There was just something about the whole situation that made Nick feel like he was the one that didn't belong there despite the fact that he'd been invited over and he'd just shared a rather intense kiss with Sara. As for Grissom, he looked like he'd just been caught doing something that he swore he'd never do; an expression that wasn't lost on Sara who was feeling even more conflicted than she had just a few seconds before.

Nick was the first one to move. "Sara, I should probably go, I just remembered that I need to go do something." Yeah, like kick himself in the ass for kissing a woman who clearly had something going on with their supervisor. Shit. How in the hell could he have been so stupid not to notice? And why the hell had they kept it a secret in the first place? There was not a single person on the night shift that would have objected on a personal level; on a professional level maybe, but none of them would begrudge the others a measure of personal happiness given the hell they faced everyday.

"Nick, you don't need to go." Sara hoped that her tone didn't betray to Grissom what had just transpired, but she could tell by the expression on Nick's face that there was no way he was going to stay given the way that Grissom had entered the apartment.

Grissom studied the pair; Sara seemed unsettled and Nick looked a bit taken aback by the intrusion, but there was something more there as well; hurt, confusion maybe. Whatever it was, there was clearly something that had transpired while he was not there and his sudden arrival with key in hand had definitely not been expected, at least by Nick.

Nick glanced at Grissom and then back at Sara as he pulled himself off of the couch, the pizza, beer and movie completely forgotten at this point. "No, I think I definitely need to go." He felt hurt. True, he had kissed her, but she had kissed him back and she at least had the benefit of the knowledge that she was apparently seeing someone. If he had known or at least had any inkling that there was an actual romance brewing between Sara and Grissom, he would have never even tried to kiss her. As it was now, he felt the need to retreat with his tail between his legs and lick his wounds in the privacy of his own home. Maybe by the time his administrative leave was over he wouldn't feel like such a royal idiot for not putting the pieces together before.

"Nick." Sara's eyes pleaded with him to understand as she stood up, but that was difficult to expect of him since she was having a hard time understanding what had just happened herself. She glanced over at Grissom and shot him a glare; his timing was impeccable, but then she had to remind herself that he could have walked in just a few moments before and really gotten a show. As it was he looked clearly confused as to what in the hell was going on.

"I'll talk to you later, ok?" Nick glanced at Grissom once more before he looked back at Sara. "I think I really need to go." He couldn't seem to get out of there fast enough.

As the door shut behind him, Sara turned and leveled a glare at Grissom who seemed somewhat oblivious to the fact that she was pissed off. He simply stepped towards her with the flowers in hand and reached out to touch her cheek. If Sara had yelled that wouldn't have concerned him nearly as much as the controlled whisper that came out of her mouth. "Don't touch me right now."

Grissom's brow furrowed. "Sara, honey." He really didn't know what to do about this. She was obviously upset, but he wasn't clear if she was upset at him or upset in general. It had been an incredibly stressful day and it was possible that either was true. He reached out for her again.

"Don't." Sara's voice caught in her throat as she raised her hand. There were tears slipping down her cheeks again and she looked at Grissom almost as if she didn't know him at that moment. "I don't want you to touch me."

"Ok, but then are you going to tell me what's going on?" Clearly he was out of the loop somehow and it made him feel incredibly vulnerable; something that he was definitely not comfortable with. He was very quickly slipping into investigator mode and placed the flowers on her coffee table.

"Sophia." Sara looked at Grissom full in the face, her own hurt clearly evident.

Grissom stood there with his mouth partially open before he finally managed a sentence. "Sophia." He really had no idea what she was inferring. If she was accusing him of seeing Sophia romantically, it was simply not true; she should know better given the fact that it was now common knowledge that Sophia was seeing Alex Vartan. He had never viewed Sophia as anything other than a good friend.

Sara let out a frustrated sigh and nodded. "She's fighting for her life and what if no one knew that she and Vartan were seeing each other? What if he wasn't notified?" She had been mulling this over all day. "What if she died and he heard about it in passing?"

