Chapter Forty Eight: Not Such A Good Idea
Greg rolled over onto his side, listening to the voices coming from downstairs. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but it sounded like his parents voices. He reached out for Nick's warmth, but he was nowhere to be found. His side was completely cold meaning he had been gone a while.
Greg clutched the covers around his body to warm himself up, too tired to get up and find Nick; especially as he was naked and his parents were in the house.
A few minutes later he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Greg turned his head towards the door, smiling as he saw Nick in the gap of the doorway. "Hey Greg," He made his way towards Greg, kneeling down beside him. Greg scooted over slightly to make room for Nick. He lay down beside him, pressing a soft kiss to the side of his head as he wrapped his arm around him, warming him up even more. "You sleep okay baby?"
"Please tell me I dreamed my mom walking in on us." He groggily asked, rubbing his eyes open.
"Nope, she's here. I told you she would be."
"Do you remember what happened this morning?" Nick shook his head, looking at him curiously. "Lucky you." He smirked. "So my mom hasn't embarrassed you yet?"
"Not yet." Nick rested on his elbow beside Greg's head, gently smoothing his fingers through his tousled hair. "You okay baby?"
"Can we please change the locks?"
"Then she'll break the door down." Nick smirked, cuddling Greg tightly. "You know my parents never told me a condom can get lost inside. In fact they never talked to me about sex; I got everythin' I know from my brother."
"So she did tell you?" Greg covered his hands over his face in embarrassment.
"No, your dad told me." Nick chuckled, tugging Greg's hands away from his face so he could press a kiss to his cheek. "Don't let her spoil our greatest night of sex yet G."
"So you remember it this time huh?"
"Yes, every detail." Nick rasped against his neck as he softly marked kisses below his ear. "You never warned me about the condom part though." He teased him.
"You're so lucky to have normal parents," Greg blushed bright red as he looked up into Nick's eyes. "My mom told me exactly how to get a lost condom out, along with all the risks of it being in there too long. I swear she could write a book on 'Mothers Guide to safe sex,' the amount of stuff she told me."
Nick chuckled, initiating a warm morning kiss to his lover's lips. "Mmmm... Good Mornin' baby."
"Good woulda been without the disturbing sex talk and the intrusion." Greg smiled back.
"I noticed the boys have gone into hibernation." Nick smirked, sliding his hand down Greg's body.
"My mother has that effect on them."
"I don't hear you getting dressed Gregory!" Jean shouted up the stairs.
Greg closed his eyes, wishing he was still dreaming. "See, she still treats me like a child."
"She sent me up to wake you up and get you dressed G."
"Why?" Greg asked, rubbing his eyes. Nick reached over for the neatly folded pile of clothes beside Greg. "What are we doing?"
"We're goin' cake tastin' or somethin'." Nick lifted Greg's hips as he slid his boxers on for him, watching him sleepily rubbing his eyes open again. "C'mon, you love cake G."
"I thought you wanted to do the rest of the DIY today?" Greg asked curiously.
"I give up on all that crap."
"Watch your blood pressure." Greg teased him.
"Stop teasin' me Greg." He poked him in the sides making him squirm. "I don't have high blood pressure."
"Then why does your therapist make you use cool down techniques."
"For my anger, not my blood pressure," Nick lay down beside Greg again, staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to buy this house, every little thing ticks me off."
"Doncha like it?" Greg reached for Nick's hand, entwining their fingers together. "It's just a few minor problems Nicky..."
"Minor problems? The freakin' lights downstairs keep blowin', you get two temperatures in the freakin' shower; scoldin' hot and freakin' freezin' . . . along with the freakin' leaky taps, squeaky floorboards and this whole fuckin' thing is total BS!" Nick angrily shouted.
Greg smiled softly, snuggling closer to Nick. "It's just a house Nick, you don't have to take it so seriously."
"I'm not taking it so seriously . . . and I'm not angry." He calmly whispered, turning to face him.
"Really? Coz you do a great impression of someone who is." Greg teased him again, sliding his hand beneath the fabric of Nick's shirt. "I thought we bought this place because we both wanted it?"
