nickngreg | Counterpoint

littlebuttercup.livejournal.com posting in

Title: Counterpoint
Rating: PG

Companion piece to "One Hundred Ninety Three". Beta'd by

flipflopadd1ct, who also gave it the title :) Dedicated to

csi_freak15, who wrote me nice stories when Iw as sick, and everyone else at the Fort.

First night, Nick is laying in a hospital bed looking smaller than he’s ever seen him. He makes a vow to help in however he can, because it took Nick a long time to work past his stalker issues, and this must be a thousand times worse. His vow is reinforced when Nick reaches for his hands and thanks him, and he struggles not to cry. He knows Nick goes home tonight, and he wonders if he should offer to stay over.

Two days, and he visits Nick as soon as he’s off work, and they sit down on the couch and have coffee. He takes note of the covers that are almost on the floor when he walks by Nick’s bedroom door, and also of the fact that almost every light in the house is on despite the fact the curtains are open and the sunlight is pouring in the room. Just before he leaves he writes his number down carefully on a piece of paper and sets it on the coffee table.

Four days and Nick still hasn’t called him. He can’t decide if this is good or bad.

Seven days and he knows it’s bad, because he’s been over at Nick’s and he looks awful. He almost leaves his number again, but spots it on Nick’s nightstand and decides he doesn’t need to. When he leaves, Nick is asleep, and he finds himself looking around almost guiltily before leaning down and dropping a kiss on Nick’s forehead.

Eight days and the phone wakes him up, and he fumbles with it for a second before finally clicking it on. Nick is breathing heavily on the other end, so he stumbles out of bed and goes to make a pot of coffee, knowing he’ll need it to stay awake.

Twelve days and he’s sitting on Nick’s couch with Warrick, rubbing his hand softly over Nick’s trembling shoulders. He and Warrick speak in low tones when Nick leaves the room, when Warrick suggests he call in to work and stay with Nick, he agrees right away, thanking the higher powers that might be that he didn’t have to come up with a lame excuse himself. He gets Nick into bed and spend the rest of the night watching over him.

Fifteen days and he hasn’t slept in seventy-two hours, but that’s really okay with him. He thinks he broke every law of the road getting to Nick’s last night, but Nick was convinced he heard something, and a scared Nick with a gun scared him, so he sacrificed his sleep and possibly his sanity to be there for him. Tonight, again, he sits vigil at his bedside, holding his hand after he falls asleep.

Twenty-eight days and he’s starting to think about being here even when he’s at work, and it’s really disruptive sometimes, but that’s okay. He manages to take off early in order to see his therapist, because he hasn’t been there since Nick was in the hospital, and he doesn’t know if he can hold his all inside any longer. Right before he leaves, Nick asks him if he wouldn’t mind coming over again.

Thirty-three days and he’s at Nick’s door without knowing why, because Nick never asked him to come tonight and he’s not entirely sure he’s welcome. But he knocks anyway, and Nick looks relieved to see him.

Forty-four days, he breaks down as soon as Nick’s head hit’s the pillow, and he can’t stay in this room one second longer. He makes his way to the couch without making very much noise and curls up into a little ball, feeling entirely too helpless. He’s getting too used to being here, too used to seeing Nick every single day, and it’s messing with his head. Nick will want him to leave soon, and he needs to prepare himself for that.

Fifty-seven days and he manages not to cry when Nick tell him he’ll be okay on his own. The crying starts at home, but even that doesn’t last long until his phone is ringing and Nick is asking him to come over. He brings clothes this time, because he plans on staying there until he’s positive Nick doesn’t need him. He lets himself entertain the idea of staying there forever for a few minutes while driving over.

Sixty-four days and he’s ready to kill someone. More specifically, he’s ready to hunt down every one of Nick’s former babysitters and interrogate them until he’s found the right one. He looks down at the man lying in his arms and kisses his forehead softly, whispering things in his ear that he would never say while Nick was awake.

Sixty-five days, he’s sent home early from work for “personal reasons”. He doesn’t even care that he yelled at Sara. He also doesn’t care that he punched his locker so many times it’s got a fist-sized dent in it. He doesn’t care that Warrick was looking at him like he was crazy and that Grissom thinks he’s losing his mind. He only cares about how Nick is feeling, and that’s really starting to scare him.

Ninety days and he knows that Nick is ignoring him, but he doesn’t know why, so he ignore the fact that Nick is ignoring him and talks constantly.

One hundred and two days and there’s a soft sobbing coming from Nick’s room, and he’s glad he leaves his door open at night. Nick’s curled into a ball on his side so he slides under the covers without thinking of the repercussions and wraps his arms around Nick, wishing he could make everything go away.

One hundred and fifteen days and he’s crying in the showers at work. Nick’s been smiling and cheerful and almost happy for a little over a week now, and he knows this is his cue to leave, but he’s been trying that for three days, and he’s wondering when Nick became his lifeline.

One hundred and twenty-two days, he’s worked up the courage to say goodbye but now he’s back in bed with Nick and he thinks something is seriously wrong with him. Why is he secretly pleased that Nick can’t seem to be without him? He stops thinking entirely when Nick turns around and wraps his arms around Greg’s waist and asks him not to leave.

One hundred and forty-four days and he’s snuck into Nick’s room to sit at his bedside again, and he wonders if this is what it will always be like.

One hundred and fifty-eight days and he takes Nick’s house key out of his pocket as often as he can. He still wonders why Nick gave it to him, but doesn’t really want to think about that.

One hundred and seventy-one days and he’s looking down the barrel of a .45. This can’t happens, because there’s too much he hasn’t said. He needs Nick. He needs to tell him that he loves him more than he could ever begin to say and he needs Nick to tell him everything will be okay. And when he goes home later that night, he makes himself promise that he’ll tell Nick all that.

One hundred and eighty-nine days and he’s sitting with Nick on the couch, trying to give himself the courage to tell him everything when Nick leans over and kisses him. He blinks, and in the next five seconds Nick is out the door, and he is left stunned.

One hundred and ninety-three days and he hasn’t been to work since it happened. He wasn’t sure he should stay here anymore, but Nick has got to come back sometime and he’ll be damned if he’s not here when that happens. He’ll leave after he gets his chance to talk.

One hundred and ninety-three days and two hours, Nick comes home and even though he wants to talk, he grabs him by the shirt and kisses him.