DISCLAIMER:Don't Own it. No Money Made... Just for fun and enjoyment.
A/N: Okay... I'm on a writing high at the moment, so I'm giving you another chapter tonight :D By this time tomorrow I should be finishing up the climatic chapters :D
REVIEWS: Thanks to all who have reviewed.
Chapter 29
She had been hoping for a nice quiet ride back to the lab, but Sara's first mistake was in letting Nick drive. The second was in letting him chose the radio station. She had already been treated to his interpretation of "Ole Lonesome Me" and a particularly obnoxious version of "Stand By Your Man." It was just her luck that he had found a classic country radio program playing at that moment. Her only hope now was to try and convince him to find something, anything else to listen to for their ride.
"Nick, please turn the station, man… You're killing me with that twang." Sara pleaded to him through a pained and pouty expression.
Nick laughed at her attempt to persuade him with her feminine whiles, "That stuff don't work on me, Sar." They were still playing commercials on the radio, so he figured he had a little more time, "Tell ya what… You give me one more song, and I'll change it to something else, deal?"
"Thank you!" Sara agreed quickly, because at this rate, she would be ready to get her own pickup truck and a hound dog in no time flat.
When the last commercial faded out, she was counting the seconds until she was finally rid of the hillbilly music that Nick seemed to be so fond of. When the song began to play, she realized she had gotten her hopes up too soon.
Crazy I'm crazy for feelin' so lonely.
I'm crazy, crazy for feelin' so blue.
It could have been any song, so why did it have to be this one, she thought. Sara was not sure why whatever god there was had become so mad at her, but she needed to figure out what it was and fix it fast.
I knew you'd love me as long as you wanted
and then some day you'd leave me for somebody new.
The last thing I need is to hear these damned lyrics. She did not understand why Nick could not see how much this song was hurting her, but he was too busy paying attention to the road.
Worry, why do I let myself worry
wondering what in the world did I do.
Oh my god! If I wasn't crazy before, now it's confirmed. Sara was getting dangerously close to losing her control. This song hit way to close to home for her comfort.
Crazy for thinking that my love could hold you.
I'm crazy for trying
and crazy for crying
and I'm crazy for loving you.
Just when Sara thought she was going to shatter into a million pieces, the radio was suddenly turned to another station. "I can't listen to that song sober… Depresses me too bad."
Sara struggled to pull herself together long enough to turn away from the window and talk to Nick. She knew that if she remained silent for too long, he would grow concerned. She steeled herself to looking in his direction and as she turned she spoke, "And what does it do for you when you're drunk?"
"Oh Sara, you ain't heard singin' 'til you catch me wailin' away on a few too many." As much as Sara felt like she was about to fall apart, Nick was always able to find a way to make her laugh, and so she did. "Finally!"
When she was able to stop laughing she had to ask, "Finally, what?"
Nick shook his head before answering, "I been waitin' all shift for my friend Sara to show up. Where's she been tonight? Or for that matter all week?"
She took a deep breath, because she knew this had been building up for a while, "I've just been a little out of it, I guess. Nothing that won't pass, Nicky. I swear."
Nick reached across the car and laid a hand on her forearm, "Well, you know I'm here for you, right? I mean, I know I ain't been the best person to lean on lately, but I'm there if you need me, Sar." The concern in his voice was obvious and Sara had to admit that she loved him all the more for it.
"I know, Nick… And if I thought it would help, you'd be the first… Honest." She looked directly at him as she spoke, to make sure he knew that she was being totally honest with him. Nick had been there for her more times than she could even begin to count. And although her friendship with Warrick was just as real, Nick seemed to have this amazing timing when it came to being a knight in shining armor sometimes. Sara may have been lacking in a protective family when she was growing up, but she now had it in spades. She knew without a doubt that these men would step in front a train to save her (even when that train was actually Sara, herself).
When he returned his focus to the road, Nick was satisfied that Sara would be fine. He had been sensing for some time that she was working through her problems with Grissom, but he had also been caught up in his own problems a lot, as of late, and he worried that maybe he had been lacking in his duties as a true friend.
Unlike Nick, Sara did not have another family to fall back on when she was in need, and he felt an obligation to be that family for her. Nick felt blessed to have come from such an amazing family, but when people like Sara came into his life, he almost felt guilty for how good he had it growing up. In his guilt, he did everything he could to make sure those people knew how much they meant to him, and with Sara it went double.
Even when they were competing with each other for that promotion, he still felt that way about her. He knew it was not infatuation, or any kind of romantic interest, because he had never felt that way about her, but he knew he would always be there if she needed him. Besides, Nick knew that Sara carried a serious torch for Grissom, and most everyone else had figured it out a long time ago. In fact, it was one of the few things that Nick had any animosity towards Grissom about; his inability to see her affection for him or, if he did see, that he had never had the guts to do anything about it.
Nick and everyone else on their team knew that Grissom had feelings for Sara which went way over to another level than that of the rest of his team. It was just that he was either too afraid or too stubborn to do anything about it. For that, Nick felt very sorry for the both of them.
That was what made the last few weeks somewhat ironic for Nick. While it seemed that Sara was cleansing herself of the last vestiges of her attraction to Grissom, the man actually appeared to be making a real effort to connect with her on that other level. He decided that it really was true; timing was everything. And this time, Grissom's timing was way off.
The thought stayed with Nick for the rest of their long drive from Boulder City back to the lab. They were not silent for the journey, but the rest of their conversations definitely bordered on small talk and dealt mostly with the scene they had just processed, and that seemed to suit them both just fine.
Everything that needed to be said had already passed between them, and they both understood that. Nick only wished he could do something to help her through this rough patch, but he also knew from experience that sometimes a person just needed to do it on their own.
