nickngreg | Fic: Life Changes 15/29 (Reply)

TITLE: LIFE CHANGES
RATING: PG-13 for this chapter
PAIRINGS: Nick/Greg
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

Greg was sure he had never been this nervous in his entire life. Not waiting for the acceptance from college. Not his first interview with Grissom and Brass. Not even his first night as DNA tech for the Las Vegas Crime Lab. All important events no doubt, but this; this was just possibly the rest of his life important. Tonight was his first date with Nick Stokes.

Nick had told him to be ready at 8:15 and to wear something dressy; not a suit but not jeans. Greg had spent a lot of the last 2 days shopping for clothes. He thought when he bought his outfit that it was perfect but now, he wasn’t sure. He was wearing dark brown slacks with a pale green cotton shirt that had cost almost $100.00. He had never spent so much money for one shirt before in his life but it really looked great on him. It made his skin look clear and smooth and his eyes a deep, rich, dark, chocolate brown. He had a new jacket; a light tan dress blazer. The thing he was most scared about was his hair. He had stopped in to see his favorite stylist and told her he had to look great and what should he do. She had cut his hair short, very short with thick even bangs just coming down on his forehead. He looked like a young George Clooney or a very young Julius Caesar. He was just getting ready to take everything off and pretend to be very sick when his doorbell rang. Looking in his mirror one last time, he decided it was more Caesar than Clooney and said to his reflection, “We who are about to die salute you!”

Greg opened the door and time stopped. He just looked at Nick and couldn’t even say come in. Nick was wearing black slacks that he could swear showed off his privates, but very subtle…nothing suggestive, an emerald green silk shirt that went with his shirt as though they had planned it and a fitted black blazer that looked as though someone had made the damn thing on Nick’s body. His black hair was shiny in the hall light, his eyes were sparkling and he was wearing his million megawatt smile. Then Greg realized the smile was for him.

While Greg was drooling over Nick, Nick was doing some evaluating of his own and he really liked what he saw. The tan, green and chocolate were perfect for Greg and the new haircut was sensational. He had never realized before what a beautifully, shaped head Greg had. His hand would fit the back of Greg’s head perfectly and he could see himself reaching out, and pulling that beautiful head to him so he could kiss that sweet mouth…Oh God, he had to stop this right now because he could feel his slacks getting a little snug and he had to play this just right.

“Are you ready to be wooed, courted, romanced and fed” he asked Greg with a grin?

Greg’s response was just a little shaky. “I think so. Lead on McDuff and let the wooing commence.”

As the evening continued, Greg kept thinking that something was going to happen. Nothing could be this perfect without something spoiling it. Nick took him down stairs and opened the door to his immaculately detailed truck, waited until he was situated in the seat and then closed the door and went around to the driver’s side. They went to Tao, a 4 or maybe it was a 5 star restaurant at the Venetian Hotel. Nick asked Greg if he would allow him to order for him and when Greg nodded, he also asked him if he was allergic to any food products. When Greg said no, Nick ordered Pork and Cashews in lettuce leaves with plum sauce, lobster won-tons, chicken pad thai for Greg and Kobe beef for him. He told the waiter they would start with Saki.

Nick thought the SaKi hit Greg a little hard but it was actually being there with Nick that made him light-headed. Nick’s whole attention was focused on Greg. He passed him condiments before Greg even thought to ask for them. He poured his drinks and fixed his lettuce wraps.

Greg’s response was to exhibit some world class flirting. Now Greg would flirt with a light post if no one else was around but that night he had the most important subject of his life and he rose to the occasion. When their entrée’s were served, he leaned across the table, looked up at Nick through his thick long eyelashes and said, ‘Bite?” Nick dropped the piece of beef he was about to eat in the middle of his plate. He managed to get himself together and speared the bite and leaned forward and put it in Greg’s mouth, thinking all the while that the beef might have the reputation of being the most succulent meat in the world but it couldn’t hold a candle to Greg’s soft lips as they fastened around the bite and pulled it off Nick’s fork.

Nick was lost in a dream of those lips fastening around various portions of his anatomy and felt his slacks get tighter. He pulled his eyes away from Greg’s mouth and concentrated on his plate and started counting the leaves on the sprigs of mint that decorated his plate. When that didn’t work, he tried counting the veins in the leaves. He was almost back to normal when Greg asked him if something was wrong with his dinner; why wasn’t he eating.

Nick hoped his voice sounded normal when he answered with, “No I was just waiting to see how you like the beef.”

Greg smiled. He thought Nick was a little aroused and he was sure of it when Nick carefully patted his forehead with his napkin. “Is it too warm in here for you?” he asked in such an innocent voice.

