The Retreat
- Thread starter Zan1781
- Start date
Shipwrecked
Police Officer
Aaaah! I hope you update soon!
*Ahem, before I go out of town.
Which is Sunday...*
*Ahem, before I go out of town.
Which is Sunday...*
CSI_Trainee
CSI Level One
update soon please
A/N: First of all, warning: This is a sensitive chapter about Nick’s past. It is not really all that graphic, but if you watch CSI, you know what happened to him when he was a boy. Any mistakes about what happened to Nick are my own, because my good friend and CSI fact checker, Raven, is on vacation. I just wanted to warn you all that this chapter contains a Nick flashback, and that it could potentially be disturbing. That being said, I still hope that you all enjoy it! Second of all, thank you to all of you who are still reading and/or reviewing this fic! And last but not least, I am going on vacation this Friday for an entire week, and then my classes begin, so keep your fingers crossed that I can keep writing chapters in a decent amount of time. I absolutely love this story, though, and I don’t want to stop writing it; I just hope that people other than myself are actually reading it!
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: The Babysitter
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The Lake
“Where are they? Where are Nick and Sara?” Grissom quietly asked Catherine, his eyes glued to Warrick and Greg, who were still splashing around in the water. “Shouldn’t they be back by now? How long does it take to talk?”
“Gil,” Catherine sighed, trying to hide her mounting irritation. “It’s fine, alright? They’ll be back when they get back, and then you can talk to Sara; but don’t bombard her with questions, got it?” she advised him, raising an eyebrow. “Sara won’t find your jealous streak half as amusing as I do.”
“I’m not jealous,” Grissom immediately told her, his voice calm and steady. “After all,” he continued. “‘Jealousy is the jaundice of the soul,’ according to John Dryden, and I’m not sick.”
“Uh-huh,” Catherine raised an eyebrow. “And I’m Tina Turner.”
Before Grissom could reply to her statement,, however, Greg started splashing even louder in the water, swimming toward the shore. “Shark!” he yelled.
Warrick, stunned, just watched him swimming away, raising an eyebrow. “Uh, Greg? We’re swimming in a lake,” he tried to point out.
“I know,” Greg chuckled. “But I had to get away from you,” he told Warrick. “And I knew you’d let me swim away, thinking that I was an idiot!”
“Well idiot or not, Greggo, here I come!” Nick suddenly shouted from down the path, sprinting toward the edge of the water, and immediately plunging right in. Using his arm to create a massive wave of water, Nick aimed the water toward Greg, grinning, when the water hit him right in the chest. Just don’t look at the shore, he kept telling himself, trying to remain cheerful, but still slightly hurting inside. Just don’t look at Sara and Grissom interact, and you’ll be fine.
“Not fair!” Greg sputtered, the water dripping from his hair. “Sara! I need your help!” he jokingly yelled, diving under the water, and now trying to swim away from both Warrick and Nick.
Sara, still on the shore, ignored him, as she walked toward Grissom and Catherine, sitting down beside them. “So, why aren’t you two swimming?” she teased.
“I’m going in right now,” Catherine flashed her a wry smile. “But lover boy, here,” she pointed at Grissom. “Said that he was going to wait for you.”
“Catherine,” Grissom warned, raising an eyebrow at her. “Go swimming.”
Catherine just chuckled, standing up, and heading toward the edge of the water. “Boys, leave Greg alone!” she jokingly yelled. “Don’t make me come out there!”
Warrick stopped splashing, squinting up at Catherine. “Damn, is that a threat?”
Catherine shook her head no, slowly walking into the water. “That’s a promise, Rick.”
“Gentlemen?” Greg grinned, looking at Warrick and Nick. “Are you two thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That depends,” Nick shrugged. “If you were thinking that it’s still time to splash Greggo, then yup, that’s what I was thinking!”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Warrick chuckled, slowly swimming toward Greg’s location.
“Hey, now!” Greg whined, trying to swim away from them. “C’mon, that’s not fair! Catherine! Help!”
Catherine just raised an eyebrow, sighing. “In a minute, Greg. Let me get used to the water, first!”
“But I could be a drowned rat in a minute!” he tried to explain to her, as he ducked under the water, avoiding a wave from both Nick and Warrick.
Back on the shore, Sara moved closer to Grissom, watching Warrick and Nick trying to splash Greg with water. “So, what are you up to?” she finally asked.
