nickngreg | Falling Up Part 6 (Reply)

Title: Falling Up
Rating: Overall fic is R
Warnings: Some sexual content
Summary for Part Six: Both Nick and Greg are honest
Spoilers: None

Parts One & Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Part Six – A Little Honesty

Nick hummed softly to himself as he processed a Volkswagen Beetle. He was in high spirits since he and Greg made up that morning and when he got into work that night he found that his case that seemed to have hit a dead end became hot again when Vega managed to locate the victim’s car. With the added bonus of the car, Nick found the murder weapon stashed under the driver’s seat and evidence to suggest that the victim was cheating on his girlfriend with a long haired brunette. The only downside was that Warrick, who was working the case with Nick, called in sick that night, leaving Nick by himself to do the long job of going over the car.

“Hey, Nick!” Catherine called out cheerfully as she approached the vehicle and the CSI processing it.

The Texan pulled his body out of the car and smiled up at Catherine, “Hey, Cath. What’re you doing on my end of the lab?”

“Grissom and I solved our case, so I was wondering if you’d like a hand with yours since Warrick’s down for the night.”

“Sure, throw on some gloves and check the trunk for me.”

Catherine did as she was told, checking for any signs of blood or fibers in the trunk of the Beetle. “I feel like we haven’t had the chance to talk for awhile.”

“Well, work’s been crazy and we haven’t been on a case together for awhile, so that’ll do it.”

“Nick, there’s a lot of blood back here.”

“The vic was dumped on his lawn, so the murderer probably transported him with his own car.”

“Tight fit, but it saved the murderer from getting his car all bloody. So anyway, is there anyone new in your life?”

Nick banged his head on the roof of the car and hissed in pain, rubbing at the back of his head. “Why do you ask that?”

“Well, cause awhile ago I saw Greg wearing one of your shirts.”

“What!?” Nick stepped away from the Beetle completely to look over at Catherine.

She came around from the back of the vehicle and grinned at him, “Anything you want to fess up to, Nick?”

Just then, Greg came into the garage, holding a piece of paper and waving it at Nick. “Hey, Nicky! I’m on break, so I figured that I’d drop off your DNA results and I got … What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Nick just buried his face in his hands as Catherine’s grin got wider.

“Nice shirt, Greg, but I think it looks a lot better on Nicky here or at least it did a couple days ago. Though it seems that lately you’ve developed a taste for more than Nick’s clothes, huh?”

Greg laughed in disbelief while Nick hid his burning face. Walking up to the Texan, Greg drew him close and planted a kiss on his forehead. “I think we were just given away by your own shirt.”

Catherine crossed her arms and tossed her hair a bit, clearly satisfied with getting the answers she wanted, but decided that she would dig for more. “Alright, I’ve got to know, who bottoms?”

This time, Greg blushed as well.

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“God! Grissom’s suddenly become a thousand times scarier than usual this week!” Greg dropped himself onto his couch, rubbing a hand across his face. Spreading his fingers open, he peaked through them to watch Nick, who was busy dusting Greg’s entertainment system. “Nicky, quit cleaning my apartment and get your hot ass on this couch with me.”

Nick put down his cleaning supplies and shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry, it was beginning to bother me.” He laid down on the couch and rested his head in Greg’s lap, smiling when the lab tech automatically began running his fingers through Nick’s hair. “Now, why is Grissom so scary all of a sudden? I haven’t noticed a change in him.” It had been a little over a week since Grissom had confronted Nick about his relationship with Greg. However, besides their first and only conversation about the topic, Grissom acted just like Grissom.

“I don’t know what’s up with him, maybe it’s been national pick on Greg week.”

“I haven’t been picking on you.”

“Well, that’s because you’re sweet.” Greg grabbed Nick’s hand and lifted it up to place a kiss his palm. “But he’s really been getting on my case lately. Maybe he thinks that I’m not good enough to be working at one of the country’s top crime labs. Maybe there’s going to be layoffs and Grissom is going to get rid of me. What if I get fired and I can’t afford rent over here and then I have to move back home with my parents? I really don’t want that to happen. Oh man, I really hope that he’s not firing me, I’ve never been fired before.”

