nickngreg | (no subject)

Chapter 4 of 'You Learn Something New Everyday. Oooh, angsty!

Title: Avoiding the Issue
Rating: PG13
Summary: Greg tries to get through his shift, but Nick's avoiding him.

Chapter 4 - Avoiding the issue

When Greg arrived at work he found that Nick had already left on a case. He was secretly glad of that, as he was confused and wasn’t sure if he was ready to face him yet. He was putting his bag in his locker when he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Quickly turning to find Hodges watching him, he groaned inwardly. Standing tall and looking straight into his eyes, he took a deep breath. “OK Hodges, lets just get this over with. What do you want?”
Hodges made a clicking sound with his tongue and looked Greg up and down. “Well, Sanders. I just wanted to let you know that your” he made air quotes “little secret is safe with me. I’m not going to ‘out’ you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He rolled his eyes. “Like I even care about what you get up to.” He turned to leave, but stopped and looked back up at Greg. “Be sure to tell Nick I spoke to you.” With that, he skulked back to his lab.

Greg tried to ignore the skip of his heart at the sound of his friends name. He tried not to think of the kiss, but it was branded at the forefront of his brain, like an instant replay that he had no control over. Just the thought of it made him feel dizzy, like the air had been sucked out of his lungs and all the blood had rushed from his brain to his groin. He tried to shrug it off by reciting the periodic table over and over, but even this was beginning to lose effect. He sat down on the bench and tried to gather his thoughts. “Hey Greg!” a cheerful voice cut through his musings. “Oh hey Sara. What’s up?” She grabbed her boots out of her locker and sat down beside him. “I’m off to join Nick on his case, it turned out to be bigger than they thought.” She pulled on the boots and stood up again. “Although I don’t know why he didn’t ask for you, you’ve worked the last few cases together. Then again, you’re probably lucky, he’s in a really foul mood today.“ She wrinkled her nose and leaned in murmuring “I heard he even had a go at Hodges.” With that she bounded off.

“So now he’s avoiding me.” Greg thought to himself. “Was the kiss really that bad? Damn it, I‘ve really messed this up.” He went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Looking up into the mirror, he studied himself. He hadn’t been able to sleep since he’d told Nick the truth and inky black smudges under his eyes declared that fact to the world. He rubbed his hands over his face and decided he had to get this sorted before it drove him crazy. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and had almost dialled Nick’s number when Warrick came into the bathroom. “Yo, wassup Sanders.” He turned on the faucet and washed his hands, watching Greg in the mirror. “You OK? You look tired.”
“I’m fine.” He snapped the phone shut again. “Hey Warrick, did you see Stokes before he left on his case?” He was hoping to sound laid-back, but his voice wavered and he silently cursed himself. Warrick didn’t seem to notice and dried his hands on a paper towel. “Yeah, but he seemed a little off. He wouldn’t say why. I know he went to speak to Gil just after he got in, don’t know what about. But you know Nick, Mr Enigmatic. I reckon he’s got girl problems or something.” He chuckled and tossed the balled up towel towards the garbage. “Right, lets go, you’re working a B and E with me.” Greg followed him out of the bathroom, muttering that he needed coffee first.

Just as the shift was ending, Greg caught sight of Sara in the lab. “You’re back!” He exclaimed shrilly, practically running over to her. She smiled, “Well Greg, it’s always nice to be missed. Can I do anything for you?”
He smiled shyly, embarrassed at his outburst. Forcing his voice down an octave or two, he spoke again. “Is Nick back too?” She shook her head as she leaned over the microscope. “He’s gone home already, said something about a headache and left me to finish up here. Did you need him for something?” When she looked up Greg had already gone. “OK, was it something I said?” she asked the empty room.

Greg raced back to his apartment and quickly showered and changed. Within the hour, he was standing outside Nick’s home, having an internal debate as to whether he should ring the doorbell, or turn around and leave again. The choice was taken from him as the front door opened and there stood Nick, his car keys in one hand and in the other he was carrying a bulging suitcase.