“Catherine says that I’m jealous,” Grissom calmly told her, his eyes staring straight ahead.
“Oh? And are you?” Sara queried, turning to look at him for a moment, before resting her head on his shoulder.
“I don’t think so,” Grissom hesitantly told her.
“You don’t think so?”
“Maybe a little bit,” he admitted. “But only because I’m worried that I will lose you; that you’ll wake up and realize that you should be with Nick, rather than with me. I’m still much older than you are, Sara,” he pointed out. “And you have so much in common with other people.”
I can’t keep having this conversation with you, Grissom, Sara wanted to shout at him. How much more reassurance do you need? “But I don’t love other people; I love you. Why can’t you understand that?” she asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.
“You’re annoyed with me; I’m sorry,” Grissom uneasily stated.
“No, I’m not,” she sighed. “I’m just frustrated. I love you, and you don’t seem to understand that. I love you, Grissom; I don’t know how to make it any clearer to you. I love you, not Nick, not Warrick, not Greg, not Bobby, not Hodges, not—”
“I get the point,” Grissom interrupted her, his eyes riveted to the activities in the water.
“Do you?” Sara prodded him. “Do you really? Because I don’t want to keep having this conversation with you,” she informed him. “I can’t; It’s too draining.”
“Are you saying that I’m too draining?” Grissom persisted, regretting the words the moment that they were out of his mouth. She didn’t say that, Gil; she said that the conversation was too draining.
Sara bit back a retort, closing her eyes, and trying to lower her heart rate, before responding to him. Slowly opening her eyes, she shifted so that she was hunched down in front of him, grabbing both of his hands in her own. “Listen to me,” she begged. “Are you listening?” she paused, waiting for Grissom to nod. When he did so, she continued. “Relationships in general are draining; relationships at work are even more draining. But that being said, you yourself are not draining, Grissom. I love being around you. I love the way that you make me feel, I love when you kiss me, I love when you hold me, I love when you smile—as rare as that it—and I love when you talk to me. You are worth whatever energy I need to expend in order to convince you that we are worthy of one another, although you really have nothing to worry about. I don’t want to be with anyone else; I want to be with you.”
Grissom, his eyes now on Sara’s face, slowly nodded, once she finished talking. “Okay,” he acquiesced. “Okay, I believe you, Sara. And for what it’s worth, I love you, too,” he mumbled, before glancing up at the lake. “I’d give you a kiss right now, but—” he trailed off.
“I know,” she chuckled, leaning backwards, and standing up. “I know. You just don’t want to, in front of everyone else.”
Grissom nodded, staring up at Sara. “And I’m not swimming.”
“Yes, you are,” Sara immediately informed him, holding her hand out to him in order to help him up. “You most certainly are.”
“No, I’m not,” he repeated.
“Yes, you are,” she firmly reiterated
Out in the water, Nick unobtrusively watched Grissom and Sara talking, his heart sinking. It was clear to him that the two of them were happy with one another, and he realized that he would have to find a way to move on. If only things had been different.
“Snap out of it, Nicky,” Warrick advised him, catching the expression on his face.
“Yeah,” Greg chimed in, swimming over to him.
“I can’t, guys,” Nick sighed. “I mean, I have to, but it’s going to be hard.”
“I don’t want to tell you that I told you so, man,” Warrick sighed. “But—”
Glancing at Greg and Warrick, and making sure that Catherine, Grissom, and Sara were all still far away, Nick bit his lip. “Do you know why I never called Sara?” he finally asked his two friends.
“No clue, man,” Warrick simply replied, his eyes scanning the shore for the rest of the team.
“Because you were a yellow-bellied chicken?” Greg guessed, a smirk on his face.
“No,” Nick sighed, sadly shaking his head. “Not at all.”
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Texas, the late 1970s
“Nicky’s got a girlfriend, Nicky’s got a girlfriend!” Buzz teased him from across the lunch table.
“I do not!” Nick immediately retorted, his face going bright red.
“Do, too!” Tony chimed in. “Uh-huh, you do, too!”
“Nuh-uh!” Nick anxiously shouted, starting to stand up in embarrassment, his lunch tray clutched tightly in between both hands.
“Nicky and Julia, sitting in a tree,” Buzz began.
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Tony joined in.
“STOP IT!” Nick yelled, backing away from the table, his face turning an even darker shade of red, as he noticed that everyone else in the cafeteria was staring, laughing, and pointing at him.
