Should be Revvin'
Title: Falling Away with You
Author: 0creativity
Part: 7 of 9
Rating: R for language
Summary: Snapshots of a life that isn't as easy as they once thought it might be. SPOILERS FOR SEASONS ONE THROUGH FIVE
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter Seven
“Did you hear? Stokes had a gun pulled on him.”
Greg almost drops his coffee cup as he rushes back into the lab. It’s the second time he’s overheard the rumor, and he has no way to confirm it. Nick and Grissom are still out in the field and he knows it wouldn’t just be a rumor if something truly horrible had happened out there, so he’s not that worried. He thinks about calling Nick, but he knows he won’t get any work done if he does. If it’s just a rumor and there’s no truth to it at all, Nick will be upset with him for calling while he’s working a case. If he calls and Nick tells him that it’s true, that he could have died, he’ll spend the rest of his shift with his mind everywhere but on his work. So instead he chooses to just throw himself into processing the evidence that’s piled up on his counter. He still worries, but he tries to push it to the back of his mind because he knows it isn’t doing him any good.
It seems like days have gone by between when he first heard the rumor and when Nick finally strolls into his lab, handing Greg some evidence to process, but he knows it’s only been a couple of hours. He glances at Nick and knows immediately by the look in his eyes that it’s true.
Nick clears his throat. “Um... Grissom gave me the rest of the night off.”
Greg knows they have rules for what they can and cannot do at work, but when they came up with those rules, they didn’t take into account near death experiences, so before he can talk himself out of it, he’s got his arms wrapped around Nick, hugging him tight to his body.
“You okay?” Greg whispers.
“Yeah... Yeah, I just... I don’t want to go home right now. Is it okay if I just hang around in here for a while?”
Greg lets him go and nods. “Just don’t distract me. I’ve still got work to do, you know.”
Nick laughs and Greg goes back to work, most definitely not thinking about how he could have lost Nick forever. They don’t talk much for the rest of shift. Nick lets Greg do his work in silence and Greg doesn’t want to think about it until he’s free to touch Nick and able to reassure himself that Nick’s still alive and well. He keeps stealing glances out of the corners of his eyes when he doesn’t think Nick’s looking.
They finally make it home and even there they don’t really talk. What is there to say, really? “Oh, Greg, by the way, I almost died tonight.” or “Nicky, even though it wasn’t your fault, don’t ever do that again because it scared the shit out of me.” They know. They both know what could have happened tonight. They both understand what could have been lost. Words would just get in the way, so instead they go straight to bed and just lay together. Greg puts his head on Nick’s chest, let’s the steady thump-thump lull him to sleep. Nick wraps an arm around Greg’s back, holds him close, allows Greg’s body heat to comfort him, to let him know he’s still alive.
~
“I shouldn’t be doing this,” he slurs. She doesn’t listen. She just pours some more of the liquid into a glass and tips it to his lips. He tries to fight back but the liquid is starting to dribble out of his mouth and it’s going to ruin his clothes so he swallows before he even knows what he’s doing. He instantly regrets it.
“Greg...” he mutters, and she laughs.
“You’re not still hung up on him, are you? You had a bad fight, Nicky.”
“No... no fight...”
“Yes, Nicky, there was a horrible fight. He kicked you out, don’t you remember?”
He doesn’t remember because it didn’t happen. He just stopped by the bar down the road from their apartment for a couple of drinks before heading home because that night’s case had been particularly bad. On his way out, he saw Kristy and her pimp arguing, so he went to break it up. He offered her a ride home, thinking it would give her pimp some time to cool down. She offered him a drink for all his trouble and he declined, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer so he finally accepted, thinking she’d let him go on his way after he had the stupid drink.
“I don’t... I don’t remember...”
“You were devastated,” she whispers. “He broke your heart, Nicky. He kicked you out of his life and he doesn’t ever want you to come back. Let me help you, Nicky. Let me help you feel better.”
“I need... I need to get home...” he responds. He can’t move, though. He doesn’t know what’s in the drinks she keeps giving him, but he was powerless to stop her after the first one. Now he’s had three or four and he’s struggling to stay awake.
