nickngreg | Falling Up Part 4 (Reply)

Title: Falling Up
Rating: This fic is officially rated R
Warnings: some sexual content
Summary For Part 4: Greg says the B word
Spoilers: Hinting at Overload

Part One & Two
Part Three

Part Four – The B Word

After a month of dating, Greg called Nick something that no one had ever called him before.

“So I finally got to meet Bobby and Ryan’s little girl. She’s the cutest thing in the world, she’s so tiny and she has so much hair! Did you know that baby’s could have so much hair at only two months old?” Greg took a giant lick out of his ice cream cone while still being careful not to get any on his jeans. “Anyway, we were all talking and fussing over Kari, that’s her name, when Ryan invited me over for dinner next week. He was even kind enough to invite my boyfriend along as well,” Greg batted his eyelashes at Nick.

Nick nearly dropped his ice cream. “Is that what I am? Your boyfriend?”

Greg looked a little confused. “Well, yeah. We’ve been dating, for how long now? A month, actually, today is our one month anniversary or at least it’s been an entire month since our first date. What? Are you uncomfortable with this?” Something like panic was rising in his voice and the more Greg talked the faster the words came out of his mouth. Nick suddenly realized that this was the way Greg talked to Grissom and he mentally winced at this observation.

“I’m not uncomfortable, I just … I just didn’t know where this was going. I was a little confused,” the Texan tried to soothe Greg’s worries.

Nick must’ve done something right, because the lab tech just grinned at him and shook his head. “Oh Nicky, you should’ve said something before. What did you think all of this was? Did you think that all this time I was just trying to get in your pants or something?”

He was too busy trying to prevent his melting ice cream from getting on his hand to see Nick’s cringe as he hit the issue dead on.

“No,” Nick lied, “I just wasn’t sure, that’s all. Actually, I rather like being thought of as your boyfriend.”

“Good. Hell, I’ve been calling you my boyfriend since our second date. Well, I was calling you my boyfriend in my head and to Sara. I also just told Bobby and Ryan that I have a boyfriend, but I didn’t say who. I told them that you’re a bit shy and they totally understand, but I thought as away to ease you out of the closet we could tell them. I mean, they’re a couple and we’re a couple and we could all do couple things together. And Bobby wouldn’t say anything; he’d be cool with it. But I don’t want to pressure you into anything, just putting that idea out there.”

Blinking a few times, Nick processed all Greg had just said. He was pretty sure Greg said everything in one breath.

“I’m pressuring you, aren’t I? Sara told me not to do this and this is what I’m doing. If you don’t want Bobby to know I’m fine with that. Who wants to have dinner at Bobby’s house anyway? Neither of them can cook, but Ryan makes the best chocolate cake in the world! You’ve got to try it sometime, but not right away if that’s what you want.”

“You know, technically, I’m not in the closet …”

“You just don’t go announcing it and if someone calls you on it then you’re honest. I know, you’ve told me this a million times. But by not telling people and letting them believe you like girls isn’t being honest, Nicky. Anyway, it’s okay. I just don’t want you to think that I’m trying to pressure you into anything. I shouldn’t have had brought up the whole Bobby dinner thing anyway. I get it, it’s too soon.”

“I’d like to go,” Nick whispered.

He felt like he had just taken a step off a cliff, his mind was still reeling from the fact that he had a boyfriend. He had a boyfriend for the past month and he didn’t even know it. There was a time when he thought he was Gil’s boyfriend and it took him a long time to figure out that he wasn’t. Now this time he was having the opposite problem.

“Really? That’s great! Okay, I’ll tell Bobby that we’ll come next week.” Greg grabbed his free hand and squeezed it, “Thanks, this means a lot to me.”

“It’s just dinner,” Nick shrugged.

“No, no, no, it’s not just dinner. This is you being honest with yourself and other people. I know it’s only to Bobby and Ryan, but its progress, right?”

“Greg, I …” Nick stopped and there was a minute of silence.

“What were you going to say, Nicky?” He smiled and squeezed Nick’s hand again.

“I …” What was he going to say? Nick didn’t know why he opened his mouth to begin with and now Greg would expect him to say something. “I really like being with you.” Nick surprised himself at the truth of his statement.

