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May. 19th, 2006 07:19 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
kennedy-unknown.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
nickngregCSI
Title: Don't Fence Me In
Chapter: Accusations (13/?)
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13
Genre: drama, humour
Warnings: none
Summary: Nick is stunned by something Mark reveals.
Previously: One, Two, Three, Four,
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,
Eleven, Twelve.
13. Accusations
“Hey, cowboy. You still haven’t shown me the stables yet.”
Nick grinned at the voice that had sounded behind him. He turned around, and Greg leapt at him. They stumbled across the porch and fell into the swing chair on the far left of the porch.
“This’ll do.” Greg gave a little wink and leaned into him. “Will Scarlett O’Hara be joining us for mint juleps?”
“That was Georgia, G. We’re in Texas.”
“Meh, you all sound the same.”
Nick gave him a slight punch on the shoulder, laughing.
Greg traced his jawline, turning serious. “We’ll get through this, Nicky.”
“I know.”
“It was never going to be sunshine and puppy dogs all the time.”
“Would have been nice, though.”
“Was she always… y’know…”
“Staunchly conservative? Not so much. I mean, I don’t want to place all the blame on one person, but she only started becoming so once she married Mark.”
“He turned her to the dark side, then?”
“Funny. Look, I don’t want to sound like I’m trashing people with faith, but… I mean, my parents always took us to church, and they still go every week… but Mark, he’s very involved in his church, and although they preach love and understanding… well, it’s really only love and peace if you’re just like them.”
“Oh…” Greg wanted to say something snide, but refrained.
“Yeah.”
Refraining didn’t last long. “Is it one of those scary churches with the rattlesnakes and the speaking in tongues?”
“No.” Nick repressed a smile. “Just you know… traditional. But it’s not just me she has a problem with. She doesn’t get along with Marcie either, and that’s just because she and Steve haven’t married yet.”
“Are they going to think I’m evil and converted you or something?”
Nick laughed. “Probably.”
“Great.”
Nick rested his chin on top of his head. “It probably doesn’t help that I live in the original Sin City.”
The front door opened, and Mark stepped out. He already was wearing a harried expression, but it only deepened when he saw the two men sprawled out on the porch swing and Greg settled comfortably against Nick’s chest.
“You looking for Laura?” Nick asked, amiably.
Mark nodded, then turned back and retreated into the house.
“Wow, did you just feel the temperature drop?” Greg snorted.
“Just a little.” Nick agreed.
“That look on his face… you would have thought he walked out here and found me giving you a blowjob or something.”
“He probably wouldn’t have known what it was, if he did.” Nick said, in a rare form of snarkiness,
Greg choked. “Nicholas!”
Nick grinned in the darkness. Every now and again, he liked to provoke that kind of reaction in Greg, as ninety percent of the time it was the other way around. This time it would be Greg picking his jaw off the floor…
-------------------------------------
“You can’t act like this.” Beth had long passed from anger into desperate pleading, realising that nothing else was going to work.
Laura glared at her, and made her way to the breakfast table with her coffee. “Are you saying I can’t have my own opinion?”
“I just don’t understand your opinion, that’s all.”
“Well, to tell you the truth I feel the same about yours.”
“Girls, lower your voices.” Jillian warned, steadying herself by leaning upon the kitchen counter. “I don’t want Nick to hear this.”
“How can you be fine with this, Momma?” Laura asked.
“There’s nothing to have to be fine about.” Jillian glowered. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Laura raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t you dare do that!” Beth spat. “He’s your brother! He spends his life protecting people, and you’re judging him?”
“I’m not judging him. It’s not my place to judge.”
“Well, you’re doing an awfully good job of it.”
Footsteps sounded near the entry, and Mark walked in. He noticed the uncomfortable postures immediately. “Laura?”
“It’s okay.” she said. “I’m fine.”
“You’re fine?” Beth asked. Her eyes were tearing up, as they always did when she was angry beyond belief. They wavered, as she refused to let them fall. “Mark, are you fine?”
“I’m not here to cause an argument.” Mark said smoothly. “It’s your house, Jillian, you make your own call.”
“Why, thank you, Mark.” Jillian replied, the set of her mouth displaying the harsh tone she wouldn’t allow her voice to have.
“Momma…” Laura opened her mouth as if to spill a diatribe of some sort.
“Don’t.” Jillian warned. “I mean it, Laura. I know you have your thoughts on this matter. I raised my children to have opinions of their own.” she paused. “Even if they’re wrong.”
Beth smiled proudly at her mother, Laura’s lips became thinner with displeasure.
