It was hard to understand, but Nick could finally make out Greg saying, "Please come back Nicky...I miss you..."
Nick shook Greg's shoulder gently, trying to wake him up. "I'm right here sweetie." He said.
"I can't sleep without you...please come back...I feel sick without you." Nick didn't have time to try and wake Greg up again. He started shaking slightly before rolling off of the couch and hitting his head on the coffee table. Hard. Greg woke up immediatly, still shaking.
"Fuck..." Nick said under his breath. Greg now had a cut above his right eyebrow that was slowly starting to bleed. He helped Greg back onto the couch before he quickly went and got a cold face cloth wrapped around an ice pack. He sat down on the couch next to Greg, who stretched back out and rested his head in Nick's lap. He winced when Nick put the cold cloth above his eye.
"That's really cold." He said.
"Gotta stop the swelling somehow." Nick said with a small smile. He pressed the ice pack gently against the forming bruise and held it in place. He stroked Greg's soft hair with his free hand. "Bad dream?" He asked.
Greg nodded. "Yeah...did I talk in my sleep?"
"Yeah, you kept asking me to come back and said how you can't sleep without me and feel sick."
Greg closed his eyes. "I dreamt about when I got sick from..." He trailed off, but was too late.
"Got sick from what? You got sick when I was gone?" Nick asked anxiously.
Greg kept his eyes closed. "I...it was just...I really missed you. And I tried to drink that pain away, but instead just got alcohol poisoning. No big deal."
Nick bit his lip and cursed himself. "I'm sorry G." He said softly.
Greg opened his eyes and looked up at Nick. "It's not your fault. I made a stupid mistake."
"Because of me."
Greg shook his head. "No, it wasn't your fault. You were gone to save me, I just missed you. I'm fine now, everything's okay."
"But if you...if anything had happened to you because of how much I hurt you, I never would have forgiven myself. I would do anything to have never hurt you Greg."
"I know." Greg said. He smiled up at Nick. "Remember when you made me promise to always remember that you love me and would do anything to keep me safe?"
"Yeah..." Nick wasn't entirely sure of where this was going.
"Well.." Greg continued, "I agreed to that for a reason. I know how much you love me because that just makes me love you more. That's the only reason you leaving hurt, was because I love you so much."
Nick leaned down and brushed his lips against Greg's. "I love you too." Greg's smile grew at the sound of those words. He always loved to hear Nick say them, because he could hear how much he meant it. Nick had that kind of power over him. No matter how bad of a day he was having or what was going wrong, Nick could always make it better. Even if it was just a simple smile or a light kiss. As long as it was Nick, it was perfect.
The trial went by slowly, but was finally over. Nigel and Ethan were both sentenced to life in jail without bail. Or parole. Nick had taken the entire thing very well. His testimony went smoothly, and he didn't seemed bothered by anything. Until Nigel's last statement before he was taken away.
Nigel looked right into Nick's eyes and said, "You'll realize one day that I was right. I hope when you do, you have the guts to kill that little fagg."
Warrick had to hold Nick back so he wouldn't jump over the railing in front of him and strangle Nigel. The baliff quickly dragged Nigel and Ethan away, and Warrick brought Nick outside to calm him down. It wasn't easy, but need to be done.
"It's over Nick, it's done for good now man." Warrick said.
Nick sighed heavily. "Finally. What the fuck did I, or Greg, ever do to that guy? Why does he have to be such a fucking jerk?"
"That's how some people are. He's wrong, everyone knows that. What he says doesn't matter."
Nick nodded. "You're right...I just wish he wouldn't say all that stupid stuff about Greg. Thank God he didn't hear that." Warrick just nodded in agreement. Nick looked from the ground up to Warrick a few times before asking, "Did you think that when I first told you about us?"
Warrick didn't understand. "What are you talking about? Think what?"
"When I first told you about me and Greg...did you hate me for it?"
"Hate you for what?"
"Being g-" Nick started, but was cut off.
"Actually," Warrick said, "Don't answer that question. I should kick your ass for asking me that, but I won't cuz you're my best friend. Which is why I didn't think that, I never did. Of course not Nick. Why would you think that?"
Nick shrugged. "I don't know...he's just got my head all messed up. I just-"
Warrick cut him of again. "It's fine man, I understand. Go home and get some rest, you need it."
"Yeah...I really do."
Within the hour, Nick was walking into his house that he shared with Greg. As soon as he closed the door, Greg appeared from the hallway with a smile on his face.
"Hey Nick." Greg said as he walked up to his boyfriend. "How'd it go?" Greg was trying not to pay too much attention to how good Nick looked in that suit he was wearing.
"Both got life." He said simply. He wrapped his arms around Greg waist and pulled him so they were right up against each other and kissed him deeply.
"What's that for?" Greg asked with a smile when they broke apart.
Nick shrugged. "Because I love you." Greg wrapped his arms around Nick's neck when he leaned in for another kiss. Greg could feel the need and desperation flowing through Nick as he pushed Greg up against the wall and kissed him even harder. Greg tried to control his thoughts when Nick started kissing his neck and grinding their hips together. Greg reluctantly pushed Nick slightly away as gently as he could, only because he could tell something was wrong. His suspicions were confirmed when he met Nick's eyes.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Nick shook his head. "Nothing. I'm fine."
"Well now I know you're lying." Greg ran his fingers through the short hair on the back of Nick's head. "I can tell something's bothering you...what is it?"
Nick smiled slightly. "You know me too well." Greg just waited patiently for Nick to answer him. "I just...I don't know. I'm so scared to lose you...and I want to make everything okay again."
"You're not gonna lose me Nicky. And everything is okay."
"I know...I just...I don't know how to explain it. I'm sorry."
Greg kissed Nick gently. "Don't be sweetie, I'm not mad at you. I just wanna help."
"I wish I wasn't so messed up and that I didn't need you as bad as I do."
Greg smiled sweetly. "You're not messed up. You're Nicky. And I love every little thing about you." Nick mirrored Greg's smile and kissed him again. "As good as you look in that suit, let's get you out of it and into bed. I'm as tired as you look."
Nick nodded. "Good idea." He followed Greg into the bedroom and changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. They crawled into their already warm bed, but cuddled together nonetheless. Nick wrapped his arms around Greg as the younger man rested his brown head on Nick's chest and sighed happily. Nick rested his cheek on the top of Greg's head and let his tired eyes slowly close.
"Goodnight Nick...I love you." Greg said sleepily.
Nick kissed Greg's hair. "Goodnight sweetie, I love you too."
Within minutes, they were both asleep in the comfort of each other's warmth. That's all they ever really needed. No matter what life threw at them, they knew at the end of the day they would always have each other. And even if things didn't seem to be going their way and it felt like everything was going wrong, they knew they were right. Despite anything, the fact that they loved each other was enough to keep them both going on, together. Forever.
Thank you to everyone who read this story, and a special thanks to those of you who reviewed. I'm going to be writing another Nick and Greg story, but this one is going to be slightly different than the ones I've written before using the same relationship. I hope you all read that story as well, and that you enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks again.