One Year, Two Mismatched Men and Three Million Dollars 6/?

[gregisamazing.livejournal.com]

Title: One Year, Two Mismatched Men and Three Million Dollars

Chapter: 6/? (Previous chapters are found here)

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Alcohol is known to do some pretty dangerous things to men, but when Research Scientist, Greg Sanders and Professional Trainer, Nick Stokes meet one drunken night- neither of them knew that it’d change their lives forever. In this instalment Nick and Greg play a game of 21 questions to get to know one another better and the married couple return to their separate lives of work…

A/N: Wow, after a long holiday in the pouring rain (did I mention I was staying in the sunny UK and yeah, terrible weather) I’m finally back… Hurrah? Anyways, I had an approximate chapter guide… It’ll be about 40 parts (I think)

A/N2: There’s some Crash Bandicoot reference in here (that franchise totally pwned Spyro) as well as periodic table references. 21 questions can be a seriously odd game you know…

A/N3: There’s some other pairings in the story now (Grissom/Sara and Catherine/Warrick) they aren’t the main focus of course, but there’s some in there.

Nick wasn’t actually used to the silence that had settled over his apartment; it had never been a place of peace before, and he didn’t expect it to be now, but somehow it was. The TV screen flickered, with the nonsense pictures and a colour of some mindless cartoon Greg had flicked on, but wasn’t paying attention to and the sound was off. He just sat there, looking blankly at the screen, as if he was staring straight through it.

 

Nick hadn’t been around the guy much, he couldn’t really say what Greg was like or what he enjoyed doing, but he knew that it wasn’t Greg to sit still and quiet. Even though he’d been around him twenty-four hours he’d not seen the man sit still or shut up… So this moment was so odd.

 

Greg had that vacant look on his face, and some unreadable emotion in his eyes and Nick wasn’t really sure what to do. He’d never been in a situation like this before. Was he supposed to offer condolences? Was he supposed to offer moral support? Or was he supposed to leave him alone to recover?

 

He needed a manual to help him out and tell him what he was meant to do.

 

Nick hadn’t had a male roommate since college, it was odd to suddenly have one all over again and he couldn’t remember how he’d managed to cope before. It was strange seeing clothes that weren’t his, a second shaver in the bathroom and the spare room to suddenly being occupied by someone else… He hadn’t had anyone living with him… He didn’t do having to share his space with someone else. He didn’t do sharing his life with someone else, that’s why he’d always kept the space boundaries, and it meant that they fully couldn’t be committed to one another.

 

Yes, he would admit it; he was a commitment-phobe.  

 

He flopped down into one of the overstuffed chairs in his living-room, looking between the television screen and Greg that was curled up on the sofa. He was torn between keeping boundaries and being supportive for someone; what should he actually do?

 

“Greg,” He said softly, despite all his reservations that were telling him not to get involved. “Are you going to be okay?”

 

The younger looked away from the screen, his blank expression settling on Nick, giving him the creeps. Slowly he nodded.

 

“I’ll be fine.” He mumbled slowly, “I’m just feeling a bit… Odd…”

 

“That’s only to be expected.” Silence again. “That Archie guy seemed nice.”

 

“You spoke to him?” Greg asked confused, crawling from one end of the sofa to the other, resting his chin on the armrest to stare at Nick. “How?”

 

“He came over to speak to me once you’d explained it all to him. He guessed I was who you were talking about, and so he came to talk and warn me he’ll be fighting for you.”

 

“You didn’t make a threat on his life or anything did you? If you did I swear I will hurt you so much…”

 

Nick chuckled slightly; knowing that it was an empty threat because there was no way Greg could harm him in any shape. He just didn’t have the physique that could even threaten Nick in the slightest.

 

“No, I didn’t. I just kept quiet. He seemed a bit shocked though, as if he wasn’t expecting someone like me to marry you.”

 

For the first time since their meeting with Archie earlier on, Greg was actually smiling and paying attention to the world around.

 

“You’re not my type,” Greg said simply. “I don’t go for the jock types, brain over brawn and all that.”

 

“You class me as a jock? Isn’t that a bit high school?”

