Chapter Two: Is It Everything You Dreamed It Would Be

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or CSI. I do however own my imagination, my Muse, my insanity, my fangirliness and my dreams.

A/N:- Sorry it took so long – I got sidetracked but a rather intimidating review from Britishprincess certainly brought me back to my senses. Hehe. Here's the second and last part. It's not quite a fic and not quite a one-shot – just think of it as an extended post-ep.

They drove the short distance to the restaurant in comfortable silence, listening to the radio until they pulled up at an out of the way place that Sara had never seen before. Nick led her inside where they were met by a smartly dressed man.

"The booking's under 'Stokes'." Nick told him.

The manager checked the book and then escorted them to their table, leaving them with their menus.

"Wow, this place really is something." Sara said looking around. The restaurant was large and exquisite, decorated in rich reds and golds and each table was adorned with a single candle with no other source of light in the room. It was very, dare she even think it, romantic and she had to almost pinch herself to check that she wasn't in one of her childhood dreams where her perfect guy would take her to a perfect restaurant and they would have the perfect evening ….

"You like it?" Nick asked, looking up from the wine list. He had been wondering whether he had made the right decision to come here as he wasn't sure whether it was Sara's thing but after seeing the way she looked tonight he was confident that they could have a good time here. She gave him a small smile in response. "Any preference on wine?" he asked.

"As long as it's wet and alcoholic then I'll drink it."

Nick chuckled and ordered their drinks. "So …"

"So…" Sara said at the same time.

They laughed at each other nervously.

"Thanks for tonight." Sara said, showing her appreciation.

"Oh don't thank me yet." Nick laughed. "You haven't seen what I've got planned for after this."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"Nope." Nick said chuckling. "Patience is a virtue Ms Sidle."

"A virtue I don't have." She replied, pouting.

The waiter came with their drinks and they settled back to examine the menus. Sara understood one word in every five in the names of the dishes and was thankful the description underneath was in a language she understood.

"So …. tell me something I don't know." Nick said, sipping his drink after they had ordered.

"Well I bet you didn't know that Romans made the first popsicle?" Sara replied.

Nick hid a smile. "I meant about yourself."

"Oh." Sara said with a frown. "Well, I don't like parsnips."

Nick shook his head slightly. "Fine, be evasive."

"Well, what about you? Why did you move from Texas?" Sara questioned, hoping that Nick would let her divert the attention from her to him and fell into an attentive silence as Nick told the funny story of how he had ended up living in Vegas. By the time he had finished, their food had arrived and they got talking about movies, music and television.

"You're wrong you know." Nick said chuckling as he finished off his last potato and placed his cutlery. "No way is that the best movie ever."

"Oh and what is yours? Legally Blonde?" Sara replied, swirling the wine around in her glass.

"Am I THAT obvious?" Nick smirked. "Dessert?"

Sara nodded and picked up the dessert menu and began to study it, oblivious to the fact that Nick in his turn was studying her.

She was beautiful – how did he not notice it before? Maybe he had always noticed it but had just kept denying it to himself that he had ever thought it. He watched as the candles flickered and shadows played around her face. He loved how innocent she looked right now as if the only problem in her life was deciding whether to have the gateau or the cheesecake and he wished she could always be this relaxed and carefree. He always thought that she looked like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders which is why he had told her she had to get out more, but now, right in this moment, she looked almost peaceful and content. She just needed someone to look after her and love her and Nick wanted to be that guy. Somewhere, deep down, he had always wanted to be that guy. As she began to look up, Nick dropped his eyes back to his menu and bit down on his bottom lip. Dammit this was just meant to be dinner with a friend – so why did these thoughts keep running through his head?

She had felt his eyes on her but had kept her eyes fixed on the menu in front of her, barely reading the words. Why was he looking at her like that? What was he thinking? Was he wondering why the hell he had agreed to take her to dinner? Surely he didn't think this evening was going that badly did he? She for one was having more fun than she had allowed herself in a long long time. All thoughts of awkwardness and uncomfortable silence had been pushed from her head. They had talked non-stop every since their food was brought and she was surprised by how much they had in common – films, music … they had even debated the long contested question of which pizza company made the best pizza and all the time the conversation hadn't been forced but it flowed naturally. This evening she had got to see past the good-looking CSI and see the charming, enigmatic Nick Stokes. He had such a charming personality and a great sense of humour, Sara could very easily see why girls found him an all-round attractive guy.