“I think you need one more,” she says cheerily, tipping the glass to his mouth again. He doesn’t try to fight it this time, because maybe this will be the one that will put him over the edge. Maybe this will be the one that sends him into unconsciousness and when he wakes up he’ll be back home in bed with Greg.
He knows that’s not going to happen, though. Right before he slips into unconsciousness, he’s vaguely aware that she’s undoing his belt and starting to pull his pants down. His last thought before letting the blackness envelope him is that her hands aren’t nearly as warm as Greg’s.
Hours later, the ringing of his cell phone wakes him up. The pain in his head throbs and pulses and intensifies with each shrill ring the phone makes. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realizes that he’s in her bed. He rolls out of the bed and blindly feels around the floor for his pants, trying his best to follow the sound of the ringing. When he’s finally found them, he reaches into the pocket and grabs his phone. He doesn’t notice that his wallet is missing.
“Hello?” It barely comes out so he clears his throat and says it again. “Hello?”
“Nicky?” The worried voice on the other end of the line belongs to Greg, and Nick’s headache instantly worsens.
“G?”
“Nicky, where the hell are you? Are you okay?”
“Don’t yell... please... stop yelling...”
“Nick, I’m not yelling. I’m just... wait, are you hung over?”
“I didn’t even want to get drunk,” he mumbles.
“Nick, I’m coming to get you. Where are you, babe?”
“Don’t yell.”
“Nicky, I’m not yelling.”
“No... I mean, when I tell you, don’t yell.”
“Okay...” and Nick can tell Greg’s no longer sure he wants to know where Nick is. Regardless, he takes a deep breath and tells him.
“I’m at Kristy’s.”
“Kristy? The hooker? Why are you at her place?”
“I... I don’t know,” Nick admits.
“Just hold on, Nicky. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, okay? Just... take it easy. I’m sure she knows a hangover cure or two, so don’t hesitate to ask her for help...”
“Greg,” Nick sobs. “G, you don’t understand. I think... I think I slept with her.”
“Nick, just hang on. I’ll be there in a minute and then we’ll talk about this, okay?”
“Hurry... please.”
“I will.”
Nick hears a dial tone and turns his phone off. He takes in his surroundings. Kristy isn’t in the bed and judging by the total silence that’s meeting his ears, he doesn’t think she’s elsewhere in the house either. Blankets are on the floor beside the bed and his clothes are littered around the room. He realizes for the first time that he’s naked. It’s as he’s pulling on his shirt that he notices the used condom in the trash can. Bile rises in his throat and he runs to the bathroom and vomits. Just as he starts splashing his face with cold water, he hears knocking at the front door. He takes a deep breath and makes his way through the house. He looks through the peephole to see Greg looking around nervously. He opens the door and Greg gasps.
“Jesus, Nicky. You look like hell.”
Nick doesn’t say anything. He just pushes past Greg and walks to their truck.
“Is she in there?”
Nick shakes his head. Greg follows him to the truck and gets in the driver’s side. They don’t talk at all on the ride home. Nick doesn’t know what to say and Greg’s afraid to ask. As soon as they get home, Nick heads to the bathroom to take a shower. Forty-five minutes later, he emerges from the bathroom and goes into their bedroom to get dressed. Greg gets up from the kitchen table and follows him.
“Nick?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he keeps digging through their closet, trying to find something to wear. His head is still pounding but the shower helped him to relax a little and he doesn’t feel as bad as he did.
“Nicky?” Greg moves up behind him and puts his arms around his waist. “What happened?”
Nick sighs. He’s never lied to Greg and so far they’ve been better for it. He’s not going to start now.
“I slept with her,” Nick whispers.
Greg lets go of Nick and sits on the bed, puts his head in his hands. He’s silent for a long time. He doesn’t know how to react. A million thoughts are swirling around in his head. Things have been perfect between them lately, as good as they ever were. Nick is too much of a gentleman to cheat on anyone. Nick is gay, so why would he sleep with a female? Nick hardly ever gets drunk and he never does it when he knows he has to work the next day. None of it adds up so he decides not to be angry yet because there’s got to be more to the story. Nick wouldn’t do this to him, they’ve come too far and worked too hard to get where they are now.
In the end, Nick saves him the trouble of having to react at all because he starts telling Greg everything he can remember. Greg takes it all in, stares at his hands numbly while Nick speaks. He believes Nick, but he’s not sure if that’s because what Nick’s saying actually makes sense or because he’s gullible or because he doesn’t want to believe that he doesn’t make Nick happy anymore.