“Well, I hope so, since I’m your booooooyfriend,” Greg drew out the word to tease him, but a light appeared in his eyes that wasn’t there before.

Greg started his usual babbling, after a month Greg had yet to run out of things to say. If anything, he actually came up with more things to talk about. Nick just leaned back on the park bench and concentrated on finishing his ice cream.

Later when they were leaving the park, Nick realized that they were heading towards Greg’s apartment even though Nick lived closer.

“Why don’t we go back to my place? It’s closer.”

“What did you say?” Greg turned his head to stare at Nick.

“Greg! Road!”

“Oh! Sorry!” Greg hit his brakes hard to avoid ramming into the van that stopped in front of them. “Sorry, sorry, I was just surprised by what you said. We’ve never gone back to your place before, not that I’m complaining or anything. But yeah, let’s go, sounds good.”

Surprisingly the rest of the car ride was in silence and Nick was worried he had said something wrong. But he couldn’t figure out why Greg would be upset about going to Nick’s townhouse. His chest was beginning to constrict painfully and suddenly the car felt too small and all he wanted was to get out. Once the car was parked in his driveway, Nick got out of the car and made a beeline to the door, waiting briefly for Greg to catch up.

“You know, I’ve never been to your townhouse before,” the lab tech commented as he toed off his shoes in the entryway.

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Yes you have, remember when we used to play video games after work?”

“No, that was your old place. I haven’t been here since you moved after … Well, you know.”

“Oh … So, um, do you want something to drink?”

“Sure, you have any beer?”

“Yeah, just a sec.” Nick disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Greg behind in his living room.

“You’ve been living here for how long? Six months? And you still haven’t gotten everything unpacked?” Greg came up from behind Nick and wrapped his arms around his waist.

Nick did his best to look innocent, “I’ve been busy, especially with you around.”

“Nicky, you’re a neat freak and you’re telling me that you don’t have the time to unpack all those boxes that are cluttering your living room?”

“I’m not a neat freak,” Nick grumbled as he shuffled his way to the refrigerator to grab a couple of beers. It was a little hard considering that Greg refused to let go of his waist and wasn’t doing much to help Nick move.

“Nicky! You come over to my apartment and vacuum! You do my dishes and sweep my floors! Last week you were talking about scrubbing my ceiling. My ceiling, Nick! You’re like a sexy maid that cleans my apartment and all I have to do is feed and kiss you.” Greg emphasized his point by placing a wet kiss on the back of his neck. Greg’s teasing smile turned into a frown, “Is any of this about Crane? You were neat before, but you weren’t obsessive about it. And you don’t seem like the type of person to just leave half his life unpacked in a bunch of cardboard boxes for so long.”

Nick didn’t like where this was headed, he didn’t like being asked questions. He put the beers back into the refrigerator, spun around in Greg’s arms so they standing face to face and grasped his shoulders. There was only one way he knew how to take control of the situation. He pressed his open lips against Greg’s and shoved his tongue inside his mouth. He could feel Greg’s moan vibrate from his chest and throat and the lab tech unconsciously tightened his hold on Nick. They had made out before, but it never felt like this, it had never been as passionate or as desperate. It might’ve been something to do with the fact that Greg called Nick his boyfriend that day or maybe it was because he so badly wanted to escape the painful subject Greg brought up. Either way, Nick wanted more and Greg didn’t seem to mind complying with that demand.

Both were breathless after their mouths finally broke apart, Nick was struggling to get air back into his lungs while Greg stared at him with a dazed look in his eyes.

Greg pulled Nick even closer; something that Nick didn’t think was possible. His breath was hot in Nick’s ear as he murmured, “Nicky …”

Nick could feel the hardness of Greg’s groin against him and knew that he was just as hard. He smashed their lips together again, fighting Greg for dominance over the kiss while the lab tech pushed his against the wall. Nick wrapped one of his legs around Greg’s, throwing the other man off balance and forcing him to lean on Nick for support. Greg tore his mouth away from Nick’s as the Texan slid his hands under his shirt, his fingers lightly teasing bare skin.

Working on unbuttoning his boyfriend’s shirt, Greg moaned, “Jesus, Nicky, you’ve never been so aggressive before.”

“Bedroom,” was all Nick could say in reply.

