Week To Remember
Author: Lolly4Holly / No Beta this time
I used to write stories from a single persons point of view all the time. This is one I wrote a while ago. I'm changing the whole storyline and adding more chapters, but I thought you'd like to read the first chapter to tell me if its any good.
Summary: Set shortly after 'Grave Danger', towards the beginning of Season Six. Nick is married to Starla (Made up character), stuck in an unhappy marriage of three years. He married her shortly after 'Stalker', not wanting to be alone anymore. They're not really a match made in heaven and Nick's cheated on her plenty of times. Greg is in love with Nick, stuck in the middle as Nick always goes to him for help on his marriage.
Rating: M – For language, sex and nudity.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of it's characters.
Written from Greg Sander's Point Of View!!!
Chapter One:
Kill me now! I thought as the pounding persisted. I blinked a couple times, turning to the clock beside my bed. At first glance all I saw was a blur of green. I rubbed my eyes, taking another look. Nine o'clock in the morning. Who pounds on the door at nine in the morning when I got home at seven after the longest shift ever? And still the pounding continued.
I threw back the covers, willing my limbs awake as I stumbled from the bed, grabbing the edge of the bedside table to support myself so I didn't go crashing into the ground. I gave my legs a moment then sleepily shuffled off down the hall, guided by the pounding of my front door. Only one person I know that beats down my door like that.
"Ouch! Shit!" I hobbled back realising I had just stubbed my toe on the edge of the kitchen counter. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" I hopped, feeling tears in my eyes from the pain. I hopped on my left foot, leaning against the wall to look at my bright red little toe. "Ow!" I winced, gently placing it back down on the ground. I hopped in agony towards the door before the angry Texan broke through. "Jeez, hang on. I'm coming." I shouted, wincing in agony. I pulled the door open with the chain on, peering through to look at him. And sure enough it was Nick Stokes.
"What?" I snapped at him, sleepily rubbing my eyes.
"Lemme in." He insisted.
"Nick! I'm tired; I really can't handle one of your emotional melt downs right now."
"Emotional melt downs?" He snapped right back then slammed his fist angrily into my door, almost snapping the chain from it. "Lemme in or I'll break your fuckin' door down."
"Hang on." I groaned, pushing the door shut to take it off the chain. I leant my head against the door, really not wanting to see Nick right now, but if I left him in the hall any longer he'd break down my door and the neighbours would not be pleased.
I slid the chain from the lock, Nick heard it and opened the door, barging straight in, heading for the kitchen. "Come in why don't you." I said sarcastically, pushing the door shut then staggering over to the sofa to inspect my toe.
Nick returned with a beer, dropping onto the couch beside me. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot and he already smelt like he had drank his fair share of alcohol. "She threw me out." He simply said, throwing back his beer so half was gone with one swig.
"Really? Again . . . how tragic. You know where the blankets are..." I went to stand up, but he grabbed my wrist pulling me back down.
"What the fuck was that Greg?" He shouted at me.
"Whaddya want me to say Nick? You had it coming."
"No I didn't. What the fuck did I do?"
"You mean who." I corrected. "Nick I've been saying it since you married her. You and Scarla..."
"Starla." He corrected.
"That's what I said. You and STAR-la, aren't right for each other. You've slept with half the police force, some of the lab crew, even Kristie Hopkins..."
"Don't bring that up again!"
"It's the truth Nick. You've been together five years, married three, loyal one. That's the truth. Now goodnight." I went to climb to my feet again but he pulled me back down.
"Greg, she didn't throw me out coz of another screw."
"Why'd she throw you out then?" I groaned, thinking I knew the answer already, but he wasn't going to let me sleep unless he got it off his chest.
"I had another nightmare. She said she couldn't put up with it anymore. She threatened to terminate the pregnancy unless I left."
"She threw you out coz you had a nightmare?" I asked surprised. Nick nodded, polishing off his beer then going back to the fridge for another. "That's fucked up."
"Tell me about it. My parents are really psyched for this baby too..."
"Whoa, whoa." I climbed to my feet looking at him shocked. "Did you say Starlas pregnant?"
