Fic: Life Changes 12/29

[jayceepat.livejournal.com]

TITLE: LIFE CHANGES
RATING: NC-17 this chapter
PAIRINGS: Nick/OMC
WARNINGS: Very adult content and language
SUMMARY: A casual remark can change a life
SPOILERS: None
BANNER: Created by Bflyw
DISCLAIMER: If you don’t recognize it, it’s mine. Otherwise, everything belongs to Bruckheimer, CBS and Zuicker.

Previous chapters can be found here



It was late Friday night and Nick would be leaving soon. They were lying in the big bed that had played such an important role in their two weeks together. It still amazed both of them that they had formed habits in such a short time. They had two positions for sleep; either with Collin on his back and Nick sprawled across him, his head on his chest and an arm and a leg draped across his body or on their sides with whoever had topped curled tight around the other. They both instinctively reached over the warm body in front of them to hold onto a deflated cock.

The first time it happened, Nick had mumbled to Collin that it wasn’t going to do him any good. His dick was dead…at least for a couple of hours. Collin told him he wasn’t trying to start anything, he just wanted to hold him. Nick laughed and put his hand over Collin’s and told him the poor thing was so deflated, he was amazed he could find anything to hold on to.

Tonight, they were lying on their sides but they were face to face. They had made love slowly, for a long time. No one had said anything out loud but they both realized they were making love and not fucking. Now they were so close they seemed to be sharing the same breath. They had talked about how they would spend this last day many times over the past two weeks. Neither of them wanted an emotional, overwrought parting. They had come to the same conclusion almost at the same time. They had something very special; it might even be love BUT Nick had a life in Las Vegas and Collin belonged to Hotlanta. The biggest stopper was children. Nick knew more than ever that he wanted them and Collin was determined that he was not parent material and he was sure he would never be able to share Nick with anyone who needed as much attention as a child would.

The only time they had sort of went over the edge was when they agreed that if Nick could not find a partner that would be willing to raise a family with him, male or female, he would call Collin and see how his life was going.
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At the start of their time together, they both thought they would spend their last day alone in bed; they hadn’t. Nick had slipped into Collin’s life so easily it seemed as though he had been there forever. They had dinner and movies with Naomi, Steve and Larry, other neighbor’s in the building and various combinations of Collin’s partner Mitch and his employee’s. They had gone to Body Heat with Larry and Steve and danced and flirted among the four of them. They spent one unbelievable night at the Fox theatre in Atlanta seeing “Jersey Boys” with the original Broadway cast. Nick was so enthralled with everything, he almost dislocated his neck trying to look at the stage, listen to the songs and look at the theatre itself. The other four took turns telling him the history of the Fabulous Fox Theater; how the building was originally built to be the Masonic Temple but over time had fallen into disrepair and at one time was scheduled to be demolished. A concentrated effort on the part of Atlanta residents determined to preserve this unique land mark had saved the building from the wrecker’s ball. More determination and millions of dollars had been poured into restoring the building to its former greatness. The persistence had paid off. Now the Fabulous Fox was one of the jewels in Hotlanta’s crown.

They had seats in the first row of the gallery and Nick was sure they had the best seats in the house. He had wondered at first why they didn’t get tickets down on the main floor but when he was settled, he realized that he could see every single inch of the stage with no obstructions; he could hear every word perfectly AND had a perfect view of the unbelievable ceiling. Nick could not keep his eyes off the ceiling when the lights were on. It was painted to look like the night sky over a scene right out of the Arabian Nights complete with balcony’s built at the top edge of the walls. But the most amazing thing was the clouds which appeared to move across the ceiling along with lights which mimicked the movement of the sun as it swept across the sky from one horizon to another.

Usually, when a current Broadway show was staged at the Fox, it was a road show cast and small parts were filled in by local talent. This was a rare showing because it was the original 4 actors. Some work was being done on the theatre in New York and they had been offered a fabulous vacation in Atlanta (along with some substantial financial incentives) to do four shows; Thursday, Friday and two on Saturday. The five friends had gone to the Saturday night performance and then had gone on to close the night out at some of Atlanta’s hottest clubs. Naomi was a phenomenal dancer and had managed to wear all four men out by the time they ended their night.