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Nick stared up at his ceiling. His head was resting on Greg’s chest, listening to his slowing heart beat. The younger man ran his fingers through Nick’s short dark hair and drew invisible pictures on Nick’s arm with the fingers of his other hand. Both men were slightly sweaty and still clad in their now sticky boxers; for awhile neither of them could find the energy to move or speak.

Unsurprisingly it was Greg who broke the silence, “Wow … That was … Wow.”

The Texan nodded his head a little bit. His bones felt like jelly and his mouth was dry from the vocalization of his approval of what Greg did to him. Usually he was quiet in bed, but it seemed Greg’s love for noise rubbed off on him. He also felt lighter, he had been afraid that Greg would suddenly leave after the fact, but instead the lab tech only made himself comfortable in Nick’s bed and it didn’t look like he planned on leaving. Not that Nick minded, because for the moment all that mattered was that he was there with Greg.

“Hey, you still with me?”

Nick nodded again.

Greg chuckled as he shifted their bodies so they were facing each other on their sides. “I think you just killed half my brain cells.”

The Texan just buried his face in the crook of Greg’s neck and mumbled something unintelligible in response, the heat of his breath against sensitive skin caused Greg to shudder. He could feel that the lab tech was getting half hard just from them being so close and Nick had to admit that he was beginning to get aroused again as well.

“God Nicky, feeling your skin, so warm against me … You do things to me by just laying here.” Pressing Nick against the mattress, Greg rolled on top of him and brought his hand to the waistband of Nick’s boxers. “Is this okay, Nicky?” His eyes were full of lust but they also held a glint of concern.

“I …” It should have been easy to say yes, god knows he did it before when Gil asked a similar question. But the answer was caught in his throat and refused to come out.

“It’s okay, I understand.”

Greg climbed off of Nick and sat on the edge of the bed. He got up and bent down to pick up something off the floor, and Nick was about to have a panic attack. It looked like Greg was looking for his clothes so he could leave, put off by the fact that Nick did not agree to sex. The Texan opened his mouth to tell Greg that the condoms were in his nightstand when he saw Greg pick up the sheet and blanket they had kicked off the bed earlier. The younger man draped them both over Nick and got back into bed, snuggling close to his boyfriend.

“We’ll take this as slow as you want, Nicky,” he placed a kiss on the other man’s temple. “I don’t want you to rush into anything because you think I want you to, all right?”

Nick nodded and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, they drifted over to the man sleeping next to him and then to the alarm clock that never went off.

“Greg! We have thirty minutes to get to work!”

Greg sat up, not quite understanding what Nick was shouting about, but it all became clear when he saw the time.

“Fuck!”

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When she wanted to be, Catherine was a patient woman. True to her CSI training she gathered evidence even if it took time for that evidence to appear and using that evidence she pieced together the truth. A month ago she collected her first piece of evidence, but it was only that one piece and nothing else surfaced. There wasn’t enough to make a clear picture.

Until today.

Both Greg and Nick were ten minutes late. Something that was unusual for both of them, but for as long as Catherine knew him she had never seen Nick come in late. Of course, that didn’t really mean anything; they both arrived to work in different vehicles.

What really caught her eye was that Greg was wearing the same pair of pants as the night before and the shirt he wore was not his style at all, it didn’t even fit him very well. Actually, the shirt would’ve looked a lot better on Nick and Catherine would know, because she had seen it on him before.

Later that night she saw both at them in Greg’s lab and while they both looked very professional, she caught of glimpse of the lab tech rubbing the small of Nick’s back. It didn’t last very long and it was obviously a gesture to comfort Nick, who was having a hard time emotionally with the case, but experience told Catherine that men did not touch each other like that unless they were seeing each other.

“I see Nick’s already got our DNA results,” Catherine said rather loudly as she walked into the lab.

“It’s a match to the babysitter. Despite what the parents’ claim this proves that Michael was telling the truth. Why would they take the word of some punk they’ve known for a whole five minutes over their own son’s?” Nick spat out in disgust as he waved the sheet of paper with their results.

Catherine was going to tease Greg about wearing Nick’s shirt, but wisely decided to hold off until the case was over with. She knew the impact it was having on Nick and her bugging him about his love life wasn’t going to make it any better. Instead she offered him silent support and promised herself that she would harass the two of them later.

In the meantime, she’d pick on Sara for answers.

To Be Continued