Title: One Year, Two Mismatched Men and Three Million Dollars
By: Gregisamazing
Rating: PG-13/T
Warnings: Pre-Slash, Slash, Angst, Violence, Alternate Universe, WiP
Pairings: Past Greg/Archie, Past Nick/Mandy, Nick/Greg, Grissom/Sara, Catherine/Warrick
Summary: When Nick and Greg wound up getting married, neither knew how much would end up riding on their relationship. Or how hard it'd actually be... Will they change each other's lives for better or for worse?
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with CBS or Jerry Bruckheimer; all of the recognised characters belong to them and this story is written only for fun. Any characters you do not recognise belong to myself.
***
There were two things Greg Sanders noticed when he awoke that fateful Saturday morning; he had a thunderous headache and that he was in a room he didn't recognise. He had no doubt as to what had happened and he could feel his stomach convulsing at the mere thought of it as guilt settled in the back of his mind.
Scrambling from the bed, he was very much relieved to find all his clothes still intact- with no signs of drunken removal or drunken redressing. That went somewhere towards easing his jittery nerves, because he wasn't the type of person that would willingly cheat in a relationship and this particular event could be detrimental to that philosophy, but when he saw the stranger still fully clothed he could feel the relief pouring through him.
The potential disaster had been averted.
When Nick Stokes awoke that morning two things immediately hit him; he was still dressed in the clothes from the night before and he could smell freshly brewed coffee. He rolled out of his bed, wondering exactly how much he'd embarrassed himself the night before (because undoubtedly to crash out in his clothes, it had to be large) and he wondered exactly who he'd brought home this time.
Because she wouldn't be the first.
He dragged himself towards the kitchen, grimacing when he realised he'd have to try and explain to Mandy exactly what happened this time…and he honestly couldn't remember.
Greg thought it was only courteous to stay and thank the stranger for their hospitality, because he wasn't going to slip out like some people. After all, that would be rude, and rude was one thing he was not. He flicked on the percolator, pleased that he'd managed to locate himself some coffee and settled in for a long wait, pondering exactly what he could have got up to the night before.
When Nick saw a man settled on one of his stools, his mind went completely blank. What on earth was a guy doing in his house? And why on earth was he drinking his coffee?
"Who the hell are you?"
That wasn't exactly the reaction Greg had been going for, he was hoping that this encounter would be a light-hearted embarrassed moment where they could share a coffee before he departed and they'd both erase the memory from their minds. The angry tone of voice put a slight dent into that plan; this was not going to be an amicable coffee.
"I'm Greg," he offered the other a small smile, "coffee?"
He nodded slowly, a frown settling onto his features as he obviously tried to fathom what was going on because it was quite a surreal experience if you weren't used to it. Greg hopped off the stool and busied himself with the other cup of coffee, giving the stranger time to compose his mind enough so he could ask the questions he probably needed to ask.
"Why are you in my house?"
He knew it sounded stupid; but it was the best his still alcohol-impaired mind could come up with. There was one possibility that swam in amongst the confused thoughts, but he didn't want to acknowledge its existence, because that would lead to other questions that he didn't want to answer.
"I hope you could have helped me with that one." He answered, setting the liquid down and hopping back up onto 'his' perch. "My recollection of last night is a little foggy." And he laughed.
Goddamnit, he had the front to laugh about it!
Nick could feel the rage building up, and he could already feel the satisfaction of wiping the smile from his face, that would be perfect.
He was trying desperately to make this a little less confrontational by laughing, because to diffuse a tense situation one had to laugh; but it didn't appear to be working. He could see his face darkening, and the frown becoming deeper and his jaw tightening.
Greg knew how to recognise when someone was going to beat some sense into him; and he knew exactly when to high-tail it out of there.
Draining the rest of the mug, he tried to smile again but it came out more as a grimace.
"Well, I better be off. Thanks for everything."
It might not have been the bravest thing to do, but Greg certainly did not need to explain away a black-eye to Archie when he got home. He knew it would be better just to cut his losses and run and in the process prevent himself any bodily harm.
But it seemed like the Texan had other ideas, immediately grabbing onto his wrist as he tried to slink on past. Greg inwardly groaned, somehow doubting that laughter had done anything for the situation and he could already feel the fingers making marks on his skin.
"Oh no you don't."
Nick was beginning to hate this guy.
First he had the front to make his own coffee, then he had enough courage to laugh and now he was simply trying to dodge the impending fight? That wasn't going to happen. He was willing to fight this arrogant wise-ass that intruded on his territory and didn't even apologise.
"Ouch, shit, let me go!" The younger man thrashed in his grip, but he didn't particularly care. "Hey, I don't mean you any harm!"
He was panicking; there was really no doubt about it. This guy was twice his size and could easily flatten him; and he didn't want any trouble in the first place! He knew for a fact he was like an antelope to this guy's lionesque stature and if he wasn't careful he'd be slaughtered.
Looking down to the hand on his wrist, trying to formulate a plan, Greg noticed what probably was causing all the problems. The golden band of a wedding ring; there was little wonder the guy was spooked!
"Look, I won't tell your missus if you're worried. I don't want any trouble."
