Family of Secrets

Pairing: Nick/Greg

Rating: (T) – M to be on the safe side.

A/N: This story was once called 'Love Actually', but I didn't like it. And I can't write stories that I don't like. It has changed a lot though and the other characters won't be in it as main roles, because I find Nick/Greg so much easier to write then GSR, Cath/Warrick... etc.

There are only a few parts/lines that are the same as the 'Love Actually' version, but I think you'll like this one a whole lot better since I was only 14 when I originally wrote that version. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of it's very hot male characters, I just borrowed them, I fully intend to give them back ;P

Summary: Nick is looking for a relationship that he is actually comfortable in. He tries to get closer to people and more attached to his life since the death of his best friend Warrick, but he gets a lot more than he bargained for.

This story is set somewhere between 'The Happy Place' and 'Say Uncle' from season Nine.

Chapter One: Love Is All Around Us

"Drink plenty of water, don't play any more of those computer games and I'll be back before you know it." Sofia shouted from bathroom as she continued styling her hair, spraying more hairspray every second to hold up the hairstyle she was trying to achieve. She started to wish she had paid more attention to hair care and makeup like her sisters had growing up, but she spent most of the time with her mom, wanting to become a cop just like her, so she didn't know how to keep her hair exactly the way she wanted it. "Nick? Did you hear me?" She shouted back to him as he had been very silent.

"Yes. I heard." Nick groggily groaned from his position on the bed, wishing he had never asked her to move some of her stuff in with him as he liked to have his personal space, especially as his bedroom was starting to stink out with female perfume that smelled of dead roses and cedar that he could still smell even though his nose was blocked up, along with the hairspray wafting in, he was starting to get a splitting headache. He absolutely hated that smell and it was always around now that she was always here. He never asked her to move in, he just offered that she kept some of her overnight things here, but now she was always here and her stuff was always around.

"Hey Nick, could I bring some more of my clothes over? I can never find what I'm looking for here."

"Look Sofia," Nick sat up in bed to face her. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I kinda like my space."

Sofia rolled her eyes at him, heading back towards the bathroom. "Make sure you get plenty of sleep too." She advised, leaning through the bathroom door to look at him.

"What times this party start anyway?" It was Grissom and Sara's engagement party. They finally decided to announce it to everyone and hold a party with all of their closest friends attending as neither one of them had any family left. Nick couldn't go as he got sick a few days before, and so far he wasn't getting any better.

Nick reached for another tissue from the box on the nightstand beside him, blowing his blocked nose; wishing Sofia would go away already as she was spraying even more hairspray, making it even more difficult to breathe. "How much of that shit do you need in your hair? My rooms gonna explode!" Nick groggily shouted at her.

"Don't be so melodramatic." She laughed, heading back towards the bedroom to look at her watch. "God I am so late." She suddenly panicked, pulling her shoes on, quickly tying the straps around her ankles. "Are you sure you'll be okay without me here? You know I can easily stay..."

"No," He quickly shook his head, not wanting to be around her for another second. "It's just a chest infection. I'll be fine by myself." Holding his sore throat, Nick reached for another tissue. "Give Sara and Grissom my best." He forced a smile up at her. Sofia nodded grabbing her purse and ear rings off the side. She moved over to the mirror to put her earrings in, readjusting her bra straps beneath her dress straps. "So what time exactly will you be back?" He asked curiously.

"Miss me will you?" She smiled round at him, completely ignoring the fact that he frowned at her when she asked that. "About four hours or so. I can't believe Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle are really getting married." She chuckled excitedly.

"Why? Jealous are you?" Frowning down at Nick, Sofia decided to ignore his snide remark; just like she always did. Sofia checked her hair again in the mirror, deciding to change her shoes as the ones she was wearing weren't very comfortable. Nick looked up at the clock again, counting the minutes for her to leave. They seemed to be going so slowly though.

Sofia turned to face Nick once she pulled the second pair of shoes on. "Do you think that we'll ever tie the knot?" Nick gulped hard as Sofia said that. It was the dreaded statement that he dumped girls over all the time. As soon as any of them started talking about marriage or baby's, that was it. It signalled the end of his relationship with them for good. Then she continued the rest of the dreaded subjects he never discussed with girlfriends. "Nick, did you ever want kids? I mean I thought that I'd never have kids . . . but maybe..."

