Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Everyone seems to like certain lines. That's funny, lol. AnMaDeRoNi: Thanks, hopefully it will be calling you again after this chap! Awesomepossum: Thanks hon! That's sweet of you to say, huggles. Thanks for the Snickers bar... MMMM Snickers... Oh, and I will totally NOT stop distracting you from your English homework. It's my job, dontcha know! Missbrat155: jaw drops OMG. Praise from such an amzing writer! I am ever so humbled... I have been following one of your stories for ages! Everyone else: You all wanted another chappie, so here you go. Great. Now I have to try and top that last one... Bugger all...

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It's the end of my shift and I'm still reeling from shock. I've been feeling a little lightheaded ever since Nick first sat down with me. He seemed to know exactly what to say. He always does... After I left him in the break room, I went straight to the lab, apparently my samples were ready. I was too distracted to pay attention to what the new girl was telling me. All I heard was that I had three matches. That meant my case was wrapped. I was glad, I'd been working on it for over a week. Of course, in the end, the husband did it. It seems like it's always the husband that does it. But as weird as it sounds, this time I didn't think it was him. I really didn't. I need a coffee.

"Hey Sara! Wait up!" I hear the voice call me back. It's Greg. I haven't talked to him in a few days.

I stop and turn around. "Hey Greg."

"Long time no see. Whatcha doing?"

"Um, I'm on my way to get a coffee. You?"

"Oh, same. I'm on break. Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go." He grabs my arm and tugs me down the hall.

We get to the break room and he generously pours me a mug.

"Thanks Greg. So what was with the rush?"

He hesitates.

"Well, I was wondering, you know how Grissom hired another new tech, Wendy? Pretty girl. I kinda like her. I was wondering... Do you think she'd go out with me?"

I smile at him, he's so cute when he's nervous.

"Isn't that cute! Our Greg has a crush. And to answer your question, I've only met her for a second, so I couldn't tell you anything. But Catherine worked with Wendy, so maybe you could ask her."

The corners of his mouth turn down a little, clearly he'd been hoping for a better answer.

"Sorry Greg. Look, I hate to do this to you, but I've got plans, so I better get going."

He slumps back into his chair.

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Look Greg, just tell this girl how you feel. I'm sure she'd be glad to hang out with you. She's new and could probably use a friend, especially one as cute as you." I give him a little wink, to cheer him up.

He tries to hide his smile, but I see it anyway.

"Thanks Sara."

I get up and head out, my coffee still in hand. On my way back, I feel someone grab my shoulder.

"That was a decent thing you did back there."

I turn around.

"Thanks Nick..." I can feel the familiar flush creeping back into my cheeks.

"S'ok. Just thought I'd let you know. Greg needed that. So... We still on for breakfast? Cause I'm ready when you are."

"Of course we're still on. Can you give me a few minutes though? I just want to grab my stuff. So where do you wanna go?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe you could come over to my place and we could make something, things taste better when you cook em yourself."

I smile. It's a nice idea.

"That'd be great."

"Alright. So, I haven't done my groceries yet, so why don't you meet me at that great 24 hour supermarket? We can get stuff to make whatever you want."

"Sounds good. Meet you there in, oh," I check the time on my pager, "20 minutes?"

"Looking forward to it." He nods awkwardly.

"Me too."

NIck smiles at me, I feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering away. I smile back. He turns around and heads off, before he turns the corner he looks back again. I wave to him. He laughs and turns to leave.

I turn again and head to the locker room to get my stuff. I open my locker and grab my bag. I slip my coat on and put on my scarf. It's been getting a little chilly lately. I open my bag and look for my keys, I pull them out and pocket them, it's become a habit now. I learned when I was 15 to always put my keys in my pocket before leaving anywhere, so that if someone steals my bag, I can still get home. It's never been necessary, but I still do it.

I weave through the halls toward the parking lot. I spot Catherine in the hall.

"See you tommorrow."

"Bye Sara. I like your coat."

"Thanks. It was a gift."

"Nice, I'll see you later."

"Bye Cath." I turn around again and keep going.

Finally I get out to my car, it's a good thing I put my coat and everything on, because it's really pretty cold out. I climb in and start it up. The radio comes on. Some country song. I'm too tired to change the station.

I drive the familiar route to the supermarket. Being a single girl in Vegas, I'm there a lot. I pull into the parking lot and stop. I get out of the car and look around. I don't see Nick at first. I walk over to the doors, still looking around. I stand by the doors for a minute or two waiting before I see him. He's walking over from his car. His hands are crammed into his pockets and he's hunched over a little. He pulls one hand out and gives a jerky little wave.

