Ok, I hardly ever to a/n's, and when I do they are never at the beginning, but I had to apologize from the start about how long it's taken to post. I had a couple of major upheavals in my life and writing had to take a temporary back seat. Thank you to all who emailed wondering where the next chapter was, and again, I'm sorry it's taken so long. Now, with no further ado…

Chapter 11

Nick tugged at the string of flowers around his neck. Sara grinned and reached up to tuck the tropical blooms away from his skin. "Look at you," she laughed, "you act as though you've never been leid before."

Nick rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, quickly smiling at the lame joke. "I was planning on saying that." The woman in front of them in the rental car line turned around and threw them a scolding look as she covered her young son's ears with her hands. Sara drew her lips in tight, barely containing the laugh that threatened to burst through. Nick looked at his feet, but not before catching the exchanged glance between the offended woman and the man who Nick assumed was her husband and father of the little boy struggling to free himself of his mothers vice grip hold on his head.

Sara checked her watch out of habit, and wondered if Grissom had yet realized she'd left not only the city, but also the state. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick watching her. Pushing away all thoughts of Las Vegas (and everyone in it) she smiled at him, and shifted her mind to the beads of perspiration rolling down the back of her knees underneath the sweats that, while totally appropriate for the cold desert morning they'd left behind, was unsuitable in the warm Hawaiian afternoon.

"You all right?" Nick asked her.

"Mmm-hmm." She pulled at the material that covered her thigh. "Just a little warm." The family in front of them stepped up to the counter, making Nick and Sara next to waited on.

"What do you want to do first?" Nick asked.

"Go shopping," Sara said quickly. He cocked his head, confused, and Sara continued.

"I've got to get out of these things," she pulled at the sweats again. "And get a tooth brush," she added before running her tongue over her teeth.

"Aloha," the young male clerk behind the counter greeted and beckoned to them with the fingers of one hand.

"Aloha…" Nick echoed as he approached the counter and read the man's nametag. "Steven. You have a reservation for Stokes," he said as he pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans.

"Alrighty," said the Steven as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "Is this your first time in Hawaii?"

"Yes," both Nick and Sara said together.

"There you are," the younger man's eyes lit up momentarily as he found the reservation in the computer system. Nick had a fleeting thought of Indiana Jones finding an elusive golden idol.

As the two men took care of the details of the rental, Sara watched as the family that had been in front of them left the rental counter, the young boy telling random strangers both with and without flowers strung around their necks: "You got laid."

The quiet rap on Grissom's office door was like a gunshot ricocheting around inside his skull. He raised his head, and looked toward his visitor with tired, sleep deprived eyes.

"Hello Jim," Gil greeted, not even bothering to try to sound pleasant.

Jim Brass approached the CSI's desk and sat a steaming mug of coffee down in front of his friend. "Headache?"

Grissom nodded. "And little sleep."

"You shouldn't be here," the captain sat down in one of the two chairs that faced the desk.

"Have to. We're short two people. Nick's in Texas with a family emergency…" he let the sentence trail off. They both knew who the other CSI not at work was.

Brass let the conversation idle for a moment, and sipped his coffee. "Catherine told me Sara's missing."

"She's not missing. She's…" Grissom didn't know how to finish the sentence, flabbergasted that a man of his education and linguistic knowledge could be struck dumb by a woman. But it wasn't just any woman. It was Sara.

"Do you know where she is?" Brass asked pointedly.

Reluctantly, Grissom shook his head.

"Then she's missing, huh?" The police captain tried to keep his voice friendly, but the sarcastic hardness attained by years of interrogation kept pushing through.

"Jim," Grissom began quietly, with a tone of a man confessing to his priest. "I…"

Brass gave him a moment to finish. When Gil didn't, he prodded. "What?"

"I miss her."

"You did not rent this car!" Sara exclaimed trying and failing to keep the excitement out of her voice. She stood next to a cherry red Mustang with a black drop top, and watched as Nick popped the trunk and stuck his suitcase inside. "Jeez Nick. We could've got something a little less flashy and...less expensive. I mean, I know you weren't prepared for this and that's one hell of an expense. You'll be paying your credit card bill with your retirement checks."

"Don't worry about it," he said, and moved toward the passenger side door, opening it for her. "I got it covered."

"Nick I—"

"Sara it's okay, believe me."

"How is it okay? You charged the tickets, the hotel suite, and now this…" she said, sliding into the seat despite her protests.

"I..." he began, and the rest was a jumble of muttered syllables as he began moving around to the drivers side of the car.

Sara swung around and watched him walk around the car. She thought she'd picked out the word 'fun' or 'nun' or something. Her eyes narrowed as he slid behind the wheel. "Hey cowboy, care to run that by me again?"