"How the fuck do you know about Mandy?" He snarled, his temper really beginning to flare. This guy had been stalking him, he'd been watching for his perfect time to entangle himself into his life and ruin everything. "You think you're clever, you sick bastard!"
He knew he was puffing out his chest and trying to make himself look bigger and more imposing; he also knew how much it was working judging from the pale complexion the other had adopted. He was physically bigger and psychologically bigger than the other and he knew this 'Greg' (if it was even his real name) was getting spooked.
"I just looked at your wedding ring!" He yelped, really thrashing in his grip now. "I don't want any trouble!"
Nick retracted his hand as if he'd been burnt, realising that there was a ring on his finger and he had no clue how it had gotten there. The younger man stumbled away, slowly backing away and trying to make his bid for freedom in light of this shock evidence.
"I'm not married." Nick mumbled more for his own benefit than the others. "How on earth—"
But his answer came in a wounded cry from the other.
"We're married!"
***
In that split-second, Nick had to make a decision about what he was going to do about it all. There were two choices: wallow in self-pity at his misfortune or go and kick the ass of the stranger that had got him into this mess. His hands had already made their mind up as they clenched tightly into fists which turned his knuckles white.
He was going to be productive with his anger.
Thundering out of his kitchen and into the corridor, he could see the younger man sliding down the wall with his head in his hands. Apparently he'd chosen the self-pity option from the dejected look on his face and for a moment Nick felt sorry for him because he probably had a girlfriend at home too and this was bad news for both of them.
But his anger quickly overruled the sympathy vote, because if he didn't take his animosity out on him, who was he going to blame? (Not himself, before you even suggest something so stupid)
"This is all your fault!" Nick roared and that caused Greg to shoot to his feet and edge towards the door. "I'm not even bloody gay!"
When Greg didn't yell that he wasn't either, Nick got the very bad feeling that this other 'innocent' bystander was in fact, of the other sexual orientation, which did nothing to ease his temper.
"I'm in a gay marriage with someone who is gay!"
"Actually, I'm bi." Greg automatically corrected, mentally kicking himself when he saw Nick's eyes flash with something he was sure was rage. "And why does my sexuality matter in this?"
"Why does it matter? It matters because it's not like it is two straight men in a bizarre situation. It's me and a gay guy! Do you know how much this'll ruin me?"
"No but—"
That's when Nick shot towards him, determined to get him to just shut up because he didn't want to hear about the logistics. This was the end of him, no one hire him to train them anymore, he'd loose all his friends, and he'd loose Mandy. And for what? A scrawny twenty-something-year-old with a bizarre mass of blonde hair and terrible fashion sense; he was loosing everything for nothing.
Greg squeaked, wondering why he'd never gone to the self-defence classes his parents had wanted him to go to, ducking out of Nick's grasp and running back into the apartment. He would openly admit that wasn't his smartest move, but since when did intelligence matter when you're fleeing for you life?
"You've ruined my life!"
Nick spun on his heel, seeing the younger beginning to retreat back into his apartment and onto familiar territory that would certainly give him an advantage. He laughed, though it sounded like it was heading towards hysteria, because another advantage meant that Greg really didn't stand a chance. This was his win, no doubt about it.
"But marriage is something to celebrate." Greg realised that again he was trying to take a 'comic' approach to the situation and when you found yourself running back into the kitchen and into some cabinets, it was not such a wise idea. "We can always get a divorce."
Nick stopped stalking forward for a moment to consider that possibility, but quickly realised that it still wasn't worth giving up the satisfaction of punching him in the face, and continued towards Greg who had realised he was trapped. His eyes were darting wildly back and forth as if he was trying to look for an escape route, because he was not too keen on being on the receiving end of being beaten by a straight-laced conservative who really didn't like anything about him.
"A divorce will take weeks to come through." His voice was low and venomous and Greg had trouble hearing it, he would have leant forward to hear him in a normal situation, but that could put him within arms reach. "Then it will have to become public knowledge at one time in my life that I was married to you."
"And why is that so important? It'll be in the past anyway."
"Isn't the importance of this getting through to you? I am not gay, this will make me look like I am and I don't want to be married!"
Greg, seeing the opportunity, made one last dash for survival by heading into the bedroom and leaping over the bed using his agility to his advantage. The elder man growled, watching as the striped shirt flew past him once again, wondering how much longer Greg could keep up the game of cat and mouse; it was obvious who was going to win in the situation.
"Look, I don't like it anymore than you do." Greg reasoned, making a grasp for anything and rolling his eyes at the misfortune the deadliest weapon in this room was a pillow. "I don't want to be married either because I have a serious, committed relationship with someone I want to spend the rest of my life with- and I'm compromising that by being with you!" Now it was his turn to snarl. "Do you seriously think I'd be happier about it than you? Just because I am bi does not mean that I love getting hitched to men for fun."
Although, it did make a rather bizarre tale to tell at parties, because who wouldn't want to hear the story of two mismatched men being wound up in a marriage neither wanted? He could already hear the laughs it'd get. Maybe he could even publish a book about it.
"That doesn't change anything," Nick said, but Greg noticed his fists weren't as tightly clenched as before and thanked his lucky stars that his outburst had managed to get a positive reaction. "My girlfriend is going to hate me for this, and I can't even imagine some of the looks I'm going to get."
