Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!


It was just a toothbrush. A single innocent object needed to care for a person's hygiene because, really, people's breath would stink without one. It was just a toothbrush! He'd been trying to tell himself that for days, weeks actually, and yet still he couldn't escape the sense that there was something more that he was missing. Could it be more than what it seemed? For some reason he felt as if it might have some sort of deeper meaning, sitting as it was in his bathroom, right next to his own, accompanied by its own special brand of toothpaste. But really, all it was, was a tool that you slather in minty gunk and mashed around the inside of your mouth. It was probably covered in a thousand germs, if you thought about it.

So why was he still thinking about it? Greg had no idea why he couldn't get it off his mind. He had taken to glaring at Sara every chance he got, never explaining himself, not even when rumors started that the two of them had finally hooked up and it had ended badly for him. Like that would ever happen. Greg had never really had an actual interest in her; that had all been in good fun. He'd really been too busy becoming fast best friends with Nick back then to ever seriously consider falling in love with Sara. Or anyone else for that matter, his subconscious felt the need to remind him. He wasn't sure why, but Greg felt that that was significant somehow. Somehow being the operative word.

Somehow, or for some reason, or some way, they all seemed to be the favored themes or the last few weeks. Greg was getting a little tired of the feeling that there was something he just wasn't getting. A really great joke that everyone else understood, and he had yet to translate the punch line. Nick didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, he seemed pretty happy with life at the moment. He'd spent almost a whole week in a row sleeping on Greg's pull out couch, not bothered in the least by Sara's odd questions the day she'd come over. To be fair though, he hadn't heard them. And Greg hadn't told him.

"You're supposed to put that in your mouth you know," a voice behind Greg made him jump and look up, meeting Nick's eyes in the mirror. He quickly came back to earth to realize he was standing in the bathroom. Then Nick looked down and made a face. "Wait don't put that in your mouth. That one's mine!" Greg looked down at his own hands to see he was holding a green toothbrush. He shuddered, tossing the offending object away from him a little more violently than necessary and grabbing his own from the black cup on the counter. A bit of toothpaste and a couple drops of water later and he was running it across his lower teeth.

A small chuckle came from behind him and when he looked up, Nick was doing the same. Their eyes met in the mirror again and Greg was suddenly overcome with a wave of that funny feeling again. The one that there was something just out of reach of his understanding. Something about the picture he was seeing was significant and he just didn't get it. He frowned and brushed more harshly than before, as if he could scrub the feeling away. When he dared peek again, Nick was watching him too. He stood right behind the younger man and only slightly to the side, so in the mirror only his head and the tops of his shoulders were visible over Greg's shoulders. For some reason, the blonde had the sudden wandering thought that if Nick took but a single step closer he could quite comfortably wrap his arms around Greg.

Abruptly he started choking in surprise at that errant idea, wondering where the hell it had come from. Nick twitched in surprise and thumped him on the back a couple times in concern, his eyebrows knitting deeply together.

"Did you brush too far back?" the older man asked, but Greg just stared at him in the mirror. He didn't answer, only spat in the sink and used the cup to rinse his mouth out with water. He spat that out too and fled the room, knowing he would soon be followed by a man with questions of concern for his well-being. As he suspected, not two minutes later Nick came in to the living where he was huddled on the couch in his blanket.

"You sure your ok? That sounded like it hurt." Greg looked over at him as he sat down, immediately reaching for the other blanket and wrapping it about his own shoulders. Suddenly the blonde was confused, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at his closest friend, his face completely baffled. Nick leaned away a little, stunned by the expression and its unexpected onset.

"Are you cold?" Greg asked, ignoring the question he had been asked, just like he had before. Now it was Nick's turn to tilt his head, but he still looked just as baffled as he had before. Only now it was intensified.

"Um, no…why?" he replied after a few moments of opening and closing his mouth. Greg grunted and narrowed his eyes farther, his gaze slipping away to stare at the floor.

"Neither am I…" he murmured vaguely. Neither one of them were sure exactly what he meant by that, but Greg pulled the blanket tighter and firmly nestled himself back in to the corner of the couch. He was aware of the dark eyes on himself. It seemed he was always aware of when those eyes were on him, but that was another one of those things he couldn't think about without wondering what it was he wasn't getting. It was more frustrating than anything he'd ever been frustrated with before. More so than an annoyingly overbearing parent, or even an unsolvable case.

Nick continued to stare at him as he flicked the television on and hunkered down to pretend to watch something. He didn't bother to pay enough attention to actually register what it was he was watching. He was too busy trying to ignore Nick's eyes, Nick's blanket, Nick's toothbrush.