I can't help but laugh. Nick has never been good at withstanding the cold. He smiles a bit.

"So Nicky, you ready to do some shopping?"

"Yeah. You're a vegetarian right? So no bacon and eggs I guess..." He says with a little wink.

I punch him in the shoulder.

"Yes, I mean, No... I mean, no bacon and eggs, yes vegetarian." All of a sudden it seems like I don't know how to talk. I hate when I get this way.

"Don't worry Sara. I get it." He laughs. "It's damn cold out here though, how about we move on inside?"

"Best idea you've had all day." I grab his arm and give it a little pull. He doesn't need convincing.

We walk on inside. It's not very busy. We stand awkwardly, tryng to decide which way to go. I suddenly feel really gawky and strange.

"Okay. What about some... French toast? You aren't one of those vegenegan-y people are you?"

I pull him over toward the vegetable stands. "No, I'm not a VEGAN. Come on Nick, vegenegan-y? What kind of word is that?" I can't stop laughing. Evidently I'm not the only one who gets a little tongue-tied sometimes.

"Sorry Sar'. I don't know what the word is. I don't know how anyone could do that. I need my steak."

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow. "Not today, you don't. French toast sounds pretty good. But we need a little more then that. How about omelettes? I make good omelettes."

He grabs a red pepper and tosses it in the air. "Sounds like we could make that work." The pepper gets away from him and he scrambles after it. A clerk looks at us disdainfully.

"Nick, come on! People are looking!" I can feel my cheeks heating up again.

Nick looks up at me, "sorry Sara! Coming." He puts the pepper back on the shelf.

"Nick!" I exclaim, "that thing is dirty now!"

"Are you saying you don't wash things before you eat em?" He asks with a cocked head.

I roll my eyes at him. "You know what I mean. Okay, we need to get a move on. I'm starving."

"Okay. Well, french toast and omelettes then?"

"Sounds great."

"Well then, come on." Nick turns around and starts over to the checkout counters. He grabs a basket and walks back to me.

"Okay, Sara. So, what kind of veggies do you like?" He sweeps his hand to indicate the rows of different vegetables.

I fold my hands behind my back and take a few steps around the shelf. "Well, peppers and brocolli are two of my favourites. I'm also a big spinach fan." I say, grabbing a couple of peppers and throwing them into the basket.

"Okay, those sound good." He grabs a bag of spinach and a bunch of brocolli and deposits them into the basket.

"So, Sar', is that it for veggies? Or is there anything else you like?"

"Those are good for me, but you can add anything you want." I'm already looking around for anything else to get.

"Nope, that's okay with me."

I wander over to the back of the store. Nick follows me. I go over to the eggs. Nick reaches in front of me and grabs a carton of brown eggs. He goes to put them in the basket. I put my hand on his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"Um... Buying eggs?"

"No, no, you've got to check to make sure none of them are broken first." I take the carton out of his hand and open it, I start lifting each of the eggs.

"Oh, yeah, my mom used to do that." He smiles a little.

I find a broken egg about halfway through the carton. I put it back on the shelf and grab another one. Luckily there aren't any broken ones in this carton. I put it in the basket.

"Sorry, I always do that. I figure I can really get my moneys worth to make sure that I can use all the eggs."

Nick laughs at me. "S'ok Sara. It's a good idea, I'll have to start doing that. Okay, we got eggs, veggies. What else do we need? Bread, I don't have any." I raise an eyebrow. Seeing my face, he rolls his eyes. "I do that whole, single-guy-shopping thing, buy what you need when you need it, you know?"

He turns around and walks over to the bread aisle. I follow him

"So miss Sidle, brown bread or white?"

I look the shelves up and down.

"I eat brown at home, so is white okay? It'll be a bit of a treat."

"Sure, grab a bag, anything else you want? Drinks maybe?"

I grab a bag of bread and put it in the basket, I can smell it, I love the smell of bread.

"Yeah, sure. I usually drink beer, but it's not exactly a morning beverage is it? I guess maybe some juice? Orange is always nice. that okay with you?"

Nck shrugs, "I've got a carton of orange back home, actually. But I should probably grab another one. I'll go get it. Meet me at the checkout?"

"Sure."

He turns around and walks to the other end of the store. I head up to the checkouts. There's only one open, I start loading the stuff onto the conveyer belt.

"Back." Nick pants. I almost laugh, it's obvious he's run all the way up to the front.