 

“Still it does apply in the real world. Think about it, all those trophies up on your mantle are any of them actually academic?” Greg watched as Nick looked over the shelf, obviously realising that they all were for sports of some description. “Nope, so that makes you a jock- all about the sports.”

 

“And you’re a nerd.”

 

Greg pouted for a few seconds, not really expecting Nick to bring up his high-school status. He supposed it was only fair, bringing up the past was what couples were meant to do so this was classed as progress.

 

“Fine,” He threw up his hands in defeat. “I’m a nerd, but think back… Did you ever see a jock dating a nerd?”

 

“Nope,” Nick said remembering the good times in high school in Texas. Playing on the football team, the surge of pride as the team won and the feeling of representing the school and building a reputation for himself. “You stuck with your social crowd; nerds never dated jocks. It was just not right back then.”

 

“Yep, since then I’ve tended to stick with the whole brains over everything else… Archie just guessed that you were either a really odd intellectual or I’d totally stepped outside my normal zone.”

 

“I guess Mandy thought the same thing.”

 

“You stepped out of your whole normal gender.” Greg grinned as Nick laughed. “I suppose we’ve totally gone different from what we class as our normal.”

 

“This isn’t normal. Everyone’s going to think I’ve gone insane.”

 

“Are you going to tell them?” Looking at Nick’s bemused expression he quickly continued, “I mean not about being married, I mean about me and you.”

 

“Me and you?” He raised a questioning brow at him.

 

“Yeah, I mean that there is no way you can deny that you’re married… But you can deny who you are married to.”

 

Nick realised what Greg was talking about, wondering whether he was going to be honest about whom he was legally bound to. Was he going to be honest? Was he really going to admit to his best friend that he was in a gay marriage?

 

“I don’t know.” Nick admitted, rubbing at his face. “It’s a big leap for me, I’m not sure if I will tell anyone… I might just have to avoid the details.”

 

“I understand. But won’t you get quizzed about your wife?” Greg knew that if his work place was anything to go by, Nick was bound to be bombarded with questions. “I will. So if you don’t mind I need to know a little more about you, just to tide them all over.”

 

“What do you want to know?”

 

Greg hesitated; unsure exactly what a married couple should know about one another. His parents practically knew everything about each other, same with his grandparents- but then again they had been married for many years, what were they like when they were just beginning?

 

“What are married couples meant to know about one another?”

 

Nick shrugged, how was he supposed to know that?

 

“Okay then, why don’t we play twenty-one questions?” Greg suggested, propping himself on his elbows.  “It’s a game. We both ask each other 21 random questions, should give us an insight into one another…”

 

“Uhhhh, I suppose we could. I have nothing else to do.”

 

“Good! Okay then, they’re not meant to be normal questions like what’s your favourite colour…”

 

“Blue.” He answered instantly, “Dark blue or black.”

 

“That wasn’t a question. I said they had to be weird, that’s the whole point of this game.”

 

“What’s yours?” Nick asked, adjusting his position on the seat.

 

“Anything that is bright and/or neon.” Greg pointed to his feet and the luminous green neon socks. “Brighter colours improve your mood.”

 

Nick cringed at the loudness of the socks, refusing to believe that any sane man would be caught dead with such odd coloured garments. He didn’t care if it could improve his mood; he didn’t want to look like a colourful circus person.

 

“Now,” Greg continued, ignoring the distaste Nick was clearly displaying towards his clothing choice. “I’ll start this then, twenty one questions between us. Okay then, if you were an element which one would you be?”

 

“Earth?”

 

“Not that type of element.” Greg shook his head, “I mean table of elements as in the Helium and Zinc and that sort of thing… From the periodic table.”

 

“Oh,” Nick realised that he was talking to someone that was playing 21 questions with some type of scientist, to him the idea of the world being composed of earth, wind, fire and water was preposterous. “What type of question is that?”

 

“The type that you have to think hard about, not a simple yes-no answer, not a question you can plan answers for. Something you have to think about so I know what you really think about, what you’re really like.”

 

Greg wasn’t joking when he said that he wouldn’t be able to have planned an answer to the question and it certainly was making him think long and hard about an answer.