"You're gonna be really late." Nick pointed out to her, rudely interrupting her, but he didn't want to talk about it with her as he really couldn't stand her. If he was up to full strength he'd dump her and chuck her out in a second, but he was too tired to think up the excuses that they always demanded to know the answers to.

"Relax, I wasn't proposing to you, and I'm not pregnant either so don't worry." She laughed at his reaction. "I love you." Sofia smiled, leaning across the bed to kiss him on the forehead. "Even when you're sick and look disgusting." She teased him.

"I know." Nick choked in a croaky voice. "Now go or you'll miss the dinner." He ordered her. Sofia smiled blowing him another kiss then ran off out the door towards her car in the drive. She quickly climbed in the driver's seat, heading off for Sara and Grissom's engagement party before she missed it.

Nick blew his nose once again then scrambled across the bed towards the phone, impatiently dialling his secret lover's number. "Hi it's me . . . are you busy?" He croaked, holding his groggy head. "I said... are you busy?" He paused to choke on the heavy phlem in his throat, throwing his head back against the pillow behind him. "Okay, she's gone . . . okay hurry up. I miss you." Nick sexily rasped down the phone despite his sore throat. He put the phone down then started coughing horrendously, making his throat feel as though it was actually bleeding.

Nick climbed off the bed, heading into the bathroom where he literally couldn't breathe. He opened the window to let some of the cool fresh air in. Wiping the steamed up mirror with his hand, so he could see his nose was red, his cheeks were blotchy and his eyes were all puffy. He looked deathly sick and he felt even worse inside.

Nick splashed his face with some cold water, giving his nose another blow, trying to spruce himself up a bit to make himself even the slightest bit presentable.

Nick scrambled off the bed, heading off to answer the front door. He checked through the peep hole then pulled open the door, feeling the cold wind brush against his skin. "You look like death." The spiky haired young man in his doorway gasped, being pulled in through the door so Nick could close it before he started sneezing.

Greg leant up against the wall to avoid the germs, softly patting Nick on the back. "Nicky, you okay?"

"No . . . Sanders, what took you so long?" Nick croaked, immediately turning his head to sneeze again. Greg watched him going into a coughing fit, softly smoothing his palm up and down Nick's back.

"Are you okay?" Softly patting him on the back, Greg started to worry that he couldn't breathe. Nick let out one final hoarse cough, holding his ribs as he leant up against the wall. "Nick...?"

"No, I'm not. I hate feelin' sick." He groaned, heading off towards the couch to sit down. Greg followed after him as he dropped heavily to the couch, placing his arm over his eyes. "Maybe you should go." Nick suggested, feeling groggy and stuffy again. "I'm not gettin' better."

"You need to rest." Greg gently lifted his head, placing a pillow beneath it then grabbed the blanket off the back of the sofa, covering Nick's body with it. "You can't just expect to get better just like that if you don't rest Nicky."

"I guess I ruined yet another one of our get togethers huh?" He chuckled softly, making himself choke again.

"No the last one was my mother actually and the one before that you made me climb out the window as Sofia came home." Greg reminded him, gently brushing his fingers through Nick's sweaty head of hair.

"I'm leavin' her . . . well this is my place so she'll be the one to leave."

"Uh oh, marriage or babies?" Greg instinctively asked, knowing Nick only chucked girls for those reasons.

"Marriage . . . then babies," Nick groaned, scratching his nose as he felt a sneeze coming on again. He removed his arm from his eyes to look up at Greg. "We haven't been together that long, why is it they always ruin perfectly good relationships with the M or B words?"

"You really think it's a perfectly good relationship?" Greg asked surprised. "You've been sleeping with me since before..."

"I know." Nick groaned again, struggling to reach for the tissue box on the table. Greg grabbed it for him, handing him one of the tissues. "Thank you," Nick blew his nose then collapsed back against the pillow again. "Why did you come over Greg?"

"You asked me to."

"Ar... cha goin' to Sara and Griss's engagement thing?" Nick struggled to speak, being handed another tissue. "Aren't you?"

"Nope . . . I'm here aren't I?" Greg smiled, checking Nick's temperature with the back of his hand. "You really don't look so good; maybe I should call you..."

"No doctor." Nick shook his head. "I'll be fine." He assured him. Looking through his puffy eyes up at Greg, he could see the worry all over his face. "Won't Sara be pissed you're not there?"