"Easy there, cowboy." I pat him on the back. He deposits a carton of juice onto the belt and pulls out his wallet.

The checkout girl looks up and smiles at him.

"Hi Nicky. How are ya?"

I look down at her nametag. Sherry.

"Hey Sher, I'm pretty good, what about you?" He smiles back.

"Oh, I'm good."

He smacks his hand to his forehead. "Sorry, Sher. I should introduce miss Sidle here. Sherry, this is Sara, Sara, this is Sherry. Sara and I work together." I notice he blushes a little as he says it. Sherry notices too.

"S'ok Nicky, I won't make fun of you for dating at the office." She turns to me and winks. "It's Sara right? Well, watch out for Nicky here. He's pretty slick, or at least-" She lowers her voice, "he thinks he is." She gives me a little smirk.

I can't help but laugh. Poor Nick.

Sherry looks up again.

"That'll be $12.48 please."

Nick hands her a $20.00 bill. She puts it in the till and expertly makes his change.

"See you later, Nicky. You too, Sara." She smiles. "Have fun, you two." She adds knowingly. I can feel myself turning red.

Nick carries the bags into the parking lot and into his car.

"Okay, let's head on over to my place. You know the way, right?" He gestures with his arm.

"Of course I do, I've been over before. We all have. I'll be right there." I walk a few steps backward, waving to him. Then I turn and jog to my car.

I pull out my keys and open the door. The car is warm, and I feel goosebumps rising on my arms. I turn the key in the ignition and hear the radio start up again. I look across the parking lot, Nick's already gone. I see his car heading down the road. I put my foot to the pedal and drive out. I remember his street name. It's pretty easy to find. His car's in the driveway. I get out, lock the car, and walk up to the door. I can see a light on. I knock and only have to wait a minute before he opens it.

"Hey Sara. Come on in, I've got everything ready."

All of a sudden he seems to fumble a thought.

"Sorry, let me take your coat. I'll hang it up in the other room."

I pull off my coat and turn the sleeves the right way out. I hand it over and Nick jogs off to hang it up.

I look around, his living room is nice. I've always liked it. The dark colours are so warm and welcoming.

All of a sudden, Nick pops his head around a corner.

"Come on in here, Sar'. I've got it all set up in here."

I follow him and find myself in a nice big kitchen. I see all our purchases on the counter, plus a block of cheese and a tub of butter.

"Okay, I got everything here, ready to start?"

"Yeah, okay. What do you want to make first?"

He turns around and looks thoughtfully at the selection of food.

"How about the french toast? That's pretty easy to do."

"Alright."

He reaches into a cupboard and pulls out a frying pan.

"Sara? Can you grab the spatula from that drawer?"

I walk over and point to a drawer.

"No, not that one, two drawers over, the one next to the dishwasher." I open a drawer and see a selection of cooking utensils. "Yeah, that's it."

I pull out a spatula and bring it over to him. He walks over to another drawer and brings out a knife and fork.

"Okay, Sara. You wanna beat the eggs? I'm no good at doing that, so I'll butter the toast. Let me know when you need a peice."

I grab a bowl from his counter, I pick up the carton of eggs and pull six of them out. I break them into the bowl one by one. I sneak a glance at Nick, he's chipping away at the butter, it's obviously too hard for him to spread. I can't help but smile.

I try to make it look like I know what I'm doing but the truth is, the only time I ever cook is when I'm having guests, and that's not very often. Luckily eggs aren't so hard, it's a good thing I'm not totally incompetant. I pick up the fork and start beating the eggs. It goes quickly.

"Nick? I'm ready for some toast now. Can you start the stove up?"

He leans over and turn a couple of knobs. His stove is different from mine, more confusing. He lifts up the frying pan and puts it on a burner.

"There you go, sorry, this thing's a little tempermental. Just melt a little butter in there and it'll be great."

"Thanks Nick. I have to warn you I don't make this very often, so it may not be that great." I smile apologetically.

He waves it off. "It's okay, besides, you think I cook more then once or twice a week? Don't worry."

I purse my lips and hope that this will work out. Nick slides a plate of toast across the counter, I take a peice and dip it in the egg. Then I put some butter into the pan. It starts to melt, slowly but surely. I let the extra egg drip off the bread and put it in the frying pan. It sizzles a bit. I pick up the spatula and wait while it cooks. Nick is looking over my shoulder.

"See, Sara? It's looking pretty good."

I turn for a second and smile at him, "thanks Nicky."