“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage!” More children started to join in the chant.
“C’mon, guys! Cut it out! That isn’t funny!” Nick frowned, not sure what to do, or what to say, to make everyone leave him alone. Just stop it! That’s not nice! You’re being so mean! Leave me alone! He wanted to scream at them all.
“Sucking his thumb,” the chant continued. “Wetting his pants! Trying to do the hula dance!”
His face screwed up in embarrassment, Nick tried to hold back his tears, as he ran toward the garbage cans, in order to throw out the remainder of his half-eaten lunch. I have to get out of here, he desperately thought to himself. I just want to get out of here; I want to go home! Just let me go home! So lost in his own thoughts, Nick did not notice the dirty trays strewn around on the cafeteria floor, until it was too late. Stepping in a pile of ketchup, he shrieked, as his foot slid out from underneath him, forcing him to slide into the neatly arranged garbage cans lining the wall.
Before Nick could pick himself back up again, though, the sound of laughter and applause instantly filled his ears.
“5.7!” someone loudly shouted.
“2.5, based on his landing!” someone else yelled out.
Nick, humiliated beyond belief, stood up, running out of the cafeteria. On his way out of the door, however, he couldn’t help but notice Julia, his crush, laughing at him, right along with everyone else.
Later that evening, while doing his homework in the safety of his own bedroom, Nick chewed on the eraser of his pencil. “Why me?” he mumbled aloud, lost in thought. “What did I do to deserve that?”
“Why you, what?” Josie, his babysitter, questioned him, slipping into his room, and softly closing the door behind herself. “Bad day at school?” she kindly asked.
“Uh-huh,” Nick replied, his head bent over, as he continued to peer into his social studies textbook. “The worst day ever, actually.”
“It couldn’t have been all that bad,” she chuckled, sitting down on his bed.
“You weren’t there, Josie; you don’t know,” Nick sighed, finally turning around to face her.
“Well, why don’t you tell me about it, then?” she suggested, patting the bed beside her.
“Really?” Nick asked, his face brightening up ever so slightly. “You mean it? You wanna listen to me?”
“Of course,” Josie grinned at him, still patting the bed. “You’re my friend, aren’t you? And don’t friends listen to their friends?”
“Uh-huh!” the nine-year old little boy smiled, immediately hopping off of his desk chair, and eagerly jumping up onto his bed, facing his babysitter.
“So what happened?” she quietly prodded him.
“It was bad, Josie,” Nick admitted, his face once again contorting into a look of pure pain and embarrassment. Nick trusted and liked his babysitter, and he knew that she would never do anything to hurt him, or to lead him astray. If she told him that what happened was normal, and that it was just a part of growing up, he would whole-heartedly believe her. “It happened in the cafeteria,” he whispered.
“Oh?” Josie raised a knowing eyebrow. “There are a lot of problems in the school cafeteria,” she informed him.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Nick sighed. “But my friends started to tease me, because I like this girl,” he told her, turning red.
Josie just chuckled. “You’re kinda cute when you’re embarrassed, you know that?” she grinned at him.
“Uh, thank you! I think,” Nick replied, not entirely sure how to take her comment.
“So what happened?” Josie prompted him, ignoring her comment and his reaction to it.
“I ran away from them, and I tripped on some ketchup. I kind of landed in the garbage cans,” Nick mumbled, so nervous about his story, that he didn’t even notice that Josie had moved closer to him.
“Well, that can certainly be embarrassing,” Josie agreed with him. “But Nicky, it isn’t the end of the world, you know that?” she asked, gently setting her hand down on his knee. “Stuff happens all of the time at school.”
“I know,” Nick sighed. “But it was still embarrassing,” he repeated himself, glancing down at her hand, which was slowly crawling up his leg. “What are you doing?” he uncomfortably asked, turning his head to look up at her in confusion.
“Just relax,” she ordered him. “Just relax, and you’ll like it.”
“What are you doing?” Nick repeated, this time even more quietly, trying to pull away from her.
“I’m showing you what a real woman can do for you,” came her reply.
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The Lake
“No shit,” Warrick angrily hissed under his breath, staring at Nick. “Are you serious, man?”
“Yeah,” Nick sadly frowned, staring down at the water. “I was nine, and she was my babysitter. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did.”
Greg swallowed, not entirely sure what to say to him. “So she just—” he trailed off.