“I’m so sorry, G, I am, but I didn’t want it. I didn’t want any of it. I just went to the bar for a drink. I just wanted to come home to you, G. Please don’t hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. You’ve never given me a reason to doubt you before,” Greg manages to choke out.
Nick grabs hold of Greg and pulls him close, buries his face in Greg’s messy hair and cries. “This is so fucked up... I’m so sorry, G. Please forgive me... please.”
Greg turns around in Nick’s embrace and pushes Nick backwards onto the mattress. “She drugged, you Nicky, and she basically raped you. I’m not going to forgive you because there’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nick cries even harder and every once in a while mutters things such as “thought I lost you forever” and “I fucked up” and “love you so much” and “why aren’t you mad at me?”.
Greg can’t answer the last question. He knows that anyone else wouldn’t have believed Nick. He knows that anyone else would have yelled and screamed and broke it off without letting Nick explain. He’s always prided himself on not being like anyone else, though. He also knows that Kristy’s wanted in Nick’s pants for months now. She gets in trouble just so she can request that Nick work her cases. She flirts and throws herself at him and tries to manipulate him. She uses people and it doesn’t really surprise Greg that she’d stoop as low as to drug Nick just so she could have him. Besides, he knows Nick. He knows that Nick would never be able to do something like this. He also knows Nick will beat himself up over it more than enough for both of them.
So Greg just holds Nick tight, lets him cry, cries with him. Tells him that it’s okay, that he isn’t angry, that sometimes mistakes are made, and really, Nick is the victim here and he shouldn’t be sorry because he didn’t do anything wrong.
Any doubts Greg might have had about Nick’s story are soon put to rest. Kristy turns up dead and they’re looking at Nick for the murder. They found him all over the house and his DNA in a used condom doesn’t really help matters. Nick tells Grissom immediately about his connection to Kristy. He doesn’t tell him about being drugged or being unconscious while she had sex with him, though. It’s a private matter and he wants to forget about it as soon as possible. Besides, Ecklie is out for blood so it’s not like it would matter anyway. Things are looking pretty bleak for a while, but Catherine finally breaks the case. Kristy’s pimp confesses, says she refused to give him his cut of the money she stole from Nick. He killed her, knowing that Nick would be their prime suspect.
They used to joke about Kristy. Greg used to tease Nick about his new girlfriend and Nick would tease him back, laughing about the hot date he had last night, and how he was only going through all this trouble for her because she was so sexy. Now anytime Greg hears her name all he can think is 'the bitch got what she deserved.'
No one claims her body so Nick offers to pay her final expenses and in the process, saves the county some money. When Greg asks him why he’s doing it, all he says is “Because she wouldn’t have wanted me to.”
~
“How do you know about liquid latex?”
Greg gives him a devilish grin. “I just did some research on it before you came into the lab. It sounds interesting. Wanna give it a try?”
Nick raises an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me? It takes me long enough to get you out of your clothes as it is, why would I want to have to peel off another layer?”
~
“Hey, you okay?”
Greg gives him a shaky smile. “Yeah... I’m fine.”
“You gotta stop beating yourself up, man. You did good for it being your first time.”
“I froze up, Nick. They’ll never let me out in the field again.”
“You’re looking for more field time?”
Greg blushes. “Well... it is kind of nice to get out of the lab every once in a while.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t know you were interested in getting out in the field. I thought you liked being the DNA guy.”
“I do, but... I don’t know. It’s just not as challenging as I thought it would be. Plus, if I’m out in the field, I’m with you more.”
“Any more time together and we’re going to be sick of each other, G.”
“Hm... you really think that’s possible?”
“Sure. Maybe. Slightly. Probably not,” he confesses.
“That’s right, cause I’m hot shit. I have to lock myself in my lab to keep the ladies from tackling me to the ground and having their way with me right there at work.”
“Considering most of the... ladies know that you’re mine, I don’t think that’s as big of a problem as you’d like to think.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. They’re all scared of you.”
“As they should be. You know...”
“Hm?”
“I could talk to Griss for you... tell him you’re interested in getting out in the field.”
