Thanks for the reviews! I'm amazed, I've gotten so much good feedback! -hugs everyone- You have no idea how much I appreciate them all! And I know that I was told to just let them rip each other's clothes off (heh) but I can't resist a few really close encounters with letting feelings be known...right? This chapter was beta'd by ktattoo, so many thanks to her! Oh, yes - slight mentions of Boom, so...

---

Nick didn't get jealous. Nick never got jealous. So when he saw Greg talking - no, flirting - with Sara, he wasn't jealous.

"Greg, come on, stop flirting and get over here, we've got a scene waiting for us," Greg waved goodbye to Sara as he ran to catch up with Nick, taken aback that the Texan seemed so angry.

"Oooh, somebody's jealous," there was that damn word again, and he glared back at Greg.

"I don't get jealous," he said, climbing into his car and unlocking the passengers side for the blonde. "But I do get pissed off when my partner decides he's going to flirt with someone rather than process a scene,"

Greg glanced at him, afraid to provoke but unable to hold back. "So we're partners now? I think it's kind of a leap, I mean, we aren't even dating,"

"You know what I mean," the older male snapped. Greg's eyes widened slightly when he saw that Nick's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He sat in silence for a few minutes, only broke out of it when Nick apologized. "I'm sorry...I'm just..." jealous, Nick thought to himself. "...having a rough night and I shouldn't be taking it out on you,"

"Which reminds me, what was the fight with you and Warrick about? You two seem to be okay now, but at the time it seemed pretty serious," Greg asked, then realized it might be too much, and backtracked. "But you don't have to tell me, I know we're not that close, and--,"

The level three chuckled, tension easing from the car, making Greg sigh quietly with relief. Maybe now his hands would stop shaking. "Would you relax? And I don't know about you, but I think you're one of my best friends, so whatever's been going on in your head is...completely wrong,"

The younger CSI tried not to let his disappointment show. Friends? That's all they were, just friends? Well damn him if he'd be trying to get a relationship out of this "friendship" anymore. Obviously, he wasn't very good at hiding his emotions, because Nick pointed out that his hands were shaking seconds after he finished the thought.

"They're not shaking, I'm fine," he shoved his hands under his knees, set on not letting Nick see his eyes, not letting him see the anger or whatever the hell it was in his eyes.

"Greg, come on, you can tell me what's--,"

"I'm fine," he spat, wincing when awkward silence settled in the car. "Oh, God, I'm sorry...I just...I..."

"Maybe we should just pretend that the last ten minutes didn't happen," Nick suggested, looking at Greg, raising an eyebrow when he made eye contact. "Alright, now I'm really worried. What's wrong?" There was something about the look in Greg's eyes, the obvious...disappointment?

Greg swallowed, glancing at the red stoplight before turning back to Nick. "I, uh...I guess I'm just kind of on edge, because lately there's been some serious--," he closed his eyes, trying not to groan in frustration when Nick's phone went off. He opened them just in time to see an apologetic look on his face before he answered his phone.

"Stokes," Greg rolled his eyes at the sudden professional tone, when just the other day he was fantasizing about his "bedroom voice." He looked out the window as he continued thinking about that, broken out of his thoughts just before his daydreaming took a turn for the worst…well, in this situation, at least.

"Grissom said Brass already has the suspect in custody, said he confessed, so we're supposed to go back to the lab before we go to the scene," Nick threw his phone back down, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel when he turned back to Greg. "What were you saying?"

The blonde continued to stare out his window, voice void of emotion when he answered him. "Nothing important," he lied, except that it was.

---

He was slightly angry. Angry because Grissom had interrupted his perfect 'I'm in love with you' scene, angry because he was pulled from the lab to go to a scene that he wasn't even going to process (which confused the hell out of him, therefore making him even more angry), and he was now sitting in a room with a suspect who was flirting with him madly. He could practically see the veins popping from Nick's head.

And he said he wasn't jealous. Jealous of what, Greg wasn't sure, but what he did know is that Nick's jealousy was…kind of funny to him.

