If he's Me so Who am I? (4/4)
Title: IF HE’S ME SO WHO AM I?
Chapter: Texas Breakfast Club, 4/4
Characters: Nick, Greg, OMC
Word count: 1824
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Set after ‘Play with Fire’
Warnings: None apart from the Nick/Greg slash (Don’t like, don’t read). Cross-posted with ff.net and WMTDB.
Summary: After a very bad day, Greg finds that Nick could be interested in him... But is it really him?
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own CSI but Jerry does!
Beta: The wonderful jayceepat
Texas Breakfast Club
Present
After looking for Nick in the usual place, Greg had finally given up. He was afraid that Nick would bring Eric home to play video games instead of him. Eventually he had decided to go in the new café which had just opened few blocks away. No one in the LVPD but him knew about that place. Moreover the coffee addict discovered that they had Blue Hawaiian.
He was about to take his change from the waitress when he heard a nice sound: the laugh of his gorgeous Texan. Well, ‘his’… Not exactly. At that precise moment, when he turned toward the sound, ‘his’ Texan was caressing his look-a-like’s hand. And from where he was, he could only catch a few words from the conversation, almost lip reading.
“Alone… Need… Friend… Fun… Nicky… Connected… Love… Sex…” were the words that he was hearing from Eric.
‘Why is he blushing? And why is Nick touching that bastard?’ He thought angrily.
Nick was talking now so Greg tried to focus on Nick’s voice and mouth.
“Look like… definitely his opposite… Soft Country… Like me… Manson… Loud music… Resting now… You… Dress normally… Crazy T-Shirts… Goofy… Chemical compounds… Silly game… Can’t stand… Bad… Wannabe… CSI… Naivety… Puppy… Should go to bed… Drive you home…” The last words devastated Greg.
The cashier was trying to bring him back into reality. He snapped out of his reveries when Nick noticed him and called him.
“Hey G! You’re here! What’s up!”
“Nothing,” Greg mumbled.
“Blue Hawaiian I guess!” He winked at him. “You wanna sit with us? We were about to leave but we can stay a little bit longer. If you are okay with that of course Ercy?” He asked Eric, hoping that the nickname would create a reaction of jealousy from Greg.
“Sure.” Eric answered, hidden behind his mug.
“So, Greggo… Why are you pouting?” He asked smirking.
“Oh cut the crap Stokes!” Nick - who wanted jealousy - was taken aback by Greg’s violent reaction. “My name is Greg! Greg! Not G or Greggo! Greg, G-R-E-G, Greg! Or Gregory, or Sanders! Nicknames are for friends or lovers, not for a sucker-punch-co-worker!”
Everyone in the coffee shop was staring at the dirty blonde who was yelling in the middle of the room like a mad man. Nick’s smile had gone for a long time now and he was trying to calm the ex-lab-rat.
“G! Uh, Greg! Calm down, please… Everyone is watching us.”
“And. So. WHAT??? I’m soooooo sorry to disturb your little intimate moment with THAT!” He said emphasizing the last word and waving toward Eric.
“Greg!” Nick warned, knowing that he had hurt Eric with his last comeback.
“Oooh, soorrrryyy… Have I hurt your new boyfriend, Nick Stokes the knight in shining armor? By the way I thought you were the little-perfect-straight-Christian-Texas-Mamma Boy. You’re already protecting him! That’s so sweet!” He said with venom.
“Greg!” Nick said indignant, but Greg was totally out of control.
“You know what? I think it’s too much for me! I can’t work with you knowing that you sleep with THAT! Tomorrow I will ask Grissom not to pair me with you anymore.”
“Oh yeah? And why don’t you ask Ecklie to transfer you to day shift? You could even ask Hodges to give you some advice about how to suck up to the boss to obtain what you want. I. Don’t. Care.” Nick hadn’t even noticed his anger rising until the last sentence was said. He was already regretting his words. Now Greg was looking completely devastated and heartbroken.
“You’re right! I will practice on Hodges how to suck up and use the experience with Ecklie. By the way, I’m a fast learner. I’m sure they will enjoy their time with me. Your loss…” He said bluntly.
At this point, words were just said to hurt each other.
“I can’t believe that I’ve been so stupid. I have been pinning for you for almost four years, flirting every time you came in my lab like there were no tomorrow.”
“Greg!”
“And you never EVER invited me for breakfast. You were just leading me on and making fun of me with Warrick. I hope you have enjoyed the fun all these years ‘cause from now on it’s over. For both of you. Pff! What a loss of time!”
“Greg!”
“But I get it now! Don’t worry! You prefer THAT! He doesn’t listen to heavy metal let-alone Marilyn Manson. He prefers Country music just like you. He’s not loud. He doesn’t wear crazy shirts. He hasn’t got spiked hair. I think that I’m tired of being the goofy lab-rat turned into a bad, naïve wannabe CSI.”
“Greg!”
“If it’s the look-a-like, twin, doppelganger, whatever, that you want, TAKE IT! I don't give a damn! I won’t be acting like a puppy around anymore with my ridiculous games. Our relationship will stay strictly professional from now on and until my transfer. I will just mphmmph…”
Greg couldn’t add anything, his mouth suddenly full of Nick. He couldn’t believe he was actually kissing him so when Nick released him, he asked breathlessly, “Did you just kiss me?”