"Yeah, but now . . . we argue about every little thing. I actually get mad at you for not helpin' me with shit... and I hate it."
Greg rolled onto his side to look Nick in the eye. "Do you hate me?"
"No, I hate gettin' mad at you. It's like an uncontrollable force." Softly kissing Greg's lips, he looked deeper into his eyes. "Is it us? Or is it this house though?"
"It's not us, we're okay." Greg reached out for Nick's other hand, pressing his body against his. "It's this house, we both want everything to be perfect, but it will never be perfect."
"How are we supposed to get through marriage when we can't even get this freakin' house sorted?"
"You think we're the first couple to have arguments over a faulty house?" Greg giggled slightly, teasing his fingertips across the curves of Nick's body. "C'mon, we've been here a little over a month now. We'll sort it out. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to feel like a home to us."
Nick nodded in agreement, resting his head against the side of Greg's. "One more argument between us and I swear I'm throwin' in the towel... not for us, for this place I meant." He rushed to explain.
"Phew," Greg sighed in relief. "How about this, we'll work on one room at a time, doing different things so we're not in each other's faces when we're stressed. And my dad..."
"No G." Nick interrupted him as he knew what he was going to say.
"C'mon Nicky, he said he'd help. We keep fixing up this house when we're exhausted so it makes us even more stressed and start shouting at each other over nothing. Besides my dad wants to help us. He'd love to get away from my mother for a while anyway, you owe him that break." Greg giggled softly.
"Yeah I guess . . . but I already asked him to help with the wallpapering and the bed."
"So, he won't care. Besides we only argue when we're doing this crap together. Mostly because I annoy you..."
"You don't annoy me; I annoy myself more than you do." Nick assured him, wrapping his arms around his partner's warm body. "I love the fact that while I'm bein' the grouch you're tryin' to make me laugh. Even if it doesn't always work I still love it."
"I thought my mom sent you up here to wake me up." Snuggling closer against Nick's warm body, Greg savoured the warmth of his lover's touch against his skin.
"You don't really wonna get up though do you?" Nick chuckled against neck.
"Nope," He yawned softly, tracing the line of Nick's abs with his fingertips. "You don't really hate this house do you Nicky?"
Nick shrugged, getting comfortable against Greg's body again. He pressed a soft kiss to his hairline as his fingers gently weaved through his lover's tousled hair. "I hate what it's been doin' to us though." Smelling the soft scents of his partner's hair as he snuggled closer, made Nick never want to leave his side again. He loved it when it was just the two of them together. Everything was perfect when they were alone in one another's arms. "You know G . . . everythin' seemed so easy back when we were livin' at my place."
"We just have to chill. We still have to plan this wedding."
"I think our mothers are doin' most of that for us. They've already decided what we're gonna wear."
"Nicky! Greg!" Jean shouted up the stairs.
"Just a second!" Nick shouted back, watching Greg wincing as he almost deafened him. "Sorry." He whispered softly, pressing his lips to his forehead.
"Can't wait to see what they've chosen for us," Greg mumbled sarcastically, getting back on subject. "We'll get it sorted Nicky, just don't expect it to be perfect."
"I won't." Gently teasing his fingers down Greg's side towards his hip, he pressed his moist warm lips to the side of his lover's beautiful face once again. "I love you Greg."
"I know . . . I love you too Nicky." He whispered against his neck. "Nick, if I asked you to marry me right now, would you? And take me away from all this craziness?"
"I'd love to, but we just put our money into this house." Nick reminded him, softly tickling his sides. "C'mon, you're supposed to be gettin' dressed." He reached over Greg for his t-shirt and jeans on the bed beside him before Jean came up the stairs to check on them. Greg sleepily sat up as Nick pulled his t-shirt down over his head. He lifted his arms as Nick put them through the sleeves, running his fingers through his tousled hair as he rolled the rim of his shirt towards his waist.
"Nicky! Greg!" Jean shouted up the stairs. "We're going to be very, very late at this rate!"
"Hang on! He's up!" Nick shouted back. "C'mon G."
"Are you sure you won't run away with me?"