 

I could be oxygen… But that’d mean people couldn’t survive without me and that’s too shallow. I could be something radioactive, but then again that’d mean if you had too long around me you’d die on the inside and have to wear a hazmat suit. Okay then, I’m not anything highly reactive because I don’t react and explode a lot; I’m not a gas, I have more substance than that…

 

“Copper,” Nick finally settled with after weighing up all his options and deciding this was possibly the best that described him. “I know you’ll think copper is boring but it’s what represents me most. I only corrode in extreme circumstances, dependable, have many different purposes in life, doesn’t react a lot…” He stopped, only to see if Greg was actually laughing at the non-reactive comment. But he wasn’t, he was nodding and understanding the explanation that he was giving. “It’s always going to be there, Mr. Reliable. What would you be? Neon?”

 

“No,” Greg shook his head, “I’d be magnesium. It’s a metal too; but it’s a bit different… It doesn’t react to much- but when it does it’s very explosive. It’s unusual, it’s flexible, and it’s not traditional metal. Plus it has an awesome name.” 

 

------------

 

20 questions later they’d both figured a lot out about one another from stupid questions that people didn’t traditionally ask one another. There wasn’t any did you like your parents or where would you call home; there were questions about what animal represented them best (Nick had stayed within the normal animal world and had claimed he was a dog, trusty, loyal and protective whereas Greg had picked a Bandicoot; small, inquisitive, nimble and could go out and defeat Neo Cortex if he really wanted to) and if they were going to go on an expedition to anywhere, where would it be (Greg chose the Amazon Rainforest and Nick chose Mount Everest).

 

There was just one more question, Greg’s turn once again and he’d known what he was going to ask since he had suggested the game to Nick. He knew that it was the same question that had died on Nick’s lips for the last few goes too; it was something they both wanted to know… But neither had been prepared to mention yet.

 

“Last one.” Greg said, staring at the dregs of the beer in his bottle. They’d got comfortable over the time; they’d almost forgotten that they weren’t friends but partners; they’d been lulled into a world where they had met by chance and become friends and now reality was slowly starting to work its way back into the room like the darkness through the blinds.

 

“Yeah,” Nick croaked, setting his bottle down on the glass coffee table and turning his attention back to the television where the news crew were outside a convenience store where blue and red lights illuminated the parking-lot.

 

“What to ask?” Greg said aloud, not even considering the question he was going to ask, knowing it already. “I know one but you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. What are you planning to do when this is all over?”

 

If he had been asked a few weeks ago, Nick would have said that in a year he’d be doing the same thing he was now. He’d be working at the gym as a trainer, working with his best friend and living in this apartment with someone that was going to be his future. Now though, it wasn’t like that.

 

“Warrick and I, we’ve always dreamt about having our own gym you know? Somewhere where everyone can come, not like most of the places you have… More like a leisure centre make it so families can use it… Warrick wants to help underprivileged kids; says they’ve had a bad start in life and need a chance like he was given and I want to give them all a chance by setting them up places where they can go and play sport, places where they can hang out rather than out at the casinos. I’ve always wanted to do something for those kids, give opportunities. Before now it’s just seemed like a dream… But this could be a reality now.”

 

“I know.” Greg smiled, learning more about Nick then than any of the previous twenty questions they had posed one another.

 

------------

 

Greg awoke that morning with a crick in his neck and an earache from the pitch of his watch alarm; he’d slept on the couch probably not bothering to head towards his room after the game. It had got them talking, it had got them both to realise that two mismatched men both had a lot more about them than the surface depicted.

 

Greg rubbed at his face, hissing at the sunlight and the thought that it was a Monday morning. He hated Mondays, they were (in Greg’s mind) a complete waste of time and energy for everyone. After a weekend of relaxing and unwinding, people weren’t really focused on any form of work, they were too busy talking about their latest conquest or the cool bar they’d found downtown.

 

Monday mornings were just… pointless.

 

This Monday was different though, different in the way that Greg was about to talk about his latest conquest of the golden band on his finger. He hadn’t got around to telling Nick that his work colleagues were going to know about their marriage, in fact he hadn’t even got around to telling Nick where he even worked.

 

Twenty-one questions may have given them an insight into each other, but it didn’t help on the fundamentals of bare facts and anything about family… Greg made a mental note to find all that out the following evening.