Collin had kept his promise completely. He and Nick had alternated hours of sight seeing while pretending to be two out-of-town tourists there to see the sights with hours of sex so fantastic, it often left Nick mindless and boneless. They spent hours with Rally, playing with him in the small garden attached to the apartment building and taking him to Piedmont Park where there was plenty of room to work on his training. They went to Collin’s projects where Nick was amazed to discover that not only did his entire crew know about his sexual orientation but they were completely comfortable with it.

Purely by accident, Nick became almost as popular with the crew as Collin and Mitch were. It happened on his first visit to the site of Mitch & Collin’s biggest project; a unique office building that would be the home office for a large insurance company relocating to Marietta, Georgia. Nick followed Collin around the site, asking questions and looking at everything with great interest. He was trying to work out the logistics involved in the construction of a spectacular, cantilevered wall when he realized that the crew were speaking in Spanish; Spanish with a lot of slang and sexual innuendo’s. Now Nick had grown up with the Mexican vaquero’s on his Grandpa’s ranch and he spoke Spanish as well as he spoke English. He concentrated on the wall pretending to ignore the conversation which was sprinkled with laughing comments about his ass and how well it was holding up after a week-end with the boss. Evidently, they all knew Collin was an enthusiastic sex partner. Nick wondered if any of them had been the friends who had taken Collin to the ER when he had been so brutally raped. He wondered even more, if any of them were in on what had happened to Collin’s rapist.

He made friends for life when he turned around, walked over and in perfect street Spanish, told them that his ass was the happiest it had been in a long time and he was pretty sure that Collin’s was too since he had been topped that morning. He finished by asking them if they hadn’t noticed that Collin was walking a little bow-legged. He was smiling his happy smile with dimples the whole time he was talking to them.

There was complete silence for a moment and then...every single one of them dropped their tools and came over and started shaking Nick’s hand, slapping him on the back and just in general making it apparent that he was completely accepted. Collin and Mitch walked over when they heard the noise the tools made just in time to see their crew swarming all over Nick like he was long-lost family. They just looked at each other in complete amazement. Finally, Collin hollered at his guys to un-hand his man and get back to work. They made some outrageous suggestions but laughingly went back to work. Collin threw his arm around Nick’s shoulders and asked him if he was going to come on to every single person he introduced him to. Nick said he couldn’t help it if he made friends easily.

They were supposed to go to lunch after the site visit but Collin took Nick to his office where he locked the door, pulled Nick down on the remarkably comfortable rug and proceeded to remind him that he was his and his only. When they finally left the office to go to lunch, they were both walking bow-legged.
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There had been an informal good-bye party for Nick earlier that day. It started in the afternoon when practically all of Collin’s neighbors started dropping in with food and drinks. No one stayed long; they knew it was a bittersweet time. Collin was not the only one who had come to love Nick during his stay. Even if he had never said it to Nick, it showed in every word and gesture that passed between them. Larry and Steven had come over around 5.00pm followed by Mitch and almost every single man who worked for them. Even Gerald and David from Body Heat had showed up and stayed for an hour. Nick was beginning to think he might have to rent a U-haul to hold all the gifts he had received during the evening.
For Nick, the most amazing thing about the whole evening was the fact that everyone, gay, straight or bi had embraced him, Collin and each other with no reservations at all. He wondered if such complete acceptance was a Hotlanta thing or if it was just this unique group of people. He also wondered if he would ever experience this acceptance when he was back on his home turf in Las Vegas.