She dropped her menu and looked across the table. "I don't think I could possibly manage dessert." She said, patting her stomach.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, I'll have a chocolate sundae." Nick said, turning to the waiter. "And could you bring two spoons please?"

"Why two spoons?" Sara asked, her eyebrows raised questioningly after the waiter had gone.

"Trust me, when you see this sundae, you won't be able to say no, no matter how full you are." Nick grinned.

Sara forced a smile and tried to keep her voice nonchalant. "You take girls here often?" she asked with a forced lightness to her tone.

"Only ones I really care about." Nick said matter of factly.

Sara struggled to find a hint of flirtation of teasing in his voice but it seemed he was perfectly serious and she couldn't hold his gaze for long.

"So it's only been you, my Mum and one of my sisters when they came up to visit." Nick continued. "And even they didn't get the pleasure of sharing my dessert with me." He said, his face finally breaking into a cheerful grin as the waiter put down a large chocolate sundae complete with an abundance of whipped cream. Nick pushed it into the centre of the table and handed Sara a spoon. "You won't regret it."

Just looking at it, Sara could feel her mouth watering but she wasn't going to succumb to it without putting up the slightest bit of resistance. "Thanks but I really am full."

Nick looked at her disbelievingly. He could read her like a book and it disconcerted her. No one else before had ever been able to tell what she was thinking from just looking at her …. But maybe that was more to do with the fact no one else had bothered trying.

"Fine. Suit yourself." He said as he dug in, making all the necessary exaggerated sounds of enjoying the dessert.

"Sure I can't tempt you?" He said, reaching forward and waving the spoon under Sara's nose.

"You can't but the ice cream certainly can." She said with a smile and leant forward and ate a bit off of the spoon.

"That's cute Sidle." Nick said with a smirk.

Sara reached for the other spoon and they devoured the dessert together in silence for awhile.

"You know I never asked you before … why Vegas?"

"Why Vegas what?" Sara questioned looking up from the ice cream. It was just sooo chocolaty.

"Why did you choose to move here from San Francisco?"

"I needed a change and Grissom needed me so here I am."

Nick put down his spoon and pushed the remainder of the dessert Sara's way. "Right." He said heavily. Of course it was Grissom. Anything for Grissom. He had known all along – they all knew, it was so obvious. So why was it only now when he heard her say his name did he feel like he wanted to punch something?

Sara looked across at Nick and bit down on her bottom lip. She was on some pseudo-date with her good friend who also happened to be this great guy who, if they never worked together, she wouldn't have a hope in hell in attracting and in typical Sara fashion she had to go put her foot in it. Why did she have to mention Grissom? Why couldn't she have said for the excitement, the thrill, the unbearable heat, the casinos, anything else? Now she was going to have to address this head on and hopefully they could both put it behind them. "It's not what you think."

"What do I think?" Nick said, looking up and meeting her gaze.

"You think I have this giant infatuation with Grissom." She stated. "But I don't."

"Come on Sara, you know, I know ….."

"I don't." Sara insisted. "I did but I don't now. Whilst he is the reason I moved here, it's been a few months now since the last time I ever looked at him like that. Put it down to a schoolgirl's crush or something equally stupid but I think it was more hero-worship and the sense of safety than anything else."

Nick seemed to relax a little on hearing this and looked at her directly. "You don't have to explain anything to me – it's none of my business." He said, then he nudged the bowl signalling that the subject was over. "Come on, eat up."

Sara didn't move or look away, instead searching Nick's eyes for some kind of understanding. His eyes softened and he gave her a small, serious smile. He understood and he believed her, she couldn't ask for more.

"Split the bill." she said, taking her wallet out as the waiter put down the small plate on the table.

"Oh no you don't. This is my treat." Nick said, quickly taking the bill away from her. "Shhh. I don't want to hear any arguments." He said without looking up before Sara even managed to form the words.