“After what happened tonight, I don’t stand a chance,” Greg says darkly.
“You gotta stop beatin’ yourself up, man.”
Greg stretches out on the couch and lays his head on Nick’s lap. “Maybe some other time, Nicky. Right now I’m still fine being in the lab... I just thought it would be fun to mix things up for once.”
~
The house is empty, save for the moving boxes scattered amongst the various rooms.
“You’re sure you want to do this, Nicky?”
“We have to, G. There’s no way I can live here anymore.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I was getting kind of bored of this place anyway.”
Greg puts his arm around Nick’s shoulders. “Come on Nicky, our new home awaits.”
He understood, of course. Nick’s stalker had been living in their attic for who knows how long and ended up killing a guy in their house, then threatened to kill Nick, then tried to kill himself. The truth of the matter is that Greg doesn’t want to live there either. It isn’t a home anymore. It’s more like a haunted house, and the sooner they leave, the better.
He can only imagine what Nick’s going through. He wakes up almost every night in a cold sweat, breathing hard and his heart beating a million miles a minute. Greg knows that he’s reliving that day over and over again in his sleep but he doesn’t know how to help. So when Nick wakes up, moving his hands frantically, searching for some part of Greg, he doesn’t ask Nick to relax his grip on his arm when he finally finds it, no matter how much it may hurt. Instead, he takes Nick into his arms, hugs him close, lets him know that he’s okay. Lets him know that he’s loved. Let’s Nick squeeze him as hard as he needs to.
~
Greg sucks in a sharp breath and Nick lets his hands fall back to his sides.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?” he asks, his voice full of concern.
“No, it’s just... it’s just a constant thing.”
Nick nods, but he doesn’t push it. He’s worried about Greg, but he knows Greg doesn’t like to be coddled. “Grissom wants to know when you think you’ll be up for returning to work.”
“As soon as I can move without being in agony seems like a good time.”
“Yeah... Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll tell him tomorrow. God, I miss being able to touch you.”
“You can touch me, Nick. Just not the back.”
“I could have lost you,” he whispers.
Greg glares at him. “But you didn’t, so don’t dwell on it.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Nick, I don’t want us to spend the rest of our lives together thinking about what might have happened. It isn’t going to do us any good.”
“I love you, G”
“I know you do. I love you too.”
“I don’t say it enough.”
“You don’t have to say it at all, Nicky.”
Silence. Then, Greg speaks up again. “Nicky?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think I can handle being stuck in the lab anymore.”
~
“Worst. Day. Ever.”
“Ah, come on, G. We’ve had way worse days than this.”
“I worked so fucking hard to become a CSI and then I fail the proficiency and my replacement in the lab runs away. This is not a good day, Nick.”
“I didn’t say it was a good day. I just said that we’ve had worse, which we have.”
“What am I going to do now?”
“You’re going to find another replacement and then you’re going to pass your final final proficiency.”
“I just want to die.”
“No you don’t. Come on, let’s go to bed. Things will look better tomorrow.”
“I doubt it,” Greg mutters.
~
“So...”
“Yeah.”
“Fucking Ecklie.”
“Yeah.”
“How are we going to make this work, Nick? Different shifts? What do we do now?”
“Go to bed.”
“Why is that always your answer to everything?”
“You’ve never complained before.”
“I’m not complaining now. This just isn’t going to go away, though.”
“We can make it go away for a few hours, at least. Let’s go to bed, G.”
~
“I told you that you’d make it!”
Greg’s grin stretches from ear to ear. “Yeah! I can’t believe it! I’m actually a CSI now!”
“I’m proud of you, G. You’re pretty damn amazing.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Hm... I can’t wait to get you home, so we can... celebrate properly.”
“Me either.”
They spend the rest of the celebration party on opposite sides of the room, because they know they won’t be able to control themselves. One innocent touch could set off a chain of events that could quite possibly lead to them both being naked and fucking each other’s brains out right there in the break room in front of all their coworkers. Yeah, it's better that they settle for silently undressing each other with their eyes from opposite ends of the room.
The next day, Greg comes home from his first shift as a real CSI. He sneaks into the bedroom and smiles sadly at Nick’s sleeping form as he pulls off his clothes. He slides between the sheets, kisses Nick on the forehead, and whispers “I miss you” before falling asleep.
