Headliner

Chapter 23

Nick stroked the top of Sara's head as she cried. He had been having a dream of his own. He was playing major league baseball with the Chicago Cubs when out of nowhere, the third baseman started weeping. Soon the tears became too much and he awoke, only to find it wasn't his dream. Someone was really crying. His first thought was to check on Lexi, but he heard her playing her music and singing along. No, these tears must've belonged to someone else in the house. As he neared her room, the noise got louder. It was definitely Sara who was crying.

He was instantly fearful as he saw her body racked with sobs. He had no clue what had upset her and he didn't dare ask, so he chose to comfort her and began stroking her hair. She finally fell asleep about two in the afternoon. She didn't stir and he hoped she wasn't having any nightmares. He wondered if that was what had thrown her into distress.

Sara awoke at six and groaned. She had to be at work in two and a half hours. She threw the covers back and was surprised to hear a grunt. She rolled over and saw that Nick was sleeping next to her. She vaguely remembered him coming a few hours earlier when she was crying. Great, she thought, he probably thinks I'm a major wuss. That's just what I need. She sighed and got up. She set her alarm for Nick's sake for fifteen minutes later and went to the bathroom to get ready for the work night.

Nick drove in a hated silence. He really didn't like how often they seemed to have nothing to say to each other on the ride over. "So," he started.

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped.

"I wasn't going to ask you anything about whatever you're thinking about, Sara. I was just going to ask if you thought Grissom would have anything tough for us tonight."

"Oh. Sorry, I'm a little tired. I hope he doesn't have anything too difficult. Hey, Nick, I'm telling him tonight, before Greg does. He's just started getting off my back and I don't want to upset him anymore."

"That's fine with me. I don't want him mad at me either. Sar, Lexi's got her school thing tomorrow. If you want to get some sleep, I'll go. I don't mind."

"No, I want to go. She's my kid." At Nick's downfallen look she shook her head. "I'll think about it. Ask me after work."


Sara's mood during work did not improve any. In fact, it got worse. She snapped at everyone more than once. They were all quite fed up with her as the shift wound down. She had put Greg in a foul place and no amount of begging would get him to make a pot of his special coffee. Nick had given up trying to be civil with her. He convinced Warrick to take him out to breakfast and gave Sara the keys.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"I'm going out and you need a way to get home. I'll be there later."

"It's not like we're married; you can do whatever you want."

Nick was puzzled by the remark but he didn't press the matter. He didn't see the need to indulge in another argument. He sighed and walked off.

He came home later that morning to a dim house although the living room wasn't empty. Sara sat with her eyes closed on the sofa, a bottle of beer in her hand. Apparently she'd heard him coming. "There's more in the fridge if you want one," she mumbled.

"No thanks. I've got to take Lexi to her school in about six hours."

"About that," Sara said raising a finger in the air, "I don't think I'm going to that. I'm going to stay here and sleep."

"That's probably a good idea." He glanced at the trash can next to the coffee table and couldn't help but notice the empty bottles. "Hey Sara, how many of those have you had?"

"Just three," she said holding up four fingers, "Oh, plus two, so six?"

"Close enough," he stated. "You about ready to go to bed?"

"Me, sleep with you? I don't think so Nick. What would Catherine think?"

"First of all, I meant you sleeping in your own bed, and secondly, who cares what Catherine thinks?"

"I do. I know she doesn't like to be cheated on and I wouldn't want you to make a mistake."

He knew she was drunk and probably wouldn't remember much of the conversation later, but he couldn't ignore the insane comments. "Sara, what are you talking about?"

"Our wedding, Nick, our wedding. Remember?"

"Actually, no. Why don't you describe it to me?"

"Men are so forgetful," she complained, "Alright, we were getting married. Grissom was giving me away; it was so sweet. But you, you left me at the altar and started making out with Catherine. You offered to let Grissom have me, but even he said no. Surely that rings a few bells." She poked at the side of her head. "Of course, the after party was worse when my mom pushed me off a cliff. All because my brother was just like her. Parents, what can you do with them?"

