The channels flicked by so fast that you couldn't really register what you were seeing properly. Greg continued to channel surf, but he let his eyes wander to his right so that he was actually looking at Nicco. She appeared to be staring at the TV with the fingers of her right hand covering her mouth, although he couldn't tell if she was lost in a thought or if there was something else that had captured her attention since it didn't appear that she was actually watching the TV.
He didn't really know if he should bother her or not, but he was getting kind of worried about how quiet she was being. After Nick had finally answered the door to let him in, the two of them had been able to have a very brief conversation. Nick warned him that Nicco had had a bit of a rough morning and not to be surprised if she wasn't her usual self. Greg hadn't expected her to be a bubbly hostess type while he was there, but he hadn't expected this. Right now she almost looked as shell shocked as she did when he saw her for the first time in her hotel suite at Caesar's Palace.
Just briefly remembering what Nicco had lived through caused a cold shudder to run up his spine. He put the remote down on the arm of his chair and then turned his upper body to face Nicco as he softly called out, "See anything you like?"
"Huh?" Nicco mumbled in reply as she started to move her head to face him with her hand still covering her mouth.
Nick had left the blanket Nicco had used the first night she stayed with him folded neatly on the back of the couch. He had said his goodbyes to Greg while Nicco changed. When she emerged from her bedroom and found Greg on a reclining chair in the den, she had made a beeline to the opposite end of the couch from where he was seated. Out of habit, more so than feeling cold, she had pulled the lightweight blanket down and curled up under it on the couch. She had really wanted to lay down and go back to sleep but she didn't want to be rude. Instead, she curled her legs under her body with the blanket over them and her right elbow on the arm rest.
Greg took not that she had her right hand over her mouth and wondered if it was just a habit of hers or if it was something else. What he didn't know was that she was actually just savoring the tingling sensation on her lips. She had been almost half asleep during her first kiss with Nick, so now that she was alert and able to remember their second one, she wanted to relish the moment. There was no mistaking it for a dream, but she did keep replaying it over and over again in her mind because she almost could believe that it had happened. And that HE had been the instigator this time. That last part was the thing that surprised her the most and made the butterflies in her stomach flutter wildly.
Something about the look on her face must have told Greg how distracted her thoughts truly were because he pointed at the TV with the remote and asked, "Did you see a show you'd want to watch or would you rather watch a movie?"
Nicco shrugged and then reluctantly pulled her hand away from her mouth to answer, "No, sorry, I didn't see anything that caught my eye. But, in all honesty I'm not really that picky. I'll watch pretty much anything. Umm... except for westerns. Well, old timey ones, I still love 'Tombstone' because you can never go wrong with Val Kilmer. So, yeah... whatever you feel like watching, I'm down with that.
"Okay, how about a movie? That sounds like a good idea to me," Greg replied with a relieved smile on his face. That was the first time Nicco had given him more than a one word answer since she had come into the den and he couldn't hide how nearly giddy that made him. "Hey? Do you think Nick would ever buy microwave popcorn?"
Nicco chuckled and then replied, "I don't know, but he does have a microwave, so there's hope. Why don't you pick a movie and I"ll see about getting us some snacks?"
"Sure, sounds good," Greg replied with a wide smile. "But before you disappear on me, you've got to be honest with me..."
Nicco stopped in her path halfway to the door and turned to look at him, hoping that her cheeks weren't as pink as she felt that they might be. She discreetly swallowed back the fearful lump that was trying to form in her throat as she answered as nonchalantly as possible, "Yeah, sure Greg. What's up?"
"Everyone says that they'll watch anything, but they really mean that they'll watch anything except for a few specific genres. So, really? What will you automatically veto or what are you kind of in the mood for? And remember, you promised to be honest."
Now she did feel her cheeks heat up because she knew that he was right. She unconsciously bit the right corner of her bottom lip and replied, "I'd veto anything too lovey dovey or too serious. I've cried enough for the next decade thanks. I'm always down for a good action movie with hot guys or a baseball movie. Although, Nick's all about the pigskin, so I highly doubt that you'll find many, if any, baseball movies in his collection."