Nick sighed, embarrassed. "I have a trust fund."

"Hey," Catherine called down the hallway, stopping Warrick in mid step. He turned, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of her.

"Hey yourself."

"Have you heard from Nick?"

Warrick shook his head. "Nope. But he'll call when he can."

Catherine shook her hair off her shoulders. "Maybe we should call his parents' house, check in on him."

Warrick seemed to consider the idea for a moment before he shook his head, disagreeing. "No. He's a big boy. He'll call when he'll call."

Sara had spied the store she wanted a few blocks from the hotel, but hadn't wanted to let Nick know where she was going or what she had in mind. A part of her was afraid she might still chicken out, and she didn't want to see any added disappointment in his eyes.

Since she didn't have any luggage with her, she left Nick to check into the hotel and began her walk. It was only a few minutes later she found herself under the pink-and-white stripped awning, daring herself to go in.

"Aloha, welcome to Victoria's Secret. How can I help you?" The saleslady asked brightly.

"I ah…" Sara didn't know where to begin. "This was a spur of the moment trip, so I… I need a bit of everything."

The woman cocked an eyebrow. "Everything?"

Sara nodded. "And it's our honeymoon."

The lady smiled vibrantly. "Well, then…how about we start with our beautiful baby doll nighties… Tell me, does he prefer leather or lace?"

Sara's mind shot back seven years, and she smiled brightly. "Lace."

-

"So now you're on your honeymoon with the your…what'd you call it? A proxy groom?" A young sales girl asked as she folded up the last of Sara's items and handed the bag to Sara.

Sara hadn't been able to contain herself. She'd let the events of the past week pour out of her, telling these strangers how she'd ended up married to a man she hadn't intended to be married to. As she shopped and tried on the clothes, she'd told them the story, other clerks in the store had gathered to listen and fetch different sizes and colors. Even a few other customers had put their lives on hold to listen to the saga.

"Yeah," Sara answered as she took the charge slip from the cashier, and placed her left hand over the total before she signed. She was nervous enough as it was without the added strain of knowing a hefty Mastercard bill would be headed her way. "So now I'm headed off to a wedding night with a man who I've known for seven years, but have only kissed a few times."

"Wow," said the young girl.

"Yeah, I know." Sara handed the signed receipt back with a smile and bent to pick up her bags. She thanked everyone for their help and headed out the door to her husband through the fading Hawaiian sunlight.

-

Nick thanked the room service operator and hung up the phone. Falling backwards onto the bed, he wondered if one plate of strawberries would be enough. Checking his watch, he was surprised to see how late it was getting. He sat up and looked out through the glass doors that lead to the balcony. Dusk was blanketing the sky. Where was Sara? Maybe she'd changed her mind and caught a plane back to Nevada. No, he thought to himself. She wouldn't run out on him.

He had to calm himself down. It'd had been too much; thinking the woman he loved was married to another man, only to find out she was married to him. Their kiss on the mountain top. Sara's coming to him after a fight with Grissom. And now Hawaii. Not to mention the whole anticipation thing his mind was going through, making his stomach flip at the very thought of the evening ahead of them.

Calm down, Stokes, he told himself. Hopping up off the bed, he looked around, rubbing the palms of his hands on the thighs of his jeans. He needed something to take his mind off everything. Glancing around he saw that there really wasn't anything to distract him; he had already unpacked and had even showered. With a deep sigh, he strolled over to the balcony and stepped outside, leaning against the railing watching the sun fade into the pacific.

Sara stopped at the front desk and got the room number and key. Fidgeting with the three bags from Victoria's Secret, she got on the elevator and pushed the button for the twenty-second floor.

Finding the right room, Sara set the bags down at her feet and quietly slipped the key into the lock, letting the tumblers click as quietly as possible. She slowly opened the door just a few inches and poked her head in, stealing quick glances around the room. The booty her bags held was a surprise, and she wanted to keep it a surprise as long as she possibly could. Nick was on the balcony, his back to her. Grinning, Sara gathered the bags at her feet, and slipped stealthy through the open door, pushing it quietly shut, and scampered into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Nick turned around, thinking he heard something, but found the room just as empty as he'd left it. He sighed deeply and turned back around again, watching the sun's progress as it sank slowly into the ocean.

Only the top of the sun could be seen over the horizon when the stern but polite rap on the door interrupted his revere. Room service, he thought as he stepped from the balcony into the room. Or Sara. Even though he'd left Sara's name at the front desk, and had given instructions to give her the room number and a key, he grinned at the thought of something having gone wrong, and Sara knocking on every single door in the hotel trying to find him.

"Hello?" Nick said to the closed door.

"Room service, sir," a deep male voice answered.

