Don't Fence Me In
Jun. 6th, 2006 12:00 am![[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}
nickngregTitle: Don't Fence Me In
Chapter: A Maddening Statement (17/?)
Rating: R
Warnings: sad, sweet boy-love
Summary: Nightmares lead to reconnection and hope.
Previously: One, Two, Three, Four,
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,
Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen,
Sixteen.
Beta'd by the marvellous![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catlover2x
17. A Maddening Statement
“If you’re going to learn to survive in this family,” Marcie said confidentially, while still shaking his hand, “you have to ignore Laura and Mark. You can still hold hope out for their kids… but frankly, I think they’re on their way to being lost causes as well.”
“It’s sad.” Greg replied, honestly.
Marcie shrugged. “I hate to say it, but you’ll get used to it. But hey, at least now there is another sibling who will have to share her poisonous diatribes. Where is Nick?”
As if by magic, the door to their bedroom opened and Nick appeared. He had heard the last parts of Laura’s confrontation with Greg and had been about to come out when Marcie had interrupted them. He had taken those few moments to compose himself.
“Hi, Marcie.” he whispered, hugging her closely. “Arms… can’t reach around you.”
“Shut up, you bastard.” she laughed.
“I mean it, you’re huge!”
“Well, there is a baby in there. An evil baby, born out of wedlock. I’ve already pre-booked the surgery to get the horns and tail removed.”
Nick smiled. “Well, we got it Baby’s First Pitchfork for Christmas.”
“Excellent!”
“If you really want to piss Laura off, make us the godparents.”
Marcie chuckled. “Her head would explode.”
“Don’t worry, I am sure two will grow back in its place.” Greg muttered.
Marcie leaned in to Nick’s ear. “I like him already.”
--------------------
The poker game was raucous and stretched out past midnight. It helped that Laura didn’t come anywhere near the kitchen while they were playing. Jillian and Bill had joined them for a few rounds, then made an attempt at trying not to display blatant favouritism by going and joining their estranged daughter in the study. But this did not last that long, especially as they both were extremely upset by the turn of events that Laura and Mark had inflicted upon what had hoped to be a close and loving family reunion.
When Marcie started yawning at a quarter to one in the morning, everybody began making their excuses and retired to their bedrooms.
Nick had appeared happy and lighthearted throughout the game, but Greg had seen behind the façade several times. He knew he wasn’t able to shrug off the earlier accusations so easily, and the continued presence of Laura in the house was only going to aggravate it until that situation was resolved.
“I heard most of what she said to you.” Nick said, as he was shucking out of his jeans.
Greg was in the process of tiredly unlacing his boots. “Yeah?”
“No life is ever going to be normal with you, but it’s normal the way I like it.”
Greg smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“And you’re right, we can get around the kid thing.”
Greg looked horrified. “Not now!”
Nick laughed, and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Somewhere in the future.”
“You gave me a heart attack. I mean, I noticed you getting clucky around Marcie’s belly…” He kicked his boots across the room.
Nick dove underneath the covers. “It’s so cold. Hurry up, and keep me warm.”
Greg practically jumped out of all his clothes, bar his boxers, and slid underneath the corner of the blankets Nick was holding up for him.
“Mmm, body heat.” Greg murmured happily. “You’re the best hot water bottle, you know that?”
“Make sure that gets put on my tombstone.”
Greg kissed his left shoulderbone and drew it along to the hollow of his throat. “I do want kids with you. One day.”
“I know. It’s too early.”
“I guess I’m just selfish. I like having you to myself too much.”
“Don’t worry just yet. I feel the same.” Nick grinned, rubbing his thumb along Greg’s cheek.
“So we’ll be just like any other couple. When we start getting tired of each other, we’ll throw kids into the mix.”
Nick laughed. “Greg Sanders, how did you ever stay single so long?”
Drifting off into sleep, Greg managed to whisper, “I was waiting for you.”
Feeling Greg’s heartbeat lulling him into rest as well, Nick breathed, “Me too.”