"Alright... action, hot guys or a diamond," Greg stated with a cheeky grin. "I think I've got it."
"Greg!" She exclaimed with a chuckle.
He held his hands up and gave her a look so innocent tha tit looked completely earnest as he replied, "What? That's your criteria for a good movie, right?"
Nicco couldn't help but to laugh at the look on his face. Nick had told her about everyone that he worked with, but now she totally understood his failed attempts to describe Greg. Whenever they got to the point where Nicco continued to repeat a phrase similar to 'be serious' or 'you're just fucking with me', Nick would always reply with his new version of 'if you knew him it would make sense'. Finally, all of the pieces had fallen into place and everything that Nick had tried but failed to explain to her actually did make sense. She then made a mental note to tell him just that when he got home as well.
"You're terrible!" She finally replied through a chuckle. "But yes, that's the gist of it. Now I have a question for you. Do you just want popcorn, or should I try to raid the cupboards for something else?"
"Popcorn with butter is fine," Greg answered with a look on his face that said that wasn't his complete response. "But then again, I guess that we'll need some suitable beverages as well to go with it."
"Alright, popcorn and drinks coming up," Nicco replied as she moved towards the kitchen again.
It didn't come as a surprise to her that she didn't find any microwave popcorn in Nick's cupboards, but she did find popcorn kernels and an air popper. As she set it up with a bowl on the counter, Nick laughed silently to herself as she wondered how heartfelt Nick's promise to buy whatever she put on a shopping list truly was because she was sure that there were a few of her favorites that he would be loathed to buy. But then again that was before he had kissed her and nearly ravished her wholly and completely. Now that there was going to be a change in her status with him, she was sure that there would be some fun benefits to go with it.
While she was looking through all of the cupboards, Nicco had found more than half a dozen oversized boxes of chocolate cover almonds and chocolate covered peanuts. For a split second she wondered if she had stumbled upon one of Nicky's dirty little secrets because the last time she checked, Nick's guilty pleasures were a good side of beef, either in steak or burger form, and beer, preferably in a long neg, glass bottle. But then she pulled a couple of the boxes out to examine them. They were still sealed tightly closed so she knew that he hadn't been binge eating on them at all.
So why does he have enough chocolate to keep me happy through my bouts of PMS for nearly a year? She thought to herself as she continued to look the boxes over.
The instant that she saw the labels with different school names on them, everything became completely clear. Anyone who knew Nick knew that he had the world's biggest soft spot for kids. She was sure that it didn't take anything more than a simple 'Mister will you help support...' (insert sport, band or anything else at the end) before Nick was pulling out his wallet to buy at least one box of candy. She double checked the names on the boxes and laughed softly to herself. For a split second she thought that they all might have the same school name on them because she remembered hitting her sales goals more than once when Nick had been home visiting when she was younger. All she (or anyone under the age of sixteen) had to do was bat her eyelashes and he would buy as many boxes as the cash in his wallet would allow.
Standing in the middle of his kitchen, Nicco could see the smile that would have been on Nick's face when he bought these. In her mind's eye she saw him with a paper bag filled with groceries balanced on his left hip as he exchanged his bills for the boxes. The little girl (because in her mind it was always a little girl for some reason) would thank him again and he would watch with a smile so wide that his dimples would look like they would never go away as she ran back to her table where her classmates and their parents were waiting.
The scene that played out in her mind warmed Nicco's heart so much that it almost hurt. Even though he never actually intended to eat any of the candy he bought, Nicco knew that Nick really was happy to buy it and never begrudged the children for seeking him out to do so. His kind heart and generous spirit were just two of the many reasons that Nicco had falling in love with him when she was in high school.
She heard the popcorn finishing, so she forced herself out of her reverie to finish preparing their snack. She replaced all of the boxes except for one that contained milk chocolate covered peanuts. She was tempted to just pour them into the popcorn while it was still warm, but she didn't want to be rude in case that wasn't Greg's idea of the perfect snack, as crazy as that might be. Instead she poured the small amount of butter she had melted on the top of the popper onto the popcorn and gave it a couple of tosses to make sure it was spread throughout the bowl. After she picked up the bowl, she tucked the box of chocolates under her arm and made her way back to the den.
