Nick and Sara met up at the diner around the corner and down the street a ways from the lab; Nick leaning against his Denali as Sara pulled into the small parking lot. He couldn't help but grin at her as she descended from her vehicle and sauntered over towards him. He hadn't kissed her the locker room, but he didn't pass up on the chance now; he took her hand in his and leaned over to softly kiss her, savoring the sensation that he never wanted to take for granted.

Sara had a wide smile on her face as they broke the kiss and then began to walk towards the entrance to the diner with their fingers laced together. She had been mulling over the brief meeting in Grissom's office as she followed Nick over to the diner. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting from her mentor, but the reaction he'd give definitely wasn't it. "I suppose telling Grissom could have gone a lot worse than it did."

Nick quirked an eyebrow at her. "I don't think it went that bad." He actually thought it went a hell of a lot better than he'd thought it would; especially given that he suspected that Grissom had some feelings for Sara; why the man had never acted upon them was a complete mystery to him.

Sara looked mildly mortified. "Nick he practically insinuated that you and I were going to go have wild sex instead of going home and getting some sleep." Her reaction was almost comical.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Nick smirked at her and squeezed her hand; his expression softening a bit as her eyebrows shot up. "Hey, all I'm saying is we told him we were dating; he's gonna naturally make some assumptions."

"Grissom doesn't assume." Sara realized as the words left her mouth that assume is exactly what Grissom had done when he'd jumped to the conclusion that she and Nick had run off and gotten married. She let out a giggle. "Ok, so I guess even Grissom can be human sometimes."

"Yes he can." Nick had a satisfied smile on his face as they walked through the doors of the diner and glanced around for an open booth to sit in. What they hadn't counted on finding was that the rest of the team minus Grissom had heard the diner calling as well and were currently sharing a booth in the corner by the window which had a clear view of the parking lot. Nick nudged Sara with his elbow and felt her hand tense in his as they exchanged a glance.

"I guess we won't be eating alone." There was disappointment in her tone, but at the same time, she knew that the news about her relationship with Nick was going to get out and it might as well be sooner rather than later; especially if the kiss they'd just shared out in the parking lot had been in full view of their table.

"I guess not." Nick was more than pleased to walk up to the booth with Sara in tow, taking note of Warrick's smirk, Catherine's curious smile, and Greg's outright shock. "Got room?"

Warrick scooted over in his seat to make room for Sara, and Nick grabbed a chair and sat at the end of the table. It didn't take long before the waitress wandered over, filling up cups of coffee all around and took their orders.

It was Catherine that finally asked about the proverbial elephant standing in the room. "So how long have you two been dating?" She still sounded as surprised as she had when they'd first walked in the room. In her mind at least, Nick and Sara couldn't be more opposite if they tried and the last time she had her pulse on Sara's love life or lack thereof, the woman had a thing for Grissom. When that changed she didn't know, but she was suddenly very curious.

Nick sounded amused as he answered her question. "Not long." No one needed to know the exact details of how this relationship had come about; that was a secret between he and Sara and he had promised her he would never tell anyone.

"So how did Nicky boy her get you to go out with him?" Greg looked at Sara expectantly. While it had been true he'd had a crush on her for years; the last year of working with her as a CSI had changed his focus and he found that he had found a true friend in her and that was far more valuable to him than something romantic.

Sara couldn't hide her smile even as she wished that the spotlight wasn't on her. "Uh, he asked me out and I said yes. Simple as that." It wasn't really that simple at all, but no one else but she and Nick needed to know that.

Warrick was picking up on some hidden clues. "So just how long have you had a thing for Nick?" He laughed at Sara's expression as she blushed and choked on her coffee. "I know how long Nick's had a thing for you, so I was just wondering." Warrick gave Nick a meaningful stare letting him know that he knew he'd been interested in Sara far longer than he knew he'd admit.

"She's been interested long enough." Nick answered for her, reaching under the table and giving her hand a squeeze. "Isn't that right, Sar?" He leaned towards her intent on kissing her when he heard Catherine interject.

"I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Grissom finds out." Catherine snorted out under her breath wondering just how flipped out Gil Grissom would be when he found out.

There was a definite spunky tone in Sara's voice just before she closed the distance and kissed Nick. "He already does."

This time, Catherine snorted on her coffee. "And he didn't have a problem with it." She sounded doubtful; not only did she know that Gil had a thing for Sara, she also knew that Grissom wasn't a fan of people dating their coworkers. The fact that he'd never pursued Sara was case in point; the fact that he'd never pursued Catherine so many years ago was another case in point.

"He didn't seem to." Nick had an impish smile on his face. "He just told us to make sure we got enough sleep." He knew exactly what he was implying and he knew he'd probably catch hell from Sara for it, but the rest of the table needed to know that his and Sara's relationship was between the two of them and they weren't going to be offering a play by play or be the center of office controversy; by going to Grissom first they'd nipped that right in the bud.

"Looks like our food is up." Sara could see the waitress making her way over to their table and it effectively changed the line of conversation as they began to dig into their meals.

Nick winked at her knowing exactly what she'd done and silently thanking her for it.

It was later as they were walking out to their vehicles Sara turned towards him looking a little nervous. "Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah?" He was smiling, but his brow curved upwards as he noted her expression and he couldn't help but reach over and trail his fingers down her cheek tenderly.

Sara blurted her words out without really thinking about how they sounded. "I've been thinking about that wild sex..." Her words trailed off as she closed her eyes for a moment and an embarrassed smile spread across her face.

"Oh, you have, have you?" Nick was clearly amused.

Sara opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes conveying that she was serious. "What I'm trying to say is...we...well, I feel anyway, that we should talk about sex..." It still wasn't coming out quite right.

Nick couldn't resist teasing her a bit. "I had that talk with my dad when I was about twelve."

"Nick." Sara's tone was impatient but she let out a nervous chuckle all the same.

"I'm sorry." He smiled. "Ok, let's talk about sex." He knew he wanted Sara, but he also knew that to rush that step in their relationship would be a big mistake; he just hoped that they got to that stage sooner rather than later because Warrick was right; he'd had a thing for Sara for a long time.

Sara just wanted to get her feelings out in the open and let things fall where they may. "I just don't think I'm ready yet, even though I'm sure everyone probably thinks we already are." She let out a self conscious laugh. "I guess that probably surprises you since I..."

Nick interrupted before she could finish. "Sara, I know you, and it doesn't surprise me." He knew that she wasn't the kind of woman that rushed into anything; especially relationships and he was going to take great care to keep her trust.

Her eyes implored him to understand as she looked into his deep brown eyes. "I don't want you to have any doubt about my intentions when we get to that point." She felt guilty for even having suggested to him what she had a few days before, but at the same time it had opened the door for their relationship to go beyond the bounds of friendship.

"And I don't want you to doubt mine either." Nick whispered softly as he leaned in and gently kissed her.