Title: Everyday Life (Last Chance Part 4)
Pairing: Greg/Nick
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~3200
Summary: What will it take for Greg to reach his limit - or for Nick to free himself from the chains of his fear? (AU)
Genre: Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. Just for fun.
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Nick was irritated and felt disgusting. The scene he had been assigned to was beyond horrible. A woman was found dead in her small, ramshackle home where she had been hoarding cats for years. Besides her corpse, there were no less than twenty dead cats and close to one hundred live ones. Nick was heartsick over the condition of the poor animals. By the time he had finished processing, he was covered in grime and smelled like an over-used litter box. The only thing he wanted now was a shower and a fresh change of clothes so he could finish his shift without sending half the team into a allergy-induced asthma attack.
The sight of Greg stopped him in his tracks when he entered the locker room and everything else melted away as concern for his lover overwhelmed him. Greg was slumped on the bench, back against his locker with his head tilted until his face pointed to the ceiling. His eyes were closed, but his face was wet from tears. "Baby, what's wrong?"
Nick was sitting next to him before he had finished asking the question. He grabbed a handful of scruffy hair and turned Greg's head toward him. The look on his lover's face was devastating. "Oh god, G. What the hell happened? Are you okay?"
"He was sentenced today." Greg's voice was rough from emotion. "They sent him away for 25 to life for attempted murder. He got the max because I'm with law enforcement."
"So why are you so upset?" Nick struggled to understand. He gently scratched Greg's scalp with his fingers, trying to soothe him.
Greg scooted closer so he could lean into Nick's shoulder. Nick immediately cradled Greg's head and pulled him closer. "Talk to me, Greggo."
"I asked for leniency." Greg explained sadly. "He's a father who had lost his only child - she was just a little girl, Nicky. Imagine how he felt knowing that his baby was violated and murdered and he couldn't save her and we couldn't put the bastard who did it behind bars where he belongs. It would make anyone a little crazy. I just feel so...bad...it's not fair."
For the millionth time since he had fallen in love with the man sobbing in his arms, Nick was amazed by Greg's genuine, caring nature. "You're right. It's not fair. But neither is almost losing you."
"But you didn't." Greg sighed. "He'll never get his baby back."
"I know." God. Nick tried to soothe with his touch. "I know, Sweetpea." He was once again reminded that Greg sees the world from a different lens - shaped by his own capacity for compassion and his own perception that he was at one time responsible for another's demise. Sometimes Nick wondered if Greg thought he deserved to be almost killed. "I'm so sorry, G."
"Thanks." Greg nuzzled into Nick's neck before he sneezed.
Nick chuckled. "Gross, G."
"Sorry." Greg sneezed again. "You smell really bad."
"I just spent the day with hundreds of cats and all of the nastiness that goes with them."
"That explains it." He sneezed. "Allergy." He pointed to himself before he sneezed again. "Need to go." He sneezed three times before quickly exiting the locker room. Before he disappeared from view he turned around and flashed his I-can't-believe-you're-mine-smile. "I love you."
Nick swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "We'll finish this later at home, okay?"
Within an hour Nick was freshly showered and wearing clothes that had never been within ten feet of a cat. He triple bagged his smelly clothes and then decided to just throw them away instead. within a couple of hours, he was finishing up the paperwork on the case - it turns out that the woman who lived in the catbox had fallen and she couldn't get up. She ended up dying from dehydration before anyone even realized she was missing.
As Nick was sealing up the single evidence box for the open and shut - yet undeniably sad - case, Greg appeared in the doorway of the evidence locker. "Hey."
Nick looked up from his task and smiled when he saw the doe-eyed man who still took his breath away every once in a while. "Hey. You feeling better?"
"Yeah." Greg spoke as he walked into the small room to be closer to his fresh-smelling Texan adonis. "Thanks for...I had a moment. Thanks for listening."
"You're allowed to have moments." Nick reassured his embarrassed looking boyfriend. "I'm just glad I could be there for you."
"You're getting pretty good at it." Greg stepped a little closer. "You smell much better."
Nick decided to let him change the subject. "You noticed?" He smirked. "Whatever you do - don't ever break the seal on this box."
"What happened to all the cats?"
"You don't want to know." Nick tried to spare him. He scooted around Greg to close the door. When he turned to once again face his lover, he took his hand and pulled him into a hungry kiss. "We should focus on happier topics, don't you think?"
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A few weeks passed before anyone showed up to claim the remains of The Cat Lady, as she was now affectionately referred to around the lab. Nick had interviewed the man claiming to be her nephew before he escorted him to the morgue to hand him off to Doc Robbins. On his way back to the lay out room he passed the trace lab and caught the attention of Hodges. "What's his problem?"
Greg was looking at a paint chip under the microscope when he heard his kiss-ass colleague speak. He popped his head up to look at the one man who made Greg seem husky by comparison. "Who?"
"Your...what? I don't even know. Boyfriend? Lover? Partner? The-guy-who'll-one-day-regret-the-time-he-wasted-on-you?" He said with typical Hodges flair. "He's been...out of sorts..."