Author: 0creativity
Part: 7 of 9
Rating: R for language
Summary: Snapshots of a life that isn't as easy as they once thought it might be. SPOILERS FOR SEASONS ONE THROUGH FIVE
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter Seven
“Did you hear? Stokes had a gun pulled on him.”
Greg almost drops his coffee cup as he rushes back into the lab. It’s the second time he’s overheard the rumor, and he has no way to confirm it. Nick and Grissom are still out in the field and he knows it wouldn’t just be a rumor if something truly horrible had happened out there, so he’s not that worried. He thinks about calling Nick, but he knows he won’t get any work done if he does. If it’s just a rumor and there’s no truth to it at all, Nick will be upset with him for calling while he’s working a case. If he calls and Nick tells him that it’s true, that he could have died, he’ll spend the rest of his shift with his mind everywhere but on his work. So instead he chooses to just throw himself into processing the evidence that’s piled up on his counter. He still worries, but he tries to push it to the back of his mind because he knows it isn’t doing him any good.
It seems like days have gone by between when he first heard the rumor and when Nick finally strolls into his lab, handing Greg some evidence to process, but he knows it’s only been a couple of hours. He glances at Nick and knows immediately by the look in his eyes that it’s true.
Nick clears his throat. “Um... Grissom gave me the rest of the night off.”
Greg knows they have rules for what they can and cannot do at work, but when they came up with those rules, they didn’t take into account near death experiences, so before he can talk himself out of it, he’s got his arms wrapped around Nick, hugging him tight to his body.
“You okay?” Greg whispers.
“Yeah... Yeah, I just... I don’t want to go home right now. Is it okay if I just hang around in here for a while?”
Greg lets him go and nods. “Just don’t distract me. I’ve still got work to do, you know.”
Nick laughs and Greg goes back to work, most definitely not thinking about how he could have lost Nick forever. They don’t talk much for the rest of shift. Nick lets Greg do his work in silence and Greg doesn’t want to think about it until he’s free to touch Nick and able to reassure himself that Nick’s still alive and well. He keeps stealing glances out of the corners of his eyes when he doesn’t think Nick’s looking.
They finally make it home and even there they don’t really talk. What is there to say, really? “Oh, Greg, by the way, I almost died tonight.” or “Nicky, even though it wasn’t your fault, don’t ever do that again because it scared the shit out of me.” They know. They both know what could have happened tonight. They both understand what could have been lost. Words would just get in the way, so instead they go straight to bed and just lay together. Greg puts his head on Nick’s chest, let’s the steady thump-thump lull him to sleep. Nick wraps an arm around Greg’s back, holds him close, allows Greg’s body heat to comfort him, to let him know he’s still alive.
~
“I shouldn’t be doing this,” he slurs. She doesn’t listen. She just pours some more of the liquid into a glass and tips it to his lips. He tries to fight back but the liquid is starting to dribble out of his mouth and it’s going to ruin his clothes so he swallows before he even knows what he’s doing. He instantly regrets it.
“Greg...” he mutters, and she laughs.
“You’re not still hung up on him, are you? You had a bad fight, Nicky.”
“No... no fight...”
“Yes, Nicky, there was a horrible fight. He kicked you out, don’t you remember?”
He doesn’t remember because it didn’t happen. He just stopped by the bar down the road from their apartment for a couple of drinks before heading home because that night’s case had been particularly bad. On his way out, he saw Kristy and her pimp arguing, so he went to break it up. He offered her a ride home, thinking it would give her pimp some time to cool down. She offered him a drink for all his trouble and he declined, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer so he finally accepted, thinking she’d let him go on his way after he had the stupid drink.
“I don’t... I don’t remember...”
“You were devastated,” she whispers. “He broke your heart, Nicky. He kicked you out of his life and he doesn’t ever want you to come back. Let me help you, Nicky. Let me help you feel better.”
“I need... I need to get home...” he responds. He can’t move, though. He doesn’t know what’s in the drinks she keeps giving him, but he was powerless to stop her after the first one. Now he’s had three or four and he’s struggling to stay awake.
“I think you need one more,” she says cheerily, tipping the glass to his mouth again. He doesn’t try to fight it this time, because maybe this will be the one that will put him over the edge. Maybe this will be the one that sends him into unconsciousness and when he wakes up he’ll be back home in bed with Greg.