I turn back to the stove and lift the edge of the toast, it's looking pretty brown, so I turn it over. Shit. It's a little burned, but it's only the first peice. I let it cook for a minute or two, before transferring it to a plate that Nick provides.

"Good job Sar'."

"Thanks."

I dip another peice of bread and fry it, it only takes a minute this time. After two more, I'm getting the hang of it.

"Can I try?" Nick asks.

"Sure. Here, take this." I hand over the spatula. "You know what to do?"

"Yeah, I've done it a couple of times. These might not be as good as yours, but I'm sure they won't taste that bad." He gives me a little smirk. I love that smirk.

He dips the bread and drops it into the pan. I walk over to the fridge and grab a glass of juice.

"All done here."

He turns around with a plate stacked high with the fresh toast. It smells amazing.

"So, Sara, you wanna make those omelettes? Or do you think this is enough? Sorry, I made more then I thought I would."

"I think this is plenty. We can always have my omelettes another day. That looks great though."

"Okay, Sar'. Um, let's get a couple of plates, you know where they are right? I'll grab knives and forks."

He passes me the plate and I carry it to the table. I walk back into the kitchen and open a cupboard. I grab two plates and shut it again. Nick turns to me, holding a pair of knives and forks.

"Do you want some syrup, or sugar?"

"Sure, that's be great."

"I'll grab em."

"Okay."

I walk back and put the plates on the table, a minute later Nick emerges from the kitchen with a dish full of sugar and a bottle of syrup, along with the cutlery. He hands me a knife and fork, then puts the toppings on the table. We both pull out chairs and sit.

"Okay, dig in Sar'."

I help myself to two peices of toast, I'm starving. Nick grabs three. But then again, he always eats a lot. I grab to syrup and pour a little bit on top. I cut a peice and bite into it. Heaven.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM."

Nick bursts out laughing.

"Whoa there, Sara. Do I need to worry over here?"

"No, sorry. These are really good. We did a good job."

Nick carves out a bite and sticks it into his mouth. "Mm, well I'll have to agree."

I take the spoon of sugar and sprinkle a tiny bit on top. It's a bit rich for breakfast, but oh well. We both eat, carving out huge bites, we must look like neanderthals, but for once I don't care.

"Well, I'm done. Can I take your dishes?" Nick stands up and puts his hands on his stomach.

"Sure, thanks." I hand him my plate and start clearing the table.

Nick gets up and walks to the kitchen, carrying the dishes with him. I follow him. He opens the dishwasher and starts loading it. I help him out. I finish loading it and close the door.

"Nicky? How do you turn this thing on? I don't want to break it."

Nick appears again, "here you go. This thing is a little confusing. I got it." He flips a switch and hits a couple of buttons. the dishwasher hums to life.

"Okay Sar'. Well, anything else you wanna do? I've got some movies, or maybe we could go out to see one." He smiles.

"Um, actually Nick, I'm kind of tired. I need to go home and have a sleep." I really wish I could hang around, but after a long shift, I need to take a break.

His smile fades a little. "Oh. Okay then. Well, maybe we can do it another day. What about tommorow?"

"Tommorow sounds okay."

"Well, then Ms. Sidle, let me walk you to the door, I'll get your coat."

He walks off and returns a minute later.

"Thanks" I say, slipping on my coat. "Well, I'll see you tommorow."

We walk together to the door. He opens the door for me.

"Thanks." I say again.

He smiles, I love his smiles. "No problem, Sara. I had a really good time."

I feel like a teenager on a first date. I thought it was supposed to be less awkward when you were friends first.

"So... I'll see you tomorrow." He says.

I lean up and give him a hug, he's still gripping me tightly. I could get used to this.

I pull back a little bit, then I give him a peck on the cheek. His cheek is hot. He's blushing. I let go. We just stand there, staring at eachother. Forget when I asked Grissom out. This takes the cake as the most awkward moment of my life.

After a few long moments, I have to do it. I grab him by the shirt-collar, pull him toward me and kiss him. Not a long kiss, I'm not like that. But I want him to know how I feel. After a few seconds, I let go, smile, and turn to go to my car. He doesn't follow me. As I pull out, I can see him, still standing by the door. He looks shocked. It feels good. And as I drive away, I can't help but wonder what tommorow will bring.

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A/N: Well, that was a lot longer then I thought it would be. Hopefully it doesn't entirely suck. Next chap coming soon, promise!

That little blueish-purpleish button is calling to you! Please review, it won't take long, and I'll love you forever. Which is a total plus.