Title: Contact
By: Daniella
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Genres: romance, drama
Rating: PG13
Warnings: none
Summary: Maybe Greg is just putting too much thought into things.

One of the things Greg noticed, when he and Nick passed through the threshold from fuck buddies to actually-really-dating, was the contact. And no, not just that kind of contact (not that Greg had any problem with that kind of contact) but the random, everyday stuff. A hand on his thigh while they're watching a movie on his couch, his socked foot pressed against Greg's under the table while they're eating dinner, or a not-so-subtle brush of their shoulders while they're both working in the lab. And when they were sleeping, well, Greg had gotten so used to having that arm around his waist, those legs tangled with his own, that sleeping without Nick there would prove to be a difficulty.

They never talked about it because, well, it wasn't really one of those things you talk about. Just sort of happened naturally, when they would be spending a mutual day off on Greg's threadbare couch, sharing a pack of beers between them and talking about everything and nothing at all, he would clutch onto Greg, drawing little idle circles into his arm.

And maybe Greg was just putting too much thought into it; maybe he was still more shaken by the Gordon case than he would have liked to admit, because he could have sworn that each time Nick reaches out for him, there's a quick flash of panicky need in his brown eyes. As if he doesn't hold onto Greg, if he doesn't have contact with the younger man, then he might fall back into the stifling darkness of that fucking box, lit only by that harsh chemical green glow, providing his eyes with just enough light for him to see that he was about to die.

Maybe Greg was thinking too much of himself, but he liked to think that he helped keep Nick afloat sometimes. They didn't talk about what happened that night very often, Nick was naturally a pretty reserved guy, but if there was anything Greg was sure about, it was that Nick knew. Nick knew that Greg was there for him no matter what. Nick knew that Greg didn't mind in the slightest being Nick's own personal mental flotation device.

They didn't have to talk about it. It just sort of happened that way. And Greg could never dream of breaking the contact.