"You know, you have a beautiful laugh," the woman complimented, and Greg was sure that if she didn't have on handcuffs, she'd be touching him right now.

"Uh, thanks?" Being that he wasn't too used to compliments, he shied away from the words, going back to the (very small) pile of papers in front of him, even though all they had on the woman was that she had confessed. She was silent, as was Greg. "Look, you could just make this easier for all of us...and play out what happened,"

"Are you involved with anyone?" she asked, leaning forward onto her hands, not blinking as she kept eye contact with him.

"I don't get into relationships with suspects, sorry," he smiled, then grimaced - Nick was a suspect once, when he slept with that one woman. So really, he shouldn't even be really thinking about it...a relationship, that is. The Texan's obviously interested in women...but then why was his jaw set, glaring at the woman as she smiled sweetly - ha! - at Greg? The level one looked between the two of them for a moment before turning back to the suspect.

"You know, we can just go to the scene and get evidence to prove it," he ignored Nick's comment about going anyway. "But you could save us some time if you just...play it through," he knew the woman heard him, but she seemed intent on getting a date rather than helping him.

"You're very handsome, you know," she said, cocking her head to the side. Greg just fell back in his seat, defeated, intent on believing that the slight growl/groan from Nick was because the woman was hard to work with.

He smiled at the woman, nodded to the policemen, and left without acknowledgement to Nick. He hadn't thought about it, but looking back, the tension in the room was much too thick for him to even think.

"Greg!" he didn't even bother turning around, but he did stop - he figured he was already acting enough like a complete ass, and when Nick caught up to him, he knew it was going to be hard enough to not just unload onto him.

The weird thing was...there was nothing wrong. Greg only wanted to end the touching, end the hint of 'I want you,' end the suggestive tones, and if he couldn't have the damn bedroom voice to himself, he didn't really want it. "Yeah?"

Nick just looked at him, and if Greg wasn't completely convinced that they were strictly friends, he'd say that was even more than concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?" The blonde only swallowed, continuing on his way. "Greg!"

"Yeah, you want to know, right? You're concerned because that's who you are!" He was quite aware of the eyes on him as he shouted, and so walked closer to Nick, now barely a foot away. He sighed at the hurt in Nick's eyes and continued. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying that not everyone's always in tune with what their problem is, and other times, they don't want to talk about it," Greg was seconds away from pulling his hair out and the Texan continued to look hurt. "And again, not that big of a problem, unless you're on the end where you don't want people to know,"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about,"

"Good. That's the point. But, if you want to know, it's--,"

"Aren't you two supposed to be at the scene if you're not with the suspect?" Grissom stopped dead in his tracks to look at the arguing CSI's, not taking long to realize that Greg was the one with the problem. He raised an eyebrow as Greg turned on his heel and walked outside. "You may want to find out what's wrong with him,"

"I've been trying," Nick replied softly, walking after the angry level one without trying to hurry.

---

Nick wasn't the problem. He was never the problem. It was his complete obliviousness that bothered the hell out of him, and even though he hated how friendly and innocent his touches were, he still couldn't begin to tell Nick to stop. In a way, it was one of the things that brought him to work…Other than the job itself, of course.

But after years and years of obvious flirting - to him, at least - he thought he should've been praised somehow, some way for all the years of flirting that had gone to waste.

He ignored the knock on the window, only unlocked the doors and started the car, staring ahead when the person entered the vehicle. "Please tell me why we did things backwards,"

"I wouldn't know...but, I do know that--,"

He cut the Texan off. "I don't want to talk about it, so can--,"

'Too bad." The firm tone Nick had shut up the blonde immediately. "Look, you've got a problem with...something, and it's obviously making it impossible to work well with me..." Obvious? What the hell was he on? "But you might as well get it off your chest...and..."

It took a lot for Greg to tune people out when he was angry, and even more when he was pissed at Nick. But he wouldn't stop pushing, wouldn't just leave him the hell alone!