“Yeah,” Nick answered shyly.
“You kissed me?” he asked again, still believing that he had dreamt the last few seconds.
“Yeah.”
“But… but… Why?”
Nick shrugged. “You didn’t want to stop rambling.”
“Is it another way to make fun of me? To flout me again?” Greg’s tone couldn’t have been more insecure.
“No, G,” he insisted on the ‘G’. “It’s just me trying to tell you that I love you. And I think that you should work on your eavesdropping. ‘Cause you really suck at that… Do you really want to know what we were saying earlier?”
“Eer… Yeah…” He answered, eyes firmly fastened on the floor.
Flashback
“So Eric, tell me. How do you find Las Vegas? And where are you from? Don’t you feel homesick?” Nick asked friendly.
“Yeah, kinda… Las Vegas is weird but I haven’t really had the time to visit. I feel a little bit alone ‘cause my family is in Seattle, and I need my girlfriend too. It’s kinda funny because her name is Nikkie. So your first name reminds me of her. I feel like… I don’t know… connected… I love her so much. And I also miss sex,” He added, blushing furiously.
Nick squeezed the arm of the sad new tech to comfort him.
“It’s incredible to see how you completely look like Greg. But you are definitely his opposite. You like soft Country and he listens to Manson, always blasting loud music in the lab. It will be peaceful now, probably even too much.” He winked. “You also dress normally. He’s always wearing crazy T-shirts with metal bands on them. And he has these goofy smiles which make my day brighter; particularly after a bad case. And when I want my results he forces me to play his ‘name this chemical compound’ silly game. I can’t confess to him that I can’t stand when he’s sad. Now he wanna be a CSI although I’m afraid that he will loose this naivety and this innocence that make him looks like an angel.”
Eric was wishing that someone could talk about him like that; with such a genuine smile, full of love and attention.
“And I hope that his gorgeous smile that can illuminate a whole room won’t disappear. By the way, I must be a masochist because I love his energy, just like a puppy on speed!” He looked at his watch, still lost in his thoughts. “Oh God! I didn’t see the time! It’s pretty late! We should go to bed. I will drive you home before heading to my place.”
“Humm Nick?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you plan to tell him soon that you love him?”
“I hope so, Eric. I sincerely hope.”
End of the flashback
“So, how do you feel now, G?” Nick asked after he told Greg the whole story.
“Ahem… Not very good.”
Greg furtively looked at Eric who said dryly, “Yeah! THAT is straight and has a girlfriend. By the way, we don’t share DNA. The legend says that everyone has a doppelganger on Earth. Apparently, mine also work in Vegas and is a complete asshat.”
“So… No twins?” Greg asked, a part of him relieved, the other ashamed of his own attitude.
“No.”
“That’s my Greggo! As you can see he likes…” Nick began.
“…making a fool of himself?” Greg suggested.
“Yeah! And he likes…”Nick tried to continue.
“…acting like a four-years-old child?” He cut Nick again.
“Sure, and he has this bad habit…” Nick continued part amused and part exasperated.
“…of completing other people’s sentences?” he finished toeing the floor.
“Ooooooh yeah!!! Uh G! I think that you need to apologize to someone; or to something if we refer to your poor capacities in grammar. Yeah! I think you suck at that too…” Nick said ironically, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“You are both right. Look Eric, I’m sorry. I really am. I have been an ass. I have been mean. I have been insulting. You have probably had a first hard day and I have just kept making it worse. So I’m really, really sorry. I hope that one day you will be able to forgive me and perhaps take a chance on a possible friendship. For a wannabe CSI, I’m really jumping to the conclusion without an explanation. Geez! I shouldn’t even need an explanation. Both of you can do whatever you want. I owe you an apology Nick. I thought you were straight ‘cause you have never flirted back when I was flirting with you or teasing you in the lab. So when I saw you holding Eric’s hand…”
“Squeezing his arm,” Nick interjected.
“I got desperately mad at you. And I have acted like a four-year-old child. So, how long do I have to ramble on before you kiss me again? ‘Cause I’m beginning to be a little bit thirsty…” Greg whined.
Nick smiled at that comment sneaked one arm behind Greg’s neck, the other behind his back. Then he kissed Greg tenderly, his tongue sloppily licking Greg’s bottom lip, asking for entrance. Greg allowed him and kissed him back, deepening the kiss. They didn’t even notice the people who had watched the whole encounter cheering and clapping in the café.
“So, can we go home now?” Nick asked diving into Greg’s brown eyes.
‘He said home’ Greg thought. “Yeah. I love you, Nick.” He answered with a voice full of emotion.
“I love you too, G.” He replied adoringly. “But I still have to drop Eric at his place!” He stated playfully.
The three guys burst into laughter. But Greg suddenly said “Uh! Can I have a few minutes, please? I have a last thing to do.” The two others nodded their answers. Then Greg reached for his cell phone and dialed a number. “Hmm… Hi Mom!”
The end