"Nope," Greg gently trailed his fingertips across Nick's head. "Have you even seen a doctor?"

"I don't need a doctor G. There's some beers in the fridge."

"That's the last thing you need." Greg chuckled, sitting back on the coffee table beside the sofa.

"Why do you even like me Greg?" Greg shrugged, looking around at the teddy bears on Nick's trophy shelf. "I don't mean to say I don't like you too . . . because I do, you're my best friend..."

"After Warrick?"

"Before Warrick, you always were." Nick corrected, putting a smile on Greg's face. "I just don't do so good at the relationship stuff. You should know. You've watched them fall to pieces since you've known me."

"Did you ever think it was because you were dating the wrong people? Nick you can't stand Sofia, yet you asked her to move in with you..."

"Move some of her stuff in with me." Nick corrected, reaching for another tissue. "I don't know when she put that shit up there."

"Do you even like Sofia?" Greg asked curiously. "I mean . . . she's okay, but I don't really think that you two go together that good." Greg made an observation.

"I know," Nick groaned, reaching for yet another tissue. "You're not askin' me to start datin' people I can actually get along with are you?" Greg laughed at Nick, rolling his eyes at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Giggling softly, Greg tossed the dirty tissues into the trashcan for him. "How come you never have relationships with guys?" He asked curiously.

"Have you met guys G? They don't want relationships." Nick wiped his sweaty forehead, looking up into Greg's eyes. "I had a boyfriend in college, it didn't work out."

"Did you ever think it didn't work out coz you sleep around so much? You've been dating Sofia about four or five months now and I can count about six sexual partners you've been with since, including me."

"You tryin' to say I have a problem?" Greg shook his head slightly, biting his lower lip. "You do don't you? You think I have a problem. I'm not a sex addict G. I've had monogamous relationships."

"Prove it."

"My college girlfriend Mellissa, I was loyal to her for two whole years then she cheated on me. My boyfriend James, he cheated on me too. I was with this Lilah for eight whole months without sex with anyone else. I almost got married once too, I was loyal to her then she slept with Warrick."

"She did?" Greg asked surprised. Nick nodded his head, holding a tissue over his runny nose. "Weren't you mad at Warrick?"

Shaking his head, Nick tossed the soggy tissue in his hands towards the bin. "Loyalty doesn't exist anymore G. You should know G, your girlfriend cheated on you."

"Let's bring that up as often of possible." Greg remarked sarcastically.

Chuckling softly, Greg shook his head at him. "What am I gonna do with you Nicky? Someone has royally screwed you up."

"Screwed me up? You wish Sanders." He smiled up at him, covering his hands over his mouth as he sneezed. "You know, the longest relationship I've ever had . . . is with you."

"Me?" Greg asked shocked. "We're not in a relationship though Nick, certainly not a loyal one. You said the very first time you took me to your bedroom that you didn't want a relationship." Greg reminded him, leaning forwards on his elbows to look into Nick's puffy eyes. "Are we going up a level in your standards of dating after . . . three years together?"

"Yeah, but technically Greg, we've been together for eight years. Only three of which were kissin', crazy naked sex, blow jobs and lots of..."

"Okay." Greg stopped him.

Nick laughed, sneezing into his hands again. "Ow . . . Ew," Greg grabbed another tissue for him, handing it over for Nick to wipe his hands. "Do you want to go up another level?"

"To what?"

"I don't know," Blowing his nose, Nick looked up into Greg's eyes. "Isn't boyfriends the next level after bein' sex buddies and best friends for years?" Greg tilted his head to the side as he thought about it. "You don't want to?" Nick asked as he hesitated.

"Oh I do . . . I was just thinking . . . I was just thinking that you're acting a little bit tipsy, kinda like you're drunk . . . so I'm not gonna agree to be your boyfriend as you'll probably forget about it, completely forgetting the commitment you made to me, leaving me out in the cold once again, not to mention the fact that you're still dating Sofia and she lives in this house with you..."

"She doesn't live here." Nick groaned in frustration. "I'm gettin' rid of those freakin' teddies up there."

"That's still not the point Nick, you're still with her and you cheat on everybody. So I guess my answer is a kinda no, but if circumstances were a little different, like more in my favour . . . then I guess it would be a yes, but for now . . . I'm gonna have to go with no." Greg bit his lower lip as he watched Nick struggling to get comfortable on the sofa. "Also . . . I don't wonna be the rebound."