"I can always help to explain…"
"No, you can't. Because it may seem funny to you, but to me this is no laughing matter; this is the worst thing that could happen to me." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You have no idea how much reputation means in my profession, one idea I'm a pansy—" Greg made an undignified squeak at that, "and that's it. No one will want a trainer that checks them out even it's just a rumour that he's gay because of a stupid mistake that is not his fault!"
"It's not mine either."
As soon as Greg said it, he realised that it wasn't the answer Nick had been aiming for because his hands had balled up again. But Greg was not taking responsibility for something that was no more his fault than the elders, and he was certainly not being tarnished with the brush that he was in the wrong because he was gay. But then again, seeing how the other was sending a smouldering glare his direction, now was not the time for moral objections.
"Before you even try and clear yourself from any blame, we both got drunk and we both said 'I do' otherwise it wouldn't be legal."
Greg had never know, up to that point, what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a full body tackle because he'd never been on a sports team. But when Nick pummelled into him, he felt slightly better about having the pillow for protection because it really hurt.
"Don't you dare say that." He growled, pinning Greg to the floor with his full weight. "This is not my fault."
"Then it's not mine either."
"It's more your fault than mine."
"There's no logic to that." Greg wheezed, wondering if this had been any other circumstance he'd have found it hilarious. "If it's not your fault, then it's not my fault. If it is my fault, it's your fault too. We've both screwed up anyway. What does it matter who has more of the blame?"
Nick had to admit, that made sense to the side of his mind that wasn't still blindsided with rage which was proving hard to fight against considering his fist was so close to his face… He sighed, adding assault to his record wasn't going to make this better either, in fact it could make everything a whole lot worse.
"Damn," Nick grumbled and he clambered off Greg and offered him a hand. The blonde stared at the hand for a moment before taking it, somehow expecting it to break all his fingers. "What do we do now?"
Realising that Nick was actually offering the moment where they could both have a productive conversation that would lead to a resolution, Greg couldn't help but smile. They were making progress then!
"I think, though don't quote me; that up until the twenty-four hour point you can get a wedding annulled."
"Really?"
"I think so, though, you have to go to the chapel that certified the wedding in the first place."
"But we're in Vegas," Nick said, the hopefulness of a moment before slowly dissipating into thin air and the dread creeping back into his stomach. "The whole place is filled with Chapels, it could take us hours."
Greg rolled his eyes and resisted the temptation to 'duh' at the guy whose name he still didn't know; but even the rolling of eyes was enough to cause the other to grab his shirt and haul him closer.
"Listen here, I don't take kindly to wise-asses. You got us into this, you get us out." He spat and Greg couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable again. "You're going to fix this."
Greg conceded that it probably would be best if he sorted it out, because Nick wasn't going to be calm and rational and he also looked ready to kill. Whilst trying to get rid of the images of his own gory demise, he also tried to come up with a plan of action that would ensure he was far away from the elder by the end of the day.
"Do you remember where you were drinking last night?"
"Now is not the time to be thinking about alcohol, that's what bloody convinced you to get us into this."
"I wasn't talking about getting a drink. I was on a club crawl last night; I could have ended up in loads of places, near hundreds of Chapels. You, on the other hand, probably stayed at one bar and we can work our way out from there."
"Yeah, that's not such a bad idea."
"I have my moments."
Stood outside of 'Snake Eyes Inn', Greg couldn't help but realise exactly how trashed he must have been the previous night, because if he was sober he would not be caught dead in a place like that. Nick, on the other hand, stood admiring the place as if it was one of the jewels in Las Vegas alcohol distribution; and from the way he had sung its praises, Greg had expected something much more…extraordinary.
It was a dilapidated shack, which was in desperate need of some attention and a new coat of paint. There was no neon trying to advertise it, just a crusty sign hanging off a post, and meanwhile there were tiles missing from the roof and the exterior seemed like it had survived a tornado.
Surely this wasn't the right place! Where was the appeal, where was the allure, where was the good atmosphere?
"It's a nice place, really great for a drink."
"I doubt it." Greg snorted, imagining what the place would look like with some flair and a neon sign. "Don't they care for business?"
"Of course they do!" Nick chirped, happy to find his car intact without the slightest signs of damage. "They have the regulars which keep 'em going. There's no need for tourists or kids that just want to get drunk here. It's the type of place you go to play a game of pool and unwind, none of that rowdiness."
"And there goes all the fun," Greg huffed and wondered whether he actually was that drunk that he could sit on the stool and be content. "Ergh."
"Would you quit insulting my pub choice and get in? We don't have all day."
Greg had to agree, if his calculations were right (which they would be) if they started now, they could scour all the chapels in Vegas before the day was up, but of course, that wasn't factoring in cue-times. He was beginning to think that the task was a little impossible.
But he wasn't going to say that and risk being punched in the face! He was a little smarter than that.
"Coming!"
***
Vegas Valentines had one of the most ridiculous schemes of décor that Greg had ever seen in a place, and that was certainly saying something considering he'd been to some pretty strange places in the past. They had insisted in decorating all the walls in several different shades of pink, all blended together to give a romantic aura- it actually just made Greg feel nautious. All the normal furniture had been replaced with varieties of overstuffed, overfluffed and overfrilled pieces, with cherubs sculpted into the legs and heart shaped cushions just in case it wasn't comfortable enough.
