fandom: CSI
title: Valentine's Day (how very creative)
genre(s): General
pairing(s): Nick/Sara. Kinda friendship-y, though... but it can go any way you want it.
summary: Too bad all of us single ladies can't get a surprise like that
other: This was my first Nick/Sara fic. EVER. It didn't help that, at the time, I was battling a severe writer's block in order to write this. I sure as hell didn't know whether or not Sara watched Friends either, but I threw it in anyway. Oh, yeah, and one more thing — CLICHES FTW. (premiered 02/14/06 at 607am.)
Normally, Sara really didn't care about this "holiday" or whatever, for all the typical reasons — she was always single on this damn day, always reminded by the television and radio that she was single, there was no man in her life that would buy her jewelry or chocolates or stuffed animals. (Not that she was materialistic, but it was the gesture that counted. Or something.) No one had told her he loved her and meant it.
So Valentine's Day was just another day to her, and while she tried to ignore it and all it stood for, sometimes it couldn't be helped that she would feel just a tad bit sorry for herself. That tended to pass, though. After all, at least she had good friends — right? Well, yeah, but as far as she knew, Warrick had taken Tina out, Greg had gotten himself a date, Catherine was staying home with her daughter, and Grissom was ... oh, who knew. Probably doing the solo thing, too.
... But what about Nick? Good ol' dependable gentleman Nick Stokes. Definitely her best friend out of everyone she considered a friend. (And maybe she sort of... liked him. But never mind that.) He'd kind of been in a rush to leave after shift, though, so maybe he did have a date. Ah, well. Sara had a date of her own, really — one with her TV.
Just a typical Valentine's Day ritual for Sara Sidle.
About halfway through an episode of Friends, her doorbell rang. Probably the neighbor looking for her son's cat again. Tossing the pillow she had had in her lap to one side of the couch, Sara got up and went to the door. When she opened it, she was half-expecting and half-surprised by the person who stood before her — Nick.
"Well... hey," she said.
"Hey," he replied, giving her one of those gorgeous smiles of his. "Ah... these're for you." He reached down by the door and presented Sara with a small heart-shaped box of chocolates and a plush tiger, pink with red stripes. "Happy Valentine's Day."
Sara grinned. "Should I be surprised?"
"...Well, yeah, I figured you would be," he said, giving her a mock hurt look.
"Alright then." Putting her best acting skills forth, Sara's face took on a surprised look. "Oh, thank you!"
Nick chuckled a little. "You're a far better criminalist than an actress, Sar'."
"Hey, it's Valentine's Day. Be nice." She stepped out of the way so he could come in, then closed the door behind him. "So, is this why you were so quick to leave the lab after work?"
"Sure was. I didn't hear you announce any plans for the night, and I didn't have any of my own. So I figured I'd make some. And they just so happened to include you."
Well, congratulations, Nick Stokes, for being the one guy who never failed to make Sara Sidle smile. "That was... very thoughtful of you. Thanks, Nick. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime." Pausing for a moment, he put an arm around her waist, then leaned in a bit. "Everyone told me to have a happy Valentine's Day. And, y'know, I can't think a better way to spend it."
A/N: Still moving things over from my writing journal