Just before she hit the door, Nicco remembered that she had also promised to bring beverages. She quickly turned around and moved over to the fridge. Inside she found pretty much what she had expected; a carton of 1% milk, a pitcher of water, a six pack of beer bottles and a jug of orange juice. She let out a dejected sigh and placed what she had in her hand on the counter as she let out another soft sound of complaint. Milk, water and orange juice were great, for breakfast, but they just didn't feel right for a movie night. She then gave the beer bottles a long, lingering look, but her weekend of binge drinking with her roommate's imposter still sort of caused her to have an aversion to anything alcoholic.
"Come on Nick," she whispered to herself as she opened the fridge again to move a few things around. "You have beer for crying out loud, you have to have something... Yahtzee!"
Behind a couple of containers that looked like some sort of protein shake, Nicco found six plastic bottles of Dr. Pepper. Well... Diet Dr. Pepper, but she honestly preferred the taste of the diet pop over the regular. She should have known that a good Texan Boy like Nick would have Dr. Pepper in his fridge, but before she found the boxes of chocolate the only non-health food item she had witnessed in his house was the bacon he had made for her the other day, so she had started to doubt him.
She loaded herself up again with the bowl of popcorn, box of chocolates and bottles of soda and made her way back to the den. Greg had relocated onto the couch with four DVDs lined up on the coffee table. When Nicco noticed his new placement, she paused mid-step. But she then just as quickly kept moving as she told herself that she was just being silly. They were going to be sharing a bowl of popcorn, so it made sense for him to sit closer to her. Plus, Nick had said that there was a good chance that she and Greg could become friends so she forced herself to relax and not to over think things right now.
She then frowned at the thoughts running through her mind. Now that she would no longer be speaking to Thea, mostly because she was worried that she would tear fistfuls of her hair out if she ever saw her him person again, Nicco realized that she really didn't have many friends. Actually, she really didn't have any friends in Las Vegas. Being a bit of a loner wasn't new to her, but for some reason it made her kind of sad right now.
With a resolute shake of her head, Nicco continued forward calling out, "So we were right, no microwave popcorn." She heard Greg's soft groan, so she was laughing as she moved around the couch to her spot. "But I still think we scored. Air popped with real melted butter..." She placed the bowl on the coffee table. "And chocolate covered peanuts. Plus... actual name brand soda to wash it all down."
Greg's nose crinkled slightly in disgust as he put his hand out to claim one of the bottles. "Diet?"
Nicco quickly pulled the bottle away before he could touch it and said, "Oh no you didn't! This is Dr. Pepper, nectar of the gods. Even though it's zero calorie, diet soda, it's still the nectar of the gods."
Greg chuckled and reached for the bottle again, but Nicco pulled it back out of reach again. With a very stern look on her face. she very seriously said, "If you want to drink it, you need to apologize to it."
At first Greg looked like he was going to laugh her off, so Nicco raised a challenging eyebrow in response. He quickly sat up straight and tried to stutter out a reply. Although she tried her best to keep a straight face, Nicco couldn't and soon started to giggle.
She then threw the bottle into his lap saying, "Wow, you are even easier than Nicky." She quickly curled up into her corner of the couch with a satisfied smirk on her face. When she noticed that Greg was just staring down at the bottle in his hands, she quickly sombered her tone and sounded truly contrite when she said, "I honestly was just joking, I... I didn't mean..."
Greg shook his head to silence her as he leaned forward and placed the bottle on the coffee table. "No, it isn't that. I guess now that you've shaken it up, I'll just have to wait before I open it."
Nicco's mouth dropped open at the deadpan tone Greg used. He then scooped up a handful of popcorn as he picked up the box of chocolates to knock a couple of pieces into his palm along with their salty treat. Now her mouth dropped in a wondrous awe because he kind of felt like a kindred spirit. She also began to totally understand why Nick liked hanging out with him even though they seemed like total opposites. IN a way, he was sort of like a male version of her.