Nick stood by the couch, stunned. She could not be making this up as she went along. This must've been the bad dream that had her so wound up yesterday. In her drunken state she must've thought everything was true. When she was sober she must be thinking it would come to be true, at least the part about the wedding. He had no idea where the cliff came from. All at once he felt like such an idiot for ignoring her today. Granted she was in a pissy mood, but he should've tried harder to get to the bottom of it instead of brushing it off.

He looked down at her, only to realize she was fast asleep. He checked the time. It was nearing seven-thirty. He didn't want Alexis to wake up and see her mother like this, so he placed his arms gently underneath Sara and carried her to her room. As he laid her on the bed, she stirred a little and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're so good to me," she whispered, smelling his hair. Nick stepped back out of the room and slowly shut the door.

She did not sleep peacefully. There were no dreams, but she was tormented by the ever-nagging thought that she had done something completely ridiculous. She knew it had to have been something to do with Nick because his face kept coming to her mind, but as she as fully dressed and not at all mussed up, she could assume they hadn't done anything too dramatic. Strangely, she couldn't remember Nick participating in the insanity. No, this was something she had done all alone.

She closed her eyes to rethink back on they day's events. She shouted at Nick, Greg, Catherine, and Warrick countless times. She'd been so busy biting their heads off that she hadn't done what she was planning, telling Grissom about the relationship. She had driven home alone. Nick needed space, most likely from her. Lexi was sleeping and so she'd gone straight to the fridge and grabbed the first thing she saw: beer. Nick had an abundance of it. She knew she should avoid it; it always got her into trouble, but the brew was calling on her. By the fourth one, she was no longer in control. She vaguely remembered Nick coming home, but she couldn't recall the time. He had tried to talk to her, but she had initiated the conversation. He had become concerned, almost fearful, at something she had said.

She racked her brain, trying to grasp just what she had said. She was overcome with frustration and sat up in her bed. She reached for the remote on the bedside table and flipped on the television. She clicked through the channels and paused when she reached one showing a beautiful garden. It was then that she saw it. A bride walked down the aisle with her father at her side. Sara instantly remembered telling Nick about her dream, although she had really accused him of leaving her at the altar. She jumped out of bed and ran from the room.

She covered her ears when she found Nick in the kitchen. He was throwing bottles into the trash and the sound amplified inside her skull. "Hey, you want to stop that for a sec?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were sleeping," he said rather unenthusiastically.

"I was, kind of. Nick, I'm not jealous of Catherine."

He gave a quick laugh. "That's good. I'm not jealous of her either. Now that we've got that settled," he trailed off.

"And I don't want Grissom to marry me."

"Okay. I'll let him know tonight."

She frowned at his lack of understanding. "That stuff that I told you about today, none of it was true."

"I figured as much. Sara, I'm throwing away all of the beer. All it does is get one of us in trouble." He continued to pull bottles out of the fridge and set them into the can, so as not to make so much noise.

"Nick, my mother killed my father."

He dropped a bottle and it missed the trashcan, shattering into tiny pieces, sending alcohol all over. "We just can't keep this kitchen clean can we? Come over here," he said taking her hand, "and talk to me."

"I was a lot younger than I am now, and my mother got pissed. They fought all the time and he hit her. She had taken the abuse for the last time and stabbed him. He died. They took her away and I haven't seen her since."

He embraced her slowly. "Sara, I'm so sorry. No one deserves having to go through that. No one. We've got a bigger problem here, don't we?"
"What do you mean?"

"All of your talk about me leaving you at the altar for Catherine isn't just a dream, is it?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

He got up and grabbed the broom and dust pan. "Fine, but we're going to have to deal with it sooner or later. Something's bothering you and you're going to have to tell me. This thing we're doing, you and me, it's only going to work if we're honest with each other."

She nodded and walked back to her room. He sighed and began to clean the broken glass.


A/N: Let me know your thoughts please.