"I would love to, but we'll have no money Greg." Greg reached for his jeans as Nick leant over him to kiss him, swirling his minty tongue around in his mouth, bringing Greg's lower half to life. "I would love to run away with you hun, but I've been runnin' from my life for years. I finally wonna start livin' it if you don't mind?"
"I don't mind."
"Do you two ever do anything besides sex?" Jean asked from the doorway.
Nick immediately pulled back from Greg's lips, blushing bright red as he watched Greg trying to hide his hard on from his mother by pulling his jeans up the rest of the way. "Kissing, isn't sex." Greg informed his mother.
"Lunch is ready and we're going cake tasting together." She informed them with a cheeky smile.
"You couldn't just shout that up the stairs?" Greg asked completely embarrassed.
"I did! Tons of times, but your still up here fooling around! We've got to eat lunch then get to the cake tasting, so hurry up!"
"For your information we do tons of stuff together that doesn't involve sex." He enlightened her.
"Really," She smirked, finding that hard to believe as his fiancé was so hot. "Lunch is ready." She said again, heading off down the stairs.
"That's it," Greg sighed heavily as he looked into Nick's eyes. "All my boys have gone into hibernation now. Good luck trying to get me hard again."
"Bet I can do it with one kiss." Nick rasped against his lips.
"Now boys!" Jean shouted from the staircase.
"Rain check?" Greg whispered against his lips.
Nick nodded, pulling Greg to his feet so he could do his jeans up. "I love you G."
"Love you more."
Greg licked the chocolaty spoon clean; reaching for the vanilla flavoured one sat beside him. He picked a cherry off the cake Nick was eating to top it off then licked his lips, looking around for any cake he hadn't yet sampled. "I don't really like any of em." He finally sighed heavily. Nick rolled his eyes at him as he had been picking at all the cakes for the past hour. Jean suddenly grabbed a napkin off her side of the table, reaching across to wipe Greg's mouth for him like he was a baby. "Mom, stop it."
"You've got it all around your mouth. You're embarrassing everyone at this table." She scolded him.
"Me?" He asked shocked, pushing her hands away. "I'm not embarrassing anybody." He protested, reaching for the chocolate fudge cake sat beside Nick.
"Doesn't Nicky want to try it?" Jean asked him.
"Nick doesn't eat cake," Greg smiled as he patted his partner's taut stomach. "He doesn't get this from eating cake." He giggled softly.
"I do eat cake; just not a whole lot like you do Greg. That's your fourth piece of the chocolate fudge G. Remember the cheese cake experience from the Cheese cake Factory?" He reminded him.
"Ooh, don't ever bring that up again." Greg cringed, pushing the chocolate fudge cake away from him as he leant back in his chair.
"Well I don't know about you two, but I like the butter cream cake." Jean said as she wrote down her notes of how each one tasted.
"Which ones the butter cream?" Greg asked. Nick pointed to the one beside him. Greg stuck his finger straight in to re-taste the cake, loudly sucking it into his mouth. "Mmmm, that's pretty good. I like the fudge though."
"You can't have fudge for your wedding cake." Jean rolled her eyes at him.
"Why not?" Greg asked then looked towards Nick. "Which one do you want Nicky?"
"Fudge cakes fine." Nick agreed with him.
"But do you even like the fudge cake?" Greg asked him. Jean rolled her eyes as Greg stuck his finger in the fudge cake, feeding Nick right from his fingertip. She rolled her eyes again as Nick sucked the fudge cake right off his finger in public. "See, pretty good huh?"
"Mmmm, that is pretty good." Nick agreed, thinking it tasted better right from Greg's sweet fingertip.
"Can you two stop being so lovey dovey for five freaking minutes? I swear, every minute with you two it's all touchy feely romance stuff and I saw you holding hands in the car." She scolded them both.
"Sorry." Greg apologised like a naughty child.
"It's young love." A caterer informed Jean. "Would you like to try the triple chocolate one next?"
"No." Jean and Nick quickly shouted together as they saw Greg was going to say yes.
"You've had enough Greg." Nick warned him.
"But triple chocolate Nicky." Greg flashed his puppy dog eyes in Nick's direction, expecting him to fold.