"Or we could just dump the box into the bowl to make it easier," she said through a laugh.
Greg quickly chewed what he had in his mouth before he answered, "It's okay, we don't have to unless..."
Nicco leaning even further forward to pick up the box silenced his protest. As she saw back with the box and the bowl in hand, she explained, "I thought about mixing them in the kitchen, but I didn't want to be rude. But now that I know you have great taste in snacks, let's hear what you've come up with for our entertainment for tonight."
"Oh? Okay. Well, Nick isn't as square as either of us thought that he would be. So, I only pulled out a few picks for now. There are others if these don't meet your fancy."
"Fancy? Really? Alright, hit me Greggo."
Greg paused for a second at hearing the nickname only his coworkers had used for him, but he recovered quickly to say, "First we have 'The Transporter'. Although I personally don't get his appeal, I've heard that..."
"Nope, veto." Greg gave her a shocked look at her swift interruption, so Nicco explained, "You're right, he's hot, but I don't know you well enough to sit through that sex scene. Sorry."
"Alright," he replied with an uncertain tone. "Next we have 'XXX'."
Nicco smiled then said, "Mmm, that GTO and Vin Diesel? Decent and possible watchable. Next?"
He picked up the third DVD case, but Nicco snatched it out of his hand before he could speak. "No way!" She exclaimed softly.
"I know; I was surprised too that he owns 'The Rookie'. I was thinking that it would probably be a shoe in for you."
Greg moved to take the DVD from Nicco, but she moved it out of his reach and placed it back on the coffee table. She didn't have to see the confused look on Greg's face to know that it was there so she answered his unanswered question saying, "It is a very sweet story and that it's based on real events, heart-wrenching. And that was just the book. Then you get the Disney polish on it? Well, I told you I don't want to cry tonight. But it does give me hope for my Nicky. He really is a good Texan who loves stories about one of our own prevailing over overwhelming odds. But it's still a no. Maybe another night. Next?"
"Alright. All good points. My fourth pick, I'm going to preface it by saying that in my book it's an action movie, not a cop show. But here."
Nicco looked over at the case he was holding up and smiled. "Ooh. LL Cool J is hot, Samuel L Jackson is badass, no racy sex scenes, no overly touching moments and that Irish guy is easy on the eyes. I say good choice Mr. Sanders."
He beamed then said, "Really? You're down for this?"
"Absolutely."
Once he stood up to put the disc into the DVD player, Nicco quietly started singing the old theme song for 'S.W.A.T'. Greg chuckled then joined in as well. While they were both quietly singing, Nicco poured the whole box of chocolate covered peanuts into the popcorn bowl. She quickly stirred it all together before she returned to her 'nesting' (as Nick always called it) on the couch.
Once she was settled under the blanket, Greg sat down at the other end of the couch with the remote in hand.
"Ready?" He asked in an easy-going, non-judgmental tone.
Nicco place the large stainless steel bowl between them and scooped up a handful of the salty, chocolatey popcorn as she replied, "Ready when you are, Greggo."
Even though Nicco had already seen this movie and looked forward to seeing it again, she had to force herself to try to focus. She didn't want to be rude to Greg by letting her mind drift off topic, but she just couldn't seem to help it.
*****Flashback*****
After she tried to be dismissive with a snotty remark, Nick gripped Nicco by her upper arms, causing her to fall into a shocked silence. She stared up at him and swallowed thickly because she couldn't read the expression on his face. The best that she could tell, it looked like he was sifting through conflicting thoughts while trying to decide what to do next.
Nicco opened her mouth to apologize to Nick, but again was rendered silent. This time it was by Nick placing his hands on her cheeks. She was sure that he was doing it to force her to make eye contact with him, but then he shocked the breath out of her. Before her brain could compute what was happening, Nick lowered his head so that he could place a fairly forceful kiss against her lips.
Since he had acted so distant and aloof that morning, Nicco had convinced herself that her kissing him in the lab had just been a dream. But now that she felt the softness of his lips pressed against hers, she wondered if she had completely misread his actions in the kitchen. Maybe he was just confused about his own feelings for her and was just trying to process everything. Maybe...