It had an overwhelming sense of…pink.
Greg suppressed the shudder and the urge to vomit in something that was overly tacky- and that was some ultimate prize considering Vegas was all about its gimmicks. If that wasn't enough to make your stomach churn, surely the pink neon sign hanging above the reception and the soothing melody of some love song Greg didn't want to name, waltzing in the air whilst couples sat crooning together, would. Those couples where completely oblivious to how fast their marital state would deteriorate...
He had some feeling this had to be a record though, he had the rough estimation they had only been married 8 hours at most. Their honeymoon period was definitely cut short.
As he stood in the cue, he went back over the rehearsed speech that had so far had people all around the town laughing at him- after all, Nick was refusing to step out of his car. Like hell was he going to become a laughing stock for the sake of annulment, that's why they were behind schedule.
Greg really was hoping this was the Chapel, because his feet ached, he was tired of becoming the butt of the jokes and he didn't like the glower Nick was sending his direction whilst driving around. It was as if he was going to blame him again; and Greg did not need the repercussions of that trail of thought.
Noticing that the woman in front of him was close to tears as the woman turned her away, Greg was actually beginning to wonder if he was better of facing the receptionist or facing Nick. Neither was particularly tempting.
"Good morning," Greg chirped, trying to be positive. The receptionist didn't even look up at him; too busy examining her nails than paying attention to anything going on around her. "I was wondering—"
"We're fully booked for weddings today," She chirped back in a voice that could shatter glass, "I could, however, book you an appointment for tomorrow."
"No, you don't understand, I want—"
"We're. Fully. Booked." She said, tearing herself away from her nails long enough to give him a look that clearly showed that she thought he was a love-struck idiot, and gave him a deep enough frown that her face began to crack. "Now if you'd like to book an appointment for tomorrow though."
"But I don't want—"
"We can't help you." She used her hand to shoo him along. "Come back tomorrow."
"I don't want a wedding." He snapped, the last of his patience wearing thin. At least the other receptionists had heard him out before laughing in his face. This woman was just damn rude. "I'm here to get an annulment."
He could hear the mumbles from behind him, all the couples looking up at someone who dared to retract the sacred vow of marriage as if it were a sin. Obviously they were going to treasure those vows until someone better looking wandered along and they'd be retracting their bond in court ready to rip each other to shreds.
Marital bliss is such a fickle thing!
"I'm sorry!" She hissed and she looked far from apologetic. "I think you'd be better off with the Loveless Lawyers, our law firm, they specialise in divorce."
"You can get an annulment up until 24 hours of your wedding, so I'm here for an annulment."
There was another rumble of disapproval from the other customers, now regarding him with hateful stares and Greg decided that today everyone hated him.
"When was your appointment then?"
"Early this morning, I think."
"And the name?"
"Sanders, I think."
The woman shot him an annoyed glance, before tapping away on her keyboard to bring up the client list. Trailing her finger down the screen, leaving a smudge behind, smiled slightly when she saw 'Sanders-Stokes' in the 2:30am slot with their finest Minister, and owner.
"Stokes and Sanders I presume. Well, this is highly unusual; perhaps you and your wife…Nikki…would prefer counselling from our therapy clinic Partners Psychology? We could offer you a discounted session."
Maybe all that hassle from the woman was worth hearing her presume he'd married a woman, and then hearing Nick's masculinity be accidentally insulted, it made him feel a lot better. Maybe he'd chance calling him it when they parted ways just to see the reaction.
"I'm sorry; we're rather settled on an annulment. Can we get one?"
"Yes," she sighed and tried her best not to grimace, "we'll need both of you here. It also needs to be overseen by the Minister that united you both…who's our most popular Minister. I'm afraid you might have to wait a while."
"No problem! We can wait for him!"
And he almost had the urge to kiss her- but he wasn't quite sure what he could contract if he did.
Instead he settled on skipping down the lot, finally enjoying the warmth of the Nevada sunlight on his skin and feeling a bit more relaxed because Nick had no chance of hurting him now. All in all, his life was good and he could go back and curl up with Archie and tell him this hilarious story and live his life out with him. No Texan in sight. That was an enticing prospect.
He began banging on the back of the car happily, and even Nick's scowl and threat couldn't put him down.
"This is it! This is our Chapel."
Nick's face immediately broke out into a breath-taking smile that Greg would have said made all of the problems worth it, as he finally realised that his idea of hell would finally be over. He was going to be a free man again! He felt so giddy that he could have giggled (not that he would have) because nothing could spoil this moment of relief so intense that he felt like he could have done anything.
"We're free! I can go back to my normal life and no one will be any the wiser."
"You're not going to tell anyone?"
The startled look Greg was giving him actually put him back on edge once more, because looks like that were not meant to be found in a celebratory moment, looks of anything but happiness were not permitted.
"No, why the hell would I? And you're not either."
"You're going to stop me how? No, I'm going to tell whoever I like, but obviously I'm not going to use your name."
That was the truth at least, because how was he meant to keep tabs on whether Greg was telling or not unless he remained in contact with the guy? (He was determined that wasn't going to happen.) Perhaps it would make an interesting story to some people, because it would have been funny if it was happening to another guy and not him. He'd let Greg get away with that much.