He knows that’s not going to happen, though. Right before he slips into unconsciousness, he’s vaguely aware that she’s undoing his belt and starting to pull his pants down. His last thought before letting the blackness envelope him is that her hands aren’t nearly as warm as Greg’s.
Hours later, the ringing of his cell phone wakes him up. The pain in his head throbs and pulses and intensifies with each shrill ring the phone makes. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realizes that he’s in her bed. He rolls out of the bed and blindly feels around the floor for his pants, trying his best to follow the sound of the ringing. When he’s finally found them, he reaches into the pocket and grabs his phone. He doesn’t notice that his wallet is missing.
“Hello?” It barely comes out so he clears his throat and says it again. “Hello?”
“Nicky?” The worried voice on the other end of the line belongs to Greg, and Nick’s headache instantly worsens.
“G?”
“Nicky, where the hell are you? Are you okay?”
“Don’t yell... please... stop yelling...”
“Nick, I’m not yelling. I’m just... wait, are you hung over?”
“I didn’t even want to get drunk,” he mumbles.
“Nick, I’m coming to get you. Where are you, babe?”
“Don’t yell.”
“Nicky, I’m not yelling.”
“No... I mean, when I tell you, don’t yell.”
“Okay...” and Nick can tell Greg’s no longer sure he wants to know where Nick is. Regardless, he takes a deep breath and tells him.
“I’m at Kristy’s.”
“Kristy? The hooker? Why are you at her place?”
“I... I don’t know,” Nick admits.
“Just hold on, Nicky. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, okay? Just... take it easy. I’m sure she knows a hangover cure or two, so don’t hesitate to ask her for help...”
“Greg,” Nick sobs. “G, you don’t understand. I think... I think I slept with her.”
“Nick, just hang on. I’ll be there in a minute and then we’ll talk about this, okay?”
“Hurry... please.”
“I will.”
Nick hears a dial tone and turns his phone off. He takes in his surroundings. Kristy isn’t in the bed and judging by the total silence that’s meeting his ears, he doesn’t think she’s elsewhere in the house either. Blankets are on the floor beside the bed and his clothes are littered around the room. He realizes for the first time that he’s naked. It’s as he’s pulling on his shirt that he notices the used condom in the trash can. Bile rises in his throat and he runs to the bathroom and vomits. Just as he starts splashing his face with cold water, he hears knocking at the front door. He takes a deep breath and makes his way through the house. He looks through the peephole to see Greg looking around nervously. He opens the door and Greg gasps.
“Jesus, Nicky. You look like hell.”
Nick doesn’t say anything. He just pushes past Greg and walks to their truck.
“Is she in there?”
Nick shakes his head. Greg follows him to the truck and gets in the driver’s side. They don’t talk at all on the ride home. Nick doesn’t know what to say and Greg’s afraid to ask. As soon as they get home, Nick heads to the bathroom to take a shower. Forty-five minutes later, he emerges from the bathroom and goes into their bedroom to get dressed. Greg gets up from the kitchen table and follows him.
“Nick?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he keeps digging through their closet, trying to find something to wear. His head is still pounding but the shower helped him to relax a little and he doesn’t feel as bad as he did.
“Nicky?” Greg moves up behind him and puts his arms around his waist. “What happened?”
Nick sighs. He’s never lied to Greg and so far they’ve been better for it. He’s not going to start now.
“I slept with her,” Nick whispers.
Greg lets go of Nick and sits on the bed, puts his head in his hands. He’s silent for a long time. He doesn’t know how to react. A million thoughts are swirling around in his head. Things have been perfect between them lately, as good as they ever were. Nick is too much of a gentleman to cheat on anyone. Nick is gay, so why would he sleep with a female? Nick hardly ever gets drunk and he never does it when he knows he has to work the next day. None of it adds up so he decides not to be angry yet because there’s got to be more to the story. Nick wouldn’t do this to him, they’ve come too far and worked too hard to get where they are now.
In the end, Nick saves him the trouble of having to react at all because he starts telling Greg everything he can remember. Greg takes it all in, stares at his hands numbly while Nick speaks. He believes Nick, but he’s not sure if that’s because what Nick’s saying actually makes sense or because he’s gullible or because he doesn’t want to believe that he doesn’t make Nick happy anymore.