"No G, I don't want you gettin' sick again." Greg pouted as he leant back in his seat.
Jean giggled softly as she head off into the kitchen to see the other cakes, while Greg had another taste of each of the slices in front of him. "Where do you put it all G? You had three burritos for lunch, a whole bag of chips and small tub of ice cream in the car and now you're eatin' tons of cake. How do you stay so thin?" He laughed poking him in the stomach.
"I just don't gain weight. Never have." Greg reached for the creamy one beside Nick, taking another bite. "You know this one has the perfect topping for the fudge cake." Greg cut off a spoonful of the fudge cake, scooping some of the cream topping on the top to feed it to Nick.
"Mmmm," Nick nodded, licking his lips. "That is pretty good."
Greg smiled back, putting the spoon down as his stomach started to cramp. "Ouch, now my tummy hurts."
"See, I told you. You never listen to me Greg." Nick pulled his chair closer to his, gently placing his hand on Greg's stomach, smoothing it around a circular motion. "You really gotta start listenin' to me G, coz I'm mostly always right aren't I?"
"Sometimes." Greg agreed, placing his hands on top of Nick's as he softly rubbed his tummy for him. "Not always though."
"Yeah, but I am when it comes to things you shouldn't do." He smirked, gently rubbing his hand up and down Greg's tummy. "Especially when it comes to all the junk food you throw in your mouth."
"Fine . . . you win." Greg raised his hand to gently brush some chocolate off Nick's lower lip with his thumb. "From now on I'll listen to you . . . when it comes to food." He deviously smiled.
"You better." Nick gently brushed his thumb across Greg's lips too, removing the fudge from around his mouth. "Does your tummy feel better baby?"
"I may need to lay down when we get home." Nick smiled as he looked into Greg's eyes. "What?"
"My granddad used to do that every meal."
"You calling me old?" Greg pouted.
Shaking his head, Nick softly smiled as he continued to gently rub Greg's tummy for him. "No . . . I just think it's funny. I think he woulda liked you."
"If he was anything like your dad then I highly doubt it. Your dad still hates me you know."
"He doesn't."
"Yes he does Nicky . . . he's secretly praying this wedding won't go through. Don't ever leave me alone with him." Greg warned him. Nick looked at him with a perplexed frown on his face. "I'm serious Nicky, that man seriously doesn't like me. He thinks I corrupted his youngest."
"He wouldn't hurtcha G. I don't care what he thinks anyway . . . I'm still gonna be with you forever baby." Nick pressed a kiss to Greg's jaw as Jean returned from the kitchen with a catalogue in her hands. "What's this?"
"All the selections of cakes along with their designs. You said you only wanted a one tier cake . . . but some of these 3 tier cakes look pretty good. Don't go for one with the stands, they're always impossible to move without them toppling over..."
"I have a question." Greg interrupted her. "Why are we doing the cake first?"
"All the wedding planner books say you should plan the wedding cake 6 to 9 months before your wedding." She informed them both.
"But we haven't picked a date yet." Greg pointed out to her.
"Well you better get on that. Which cake are you going for then?" She asked, looking up at them both. Nick and Greg were completely stunned by the picking a date part of the conversation. They knew it was coming, they just didn't know when was the right time to get married. "What? What'd I say?"
"Nothing." Greg shook his head, clutching Nick's hand tightly in his own. "Can we pick the cake later?"
"Okay, I'll tell the caterer . . . I'll meet you by the car." They both watched Jean climb to her feet, heading back to the kitchen with the catalogue of cakes in her hand.
Greg turned his head to look at Nick who had the same stunned look on his face as himself. "Hey Nicky, are you still taking me to the rescue shelter today?" He attempted to change the subject.
"Uh huh," Nick faintly nodded. "When did you wonna discuss a date to get married?"
"I don't know . . . did you have a favourite month or anything?"
Nick thought about it then shook his head. "Maybe we should decide later. We can go to shelter later today. Your dad said he should be able to piece our bed together so you can have a good night's sleep tonight."
"Didn't you last night?" Greg cheekily smiled at him.