------------------------------
Greg jerks awake when Nick’s fist thumps against his thigh. During sleep Nick has turned against him and is lying in a semi-foetal position, his hands balled against his side. He is restless, which explains why he had struck him, and he is mumbling words which make no sense, and sentences with no reason. Despite the cold, he is sweaty and warm to the touch. His mouth is twisted in undeniable agony. Greg knows straight away that this isn’t one of the underground dreams, where Nick finds himself in the coffin again with no rescue coming. After three years of being together, he can tell the difference between these relatively new nightmares and the ones that had always been in place. This is the nightmare that Nick experiences only occasionally now, and has obviously been brought up by the events of the past evening.
“Nick.” he whispers. “Wake up, baby.”
A tear slides from beneath Nick’s closed lashes, and Greg brings him in closer to himself. “Come on, Nicky…”
With a start, Nick awakes, and lies back as he re-examines his surroundings. “Greg?” he asks, hesitantly.
“I’m here.”
Nick rolls over to face him, and buries his face into Greg’s shoulder. “Oh, thank God.”
Greg smooths down his hair. “I don’t think I need to ask what you were dreaming about.”
Nick shakes his head. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“Okay.”
Nick’s fingers crawl behind the nape of Greg’s neck and bring him in for a tender kiss. Greg returns it, saddened by the desperation behind his partner’s eyes.
“I could kill Mark for bringing this all up again.” he breathes.
“No, I almost told Gray today anyway. It’s been on my mind regardless.”
“Can I just fantasize about killing Mark anyway?”
Nick gives a slight laugh. “Mark is the second last thing I want to be thinking about.” He wipes at his eyes and gives a heavy sigh.
“Just try and get back to sleep, Nicky.”
A tear runs down Nick’s cheek as he runs his hand down Greg’s side and rests it on the small of his back. “I don’t want to… not just yet.”
“I’m here. I’ll wake you up if you have another nightmare.”
The tips of Nick’s fingers slip underneath the waistband of Greg’s boxers, hesitantly at first, and then the rest of the hand follows to cup the bare skin underneath them. Greg’s eyes widen in surprise, and with a slight sense of worry. With all that was on Nick’s mind, he isn’t sure if he himself feels comfortable at this sudden display of sexual need after a nightmare about a sexual act so long ago.
“I need you.” Nick whispers, his voice cracking. “I need you to remind me… that it can be good, that it can be beautiful…”
“Nick… are you sure?” Greg asks.
“Why?” Nick’s features appear wounded in the blue light seeping in from the window.
“Just… I feel like I’d be taking advantage of you, or something.”
Nick’s grip on his ass tightens as he pulls him in towards his chest. “You never have, and you won’t be tonight.”
Greg opens his mouth to speak, but Nick covers it with his own. Greg is literally unable to speak, but he knows his partner well enough to know he is being truthful. He begins to respond to Nick’s kiss, feeling his boxers being pulled down further by the hand within them. He can feel his flesh responding, hardening, and feel Nick’s own response against him. His breath begins to quicken, Nick’s hands are all over him, and he breaks away from the kiss to tear his boxers away. Nick then reaches for Greg’s hand and guides it to his waist.
“I love you, G.” is the breath in his ear as he pulls Nick’s boxers away from him and frees the flesh within.
He arches back to meet Nick’s eyes, and there is nothing there but love. The fear is gone, and this makes Greg feel better about the situation. He whispers his own declarations of love in Norwegian; which he loves to pull out and use to Nick when he wants to make him smile, to feel special and loved, just as Nick has used Spanish against him. Nick has heard these words often enough to know their meaning, and he gives a throaty growl of appreciation.
Greg hooks one leg behind Nick’s, and bare flesh is pressed against bare flesh in unbearable friction now that their bodies have been freed of all fabric. There is dampness against his cheek, and he notes that Nick is crying again. He kisses the tears away, as if it is the pain he can make vanish. He wants to stop, to just hold Nick and go no further – but the set of Nick’s mouth and eyes let him know that he isn’t crying because of bad memories. He is crying because he is letting himself remember what it means to love, the act of loving, and what it is to be loved. As Greg realises this himself, his own tears slowly begin, and this time it is Nick whose lips brush against them.
“Don’t cry, baby.” Nick whispers. “There’s nothing for either of us to cry about.”
It’s a maddening statement, because neither of them can stop the tears. But the smiles on their faces and the love in their eyes are enough to combat them as they continue moving against and within each other in the darkness.
Chapter: A Maddening Statement (17/?)