Nick said no, the room temperature was just fine. Maybe he’d gotten a little too much sauce on his bite of beef. Greg didn’t point out that Nick had fed the bite to him. Nick asked Greg if he would rather have the beef but he said no, he loved his pad thai and this was probably the best he’d ever tasted. He just liked a bite of the beef to ‘spice’ up his meal. Greg put a little extra emphasis on the word ‘spice’. He asked Nick if he would like to try a bite of his chicken and when Nick said yes, he very carefully cut a piece and leaned forward to feed it to him. Nick did a little flirting of his own, taking the food in his mouth from Greg’s chopsticks and holding them between his lips as he looked up directly into Greg’s eyes.

By the time the meal was over, both men were astonished to find they had not dragged the other over the table and taken them right in the middle of the dishes and silverware. Nick looked at his watch and told Greg they were right on time and signaled for the check. Greg asked Nick right on time for what. Nick smiled and said, “The second part of your birthday celebration. Come on.”

He hustled Greg out the door, into the truck and refused to tell Greg where they were going. As he turned a corner, he asked Greg if he would close his eyes and not open them until he told him to. Greg decided to go along with the game and when he was told to open his eyes, they were sitting in the valet parking section of the Cirque d’ Soliel theater. The valet opened Greg’s door and Nick handed over his keys, grabbed Greg by the hand and pulled him towards the door. He handed over tickets to an usher who led them to some really great seats where they could see everything on, under and above the stage. Greg was trying to get his breath and not gawk like a ‘daft’ (dumb-assed, fucking tourist). But when Nick leaned over as the lights went dark and whispered in his ear, “Happy Birthday, Greg” he found himself almost close to tears and had to blink furiously to get his eyes clear enough to watch the spectacular performance.
*********************************************************************************
Greg was on another planet he was so high. The dinner, the show, being with a man so handsome people would literally turn around and look at them as they passed them was putting him on such an emotional overload, he was afraid he was going to explode. He didn’t want the date to end and yet he was afraid that if it went on much longer, he was going to grab Nick, rip his clothes off and fuck him right then and there and that would certainly be the end of the wooing/romance thingy. He had no idea what to do when Nick took him home and was completely surprised when Nick asked him if he felt like dessert. He asked him what he had in mind and Nick said, “What about a banana split for two at the Ice House?”

Greg tried to hold back the snort, which turned into a little chuckle which turned into giggles and finally a full blown belly laugh that had him sitting down on a stone edging around a flower bed and just roaring out loud. Nick stood there patiently, waiting for him to explain which of course just made him laugh harder. Finally, he wiped his eyes and through a few last minute giggles managed to tell Nick that the idea of banana splits after dinner at Tao followed by tickets to the ‘Cirque’ had to be the funniest thing he’d heard in a long time.

Nick said, ‘Yeah but do you want to?”

Greg said of course and off they went.
*********************************************************************************
When Nick brought Greg home, it wasn’t too far away from their normal getting off work time. He walked around, opened Greg’s door and walked him to his apartment. He took Greg’s keys and opened his door for him. He turned to Greg and Greg felt his heart trying to beat it’s way out of his chest. He took Greg’s hand in his, looked him right in the eyes, (Greg felt like he was looking right down into his soul) and told him he’d had probably the best time of his life and hoped Greg had enjoyed his present. Greg said there weren’t enough words to tell him how much he’d enjoyed himself that night. Nick smiled; the one that showed his dimples. He asked Greg if that meant he would like to go on another date. Greg was almost afraid to answer so he just nodded enthusiastically. Nick brought his hand to his mouth and gently kissed the tips of Greg’s fingers and told him to be sure and lock the door behind him and he would see him at work that night. He dropped Greg’s hand and turned to walk away but halfway down the hall, when he realized that he had not heard the door, he turned back and saw that Greg was still just standing there watching him. He walked back, gently turned Greg and putting a hand at the back of his waist, he pushed him through his own front door. Just as he reached for the door to close it, he leaned over and whispered in Greg’s ear, “Be sure and set the dead bolt. The only one I want you to be in danger from is me.”

Just as Greg started to turn around in shock, Nick firmly shut the door. Greg could hear him whistling a tune he thought he recognized as he walked down the hall.
*********************************************************************************
Two nights later, after a remarkably slow night at the crime lab, Nick asked Greg if he wanted to go see a movie since they had both had an easy night and were actually getting off on time. Greg said sure and asked what Nicky had in mind. Nick said he wanted to see the ‘Bourne Ultimatum’. Greg was very pleased; he hadn’t seen the movie yet and was interested. They decided that Greg would drive his car back to his place with Nick following, just in case one or the other of them got called in and needed their transportation. Then they took off to a little Tex-Mex place Nick liked for breakfast and finally to the show.

