Hi all! Soooo sorry that it took me awfully long again to write the next chapter, but here it is :) Let me know what you think, thank you!
Chapter Seven
Nick froze, hoping that he'd only imagined the sound of his buzzer ringing. But when he hadn't moved for a couple of seconds, it rang again.
'Shit,' Nick thought and he quickly ran to the bathroom to hide the razorblade and casually wrap his arm in a towel. When the doorbell rang a third time he could also hear someone banging on the door and shouting. His heart started to race when he recognized the voice.
Greg pressed the bell a third time and impatiently banged his fist against the wood.
'Nicky, I know you're home, so quit playing games and open the door!' he yelled, but still he couldn't hear any sound coming from within his friend's house.
Greg lowered his arm an sighed. He couldn't blame Nick for not letting him in. What he'd said to him last time was horrible, but he'd had time to calm down and really wanted to talk to Nick. With the sinking feeling of disappointment in his chest, Greg turned around and walked back to his car.
Nick waited a few more seconds, trying to calm his breathing, then splashed some water on his hair, face and chest and made for the door.
With one last deep breath, he swung the door open, only to find Greg's back walking away from him, back to his car. At the sound of the door opening, however, Greg had slowed his pace and when Nick weakly called out his name, he slowly turned around and walked back to his friend.
'Hey,' Greg said, trying to make a smile appear on his face.
Nick only nodded and stepped aside to let Greg through. But the latter didn't enter the house right away. He hesitated at the doorstep.
'Can I come in?' he asked.
Again, Nick only nodded his head and Greg stepped over the threshold, past Nick and into the living room.
'I just showered,' Nick said, raising a towel-clad arm.
'Okay,' Greg said, not really sure why Nick was telling him that.
'What do you want?' Nick asked, a little harsher than he'd intended. He saw Greg's face flinch a little at his question and immediately regretted his tone.
'I can leave if you want me to,' Greg said, 'but I'd rather stay and talk to you, if that's okay,' he quickly added before Nick had a chance to answer him.
'Sure, let me finish getting dressed first,' Nick said and with that he left for his bedroom, rummaging for a few moments, the returning, wearing a maroon long sleeve shirt that really made his pecs stand out. Greg had to admit that he was at least a little fascinated by Nick's muscular body, but that was exactly the kind of thought he didn't need right now, so he pushed it from his mind.
'I'm sorry, Nicky.'
Greg's voice reached Nick's ears, but it took a while for his brain to catch on and realize that Greg wasn't there to yell at him. Again.
'I shouldn't have said the things I did that night when…,' Greg hesitated, 'well, you know.'
Nick looked down at his feet and didn't dare look Greg in the eye, until he noticed that the younger man had crossed the room and now stood right in front of him.
'Look at me, Nicky,' he said, and he grabbed Nick's arms to make contact with him.
'Ow!' Nick heard himself exclaim, before he could stop himself and he roughly withdrew his left arm from Greg's grip.
'What's wrong?' Greg asked, worry clearly audible in his voice.
'Nothing,' Nick shrugged and tried to walk away from Greg, but the latter didn't let him.
'You screamed like I hurt you or something,' Greg said, 'Are you hurt?'
And before Nick could stop him, Greg had grabbed hold of his left wrist and pulled up Nick's sleeve. Nick inhaled sharply from fear and pain, but the sound was drowned by Greg's gasp of horror.
'Oh my god, Nick,' Greg whispered, 'What the hell did you do?!'
Nick wished Greg would yell at him, become mad or leave, but instead Greg stood there, holding Nick's injured arm, his gaze fixed on the raw and wounded flesh, eye brims filling with tears. When Nick saw a tear fall down from one of Greg's beautiful brown eyes, he couldn't keep strong anymore. He felt himself collapse and started to cry vehemently. Greg caught him and held him tight. For at least five minutes, they just stood there and held each other, without saying a word.
Then, Greg supported Nick to the couch, left for the bathroom and came back with the first aid kit. He tended to Nick's wounds with the calmest expression on his face and Nick didn't talk either. When his arm was disinfected and properly bandaged, Nick didn't know what to say to Greg, but he managed to whisper a soft 'thank you'.
At that, Greg looked at his best friend's face and couldn't help but cry again.
'Why, Nicky?' he said, 'Why did you do that to yourself?'
'I'm sorry,' Nick replied, knowing how lame that must sound. 'I just.. what you said –' But Greg stopped him by placing his index finger on Nick's lips.
'Shh,' he shushed, 'I know. I'm the one that should be sorry Nicky. And I am. I'm really sorry. I can't believe I did this to you. Or that I let you.. I can't let you do this to yourself. I love you.'
The moment these words slipped from his lips, Greg realized he'd made a mistake. Again, he'd used the word 'love' and again, Nick would interpret this the wrong way.
'No!' Greg yelled, more at himself that at Nick, 'I'm not gonna let us fall out again over stupid semantics. I love you as a friend Nicky, as my best friend.'
Nick listened to Greg ramble on, until he heard those three words again. But his time, Greg immediately 'corrected' himself and Nick felt sad and incredibly happy at the same time He hugged Greg and didn't know whether to cry or laugh, so he did both. He felt Greg hug him back and could hear him sob and laugh too. It would be alright.
Two weeks later
'This is the last one,' Greg said, and he put down the heavy cardboard box he'd carried inside. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and went to fetch a cool soda from the fridge.
Drinking from his can, hip leaning against the kitchen counter, Greg saw Nick enter in his dark green long sleeve shirt. Despite the hot summer air, Nick only wore long sleeves these days, but Greg had gotten him to exchange them for t-shirts at night, when it was just the two of them eating together, or watching a football game.
'So, how do you like your new home,' Nick asked with a grin, 'roomie?'