She felt stupid but she couldn't help feeling slightly giddy. It had been so long since a guy had taken her out to dinner at a really nice restaurant and paid for it all and generally made her feel special like Nick was doing tonight. It was ridiculous but after this, she would never be able to look at Nick the same way. Before he had been Nick at work who she used to joke with, now he was Nick this gorgeous guy who she was in great danger of slowly falling for. Sara was still thinking these terrifying thoughts as they walked out of the restaurant into the cool night air and back round to the Tahoe.

"So Sara, ready for part two?" Nick grinned, opening the car and pulling out her rucksack.

"You want me to change now?" She questioned. He nodded. "Now? Here?"

Nick chuckled. "Why did you think I parked in the very corner? Climb in the back and with the tinted windows, no one will even notice."

"You get all your girlfriends to strip off in the middle of car parks?" Sara shot, opening her rucksack and pulling out her jeans and T-shirt. It was only when there was a slight hesitation on Nick's part in replying that she realised what she had said. She froze for a minute and then turned towards the Tahoe without meeting his eye. "I'll – just – go change then." She said softly.

Nick watched her climb in and closed the door behind her. Her comment hadn't registered as being anything out of the ordinary – she could have meant girlfriends as in friends he had who were girls – it was just how awkward she had looked afterwards that got him thinking. Sara Sidle really was something of a mystery. Checking that there was no one else around, he unbuttoned his shirt and changed his smart clothes for something a lot more casual.

Five minutes later they were on the road accompanied by some soft country music Nick had playing on the car stereo. Sara was very conscious of the fact that Nick probably thought she was an idiot for earlier and had pretty much kept silent for the whole trip but when after fifteen minutes they were still on the freeway heading out of the city, curiosity got the better of her.

"You going to tell me where we're going yet?" she asked.

"Nope." Nick grinned. He couldn't wait to see her face.

"Can I guess?"

"Sure you can try. Let's see how good of an investigator Ms Sidle really is." Nick smirked.

Sara settled into her chair ready to accept the challenge. "Okay, we're heading somewhere out of town but not too far as we'll be back before the night is out. I'm guessing we're doing something active and possibly energetic, hence the change of clothes. It's dark out so I'm guessing something inside …. Or something which doesn't require too much light ….. I don't know, paintballing?"

"You know, I was thinking of taking you paintballing but I thought we spend six nights of the week getting covered in dirt so you probably wouldn't want to spend your night off scraping paint from your hair." Nick said as he turned off the road down onto a dirt track.

"Okay so something which doesn't involve paint but involves a dark deserted parkland with no one about." Sara said, staring out of the window, trying to find some sort of indication of where they were. Right now she would usually probably insert some flirtatious remark about whether she ought to be scared about being alone in the dark with him but she thought she had already dug herself a grave earlier and she didn't want to bury herself in it as well.

Turned out Nick was ready to do it for her. "Scared I've taken you into the deep dark woods for some hidden purpose of my own?" Nick stabbed as he pulled into a large open space which could barely qualify as a car park.

"Depends what that purpose was." Sara said before biting down hard on her tongue. Was it possible to not flirt with this guy when he was making it so so easy for her!

Nick turned the engine off and got out the car as Sara followed suit. "What about if I told you it involved ropes?" he smirked, pulling out a large black bag from the boot.

"What?"

Nick pointed to a large high natural rock face. "Ever done rock climbing before?"

"Okay, now I'm scared." Sara said, her eyes wide. "Please tell me you're joking Nick."

Nick shook his head and opened the bag and took out ropes, harness, karabiners, helmets and head torches. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"You have a funny idea of fun." Sara said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, I've climbed this rock face hundreds of times. I'll let you up the section where there's loads of foot holes and plenty of rock to grab onto whilst I go up the difficult path next to you." Nick said as he started to unwind the ropes.

"It's dark, it's dangerous and this is just crazy." Sara exclaimed.

"Well …" Nick said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I didn't think it was like Sara Sidle to turn down a challenge."

The corners of Sara's mouth twitched. Why was it that he knew exactly which buttons to press?

"Don't you trust me?" Nick asked, holding out a harness to her.

"I'd trust you more if we stayed with our two feet firmly planted on the ground." Sara answered but then reluctantly took the harness from Nick. "If I die I just want you to know that I'm participating in this against my will." She grumbled.