"Yeah." He nodded at me as if I was stupid.
"Since when?" I shouted, stuffing my hands on my hips.
"I didn't tell you that?" He asked looking at me. I shook my head feeling hurt. "She's only like 6 weeks or somethin' . . . my parents are really psyched. It'll be their tenth grandchild. How could she say that so casually?" Nick asked me. I shrugged thinking how my mother was complaining she hadn't even got one grandchild from me yet. I dropped heavily to the couch, watching Nick downing his second beer.
Nick dropped back down beside me, staring up at the clock as he gulped down his beer. "I'm sorry I woke you G." He apologised. "Is your toe okay?"
"Yep, the blinding pain soon turned to a numbing one." I chuckled getting a smile out of him. "So you wonna stay on the couch again?"
"If you don't mind." I hobbled to my feet, fetching the usual blanket, tossing it towards Nick. "Night G."
"Night." I smiled, stumbling back down the hall to my room. I left the door slightly open in case Nick had a nightmare so I'd be able to hear him better. Since we rescued him from that coffin he hasn't been sleeping well, waking up in a sweat thinking he's back in that coffin again.
I threw myself onto the bed, pulling the covers back around me, trying to get back to sleep. I had only left the bed for a moment, but already the sheets were cold. Sometimes I hate Las Vegas, scorching hot weather throughout the day then freezing cold nights only to wake up sweating buckets again.
It was ridiculous!
About an hour later I heard shuffling from the living room. I rolled to my side, watching the gap in the door, wondering if I should go see if he was okay. Then I heard a loud thumb.
I threw back the covers, hustling down the hall to see Nick had decided to bury his fist into my wall. "What did you do?" I immediately snapped, making him jump as he didn't know I was in the room. I rushed to his side, looking at the missing hand inside my wall.
"Sorry about your wall."
"Damn the wall. You could have hit an electrical cable or something." I shouted, trying to find a way to carefully pull his hand from the wall, but it was very firmly imbedded. "Did it make you feel better?" I asked getting a smile from him.
"A little." He nodded. I rolled my eyes at him, ducking under his arm so my back was just inches from his chest, carefully pulling his fist from the wall. "Ow!" He winced. I held his hand looking at the blood across his knuckles. "Sorry I woke you . . . again." I grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen, gently placing them over his bloody knuckles.
"I wasn't asleep that time." I pulled him towards the sink, fetching the first aid kit from underneath. "Does it hurt?"
"Thankfully I can't feel much." He smirked, leaning his back against the counter beside the sink. I carefully washed his hand under the tap, cleaning it with some disinfectant then carefully wrapped a bandage around it. Nick watched me the whole time, flinching as I wrapped the bandage around, carefully fastening it with some tape.
"How's that?"
"Okay I guess . . . thanks G." I nodded looking up into his deep dark chocolate brown eyes. He gave me a half smile then walked back over to the sofa, slumping his head in his hands. I dumped the bloody tissues in the bin then leant against the breakfast counter watching Nick.
I grabbed two beers from the fridge, offering one to the emotional wreck that had been crashing on my sofa every fortnight since the lab explosion. I'd like to think he came here for me, but really it was because Warrick was living with his girlfriend who he's now married to so Nick needed another single guy to crash in on unannounced.
He took the beer from my hands, watching me drop to the sofa beside him. "You can go back to bed if you like?" He said leaning back on the sofa beside me.
"Nope, I'm good here. So spill already. I'm all ears."
He started stammering at first, talking about Scarla, I mean Starla then came the tears, slurred speech, onto the baby he doesn't really want because of the woman he's with; even though he desperately wants to be a father someday, but with the right girl. Then came the blubbering, more slurred speech. I opened the scotch bottle trying to get him to go to sleep, but the more he drank, the more he talked.
The complete opposite of me.
I woke up a few hours later, softly rubbing my eyes open to see Nick fast asleep and snoring right beside me. I stretched out, giving out a wide yawn realising I had been awoken by a phone. I reached across the table for Nick's phone, seeing 'Starlas' name flashing across the screen. I looked between Nick and the phone, letting it go to voicemail as I didn't know how much Nick had slept so he'd probably be a little out of it and not in the right state of mind to talk to her.