"Why do you have so much crap at my place?" Greg's eyes widened when he realized that the words had actually come out of his mouth, instead of staying in the silence of his own mind as he had originally intended them to. He winced when the words sounded harsher than they were supposed to. Really he only meant them to sound wondering and thoughtful, curious even. Instead they sounded disapproving and affronted. The older man stared back at him with hurt in his eyes, and for a long time neither said anything.

"I don't know…I didn't think you minded…I…should I go?" The Texan was out of his seat and taking a hesitant step toward the door by the time Greg realized what was happening. He leapt up, the blanket falling off his shoulders, and put out his hands to stop his friend's retreat.

"No! I didn't mean it like that I swear! I'm sorry I'm just-" he stopped to sigh and rub his hands over his eyes. "I've had some really weird stuff on my mind lately, it's throwing me off." He looked up to see Nick crossing his arms and sinking back down to his spot on the couch. His face was half amused and half concerned.

"I've noticed," was all he said. Then he reached over to where Greg had dropped the remote and picked it up, flipping through the channels to find something he approved of. For the next long while they sat together without saying anything. For the first time since their friendship had blossomed, so many years before, there was tension and awkwardness between them. It was a new feeling that neither of them really appreciated. Both wished to make it go away, but neither could think of a way. So instead they simply sat there and kept their eyes trained straight forward. It was two hours later when Nick was startled out of his uncomfortable thoughts by a loud gasp from Greg.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Nick blinked and looked over to find that Greg was no longing looking at the television. His body was half turned sideways as he stared at Nick with a shell-shocked expression on his face, jaw dropped, eyes wide, and everything. Something had obviously just come together in his head, and whatever it was he was thinking of was just as obviously unexpected – very much so. Nick waited for a few minutes, but received no explanation. He opened his mouth but just as he was about to ask what happened Greg threw back his head and burst in to laughter.

The older man closed his jaw with a small click and twisted his mouth. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he knew that he'd have to wait for his friend to calm down before he found out. Trying to calm Greg down during a laughing fit was a useless endeavor on any given day. He waited patiently – or as patiently as he could in his already agitated state – tapping his toes on the floor as he fought not to yell at Greg to just shut up and give up the joke already, whatever it was. Finally, finally, Greg settled down in to quiet little giggles, holding a hand over his eyes and shaking his head at the thoughts going on inside it.

"No fucking way…" he mumbled in a mirth-filled voice. Nick snapped at that point, crossing his arms like a petulant child.

"What?" He demanded. "What the hell are you going on about?" Greg lowered the hand covering his eyes and looked over. Right away Nick could tell that there was something different. Something in the way he looked at Nick, a new emotion in those eyes that the Texan couldn't define. And yet somehow, he knew that he'd been subconsciously waiting for that look for a very long time now. Greg just smiled and leaned over to ruffle his short hair in a patronizing way.

"You'll get it too someday, I guess. At least, I hope you will." Then he stood and moseyed his way in to the kitchen area. Nick didn't hesitate to jump out of his own seat and follow him. He found Greg standing next to the coffee pot, chuckling as he fiddled with the two mugs sitting next to it. Nick had always gotten a strange warm feeling from seeing those two cups sitting side by side. It gave him a sort of reassurance that he was always welcome, anytime, that Greg would never turn him away. He'd always known that, but those cups seemed to confirm it somehow.

Greg turned to see that he had been followed, but made no move to explain himself as he walked over to the fridge; opening it and rummaging around to find himself something cool to drink. After a moment or so he stood up with a half full jug of orange juice in his hand, looking at it with a contemplative expression. Something about it seemed to make a decision in his mind because he closed the fridge and pulled down a glass for himself. Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Greg…what are you doing?" he asked in a confused voice. Greg cast him a fleeting look before returning to filling his cup.

"I'm getting a drink, what does it look like I'm doing?" he replied in a playful tone. Nick didn't even roll his eyes. He was still trying to figure out what it was that Greg had been laughing about, something he would supposedly get on his own someday. However that was supposed to work.

"But you don't like orange juice," he protested after a few seconds of silence. Greg took a sip and blinked at the older man over the rim of his cup, not even scrunching up his face in the dislike Nick knew he had for that particular beverage.

"Hm, but you do," was his reply. Then he put the jug of juice back in the fridge and he walked away, leaving Nick with the distinct impression that he should be making something more of those words. Something very significant had just happened, but he conceded that it had gone right over his head. The Texan's eyes narrowed and his mouth hardened in to a determined line. He was going to figure this out. Some day.