“Yeah,” Nick nodded his head, the blush once again returning to his face. “Since then, I’ve sabotaged every great relationship that I’ve ever had, and have refused to initiate ones where there is the possibility of success. I just, you know,” he mumbled.
“Damn, Nick,” Warrick muttered. “I’m so sorry, man, but it wasn’t your fault; you know that, right?”
“Yeah, Nick,” Greg echoed Warrick. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know that now, I suppose. But in any event, now you both know why I never pursued Sara; I was just too… afraid,” he hesitated. “She was—and still is—my friend, and I was too nervous to take the next step with her. Not afraid of her, persay,” Nick continued. “But afraid of a serious relationship with a woman.”
Greg simply nodded, as Catherine headed out toward them. “I don’t want to break this up, guys, but we’re about to have some company.”
“With two other people, besides her,” Warrick added, as he watched Grissom and Sara heading out toward them.
“That was between us, got it?” Nick suddenly mumbled under his breath.
“Yeah, man, fine,” Warrick agreed.
“Whatever you say, Nick,” Greg sighed, once again staring down at the water.
“Good,” Nick tried to smile, as he lightly splashed Greg with a new wave of water. “Because tag, you’re it!” he told the younger man, tapping him on the shoulder, before swimming off.
Warrick flashed Greg a surprised look, before following Nick away.
“What’s going on?” Catherine asked, as she reached Greg’s location.
“Not much,” Greg admitted. “Except for one thing,” he smiled.
“What?” Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Tag, you’re it!” he lightly punched her on the shoulder, before swimming off.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: The Babysitter
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The Lake
“Where are they? Where are Nick and Sara?” Grissom quietly asked Catherine, his eyes glued to Warrick and Greg, who were still splashing around in the water. “Shouldn’t they be back by now? How long does it take to talk?”
“Gil,” Catherine sighed, trying to hide her mounting irritation. “It’s fine, alright? They’ll be back when they get back, and then you can talk to Sara; but don’t bombard her with questions, got it?” she advised him, raising an eyebrow. “Sara won’t find your jealous streak half as amusing as I do.”
“I’m not jealous,” Grissom immediately told her, his voice calm and steady. “After all,” he continued. “‘Jealousy is the jaundice of the soul,’ according to John Dryden, and I’m not sick.”
“Uh-huh,” Catherine raised an eyebrow. “And I’m Tina Turner.”
Before Grissom could reply to her statement,, however, Greg started splashing even louder in the water, swimming toward the shore. “Shark!” he yelled.
Warrick, stunned, just watched him swimming away, raising an eyebrow. “Uh, Greg? We’re swimming in a lake,” he tried to point out.
“I know,” Greg chuckled. “But I had to get away from you,” he told Warrick. “And I knew you’d let me swim away, thinking that I was an idiot!”
“Well idiot or not, Greggo, here I come!” Nick suddenly shouted from down the path, sprinting toward the edge of the water, and immediately plunging right in. Using his arm to create a massive wave of water, Nick aimed the water toward Greg, grinning, when the water hit him right in the chest. Just don’t look at the shore, he kept telling himself, trying to remain cheerful, but still slightly hurting inside. Just don’t look at Sara and Grissom interact, and you’ll be fine.
“Not fair!” Greg sputtered, the water dripping from his hair. “Sara! I need your help!” he jokingly yelled, diving under the water, and now trying to swim away from both Warrick and Nick.
Sara, still on the shore, ignored him, as she walked toward Grissom and Catherine, sitting down beside them. “So, why aren’t you two swimming?” she teased.
“I’m going in right now,” Catherine flashed her a wry smile. “But lover boy, here,” she pointed at Grissom. “Said that he was going to wait for you.”
“Catherine,” Grissom warned, raising an eyebrow at her. “Go swimming.”
Catherine just chuckled, standing up, and heading toward the edge of the water. “Boys, leave Greg alone!” she jokingly yelled. “Don’t make me come out there!”
Warrick stopped splashing, squinting up at Catherine. “Damn, is that a threat?”
Catherine shook her head no, slowly walking into the water. “That’s a promise, Rick.”
“Gentlemen?” Greg grinned, looking at Warrick and Nick. “Are you two thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That depends,” Nick shrugged. “If you were thinking that it’s still time to splash Greggo, then yup, that’s what I was thinking!”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Warrick chuckled, slowly swimming toward Greg’s location.
“Hey, now!” Greg whined, trying to swim away from them. “C’mon, that’s not fair! Catherine! Help!”
