A.N. This is the penultimate chapter, so this will be finished just before I go to university on the 2nd of October. This is dedicated to all those who are starting university or college soon! Good luck to you all!
Crash chapter 13
One hour and 1 very shaky start later, Sara and Nick were paddling their raft for all they were worth across the lake. There were two rafts ahead of them, but both of these rafts had immediately taken the lead, and so Nick and Sara felt quite confident that they would tire soon.
Nick and Sara's raft, whilst being one of the biggest, was also one of the most stable, with an extra log under each of the four sides, to ensure extra buoyancy. This meant that, as other rafts wobbled, swayed, dipped and, even in one case, disintegrated as the people rowed from them, Sara and Nick's always stayed upright.
As they started to gain on the people in front of them, who seemed to be beginning to tire, Nick and Sara glanced at each other and, at exactly the same time, sped up their rowing, working together seamlessly as always.
Sara marvelled at how similar they were. She loved the feeling that she got around Nick. He seemed like her male twin – someone who always knew what she was thinking, often because he was thinking the same thing. Yet she also found him devastatingly attractive and sexy, to the extent that she sometimes became slightly tongue-tied around him, although she was getting better as she started to feel more and more comfortable around him.
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5 harrowing minutes later Sara and Nick overtook the last remaining person in front just in time to be the winners.
Smiling at each other as Nick got off the raft and then gave Sara a hand up, since she still wasn't too mobile with her broken leg, before handing her her crutches, they could both see the challenge in each others' eyes. Since they had both won this race, that was a score of 2 each.
The next activity would decide the winner.
And they both wanted to be it.
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As the guide blew the whistle signalling the start of the obstacle course – their last activity – Sara gave it her best shot, knowing that she wouldn't do very well at all. Focusing on the ground she concentrated on walking in the slippery mud with her crutches. About 100 yards later, having passed 4 people who seemed unable to get up out of the mud, or who had twisted ankles from falling because they had been running too fast, she felt that maybe the crutches were a good idea, and had saved her a great deal of embarrassment!
However, as she continued to concentrate on moving slowly, the last thing she expected to see was a large hand come into her field of vision, and slide under her arm and around her back, allowing part of her weight to be put on this kind person's shoulder.
Sara leaned heavily on Nick, knowing that she would need to save her strength as much as possible – the course was far from over!
Smiling up at him, she asked "So, what about winning, with that extremely quick score you were telling me you were going to get earlier?"
Nick grinned back down at her, and gave her a quick peck on the lips, before replying "Well, this is a date, and I realised on the last activity, I prefer working in a team with you, because then I get to be close to you and enjoy time with you. Winning suddenly seems really insignificant when I'm around you."
Nick's comment brought tears to Sara's eyes. She had never imagined anyone could ever feel like that around her.
Nick saw the reaction his comment had evoked in Sara, and immediately stopped and gave her a huge hug, kissing her tenderly on the top of her head.
"You're the most important thing to me Sar, not winning, not getting a fast time, not getting the next promotion or making it as far as I can in my job." He wanted to prove to her how different he was from Grissom. "You're too important to me for anything else to matter!"
Sara hugged Nick back, lost for words. Pulling back slightly she opened her mouth to tell him how she felt, but no words came out. Looking into her eyes, Nick saw what she felt, and how she didn't have the words to describe it, and smiled at her again, before saying "I know, Sar, you don't have to say anything." He then enveloped her in another hug.
A few moments later, they pulled away from each other, and continued with the course, more at ease with each other than they had ever been before.
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A rickety bridge, some minor obstacles, and a very funny incident, which had involved Nick trying to swing across a trench of freezing cold water whilst holding Sara's crutches, and so had ultimately culminated in him falling rather ungracefully into said water, they arrived at the last mud field of the course.
As Nick started onto it, still helping Sara, she held out an arm stopping him.
"No Nick, I'm gonna do this bit on my own! I want to finish and start this on my own. Besides, I have my crutches!"
Nick looked at her, and could see the determination in her eyes. He knew how much she prided herself on being strong and independent, and so knew how important this would be to her. However, he didn't want to leave her like this.
"Are you sure, Sar?"
Sar smiled up at him. She could see the protectiveness in his eyes, and knew he didn't want to let her go on her own, but she wanted to do this herself.
"Yes, Nicky, I'm sure! Now go and get your fast score!" she said, giving him a little push.
With a last glance at Sara, Nick started off at a run for the finish line that he could see in the distance.
So it was of some surprise to Sara when she came across Nick sprawled in the mud less than 50 metres from where he had left her.
"Aww, Nicky, what happened?" she asked, trying to hold back her laughter at the sight of Nick covered in mud from head to toe.
"I slipped," he muttered, wiping away some mud that was trying to drip into his eyes and that was covering the whole right-hand side of his face. Looking at Sar, who was standing there with her head slightly tilted to the side, he relented and added "about 5 times."
Sara couldn't help it then. She giggled and rather than helping him up, she set off for the end of the field, calling back over her shoulder "See you at the finish line Nicky."
About 5 seconds later she felt someone put their hands around her waist and she felt herself being gently but firmly tackled into the mud.
"Nick!" she squealed as she landed in the mud.
"I can't have it getting around the lab that a woman with a broken leg beat me on an obstacle course! I have an athletic "hard" rep to maintain you know," he said, momentarily flexing one of his biceps.
Sara dissolved into a fit of giggles hearing him describe himself as "hard", and just looked at him from her very enjoyable vantage point of beneath him.
"Darn," she said, pretending to be disappointed to be lying under him rather than making her way to the end of the course, "now I can't win!"
Looking at her pout, Nick smiled and kissed her on the end of her nose, before rolling off her and offering her a hand up, which she gratefully took.
"Lets draw," he said, walking next to her as she made her way to the finish line.
A.N.2/ Please review! Please!