“I’m so sorry, G, I am, but I didn’t want it. I didn’t want any of it. I just went to the bar for a drink. I just wanted to come home to you, G. Please don’t hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. You’ve never given me a reason to doubt you before,” Greg manages to choke out.
Nick grabs hold of Greg and pulls him close, buries his face in Greg’s messy hair and cries. “This is so fucked up... I’m so sorry, G. Please forgive me... please.”
Greg turns around in Nick’s embrace and pushes Nick backwards onto the mattress. “She drugged, you Nicky, and she basically raped you. I’m not going to forgive you because there’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nick cries even harder and every once in a while mutters things such as “thought I lost you forever” and “I fucked up” and “love you so much” and “why aren’t you mad at me?”.
Greg can’t answer the last question. He knows that anyone else wouldn’t have believed Nick. He knows that anyone else would have yelled and screamed and broke it off without letting Nick explain. He’s always prided himself on not being like anyone else, though. He also knows that Kristy’s wanted in Nick’s pants for months now. She gets in trouble just so she can request that Nick work her cases. She flirts and throws herself at him and tries to manipulate him. She uses people and it doesn’t really surprise Greg that she’d stoop as low as to drug Nick just so she could have him. Besides, he knows Nick. He knows that Nick would never be able to do something like this. He also knows Nick will beat himself up over it more than enough for both of them.
So Greg just holds Nick tight, lets him cry, cries with him. Tells him that it’s okay, that he isn’t angry, that sometimes mistakes are made, and really, Nick is the victim here and he shouldn’t be sorry because he didn’t do anything wrong.
Any doubts Greg might have had about Nick’s story are soon put to rest. Kristy turns up dead and they’re looking at Nick for the murder. They found him all over the house and his DNA in a used condom doesn’t really help matters. Nick tells Grissom immediately about his connection to Kristy. He doesn’t tell him about being drugged or being unconscious while she had sex with him, though. It’s a private matter and he wants to forget about it as soon as possible. Besides, Ecklie is out for blood so it’s not like it would matter anyway. Things are looking pretty bleak for a while, but Catherine finally breaks the case. Kristy’s pimp confesses, says she refused to give him his cut of the money she stole from Nick. He killed her, knowing that Nick would be their prime suspect.
They used to joke about Kristy. Greg used to tease Nick about his new girlfriend and Nick would tease him back, laughing about the hot date he had last night, and how he was only going through all this trouble for her because she was so sexy. Now anytime Greg hears her name all he can think is 'the bitch got what she deserved.'
No one claims her body so Nick offers to pay her final expenses and in the process, saves the county some money. When Greg asks him why he’s doing it, all he says is “Because she wouldn’t have wanted me to.”
~
“How do you know about liquid latex?”
Greg gives him a devilish grin. “I just did some research on it before you came into the lab. It sounds interesting. Wanna give it a try?”
Nick raises an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me? It takes me long enough to get you out of your clothes as it is, why would I want to have to peel off another layer?”
~
“Hey, you okay?”
Greg gives him a shaky smile. “Yeah... I’m fine.”
“You gotta stop beating yourself up, man. You did good for it being your first time.”
“I froze up, Nick. They’ll never let me out in the field again.”
“You’re looking for more field time?”
Greg blushes. “Well... it is kind of nice to get out of the lab every once in a while.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t know you were interested in getting out in the field. I thought you liked being the DNA guy.”
“I do, but... I don’t know. It’s just not as challenging as I thought it would be. Plus, if I’m out in the field, I’m with you more.”
“Any more time together and we’re going to be sick of each other, G.”
“Hm... you really think that’s possible?”
“Sure. Maybe. Slightly. Probably not,” he confesses.
“That’s right, cause I’m hot shit. I have to lock myself in my lab to keep the ladies from tackling me to the ground and having their way with me right there at work.”
“Considering most of the... ladies know that you’re mine, I don’t think that’s as big of a problem as you’d like to think.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. They’re all scared of you.”
“As they should be. You know...”
“Hm?”
“I could talk to Griss for you... tell him you’re interested in getting out in the field.”
“After what happened tonight, I don’t stand a chance,” Greg says darkly.