"Sure, but if I hear my name in circulation with the story, I will kill you."
"No doubt."
The oppressive colour-scheme didn't ease in the private offices of the Minister's, in fact if it were at all possible, it got worse. Sculptures of bronzed cupids littered available corners of all surfaces, and instead of looking 'sweet' they seemed to look a little sinister in large numbers. Ribbons also dangled lazily from the rafters, like overgrown worms just waiting to fall and terrify a poor unsuspecting victim, just before the cupids pounced.
"Sorry to keep you waiting boys." The Minister said, taking a seat behind his desk and surveying the pair. He was at least ten-years younger than Nick, who took great offence at such a smug bastard having the nerve to call him a boy; he needed teaching where he stood in life. "I wasn't really expecting an annulment today."
Neither was I Nick thought to himself, refusing to say it allowed however because he did not want to see a conceited smile sent his direction. He just wanted this over and done with so he could move onto pastures new and trying to convince himself that when drunk he was insane.
"It's rather odd considering the pair of you came in last night gushing. It's not often we get couples like that through here; in fact, we normally get pairs that are completely incompatible and run headlong into marriage without thinking. But you two, you have potential."
Nick had to suppress a shudder, and it looked like Greg had to as well. Is that for the same reason though? And that really did make him want to shudder.
"We really weren't thinking all that straight, you see—"
"We rushed into it." Nick interrupted determined that Greg was not going to recount the story to this virtual stranger who, by the looks of it, could tell everyone as a moral. "So, could we just get on with it?"
"You see, we could, but we'd be making this contract void."
Before both could even ask what contract, he produced a piece of paper from his drawer and briefly showed them both how very official it looked.
"You two, last night, signed a contract to show that you were indeed serious. You both said that you were in love, that you were willing to be bound for life. And if you do, you reap rewards."
"What?"
"It is quite simple." The Minister said, stretching lazily and revelling in the power he had over them both. "Gregory Sanders, Nicholas Stokes and I, Minister Adam Evenapple, have a legal agreement that if you remain in a successful marriage once the year is up, I will give you a substantial sum of money."
Sensing a trap, Greg couldn't take anything he was saying seriously, because honestly was this a reality tv-show? No, this was far too…convenient.
"Why?"
"Because my dear fellows, I have been running this chapel for several years now, taking it over from a Minister who had made a mess of it. I've made a successful business out of the love one human has for another, and as it sours," he sniggered slightly, gesturing to the poster for 'Partners Psychology' on his wall. "This was the first place in Nevada where same-sex marriages became legal. This is the heart and soul of Vegas weddings.
But, I find that people that come here aren't ever serious, they think they want a marriage but do not even know what it means. I know that commitment means nothing these days; this is but a money-making venture for me now because love doesn't exist.
Though some have that vain hope, one of my employees still believes that love walks amongst some. When she saw you, she said that she could feel the love, she could see it. And I am never a man to back away from my morals; and so I bet with her. I bet that one year and you two will no longer see love.
If I am right, she is no longer part of my staff and she gives me the plot of land that she's been withholding from my expansion efforts. If she is right, you two get a reward of your love, and she gets to keep her land."
"What reward?" Nick asked, his curiosity beginning to peak because this sounded rather attractive.
"Why, three-million-dollars. The fee we agreed on last night. But I must ask you two, why would you want an annulment if you are so desperately infatuated with one another?"
"We wanted a proper wedding." Greg cut in before Nick even had chance to stammer out some excuse, "not one without our family present. This just wasn't what we'd been planning on."
"I see," he sounded suspicious and yet he was visibly impressed with them. "Well, I'm afraid a second time round will have to be next year."
"Yeah, suppose it has to be." Nick nodded, getting up out of his seat. "Thanks for your help."
"One more question before we go. Why did you tell us all this when you could have just got us to sign and you would have won?"
"Ah, where would the fun be in that? I want to win the old fashioned way and prove my point. Signing it now would just defeat the whole point!"
Following his partner, Greg got up out of his seat and headed towards the door.
"Oh boys," the Minister added as an afterthought almost, "I wouldn't want you to forget that I will be checking up on you to make sure you're honouring your commitments. I wouldn't want anyone trying to con me out of my money after all!"
***
Coffee normally made everything so much better in Greg's world… But today it really wasn't helping at all, if anything, it was making everything a whole lot worse. The aroma of his Blue Hawaiian was waking him up to the reality of the situation; there was no denying that he was tangled in a very messy web that could result in someone getting hurt. Sat in one of the corner booths in Starbucks, with Nick opposite him, made Greg wonder how on earth he'd be able to pull this off.
He sipped carefully at the coffee, the boiling liquid not affecting his asbestos mouth that could cope with high temperatures. If this had been with Archie, then this would be Greg's idea of heaven… But Nick was definitely not Archie, not even in the slightest, so this was turning out to be his hell. Apart from having to stick a year with someone he didn't know and having to pretend to be in love, he had to finish his relationship with the only person he truly cared about.
He was about to be upgraded to class A bitch.