“Is there a problem?” Bill asked, from where he had suddenly appeared behind Mark.
Jillian and Laura shook their heads, Mark remained silent, and Beth nodded.
----------------------------
“Shift over, you two.”
Nick and Greg were jolted out of their state of languor by Sally and Tony coming out onto the porch. They stretched and sat up properly; Sally and Tony squeezed into the three-seater with them as best they could.
“Ooh, snug.” Sally remarked.
“You don’t think it’s going to break, do you?” Greg asked nervously as the support beams groaned above their heads.
“It’s not like we have far to fall.” Tony pointed out.
“Uh, so are we all hiding out here?” Sally asked.
“I know I am.” Tony replied before Nick or Greg could lie.
“Just got over one trauma, and up pops another.” Sally mused.
The window behind them shot up, and they jumped. Gray stuck his head out. “Here you all are!”
“Where have you been?” Nick asked.
“Oh, just catching up.” Gray said evasively.
“With who?” An edge crept into Nick’s tone.
“Anybody want a drink?” Gray asked, a little too brightly.
Tony, Greg and Sally immediately placed orders running all over the top of each other’s. Greg felt Nick’s fingers against his arm began to tap out an impatient Morse code of irritability and nervousness.
“He’ll have a beer.” he told Gray, who was obviously waiting for the final order.
Gray nodded, and pulled the window down behind him.
“He took on Mark, and Beth took on Laura, right?” Nick asked of Sally and Tony.
Their silence was more than enough of an answer.
“Oh, man.” Nick muttered. “No wonder he looked so pissed earlier.”
“It’s nice.” Greg said. “They’re defending you.”
“I can fight my own battles.”
“Oh, shut up!” Greg rolled his eyes. “Whine, whine, whine. They’re your siblings, they’re meant to do this kind of thing. This morning you were moaning about how Gray wouldn’t speak to you, and now you’re pissed because he’s sticking up for you.”
“He has a point.” Tony said, and Sally made a hum of agreement.
Nick hunched down even further. “Well, I can really tell I’m home now, because everybody’s ganging up on me.”
The front door flew open, and Mark marched out onto the porch, followed by Laura. “I’m not going to stay here!”
“Mark, please, calm down.”
For the moment the two were unaware of the four other family members hunkered down at the dark end of the porch.
“I told you this was a bad idea.” Mark continued.
“I don’t agree with it all either, but they’re my family.”
“You said yourself that that can only go so far.”
“I know, but we’re here now.” Laura folded her arms. “And sometimes it’s easier to think like that when you’re away.”
“You mean, to think with a clearer head when you’re away.”
Greg felt Nick’s hand tighten on his arm. Tony and Sally remained silent, all of them were aware they were in a bad situation.
“God, Laura, this is exactly why I didn’t want the kids to be here!”
“What? You told me… your mother needed them!”
“Because it was easier to tell you that!”
Nick leapt out of the swing chair so fast that it almost threw the other three occupants out. Greg scrambled after him, but Nick was already down the stairs and heading towards his sister and brother-in-law.
“Why didn’t you want to bring the kids here?” Nick demanded.
“Nick---“ Laura put up her hands to try and calm him down.
“Why?” Nick asked again, although he had already guessed at the answer.
Mark was pale at the confrontation, but he stood his ground. “To keep them away from the both of you! To keep them safe!”
Nick’s hands were balling into fists. By this time Greg had come up behind him, and had grabbed the back of his jacket as if he could somehow keep him away. Even Laura was looking at Mark with a puzzled expression, and it was Greg who spoke up. “Keep them safe from what? Converting them?”
Mark steeled himself, his eyes not really meeting anybody else’s. “And more.”
It took everybody a moment to analyse what he had said, and what it meant, but Nick cottoned on immediately. Greg felt his body tense up even through the layers of winter clothing, but didn’t see the swing coming as Nick punched Mark across the face with full force. Laura screamed, and Mark hit the ground backwards. Sally and Tony immediately started running from the porch, and it was mere seconds before the front door flew open and the rest of the Stokes spilled out.
Nick advanced on Mark, who was struggling to get his wind back while lying in the dirt. Greg was trying to pull Nick back but the fact that he was normally stronger anyway, combined with his anger, meant Greg had no real power. Mark was on his knees when Nick kicked him in the stomach, and he fell back down again. Laura screamed again, and ran over to Nick, and Greg gave a savage yank as Nick lifted his foot a second time. Off balance as the yank occurred, Nick fell back. Greg supported him, and with Tony’s help managed to pull him away. Nick was livid, his eyes black with hatred in a pale face. He managed to shake the other two men off, and was ready to turn back on Tony when Bill reached him and grabbed him by the arm.
