Title: Brave Men
By: mickeylover303
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Words: 1000
Summary: Nick watches Greg struggle to put the pieces of his life back together.

***

Nick ignores the growl coming from his stomach as he makes his way to the kitchen, tossing his wallet and keys on the entertainment centre as he passes through the small living room. His steps are hurried and loud, echoing off the walls of his apartment and fading away when Nick pauses in the doorway.

 

He frowns at the sight of Greg huddled over the small table, entering the cramped kitchen warily when he sees the small puzzle pieces littered across the wooden surface.

 

“You’re back early,” Greg says calmly. His head is lowered as his hand fumbles through a box. The clatter of the puzzle pieces is grating on Nick’s ears, but he doesn’t say anything.

 

“The table in the living room is bigger,” he says instead, regretting it when Greg suddenly stills.

 

“Do you want me to move it?”

 

Nick almost reaches out to touch him, but remembers Greg’s nightmares and settles for telling him no. “I don’t mind. Just wondering where you’re going to eat,” he says, shrugging it off as he passes Greg and opens the refrigerator door.

 

The food from last night is still there, and he wonders if this time Greg will eat it.

 

**

 

The ceramic bowl is warm in Nick’s hands. It’s the black one that isn’t his, and yet is somehow here instead of in Greg’s apartment. He stirs his grits with a spoon, shifting the pieces of bacon and crumpled egg on top.

 

Greg looks up at the sound of Nick’s spoon hitting the bowl. His lips are dry and chapped but showing a faint smile. Nick almost misses it, but he still returns the smile with his mouth around a spoonful of grits.

 

Greg snorts, shaking his head as he takes a sip from the glass of water on the table.

 

Nick places the spoon back in the bowl, careful not to flick any food on Greg’s puzzle, the one from Sara. It still comes as a surprise to him because Nick doesn’t care for puzzles. He doesn’t have the patience for them, and he prefers not to think about Sara knowing a part of Greg he doesn’t.

 

Gesturing to his meagre breakfast, Nick lifts the nearly emptied bowl in Greg’s direction. “Want some?” he asks, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

 

Greg smiles again, more noticeably this time, and Nick wishes he could prolong leaving for work just a little longer.

 

**

 

Nick peers at the puzzle on the table, gaze lingering between the pieces and Greg’s face of concentration. It’s not finished, far from it, but Nick can see the picture slowly coming together. It’s a plethora of blues, hues of greens and teals congealing into a painted abyss with pockets of brown nestled randomly in between.

 

The details are too subtle for Nick, the work too time-consuming, but Greg says it calms him.

 

Nick glances at the top half of the puzzle box standing upright on the table.  The number 1000 is outlined in white, bold against the colour in the picture. The font is tall and thin, stretched minimally across a small section of the backdrop.

 

“Sometimes, I miss living near the ocean,” Greg admits quietly, eyes still fixed on the puzzle. He examines the piece in his hand, licking his lips when he connects it with another. There’s a sound of cardboard snapping against wood, but Nick ignores it in favour of listening to Greg.

 

“It doesn’t change, you know,” he continues. “It’s constant, still indefinite every time I see it…maybe that’s why.”

 

Because it’s safe, Nick wants to add but resolves not to say anything at all.

 

**

 

Nick remembers Greg first separating the edges of the puzzle, searching through the now nearly emptied box for the outside pieces. It makes sense to him, carries the most logic, but he

 

 “You’re almost finished,” he says softly as he walks into the kitchen. There’s a half eaten apple on the table, and Nick

 

Greg leans back against the chair, staring at Nick in confusion. He turns back to the puzzle, brow furrowing until a look of understanding crosses his face. “Yeah,” he finally agrees.

 

“What are you going to do when you’re done?”

 

“I didn’t think that far ahead,” Greg says absently, unexpectedly, and Nick has an internal debate about showing him the bottle of puzzle glue in the small bag he’s carrying.

 

“I think you should keep it,” Nick tells him. There’s a rustle of plastic as he removes the glue from the bag and places it on the table. “I…” he begins hesitantly, “I bought this for you.”

 

Greg looks up to meet Nick’s gaze but doesn’t smile. “Thanks,” he says as he reaches out for the bottle. His finger trails across the label idly and twirls around the red cap until he pulls his hand away.

 

**

 

Nick takes a seat as he sets his food on the table. The puzzle is gone now, all the little pieces put back in the cardboard box they came in, but Nick doesn’t question Greg when he sees the seal is still around the bottle of puzzle glue. He wants to, but doesn’t ask why.

 

Instead, he picks up the plastic fork on his napkin, leaning forward over the backrest of the chair as he watches Greg cutting the chicken breast on his plate. The TV is still on in the living room, and Nick can hear the applause from the audience in the infomercial.

 

“I didn’t finish the puzzle,” Greg says abruptly, almost taking Nick by surprise. “I couldn’t finish it,” he continues, reluctantly and with a perceptible uncertainty in his voice.

 

Nick chews the piece of steamed asparagus in his mouth. It’s not his favourite vegetable, but it’s something Greg will eat so he keeps his complaints to himself and washes down the taste with a glass of water.

 

“You going to finish it later?”

 

“I want to,” Greg says, hopeful, and Nick nods even though he knows the puzzle will end up collecting dust on a shelf.