Catherine just raised an eyebrow, sighing. “In a minute, Greg. Let me get used to the water, first!”
“But I could be a drowned rat in a minute!” he tried to explain to her, as he ducked under the water, avoiding a wave from both Nick and Warrick.
Back on the shore, Sara moved closer to Grissom, watching Warrick and Nick trying to splash Greg with water. “So, what are you up to?” she finally asked.
“Catherine says that I’m jealous,” Grissom calmly told her, his eyes staring straight ahead.
“Oh? And are you?” Sara queried, turning to look at him for a moment, before resting her head on his shoulder.
“I don’t think so,” Grissom hesitantly told her.
“You don’t think so?”
“Maybe a little bit,” he admitted. “But only because I’m worried that I will lose you; that you’ll wake up and realize that you should be with Nick, rather than with me. I’m still much older than you are, Sara,” he pointed out. “And you have so much in common with other people.”
I can’t keep having this conversation with you, Grissom, Sara wanted to shout at him. How much more reassurance do you need? “But I don’t love other people; I love you. Why can’t you understand that?” she asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.
“You’re annoyed with me; I’m sorry,” Grissom uneasily stated.
“No, I’m not,” she sighed. “I’m just frustrated. I love you, and you don’t seem to understand that. I love you, Grissom; I don’t know how to make it any clearer to you. I love you, not Nick, not Warrick, not Greg, not Bobby, not Hodges, not—”
“I get the point,” Grissom interrupted her, his eyes riveted to the activities in the water.
“Do you?” Sara prodded him. “Do you really? Because I don’t want to keep having this conversation with you,” she informed him. “I can’t; It’s too draining.”
“Are you saying that I’m too draining?” Grissom persisted, regretting the words the moment that they were out of his mouth. She didn’t say that, Gil; she said that the conversation was too draining.
Sara bit back a retort, closing her eyes, and trying to lower her heart rate, before responding to him. Slowly opening her eyes, she shifted so that she was hunched down in front of him, grabbing both of his hands in her own. “Listen to me,” she begged. “Are you listening?” she paused, waiting for Grissom to nod. When he did so, she continued. “Relationships in general are draining; relationships at work are even more draining. But that being said, you yourself are not draining, Grissom. I love being around you. I love the way that you make me feel, I love when you kiss me, I love when you hold me, I love when you smile—as rare as that it—and I love when you talk to me. You are worth whatever energy I need to expend in order to convince you that we are worthy of one another, although you really have nothing to worry about. I don’t want to be with anyone else; I want to be with you.”
Grissom, his eyes now on Sara’s face, slowly nodded, once she finished talking. “Okay,” he acquiesced. “Okay, I believe you, Sara. And for what it’s worth, I love you, too,” he mumbled, before glancing up at the lake. “I’d give you a kiss right now, but—” he trailed off.
“I know,” she chuckled, leaning backwards, and standing up. “I know. You just don’t want to, in front of everyone else.”
Grissom nodded, staring up at Sara. “And I’m not swimming.”
“Yes, you are,” Sara immediately informed him, holding her hand out to him in order to help him up. “You most certainly are.”
“No, I’m not,” he repeated.
“Yes, you are,” she firmly reiterated
Out in the water, Nick unobtrusively watched Grissom and Sara talking, his heart sinking. It was clear to him that the two of them were happy with one another, and he realized that he would have to find a way to move on. If only things had been different.
“Snap out of it, Nicky,” Warrick advised him, catching the expression on his face.
“Yeah,” Greg chimed in, swimming over to him.
“I can’t, guys,” Nick sighed. “I mean, I have to, but it’s going to be hard.”
“I don’t want to tell you that I told you so, man,” Warrick sighed. “But—”
Glancing at Greg and Warrick, and making sure that Catherine, Grissom, and Sara were all still far away, Nick bit his lip. “Do you know why I never called Sara?” he finally asked his two friends.
“No clue, man,” Warrick simply replied, his eyes scanning the shore for the rest of the team.
“Because you were a yellow-bellied chicken?” Greg guessed, a smirk on his face.
“No,” Nick sighed, sadly shaking his head. “Not at all.”
---------------
Texas, the late 1970s
“Nicky’s got a girlfriend, Nicky’s got a girlfriend!” Buzz teased him from across the lunch table.
“I do not!” Nick immediately retorted, his face going bright red.
“Do, too!” Tony chimed in. “Uh-huh, you do, too!”