The implication was clear to Grissom now; this relationship between them had finally blossomed a month before Brass had been shot and they had agreed to keep it a secret; to keep it a part of their own little world. Apparently, Sara seemed to be having second thoughts. "But he didn't and he's there." He needed to employ a bit of rational thought here before things got completely out of control.

"Grissom, listen to me." The urgency in Sara's voice stopped him cold. "What if that had been you or me?" She wanted to let that thought sink in deeply; to let him think about it for a good long while like she had since they'd first gotten together. The issue had been danced around when Brass had been shot, but now that Sophia was in the ICU and the revelation that she and Vartan had been having a very serious relationship that almost no one knew about made this a very real issue for Sara that she wasn't about to let go of.

"But it wasn't you or me." Grissom was floundering; he had no idea how to calm her down; to get her to reason.

Sara looked at him in disbelief. "You just don't get it, do you?" She really had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but at the moment she really didn't see much of an option.

Grissom's brow was furrowed. "What am I supposed to get, Sara?" He thought if she could step back from things for a moment and approach them logically that perhaps she could see just how irrational she was being.

Sara's eyes narrowed in anger and her voice was maybe a little too controlled. "This. Us. It's not working." By the shock registering on his face she knew that she finally had his attention.

"I thought it was working wonderfully." Grissom had been perfectly satisfied with their relationship; they had a little cocoon that was a safe place to retreat from the harsh world that they worked in; he saw no reason to disrupt things. He couldn't have disagreed with Sara more.

"It's not working for me." Sara was exasperated as she looked at him, but her voice sounded defeated. "I don't think it's going wonderfully." It wasn't that she didn't care about Grissom; she probably cared about him too much and in the process, she'd sacrificed part of herself.

"Why?" Grissom was scared. All of those doubts he'd had as he'd investigated Debbie Marlin's murder came flashing back; maybe he and Sara should have never gotten involved.

"Is what we have really a relationship?" Sara had obviously been thinking about this for a while. "Or is this just a little fantasy that we act out once in a while?" She had been happy at first just being with him, but now she just wasn't sure anymore.

"Sara." Grissom stepped towards her wanting to do something; he just wasn't sure what. "You're not just a fantasy." His voice was almost a whisper and the tone was uncertain.

"Yes, I am." She looked at him sadly. "You don't want anyone to know that there is an us, so in essence this is a fantasy." In reality she was constantly having to make sure she didn't slip up at work and say something to someone; she couldn't join in when the people around her talked about their significant others; as far as they were concerned, she was a workaholic with no social life.

"We agreed it would be better if no one knew." Grissom was frustrated; they had agreed to it; he didn't think that it was fair that she changed her mind midstream.

Sara looked visibly upset as she spoke, her arms crossed over her chest. "Better for who? For you maybe, for your career. Not better for me. Did you know that before you got here Nick kissed me?"

Shock was visible on Grissom's face. "He what?" A million things went through his mind; not the least of which was the motive he had suggested to Dr. Lurie about why he thought he'd killed Debbie Marlin; his worst fear was that Sara would leave him for someone younger.

Her voice was softer now. "He kissed me." She wasn't sure how much she should tell Grissom, but she reasoned that if this was confession time, he deserved to hear it all. "And I kissed him back."

Grissom looked crushed. "Why?" It wasn't the best response, but it was all he had. It seemed that in the span of a few moments this relationship that had been his special secret was crumbling.

"He probably kissed me because he had no idea that I was seeing you." Sara's frustration oozed out in her tone.

"No, that's not what I meant." Grissom shook his head. "Why did you kiss him back?" Grissom was at a complete loss; he apparently wasn't enough for her and he felt that he certainly couldn't compete with someone younger.

"I don't know." Sara's expression was pained; she did know at least part of the answer, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.