Disclaimer - I don't own CSI or the characters.

Hero

"Nick, you have to talk to him about it. You'll feel much better if you do." Catherine said calmly. She had been arguing about this with Nick for over an hour. They had been sitting in the locker room since shift had ended.

"I would really rather not, I don't see why he has to know anyway. Everything's fine the way it is, you two are together, he doesn't hate me..."

"Nick, he's not gonna hate you. You guys are best friends, think of how much it'll mean to him if you tell him the truth." Catherine was now more worried then irritated. Nick and Warrick were best friends, and that wasn't going to change. Was it?

"I know...you're right. Just...how am I supposed to tell him something like this? I mean, this is big..." Nick was starting to feel sick to his stomach. He'd been feeling like that a lot lately, ever since Warrick and Catherine got together. Guilt's a pain in the ass.

"Nicky, it's gonna be okay. The sooner you do it, the better. Waiting will make it worse." Catherine tried to sound as soothing as she could.

"This couldn't get much worse." Nick replied.

"What couldn't get worse?"

Nick practically jumped off the bench. His back was to the door, but he didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Warrick's voice was unmistakable.

Nick swore to himself. He knew he was gonna have to do it now before he lost all his nerve. Catherine slowly got up, gave Warrick a quick kiss, mumbled something about going to get Lindsey, then left without another word. Nick's hands had started shaking and he felt a little lightheaded.

"Uhhh...W-Warrick, can we t-talk...I gotta t-tell you something p-pretty important." Nick stutterted horribly as he spoke. It always happened when he was nervous.

Warrick could tell something was wrong by the way Nick was acting. He wasn't making eye contact, his hands were shaking, and then there was the obvious stutter. He walked over and sat next to Nick on the bench, and Nick shifted uncomfortably and avoided Warrick's eyes.

"Yeah, of course bro. What's up?"

"Okay...well..." Nick started. This was going to be so unbelievably hard. "Alright. Uhhh...w-well, you know how you got m-married?"

"Yeah..." Warrick's confusion and concern was obvious in his voice.

"Of course you do...well, I t-took that as you being over c-Catherine, even t-though I knew you really w-weren't, b-but I j-just thought..."

Nick was interrupted by Warrick putting his arm around him and trying to calm him down. "It's alright bro, take your time. Calm down and tell me what's going on."

"Right...well, after that whole thing with k-Kelly Gordon killing herself...I was really s-shooken up, ya know? Cuz I was right there and everything...and well, you were on a c-case and r-really busy so I didn't wanna bother you, s-so I talked to Catherine about it and..." Nick's voice broke and he trailed off. He was shaking uncontrolably now and thought he was gonna get sick.

"And what? Come on Nicky you can tell me anything."

Nick let his head fall into his hands and took a deep breath before continuing. "I s-swear I didn't mean to...b-but we ended up...s-sleeping together..."

Warrick's heart skipped a beat. His arm fell from Nick's shoulders, and he just started at him. Nick didn't dare look up.

"W...what?" Warrick didn't believe what his best friend had just told him.

"I was just so s-scared and one thing led to another and..." Nick was cut off by Warrick yelling at him.

"And you slept with her! Nick, how could you? You knew that I always had feelings for her...you're supposed to be my best friend..." Warrick had stood up from the bench and was now towering over Nick.

"I k-know, Warrick...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen...t-then you guys got together and I knew I had to tell you..." Nick slowly stood up to face Warrick. "You gotta believe me, I n-never meant to hurt you..."

"Well, you didn't do a good job there Nick. I...I just can't..." Warrick was beyond angry, he couldn't control himself. Before he even knew what he was doing, he felt his fist slam into Nick's face. Nick stumbled backwards in shock. Warrick had caught him right in the left eye, and Nick hadn't even seen it coming.

"I can't believe you man...I thought we were best friends...brothers...but I guess not. We're nothing anymore...I...I hate you, Nick." Warrick turned around and stormed out of the locker room, leaving Nick stunned and unable to move.

"I was wrong. It did get worse..." he said softly before falling to his knees.