He wordlessly pointed to his lips. He watched as a million different emotions raced through Sara's eyes, ranging from mild panic to a thinly veiled desire to confusion. He held his breath as he could see the cogs spinning through her mind, trying to decide whether or not to cross that carefully defined line between "friendship" and something more.

Unsure and desperate for time, Sara cleared her throat and asked, "H-how did, uh, I hurt your lips?" She needed to hear him say that this meant something; that he wasn't just being a smart ass; that he actually wanted to kiss her and felt everything normally implied by that. She searched his eyes, her hands still gripping the sides of his face.

"You, uh, you didn't," Nick admitted feeling very dumb and looking very red. His insecurities quickly dominated his mind and he convinced himself he had made up the desire and passionate emotions he had observed in her eyes and body language mere seconds ago. 'You were just seeing what you wanted to see,' he mentally chastised himself. As best he could given the distracted state of his mind and emotions, Nick attempted to do some damage control by stumbling through an explanation for his last "injury". He cleared his throat nervously, "However you, uh, well you hurt my feelings." Sara looked at him cautiously, trying to remember anything unusually mean she had said to him tonight. Nick just nodded as if it would add weight to his argument. Then his insecurities vanished just as quickly as his they had appeared as Sara seemed to consider his explanation. He reasoned that maybe she's just as nervous as he was and felt that she needed an excuse. He was more than willing to provide her with one.

She eyed his lips as she questioned further, "Shouldn't I kiss your heart then?"

He allowed a small smile as he noticed her focus, "Well, uh, normally I'd agree with you there…" He paused and licked his lips, delighting as he noticed her mimic the move. "However, in this specific case you insulted my mustache. Therefore I think it's only fair that you kiss it better."

"Oh," she was more than willing to accept that logic. She nodded absently as she began to drift closer. "So just the mustache?" she just wanted to clarify.

"Unless you manage to hurt me again in the process," he replied while placing his hands on her hips. His eyes darted back and forth between Sara's lips and her eyes, which seemed to be locked on her target. She refused to look anywhere but Nick's mustache, afraid that if she met his stare she would lose her nerve; after all, it is really close to his mouth.

Slowly the distance between them lessened until they were mere centimetres apart. Nick's eyes drifted shut so he could better savour moment; even if she was only aimed at the mustache, it'd be next to impossible to miss his top lip. As he waited for the contact he began to take mental notes: Sara's lips were parted slightly and her short, quick breaths easily drifted past and landed on Nick's lips. He could smell the beer and sweets they had consumed tonight and he realized that her mouth must still taste like them. Nick had decided that she'd kill him if she moved any slower when she paused and hovered at the same distance for a few seconds.

Sara had lost sight of his mouth because of their proximity and glanced up to Nick's eyes without thinking. The first thing she noticed was just how very close they were. Given the time, she could count every eyelash that was fanned out so perfectly across the top of his cheek. The second thing she noticed was that both sets of lashes, the upper lid's and the lower lid's, were mixed together; his eyes were closed. It was this second observation that made her temporary halt her descent. She knew she was probably reading too much into the simple gesture, most people automatically close their eyes when someone kisses them, but this wasn't supposed to be a real kiss… She racked her brain, searching for anything from scientific facts to cheesy explanations from romance movies about why people seem to mechanically shut their eyes during moments like this. She was trying to recall exactly what that con artist had said on the subject in Heartbreakers when Nick let her know she had taken far too long.

Knowing that they were close enough that he couldn't possibly miss, Nick's jerked forward without opening his eyes and closed the remaining space between them. A surprised but pleased moan escaped Sara and her eyes closed mechanically as she forgot all about science and Jennifer Love Hewitt quotes. The only thought that remained in her head was just how perfectly Nick's lips seemed to mould with her own. Before she could develop that line of thinking that any further Nick pulled away.

With her eyes still firmly shut, Sara let her hands slide down the sides of Nick's face and trail along his neck before resting them on his firm chest. She remained frozen in that position while attempting to regain control over her breathing and her emotions. It was the feel of Nick's fingertips lightly caressing her cheek that finally got her eyes to flutter open. She met his intense gaze immediately. Both pair of eyes subtly shifted back and forth as each party attempted to decipher the other. It wasn't long before a massive grin divided Nick's face in half; a similar division of Sara's face followed shortly after. "What were you trying to fix there?" she teased him. She bit a corner of her bottom lip to try and restrain her smile but it just couldn't be tamed.

"Six years of stupidity," he responded without missing a beat.

"Good answer," she nodded and kissed him again. This time they carried on a lot longer, allowing Nick to finally taste the beer and sweets that stained her mouth as they deepened the kiss.

Things escalated quickly as Sara switched her position so that she was straddling his lap. Nick pushed her lab coat off her shoulders and onto the floor and removed the shirt underneath in one fluid motion. Sara had taken the time to undo the other strap of his overalls and began to blindly fumble with the tiny buttons on his shirt. They were making up for lost time.

Nick was creating an impressive hickey on Sara's shoulder when a tortured scream brought them back down to earth. He glanced up from his workspace and saw the film still faithfully playing on the television screen. "The movie," Nick croaked as Sara, whose back was towards the TV, began to turn to try and determine the source of the interruption. She let out a breathy noise of understanding and decided she didn't care enough to see for herself.

Nick wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her in place as he leaned across to get the remote to stop the movie. As the screen returned to the blank, blue output screen, Nick leaned back to focus on Sara again. She was flushed and breathing heavily but he mainly focused on the fact that she was still smiling at him. She reached up and ran a thumb across his mustache, "You know, this isn't as annoying as I though it'd be."

He puckered his lips to kiss the pad of her thumb, "That's possibly the nicest thing you've said to me all night." He smiled playfully at her.

"I know. And that wasn't even about you; it was about your mustache." She smirked and gave him a saucy wink. He laughed instead of responding and pulled her body up against his again, crashing their lips together in the process. As Sara's breath began to get ragged again she decided to speak up now before she lost all coherent thoughts. "Let's go… to your room," she managed to sputter out around his lips.

He pulled back a minute, panting, "You sure?"

"Positive," she replied instantly, nodding her head as well to emphasize her decision. He grinned at her and attacked her mouth again. Nick scooted forward to the edge of the couch and guided Sara's long legs around his waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she understood his intentions. As soon as he felt her lock herself around his torso, Nick placed one arm firmly around her lower back and supported her ass with the other. Slowly, to make sure she was ready for it and that he kept his balance, he stood up. They only stopped once on their way down the hall so that Nick could take off his overalls, which had gradually pooled around his knees since Sara had unhooked them on the couch. Never once during their relocation to his bedroom did Nick allow Sara's lips to stray from his.

A/N: So last night's episode, where the mustache was gone, made me decide to delay studying another hour or so to finish another chapter… Then when I tried to post it, fanfiction wouldn't let me so... in between that time and now I actually managed to finish it off. So the next chapter (the final one) will go up tomorrow. Thanks for reading. I hope you like it, let me know either way.
Also, if you're in the mood for a NSR Christmas story, I made one last year called "Christmas Customs". It's a sizable read but I'm proud of it.