Rating: R
Warnings: sad, sweet boy-love
Summary: Nightmares lead to reconnection and hope.
Previously: One, Two, Three, Four,
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,
Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen,
Sixteen.
Beta'd by the marvellous
catlover2x17. A Maddening Statement
“If you’re going to learn to survive in this family,” Marcie said confidentially, while still shaking his hand, “you have to ignore Laura and Mark. You can still hold hope out for their kids… but frankly, I think they’re on their way to being lost causes as well.”
“It’s sad.” Greg replied, honestly.
Marcie shrugged. “I hate to say it, but you’ll get used to it. But hey, at least now there is another sibling who will have to share her poisonous diatribes. Where is Nick?”
As if by magic, the door to their bedroom opened and Nick appeared. He had heard the last parts of Laura’s confrontation with Greg and had been about to come out when Marcie had interrupted them. He had taken those few moments to compose himself.
“Hi, Marcie.” he whispered, hugging her closely. “Arms… can’t reach around you.”
“Shut up, you bastard.” she laughed.
“I mean it, you’re huge!”
“Well, there is a baby in there. An evil baby, born out of wedlock. I’ve already pre-booked the surgery to get the horns and tail removed.”
Nick smiled. “Well, we got it Baby’s First Pitchfork for Christmas.”
“Excellent!”
“If you really want to piss Laura off, make us the godparents.”
Marcie chuckled. “Her head would explode.”
“Don’t worry, I am sure two will grow back in its place.” Greg muttered.
Marcie leaned in to Nick’s ear. “I like him already.”
--------------------
The poker game was raucous and stretched out past midnight. It helped that Laura didn’t come anywhere near the kitchen while they were playing. Jillian and Bill had joined them for a few rounds, then made an attempt at trying not to display blatant favouritism by going and joining their estranged daughter in the study. But this did not last that long, especially as they both were extremely upset by the turn of events that Laura and Mark had inflicted upon what had hoped to be a close and loving family reunion.
When Marcie started yawning at a quarter to one in the morning, everybody began making their excuses and retired to their bedrooms.
Nick had appeared happy and lighthearted throughout the game, but Greg had seen behind the façade several times. He knew he wasn’t able to shrug off the earlier accusations so easily, and the continued presence of Laura in the house was only going to aggravate it until that situation was resolved.
“I heard most of what she said to you.” Nick said, as he was shucking out of his jeans.
Greg was in the process of tiredly unlacing his boots. “Yeah?”
“No life is ever going to be normal with you, but it’s normal the way I like it.”
Greg smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“And you’re right, we can get around the kid thing.”
Greg looked horrified. “Not now!”
Nick laughed, and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Somewhere in the future.”
“You gave me a heart attack. I mean, I noticed you getting clucky around Marcie’s belly…” He kicked his boots across the room.
Nick dove underneath the covers. “It’s so cold. Hurry up, and keep me warm.”
Greg practically jumped out of all his clothes, bar his boxers, and slid underneath the corner of the blankets Nick was holding up for him.
“Mmm, body heat.” Greg murmured happily. “You’re the best hot water bottle, you know that?”
“Make sure that gets put on my tombstone.”
Greg kissed his left shoulderbone and drew it along to the hollow of his throat. “I do want kids with you. One day.”
“I know. It’s too early.”
“I guess I’m just selfish. I like having you to myself too much.”
“Don’t worry just yet. I feel the same.” Nick grinned, rubbing his thumb along Greg’s cheek.
“So we’ll be just like any other couple. When we start getting tired of each other, we’ll throw kids into the mix.”
Nick laughed. “Greg Sanders, how did you ever stay single so long?”
Drifting off into sleep, Greg managed to whisper, “I was waiting for you.”
Feeling Greg’s heartbeat lulling him into rest as well, Nick breathed, “Me too.”
------------------------------
Greg jerks awake when Nick’s fist thumps against his thigh. During sleep Nick has turned against him and is lying in a semi-foetal position, his hands balled against his side. He is restless, which explains why he had struck him, and he is mumbling words which make no sense, and sentences with no reason. Despite the cold, he is sweaty and warm to the touch. His mouth is twisted in undeniable agony. Greg knows straight away that this isn’t one of the underground dreams, where Nick finds himself in the coffin again with no rescue coming. After three years of being together, he can tell the difference between these relatively new nightmares and the ones that had always been in place. This is the nightmare that Nick experiences only occasionally now, and has obviously been brought up by the events of the past evening.