Their second date could not have been more different than their first. It was jeans and t-shirts, sneakers for Greg and boots for Nick and no wine or Saki; just cold beer, chips and hot sauce, guacamole and hot enchiladas. The only thing the two events had in common was the tension and flirting. They decided that even though they were stuffed, it just wasn’t right to go to a movie and not have popcorn so they got a small bag to share between them. It was really amazing how often they both reached at the same time and their hands touched. The seats were large and comfortable but for some reason they each sort of sat over towards the side of their seats and their shoulders and knees kept rubbing and touching. By the time the movie was over, the sexual tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Again Nick took Greg home, walked him to his door, ran his hand up his bare arm to his shoulder and then said good night and left. Oddly enough both men took cold showers before they went to sleep.
*********************************************************************************
They continued to see each other at work and at least 2 or 3 times a week outside of work. They went to movies, dinner, breakfast; Nick took Greg to the Las Vegas Aquarium and they spent a magical afternoon wandering through the exhibits watching the fish and then went out to the amphitheater and watched the dolphins, orca’s and seals put on a great show. Afterwards, they went down to the side of the tank and the handler let Greg feed fishes to the performers. One of the seals gave Greg a big fishy kiss on the cheek and everyone laughed at his ‘ewww’ face.

Greg returned the favor 2 weeks later by taking Nick to see a documentary on ‘Eagles in the Wild’ at their IMAX theatre. He thought he might be bored but not only was the documentary amazing but the expressions on Nicks face would have kept him entertained if the narrator had been reading the telephone book.

And of course, there was movie night at Nicks where Greg got the surprise of his life. Movie night started because of the gift Nick had brought back for Brass from his infamous ‘vacation’. He’d gotten him a documentary called ‘America’s Greatest Sleuths’ made for a TV station called Sleuth that Greg had never heard of. It counted down the 20 greatest fictional crime-solvers of all time. Along with the documentary, Nick had gotten 5 DVD’s; The Hound of the Baskervilles with the original Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, This Gun for Hire with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake and Greg who only knew Alan Ladd from Shane was stunned to see his cowboy hero in a white dinner jacket, Robert Montgomery as Phillip Marlowe and again Greg got blown away when Brass and Nick both started talking about Robert Montgomery being the father of Samantha on Bewitched, Double Indemnity with Fred Mac Murray and Barbara Stanwyck and of course, the great Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon.

Brass was so touched by the gift he stammered his thanks. A few days after Nick and Greg’s first date, Nick and Brass were killing time in his office waiting on a warrant and Nick asked him if he’d watched the DVD’s yet. Brass said yes he had but his crappy little screen TV just didn’t do them justice; he guessed he was going to have to buy a big screen TV like his. Nick told him to bring them over any time he wanted; he would love to see them himself. Vartann and Vega came into the office about that time, joined the conversation and began to talk about how they didn’t make good private dick movies like those anymore so they were invited also and the whole thing just grew.

They had the showings late enough so the day crew could drop over after work and early enough so grave shift could come before work. Shift personnel came when they had the night off. The first time, Nick provided the food but after that, everyone brought something and it became a party every two weeks. Even Grissom came for Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon and believe it or not, he actually brought a case of beer, napkins and paper plates and cups.

Nick was so surprised it took him 2 hours to remember to thank him.

When the last DVD was over, everyone was crushed to think their get-togethers would be over until Catherine said, “Has anyone ever seen Laura?” Only a few people knew what she was talking about so Cath said, “Two weeks from tonight, I will bring Laura and I expect the rest of you to provide something in the genre every two weeks after that.”

Now, what was Greg’s surprise? Well other than all the great movie trivia he picked up, it happened the night of the 2nd movie. They had a good turnout for the first one but there were twice as many people for the 2nd and seating was at a premium. Nick brought in the futon from the office, all the dining room chairs and finally just raided his linen closet for blankets and pillows to throw on the floor. Greg had been fixing drinks in the kitchen so when he came out, it looked like a crowd scene from one of DeMille’s spectaculars. Nick was sitting on the couch, almost squashed into the arm with Lindsay plastered up against him. Greg was looking for somewhere to go when Nick told him to come over there. Nick pulled a big throw pillow out from the end of the couch where he’d been hiding it, threw it on the floor, right between his legs and told Greg to come sit down with him. Greg looked at the room full of their friends and co-workers, lots of them cops who could give them grief over the slightest hint of a personal relationship and hesitated. He looked back at Nick who was still holding out his hand to him with a calm, watchful expression on his face. Greg took a deep breath, walked over and folded himself down on the pillow. Nick pulled him back against him and kept his hand on his arm during the whole movie. No one said a word; not one word, not one funny look, not one snicker. After the movie, Nick turned to Lindsay, kissed her on the cheek and asked her if she liked it. She threw her arms around him and said the movie wasn’t all that great but being with everyone was. Then Nick, turned to Greg, leaned down and kissed him on the cheek and asked him how he liked the movie. Greg laid his head back on Nick’s leg, smiled and said, “What she said.”