Maybe you should shut up brain and kiss him back! Nicco scolded herself silently.
Nick had softened the intensity of his embrace and had gently started to move his lips against hers. Nicco moved her arms around his neck and looped her right arm up so that she could press the palm of her hand against the top of his head. As she started to hug his neck, Nick's hands moved to Nicco's waist. He pulled her in closer to his body and actually lifted her up slightly off the ground to lessen the height difference between them.
When Nicco felt Nick lift her off the ground with so much ease it caused her to gasp into his mouth. He took advantage of that and slipped his tongue into her mouth to caress hers. Nicco nearly melted then. She let out a soft moan as she squeezed her arms around his neck. They both let their passion out and the intensity of the embrace grew until they were forced to separate to take a breath.
Nicco was feeling nearly faint with excitement, which caused her to go almost completely limp in Nick's arms. While Nick tried to catch his breath, he watched Nicco and huffed out a laugh at the look on her face. Her eyes were closed and she had what he could only describe as a goofy grin plastered on her face.
At hearing Nick's soft laughter, Nicco's eyes flew open. He could tell that she was getting ready to start getting mad at him again, so he quickly placed a kiss on her lips. She one again melted into the embrace and tightened her hold on his head.
This time when he leaned back, Nick didn't let go of her cheeks and instead rested his forehead against hers. He let his eyes drift closed she he felt her let out a soft sigh against his face before he nearly whispered, "Nicco, please..."
"Okay," she interrupted in a dreamy sounding tone.
Nick jerked back but didn't let go of Nicco's face. Her eyes fluttered open and a sweet smile spread across her face as their gazes met.
Nick had a dubious look on his face as he asked, "Do you even know what you're agreeing to?"
"Yes," she replied as she hooked her index fingers around a belt loop each to pull him flush against her body. "I'll stay here with Greg, safe and sound in Fort Nick, until you get home... or send in his relief because you're puttin' in some O.T. on you 420A."
This time when Nicco said 'Fort Nick' she made it sound like a place where she was actually happy to be, which caused Nick to smile more easily. He moved his hands from her face to around her waist so that he could hug her back.
"You're really okay with that, Baby Girl?" He asked with his lips pressing against her hair. "Are you sure you aren't going to get all riled up on me again?"
Nicco chuckled into his chest and shook her head replying, "No promises because I might snap at you again at some point tonight. I think I have like PMS or something. Oh... oh no!" She pushed back on his stomach so that she could look up into his face to worriedly ask, "That was a total overshare, wasn't it? But seriously it might be that or maybe I'm feeling a little cooped up in here. I... I honestly don't know."
"It's not an overshare, Nicco. But everything that's happened..."
"Isn't an excuse to be a jerkwad to you, Nick," she interrupted as she buried her face into his chest. "And I'm sorry for throwin' a conniption fit about how you were actin' in the kitchen. I... I was just so confused about how I felt after... ummm... after what happened back at the lab."
"I was too," Nick replied quietly against the side of her head. "When I woke up today, I wasn't sure how you would react, so..."
"You figured solving a case would be a good way to ignore me," Nicco confidently finished for him. "Sorry, I meant to get your thoughts together. I swear, I ain't mad, but Greg might be fixin' to pitch a fit by now."
It wasn't often that Nicco slipping into a full Texan accent along with using strong slang, so Nick just stared at her for a second. She loved being able to surprise people from time to time, especially Nick. Right now, she just smiled to herself and silently savored this small victory.
While he still looked like he was in a bit of a daze, Nicco leaned up to peck Nick's lips before she said, "Your phone's ringing. I'm guessing that someone thinks that we ditched him." Nick startled in his place as if he had just been shocked out of a thought or dream, so Nicco pet his cheek then quietly said, "Hey, it's alright, Sugah. I've have to get dressed anyway, so you go let him in and I'll fix m'self up. Alright?"
Nick's smile widened and his dimples deepened into shallow crevasses in his cheeks. She nearly swooned right then and there, but she never got a chance to fall over. Instead, Nick tightened his hold around her waist and leaned down to huskily say into her ear, "First, say it again."