"If you're referring to Nick, it's really none of your business." Greg returned to the scope. "He's had a rough couple of days, so leave him alone."
"It's really sweet. You know...the way to defend your man as if he's your woman."
"What are you saying Hodges?" Greg asked without looking up from his bent position. "Are you implying that women are incapable of defending themselves, therefore if I defend my boyfriend he must be effeminate?"
"I'd like to hear the answer to that one, too."
That caught Greg's attention. When he looked up he saw Wendy standing in the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Awesome. "You'll have to let me know what he says to get himself out of this later, Wendy. I gotta go fill Warrick in on this trace. I think we may have narrowed down the possible suspects - or at least the car they drove."
He walked away feeling satisfied that Wendy would crush the smarmy lab rat's balls in a vice.
He found his tall partner-on-the-case bending awkwardly over a piece of blood-spattered plastic that was once a shower curtain. "How's it coming along in here?"
Warrick looked up and squinted. "My damn eyes are crossin', Man. Please tell me you got something, because the patterned texture on this thing obliterated any print that may be on it."
"No prints in the spatter?" Greg asked? "All that blood and nothing?"
"You would think so, but all we got are smudges." Warrick sounded frustrated. "My money's on gloves. Bastard must've know what the hell he was doing."
"Or she." Greg corrected.
Warrick shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Right, Greg."
"It could happen." Greg insisted.
"A woman stabbed a 240-pound dude, wrapped his fat-ass in a shower curtain, dragged his dead weight out of the house, hoisted him into a car - without anyone noticing?" Warrick said it like has was talking to an idiot. "Never happened, Einstein."
"Don't you think it would be just as hard for a guy to do all of that to a 240-pound dude?" Greg asked.
Warrick just looked at him with that look before he rolled his eyes. "Trace, Greg. What'd we get?"
I get no respect. Greg sighed before he started talking.
By the time he made it home, Nick was already asleep. Greg stood next to their bed to take in the sight. Nick was sprawled across the sheets, arms and legs splayed so that he almost touched each corner. Greg admired Nick's firm, round, magnificent ass and was torn between waking him up so he could get a taste or letting him catch up on the sleep his overly-stressed lover had lost over the last couple of days.
He opted for sleep. He carefully grabbed a pillow from next to Nick's head and took it to the living room where he made himself comfortable on the couch. He was watching Rachel Ray prepare a yummo meatloaf when he succumbed to his own exhaustion.
Warm fingers grazing against the exposed skin of his belly woke him. He was still on the couch, the television was now off, and Nick was laying behind him. "How'd you manage to cram yourself back there without waking me up?" Greg asked in his sleepy voice while he pressed himself into the body of his lover.
"Wasn't that hard." Nick answered in gusts of warm breath against the back of Greg's neck. "Want you." He whispered into Greg's ear after he skillfully yanked Greg's shirt from his body. "Now."
Greg felt Nick's heat pressed against his now bare back. Nick's arm was wrapped around him while his palm skimmed down his bare chest until deft fingers popped open buttons to expose more of Greg's superheated flesh below his waist. "Bed?" His voice cracked in an unflattering way but Greg was too fucking turned on to care. Especially when he heard Nick's lustful reply.
"Too far." Nick impatiently pushed down on the denim and cotton still covering what he so desperately wanted. "Need you now."
Greg loved it when Nick said that. Need you now. He loved to be the center of Nick's need. Especially when the need was overwhelming every nerve cell in his body as he felt the heat of Nick touching him everywhere.
This was always their thing - they were always good at this. Wether it be a celebration or simple frustration or sometimes the only way to end a fight - it was good. So. So. Good. And even though Greg knew that this time was about Nick being incapable of expressing his inner turmoil, he wasn't going to stop it because they could always talk after and damn it, it just felt too fucking good to stop for the sake of talking things through.
He felt Nick's fingers first - only for a few seconds before he felt hard, hot cock breaching his still too tight, resistant sphincter. Sometimes he liked to rush it though, especially when Nick was this desperate. Greg just wanted to give himself up to his lover's intensity - let Nick have him at will. And despite the discomfort and, admittedly, the pain - Greg mostly felt the buzzing that radiated from the base of his spine as he melted into the feeling of oh so good.
Nick slid one hand around Greg's thigh and lifted his leg enough to deepen the penetration. Greg's aching, deep groan only cause Nick's dick to get harder and his hips to thrust faster. There were just times like this that Nick couldn't get deep enough, fast enough. And his lover never failed to give him anything and everything - no matter what. Nick could have been the biggest ass in the world and Greg would still open himself for...whatever Nick wants.
Whatever Nick needs.
Nick knew it.
And he loved Greg for it. Among a million other things.
He opened his eyes when he felt Greg's fingers wrap around the back of his neck as he reached behind him. Greg's hair was dampening with sweat and his flesh was flush from head to toe - toes which were now curling from pleasure. Seeing this was only one of the reasons Nick loved fucking Greg in this particular position. "I love it when I make your toes curl."