"Perfect." Nick nodded, smiling into Greg's eyes. "C'mon," Nick pulled Greg to his feet by his hand, leading him off towards the exit to meet Jean out by the car.
"Don't walk too fast." Greg moaned, holding his tummy as he tried to keep up with Nick.
"You shouldn't have eaten so much G." Nick pulled the passenger side door open for him, getting a kiss before Greg climbed inside.
"Oh God," Jean dramatically sighed, heading round to the back of the car. "Do you two ever stop?"
"Hey if you don't like the show change the channel." Greg remarked, almost getting slapped upside the head by his mother but he managed to duck out the way in time.
"You little monster!"
As soon as they got home, Greg crashed onto the sofa with a tummy ache that both Jean and Nick warned him about if he shoved one more slice of cake into his mouth. While he was out Nick and Jean went upstairs to check how far Daniel had got on putting the bed together. Nick was surprised to see it all put together so perfectly.
"I can do the wallpapering downstairs for you too, the taps fixed in the bathroom and the tiles in the bathroom are just setting." Daniel informed him.
"Ooh! Looks good." Jean gasped as she looked into the bathroom.
"Wow," Nick stepped up beside Jean to look at the tile in the bathroom. It was so perfectly done it looked professional. "Thank you Daniel." He forced an apology even though he was a little pissed that Daniel had showed him up on the DIY front.
"No need." He smiled, grabbing his tool box. "Just let me know if you need anything else done, I'll get that wallpapering done downstairs now." Daniel winked at him, heading off down the staircase.
"What are your plans for the other rooms?" Jean asked Nick curiously.
"Well . . . I think Greg's got his heart set on the room across the hall as our first child's room." Nick watched the excitement bubbling up inside her. "We're gonna keep the guest room as it is, we haven't really discussed the other rooms yet."
"I could give you some ideas."
"No, that's okay. Greg and I wanted to discuss it together. Speakin' of, I should go check on him." Jean nodded, following Nick off down the stairs. Nick head off into the front room where Greg was still on the sofa, soundly sleeping. Jean head off to the kitchen to make some meals to stock up the boys freezer with readymade meals while Daniel taught Nick how to wallpaper properly.
"Can I get you anything Nicky?" Jean asked for the thousandth time as she handed her husband a cup of coffee.
"No, I'm fine thanks." Nick sat down with Greg, gently lifting his head onto his lap as he continued to soundly sleep. "You really don't have to do this Daniel."
"Almost done." He continued to show Nick up, smoothing out the last piece of wallpaper on the wall very professionally without a single bubble or ripple.
Nick gently brushed his fingers through Greg's, desperately wanting him to wake up so he could take him out to the dog shelter as Jean was getting a little bit too much for him to handle at this point, constantly asking him if he needed anything or if he had thought about the wedding plans any further.
He needed to get away.
Nick left Greg sleeping on the sofa, trying to find himself a quiet room to get away from Jean's constant questioning. Sitting down in one of the spare bedrooms against the wall, he gazed around at the boxes of things that cluttered the room. This room was currently used for storage of the things they hadn't yet unpacked, and it was the only room Jean wouldn't think to look for him in.
Narrowing his eyes to a box across the room, he noticed a framed photo sat on top of the box. He crawled across the floor to get a closer look, noticing it was the day that Greg was promoted to a field CSI a few years ago. Grissom, Sara, Catherine, Warrick and Ecklie all stood in the background with him and Greg stood in front. His arm was around Greg's shoulder and he was the only one not looking at the camera. His eyes were focused on Greg stood beside him.
Nick stared at Greg's smile for hours, counting all the things he loved about him over and over again, before he heard Jean's voice calling out to him. From this moment he loved everything about Greg... except his mother.
Nick decided to go for a long walk to get away from Jean as she started talking about the wedding again. He wasn't having seconds thoughts about marrying Greg, just being around Jean made him have second thoughts about marrying into the Sanders family. He didn't know where he was going he just wanted to escape, but the further he got away from Greg, the more his heart started to ache for him. He was starting to drag his feet along behind him as his heart wanted to turn back and be with Greg, but his mind wanted to continue going over everything to make sure that he was really ready for marriage.
