Author's Note: Two chapters. Slight angst, slight romance. Slash. Greg's POV. Nick/Greg.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters… except for Rachelle, but she doesn't count.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Amanda for proofreading my work.

Summary: A slipup at work has Greg wondering why this had to happen. Was it just an accident, or was it fate?

Wishing it had Never Happened

"But that intimacy of mutual embarrassment, in which each feels that the other is feeling something, having once existed, its effect is not to be done away with."
-George Eliot

Has there ever been a moment when you just wished you could disappear? A moment in your past (even in the future, 'cause you know it's going to happen) that you wished you could've just run as fast as you could in the opposite direction? Those kind of moments that you wish you could just close your eyes and when you open them, you'll be at home in your bedroom, lying on your bed.

We've all been there, but sometimes those moments are worse than others. I can still recall the day perfectly, that day that I wish I could forget, and the day I will always remember.

Another triple murder case. We'd had about four this month, and it was soon going to be out of hand. I was looking over some footprints in the layout room when Nick came in, his eyes tired but a smile on his face.

Oh God, that smile. That smile that could stop your heart and make it start all at the same time. That smile that said, "You're the only one who can make me happy." That smile that made you want to grin back, because when you looked in his eyes and smiled as well, everything was perfect. It didn't matter that you were late paying your electricity bill, or the rent for your apartment was overdue, or the fact that your cat had just gotten run over, or your grandmother had died. In his smile, you knew you'd make it out okay… even if Fluffy and Granny didn't.

"Hey G," Nick said, leaning up against the layout table, his arms crossed carelessly, "how's your case going?"

I stiffened, trying to avert my eyes from Nick. I had to focus on the footprints in front of me…

"Still in progress. Warrick and Cath are out looking for more clues. All we have is this," I said, waving my hand at the different photos of footprints. Nick moved closer, standing right behind me.

My temperature skyrocketed; my breathing almost became erratic. I tried to keep under control…

"It looks like that one is a high heel," Nick noted, pointing at a picture of a pool of blood on the linoleum.

"I uh, thought so too," I agreed. Was that sweat on my brow? Thankfully Nick moved back, leaning against the table again, observing me with his dark eyes.

I tried ignoring him, hoping Nick would leave.

He didn't.

"Can I help you?" I finally spat out, sounding more annoyed than I had intended to. Nick's eyebrows rose.

"What's up, boss?" Nick asked, a mock hurt tone in his voice. I cringed internally. That accent could drive me insane sometimes. In Nick's voice, he could work in sounding thoughtful, deep, soulful and caring all at once. His voice was the last thing I'd want to hear before falling asleep, and the first thing I'd dream of hearing when I awoke, but I knew that it would never happen.

I took a deep breath and turned around to face Nick.

"Sorry, I'm just under stress. Ecklie's been leaning hard on Grissom to get this wrapped up, and Gris is then leaning on me to get this done… and I sort of can't when you're here."

"Oh," Nick replied, "sorry, I didn't know I was distracting you…"

I kicked myself. I shouldn't have said it like that. Now Nick probably knew what I actually thought of him.

"…just wanted to tell you something," Nick finished. I blinked.

"Tell me what?"

"I met this woman today. I was finishing up photos when this she walked by and dropped her purse. I caught up to her and that's when I realized she had the most beautiful red hair and gorgeous brown eyes I had ever seen," Nick told me, flashing that smile again.

I felt as if my heart had dropped into my stomach. My legs were numb, but at the same time I could feel my heart beating in my knees. My hands felt limp, my arms hanging heavily by my side.

"Oh," I finally responded, my voice flat. I wanted to exclaim, "Why do I care?" but I didn't dare.

"I'm telling you this," Nick told me, oblivious to my change in mood, "because we usually hang out on our days off, but next night I get off I'm going to ask her out to dinner."

I nodded, not fully sure that I had even heard what Nick had just said.

'…gorgeous brown eyes…'

"Greggo?"

"What?" I asked, snapping back to reality. Nick was standing right beside me.

"I was just going to ask if, once you're done this, you could tell Warrick that some woman kept phoning for him. I talked to the secretary and she was…" Nick trailed off, taking a step back from me. Had he seen the look of rage in my deep chocolate eyes?

"You know what Nick? No, I WON'T tell Warrick anything for you!" I exploded, whirling back around and shuffling some papers irritably.

"Okay, sorry I asked," Nick said, anger creeping into his own voice. "I just asked because friends do this kind of thing for each other."

Nick was almost to the door when I spoke again.

"Yeah, because we'll never be more than just friends, will we?" I muttered, my voice cracking.

Nick paused, almost as if he was going to look over his shoulder, but thought better of it. In an instant, he was gone.

That little incident had happened almost a week ago. Every time I think about it, I just squeeze my eyes tight and pray that it had never happened. I'd then open my eyes, and if Nick was still avoiding me then I knew the awful truth- it had happened.

For once in my career, Grissom had given me a Friday off. I didn't really notice who else he gave the evening off to, all I knew was that instead of feeling bad at work, I got to feel bad at home.

After popping myself a huge bowl of popcorn and sitting down with a frothing glass of Coke, I was ready for a night of scary movies. I flicked on the TV and searched for my favorite horror movie channel, finally coming upon Hide and Seek. I settled in to my worn couch and stuffed my hand into the warm bowl of buttered popcorn.

It was just getting good, when, of course, the doorbell rang. I chose to ignore it. I was getting pretty close to having a guess as to who Charlie really was. It had to be…

The doorbell rang again. I rolled my eyes and, sighing, I put my bowl of popcorn onto the coffee table.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I groaned as the ringing bell chimed again, echoing throughout my apartment.

I stopped at the doorway and glanced down at my clothes. I was wearing one of my old t-shirts, and a pair of faded black jeans. My hair must've been a complete mess. I brushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes and opened the door. I was definitely not expecting the person who had rang my doorbell.