Greg slumped down further in the couch and it broke Nick’s heart to see him so discouraged. Along with his sadness for Greg, he felt a flare of anger towards Gil for making his boyfriend upset. It was then that Nick knew that he had to tell Greg the truth. Sitting up, Nick pulled Greg into his arms, feeling a little awkward because it was usually Nick who was snuggled up in Greg’s embrace. The lab tech seemed a little startled, but quickly melted against Nick’s body, resting his head on the older man’s chest.

“Grissom being an ass has nothing to do with your skills and you’re not going to get fired. You’re great at what you do and he knows it. I think … I think he’s being harsh because he knows about us.”

“What?” Greg lifted his head to look Nick in the eyes. “How does he know about us?”

“I don’t know, but he asked me and I told him.”

The younger man grinned. “And I thought if anyone confronted you with that you’d deny it.” His grin slid away from his face and was replaced by a frown. “But why would he be angry at me? I wouldn’t peg Grissom as a homophobe, plus that means he’d be pissed at you too.”

Nick swallowed, not knowing how to form the words he knew he had to say. He kept reminding himself that Greg deserved to know the truth. “It’s because … At least this is what I think, I could be totally wrong, but I think it’s because … Gil and I used to be, um, involved … with each other.”

“What?” Greg’s eyes were wide and his jaw dropped. “You dated Grissom?” His voice conveyed his disbelief and near horror at the thought of Nick with Grissom.

Nick cringed at Greg’s reaction and pulled away from him. “We didn’t date …”

“But you were ‘involved’?” The lab tech sprung to his feet and started pacing in front of the couch. “You were ‘involved’? You mean a one night stand? Experimenting with each other? What do you mean by ‘involved’?” Greg would throw up his hands every time he say the word involved and it made Nick’s chest squeeze painfully every time he did it.

“I let him fuck me.” The words were on the borderline of a whimper and Greg’s face twisted up into sympathy at the sound.

“I’m sorry, baby.” He knelt in front of the couch, placing his hands on Nick’s knees. “I just … I can’t imagine Grissom with anyone, I mean, the guy is practically asexual and honestly, it freaks me out a bit to think of my sweet, caring Nicky with cold, distant Grissom. I didn’t mean to react that way.” His eyes begged for an apology and Nick couldn’t deny him that. Grabbing Greg’s hand, he hauled the lab tech back up on the couch, allowing his boyfriend to envelope him in a big hug. Greg rubbed his back and whispered, “Tell me what happened.”

“What’s there to tell? We fucked for awhile and then it stopped,” Nick replied unhappily.

“Please tell me.”

Nick let out a frustrated sigh and grumbled out the whole story into Greg’s shoulder. “We got together about a month before Holly Gribbs died … I thought it was serious, I had feelings for him, but all we ever did was have sex. Always at my place and he always left afterwards. Then Sara came to town, she stayed and Gil left me for good. We never talked about it afterwards. Last week, when he confronted me, was the closest we’ve ever acknowledged to each other that something ever happened between the two of us.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you two talked last week? Nicky, why didn’t you tell me?”

Tears stung Nick’s eyes, “I didn’t want to have to tell you that I let Gil use me and that I acted like a slut.”

Greg’s hold on Nick tightened. “You didn’t act like a slut; you’re anything but a slut. Hell, you didn’t even let me kiss you on the first date. As you said, Nicky, you had feelings for him and those kinds of feelings make you do things that you normally wouldn’t do. It was wrong of him to exploit those feelings, very wrong. And the fact that he’s jealous now makes him a bigger jackass.”

“He’s not jealous.”

“Um, Nicky? This seems like textbook jealousy to me.”

“Jealousy would mean that he wants me and he never did to begin with. He’s probably just being a jerk because he doesn’t like me.”

“Nicky! You’re too blind to see it, but Grissom is jealous.”

“You’re insane, Greg.”

The lab tech sighed in defeat, knowing he wouldn’t get through to Nick. “Okay, I’ll drop the subject. But if I catch him making a pass at you I get to defend your honor.”

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Nick was beginning to think that Greg might have been onto something with the whole Gil being jealous idea. He found himself working more solo cases, granted, they were small cases and it felt insulting, but it was more than he had ever gotten before. Grissom was also acting friendlier towards him and they were actually getting along very well for the first time in a couple years, yet whenever Greg was mentioned in a conversation a dark look would always briefly pass over Gil’s face. At first Nick thought he imagined it, but it became clear that Greg was a subject that Gil didn’t want to talk about with Nick or anyone for that matter. The Texan also saw firsthand how coldly his boss was treating Greg and after Nick made a comment about it, Gil’s behavior improved a little bit.