“Pancho.” he said softly, but sternly. Bill didn’t know what had preceded this, but he knew after almost thirty years how he could reach his son and make him pull back.
“What is going on here?” Jillian demanded, and Beth was scared by how much her mother now looked like a woman who had reached breaking point.
Laura was sobbing as she helped her husband to her feet.
Nick turned to his mother, and if Jillian looked like she was at breaking point, Nick looked like he had bypassed it miles before. “They…” He shook his head, unable to go on, and stumbled past them, back towards the house.
As he passed Gray his brother reached out to him, but Nick pushed him away.
Greg stared at the people around him, sick to his stomach. He knew Nick and himself had had nothing but support from the majority of them, but these accusations only served to make him aware of how other people could think. He didn’t know where they were going to go from here, all he knew was that he had to be with Nick. He shoved his hands into his pockets and caught up with him at the porch steps.
Title: Don't Fence Me In
Chapter: Accusations (13/?)
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13
Genre: drama, humour
Warnings: none
Summary: Nick is stunned by something Mark reveals.
Previously: One, Two, Three, Four,
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,
Eleven, Twelve.
13. Accusations
“Hey, cowboy. You still haven’t shown me the stables yet.”
Nick grinned at the voice that had sounded behind him. He turned around, and Greg leapt at him. They stumbled across the porch and fell into the swing chair on the far left of the porch.
“This’ll do.” Greg gave a little wink and leaned into him. “Will Scarlett O’Hara be joining us for mint juleps?”
“That was Georgia, G. We’re in Texas.”
“Meh, you all sound the same.”
Nick gave him a slight punch on the shoulder, laughing.
Greg traced his jawline, turning serious. “We’ll get through this, Nicky.”
“I know.”
“It was never going to be sunshine and puppy dogs all the time.”
“Would have been nice, though.”
“Was she always… y’know…”
“Staunchly conservative? Not so much. I mean, I don’t want to place all the blame on one person, but she only started becoming so once she married Mark.”
“He turned her to the dark side, then?”
“Funny. Look, I don’t want to sound like I’m trashing people with faith, but… I mean, my parents always took us to church, and they still go every week… but Mark, he’s very involved in his church, and although they preach love and understanding… well, it’s really only love and peace if you’re just like them.”
“Oh…” Greg wanted to say something snide, but refrained.
“Yeah.”
Refraining didn’t last long. “Is it one of those scary churches with the rattlesnakes and the speaking in tongues?”
“No.” Nick repressed a smile. “Just you know… traditional. But it’s not just me she has a problem with. She doesn’t get along with Marcie either, and that’s just because she and Steve haven’t married yet.”
“Are they going to think I’m evil and converted you or something?”
Nick laughed. “Probably.”
“Great.”
Nick rested his chin on top of his head. “It probably doesn’t help that I live in the original Sin City.”
The front door opened, and Mark stepped out. He already was wearing a harried expression, but it only deepened when he saw the two men sprawled out on the porch swing and Greg settled comfortably against Nick’s chest.
“You looking for Laura?” Nick asked, amiably.
Mark nodded, then turned back and retreated into the house.
“Wow, did you just feel the temperature drop?” Greg snorted.
“Just a little.” Nick agreed.
“That look on his face… you would have thought he walked out here and found me giving you a blowjob or something.”
“He probably wouldn’t have known what it was, if he did.” Nick said, in a rare form of snarkiness,
Greg choked. “Nicholas!”
Nick grinned in the darkness. Every now and again, he liked to provoke that kind of reaction in Greg, as ninety percent of the time it was the other way around. This time it would be Greg picking his jaw off the floor…
-------------------------------------
“You can’t act like this.” Beth had long passed from anger into desperate pleading, realising that nothing else was going to work.
Laura glared at her, and made her way to the breakfast table with her coffee. “Are you saying I can’t have my own opinion?”
“I just don’t understand your opinion, that’s all.”
“Well, to tell you the truth I feel the same about yours.”
“Girls, lower your voices.” Jillian warned, steadying herself by leaning upon the kitchen counter. “I don’t want Nick to hear this.”
“How can you be fine with this, Momma?” Laura asked.
“There’s nothing to have to be fine about.” Jillian glowered. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Laura raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t you dare do that!” Beth spat. “He’s your brother! He spends his life protecting people, and you’re judging him?”
“I’m not judging him. It’s not my place to judge.”
“Well, you’re doing an awfully good job of it.”