 

-------------

 

He pulled up outside his workplace, wondering whether he was early or whether today there was an out-of-town conference for some departments because the lot was actually quiet. The steel and glass contraption looked out of place against the cement cascades; and Greg sometimes wished it wasn’t glass because the place really didn’t need to stand out against the crowds.

 

“Morning,” Greg smiled at Judy and the security guy as he entered the building, his ID card hanging proudly around his neck.

 

It’s about time I got a new one of these. Greg thought to himself, looking at the picture of the dark brown waves that were slicked down against his head. I was so green back in those days with no fashion sense.

 

He slipped into lab 34, smiling at Sara who was already at her desk and working over the paperwork from last week they never got done. He slipped into his lab-coat, taking his seat at one of the desks in the room, pulling his sterile gloves on, ready to start work.

 

“How was your weekend?” Sara asked, not taking any attention away from the paperwork. “I got a slurred message from you on Friday night saying something about a wedding, wasn’t sure whether to take it seriously considering you were slightly worse for wear.”

 

“I was organising your wedding to Grissom, wanted to get some of the brides input.” Greg laughed, as Sara scowled at him.

 

“Very funny Greg.” She rolled her eyes at the childish humour of her co-worker. No one would believe that she and Grissom were just strictly co-workers, there was nothing going on after hours. “What were you babbling about in your message?”

 

“Well, I would tell you now, but I’d have to repeat it for everyone else when they get in. How about we wait for everyone else?”

 

Sara raised a questioning brow at Greg but didn’t pursue it further, pushing a stray hair back behind her ear, focusing back on the paperwork- whilst Greg slipped the picture of Archie and himself away into his drawer.

 

---------

 

“I tried to catch you on the weekend bro; you were never in when I phoned you.” Warrick said to his friend as they set up the equipment for the morning clients. “Take it you were a very busy fella.”

 

“You could say that.”

 

“Mandy again?” Warrick frowned sensing the tension of his friend at the mention of her name. “What happened?”

 

“We broke up.” Nick answered simply because that was the truth… Minus the few details about what exactly the weekend had entailed and obviously about Greg and Vegas Valentines. “How about you and Cath?”

 

“It went well, met her daughter, Lindsey. She’s sweet, just like her Mom.” Warrick grinned, “I enjoyed playing happy families. I don’t know, I think this could be the real thing.”

 

“As in marriage?” He’d known that Catherine and Warrick were serious, but he’d never thought about just how serious they had been. They’d been seeing each other less time than Nick had being seeing Mandy, but he’d never considered getting married. Was that wrong of him? Or was that a sign?

 

“Yeah, I was thinking about it. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I don’t want to rush into this though; I want to make sure I know definitely that it’s right.”

 

“Yeah,” He could do nothing but agree because rushing into a marriage was extremely detrimental to someone’s health, he was living proof. Rushing into a marriage had damaged him emotionally, mentally and physically… He didn’t want his best-friend to go through the same thing.

 

“You okay with this whole Mandy thing? You’re not really being yourself.”

 

“Yeah,” He looked about the room, making sure it was empty before starting. “I got something to tell you though, something important. You gotta promise me you’re not going to hate me for it.”

 

Warrick looked at him quizzically, probably worried about what Nick was about to tell him.

 

“Morning boys.” Catherine smiled, slipping into the room- her blonde hair tied back and dressed in her infamous work-out clothes that were still stylish in the process. “Can I borrow Warrick for a minute?”

 

------------

 

“You’re joking aren’t you?” Sara asked sceptically, her hands on her hips. “There is no way you are married.”

 

“If you’re married, Grissom and Sara are dating secretly.” Hodges smirked, and Grissom and Sara shared a look of utter disbelief. “We all know that’s not happening.”

 

Greg fidgeted by his desk, aware that all the members of lab 34 were staring at him in disbelief. He fiddled with the cuff of his lab-coat, trying to avoid attracting attention to the gold band on his left hand.

 

“Are you actually serious?”

 

He nodded, looking up slightly at his work-friends to gauge their reactions. Sara’s eyes were wide and her mouth hanging open, Hodges had a look of utter disbelief and satisfaction because Sara had raised to his bait and Grissom was pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“Archie finally popped the question then?”