Just as I was about to move, Nick suddenly slid down the sofa back, dropping his head to my thigh. Darn it. I carefully shifted my weight, trying not to disturb him as I slid out from under him. I gently lowered his head to the sofa then stumbled back, tripping over my coffee table to crash on the ground behind it. "Ooo, Ow." I winced, landing on my backside on the hard wood floor. I leant up on my elbows then saw Nick staring at me. "Hi." I awkwardly smiled.
"How much did you drink?" He immediately asked. I shrugged, climbing to my feet, rubbing my elbows from the throbbing pain. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." I nodded nervously, making my way to the kitchen to put on some coffee. I watched as Nick rubbed his eyes, stretching out his muscles. Should I tell him Scarla called? Or should I let him have a good morning first? I couldn't make up my mind so I decided not to tell him, to let him find out himself as I had dropped the phone by the coffee table when I fell over.
"Hey G." He walked into the kitchen running a hand through his hair. "Mind if I use your shower?"
"No, go ahead. You know where it is." He smiled at me then walked off up the hall. I waited until I heard the water going then retrieved the phone from the floor to listen to the message Scarla had left him. Damn it, I mean Starla. I rolled my eyes, pressing the phone to my ear as I watched the bathroom to make sure I wasn't noticed. There's nothing the Texan hates more than invasion of his personal privacy. Since his stalker Nigel Crane he had become very paranoid.
I hit play to listen to the message. "Nick its me. We need to talk. I didn't mean what I said last night. We really need to talk though. Call me as soon as you get this and you better not be sleeping around." I bit my lip thinking about deleting it. If Nick went back to her he'd take her back in a second then three days or less he'd be back on my sofa sobbing his heart out again, making me promise not to tell anyone and it really wasn't healthy for him considering what he had been through this past year.
Shit! I tossed the phone to the sofa, pretending to be reading through old post as Nick remerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, dripping wet torso and water running from his hair down his facial features.
I started to wonder if he ever did this at Warrick's place. He didn't seem to notice me just headed straight for the kitchen to fish two coffee cups from the top cupboard to pour out some of my famous blue Hawaiian coffee that everybody loves. I make a note not to leave it unattended in the break-room too long as it tends to disappear within seconds. They all go crazy for my coffee.
"Nick." I blurted. He spun round to look at me curiously. I wasn't sure what my first question was going to be, but I just had to ask because it was really killing me not knowing. I walked towards the kitchen, leaning against the opposite counter. "Do you really want this baby?"
Nick stopped what he was doing, placing his thumps inside his towel as if it was a belt. "I . . . I don't know." He stammered out.
"Don't bite my head off for talking about this. I know you were drunk . . . but you said you wanted a baby with someone you actually loved. Do you love Scarla?"
Nick immediately smiled as I called her Scarla again. I call her that because at their wedding when it was Nick's turn to say his vows to her he said Scarla instead of Starla, erupting laughter from everyone except his bride and her parents. Nick couldn't finish his vows because he was laughing so hard.
"Starla yah mean? I don't know G . . . the truth is." He looked me in the eyes a moment. "The truth is I've never been in love G . . . I don't know what it feels like. I like Starla . . . sometimes, but I've never . . . never loved her."
"Never?" I asked shocked. "Then why'd you marry her?" Nick shrugged shaking his head at me. "Then why are you wasting your life away with her?"
He did his usual grunt, shrug then turned to pour out the coffee, placing the warm mug in my hands then walked off to the bathroom to get dressed. He emerged fifteen minutes later fully clothed placing his empty mug in the dishwasher, collecting his things from the sofa along with his phone then turned to look at me.
"See yah later G." He waved, heading out the door. As soon as the door clicked shut I made my way to my bedroom, dropping sleepily to the mattress. I've never known anyone like Nick in my whole life. He's intolerable, how can someone breeze through their 'okay' life, living in denial so he won't hurt anyone's feelings. Doesn't he want to be happy?
I placed my coffee on the side, grabbing my phone to call Grissom for a day off. Lucky for me I had saved up on a lot of vacation time and I was up to my eyes in overtime making Ecklie want to keep me out of the office.
