"This isn't about how I feel, Grissom. This is about Sara." Nick clenched his jaw in frustration, he didn't want to detract from the issue at hand; he needed to know for sure if the man before him; his friend, was going to be a man. Once he made his own decision to pursue Sara, nothing was going to deter him except maybe Sara herself.

"But you love her, don't you?" Grissom wasn't put off. He wanted to know what Nick's intention was here; was he simply a concerned friend or did this go much deeper? He had lost faith in the security of his relationship with Sara and he wasn't sure he could risk everything to win her back if there was even a remote chance that she wouldn't pick a younger man like Nick.

Nick wasn't going to answer his question; Sara didn't even really know exactly how he felt beyond that kiss they'd shared, he certainly didn't feel right laying his cards out to Grissom before he'd had a chance to consider exactly how he wanted to play them in the first place. "Do you love her?"

Grissom looked at him with an exasperated expression. "How can you ask me that?" He had been perfectly happy and secure in his relationship with Sara until all hell had broken loose; technically Nick hadn't known that Sara and he had been seeing each other when he'd kissed her, but it didn't change the after effects. He thought he loved her, wasn't that why they had been seeing each other; why it had taken so long to finally take that leap into being together?

Nick let out a frustrated growl and his words came out a bit more intensely than he'd intended. "Maybe because if you loved her the way you think you do, you wouldn't have to decide what was more important; her or your career." Before she was anything else to him, she was his friend and he did not like the way that the man she'd been seeing had been treating her. If you loved someone you didn't hide it unless you had something to hide.

Grissom didn't know what to say; he wasn't used to being taken to task by a subordinate, but this wasn't about work and he really couldn't reprimand Nick for telling the truth; regardless of whether Nick would admit his feelings for Sara, Grissom knew that the younger man was right. He looked defeated as he glanced up. "And you think you'd be better for her." It was a statement of resignation; of a man who had been blindsided and had no idea what to do next.

This was difficult for Nick; he had a great deal of respect for Grissom, but he wasn't going to stand aside any longer, Grissom had his chance with Sara and now he wanted his own. "Maybe I do. I know I certainly would make sure she never had a reason to doubt how I felt about her."

Grissom didn't want to argue; he wanted Sara to be happy and he knew that Nick was a good man. What he couldn't reconcile though was the way his heart felt; he wasn't sure he was ever going to be able to put the pieces back together. "I hope you'll make her happy."

"And you're not even going to put up a fight for her." Nick looked at him incredulously; it didn't make sense to him at all that Grissom couldn't see what he could, what everyone else had seen for the last few years. For some reason that he didn't quite understand, Sara had loved this quirky entomologist and yet he couldn't seem to get it through his self impose armor that she might just come back to him if he'd just make an effort. Sure there were consequences to be had for going public; he understood that, but even if they both lost their careers, they would have still had each other; wasn't that enough?

Grissom didn't say anything further he simply turned and headed towards his vehicle, intent on some unknown destination.

Nick just watched him go; feeling sorry for the man, but also feeling a wad of nerves unfurl in the pit of his stomach as he considered that the road was wide open and if he wanted to pursue Sara he could. He stood there for a long few minutes before he started towards his own vehicle; he didn't hear the footsteps approaching until he heard that voice that made his heart melt.

"Nick." Sara knew that he'd left a while before, but she had also seen Grissom leave right after him and she was afraid of what might have transpired between them. It seemed that her fears were all for naught as she noticed the smile spreading across Nick's face at the sight of her and she didn't seen Grissom anywhere.

"Hey." Nick couldn't keep his admiration for her to himself as he studied her for a moment. "You heading home?" He knew he had to pace himself; he couldn't just let her know how he was feeling and expect her to be in step with him, not when she was still questioning how she was feeling about Grissom.

"Yeah...Sophia's sleeping and Brass is there for Vartan." It seemed like there was something she wanted to ask him but wasn't quite sure how. "I think both Catherine and Warrick left too." She couldn't help but smile at him as they continued walking.

They neared Nick's vehicle and it occurred to him that Sara was looking at him expectantly; he didn't see her small economy car anywhere. "Where did you park?" He didn't see her compact car anywhere close by.

Sara smiled at him nervously as she pointed to the opposite corner of the lot. "I'm way over there actually; I just wanted to talk to you for a minute." She wasn't sure this was really a good idea; she was still trying to process things in her own mind right now, but she knew that she needed to something even if it turned out in the long run to be the wrong thing.

For a second Nick felt fear, wondering if maybe she was going to tell him that she had decided that she wanted to go after Grissom and that the kiss they'd shared had all been a big mistake, even if it had been incredible. "Oh?"

Sara cleared her throat, glancing at the ground before looking back at him. "I've been thinking." She could read the nervousness in his eyes and she smiled reassuringly at him. "I know you said that feelings weren't enough..." She felt a surge of nerves as she continued. "And maybe it isn't; it certainly wasn't enough for Grissom and I." She looked at him for a long moment before she continued. "But aren't feelings a good place to start?"

Nick hadn't really thought about that; he had been so focused on the revelation that Sara had been secretly seeing Grissom and the intensity of his own feelings that he'd lost sight of the fact that a relationship had to start somewhere. Sara was right; feelings alone might not be enough to keep a relationship going, but they were certainly a good starting point. A smile began to spread across his face as what she was implying began to sink in.

Sara started to babble. "I know you think that I'm still hung up on Grissom...and maybe part of me is...I can't forget about him overnight...I just know that when you kissed me I felt something...something that I don't think I'd ever really felt before." Nerves were beginning to get the best of her because Nick still hadn't said anything and she began to think that maybe he didn't really want her after all. "Of course I understand if you don't want..."

Nick cut her words off with his lips. The idea that she wanted to try a relationship with him was enough for now; he could take all of the unknown and the risks; hell, he'd shout it from the top of the break room table if that would make her happy. He pulled away grinning wildly. "No, I want."

Sara let out a soft laugh as she looked into his eyes. "I want too." She found herself winding her arms around his neck and leaning in for another kiss, relishing in the idea that they were standing in a public place and anyone in the entire world could see them together.

Nick leaned back against his rig pulling Sara against him and deepening the kiss. They stood there like that for a good few minutes making out while leaning against the side of Nick's truck in the middle of Desert Palm Hospital's parking lot; neither one of them even noticed when a LVPD issued Denali drove by on his way out of the parking lot with one Gil Grissom behind the wheel.