Chapter 5--The Cake
Nick watched Greg thru the glass wall that seperated the room from the hallway. Greg was returning from Grissom's office. Nick saw Greg square his shoulders and clasp his hands together before entering the room.
Rubbing his hands together and bouncing on his toes (in typical Greg Sanders fashion) Greg declared, "Well, this isn't exactly the 'coming out' party I had envisioned. I mean, where's the cake? Ice cream?" He paused and took a deep breath. "Anyway...guys, a friend of mine is dead and I, for one, would like to know exactly what happened, so... C'mon..."
Greg glanced around the room, only meeting eyes with Nick. "Let's get to work, shall we?" Greg asked.
"Sure." "You bet, Greggo..." Words of agreement filled the room. Warrick Brown laughed and tossed a Hostess Twinkie to Greg, who caught it one handed. "Here's your cake, man...let's work."
"Cute, Warrick." Greg smirked, pocketing the small cake. "I've got film to process." he said quickly and left the room.
Nick slowly stood. "I do, too. Plus I've got to go check the morgue, and..."
Catherine finished his sentence for him. "...And you want to make sure Greg is doing okay." She reached out and gave Nick's hand a squeeze.
"Um, sure." Nick wasn't certain what to make of Catherine's gesture. He carried his kit out of the room and down the hallway, towards Greg.
He met up with Greg around the corner. He was standing there, his back to the wall. He also was breaking the Twinkie in two. Nick felt as if Greg had been waiting there for him.
Greg looked up and smiled at Nick. He handed him half of the snack cake. Nick took it with a grin, and a leap of his heart.
"To friends who love me." Greg raised his Twinkie in a toast. Nick did the same.
"To friends who DO love you." Nick suddenly felt the surprisingly strong urge to reach forward and kiss Greg Sanders right then and there. Instead, he took a bite of the Twinkie.
Greg giggled and talked with his mouth full of cake. "Quite the slob, aren't you?" He reached up and with his thumb removed a dot of creamed filling from Nick's lower lip. Then Greg popped the edge of his thumb into his own mouth.
Nick just grinned, eyes squinting. "I'M a slob? Me!" He rolled his eyes. "You gotta be kidding me, G."
Greg picked up his own kit off of the floor, where he had set it earlier. He walked away from Nick. "If the shoe fits!" He said loud enough for Nick to hear.
As he watched Greg walk further down the hallway, Nick ran his tongue over his bottom lip, right where Greg's thumb had been moments earlier. Nick was definatly beginning to feel more certain about Greg. About how he felt towards him and maybe...just maybe...how Greg might feel back.
The voice behind Nick startled him. It was his supervisor, Gil Grissom. "He may be a little vulnerable right now." Gill nodded towards the disappearing figure of Greg Sanders. "I suggest caution." And with that, Grissom turned around and walked away.
Nick Stokes sighed deeply. Again, he told himself to focus. (Focus.) There was a case to solve.