be flustered.

"Oh, well, as dressed as I get for sleeping." He added in a loud whisper, "Sometimes I sleep au natural." Winking, he laughed and she shook her head, laughing back at him.

"You're crazy." Secretly, she was trying desperately not to think about Nick lying in bed wearing nothing but his smile.

After some flustering, they finally got themselves situated in the bed. Nick was on his side, facing her and Sara was lying on her back, trying not to touch him, only because she was afraid of what she would do if she let herself get too close to him in their current position.

"Night, Nicky." Sara said, sleepily, her eyelids drooping.

"G'night, Sar." He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead before cuddling into his pillow and falling fast asleep.

TBC…R&R!!!