And as much as Nick loathed admitting it, he enjoyed all the attention Gil suddenly gave him. He was starting to remember why he had been attracted to the older man and now, as Gil was acting human towards him, he seemed attainable in away he had never been before. But Gil was in no way an option for Nick anymore, Gil had deeply hurt him in the past, he was also Nick’s boss, not to mention what the whole situation would do to Sara, and much more importantly, Nick had Greg.

Still, thoughts of how Gil was acting plagued Nick’s mind, often when he lay in bed, waiting for sleep to claim him. When that happened, instead of counting sheep, Nick would think of adjectives that described Greg.

“Cute, intelligent, amusing, energetic, kind, hot, blond, Norwegian, skinny, loquacious, funny, male, fidgety, caring, sweet, thoughtful, friendly, extremely sexy …”

“What are you rambling about?” Greg opened one sleepy eye to look at the man in his arms.

Nick jerked a little, unaware that he had been talking aloud. “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

Greg pushed himself up on one elbow and smiled down at Nick. “It sounded like you were talking about someone. May I ask who has all of those wonderful qualities?”

“When I can’t sleep I start listing off adjectives that describe you.” He pulled the comforter up to cover his face and was slightly horrified when Greg tugged it away.

“You really think of me like that?”

“Maybe…” Nick rolled onto his stomach, feeling increasingly embarrassed by the second.

“Aw, Nicky, you think I’m extremely sexy.” Greg crawled on top of Nick and nuzzled his neck. He began to kiss and lick his way down Nick’s bare back, causing the older man to shudder and moan into his pillow. Slender fingers danced over Nick’s ribcage before slipping under his warm body to play with overly sensitive nipples and in response Nick turned onto his back to give Greg better access.

Nick found that he wanted more, to go farther than they usually did. With everything that had been going on, Nick became a little confused about what he wanted. But in an instant he knew what he wanted and needed.

“Need you,” Nick gasped as a warm tongue found its way to his ear.

“I’m right here, baby,” Greg gently blew on Nick’s ear, causing another delightful gasp for breath from the man beneath him.

“Need you inside of me,” Nick clarified, spreading his legs so the younger man was settled between them and thrusting his boxer clad hips up to grind against Greg.

“Jesus …” The lab tech nearly collapsed, but managed to keep himself from crushing Nick. “Are you sure about this? I don’t want to … Oh gods!” Greg moaned loudly when a warm hand slipped into his boxers to stroke him. “Okay, sex … yeah, I can do that.”

He rolled out of bed and rushed over to the top drawer of his dresser where he stored his lube and condoms. When Greg turned around to look over at Nick, he found that the Texan had already shed his boxers and was spread out nude on the bed waiting for him. Greg found that his mouth was suddenly dry and for awhile all he could do was stare.

“You’re so beautiful, Nicky.”

Nick blushed, but pretended that he didn’t hear Greg. “Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to join me?”

“Dear lord, whatever I did to deserve this I’ll be sure to do it again and again,” Greg said to himself before taking off his boxers and jumping back into bed.

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Nick was sore, it had been far too long since he had sex, but it had been more than worth it. He masked the pain very well and other than a quiet hiss when Greg pushed into him, his ever attentive boyfriend could not detect it; still that did nothing to stop Greg from being a gentle and caring lover. It had taken awhile, but the pain had faded into the most intense pleasure Nick had ever experienced.

A sweaty and exhausted Greg was still on top of him, not that Nick minded though, he enjoyed the feel of the weight pressing down on him and the still rapid heartbeat that matched his own. When Greg finally moved, it was only to discard the condom and to clean Nick and himself off. He flopped down onto the bed and sighed with contentment when he dragged Nick into his arms. The Texan was quite content as well, he felt that sometimes physical acts expressed much more than words ever could and he knew no other way to show Greg how he felt for the younger man than to be physically intimate with him.

Greg, however, was most comfortable with words and in a sleepy haze he mumbled out, “Love you, Nicky.”

To Be Continued