nickngreg | (no subject)

Title: God’s Gift
Author:

viva_nova
Fandom: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Pairing: Nick and Greg
Spoilers: None for now, may changed chapter by chapter
Genre: Angst, romance, all the fun stuff.
Rating: R for violence and coarse language.
Chapters: 2/?
Disclaimer: I don’t own them and I won’t get paid for this. CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer are the lucky ones with that job!
Author’s Note: Chapter 2 is finally done! Sorry it took me so long guys. For those of you that may have missed chapter 1, it can be found here Comments and constructive criticism more than welcome.

Chapter 2

FLASHBACK

Greg was always a smart kid. He wasn’t only good in school, but he was also very perceptive. He could read people like an open book. That’s how Greg knew that everything in his life had changed for the worse when he told his brother, despite Neil’s placating words. Greg just didn’t know how bad it would get.

Greg and Neil had always been close. Neil was only three years older and he seemed to like taking Greg under his wing, especially when they got a bit older. If asked, all of their friends would’ve said that they were the best of friends, they told each other everything. That is until the year when Greg was 15 and Neil was 18.

Greg had known for a few years already that he was into guys, but he hadn’t told anyone. He felt bad about not telling Neil as they had always shared everything else, but he was nervous. He knew that being gay was a big deal, though he wasn’t really sure why. Finally, one day near the end of the school year he finally decided to tell him.

“Hey Neil,” Greg called, knocking on his brother’s bedroom door, “Got a minute?”

“Sure bro, what’s up?” Neil replied, looking up as his brother entered the room.

Greg sat down on his brother’s bed and sighed, “I have something I need to tell you, something that I’ve known for awhile it’s just that I didn’t… I , I , I just didn’t know how to tell you. I still don’t, but you’re the only one I can trust.”

Neil sat up a bit straighter with a concerned look on his face, “Wow, this sounds serious, what is it Greg? You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know, I know, this is just hard for me,” Greg replied, staring down at his hands. When he felt Neil’s hand on his shoulder, he found the courage to say what he needed to say. He turned to look his brother directly in the eye and said, “Neil, I think I like guys.”

Greg saw something flicker in his brother’s eyes and grew nervous. After a few seconds of silence that felt more like hours to Greg, Neil laughed. “Hey man, good one! You’re such a joker, making it sound like you’re gay!”

“Neil, I am gay,” Greg replied, though he wasn’t sure why. He had the strongest feeling that he should shut the fuck up, but his mouth rarely listened to his brain.

Neil took a deep breath and sighed, “Look man, don’t worry about it. No matter what, you’re still my brother. I just wouldn’t tell mom and dad.”

Greg smiled, but it wasn’t a real one. He could still see that cold look in his brother’s eye.

***

Greg doesn’t remember anything after his conversation with his brother until he woke up in the hospital two days later, but he knows the story. His friend Jenny was the only person there when he woke up and she filled him in.

“Hey Greg, wait up!” Jenny called after him, “What’s going on?”

It was the end of the day and Greg was walking quickly away from the school. He knew the look in his brother’s eyes the night before hadn’t been good and when he arrived at school the next day to cat-calls of “faggot” and “queer boy” he knew he hadn’t been wrong.

“Hey Jenny, sorry.” Greg stopped and waited for her to catch up.

“Are you okay? It couldn’t have been easy for you in there today.” Jenny said, full of concern.

“Yeah, I’m okay, thanks,” Greg replied in an unconvincing tone.

They continued walking across the school grounds and towards both of their homes in silence. After a few minutes, Jenny finally broke the silence, “You know you could’ve told me and I wouldn’t have said a word, right?”

He looked at her for a minute and nodded, though he really didn’t believe his own response. After all, he never thought that his brother would do what he did.

Jenny always thought how strange it was that she remembered with so much detail, exactly how everything happened that day. She had always heard stories about how people remembered tragic things “all in a blur” and such. Not her though, she remembered every last detail and because of this she was often jealous of those who didn’t remember.

They were just walking home, like they did everyday when she was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. That’s when she heard them, “Get the fucking queer!”

Jenny rolled onto her back, stunned from the impact of hitting the ground and from the hateful words she heard. She looked up to see four guys she recognized to be seniors surrounding Greg. One of them was carrying a bat. Before she could do anything one of them punched Greg in the nose. She watched as blood exploded from Greg’s nose. Then she saw it, the one with the bat. His name was Mike. He drew the bat up as if to swing and Jenny could watch no more. She let out a feral scream and ran at Mike, who was standing with his back to her. The scream startled Mike into lowering the bat. As he started to turn around Jenny launched herself at him, knocking him to the ground. She got a few shots in before Jimmy, one of the school’s star football players, yanked her off and held onto her.

“Hold on there now girlie, you’re going to ruin the show,” Jimmy said in a mocking tone. “That was a very valiant effort though.”

“Fuck you,” Jenny replied vehemently, still trying to get out of his grasp.

Jimmy laughed, “Whoa-ho now little girl! Watch your mouth! C’mon now, settle down, the show’s about to really get going!”

By this time, Mike had recovered himself and the other two boys, whose names Jenny didn’t know, were holding Greg down. Jenny started to scream, but it was cut off quickly by Jimmy’s hand.

The beating was more brutal than anything Jenny could ever have imagined. She struggled at first but soon realized that it was a fruitless effort. She stood frozen in horror as Mike dealt blow after blow to the entirety of Greg’s body and the others cheered on. It felt like hours to Jenny, but it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes. The whole nightmarish scene came to an end when one of the boys holding onto Greg noticed someone coming towards them from down the street and they scattered.

***

Greg woke up two days later in the hospital in what could only be described as an extreme amount of pain and a huge amount of confusion. Jenny was there to shush him and she briefly explained what was going on, just enough information to ease the confusion, but not enough to disturb. The gory details could wait until later.

“How long have I been out? Where are my parents? God, how badly am I hurt?” Greg asked in a raspy voice.
“Um, well, you’ve been out for about two days and well, your injuries are pretty bad.” Jenny replied.

“C’mon Jenny, give it to me straight. How bad is it?” Greg sounded tired and defeated.

Jenny sighed, “Okay Greg, okay. You have a severe concussion, a broken nose, broken wrist and three broken ribs along with a shattered knee cap. You’ll probably need some rehab to properly walk again. You should make a full recovery though.” Jenny smiled at him.

Greg made a weak attempt at smiling back, but he could tell that there was something else and even in his drug induced haze he noticed that she hadn’t answered all his questions. “Where are my parents Jenny?”

“They, uh, they told me to give you this,” Jenny stuttered and she handed him a letter.

Greg raised an eyebrow as he took the letter from his friend. He quickly opened the letter and read the contents.

Greg,

In light of certain events we feel that it is no longer a good idea for you to live in our home. We have spoken with Jennifer’s parents and they have agreed to take you in. We will drop off all of your stuff at Jennifer’s house while you are still in the hospital. Please do not try to contact us until you come to your senses and turn away from the evil way of life you have chosen.

Mr. and Mrs. Sanders.

“For fuck’s sake!” Greg shouted. “It isn’t even signed ‘Mom and Dad.’

“Greg,” Jenny started, but she was cut off.

“Leave me alone Jenny, please, just give me some time to myself.” He tried to hide the hurt in his voice and the tears in his eyes, but she still saw. Jenny felt awful about everything and she wanted to be able to do or say anything that could make him feel better, but there was nothing. She simply nodded and left the room.

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