What he couldn't understand was how Nick seemed so calm about it all; how he wasn't even concerned about breaking it off with his girlfriend. Greg didn't get it. How could he be like that? Maybe it was because there was a lot of money involved and perhaps it was because Nick was so materialistic that he didn't care about anyone involved in this, he only cared about the large pay-out at the end.
Greg couldn't say he didn't want the money, because that large a sum could really help with his life goals. He just got caught up in the money for a split second and he'd really screwed everything up. He'd overlooked everyone he would hurt, everything else he'd worked for in his life and he'd overlooked how difficult it would be to live a convincing charade.
He looked up from the murky depths of the coffee to look at the Texan who looked perfectly comfortable with the situation.
Seriously, how come this doesn't bother him at all? It was him that went crazy earlier finding out he was in a gay marriage. Now though, he's just taking it in his stride.
"How are we going to do this?" Greg asked miserably. "We need to work out a way of keeping our lives separate and yet together."
"That's easily done," Nick sipped at his coffee. "You live at your place, I live at mine and we meet every once in a while to make it look convincing."
That's why he's calm; he doesn't quite understand what we have to sacrifice to get the money.
Greg was momentarily smug because at least he had thought beyond the money and was being realistic about how they'd have to acquire it. Nick was thinking this was all simple and really hadn't thought logically about this… But then he realised where they were, and knew Nick's reaction was certainly going to be explosive…
"We can't do that. If we are being watched do you really think that we'd be able to convince them we are not living together because it's more convenient for an 'in love couple' to live separate lives?"
Nick looked at him blankly, unable to define an answer to the rhetorical question he was posing.
"No Nick, we won't. In other words one of us will have to move in with the other, we'll have to live together, under the same roof."
"No way am I moving."
"That's good because your place is bigger than mine, so it's settled I'm moving into yours." Greg could see that Nick was ready to protest to the idea so cut him off once more. "I'm going to have to move some of my things into your place and leave my house up for rent as furnished. Next we're going to have to tell our friends and family that we've gotten married… Make sure everyone has the same story so it seems as if we're not just mismatched and we seriously are in love. We can't tell anyone the real story."
"You're crazy Sanders, I'm not telling anyone." He hissed at Greg, visibly paler than he had been a few moments before. "No one is hearing about this. We're not telling a soul."
"And how do you plan on explaining that?" Greg asked pointing to the ring and Nick began to pull it off. "Technically that'd mean that you're breaking up, and that means we'd fail."
Nick stopped trying to pull off the ring and instead began to fiddle with it, his nerves evident, obviously only just realising what they had agreed to.
"So what else will we need to do to make this convincing?" Nick asked, worried that he was going to have to give up something else that was more important than his reputation.
"Well most married couples live together, friends know about them, they go out together and they actually know each other." Greg said, counting them off on his fingers.
"And children, most couples have a child." Nick added, and then gulped when he realised he just suggested children. "No, bad idea."
"They also don't have other partners." Greg sighed, looking back down into his empty Styrofoam cup. "We're going to have to call a rain-check with our other counterparts."
Nick looked back down into his coffee cup too, feeling guilty. Perhaps this whole thing was meaning that Greg was breaking up with someone that was truly going to be his soul mate, that's why he was moping around. Nick didn't want to be the cause of that because he wanted the money; his relationship was just another on a long list of failed ones, she wasn't spectacular and he wasn't going to be loosing anything. Maybe Greg was.
"We don't have to do this whole thing if you don't want to." Nick offered, knowing that it was the right thing to do. But when Greg shook his head, he was really perplexed. "Seriously, if you don't want to, we won't. We can just walk away from it now."
He shook his head again and even Greg was confused to why he was turning the offer down.
"I want to do this." He spoke in a small voice, "It's just… difficult." He cleared his throat that was suddenly very tight. "I shouldn't want to do this. I have Archie… But something inside keeps telling me to just do it, forget about everything else and just go ahead and live a charade for a year."
If Archie loves me, he'll fight for me. Then I can find out if this is it, if Archie and I are the real thing.
"You sure?" Nick asked again, just to make sure that Greg was behind the idea and was rewarded with a smile and a nod. "Fine then, don't you think we should start setting this up?"
The first stop was the estate agents to put Greg's apartment up for rent, it'd provide Greg with another source of income whilst living this temporary life. He was slightly worried that he'd end up with a bunch of rowdy UNLV students that would destroy the place, but the agent assured them both he'd have a pleasant group of clients lined up.
The second stop was to Greg's place so he could ready himself for a year at Nick's. After over an hour and a half there, debating on what Greg would actually need, they walked out with the majority of his possessions. But the time there, Nick managed to discover more about his new counterpart; the number of science text led to the conclusion he was a scientist of some sort, and all the certificates and academic trophies led him to the conclusion that Greg was indeed intelligent… Nick was way in over his head.
"This is the last of them." Nick said, slamming his front door with his foot. "Everything you own is officially in my home." He heard the snort of laughter, "I thought I told you to bring only the essentials." He grinned, balancing the boxes in his arms, navigating towards the spare bedroom.
"I only have the bare essentials." Greg said, smiling. "Your definition is just slightly different to mine."
"You're not kidding there." Nick waltzed into the room, careful not to trip over the rogue boxes that littered almost every available surface. "Since when has the Encyclopaedia of Viruses, Bacteria and Micro-organisms been vital for survival?"
