We're getting closer to the end!
"Well, we need to do something." Nick kept raising his voice as him and Greg walked into the crime lab. "We can't just act like this didn't happen."
"Why not?" Greg was getting annoyed by his friend trying to pressure him into doing something he didn't want to do.
"Because he was threatening you. We need to take him serious."
"This will all go away once I tell Camille we can't date anymore." Greg shrugged as he walked into the trace lab. "Hey Hodges, I got your text."
Hodges meant to hand the results over, but pulled them back. "...Whoa, what happened to you two?"
The two CSIs were visibly distraught. "Nothing, just give me the results." The younger one gave him a look.
"...No, this looks like it could be a good story. Spill it."
Instead of telling the story, Greg lost his temper, so he grabbed Hodges' arm to get the results on his own. "There, wasn't that hard, was it?" he said sarcastically as he walked out of the lab.
"...What's up with him?" the lab tech asked confused and a little shocked.
"He's had a rough night, just let it slide." Nick walked out to follow his friend into the evidence room. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry." He looked at the results as he grabbed a lab coat and gloves.
"...Wait, are you serious? You're just getting back to work?"
"What else am I suppose to do?"
"I don't know, anything else, really. If you don't want to go home, at least take a minute to digest what just happened."
"No need to, I need to get back to work." Greg grabbed some scissors, meaning to cut out some evidence from a pair of pants he held in his hand.
"...This is ridiculous, your hands are shaking. How are you supposed to..."
"I just have to!" he yelled, interrupting his friend. "I can't keep letting these things put me down, Nick, I have to get on with my daily life. I have no other choice, alright? So... Do whatever you have to do to... digest... what just happened. I need to get back to work."
Nick sighed. "Can I help?"
"...Yes, you can go now and leave me alone."
Nick and Greg had to leave for a new crime scene an hour after their little dispute. Both had cooled down a bit, but hardly talked on the ride to the scene. When they arrived, Greg's poker face crumbled as he spotted Camille. "...Damn it, she's here." He looked around nervously. He would've loved to hide from her, but there wasn't much hiding place at this supermarket parking lot. "What should I do?"
Nick frowned. "Just relax. You don't have to tell her what happened now, you can do that later."
"...Later? I planned on not telling her... ever."
"Are you serious? She needs to know!"
"Does she? There's nothing she can do about it, anyway."
Nick gave him a look. "Not if you're staying silent. But if you tell her, she could at least, I don't know... talk to that jerk."
"...Yeah, like talking did any good the first ti... Damn, she's coming over. Act normal!"
Nick rolled his eyes as he walked past Camille, greeting her with an annoyed look on his face.
Greg hated him for leaving him alone right now. "...Hey Camille."
"Is he okay?" She asked smiling as she pointed at Nick.
"...Yeah, everything fine."
"Not very convincing, Greg." She gently patted his shoulder. "Anyway, I'm glad they sent you here. Want me to show you the scene?"
"...S-Sure..."
They started walking towards the scene, but Camille noticed right away that something was wrong. "Did you and Nick have a fight or something?"
"W-what? No, why?"
"You're both acting weird."
"I just said everything's fine," Greg replied rather aggressive and unnerved. He instantly regretted this, but he wasn't quite in control over his emotions at the moment. "...Sorry."
Camille looked away with a sad look. "Come on, the scene's over there."
While Greg was inside the supermarket to talk to some potential witnesses, Nick was outside at the parking lot to work the scene. Camille was with the CSI, walking up and down quite nervously, obviously dying to ask Nick some questions she wasn't sure she should ask him.
He noticed and was getting nervous, himself, watching her. "What is it?" he finally said annoyed as he got up from photographing some evidence.
"...Huh? Nothing..." She sighed. "...Alright, it's just... Greg was a little... weird when you guys arrived here. He seemed on edge and almost yelled at me when I asked what was bothering him... Is he alright?"
"Shouldn't you be asking him?"
"...I tried, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it."
Nick shrugged. "Maybe he just doesn't want you to know."
"...This is about Ed, isn't it? I don't get it, everything seemed to be okay again. What changed?"
"...Nothing, that's the problem."
Camille frowned. "What do you mean?"
"...Forget I said anything." He crouched down to keep on working.
"Nick, come on. You're his friend, you want him to be happy, don't you? What can I do to help him with this?"
"...Okay... You don't get it, do you? Ed ripped open Greg's old wounds. He struggles a lot to deal with everything that's been done to him, it took him years to be able to get back to a relatively normal daily routine. But the problem is, it only takes seconds to throw him back months in his recovery. That's what happened when this Ed idiot attacked him and that's why you might find he's acting a little weird."
Camille stared at Nick. She didn't expect him to snap at her like that and she certainly didn't realize how hard Greg was struggling. "He... He said he was fine."
"Of course he did, he always does. But he never is. He's been hurt too much to be able to be honest with his own feelings."
She fought the tears back as she tried to find the right words to say to explain what she was thinking at the moment, but they wouldn't come out. "Poor Greg, I... what can I do?"
Nick got up again. "Make sure Ed will never... ever put his hands on Greg. Because if you don't... I will."