Nick opened the door to find a man so big, he had to duck through the doorway as he wheeled the cart into the room and parked it near the tiny alcove of a kitchenette. "Anything else I can get for you sir?" His dark eyes shone with humor, and Nick realized his mouth was hanging open in amazement at the sheer size of this guy.

He snapped his mouth shut, and quickly licked his lips. "No, that'll do it partner."

With a tiny lift of his chin, the waiter said, "Texas, right?"

Nick grinned. "Yeah, by way of Vegas. How'd you know?"

The waiter handed Nick the bill to sign. "Seen a lot of people here. I've gotten pretty good at the accents. Even had a few people here from Greenland, coupla weeks ago."

"Greenland, huh?" Nick took the bill and signed it, leaving a tip generous enough to match his good mood. "They had a long flight."

"Yeah," the waiter agreed and glanced down at the tip as he walked toward the door. "Well," he said, suddenly in a very good mood of his own. "If you need anything else," he opened the door and stepped out into the hall, "just ask for me. Name's Leslie."

"Les-" Nick began.

"Yeah. My momma says if she'd have known what I'd of end up like, she'd have named me Train." Leslie laughed and closed the door after him.

Nick blinked, and found himself wondering how big (or little) Leslie's mother was. Turning his attention toward the room service cart, he lifted the silver domed lid and found a plate of the largest strawberries he'd ever seen. That was when he heard the shower. And realized the bathroom door was closed.

"Sara?" Nick called and walked over to the closed bathroom door.

There was no response.

"Sara?" he tried again, this time right at the door.

"Yeah," Sara answered him, her voice echoing a bit around the tiled walls of the shower.

Nick breathed a sigh of relief, and realized he'd been more concerned about her heading back to Vegas than he'd admitted to himself. "Got a surprise for you out here."

The shower shut off and her voice was clearer, no longer drowned out by the water. "Okay, um…" he heard her pull the shower curtain back. "I'm gonna be a few minutes."

Nick nodded. "Okay."

-

A few minutes turned into a half hour. Nick had known girls who'd taken longer to get dressed, but Sara had never been one of those girls. What on Earth could she be doing in there?

Sara sat on the closed toilet lid, staring at the piece of silky electric blue fabric that hung from her fingers like it was a suspect in the interrogation room. It was a teddy she'd bought specifically for this night, and while she really wanted to wear it, she couldn't for the life of her figure out how to fasten all those tiny hooks up the back.

"Sar?" Nick called from the other side of the door. "You okay?"

"Fine." She said quickly, the concern in his voice got her moving. She stood and tossed the complicated teddy back into the bag. Nick could hear rustling, but didn't have a clue what she was doing. "I'll be right out." Sara called.

Nick sat back down on the small sofa and debated over turning on the television. True to her word, a few minutes later, the knob on the bathroom door clicked and Sara stepped out in bare feet, jeans and a lacy valentine-red tank top with spaghetti straps that curved over her shoulders like they were made to be there.

"Wow," was all Nick could manage to say.

"I know it's not very sexy…" Sara began.

"No, no-" Nick cleared his throat. "It's… ah, it's fine."

Sara tucked her hair behind her ears and looked nervously around, finding the room service cart. "Is that my surprise?"

"Yeah," Nick seemed to regain himself and stepped over to the cart and picked up the bottle of champagne. The ice slushed and clinked against the silver bucket. "I haven't opened one of these in a while," he said as he stripped off the foil casing and worked the cork.

"Oh, strawberries too," Sara said pleased, as she lifted the lid and bit into one of the sweet berries. "It's a beautiful room," she told him, looking around and really seeing it for the first time.

"Yeah, it is," Nick answered, still concentrating on the cork. "Great view too."

Sara nodded and picked up another strawberry before she walked across the room and out onto the balcony. The cork popped loudly as she stepped out into the night air, followed by the tinkling of the glasses as Nick poured. The warm breeze blew through her hair, bringing the scent of the ocean and a thousand flowers. The night sky was clear, the stars so bright, Sara thought she could reach out and touch them. She heard Nick's foot falls on the balcony. "I miss this smell," she told him as she breathed deeply, filling her lungs with the salty slightly fishy scent of the ocean.

"How long has it been since you were in Frisco?" He asked handing her a glass of champagne.

She shrugged. "How long have I been in Vegas… seven years?" she sipped from her glass. "That's a long time."

"It's a lot of dead people." Nick said dryly.

They were both quiet as they sipped the champagne and contemplated the stars.

"You nervous?" Nick asked quietly.

"Yep," Sara admitted and turned toward him.

He smiled slightly. "Don't be," he took the champagne out of her hand and set them both down on the glass-topped table.

Sara's breath shuddered, and she felt a flight of butterflies take off in her stomach.

Nick cupped her jaw and looked deeply into her eyes.

And just like that, the nervousness was gone.