This isn’t a perfect world so of course there was fall out the next day. Nick and Greg both got some nasty looks and there were a few muttered derogatory names but on the whole, not nearly as many as Greg expected and after that, it was an open secret that Nick and he were seeing each other. They found out later that Brass, Vartann and Vega had a meeting with all three shifts and told the cops; foot soldiers, uniforms and detectives that they didn’t have to like the relationship BUT if any one made a statement in public or in any way shirked their responsibilities toward the safety of the CSI’s, ANY CSI’S, they would answer to IAB on charges of sexual harassment and the 3 top officers would be the ones pressing the charges.
*********************************************************************************
Greg was pretty sure he would have given in, ripped Nick’s clothes off and raped him in his own hallway if Las Vegas had not shown her true colors and started committing crimes at a furious pace. To add insult to injury, Las Vegas was experiencing a freak cold wave. Everyone was working doubles and Greg hadn’t had more than a few minutes with Nick for almost a week. Part of him was glad because of the lessening of the painful physical desire he was feeling but most of him missed him so much it was like a toothache.

Halfway through the second week, things were slowing down for everyone except Greg, Warrick and Catherine who had a nasty triple murder they were working. Greg worked his first triple and when he finally went to his car, he was so tired he was leaning on car hoods to get there. He had stopped and was resting on someone’s hood, when he heard a car pull up along side him. He raised his head and saw Nick get out of his department SUV, come over and then he felt Nicks arms around him almost carrying him toward the car. He was too tired to even protest. He just let Nick put him in the car, buckle him up and he fell asleep.

Greg woke up when he felt the car stop. He was thinking that he had only slept for 10 or 15 minutes but when he looked around, he had no idea where he was. Nick was coming around to his side of the car holding what looked like a big blanket. Nick opened his door and asked him if he thought he could walk maybe a block. He said he probably could. Nick got him out, put his arm around his waist and led him down a tree lined trail. They turned a corner and Greg realized they were at Lake Mead in a sort of cul-de-sac overlooking a small beach. Nick laid the blanket down doubled, told Greg to sit down or lay down if he wanted and he would be right back. Greg did lay down and went right back to sleep again. Some time later he woke up to find Nick smiling down at him and telling him to sit up, he had to eat. Greg protested he was too tired to eat but Nick was persistent. He sat Greg up and had him move over into a sort of a beach chair with no legs that was oddly very comfortable. He then proceeded to fit a tray across the arms of the chair and set out sandwiches, chips, fruits and Greg’s brand of cold beer. Greg took one bite of the sandwich and moaned out loud. It was egg salad, his favorite sandwich in the whole world and it was home made by Nick. He knew because he had confessed his secret love of egg salad one day and Nick had promptly gone into the kitchen, took out a bowl of hard boiled eggs he always kept on hand and whipped up the best egg salad Greg had ever tasted.

Greg may have been tired but Nick was right, he was hungry. He ate every single thing Nick put on his tray and when he was sure he was going to bust if he ate another bite, Nick asked him if he was ready to sleep now. Greg looked around and asked if he had a bed in the picnic basket. Nick said he had the next best thing. He pulled out a long cushion that must have been for a deck lounge, laid it back against a big boulder, sat down and leaned up against the boulder bracing his leg against a large log next to the boulder. He told Greg to come over and sit down. Greg sat between Nick’s legs much as he had at the movie night, but this was so much better. When Nick pulled him back, he was completely laying against Nick’s chest. Nick’s leg was pressed against him on one side and he grabbed another soft fleece blanket and pulled it over both of them. He wrapped his arms around Greg and told him to sleep. Greg wasn’t sure he could sleep out in the open like that and he was a little worried about his surroundings. Nick held him close and told him that they were the only two people in the whole world and he had conjured up the lake and the trees just for them. He said he would keep him warm and safe and as Greg drifted off, this time he knew he felt Nick’s lips against his cheek. He slept, held tightly in the arms of the man he loved more that anything else on this earth.