Sorry, this took me a while to get posted because my computer's been messed up for a few weeks. Hope it was worth the wait. Italics indicate thoughts and a flashback. Enjoy.

Warrick had been forced to go into work at around eight that night on a double homicide with Catherine, which left Greg alone again. He tried to watch some of the decent movies that were on TV, but none of them held his attention for more than five minutes. Not surprisingly, he couldn't keep his mind of off Nick. He was getting more worried by the second and couldn't make sense of what had happened.

After he gave up on Fight Club, which was one of his favorite movies, Greg turned the TV off and forced himself to get off of the couch and get something to eat. He slowly walked into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge to find nothing worth thinking about eating. He sighed and closed the fridge as his cell phone, still on the counter from where he had last left it, caught his attention. The service light was blinking, meaning he had a voicemail. He reached out, grabbed it and flipped it open to read the display screen.

NEW VOICEMAIL.
1 MISSED CALL: NICK

Greg's heart skipped a beat. He quickly dialed his voicemail number and tried to control the sudden shaking of his hands as he listened to the automated voice let him know he had a message.

"You have one unheard message. First unheard message:" Then Nick's voice came through the speaker into Greg's ear. "Greggo, you need to listen to me. Don't let anyone come looking for me and don't tell anyone I called. I can't explain where I am or why. Forget what I said in that note...I know this makes no sense and you're probably scared out of your mind, but you have to trust me. I love you Greg, don't ever forget that." Then there were people yelling in the backround, two other guys by the sounds of it. They were yelling at Nick to hangup and sounded pretty pissed. Then the automated voice was back. "End of message. To delete this message, press 1. To save this message, press 2." Greg pressed 2 before he hung the phone up and had to go sit down so he wouldn't pass out.

"So," Grissom said as he massaged his temples. "What can you tell me about this note?"

"Well..." Dr. Adams, the lab's hand writing expert, said with a sigh, "it was definitely written by Nick. It's an exact match to the reports he's filled out that I used to compare with the note."

"Okay...anything else? Was he under stress when he was writing it or anything that may help?"

"Actually, the indentation is deeper in the note, and his letters are quick and rushed. I matched the ink to this pen." Adams said as he held up a blue Bic pen. "The tip is broken, which caused the few blotches on the ends of some letters. Mandy got a partial print off of it. But that's all I have for you Grissom. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

Grissom smiled weakly. "You've helped more than you know, thanks Doc." He sighed as he left the layout room and headed for the haven of his office, where he could always escape from whatever was bugging him.

Or so he thought.

As he turned the corner to his office, he immediatly saw the back of Conrad Ecklie's head staring down at something on his desk. Great. Grissom thought. Just what I need right now...

"Can I help you Ecklie?" Grissom asked as he entered his office.

"You better hope so. What's this I'm hearing about Stokes disappearing?" Ecklie replied rather curtly.

"Well, we're not sure where Nick is." One of the things Grissom hated most about Ecklie was how he reffered to the members of his team by their last names, like they were insignificant to him. "He left a note saying things very uncharacteristic of him, and I think there might have been foul play."

"Do you have any evidence to support this?" Ecklie asked in his usual pissed off tone.

Grissom opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Brass, who had just walked into the office. "No, we don't. The Sheriff isn't making a case of this or allowing us to do anything that involves looking for Nick because he left a note saying he was leaving and says there's nothing more we can do."

Ecklie showed no emotion. "Alright then, it's settled. We'll start looking for a replacement for Stokes as soon as we can. It'd be for the best if we just put this behind us and move on. If he comes back, he comes back." And with that, Ecklie was gone.

Grissom shook his head slowly before slamming his fist down onto his desk. "This is fucking ridiculous." Brass stood there, shellshocked. He had never heard Grissom swear to that length before. The Graveyard supervisor rarely showed emotion, and when he did, he really showed it. "This is so...I can't think of a word to describe it. It's like Nick just vanished, and no one seems to care. It's like a bad dream."

"Hey," Brass said, holding up his hands, defending himself. "I care. And do you really think this isn't tearing apart Greg and Warrick? It really is one of the weirdest things that's ever happened. No hits came from the print off of the pen. There really is nothing left for us to do but wait."

Grissom sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "That's the worst feeling in the world."

"What is?"

"Waiting helplessly."

Greg sat with his head in hands on the couch, Nick's words echoing in his head like a song stuck on repeat.

"I love you Greg, don't ever forget that."

Tears stung Greg's eyes, but he wasn't going to cry. Not this time at least. After his last relationship, he made himself promise to never cry over a guy again. He knew it sounded stupid, something a 15 year old girl would say. But he still wanted to try and spare himself the heartache.