I finally crawled into my bedding, finally able to get some decent sleep.
No! Please No! I groaned hearing a loud banging echoing through my apartment. My head was already splitting from the hangover. Damn you Nick! I rolled out from under the warm covers, heading towards the front door, being careful not to stub my toe this time. I yanked open the door to see Nick stood there again with a box in his hands.
"Oh you shouldn't have." I said sarcastically.
"This is my stuff. The bitch threw me out . . . again!" He shouted, pushing past me to place the box of his things on my coffee table. I looked up at the clock seeing I slept an entire day. "I can't believe I sold my place so I could move in with her. And why didn't you tell me she called?" He shouted at me pointing an accusing finger at me.
"I'm sor-ry Nick." I said sarcastically again in an annoyed tone. "I worked a triple shift then had one hour's sleep last night, before you showed up pounding on my door. I then had to listen to a sloppy drunk rambling about his fucked up life all night as well as the first aid. I currently have a fucking hangover and now you're here again . . . so it must have slipped my mind." I shouted, surprising him.
"Why the fuck are you yellin' at me?" He shouted angrily.
"Because..." I ran my fingers through my hair looking up at him. "I'm sorry."
"You better be. I just had to put up with Starla yellin' at me..."
"Well maybe you deserved it." I shouted, pissing him off even more. "Do you ever think about anyone but yourself Nick? You may be the guy with the biggest heart on our team, but you're a real asshole outside of work." I said then stormed off down the hall to my bedroom, throwing myself onto my bed to bury myself under the covers.
As soon as I hit the mattress I started to regret shouting at him like that. He is a hot headed Texan after all and my heads softer then a wall. I nervously watched the door expecting him to come bursting through it any second with an angry look on his face, but instead I heard the light click of my front door. Opps. I sat up hoping it was just the door closing and Nick was still here, but there was no movement or sounds coming from outside my bedroom door so he must have really left. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I scolded myself. The last thing Nick needed was to be shouted at by a cranky hang over victim.
"God I'm so stupid!" I shouted, throwing myself back to the pillows.
"You're not stupid." I sat up startled to see Nick stood in the doorway. He pushed it open wider to look at me. "Sorry I shouted at you . . . woke you up and gave you a hangover." He apologised, leaning against the doorframe. "This is the reason why I stopped goin' to Warrick's."
"He got fed up with hangovers?"
"No . . . it was ruinin' our friendship. I take my anger out on everyone around me. I'm sorry Greg." He folded his arms across his chest, looking down at the ground. "I'll get out of your way..."
"No wait." He looked up to meet my eyes. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. I get cranky when I'm hung over. You can stay as long as you like."
"Are you sure G?"
No! "Yep, I'm sure." You idiot. I scolded myself. "I might even consider buying a bed for the guestroom so you can stay in there." Now you're asking him to move in with you? Why don't you ask him to jump into bed while you're at it?
"You don't have to do that G."
"No its okay. You can stay as long as you like." What would your mother say Gregory? I scolded myself again. "So whaddya say?"
"Okay . . . but I'll buy the bed and I'll fix that hole in your wall. I wonna pay my way too, I'm not a charity case."
"Sure, name your price."
"You want me to tell you how much I'll pay for rent?" He asked surprised. I thought about it a moment then nodded. "You're crazy Greg." He chuckled shaking his head at me. "How much rent do yah pay for this place? I'll pay half and we'll split the utilities."
I quickly calculated it in my head. "That works out to about eight hundred a month then."
"Seriously?"
"That too high? How about three hundred?" I suggested. Nick laughed again shaking his head.
"I'll pay nine hundred, how's that." I looked at him wide eyed. "Okay that's a deal, now I'll go get you a hangover remedy. You have aspirin right?"
"Cupboard beside sink." He nodded heading down the hall to retrieve it. Oh Crap! I dropped back to my pillow realising what I had just done. At twenty-nine, I still hadn't learnt my lesson by allowing guys I had crushes on to move in with me. Especially straight guys! What was I thinking letting Nick move in here with me. He had no idea I was bisexual nor would he want to know about my life style. I was lucky the guys or girls I brought back with me never wanted to stay over, just in case he did come calling round one day.
