Warning: Adult themes, language and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything involving CSI whatsoever.

Greg stared at Nick through the pane of glass separating them. Nick was pretending he didn't notice Greg, was staring at him, but Greg knew he knew. He could tell by the way Nick was acting. He was trying too hard to be nonchalant and smile and joke with Warrick just to piss Greg off. Greg was pissed off because Nick was acting that way, and because the way he was acting was working. Greg couldn't understand how Nick could want to pretend everything okay when it so obviously wasn't. If Greg wasn't okay, then Nick shouldn't be either. Greg knew that sounded selfish and terrible, but it was Nick's fault that Greg wasn't okay, and he should be doing something about it rather than just trying to make Greg madder.

Greg couldn't wait to get home so he could yell at Nick. He already knew everything he wanted to say and had it planned out perfectly. On the surface Greg was extremely mad, but deep down, he was actually scared. He was scared that after six years of being with Nick that he still didn't know what he wanted. Greg wasn't looking for a proposal or anything, he didn't want that at all. Him and Nick lived together, and things had been perfect until Greg asked the age old question that Nick had previously ignored and never answered. It had always lead to a fight, just like it had last night. And now Nick was acting immature, and Greg wasn't going to stand for that.

Greg said to himself over and over what he wanted to say to Nick as he sat on the couch and waited for his boyfriend to get home. He started to get more and more nervous with each minute that passed, knowing that Nick would be home any minute and a huge fight was about to happen. Greg pretended he didn't care though. He knew they had to talk about this seriously sooner or later, so why not sooner?

Sooner turned out to be three minutes later, when Nick walked in the front door, fully expecting Greg to be waiting for him.

"Please don't start this again," Nick said as he closed the door softly behind him. "I don't want to fight with you."

"That seems to be the only thing that you know that you want for sure," Greg said coldly. "Why don't you want to talk about this?"

"Because you don't listen and don't understand," Nick said with a sigh.

Greg leaned back against the couch casually. "I'm listening," he said.

Nick sighed again as he reluctantly went over to the couch and sat next to Greg. "I don't understand why this is such a big deal to you," Nick said, even though he did understand.

"We've been together for six years Nick. Six. And you still haven't told your parents about us," Greg said flatly. "So it's either you don't want to be with me anymore, or you're ashamed of us."

Nick shook his head. "It's neither. You know I love you and there's no one in the world I'd rather be with, and I'm not ashamed of that."

"Then why the hell can't you tell you parents about us? Are you afraid they won't love you anymore for being gay?" Greg asked, his anger from before returning. Nick didn't say anything. He just sat there silently and started at Greg. "Is that why?" Greg asked.

Nick got up off the couch and started for the bedroom, but Greg got up and grabbed his arms, spinning him around to face him. He held Nick in place and looked at him, but Nick wouldn't look back. He tried to pull Nick back over to the couch, but the other man wouldn't move an inch.

"What's wrong with you Nick?" Greg asked, somewhat concerned but still mad.

Nick finally caved. "You're right. That's why I wouldn't tell them, because I was afraid they would hate me for it. And I was right."

Greg shook his head slowly. "What are you talking about?"

Nick looked up at Greg. "I told them. Five and a halfyears ago. I told them about us and how much I love you and everything. They didn't care. They were so mad, and still are. They told me to never talk to them ever again. They disowned me Greg."

Greg stared at Nick in disbelief. "What?" he said weakly.

"I never told you because I didn't want you to know. I knew you'd feel bad and I didn't want you thinking it was your fault. I'd rather fight with you over this than have to tell you that my parents don't want to be my parents because of you. But I don't care if they hate me because I love you," Nick said quietly.

"Nick...I had no idea. I'm so sorry," Greg said, tears beginning to build in his eyes. "I didn't mean to get so mad about it, I just thought that-"

Nick cut him off by pulling him into a tight hug. "I know you didn't know, that was the point. I didn't want you to feel this way, so I never told you. But it's not your fault, okay?"

"Yes it is," Greg said against Nick's neck.

Nick wrapped his arms around Greg's waist tighter. "No it's not. I don't care what they think, it doesn't change how I feel about you. Nothing ever could."

Greg wrapped his arms around Nick's neck, pulling himself as close to the older man as possible. "I didn't want that to happen."

"I know," Nick said. "I didn't either. But it did, and there's nothing we can do about it now. I don't care about that because I still have you."

"I hate it how so many people don't want us to be together," Greg whispered, in reference not only to Nick's revelation but also to the numerous threats and disapprovals of other people throughout the years.

"They don't matter," Nick replied. "I know it sucks, but don't listen to any of them. They don't know what they're talking about."

Greg was quiet for a moment before he quietly asked, "Do you ever wish you weren't in love with me?"

Nick pulled away from Greg to look him in the eyes. "Why would I?"

Greg shrugged weakly. "It would make your life a hell of a lot simpler and easier."

"If life without you would be simple and easy, I don't want my life to be simple and easy. I love living with you because it's so much fun all the time and you're awesome to be around."

"But what about when we fight? We kinda do a lot."

Nick smiled slightly. "I know we do, but it never lasts a long time. We fight because you like to be a pain in the ass, and I can be a jerk. We fight about it, then we're back to doing the same things we always do. We annoy the hell out of each other for the fun of it because we know that no matter what, we're always gonna be together."