“Nuh-uh!” Nick anxiously shouted, starting to stand up in embarrassment, his lunch tray clutched tightly in between both hands.
“Nicky and Julia, sitting in a tree,” Buzz began.
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Tony joined in.
“STOP IT!” Nick yelled, backing away from the table, his face turning an even darker shade of red, as he noticed that everyone else in the cafeteria was staring, laughing, and pointing at him.
“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage!” More children started to join in the chant.
“C’mon, guys! Cut it out! That isn’t funny!” Nick frowned, not sure what to do, or what to say, to make everyone leave him alone. Just stop it! That’s not nice! You’re being so mean! Leave me alone! He wanted to scream at them all.
“Sucking his thumb,” the chant continued. “Wetting his pants! Trying to do the hula dance!”
His face screwed up in embarrassment, Nick tried to hold back his tears, as he ran toward the garbage cans, in order to throw out the remainder of his half-eaten lunch. I have to get out of here, he desperately thought to himself. I just want to get out of here; I want to go home! Just let me go home! So lost in his own thoughts, Nick did not notice the dirty trays strewn around on the cafeteria floor, until it was too late. Stepping in a pile of ketchup, he shrieked, as his foot slid out from underneath him, forcing him to slide into the neatly arranged garbage cans lining the wall.
Before Nick could pick himself back up again, though, the sound of laughter and applause instantly filled his ears.
“5.7!” someone loudly shouted.
“2.5, based on his landing!” someone else yelled out.
Nick, humiliated beyond belief, stood up, running out of the cafeteria. On his way out of the door, however, he couldn’t help but notice Julia, his crush, laughing at him, right along with everyone else.
Later that evening, while doing his homework in the safety of his own bedroom, Nick chewed on the eraser of his pencil. “Why me?” he mumbled aloud, lost in thought. “What did I do to deserve that?”
“Why you, what?” Josie, his babysitter, questioned him, slipping into his room, and softly closing the door behind herself. “Bad day at school?” she kindly asked.
“Uh-huh,” Nick replied, his head bent over, as he continued to peer into his social studies textbook. “The worst day ever, actually.”
“It couldn’t have been all that bad,” she chuckled, sitting down on his bed.
“You weren’t there, Josie; you don’t know,” Nick sighed, finally turning around to face her.
“Well, why don’t you tell me about it, then?” she suggested, patting the bed beside her.
“Really?” Nick asked, his face brightening up ever so slightly. “You mean it? You wanna listen to me?”
“Of course,” Josie grinned at him, still patting the bed. “You’re my friend, aren’t you? And don’t friends listen to their friends?”
“Uh-huh!” the nine-year old little boy smiled, immediately hopping off of his desk chair, and eagerly jumping up onto his bed, facing his babysitter.
“So what happened?” she quietly prodded him.
“It was bad, Josie,” Nick admitted, his face once again contorting into a look of pure pain and embarrassment. Nick trusted and liked his babysitter, and he knew that she would never do anything to hurt him, or to lead him astray. If she told him that what happened was normal, and that it was just a part of growing up, he would whole-heartedly believe her. “It happened in the cafeteria,” he whispered.
“Oh?” Josie raised a knowing eyebrow. “There are a lot of problems in the school cafeteria,” she informed him.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Nick sighed. “But my friends started to tease me, because I like this girl,” he told her, turning red.
Josie just chuckled. “You’re kinda cute when you’re embarrassed, you know that?” she grinned at him.
“Uh, thank you! I think,” Nick replied, not entirely sure how to take her comment.
“So what happened?” Josie prompted him, ignoring her comment and his reaction to it.
“I ran away from them, and I tripped on some ketchup. I kind of landed in the garbage cans,” Nick mumbled, so nervous about his story, that he didn’t even notice that Josie had moved closer to him.
“Well, that can certainly be embarrassing,” Josie agreed with him. “But Nicky, it isn’t the end of the world, you know that?” she asked, gently setting her hand down on his knee. “Stuff happens all of the time at school.”
“I know,” Nick sighed. “But it was still embarrassing,” he repeated himself, glancing down at her hand, which was slowly crawling up his leg. “What are you doing?” he uncomfortably asked, turning his head to look up at her in confusion.
“Just relax,” she ordered him. “Just relax, and you’ll like it.”
“What are you doing?” Nick repeated, this time even more quietly, trying to pull away from her.