“Nick.” he whispers. “Wake up, baby.”
A tear slides from beneath Nick’s closed lashes, and Greg brings him in closer to himself. “Come on, Nicky…”
With a start, Nick awakes, and lies back as he re-examines his surroundings. “Greg?” he asks, hesitantly.
“I’m here.”
Nick rolls over to face him, and buries his face into Greg’s shoulder. “Oh, thank God.”
Greg smooths down his hair. “I don’t think I need to ask what you were dreaming about.”
Nick shakes his head. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“Okay.”
Nick’s fingers crawl behind the nape of Greg’s neck and bring him in for a tender kiss. Greg returns it, saddened by the desperation behind his partner’s eyes.
“I could kill Mark for bringing this all up again.” he breathes.
“No, I almost told Gray today anyway. It’s been on my mind regardless.”
“Can I just fantasize about killing Mark anyway?”
Nick gives a slight laugh. “Mark is the second last thing I want to be thinking about.” He wipes at his eyes and gives a heavy sigh.
“Just try and get back to sleep, Nicky.”
A tear runs down Nick’s cheek as he runs his hand down Greg’s side and rests it on the small of his back. “I don’t want to… not just yet.”
“I’m here. I’ll wake you up if you have another nightmare.”
The tips of Nick’s fingers slip underneath the waistband of Greg’s boxers, hesitantly at first, and then the rest of the hand follows to cup the bare skin underneath them. Greg’s eyes widen in surprise, and with a slight sense of worry. With all that was on Nick’s mind, he isn’t sure if he himself feels comfortable at this sudden display of sexual need after a nightmare about a sexual act so long ago.
“I need you.” Nick whispers, his voice cracking. “I need you to remind me… that it can be good, that it can be beautiful…”
“Nick… are you sure?” Greg asks.
“Why?” Nick’s features appear wounded in the blue light seeping in from the window.
“Just… I feel like I’d be taking advantage of you, or something.”
Nick’s grip on his ass tightens as he pulls him in towards his chest. “You never have, and you won’t be tonight.”
Greg opens his mouth to speak, but Nick covers it with his own. Greg is literally unable to speak, but he knows his partner well enough to know he is being truthful. He begins to respond to Nick’s kiss, feeling his boxers being pulled down further by the hand within them. He can feel his flesh responding, hardening, and feel Nick’s own response against him. His breath begins to quicken, Nick’s hands are all over him, and he breaks away from the kiss to tear his boxers away. Nick then reaches for Greg’s hand and guides it to his waist.
“I love you, G.” is the breath in his ear as he pulls Nick’s boxers away from him and frees the flesh within.
He arches back to meet Nick’s eyes, and there is nothing there but love. The fear is gone, and this makes Greg feel better about the situation. He whispers his own declarations of love in Norwegian; which he loves to pull out and use to Nick when he wants to make him smile, to feel special and loved, just as Nick has used Spanish against him. Nick has heard these words often enough to know their meaning, and he gives a throaty growl of appreciation.
Greg hooks one leg behind Nick’s, and bare flesh is pressed against bare flesh in unbearable friction now that their bodies have been freed of all fabric. There is dampness against his cheek, and he notes that Nick is crying again. He kisses the tears away, as if it is the pain he can make vanish. He wants to stop, to just hold Nick and go no further – but the set of Nick’s mouth and eyes let him know that he isn’t crying because of bad memories. He is crying because he is letting himself remember what it means to love, the act of loving, and what it is to be loved. As Greg realises this himself, his own tears slowly begin, and this time it is Nick whose lips brush against them.
“Don’t cry, baby.” Nick whispers. “There’s nothing for either of us to cry about.”
It’s a maddening statement, because neither of them can stop the tears. But the smiles on their faces and the love in their eyes are enough to combat them as they continue moving against and within each other in the darkness.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2006-06-05 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 10:17 pm (UTC)And for the rest of the story...it's oh so beautiful and touching!
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Date: 2006-06-06 03:31 pm (UTC)Drifting off into sleep, Greg managed to whisper, “I was waiting for you.”
Gah! :)
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Date: 2006-06-11 08:31 pm (UTC)Great! =)