Nicco just let Nick hold her against his side while she tried to think of what he was referencing. She started to lean back to look at him and then it hit her.
"'Sugah'?" She asked sounding like she was nearly in disgust. "That's what our server at the diner called you too. Does...?"
Nick kissed her into silence once again then said, "It only sounds sweet coming from your lips."
"Nick, you are hopeless," Nicco replied with a chuckle. Before Nick could think about looking hurt, Nicco added, "A hopeless romantic. But we can continue this later, after you've bagged your perp."
He smiled and scooped her up into a hug replying, "I'll hold you to that, Baby Girl."
*****End flashback*****
The sound of a phone ringing slowly brought Nicco out of her reverie. At first she thought that it was from a scene in the movie, but once her eyes refocused on the TV screen, she realized that wasn't it. There was no sound coming from the TV's speakers because the movie had been paused during one of her favorite action scenes.
She also noticed that she was laying down on the couch instead of being curled up into a ball at one end. For a brief second she thought that she may have actually fallen asleep, so she shot up in her seat. Once she was more alert, she noticed that Greg was no longer in his spot on the couch. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen in the room at all.
Oh great! Just great. Fall asleep on the guy who's doing you a favor by hanging out with you so that you don't freak the fuck out at every little sound you hear in Nicky's place because you think it's your stalker coming to get you. Awesome way to show your gratitude, Dumbass. Nicco berated herself in her head as she sat up and tried to straighten out her hair and clothing.
Just as she was about to stand up and fold her blanket, Greg reentered the room. He smiled at her then moved back towards the couch to reclaim his spot. Nicco watched him with a wary eye because his smile didn't quite hit his eyes and looked kind of forced. She had yet to meet anyone with a similar look on their face who didn't have bad news to go with it.
"Sorry I took longer than I expected," he explained as he took a swig form his bottle of pop.
Nicco let out a sigh of relief and answered, "It's no problem. Is everything okay?"
Greg's cheeks pinked slightly and Nicco almost retracted her question. Now that she was more awake, she remembered hearing Greg ask if it was alright if he paused the movie for a nature break. Even though her thoughts were a million miles away, lost in a daydream, she actually did manage to reply to him something along the lines that it was no problem.
Now her question caused a full blown blush to spread across her cheeks. She then said, "I didn't…" as he replied, "Actually…" at the exact same time. Nicco's hand went over her mouth to silence any other stupid comments that wanted to escape.
Greg gave her a sympathetic smile and tried again to answer, "Actually, I got a call on my way to the… facilities."
"Really? Do you mind me asking who it was and what they wanted?" Nicco asked as she started to relax in her place again.
"Hodges. He works in the lab. But don't worry if you don't know his name, you haven't met him yet."
Nicco giggled then said, "Brown-noser who analyzes trace evidence. Nick's told me about him. Well… to be fair he's told me about all of you."
"That… wow… okay…" Greg replied through his own bout of laughter. "Alright, so… yeah, that's him. He called to say that he overheard that Rayburn's been arrested and that they're bringing him in for questioning any minute now."
"They are? Oh, so I guess that means that you have to go in then, huh?"
All of the humor fled from his expression before he answered, "I don't have to, but if I don't we might never find out about how obsessed he really is with you. I honestly don't think that Cavaliere will bring you up to him at all now, so I would really like to be there to get you the answers you deserve."
"Okay," Nicco stated plainly as she stood up and folded her blanket and draped it over the back of the couch like Nick had done before. "Just give me about five minutes and I'll be ready to go."
"You…?" He started sounding thoroughly confused.
Nicco smiled softly then explained, "Nick won't be happy that I'm leaving here without him, but he'd be wicked pissed if I'm left here alone. That gives us no choice, so I'll have to go with you and I don't want to go there looking like a total scrub, hence the need put something else on."
Greg's eyes bulged out slightly as Nicco spoke. His mouth went unnaturally dry, which made it hard for him to speak when he replied, "Y-you're right… I'll… I'll… uhh… I'll wait here while you change."