Nick laughed and headed towards the rocks to get the ropes set up as Sara struggled to find a way into the harness. He knew she wouldn't have the guts to turn down the challenge and he knew that once she made it to the top she would really feel happy at managing to achieve something new.

She followed him over soon after and he attached a headlamp to a helmet before helping her put it on. "Okay, you'll have the main line, a safety line and a rope running across from you and me."

"So basically if I go down, you go down." Sara said, suddenly aware at how close their faces were as he fastened the strap to her helmet.

"Something like that!" Nick said as he struggled to resist the temptation to look into her eyes, instead focussing on threading the strap through the buckle. "Excited yet?"

Excited didn't quite cover it. God he was so close and all she wanted to do was close her eyes and press her lips against his and tell him to forget about the rock climbing but she was Sara Sidle and 'impulsive' wasn't in her vocabulary. "Nervous." She said quietly, her eyes flickering over his before she moved away. She watched him expertly fasten the ropes and test his weight against all of them before motioning her closer and attaching the karabiner to her harness.

"Okay, you're set to go." He announced.

Sara looked up at the imposing rock face above her and with a look of determination she started her ascent.

She had managed to get halfway up before she hit any problems. No matter how hard she looked she couldn't find anything above to grab onto and her feet were squashed onto a ledge far too small. "Erm Nick?" she called.

Nick looked down and across at her. "Okay look up and to your left. There should be a rock jutting out for you to grab onto." He told her.

Sara looked up and as soon as she did so her feet slipped and a quick tug on her harness left her hanging and she screamed out in shock.

"It's alright. Hang on." Nick said, loosening his rope and lowering himself to her level. Then he moved across and placing a hand on either side of Sara's waist, lifted her up to the nearest foothold.

Sara's breath caught in her throat but she told herself that it was just from the shock of the fall rather than the fact she had Nick's hands on her.

"Okay?" Nick said, his hands still holding her in place.

"I think." Sara said as she clung onto a rock above and heaved herself up. Nick waited where he was, checking that she wasn't going to stumble again. "Stop staring at my ass." Sara called down tongue-in-cheek.

"But it's just so fine!" Nick chuckled, moving away and climbing up again. And yes it did seem it was physically impossible not to flirt with this girl.

Half an hour and a lot of effort later Sara hauled herself up to the top, untied herself from the rope and pulled her helmet off, shaking her hair out. "Wow." She said. From where they sat she could see all out over the bright lights of Vegas and no matter how artificial it was, it really was stunning in its own way.

"Worth the climb?" Nick grinned.

"You know it's kind of beautiful when you're not down there working the crime scenes." Sara reflected, cocking her head to one side.

"Yeah. So that wasn't too torturous was it?" Nick questioned.

"No." Sara said. They sat in silence for a bit catching their breath and taking in the view before them. "Nick, thanks for tonight." Sara said quietly.

"Anytime." Nick smiled and held her gaze. He had had the perfect evening and he could only remember a handful of first dates that had gone this well – and this wasn't even a date! Suddenly Sara giggled. "What?"

"You've got rock dust all over you." She said and leant forward to rub it off his cheek without realising how close it would bring them.

She could feel his breath on her face and his eyes boring into hers intently. She dropped her hand. This had been an amazing ending to what had been a pretty bad day and looking at him now she knew that all she wanted was right there in front of her. Kind of ironic since she didn't believe in the cliché. Her ability to read men was extremely poor and since she had already mucked up one friendship with a colleague due to her bad judgement, she wasn't going to take any risks with this one. She didn't know what Nick wanted but if he, by any chance, wanted the same things as her, then she would let him ask her out next time.

She turned away and left Nick regretting that he hadn't leant forward and brushed his lips against hers but he was such a coward and he had no idea whether she was ready for this to happen between them. They had started this date as friends and maybe they should end it as friends – at least for now anyway.

Sara moved over and peered over the edge when suddenly something dawned on her. "Erm Nick? How are we going to get back down?" She asked, turning towards him.

Nick just grinned. "Ever tried abseiling?"

A/N:- The end! So I didn't have them kiss, am I just evil?