A/N: Hello my lovelies! Thanks so much for the reviews :) Here we have the second part of 9Laura8 prompt about Greg considering drugs. This chapter is just full of bromance, so I hope you enjoy ;)

Summary – Nick fears that Greg will end up taking drugs unless he can stop it in time, can he get Greg to just talk?

Much Needed Talk

"Greg, please just pick up the God damn phone!" Nick yelled at the answer machine for the tenth time.

Ever since realising what Greg might be intending to do, Nick had been frantically calling both his friend's house phone and mobile, but it had gone straight to voicemail every time. Nick was paying little attention to the speed limits as he anxiously drove through the streets towards Greg's apartment complex.

"Greg, I know you're there" Nick started to leave another message "but I'm begging you, don't do this" he was struggling to keep the emotion in his voice under control "I care about you, we all care about you, and I'm coming over because I just want you to talk to me, okay? We'll figure something out together, I promise. You're not alone"

The CSI hung up once more and started aggressively slamming his palm against the steering wheel ; he was mad at himself for letting Greg fall this far, yet he was also mad at Greg for not saying anything about how depressed her really was, then maybe he wouldn't have thought drugs were the only solution.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nick finally arrived at Greg's apartment complex. He ran across the car park and bounded up the stairs two at a time. He wasted no time knocking on the door –knowing Greg would not answer and fearing several reasons why he couldn't – and simply pulled out a spare key Greg had given him.

Nick feared exactly what he would find as he cautiously pushed the door open, but he knew he had to be the strong one in this situation, and only then did he realise he'd closed his eyes as he stepped into the apartment. He took a shuddery breath, and opening his eyelids just a crack was enough to make Nick go weak and feel like he could fall to the ground.

"Greg!"

Greg listened to Nick's extremely worried words on the answer machine message. The sound of his oldest friend's voice was enough to make Greg hesitate as the tip of the needle rest quite dangerously on his skin.

Nick clearly knew something was wrong, and if he had gone to the trouble of trying to get there just to save Greg then he must care, right? Nick wouldn't try and save a murderer, he normally took them down. Not only that, but Nick was pleading, begging for Greg not to do it, saying that he cared…but Nick was only one person, and Greg didn't care much for himself at the moment.

You have to do this Greg's head was telling him You'll feel so much better, It'll help you forget, and you said that you just want to sleep again, that's all you want. Normally Greg was so level headed, he mind never steered him wrong… until the night he turned down that alley and killed Demetrius James.

Greg pulled the needle back just an inch, not yet penetrating his skin; he felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place as he wanted to listen to himself, but then Nick's voice kept appearing in the back his mind too, telling him not to be so stupid.

Greg was so caught up in his torment that he didn't even hear the door opening and Nick stepping into the room.

"Greg!"

Before the young CSI even knew what was happening, Nick was charging towards him. The Texan knocked the needle right out of Greg's hand and enveloped him in such a tight embrace that Greg struggled to breathe for a moment.

And then the dam broke; Greg could no longer hold the tears he hadn't realised he'd been holding, and not just since he stole the drugs, but since the night he was nearly beaten to death. He could have died, and Greg realised as he clung to Nick and sobbed relentlessly into the older man's shoulder that he hadn't wanted to die that night, and he still didn't today.

"Ssh, it's okay" Nick soothed as he comfortingly ran a hand up and down Greg's back; he noticed how much thinner the young man seemed too. Nick was soon trying to hold back tears of his own "You'll be okay, I'm here now" he continued to whisper.

"I-I'm so s-sorry" Greg stuttered as he pulled away and wiped his deeply reddened eyes. "I-I didn't want to kill myself, I-I just, I…"

"You don't have to explain anything if you don't want to" Nick said reassuringly hoping to calm Greg down; it broke Nick's heart to see his friend so upset.

"No, no I have to, I need to get some stuff off my chest" Greg mumbled as he finally got his tears under control.

"Okay, well just take your time" Nick said "and I'm here to listen" he said with a small smile which Greg returned.

"Alright" Greg took a deep breath "Ever since…that night…" he started, still not bringing himself to say the words "I felt nothing but scared and alone and like a bad person…"

"Which you're not" Nick had to interrupt; he wouldn't let Greg think of himself like that.

Greg smirked "Yeah well…that's just how I felt" he shrugged "but then after the trial…it was like I couldn't feel at all" he confessed. "I'd been cleared of murder…but I wasn't happy about it, which I know doesn't make much sense" he added as Nick frowned "Obviously I wasn't sad about it either, but I thought I'd be able to eat and sleep again…I can't. I thought I'd be back to my old cheery, joking self…I'm not. I thought I wouldn't have to live in fear anymore" Greg's voice cracked "I do"

"Greg, you don't have to be scared anymore" Nick said sounding upset himself "I promise we won't let anything happen to you, you're too important to us" he said sincerely "and don't feel pressured to be like you were before, we understand, we've all changed too, it'll take time".