He exhaled a deep breath as he stopped by a fence, leaning on it with his elbows as he looked out at the landscape below. To the right was the grand city of Las Vegas; the lights just starting to glow in distance as the afternoon sun was just beginning to set against the horizon. To the left was freedom, the large desert; covered in grand mountains of sand, almost like a city of its own.
He never felt more alone in his life.
Greg awoke a few hours later, noticing the wallpaper was up, the house smelt of glue and paint, and Nick was gone. He searched every room but there was no sign of him and his parents had no idea where he went either. Greg tried his cell phone but he traced the ringing sound to their bedroom. Nick left it behind, something he would never usually do as he was always so organised, making Greg believe he did it intentionally.
Greg immediately head out to look for Nick, checking the places he thought he might have gone to escape his mother. Two hours and thirty three mouth full's of ice cream later, he finally found him.
"Hey." Greg whispered, stepping up beside Nick so he wouldn't startle him.
"Hi. How'd you find me?" He turned to face him.
"I knew where to look." Greg pulled himself up onto the fence beside Nick, looking out at the landscape around them. "When my mom told me what she was talking to you about before you left, I knew you'd go somewhere to escape . . . probably somewhere that looks like home." He looked over his shoulder at the landscape that could almost look like the ranches landscape from back home in Texas. "I found you didn't I?"
Nick smiled up at him. "Good work CSI Sanders . . . but how'd you know I'd escape to here?"
"Because that's what I do when my life gets too overwhelming, I escape to somewhere that looks like home. Granted there's not a sea around here for miles, but the Bellagio fountains work fine." He smiled round at him. "Nicky, you don't have to cram your whole life into categories and neat little boxes like my mom wants..."
"It's not that." Nick interrupted, placing his hands on the fence beside where Greg was sat. "Back in that box . . . I didn't have a future, I thought I was gonna die there . . . now I do . . . and I still feel like escapin' it . . . not because of you . . . you're the one part of my future I really want. Does that sound stupid?"
"Nope." Greg pulled Nick closer to him, lifting the key chain he gave him from beneath his shirt, holding it tightly in his hand. "I am your future Nick; we don't have to do this marriage thing if you don't want to. I know you love me, you don't have to prove it by doing this."
"I want to marry you Greg . . . I just . . . have you seen how thick those weddin' books are that Jean carries around in her purse." He smiled up at him. "Who needs that much plannin' for one day of your life? We should be plannin' our future, like kids... do we want our own or adoption, are we gonna have to change shifts to look after them. Which schools are we gonna send them to, if one of us gets sick, how is the other goin' to deal with the house, cars . . . and what if one of us gets shot on the job, how's the other goin' to live without them?"
Greg's heart broke for him. He pulled Nick into his arms, holding his head against his chest as he softly soothed him. Nick closed his eyes, breathing in Greg's deep scents, feeling so much better now Greg was with him. "Hey . . . we could always do it Vegas style? Quick in and out with Elvis," Greg giggled softly, finally getting a smile out of Nick. Pressing soft kisses to Nick's hairline, Greg wrapped his arms around him tightly. "Nicky, I don't care if we get married in front of a fake Elvis, in a barn, by the sea, helicopter or in front of the CSI lab for all I care . . . as long as we're together . . . that's all that matters, right?"
"See . . . why'd you have to go and fall asleep Greg, I woulda never had a freak out if you were awake." Nick smirked, raising his head to press his lips to Greg's.
"Don't worry about the future Nick; we never know what's gonna happen, that's the beauty of it."
"But what do we..."
Greg silenced Nick, putting his finger to his lips. "Don't worry about the future Nick. You keep worrying about it, eventually it's gonna bite you in the ass." Nick smiled up at Greg, placing his hands on his thighs as he joined their lips together.
"Are your parents still at our house G?" Greg nodded as their lips tenderly brushed together. "Didn't somebody want a dog?" A wide smile spread across Greg's face as he looked into Nick's eyes. "C'mon." He lifted him down from the fence, holding his hand as they walked back up the trail towards Greg's car. "Hey Greg, did you bring my..."