"Greg?" He ignored it, hoping that Nick would let off if he didn't get a reaction, and that's when it hit him. He wouldn't be able to wake up and go to work tomorrow night - he wouldn't be able to forget. "Come on, you'll feel--,"

"Better?" He almost couldn't stop the bitterness in his voice, and even though cutting Nick off - when did he start to do that on a regular basis, anyway? - he let a little slip in anyway. He laughed sarcastically, wishing he could go back in time and keep himself from being the complete asshole he's being right now. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll feel better," he sighed, looking at Nick. "You never told me what your fight was about,"

"My fight?" the Texan seemed confused, and Greg rolled his eyes.

"With Warrick..." He had only told him millions of times. His stomach churned as he realized that the only way he'd be able to find out (why he was trying so hard to get it out of the level three was beyond him - it's not like it would be about him or anything...right?) why Nick was fighting with Warrick would be to tell him. And as much as he wanted a relationship, he wanted to keep his dignity more.

"I, uh..."

"Don't want to talk about it, I know. Now you know what it feels like," he raised an eyebrow at Nick, surprised when he smiled.

"Sorry...I..."

"You're the complete opposite of Sara, you like to sympathize and get to know people. I know...I've noticed," he took a deep breath and held it. Subtlety wasn't the best way to go about things, but maybe if he drew him out slowly...

"Guess you pay more attention than I thought," Nick finally added, a few seconds later. Greg glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Could he really be talking about...Greg took another deep breath, and Nick looked at him. "You okay?" Greg nodded, smiling, not pissed at him for asking for the first time since he said the 'we're friends' thing.

"I, uh...yeah, actually. For the most part," he took another deep breath, goosebumps dotting his skin when he felt Nick's hand on his arm. Suddenly the car was a lot smaller than he remembered.

"I can drive if you need me to," his voice had taken on his accent, and Greg wasn't sure if he could contain his secret for much longer...He damned his mind when he remembered the Bedroom Voice, which had recently attained capitalization.

"No, I just...I'm..." He took another deep breath and opened the window, hoping that fresh air would clear his mind. Thankfully, after the first few inhales of the fresh air, he was normal again. Maybe this would actually work...and be okay. "I'll tell you what's been bothering me if you tell me what your fight was about," he glanced at Nick, who smiled, looking out his window.

"I kept something pretty big from him...And it takes...a lot...to get him pissed off if it doesn't involve a case." Greg nodded in understanding.

"What'd you keep from him?" He couldn't help but pry, but he wasn't completely sure why he was doing it. Maybe the curiosity you get when you fall in love. Er...except he wasn't. Only he was...

"Hey, come on, I held up my end of the deal." Nick looked at him accusingly and waited. "Come on. Spill."

Greg swallowed, parking in the nearest place and sighing, hands shaking again. His nerves. They'd always give him away, his hands. This time was no different. "Okay, Greg...you going to tell me? This silence it..."

"I'm not...I don't want to be your friend," he tried, wincing when he realized how painful it sounded - and it had that exact effect on him.

"But...seven years, G, what..."

"No, Nicky, I don't want to be your friend," Greg suddenly worried about his guts coming out his mouth. He couldn't look at Nick, partly out of fear (he could take the admission badly, and Greg might end up with a broken nose), and partly because he knew he wouldn't be able to make eye contact with him anyway.

Nick was silent, though, probably busy figuring out what Greg meant by that, when he suddenly laughed. "I hate to disagree with you, but...it's not really that funny, you know," came Greg's slightly defeated voice. He had expected hate, anger, rejection...but never laughter.

"I'm not laughing at you, G. Really, I'm not...I just...I can't believe that I was so...oblivious. Though, for the record, you seemed to be too."

Greg's head snapped up. "I was not!"

Nick's pager suddenly went off, and Greg had the strong urge to rip it out of his hands and throw it out the window. But he valued his job, and after a moment's consideration, realized that wouldn't be such a good idea.