Four years ago, Greg had broken up with his boyfriend of two years, Jeremy. They had met at a bar and a one night fling had turned into a two year relationship that some would have considered abusive, but Greg had put up with it. Then Jeremy had cheated on him, and Greg was heartbroken. Jeremy had told him he never meant anything to him and was just using him for the great sex. Greg felt lost and had no clue what to do. He changed from being hyper and talkative to quiet and depressed.

And Nick was the only one who had noticed.

"Hey G." Nick said as he walked into the break room and took a seat next to the lab rat. Greg just merely nodded before standing and began to leave, but Nick grabbed his arm and gently pulled him back. "What's wrong Greg? You've been acting strange for the last couple of weeks. You alright?"

It was all Greg could do not to break down into tears. Ever since he had started working in Vegas he's had a crush on the Texan. He didn't want to let Nick see how weak he was, and he definitely wasn't going to tell him he was a little bit in love with him. Mostly because he was really in love with him. A lot.

So he just shook his head weakly and gave the best smile he could muster. "Nothing, I'm fine."

Nick didn't let go of his gentle, yet firm grip on Greg's arm. He stood up so he could stand eye to eye with him. "No, you're not. Come on man, let me help you."

For reason not known to Greg, that did it. He just snapped and let go of all the pain not having Nick caused, added to what Jeremy had done to him. "Help me? Ya know what could have really helped Nick? You noticing how crazy I am about you, or doing more than just staring when you saw the bruises I have that you knew where from me getting beat up but didn't say anything to anyone except Warrick."

In response to Nick's dumbfounded stare Greg added, "I heard you two talking before shift a little while ago. But I can't blame you, because it's my fault I'm a loser who you'll never feel anything towards." Greg took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he took a step away from Nick. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, this isn't you fault. Just...forget I said any of this." And with that Greg was gone, leaving Nick stunned in place.

Not long after Greg had gotten home and locked himself in his dark apartment, there was a soft knock at his door. Knowing who it was without even having to think about it, Greg yelled at the closed door without even lifting his head from its resting place on his knees.

"Go away Nick." Greg said from his cozy little spot up against the dishwasher in his kitchen.

"Open the door Greg." The Texan yelled back through the door. "Come on man, I really need to talk to you."

Greg laughed humorlessly. "Why? So you can laugh in my face and tell me how disgusting I am before you punch me in the face?"

"It's gonna be kinda hard to punch you through this door G." Greg lifted his head at the sound of Nick calling him by the nickname he had given him. It always hit his softspot, something Nick did quite often. "This conversation would be so much easier if I could actually look at you ya know." When there was no response, Nick tried again. "I'll break it down if I have to. You know I will."

Nick smiled slightly when he heard shuffling footsteps inside the apartment, followed by the click of the lock and the door slowly swining open to let him inside. He couldn't see Greg, so he just stepped in and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness as he faced Greg. When they finally made eye contact, everything Nick had wanted to say was washed from his mind.

"Greg...I...we need to ta-"

Greg abruptly cut Nick off. "Don't Nick. Listen, I know it's not your fault I'm in love with you, and I shouldn't have told you or yelled at you. I'm sorry I brought it up, believe me. But I can't take you telling me all that. I already know, but you saying it might just kill me, so please just leave."

Greg closed his eyes and heard Nick take a few steps towards the door, but then he stopped. Before Greg could open his eyes to see why, Nick's lips were on his in what soon became a breathtaking kiss. It took a few moments for Greg to realize what was going on. When he finally did, he reluctantly pushed Nick away from him.

"What the hell was that?" He asked quietly.

Nick shrugged weakly. "I don't know. You wouldn't let me talk...not that I could anyway cuz what I wanted to say I forgot when I saw you and I just figured that was the best way to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"That despite what you may think...I love you."

Greg slowly walked backwards until his back hit the door and he slowly slid down it until his knees where against his chest. He stared at the floor until Nick kneeled in front of him with his hands places firmly around Greg's.

"Greg, I love you. I'm sorry I didn't do anything when I knew that asshole was hurting you. He doesn't deserve you, no one really does. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you, but it's true. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again G."

Greg looked deep into Nick's eyes as a few tears ran down his cheeks. "You promise?"

Nick smiled and brushed away Greg's tears and cupped his face gently. "I promise." He leaned in slowly and kissed Greg so sweetly it was almost too perfect.

Regardless of what Greg had promised himself not to do, he started to cry. He just couldn't help it. Nick hadn't even been gone a day yet and he already missed him so much it hurt. He couldn't understand where he was or why he left. If he really loved me, he'd stay, right? It hurt knowing that he might not ever see his boyfriend ever again.

But what hurt the most was knowing that Nick was worth every tear he was going to end up crying. Nick was worth anything to Greg.