Before Nick finished speaking Greg revealed his jacket from the back seat of the car. "Yep." Greg sweetly smiled, handing it over. "I knew you'd forget it."
"God I love you." He smiled, pulling it over his shoulders to warm himself up.
"I know you do, which is why you're driving." Greg threw Nick his keys as he climbed into his passenger seat himself, turning down the volume of his radio before Nick started the engine and complained it was deafening him.
"So Greg," Nick pulled his seatbelt on. "If you knew where I went . . . why'd it take you two hours to find me?" He smiled round at him curiously.
"How'd you know I was looking for two hours?" Nick grabbed the gas receipt off the dashboard. "Clocked in two hours ago."
"That's what I get for dating a CSI." He grinned, reaching for another receipt. "This is why."
"Shoppin'?" Nick took it in his hands, running his eyes across the list. "Ice-cream . . . how many flavours do you need?"
"They were on special offer." Greg reached onto the back seat for his half eaten tub of ice-cream. "Want some?"
Nick laughed shaking his head at him. "Nice to know I'm not your number one priority when you leave the house."
"You know when I have a tummy ache I go for ice cream Nicky, and I was almost out of gas when I first started looking so I had to stop for gas..."
"Relax G, I'm teasin'." Nick leant across the middle of the seats, giving him a soft smooch. "I love your ice-cream habits; I wouldn't care if it took you two or five hours to find me Greg, I'd still be happy to see you."
"Stinks like road kill."
"Quit moanin'." Nick laughed, leading Greg through the door then nodding to the guy behind the desk. "Close your eyes G."
"Why?"
"It's a surprise." He covered his hands over Greg's eyes as he led him off down the hall after the rescue shelter worker, watching as he unlocked the door in front of them. "Okay. You can look now." Nick whispered against his ear as he removed his hands from Greg's eyes. He smiled as he watched Greg's reaction.
Greg's jaw dropped in awe as he looked around at the small golden puppies with dark faces running around in a smaller enclosed space of the room. "Oh my god . . . are you serious?" Greg asked looking round at Nick.
"You said you wanted to raise your very own dog, so yeah."
"Wow." Greg gasped.
"We have Lab pups, Belgian Malinois pups and beagles. These are the Belgian Malinois ones, just a few weeks old." The rescue worker informed them. Greg stepped over the small fence as the puppies ran around him, yapping and wagging their tails at him excitedly.
"Wasn't Rusty a Belgian Malinois?" Greg crouched down, stroking the little puppies as they ran around him.
"Yeah he was." Nick nodded. "I remember how much you loved him."
"Do we have time to raise a puppy though? We're out a lot Nicky." Greg asked, ruffling the puppy's soft fur that was giving him his full attention.
"I think so. Jade lives nearby too, she grew up with dogs. So she can help out. Not to mention your moms always coming over . . . and we're only out nights . . . most of the time."
"Well how do we know which one?" Greg asked, looking round at all their adorable little faces.
"The scare test." Nick stepped over the fence, stepping over to where Greg was then stomped his foot on the hard floor. All but one of the puppies ran to the other side of the room. Greg looked at the only puppy left then up at Nick. "See . . . my dad taught that to me."
"I guess that's your guy then." The rescue worker smiled to them. "You can't take him home just yet; they still need to be weaned."
"Him?" Greg questioned the man, ruffling the soft puppy's fur. The rescue worker nodded to them both, smiling as the pup Greg was stroking rolled over so he could tickle his tummy.
"That's good . . . the house isn't ready for one yet." Nick watched the puppy licking Greg's hand. "That the one you want then G?"
"Definitely." He smiled, patting the puppy's little head. "He even looks like your dog Rusty."
"You just gotta figure out what to call him before he hits college." Nick joked.
"He's so tiny." Greg gently ruffled his fingers through the puppy's golden soft fur before he looked up at Nick again. "My mom would be pissed if she knew you were letting me even look at puppies."
"Well, it's time we started makin' our own decisions G. You want him?" Greg nodded, giving Nick a wide smile. "Well he's all yours then Greg."
Please Review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
To see Greg's Puppy (without the spaces) = http:/ / pics . live journal . com / lolly4holly / pic / 0001 pgze