"Since forever, I'm prepared for chemical warfare this way."
"I seriously hope you are joking." He put down the boxes on the bed, the only surface that appeared to be free at that moment.
"I was." Greg began to laugh at the suggestion that he was preparing himself for chemical warfare… That was so… Hodges. "I need them for work. Seriously, I'm not that weird."
"Could've fooled me."
He frowned, deciding to ignore that comment. Instead he pulled yet another box full of books and tried to figure out how he'd be able to cram them onto the shelf. Looking around the room he could already begin to tell that he did over pack, there was no way half of his possessions would fit in the room. Although he decided to withhold that information from Nick, just to avoid any further embarrassment.
"Do you need anything? Storage boxes? CD rack? Coat-hangers?"
"I could really use a CD rack if you have one going." Greg said, remembering the amount of CD's he had to store somewhere.
"I think I've got one in the closet, I'll just go and have a look."
Nick disappeared out of the room, leaving Greg to fight with the bookcase over how many books would fit onto a shelf. So far the total was eight, but he knew he'd have to fit at least three more on each shelf if he wanted to get them all into the case. He began to wedge another in place when he heard a sickening crash and watched on helplessly as the whole shelf gave way underneath the weight of the volumes.
"I think I'm gunna need a new one."
Meanwhile Nick was having worse luck trying to find the CD holder. He realised exactly why he avoided going into the cupboard at all costs- it was where he shoved things that no longer worked or he didn't need. He pulled back another piece of carpet, sneezing at the sudden dust cloud it brought up.
"I think I'm gunna have to clean this all out."
Ten minutes later Greg was still fighting with the room about whether all his belongings would fit and where they'd go, but so far he was failing badly. It was the room 2 and Greg zero. The bookcase had finally won after yet another shelf collapsed and sent the books raining to the floor- The Guide to DNA catching Greg nastily on the back of the head. After that he decided that trying to store some of his items in the closet, which he discovered was jammed and after fighting with the door had tripped over a box and fallen backwards. He'd decided that this room was conspiring against him. Now he was doing the relatively safe option, unpacking his clothes… He couldn't really hurt himself with fabric… Right?
He heard a clattering at the doorway, but didn't need to look up to see it was Nick, returning from his quest to find a CD rack.
"I need a new bookcase." Greg began his back towards the door. "I broke that one; it wasn't very stable if you ask me. And the closet is stuck, I can't get it open. Would you try?"
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my boyfriend's house!"
Greg spun around to face the angry woman stood in his bedroom doorway, rather stunned at her sudden appearance.
How the hell did she get in? And where is Nick to help me out!
"Answer me!" She snarled, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. Greg gulped, what was it with him being faced with angry and violent people today? The brunette did look rather vicious to Greg, not in an 'I could easily kill you' way but in an 'I can seriously pull a lot of your hair out and scratch you' way. He looked down at her nails, yeah, they were definitely scratching material.
"I'm Greg." He said, putting his jeans in the drawer and stepping away from her. "And I can explain everything."
"You better explain and fast." She said, still scowling at him. "I'm not in the mood for this."
No kidding. Greg thought to himself bitterly, assuming that she was fresh off a plane and exhausted. Her clothes were rumpled, there were shadows beneath her eyes and her hair was falling out of a messy bun and probably all she wanted to do was curl up with her boyfriend and sleep. That's not happening anytime soon.
"Hey Greg, I found you a CD rack, but it needs a good clean. And I found some other… Shit." He trailed off seeing his girlfriend stood in the doorway, glaring at him. "Mandy, what are you doing back so early? I thought I said I'd pick you up if you gave me a call."
She was definitely glaring at him, and still eyeing up Greg at the same time. He couldn't tell whether she was angry or confused, she was wearing one of her passive expressions that were always unreadable.
Am I in trouble or what? He thought to himself, Hang on, am I in trouble? What a stupid question! I am in a hell of a lot of trouble.
"Nicholas, what's going on here? And why are you covered in dust?"
Nick looked down at his shirt, and sure enough he was covered in cobwebs and dust and he was in no doubt he probably looked a little worse for wear. That would raise a lot of questions in Mandy's mind… Not all of which he could actually answer.
"I was looking for something in the cupboard." Nick said, brushing himself off, causing him to sneeze again. "I just need to put it in Greg's room if you don't mind. Then we can talk about this."
He carefully walked passed Mandy, never taking his eyes off her afraid that she could possibly jump him at any moment. He entered the room to find his partner frozen in place- much like earlier that day. He couldn't really blame Greg for the reaction though; they were both intimidating people.
"Here you go." Nick said, smiling reassuringly at his friend placing the stand down beside him. "I think you should start unpacking them now." He hinted 'subtly'. Greg nodded, understanding the message and immediately scuttled off to busy himself sorting CD's. "I think we should take this conversation somewhere a little more private."
"Good idea." Mandy said, giving Greg one last glare on her way out.
Settled a few minutes later in the kitchen, Nick made sure there were no sharp objects anywhere close to hand, rather afraid of what could happen if they were. He certainly didn't intend dying at such a young age.
"What's going on here?" Mandy asked drumming her nails on the countertop. "I thought you said you weren't going to let out the back room."
"I didn't." Nick admitted.