Footsteps sounded near the entry, and Mark walked in. He noticed the uncomfortable postures immediately. “Laura?”
“It’s okay.” she said. “I’m fine.”
“You’re fine?” Beth asked. Her eyes were tearing up, as they always did when she was angry beyond belief. They wavered, as she refused to let them fall. “Mark, are you fine?”
“I’m not here to cause an argument.” Mark said smoothly. “It’s your house, Jillian, you make your own call.”
“Why, thank you, Mark.” Jillian replied, the set of her mouth displaying the harsh tone she wouldn’t allow her voice to have.
“Momma…” Laura opened her mouth as if to spill a diatribe of some sort.
“Don’t.” Jillian warned. “I mean it, Laura. I know you have your thoughts on this matter. I raised my children to have opinions of their own.” she paused. “Even if they’re wrong.”
Beth smiled proudly at her mother, Laura’s lips became thinner with displeasure.
“Is there a problem?” Bill asked, from where he had suddenly appeared behind Mark.
Jillian and Laura shook their heads, Mark remained silent, and Beth nodded.
----------------------------
“Shift over, you two.”
Nick and Greg were jolted out of their state of languor by Sally and Tony coming out onto the porch. They stretched and sat up properly; Sally and Tony squeezed into the three-seater with them as best they could.
“Ooh, snug.” Sally remarked.
“You don’t think it’s going to break, do you?” Greg asked nervously as the support beams groaned above their heads.
“It’s not like we have far to fall.” Tony pointed out.
“Uh, so are we all hiding out here?” Sally asked.
“I know I am.” Tony replied before Nick or Greg could lie.
“Just got over one trauma, and up pops another.” Sally mused.
The window behind them shot up, and they jumped. Gray stuck his head out. “Here you all are!”
“Where have you been?” Nick asked.
“Oh, just catching up.” Gray said evasively.
“With who?” An edge crept into Nick’s tone.
“Anybody want a drink?” Gray asked, a little too brightly.
Tony, Greg and Sally immediately placed orders running all over the top of each other’s. Greg felt Nick’s fingers against his arm began to tap out an impatient Morse code of irritability and nervousness.
“He’ll have a beer.” he told Gray, who was obviously waiting for the final order.
Gray nodded, and pulled the window down behind him.
“He took on Mark, and Beth took on Laura, right?” Nick asked of Sally and Tony.
Their silence was more than enough of an answer.
“Oh, man.” Nick muttered. “No wonder he looked so pissed earlier.”
“It’s nice.” Greg said. “They’re defending you.”
“I can fight my own battles.”
“Oh, shut up!” Greg rolled his eyes. “Whine, whine, whine. They’re your siblings, they’re meant to do this kind of thing. This morning you were moaning about how Gray wouldn’t speak to you, and now you’re pissed because he’s sticking up for you.”
“He has a point.” Tony said, and Sally made a hum of agreement.
Nick hunched down even further. “Well, I can really tell I’m home now, because everybody’s ganging up on me.”
The front door flew open, and Mark marched out onto the porch, followed by Laura. “I’m not going to stay here!”
“Mark, please, calm down.”
For the moment the two were unaware of the four other family members hunkered down at the dark end of the porch.
“I told you this was a bad idea.” Mark continued.
“I don’t agree with it all either, but they’re my family.”
“You said yourself that that can only go so far.”
“I know, but we’re here now.” Laura folded her arms. “And sometimes it’s easier to think like that when you’re away.”
“You mean, to think with a clearer head when you’re away.”
Greg felt Nick’s hand tighten on his arm. Tony and Sally remained silent, all of them were aware they were in a bad situation.
“God, Laura, this is exactly why I didn’t want the kids to be here!”
“What? You told me… your mother needed them!”
“Because it was easier to tell you that!”
Nick leapt out of the swing chair so fast that it almost threw the other three occupants out. Greg scrambled after him, but Nick was already down the stairs and heading towards his sister and brother-in-law.
“Why didn’t you want to bring the kids here?” Nick demanded.
“Nick---“ Laura put up her hands to try and calm him down.
“Why?” Nick asked again, although he had already guessed at the answer.
Mark was pale at the confrontation, but he stood his ground. “To keep them away from the both of you! To keep them safe!”
Nick’s hands were balling into fists. By this time Greg had come up behind him, and had grabbed the back of his jacket as if he could somehow keep him away. Even Laura was looking at Mark with a puzzled expression, and it was Greg who spoke up. “Keep them safe from what? Converting them?”
Mark steeled himself, his eyes not really meeting anybody else’s. “And more.”