“I’m showing you what a real woman can do for you,” came her reply.
---------------
The Lake
“No shit,” Warrick angrily hissed under his breath, staring at Nick. “Are you serious, man?”
“Yeah,” Nick sadly frowned, staring down at the water. “I was nine, and she was my babysitter. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did.”
Greg swallowed, not entirely sure what to say to him. “So she just—” he trailed off.
“Yeah,” Nick nodded his head, the blush once again returning to his face. “Since then, I’ve sabotaged every great relationship that I’ve ever had, and have refused to initiate ones where there is the possibility of success. I just, you know,” he mumbled.
“Damn, Nick,” Warrick muttered. “I’m so sorry, man, but it wasn’t your fault; you know that, right?”
“Yeah, Nick,” Greg echoed Warrick. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know that now, I suppose. But in any event, now you both know why I never pursued Sara; I was just too… afraid,” he hesitated. “She was—and still is—my friend, and I was too nervous to take the next step with her. Not afraid of her, persay,” Nick continued. “But afraid of a serious relationship with a woman.”
Greg simply nodded, as Catherine headed out toward them. “I don’t want to break this up, guys, but we’re about to have some company.”
“With two other people, besides her,” Warrick added, as he watched Grissom and Sara heading out toward them.
“That was between us, got it?” Nick suddenly mumbled under his breath.
“Yeah, man, fine,” Warrick agreed.
“Whatever you say, Nick,” Greg sighed, once again staring down at the water.
“Good,” Nick tried to smile, as he lightly splashed Greg with a new wave of water. “Because tag, you’re it!” he told the younger man, tapping him on the shoulder, before swimming off.
Warrick flashed Greg a surprised look, before following Nick away.
“What’s going on?” Catherine asked, as she reached Greg’s location.
“Not much,” Greg admitted. “Except for one thing,” he smiled.
“What?” Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Tag, you’re it!” he lightly punched her on the shoulder, before swimming off.
---------------
TO BE CONTINUED
CSI_Trainee
CSI Level One
*clapping* great update, I think you hit the pass dead on, I think i more listen to the episodes now then anything like watching unless i am bored...i'm always on here lol. Can't wait for you next update and don't worry if you can't update fast, your studies are more important.
Shipwrecked
Police Officer
Awwww poor Nick...*sniff sniff*
That was an awesome chapter. Very well done.
That was absolutely adorable.
That was an awesome chapter. Very well done.
That was absolutely adorable.
Aww, thank you, everyone, for your comments . As always, they made me very (very happy!). I hope people don't mind reading this fic forever, because... I really enjoy writing it. I'm going to continue with flashbacks to the past, I already know what the third retreat will be, and shortly down the line, I'm going to have the guys take out Lindsey. Oh, and the butterfly observatory will make another appearance.
So... I'm excited, and writing this fic keeps me sane!
Thank you, again, for reading!
. As always, they made me very (very happy!). I hope people don't mind reading this fic forever, because... I really enjoy writing it. I'm going to continue with flashbacks to the past, I already know what the third retreat will be, and shortly down the line, I'm going to have the guys take out Lindsey. Oh, and the butterfly observatory will make another appearance.So... I'm excited, and writing this fic keeps me sane!
Thank you, again, for reading!
CSI_Trainee
CSI Level One
Ur so welcome, its a great fic and i will of course read it forever lol
Shipwrecked
Police Officer
I'm glad you love writing this fic, and I will definitely read it forever. You're already planning on the third retreat! Yay! They should go sailing this time!
I love my sunfish. haha.
I love my sunfish. haha.
Thank you so much, grssom89. I appreciate it! I hope you keep on liking it!
And Shipwrecked, sailing, eh? I never gave that a thought! But yup, that can be used for team building. Hehe... maybe for the fourth retreat. For the third one, they're going to... hmm. Well, you'll see!
And CSI_Trainee, well, thanks again
And Shipwrecked, sailing, eh? I never gave that a thought! But yup, that can be used for team building. Hehe... maybe for the fourth retreat. For the third one, they're going to... hmm. Well, you'll see!
And CSI_Trainee, well, thanks again
CSI_Trainee
CSI Level One
eeeeep sailing, gosh I remeber the first time i learned to sail for cadets i freaked out so much the person teaching me wouldn't teach anyone after me and i was the first person they taught lol...... brings us back to the trust falls eh? by the way zan what grade and or level of schooling are you doing and where do you live?