“You gotta stop beatin’ yourself up, man.”
Greg stretches out on the couch and lays his head on Nick’s lap. “Maybe some other time, Nicky. Right now I’m still fine being in the lab... I just thought it would be fun to mix things up for once.”
~
The house is empty, save for the moving boxes scattered amongst the various rooms.
“You’re sure you want to do this, Nicky?”
“We have to, G. There’s no way I can live here anymore.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I was getting kind of bored of this place anyway.”
Greg puts his arm around Nick’s shoulders. “Come on Nicky, our new home awaits.”
He understood, of course. Nick’s stalker had been living in their attic for who knows how long and ended up killing a guy in their house, then threatened to kill Nick, then tried to kill himself. The truth of the matter is that Greg doesn’t want to live there either. It isn’t a home anymore. It’s more like a haunted house, and the sooner they leave, the better.
He can only imagine what Nick’s going through. He wakes up almost every night in a cold sweat, breathing hard and his heart beating a million miles a minute. Greg knows that he’s reliving that day over and over again in his sleep but he doesn’t know how to help. So when Nick wakes up, moving his hands frantically, searching for some part of Greg, he doesn’t ask Nick to relax his grip on his arm when he finally finds it, no matter how much it may hurt. Instead, he takes Nick into his arms, hugs him close, lets him know that he’s okay. Lets him know that he’s loved. Let’s Nick squeeze him as hard as he needs to.
~
Greg sucks in a sharp breath and Nick lets his hands fall back to his sides.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?” he asks, his voice full of concern.
“No, it’s just... it’s just a constant thing.”
Nick nods, but he doesn’t push it. He’s worried about Greg, but he knows Greg doesn’t like to be coddled. “Grissom wants to know when you think you’ll be up for returning to work.”
“As soon as I can move without being in agony seems like a good time.”
“Yeah... Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll tell him tomorrow. God, I miss being able to touch you.”
“You can touch me, Nick. Just not the back.”
“I could have lost you,” he whispers.
Greg glares at him. “But you didn’t, so don’t dwell on it.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Nick, I don’t want us to spend the rest of our lives together thinking about what might have happened. It isn’t going to do us any good.”
“I love you, G”
“I know you do. I love you too.”
“I don’t say it enough.”
“You don’t have to say it at all, Nicky.”
Silence. Then, Greg speaks up again. “Nicky?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think I can handle being stuck in the lab anymore.”
~
“Worst. Day. Ever.”
“Ah, come on, G. We’ve had way worse days than this.”
“I worked so fucking hard to become a CSI and then I fail the proficiency and my replacement in the lab runs away. This is not a good day, Nick.”
“I didn’t say it was a good day. I just said that we’ve had worse, which we have.”
“What am I going to do now?”
“You’re going to find another replacement and then you’re going to pass your final final proficiency.”
“I just want to die.”
“No you don’t. Come on, let’s go to bed. Things will look better tomorrow.”
“I doubt it,” Greg mutters.
~
“So...”
“Yeah.”
“Fucking Ecklie.”
“Yeah.”
“How are we going to make this work, Nick? Different shifts? What do we do now?”
“Go to bed.”
“Why is that always your answer to everything?”
“You’ve never complained before.”
“I’m not complaining now. This just isn’t going to go away, though.”
“We can make it go away for a few hours, at least. Let’s go to bed, G.”
~
“I told you that you’d make it!”
Greg’s grin stretches from ear to ear. “Yeah! I can’t believe it! I’m actually a CSI now!”
“I’m proud of you, G. You’re pretty damn amazing.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Hm... I can’t wait to get you home, so we can... celebrate properly.”
“Me either.”
They spend the rest of the celebration party on opposite sides of the room, because they know they won’t be able to control themselves. One innocent touch could set off a chain of events that could quite possibly lead to them both being naked and fucking each other’s brains out right there in the break room in front of all their coworkers. Yeah, it's better that they settle for silently undressing each other with their eyes from opposite ends of the room.
The next day, Greg comes home from his first shift as a real CSI. He sneaks into the bedroom and smiles sadly at Nick’s sleeping form as he pulls off his clothes. He slides between the sheets, kisses Nick on the forehead, and whispers “I miss you” before falling asleep.