It took everybody a moment to analyse what he had said, and what it meant, but Nick cottoned on immediately. Greg felt his body tense up even through the layers of winter clothing, but didn’t see the swing coming as Nick punched Mark across the face with full force. Laura screamed, and Mark hit the ground backwards. Sally and Tony immediately started running from the porch, and it was mere seconds before the front door flew open and the rest of the Stokes spilled out.
Nick advanced on Mark, who was struggling to get his wind back while lying in the dirt. Greg was trying to pull Nick back but the fact that he was normally stronger anyway, combined with his anger, meant Greg had no real power. Mark was on his knees when Nick kicked him in the stomach, and he fell back down again. Laura screamed again, and ran over to Nick, and Greg gave a savage yank as Nick lifted his foot a second time. Off balance as the yank occurred, Nick fell back. Greg supported him, and with Tony’s help managed to pull him away. Nick was livid, his eyes black with hatred in a pale face. He managed to shake the other two men off, and was ready to turn back on Tony when Bill reached him and grabbed him by the arm.
“Pancho.” he said softly, but sternly. Bill didn’t know what had preceded this, but he knew after almost thirty years how he could reach his son and make him pull back.
“What is going on here?” Jillian demanded, and Beth was scared by how much her mother now looked like a woman who had reached breaking point.
Laura was sobbing as she helped her husband to her feet.
Nick turned to his mother, and if Jillian looked like she was at breaking point, Nick looked like he had bypassed it miles before. “They…” He shook his head, unable to go on, and stumbled past them, back towards the house.
As he passed Gray his brother reached out to him, but Nick pushed him away.
Greg stared at the people around him, sick to his stomach. He knew Nick and himself had had nothing but support from the majority of them, but these accusations only served to make him aware of how other people could think. He didn’t know where they were going to go from here, all he knew was that he had to be with Nick. He shoved his hands into his pockets and caught up with him at the porch steps.
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Date: 2006-05-19 11:39 am (UTC)If Nick hadn't beaten him, I would have had to somehow!!
Beautifully crafted chapter! I can't wait for the next!
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Date: 2006-05-20 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 12:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:20 am (UTC)Don't Fence me in
Date: 2006-05-19 02:03 pm (UTC)Re: Don't Fence me in
Date: 2006-05-20 12:21 am (UTC)Re: Don't Fence me in
Date: 2006-05-20 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 05:54 pm (UTC)buuuut you made me soo curious, as always xD already waiting for the next chapter, i love this fic <3 ^^
no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 08:31 pm (UTC)Loving this story.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 08:43 pm (UTC)Thank you for yet another great chapter! It was a strong chapter, and I can't wait for an update. Currently there is 3 stories I constantly think of and wait for, and one is this story. (the others are "Baby steps" (Catlover) and "the Everlasting" (Serenity)). Strong stories that can be (and will be) read over and over!
Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:30 am (UTC)As I said before, it isn't just fiction. I still get so angry, years later when I think of my friend and how his position as world's best uncle was damaged when he came out. And now his nieces and nephews who thought the world of him have been taught to regard him with suspicion now. And from somebody who should know him better than that. It's unbelievable.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 10:42 am (UTC)I feel sorry for your friend. Really do. I feel blessed for 1) being straight so I don't have to deal with this is my own life (I wouldn't have felt wrong if I weren't straight, but now I don't have to deal with those issues in my own life...) 2) Having parents that feel as strongly as I do about the unjustice done to gay's... I know that if my daughter turns out to be a lesbian - her family at least will accept it, and that is good to know!
Can I friend you?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-19 09:42 pm (UTC)“Well, you’re doing an awfully good job of it.”
*cheers*
You did an excellent job on this. You made Mark feel hateful and slimy (I think that's the one character I've ever read who I was glad to see beat down), but he still feels real and that's hard to do.
And you actually made me feel bad from Laura, stuck between her husband and her family.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 10:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 04:44 pm (UTC)They should be the people you could trust and when they hurt you, it's the worst thing of all.
I know how this feels, I stopped talking with the most of my family (aunts, uncles, cousins and so..), because everytime they visit us they find it funny to make stupid comments or jokes at my cost. I really don't know why they do this, maybe they are jealous of me, because my father and I have a really great relationship and well, the relationship between my uncles and their daughters are crap. I don't know...
Anyway, I loved this chap! =)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 10:53 am (UTC)And family is the hardest to defy, so I can totally understand why you feel so let down by them. Hope it starts looking up for you! But at least you have that great relationship with your dad.
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Date: 2006-05-21 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 10:54 am (UTC)