Disclaimer: Not mine, never has been, never will be.
A/N: Two in a relationship is hard enough, but three makes it even worse.
Pairing: N/S
Three in a relationship
Grissom
He watched her crouched down examining some evidence she had found laying on the floor of the room they were processing. As he watched he couldn't help but notice the way she would glance up once in a while and smile at the man standing in front of her. It hurt to know her smiles and glances were not directed at him. He watched Nick Stokes crouch down next to her, placing his hand softly on her back. It drove him crazy to watch another man touch her, he had to restrain the urge to go over to them and push away the hand which was touching her so intimately. In the eyes of strangers this gesture would seem so innocent, no meaning behind it, but he knew better.
They never announced their blossoming relationship to anyone, but everyone knew. Truth be told they were professionals at work, but it wasn't hard to notice they were an item. Finishing each others sentences, the innocent touches with more meaning behind them than anyone could know, the looks of understanding gave away the secret of their relationship. The secret they had never kept.
He kind of hoped they would have. Sometimes he thought it would have been easier for him not knowing. They never purposely displayed their affections towards each other in his presence, in his face, but that wasn't necessary. He had developed a radar which sensed the change of atmosphere when they were in the same room as him.
He found himself a lot in the same surroundings as them. He often wondered if it was his subconscious way of punishing himself as he knew the reason behind his misery was caused by himself and only him. He sometimes caught himself acting his feelings of frustrations out on them, but it only took one of her looks and he knew he had been doing it again.
He still loved her and he knew that she still cared for him. Nick still cared for him too, even though he hadn't given him much reason to. His feelings towards Nick did change. He had always looked at Nick as the innocent son of the team, but a son would never take away love from his father. His behavior towards Nick was like a father who disowned his son and Nick played the role of the son who keeps trying to restore the relationship.
His relationship with Sara never changed, even though she obviously wasn't waiting for him anymore. He realized he had let her wait for such a long time and she probably would still be waiting if it weren't for Nick sweeping her of her feet when she didn't expect it, when no one expected it and most of all when he didn't expect it.
He used to like to think he wasn't a man who held grudges, but nowadays he was kind of proud to know he actually did. An annoyed look on Nick's face when she would cast a worried look towards him satisfied his need to feel some kind of power over their relationship.
He wasn't ready to let her go just yet and Nick gave him the tool to hold on to her. It was comforting to know that for now their relationship existed out of three persons rather than two.