Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!
It had been a long day for the entire team. By the time shift was over, all of them were dragging their feet on the way out the door, glad to be able to finally leave. The triple homicide that came in that night had kept them all in the dark for more than eleven hours until Warrick found the missing clue that cracked the case. Greg was just slipping in to a pair of cotton pajama bottoms, fully prepared to fall asleep watching television, when he heard a knock on his door. He didn't even bother holding back the disappointed groan that bubbled up in his chest. With heavy feet, he dragged himself over to the front door and swung it open without checking to see who it was through the peephole.
"I hope you weren't asleep." Greg tilted his head at her, a little bit confused.
"Sara, what are you doing here?" he asked curiously. Sara gave him an apologetic smile, so he backed up to let her in to his home, shutting the door behind her. He took her jacket and hung it up, waving her in to the living room. He had time to be thankful that he had recently cleaned the house before his friend was throwing herself down on the couch and throwing her hands up in to the air.
"I'm sorry to intrude like his Greg, I hope you don't mind." Greg shook his head, but she continued before he could assure her with comforting words. "Ugh it's Grissom. I've been stressing all day and night about this case and we finally solve it so I ask Gil if he still wants to go on that date we had planned and you know what? He forgot all about it! I swear Greg, sometimes I wonder if we can even make this work." She dropped her hands in her lap and leaned her head against the back of the couch. Greg smiled gently and shook his head as he leaned against the backrest of his favorite suede armchair.
"So you wanted someone to vent to? Or a friend to hang out with?" He grinned when Sara raised her head to glare at him, raising his hands in a sign of surrender. "Well if I'm going to help I need to know how you want to be helped." She pondered this for a moment. While she was thinking Greg went in the kitchen to pour them both some coffee, glad that he had just finished brewing some right before she arrived. When he wandered back in to the living room, she had seemingly decided not to be annoyed at his cheeky comment. She just took the coffee cup gratefully and made a relieved face at the first sip.
"I don't know Greg, I was mad at Gil and I didn't want to go home. You were the first person I thought of. I didn't even think of the fact that you might be too tired to deal with me until I was staring you in the face. Forgive me?" She made as sweet a face as she could and Greg laughed out loud. He returned to leaning on the armchair where he had been before, casual and comfortable, and Sara wondered why he didn't just sit down. It was his house after all.
"Nothing to forgive Sara," Greg insisted. "That's what friends are for, aren't they?" She gave him a brilliant smile and they fell in to easy chatter. Sometime around her third refill Sara realized that she really needed to visit the ladies room. She excused herself and wandered down the hall, making a mental note along the way to ask Greg why he had no pictures hanging up in the hallway. It was bare, almost sterile. Maybe it was because he needed a woman's touch. Sara decided to offer her decorating assistance.
When her business was done Sara turned to the sink to wash her hands – only to stop and stare at the counter in incomprehension. There were two toothbrushes. A bright green one and a bright red one, both leaning on opposite sides of the same black holding cup. Why in the world did Greg need two? Frowning, Sara made to turn away, but something else caught her eye: two different brands of toothpaste sitting side by side behind the taps. This confused her even further, and the feeling only increased as she took a hard look around the bathroom. Two bath towels hung off the back of the door, a plain fluffy white one and a wacky orange and blue colored one. Everything in here appeared to be doubled, and she was beginning to have suspicions.
Sara made her way down the hall slowly to see that Greg had vacated the living room. Taking the opportunity, she looked around this room as well. His music and movies collection had doubled in size since the last time she had been here, although admittedly that was quite a while ago. Where Greg kept his spare blanket on the back of the couch, Sara could see a second blanket hiding underneath the usual one. Sara nodded, assuming that she knew what was going on but wanting to confirm, and followed Greg to where he had wandered in to the kitchen. For a moment she just stood in the doorway, holding the coffee cup she had retrieved from the living room, and watched Greg. He was fiddling with something inside the fridge, and with the door open Sara could see a tall jug of orange juice. Greg hated orange juice. She smiled as everything fell in to place with a note of finality.
"So who is she?" Sara asked quietly. Greg jumped in fright and turned around, placing a hand against his chest to try and slow his suddenly racing heart. He grinned in amusement, not at all embarrassed that she had scared him, and Sara grinned back a little smugly. Then when her words sunk in, Greg frowned in puzzlement.
"Who is who?" he asked, making her grin bigger.
"Whose toothbrush is that in the bathroom? The red one?" She watched as Greg's frown deepened and he gave her a look that clearly said he thought she might be going insane. He slowly stood up and closed the refrigerator door, revealing to her that he had a grocery list held on to the appliance with a magnet. As far as she knew, Greg had never written a grocery list in his life.