"You really think that?" Greg asked, his own smile tugging at his lips.

Nick nodded. "I know that. After six years, with all our stupid fights and arguments, neither one of us has ever gone and slept with someone else just to spite the other. We never did because we know that no one else is worth it and no one else would be able to put up with us except each other. After six years, we're both still here."

Greg was smiling completely now. "Yeah, you're right. No one else would be able to stand either one of us, but it's their fault, not ours."

Nick laughed. "Exactly."

Greg pulled Nick to him and pressed his lips against the older man's softly, smiling against the feel of Nick's lips against his. He felt Nick slip his fingers through his belt loops and pull Greg closer still until they were flush against each other. They kissed deeply for a long time, but to them it felt too short by the time they had to pull apart. When they did, Greg stared into Nick's eyes and felt his hands begin to shake slightly. Nick felt it to, so he stepped back so he could take Greg's hands in his and held them tightly in an effort to calm Greg down.

"Why did you wait so long to tell me that your parents knew? I wouldn't have kept bringing it up and being a jerk about it," Greg said, looking down at his hands in Nick's.

"I didn't want you blaming yourself," Nick answered. "And I guess I didn't want to think about it. They're being so stupid and stubburn for no reason. Well, they have a reason, but it's a stupid reason."

Greg smiled slightly. "I'm a stupid reason?"

Nick laughed. "You know what I mean smart ass."

Nick pulled Greg gently over to the couch and they both laid down, Nick dangerously close to the edge and Greg pinned between Nick and the back of the couch, half layin on top of Nick. The lighter haired man rested his head on the other's chest and hooked his thump through one of the loops on Nick's dark blue jeans. Greg smiled to himself when his heart fluttered at the feeling of Nick's arm draped across his shoulders and his warm hand covering his own before the older man kissed Greg's soft hair. Greg had been with Nick for six years and they had touched each other basically every where on uncountable occassions, but Greg still got that fluttery feeling when Nick touched him like that because it wasn't sexual, it was loving.

Greg slowly closed his eyes and sank into the feeling of Nick next to him. It was very calming and always gave Greg a chance to relax. As relaxed as his body was, his mind was rapidly thinking about their relationship and how it had grown over the last six years. They had started off as good friends, and then one short year later everything had changed, and they'd been together ever since. They'd been living together for four years and had definitely been through a lot.

Nigel Crane had kicked off a serious of unfortunate events that had plagued Nick and Greg. First that, then the lab explosion, then theshift change followed by Nick's kidnapping and to round it all out, Greg had been beaten up by a mob of people because he saved someone's life. Talk about unfortunate events.

But those weren't the parts of their life together that Greg thought about as much as others. He obviously thought about the times Nick stayed by his side for days on end, making sure he was okay and doing whatever it took to cheer him up. He thought about the times Nick couldn't sleep because of nightmares and to help take his mind off of it, they'd play video games for countless hours. Greg thought about those things a lot, but not as much as the other aspects of their relationship.

Greg always found himself thinking about the little, seemingly minute parts of their relationship that may seem small to some people, but weren't to him. Things like random voicemails Nick would leave him at all times of day when something funny happened to him or he just wanted to say hi. There was also the text messages Greg got from Nick when the other man knew he was working a tough case. The messages were always simple, usually just saying "I love you" with a little smiley face. As simple as they were, they could always make Greg smile.

One of the things Greg loved most about their relationship was the honesty they had with each other. There were no secrets or lying, everything was always straight forward. On more than one occassion, the couple had stayed up all night talking about everything, disclosing their deepest secrets to each other so nothing ended up being left in the dark. But not everything had come out right away, it took some time and some things were harder to say than others. Greg understood that very well, and appreciated such honesty even more when he found something else out about Nick.

A month or so into their relationship, Nick and Greg had ended up Nick's bed, both of their shirts removed, kissing madly. Greg had reached down to undo Nick's jeans when he felt the older man tense up from on top of him. When Greg asked what was wrong, Nick shook his head and replied nothing, but Greg saw through the lie. Nick proceeded to roll off of Greg and sigh before telling him that he'd never had sex with another guy before and wasn't sure if he was ready yet, although he knew that he loved Greg enough to go through with it.

Greg didn't know why he was surprised to find out that Nick had never been with another guy before, but he was. He was also very glad that Nick told him so that it wouldn't have had reprucussions. Greg reassured Nick that it wasn't a big deal and they waited, basing their relationship off of more than just physical attraction.

Greg smiled widely as he lay next to Nick, as comfortable as anyone could ever get. Nick noticed Greg's smile and smiled himself, even though he wasn't sure what was so amusing.

"What are you smiling at?" Nick asked.

Greg shrugged slightly. "Nothing in particular, I'm just really happy."

Still smiling, Nick asked, "Why's that?"

Greg shifted so he was perched up on one elbow. He kissed Nick on the cheek before pulling back, looking him in the eyes with a huge smile on his face and responding, "Because I'm with you silly."

This chapter was a lot of talking and set up for the rest of the story because I wanted to establish the finer points of their relationship and how serious it is. The action will quickly pick up, I can promise you that, and I hope you'll enjoy it.