 

“No.” He said sullenly, after all Archie could have beaten Nick to the punch months ago but he never did. “It’s sort of been on and off with Archie for months.” He admitted, watching as the three residents of the lab shared a stunned look. It had seemed fine between the pair of them on Friday by the vending machines. “I sort of met someone else a few months ago, we were just strictly friends back then but recently it was becoming something more and well the rest is history.”

 

A few moments passed in silence as the three came to terms with the news; it was Hodges that finally broke the silence by uttering a quiet wow.

 

-----------

 

They hadn’t seen each other all morning; every time Nick was about to speak to Warrick they were both whisked away to work with their clientele. Nick didn’t want to tell Warrick over lunch because the odds were that Catherine would be eating there with them. He wanted to tell his best friend before anyone else and having Catherine there would make it a more awkward moment.

 

The man on the exercise bench groaned and panted as he lifted the weights once more, reminding Nick where he was and exactly what he was doing. The balding 40-something business man had spent more time on earning himself a healthy bank-balance than keeping himself healthy was now paying high rates to try bringing his body back to normal standards.

 

“Just two more reps.” Nick said, knowing that he was actually lifting the weights the man, without his assistance he’d probably not be able to lift it once.

 

“Can’t… I… Just… Skip… Them?” He wheezed through gritted teeth. “Feel… Like… Death…”

 

Nick would normally just ignore the comments; the saying no pain no gain was the Holy Grail here, if he wanted the physique he’d have to work at it. But today he smiled and nodded, allowing the guy to totter off five minutes before scheduled, but it allowed him to try and catch Warrick between clients too.

 

Hanging about by the lockers got him a few strange looks but he knew it was guaranteed that Warrick would come back here between clients. It was their conversing place during work hours because if Brass or Bobby caught them conversing on the clock, who knew what they’d do.

 

Right on cue, Warrick waltzed into the locker room with Catherine following hot on his heels. He frowned, knowing this could be his last chance of talking to Warrick at all in the day. Nick smiled, waving Warrick over in hope that perhaps he’d understand the situation.

 

“What’s up man? You’re a little jittery today.” Warrick quipped, taking a seat on the bench beside him whilst Catherine hovered in the background. “What was it you wanted to tell me earlier?”

 

Nick hesitated; sure that Catherine was listening in on the conversation, wondering how to phrase it so this time he didn’t get a smack because he was sure this time it’d be a lot more painful than a simple slap from Mandy.

 

“Look, I know this is going to sound completely odd for me but this weekend breaking up with Mandy wasn’t the only thing that happened.”

 

“I knew there was something else getting you down. You know you can talk to me about anything right?”

 

“I’m married.”

 

He heard the squeal of surprise from Catherine confirming his suspicions that she was indeed listening… But it was the disappointed look Warrick was giving him that pierced his armour the most.

 

Maybe a punch would have been better for him.

Comments

[wojo62.livejournal.com]

Glad you continued this, I really like this fic and this chapter.

[gregisamazing.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Really glad you enjoyed this part.

[jayceepat.livejournal.com]

Thank Heavens, I was beginning to think this was another one of those stories that start and then just drop out of sight. I must admit when I read chapter one I was thinking this was going to be another one of those greg/nick meet, fuck and the end. I enjoyed this chapter so much because of the originality and 'the game' as a way to get to know each other. Please do continue. This one is going to be interesting.

[gregisamazing.livejournal.com]

No! I wouldn't let this drop out of sight, this is my little project- just went away and couldn't get to the internet. I also thought that the whole Nick and Greg meet and fuck kind of things aren't realistic, I'm trying to make this as realistic with the slight AU to it.

Glad you are enjoying it and glad to hear you think it's original- I try to be out of the loop- makes things interesting.

Thanks for reviewing as always!

[vampwb36.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking of this fic earlier today and then I log on and find that you have updated. Yay!

I love that Greg dosen't start out with easy questions or even normal questions he starts with "what element would you be?" lol had me cracking up.

Can't wait for the next update!

[gregisamazing.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the review, and that's freaky on the update front... Really freaky. I was hoping to update on vacation, but unfortunately no internet :(

That question was so Greg and aren't you just fed up of playing 21 questions and they're all 'What country do you want to live in?' Greg just has to do something odd..

Update will be soon. Thanks for reading!