"Mine," he replied at last, drawing the word out slowly like he did when he was trying to figure out where a conversation was going. But she had figured it all out and she wasn't about to let him get away with this without giving her some juicy details.
"Ok, so whose is the green one?" she asked, feeling a little triumphant. But instead of flushing and stammering, Greg tossed his head back and chuckled deeply.
"Oh that? That's Nick's toothbrush." He grinned and shrugged carelessly as he stepped over to take the coffee cup out of her hand and returned to the sink. Just then she noticed that he had ran some hot soapy water to wash their cups in. As he was working, Greg checked over his shoulder to see if she was still standing there with that weird smirk on her face. He was relieved to see that it had dropped away, but confused when it was replaced with total and utter bewilderment.
"Greg…why would Nick have a toothbrush at your apartment?" her voice was dripping curiosity, but from the expression Greg's face he thought it should have been the most obvious this in the world. He turned back to what he was doing after a moment and frowned at the porcelain in his hands as he ran the cloth over it.
"We're friends? He stays here a lot." He shrugged again as if it were no big deal. But Sara had been over at Warrick's for a team gathering recently and despite the fact that Nick and Warrick were supposed to be best friends, there was no second toothbrush. No second towel. No second blanket. Something about this was off, and she was going to figure it out if it was the last thing she ever did. One thing she loved was a good challenge that didn't have someone's hope riding on whether or not she figured it out.
Sara remained silent for a couple minutes as she thought about that green toothbrush and what it could mean. As she thought, she watched Greg. He finished washing the two cups and pulled the plug out of the sink, picking up a hand towel and drying the dripping dishes. Then, instead of putting them in the cupboard like anyone else would have done, he set them neatly side-by-side next to the coffee pot. Sara watched him put three spoons of sugar in to one cup and just one spoon of sugar in to the other cup. Then he just left them there and turned to wipe down the water he had splashed on the counter top.
"Aren't you going to put those away?" she couldn't help herself, she had to ask. It wasn't until Greg had stopped what he was doing to look over at the cups in contemplation of her question that she realized she already knew the answer.
"That's where they go," Greg murmured in an odd voice and Sara just smiled. Two coffee cups for two people, all ready to go whenever they were needed next. Just like everything else in the house now. Greg turned his head to look at Sara but neither of them said anything. They were in the middle of a small staring contest, neither one able to read the thoughts of the other, when they heard the front door opening. Sara knew that there had been no knocking and no one rang the doorbell. Someone had just unlocked the door and let themselves in. Before she could even open her mouth and ask, a familiar voice rang out through the home.
"Greg I hope you're not asleep because you won't be for long!" Nick's voice reverberated down the hall. "I brought pizza!" A chuckle was heard, and Sara didn't miss the way Greg's eyes were suddenly lit up and twinkling, a heck of a lot more awake than he had been mere seconds ago. He didn't reply to the call, but left the kitchen in what looked like quite a hurry. Following him, Sara was treated to the sight of Nick Stokes making him self right at home in Greg's house. The pizza had been dropped on to the coffee table and he was already sprawled out on the couch, one of the blankets from the back of the couch draped over his shoulders.
When Sara and Greg came in to the room he turned his head to grin at Greg. He noticed someone else and paused, piece of pizza stuffed halfway in his mouth, to check whom it was. Sara fought not to laugh at the startled expression on his face, but she did notice that he didn't look at all embarrassed. As if he belonged here, as if he had more right than her to be here, as if she were the intruder. At long last he smiled and removed the piece of pizza from his face, chewed, swallowed, and wiped a hand across his mouth.
"Oh…hey Sara." He muttered, then his eyes brightened and he became much more enthusiastic. "Hey Greg, I picked up that new game we were talking about, you want to play?" Greg's face broke out in a huge smile as he nodded and all but lunged across the room to pull out his gaming console. Sara watched the way they kept looking over at each other and grinning, and she knew that they had both almost forgotten she was even here in the excitement of each other. When they sat down on the couch, Greg pulled his own blanket around his shoulders, but she watched the way he and Nick sat much too close together.
That's when it all hit home, and she understood at last. She understood every look that had ever passed between the boys; every touch that they had shared that she had thought was unnecessary. She understood every innuendo, every hint, and every silent agreement. But when she looked back at the couch she saw the way they were both wearing their blankets, almost like protective shields to keep at least one barrier between them. They leaned in close to each other but they never touched. Sara smiled as she quietly walked down the hall and retrieved her coat. She understood now, even if they didn't. One day they would figure out it, or she would make them see. But for now she would let them go on with their lives, pretending that they weren't completely in love with each other. One day they would know.
Sequel will appear one of these days! Cross your fingers and hope for soon!