"Why me, Sara?" Nick looked at her intently. They were sitting on her couch trying to act normal by sipping coffee Sara had felt the need to make the second they entered her apartment, but neither one of them really was very interested in the coffee.

Sara felt a blush color her cheeks as she realized that he had a very legitimate question and she really didn't know how to answer it without sound completely pathetic; something that she'd been feeling since she'd opened her mouth in the coffee shop and stuck her proverbial foot into it. "Uh..."

"I mean, you must have given this quite a bit of thought...If I were to help you have a baby, being the child's father; I'd naturally want to be part of his or her life...I'm sure that my parents would want to see their grandchild regularly and my brother and all five of my sisters would want the chance to see their niece or nephew. The baby would have sixteen cousins, and then there's my grandmother...I'm not really sure how I'd explain the whole situation to her...but I know she'd insist on coming out after the baby's born." He thought maybe it was a bit of overkill, but he wanted her to know exactly what she would be getting herself into if he gave in and let her use him.

Sara burst into tears; she'd been feeling overwhelmed and confused since she had proposed the whole idea to Nick in the first place. Burying her face in her hands, she curled in on herself and managed to choke out a few words. "You've made your point, Nick...you can go ahead and leave." All she wanted was to be left alone so she could wallow in how worthless she felt at that moment. She reasoned that Nick had just wanted to point out just how stupid she was and how he would never want her.

What she didn't expect to feel was the gentle touch of Nick's arms wrapping around her as he pulled her close and whispered softly. "I don't want to leave, Sar. I'm not going anywhere." He just held her as she cried knowing that after she calmed herself down, they were bound to have a much more rational conversation.

It took a little while, but once Sara had cried herself out, she pulled herself away from Nick and wiped at her eyes feeling a little better, but still far more vulnerable than she'd felt in a very long time. Her voice sounded so small. "Why don't you want to leave, Nick?" She wasn't sure she could handle any more humiliation.

Nick smiled softly at her, reaching over and brushing a bit of her hair off of her face with his fingertips. "I don't really think you want to have a baby with me, Sar. At least not like this." He shook his head to silence her as she looked like she was going to protest. "See I think you want what I want...I think you want to find someone who loves you more than anything else in the world, and I think if you have a baby, you're going to want it with him. I think you're selling yourself short thinking this is the only way."

Sara sniffled. "I must repulse you." She couldn't bring herself to look at him in the eyes; she didn't want to see the disappointment that she was sure was there.

Nick chuckled softly. "Sara, you don't repulse me...not even close." He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I feel like an idiot..." She let out a resigned sigh. "Promise me you won't tell anyone about this...I don't need this getting around the lab." She wished more than anything that she could turn back time and take back everything that she'd said earlier.

"I'm not about to spread private information about you." He squeezed her hand again, gathering his own courage as he decided that now was as good a time as any to make a proposition of his own.

"Thanks...I'm not sure I could handle any more humiliation." She was looking down at the floor still not sure she wanted to look at Nick, but thankful for his presence all the same.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Nick looked at her expectantly, feeling the nerves in his stomach starting to churn.

"Yeah...I guess." She fully expected him to continue to quiz her about why she wanted a baby, and what had motivated her to ask him for help.

"What would you say if I asked you out?" He swallowed hard as he waited for her to respond. He'd wondered for a long time what she might say if he asked her on a date, but he'd never wanted to cross the line because he wasn't sure it was worth risking their friendship over. Now that she'd bulldozed right on over that line herself, he figured that it couldn't hurt to ask.

It took Sara a full second to register what he was saying and then she looked over at him with a sad smile on her face. "I'm really flattered; Nick...but I don't need a pity date. You really don't have to try and make me feel better." She did appreciate the gesture though; it seemed lately, no one had even made the effort. Even Greg didn't flirt with her very much anymore.

Nick chuckled softly, but the look on his face was completely serious. "I'm not asking you on a pity date."

"Oh." Sara felt immediately embarrassed for jumping to conclusions. "I..." She wasn't really sure what to say and so she fumbled along. "I shouldn't have assumed that you...especially after...I'm really sorry...I don't seem to be able to do anything right today."

"Hey." Nick nudged her with his elbow, smiling at how damn cute she was when she was embarrassed.

"Yeah." She felt her cheeks burning as she glanced over at him.

"I wasn't asking you on a pity date...I wanted to ask you on a real date." Nick hoped that he could convince her that he was serious; that his motivation for asking her out wasn't entirely because of what she'd asked him.

Sara looked a bit taken aback. "A date." Her tone reflected complete doubt. She wasn't sure what to think; she had so convinced herself that he would never be interested in her as anything other than a friend that to actually have him ask her out threw her for a bit of a loop.

"Yeah, a date." He smiled at her as a slightly sheepish expression crossed his face. "I've considered asking you out for a while, but I wasn't sure if you'd say yes."

Sara snorted out a laugh. "But since I pretty much admitted that I'd be willing to sleep with you, you thought I'd be a sure bet." Her words sounded harsher and far more accusatory than she'd intended, but it really had more to do with how she was feeling about herself than about Nick.

Nick looked crestfallen. "I didn't mean it like that, Sar." He felt hurt that she would think he'd take advantage of her like that. He truly was interested in her, but he didn't want to jump the gun and start out with a baby only to work their way backwards to find out how a real relationship between them might work out.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that." Sara's tone softened and she was apologetic. "I guess I'm just really confused...I'm not sure what to think." She let out a deep sigh and noticed that Nick was still holding onto her hand. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards into a tiny smile.

"Don't think anything...I'm just asking you on a date...I'm not asking you to marry me...or to bear my children." He couldn't help but smirk a little at the last little bit as he squeezed her hand.

Sara chuckled softly. "Not like I did."

"Hey, I told you I was flattered." He grinned at her. "I just thought maybe we could start with one date and if that went well, we could try another...if it's a total bust then we haven't gotten in over our heads and we're still friends." Nick watched as a smile spread across Sara's face and he leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "And you never know...if it goes well...we might just end up with that happily ever after."