"Can you run that by me again? Maybe a little slower . . . and I can't even remember my question now. And you won't be a rebound."

"You're not gonna cheat on me are you?" Nick rolled onto his side to face Greg completely. "I mean if I go up one level in your life, you're not gonna need someone else to fill the gap of sex buddy with no attachments are you?"

Slowly shaking his head, Nick looked at the expression on Greg's face. "No, I'm not gonna need another sex buddy G. To tell you the truth, I never had one before you." Nick started coughing, watching Greg scrambling off to the bathroom. "Where are you goin'?"

"Cough syrup!" Greg shouted back, hunting through the cupboards to find what he wanted. "Ew, what's that smell?" Sniffing the atmosphere in the bathroom made his eyes water. Greg plugged up his nostrils from the horrible stench in the room as he struggled to search through all of the cupboards for the cough syrup he was looking for.

"That smell is a woman." Nick shouted back to him.

Greg threw his head back in laughter, heading back towards the front room with the cough syrup in his hands. "Did you even take any of this? The seals not even broken. No wonder you're not getting better." Greg scolded him, starting to sound like his mother as he head to the kitchen to grab a spoon. Greg returned to the coffee table, reading the instructions on the back of the bottle before he started opening it. "Have you taken any aspirin or anything?" Nick shook his head. "How's your temperature?" Greg reached out to place his hand on Nick's forehead. "You feel a little hot, do you have a headache?"

"A little . . . what are you a doctor now?" He chuckled.

"No," Greg poured out a spoonful of the cough syrup, waiting for Nick to struggle to a sitting position. He fed the spoonful of medicine to Nick, smiling as he lifted the spoon clean from Nick's mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing," Greg sweetly smiled at him. "Do you have aches and pains? Sore throat? I know you have a chesty cough, what about your appetite?"

"G . . . slow down," Nick chuckled. "No I don't have any aches and pains. My throat is sore and I haven't eaten... in a while."

"Off to bed for some sleep then." Greg insisted, setting the cough syrup down on the coffee table, pulling Nick to his feet, leading him off towards the bedroom which he had been practically dragged to by Nick hundreds of times upon entering his front door.

Greg pushed him off into his bed, closing the blinds so it was dark enough for Nick to sleep in there. Greg head off for the bathroom, grabbing the aspirin bottle from the cabinet. He rinsed out a glass from beside the sink, filling it with some water then head back to the bedroom. "Drink and swallow, before you go to sleep," He instructed him, taking a seat on the side of his bed.

Nick swallowed the pills then set the glass down on the side, resting his head back against the pillow as he looked up into Greg's eyes. "So Greg . . . was that a yes or a no to bein' my boyfriend?"

"Do you really want me to be your boyfriend? Or are you just afraid of being a lonely commitment phobe?" Greg moved the glass away from the edge, grabbing Nick another tissue from the box.

"I'm not a commitment phobe!" Nick protested.

"Are too!" Greg teased being pulled towards Nick in his strong arms. "You can't kiss me, you're sick." He smiled, inches from Nick's parted lips.

"Since when do you let a few germs stop you from kissin' me?" Smiling widely, Nick pulled Greg closer, covering his mouth with a lusty desperate kiss. He kissed Greg as though he wanted to consume him, rolling their bodies so Greg was underneath him, sliding his hand down his side to rest at his hip. Greg allowed Nick to completely possess him, closing his eyes as Nick pinned him to the bed, exploring his mouth and body.

"God I missed you." Nick panted, finally pulling apart for heavy gasps of air.

"Coz I'm irresistible." Greg teased, playfully biting Nick's lower lip.

Nick slid his hand beneath Greg's shirt; pressing their lips together again as his hand explored his smooth chest. "You know it Greg." Nick rasped, feeling the younger man's body coming to life underneath him. "So Greg, do you wonna be my boyfriend?"

"You have to break up with Sofia first." Nick nodded in agreement, pressing kisses to Greg's jaw line, panting for breath as he couldn't breathe through his nose and his throat was so scratchy and sore. "And . . . can you ask me again when you're better, so I know it's just not some fever thing." Nick nodded, caressing the side of Greg's face with his soft fingertips. "And . . . you've gotta mean it. When you're better and thinking clearly."

"So demandin'," Nick chuckled against his neck. Greg gave him a stern look. "Consider it done."

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