"Here you go." I jumped as he placed the coffee and aspirin down on my bedside table as I hadn't even realised he was in my room again.
"Thanks." I smiled, pulling the covers over my body so he couldn't see my semi-hard on.
"Thanks for lettin' me stay here G. It really means a lot to me."
"You're welcome." I reached for my keys by the clock, taking off the spare set.
"You keep your spare set with your other set?" He asked curiously as I dropped them to his hand.
"I have been told that's stupid." I chuckled. "But I have a spare set at my parent's house, somewhere in the kitchen and with my neighbour."
"Oh." He smiled. "Okay, well I'm goin' to have lunch with my dad. Will I see you at work?"
"No I booked the day off."
"Okay, catch yah later then." He smiled again, heading out my bedroom door. I sighed heavily, dropping back to my pillow. I had always been jealous of Nick and Starla, mostly Starla because she got to have the Texan beauty. He wasn't just a one night stand or a good time. He was the one I had fallen in love with since day one. I've been hopelessly in love with him since I saw him at a conference in LA almost ten years ago. He was twenty-three and I was eighteen, fresh out of Highschool and I picked forensic science as my major, all because of him. He probably doesn't remember me from back then but as soon as I looked into his eyes, I knew I loved him. Then to my surprise here I am ten years later still in love with him and still haven't told him.
Warrick however knew I swung both ways. He caught me out with one of my boyfriends when I first joined the lab. It's kinda hard to cover up the fact you're at least partly gay when you've got your tongue down a guy's throat and his hands resting on your crotch talk about incriminating evidence, especially as it was my first week in Vegas and Warrick thought I was a little weird from day one. I've never been more embarrassed in my life. But he never told anyone which is really cool of him. I suppose the real question is 'What was Warrick doing in a gay bar?' I never thought to ask though; I was too wound up with my own embarrassment.
"Hey Greg!" Shit! What's he still doing here?
"Yeah?"
"There's a Ryan guy here to see you."
Double Shit!!! I scrambled out of bed, rushing down the hall to see Ryan stood in the doorway wearing a fishnet tank top and tight jeans. Nick gave me an awkward smile then walked off out the door heading out to the elevator. I waited for the doors to close before I turned to Ryan.
"Wow, he's a step up from your usual type." Ryan chuckled.
"Hands off." I warned him. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was in the neighbourhood, realised I hadn't stopped by in a while." His eyes twinkled at me; I knew instantly what he wanted. "C'mon Greg, whaddya say?"
"Not today Ryan. I'm really not in the mood."
"C'mon Greg . . . I'll make it worth your while." He smiled at me.
"Fine." I groaned, opening the door wider.
"Cute, I love the whole hair fairy look you got going." He chuckled, smoothing his fingers through my hair as he stepped through the door. Unlike Nick he was fair haired, slim build and only wanted to screw (A lot like Nick actually). But Ryan never wanted to talk to me.
Ryan grabbed my arm pulling me off to my bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot then pushed me back to my bed while he stripped. I really wasn't in the mood right now, but Ryan continued completely ignoring my feelings . . . as usual. He climbed on top of me, invading my mouth with his bitter tongue as he slipped his hand beneath my boxers. "Not in the mood Greg?" He asked disappointed.
"Sorry . . . I'm tired."
"Big guy been wearing you out?"
"He's straight. We're not together." I assured him.
"Um hmm." He smirked, stripping me of my t-shirt, scoring his tongue down my chest then below my boxer's waistband. "Fuck sake Greg, what's up with you?" He shouted angrily.
"You can still do it."
"With you as flat as a pancake? You know I like you to cum on me!" He shouted. "What's up with you?"
"Nothing, I'm not in the mood. Maybe you should go?" I suggested, pushing him off me.
"Fucking little shit." He spat at me, grabbing his clothing from the floor. I rolled my eyes, dropping back to my pillow as the front door slammed. He's such a drama queen! I groaned angrily.
I was already in a mood now he made it worse.
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