Greg sniffed "I know but… I can't help but feel like you guys are looking at me like this little weakling all the time"

"Of course not" Nick chimed in "A weak man would not have risked his life in order to save another"

"But a strong man could have saved everyone" Greg countered "I could have saved Demetrius too"

"G, you did what was best, what I would have done, what any one of us would have done" Nick tried to assure him "And I know it sucks, but you can't save everyone" he spoke from experience.

"I guess" Greg said quietly. "I honestly thought that karma had come to get me when Aaron James…" he trailed off; Nick didn't know about what happened in the parking garage yet.

"Greg?" Nick said with a frown "When Aaron did what?" he pressed.

Greg sighed and looked down at his hands as he twiddled with his fingers "After the trial I went into the parking lot and…Aaron James started to drive right at me, but he swerved in the last moments"

Nick's concerned eyes were soon replaced with angry ones "That son of a bitch" he said in a dangerous tone.

"And I bet he said the same thing about me what I killed his brother" Greg said quietly as another tear dropped down his cheek.

Nick didn't exactly know what to say to this, so he just placed a hand on Greg's bony shoulder and rubbed it soothingly.

"You couldn't have known" the older CSI finally said "You only thought about saving an innocent man, and a boy died who decided to go around in a gang and beat people to death for fun. Demetrius James was not innocent in this, at all"

Greg gave him a small smile "Thanks for coming and stopping me from…you know. It would have been such a stupid mistake"

"I know. You really scared me" Nick confessed.

"I just wanted to feel something again" Greg stated "and I didn't feel like I could unload to you because I'd be a burden. You've been through so much…"

"Yeah I have, and you were there for me" Nick reminded him "And now, it's my turn to be there for you. I want to help, and you have to let me. You should never feel that drugs are your only option. Besides, it's not a contest of who had it worse, okay. We all understand what it's like to go through something traumatic and life changing and I can relate to how weak that makes you feel. Like, for about a year after what happened to me I struggled to even be in a small space longer than thirty seconds"

"You never told me that before" Greg said, and he was actually smiling a little, because it meant so much to him that Nick would share something so personal.

"Well, now I have" Nick replied, sounding a little proud of himself.

"Thanks, I know it must have been hard for you" Greg said.

"Well you've opened up a lot too tonight, so thank you" Nick said with a small smile "We're always here for you, and don't you ever forget it. And I'm proud of you for risking your life like that. It may not seem like it now, but you'll soon realise you did the right thing, and you have nothing to be sorry for."

Greg nodded "People keep telling me I'm a hero, and then some tell me I'm a murderer, but I know one thing. I am no hero, but I'm no villain either"

Nick smiled and patted his friends shoulder "You took a big step tonight, and I don't mean with the drugs, I mean just by talking to me"

Greg suddenly winced "I'm gunna be in so much trouble for stealing that needle"

"Not if no one finds out" Nick smirked "You've been through enough, we can let this one side, nothing happened anyways, and I could tell you weren't going to do it"

Greg gave him an appreciative smile "Thanks, you've really helped me, and not just tonight, but since the day we met"

Nick smiled back "You're welcome" he looked down at the needle on the floor and bent over to pick it up "I think I should get rid of this" he stated "and then get you something to eat" he added with a 'don't argue with me' manner.

"Okay" Greg smiled "There's some left over pizza in the fridge you can warm up" Nick nodded and headed into the kitchen.

The first thing Nick did was break the syringe open and pour the deadly drug down the sink, cleaning it thoroughly with water as he did so. As he watched the heroin spiral down the hole, Nick felt like he was watching Greg's sorrows slowly go away with it; the younger man knew Nick was there for him now, and he always would be. Nick then put the rest of the syringe in the trash, glad to leave the whole thing behind him.

After warming up the food, Nick headed back into the living room "Hey, Greggo I was wondering if…"

He stopped when he suddenly became aware of soft snores coming from Greg who was curled up in a ball on the sofa. Nick smiled as he placed the plates on the coffee table; it was obvious Greg hadn't slept in a long time, but he now felt safe with Nick around. The Texan didn't want to leave because he worried Greg might have a nightmare, so he sat down on the floor beside the sofa and rummaged through the pile of magazines on the coffee table.

"I'm surprised by the lack of playboy" Nick mumbled to himself with a smirk.

He finally settled on a science magazine and started to flick through the pages. Nick knew Greg could sleep for hours, but he was willing to wait.

Aww I love writing about these two ;)

I'm getting so close to my target of 101 stories, but I'm going to go over that anyway with the number of prompts I have, but I've been thinking… I've enjoyed writing these stories so much, I don't really want to stop yet XD so I'm asking you guys, should I open up for prompts again and keep on writing, or is enough, enough? Let me know what you think!

Please Review :) xx