Around 8.00pm only Larry, Steve and Naomi were there. Almost as one, they stood and started gathering up Nick’s bags and gifts. They all took them down to his truck and carefully stowed everything away. First Larry and then Steven hugged Nick and kissed him good-bye. Nick realized how much he had changed when he not only accepted their kisses but returned them with deep affection. They then said good-bye to Collin and Naomi, exchanging hugs and kisses and telling them to call them if they needed anything including just someone to be around and make some noise. Nick, Collin and Naomi headed toward the elevator while Larry and Steve got in their car and drove out of the garage. Naomi asked them if they wanted her to take Rally. They both said no at the same time. Collin thanked her and told her they wanted one final walk with him. Naomi looked at Nick and he could read her mind as surely as if she had said it out loud. Collin wanted Rally with him when Nick left. They walked Naomi to her door. Nick held her and kissed her for a long time. When he let her go, he was so close to tears he couldn’t talk but she whispered in his ear and told him she would take care of both Collin and Rally for him. They walked back to the elevator, holding hands and neither said a word. They went upstairs, got Rally and took him outside. When they took him back upstairs, it was almost a repeat of their first night together. Their hands together on his collar, they took him into the spare bedroom and put him to bed. Then they went to their room.
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Now it was close to midnight. Nick had chosen this time deliberately so he could start getting his body back on graveyard time by driving all night. He would sleep most of Saturday during the day and then drive on into Las Vegas Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Nick started to move away from Collin. Collin rolled over to get up with him but Nick stopped him. He asked him to stay in bed. He said he had everything ready to go. All he had to do was pee, wash his face, pick up his shaving bag and get on the road. Collin looked at him, his eyes a little brighter than usual. Nick told him he wanted his last picture of him to be lying in their bed, the sheets all rumpled and messy from their love making. Nick went to the bathroom, took care of his business and Collin waited for him to come back to the bedroom one last time. He didn’t. He went down the hall and when he came back, he had Rally with him. He told the big, red dog to get up on the bed with ‘daddy’. He sat down beside Collin, leaned over and kissed him. He tried so hard to put everything he felt, every single second of the last two weeks into his kiss.

When their lips parted, Collin opened his eyes and looked at Nick. He said, “One time, I need to say it. I love you Nick with all my heart. I will remember these two weeks for the rest of my life and I will always measure every other relationship against this one.”

Nick swallowed his heart and his tears. He looked deeply into Collin’s eyes and said, “I need to say it too. I love you and I will always remember you. I will never settle for anything less than what we’ve had together and if I don’t find it, I won’t be sad because for two perfect weeks I had the very best this world has to offer.”

He kissed Collin one last time, ruffled Rally’s ears and told him to take care of ‘daddy’ and left. As he got into the elevator, he looked up at the corner and smiled when he saw the red light come on. Mr. Jenson, god with a small ‘g’, would not miss this chance to say good bye to the man who had in such a short time become one of his charges.

“Nick, I hope you know you are going to be sorely missed. I don’t suppose you might be willing to change your mind and stay here.”

“Don’t make it harder for me, Mr. Jensen. I’m just barely holding it together as it is. Collin knows why I have to go back to my life and leave him to his. You know I’m leaving part of me here, don’t you?” Nick was hanging on to his composure with everything he had.

“Yes I do and I hope you know that you are taking a part of everyone here, back with you. You have made yourself part of our lives and we will be praying for your safety and happiness for a long time to come. Have a safe trip and remember, if you don’t find what you want in Las Vegas; it’s all waiting here for you in Atlanta. Good bye Nick; God bless you and keep you.” The red light winked out just as the elevator reached the garage level.

Nick got out, went over to his truck, got in and drove out of the garage, out of Atlanta and back to what ever was waiting for him in Las Vegas. He didn’t even try to tell himself that real men don’t cry. He couldn’t get the words past the lump in his throat.

Comments

Confused

[(Anonymous)]

Is this chapter 12, because the header says 11/29 and the link says Chapter 7.

Re: Confused

[jayceepat.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry. This is chapter 12 and I think I've got it all straightened up now. This is what comes of posting when you're trying to make it through the last hour before you can take another pain pill. You just ain't rational.

[donnab810.livejournal.com]

Omg, thats sooo sad... Ah I thought Colin was a badern' but he's NOT.

DAMN! I very nearly cried... certanily (?) had tears in my eyes.

Wow, that has never happened to me, when you meet someone from afar, fall in love, but normality calls you like a mermaid to the deapths of the ocean.

Very very good...

*If it wasn't for the fact that at somepoint Nick gets with Greg... Then I'd be screaming ........Stay with him..!!!

[jayceepat.livejournal.com]

No Collin is definitely not a bad one. He's a really great guy based on someone I knew so many years ago in Atlanta. He popped into my head when I was trying to decide what kind of guy could intrigue Nick so much that he would just completely let go.

I'm glad you like him as much as I do.