Greg managed to make a sound that sounded a little bit like a laugh between his gasping breaths and he said in a sultry tone, "Just keep fucking me."
Nick lifted Greg's leg a little higher in the air, changing the angle just enough to elicit a loud, deep, rumbling moan from the man writhing in front of him. Nick buried his face into the back of his lover's sweaty neck and concentrated on deeper and harder. "So...god, Greg...so good..."
"Don't stop, Nicky. Please."
There was almost desperation to the way he said it and Nick wanted to make it go away. He thrust hard into Greg's tight heat, cursing the cushions behind his back for hindering his momentum. When Greg arched his head back, Nick couldn't stop himself from sinking his teeth into the slick flesh of his neck.
They had done this thousands of times in hundreds of ways - and Nick knew exactly how to work Greg's body. No matter how desperate Greg wanted to make it last - Nick knew that a strategically placed bite on the neck would be Greg's undoing. With a near scream, "Fuck," Greg's grip on Nick's neck became almost painful as his body clenched around Nick's cock. Nick watched as the toes curled impossibly on the foot hovering in the air at the end of the leg Nick still held by a tight, bruising grip of thigh. The smell of Greg's sweat mixed with the scent of his orgasm as he messily came without warning was a heady combination of sensations that left Nick slamming himself into Greg's body for one final thrust as he followed his lover into orgasmic bliss.
They both took a few minutes to ride it out before Greg's husky voice interrupted the euphoria of the moment. "Leg."
"Hmm." Nick couldn't even form words yet.
"My Leg." Greg repeated. "Cramp."
"Oh." Nick finally got it and let go of his death-grip on Greg's thigh. "Sorry, Baby."
Nick pulled himself out and they both sighed from the loss. Greg spun himself around so he was facing his hot Texan. It felt good to feel Nick's arms wrap around him to pull them closer. "I hate coming all over the couch."
"From the feel of things, Greggo - you mostly came all over yourself." Nick smiled his dopy post-orgasm smile.
"You're not complaining are you?" Greg asked with a crooked brow.
Nick shook his head and kept on smiling. "Never. I like it when we stick together."
"You're so weird." Greg chuckled. "And you're not the one always stuck trying to get protein stains off of the upholstery."
"Well, you better get yourself cleaned up then, because I didn't use a condom so your messy upholstery is about to get a lot messier in a couple of minutes." Nick smirked playfully.
"I noticed." Greg smacked his lover's beautiful ass. "I think I'll just stay here and leak all over the place and make you clean it up this time."
Nick's face suddenly got serious. He reached for Greg's face with his fingers and brushed a clump of hair from his sweaty forehead. "Sounds fair." He almost whispered.
Greg took the opportunity to poke at Nick's metaphorical tender underbelly. "Talk to me, Nicky."
Nick sighed. "It's nothing..."
"Nick." Greg interrupted. "You've been a terrible grouch at work - people are asking me about it. And that - although amazing and completely appreciated - is how you fuck when you're in pain and in your own head about it. So talk to me."
"You already know, G. My dad."
"I know you talked to your dad couple of days ago and I know you hung up really upset about whatever it was he said to you - but you never really told me what exactly he said and why exactly you are so wounded."
"You're not letting me off the hook on this, are you?" Nick pulled them impossibly close and nuzzled into Greg's neck. "I love you so much."
Greg's chest ached at the sound of Nick's voice. "Please. Talk to me, Baby."
"He sounded so disappointed." Nick explained.
Greg could feel the wet heat of Nick's tears on his neck.
"It's like I killed his dreams or something." Nick hiccuped. "He said he wasn't sure he could ever accept what I've become."
Oh god. "I'm sorry." Greg didn't know what else to say.
"I haven't become anything, G. I'm still me." Nick whimpered.
Greg's fingers carded through Nick's hair. "And you're beautiful, Nicky. You're amazing and beautiful."
"He asked if he'd be seeing me next month." Nick explained as he started to pull himself together. "I told him he would be seeing both of us."
"What'd he say?"
"Nothing." Nick pulled out of his little hiding space in Greg's neck. HIs eyes were glistening and he looked so sad. "He just said he hoped I come to my senses before then."
"If it's too hard for you..."
"Don't say it." Nick interrupted. His hand was skimming the bumpy terrain of Greg's nude back. "You're coming. I want you there. I want them to see how perfect you are for me."
"They may never see that, Nicky." Greg hated that Nick's eyes shimmered even more when he said it.
He looked at Greg with wounded confusion. "You don't want to go?"
"I didn't say that." Greg's hand rested comfortingly on Nick's bare shoulder. "I want to be there. I want to show them how perfect you are. I also want you to be realistic and if it doesn't go your way I don't want you to..."
"I won't." Nick didn't want to hear the words. "I promise. I'm done with that. No more running away when things get rough. I love you. This is where I want to be."
"I love you too." Greg reassured his man while he felt his own anxiety building. He tightened his hold on Nick and said more for himself than his boyfriend. "I love you so much."
TBC