"Then why is that, Greg person moving into your back room?"
"Greg." He emphasized the name. "And he's moving in because…" He stammered, trailing off. He wasn't intending to be honest with anyone- he was intending to say that he was married but leave out the who- he couldn't considering Mandy had stumbled into the domestic scene.
"Why, Nicholas?"
"Because…" Not brave enough to quite say the words he gestured to the ring on his hand. But Mandy looked blankly at it, not seeing the relevance. He took a steadying breath, "I'm married."
Slowly all the colour drained from her face and she looked close to passing out as the truth hit her.
"But, you're not… I didn't think… You can't be… But… Married… Him?"
"Yeah, I guess." Nick shrugged, looking at the startled woman. "I didn't think I was either, but, I met him and the rest is history."
"When?"
It was only understandable she wanted to know; but he couldn't exactly say since last night. They had to make this believable, and people didn't fall in love overnight.
"A couple of months."
"You were seeing him whilst seeing me!" She shrieked wildly, "I thought we were in a committed relationship. You were seeing him! A man, whilst seeing a woman! I was being your beard? How dare you!"
Before Nick even had time to register the softness had morphed into anger he felt the palm connect with his cheek, and the stinging sensation that quickly followed. He was startled by that, he really didn't think she'd lash out like that, Mandy had always seemed so harmless. But then again, he'd never cheated on her, or got married behind her back before- desperate times could push women to the edge.
"I can't believe this Nicholas! You will live to regret the day you did this to me!" She warned, before heading out of the door leaving the house with a loud thump.
Greg emerged from the bedroom right at that moment, to see Nick sat there clutching his cheek and gaping, still in shock.
"Women, eh?" Greg quipped lightly, "They're way too dramatic if you ask me." He paused for a minute, sitting in the seat that Mandy had just vacated. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault." Nick said slowly, realising that the other was actually feeling guilty for something he didn't do. "I suppose I should have expected that. It's not everyday a woman finds out her 'long term' boyfriend is 'gay'."
Greg laughed.
"She's one lucky girl."
***
Greg stood back and surveyed his work. Nick's spare room was no longer looking personality-less and was beginning to look homely; specifically like his home. There were still a few boxes scattered about the room, most of them holding books, but he had to admit it wasn't that bad here. At least he was going to spend a year in a comfortable, rent-free room and just continue his life normally.
Well, as normal as he could.
He couldn't help but question why exactly he was doing this, why Nick was doing it either. Sure, there was money- but money wasn't the be all and end all of the world. There had to be other reasons, and he wasn't quite sure what Nick's were… Heck, he wasn't even sure what his were.
Nick hadn't really spoken to him since Mandy left, he'd said the odd word, but had then excused himself to his room and just stayed there- even though it was only six. Greg couldn't really blame him; his pride was probably a little battered from the encounter… But Greg was about to go through the same thing and they were in a 'relationship' the least they could do was interact with one another.
Greg flopped down onto the bed, sighing dejectedly. He wasn't quite sure why Nick blanking him had annoyed him so much, it didn't make any sense in his head. He shouldn't have been rattled by Nick not saying much to him, he should be happy, it'd make the year go quicker if he didn't form a bond with his partner… He kept telling himself that, but it wasn't working.
Nick had to admit he hadn't expected Mandy to smack him, he'd expected some reaction but not one that violent. He could understand that she felt violated, confused and had a lot of animosity that she had to aim at someone… Nick had expected some shouting, maybe an object or two to go flying towards him; he hadn't expected her hand to make contact with his face.
He could still hear the sound in his ears, the stinging sensation on his cheek and the feeling that he'd done a bad thing. He'd never intended to have someone hurt in the process, he was hoping that he could avoid the scenario with Mandy- she'd just stumbled in and he had to try and explain it in the easiest way possible. In twelve months time he could come clean, tell Mandy the truth and maybe they could salvage a relationship… Until then he'd have to survive with his guilty conscience telling him that he'd done something terrible, unforgivable.
He buried his head further in the pillow, screwing his eyes tight, hoping that he could block out the memories of the day. Perhaps he could pretend this never happened and tomorrow morning when he woke up it'd all been some horrible dream, or maybe it'd be like that film… Groundhog Day, where he'd wake up and Greg would be next to him and he could sort it all out, this time getting an annulment and walking away.
Rationally he was questioning why he'd chosen to do it; was it the money? To keep his reputation when the truth came out, that's what it was. But the real reason had to be that this was something weird, different and something that would brighten up his mundane life… He'd lived life by rules, being normal and socially acceptable… And this was something that had thrown him right outside his comfort zone and for once he was going to roll with it, some higher power obviously wanted him to do it.
The sun peeked through the blinds and cast deep shadows over his new room and his new life. He hadn't been able to sleep, every time he began to drift off he's see Archie's disappointed face or he'd hear the thick Texas drawl of Nick shouting accusatory words at him. Every time one of those found its way into his dream he'd jerk himself awake to stop the horrible feelings haunting him.
The room was unfamiliar in a way, they were his possessions but they were out of place, in an alien environment; just like he was. It hadn't bothered him before, nothing had, but a night of fitful rest had made him question what he was doing, question why he was about to break it off with Archie, question whether this was about Archie or himself.
He had the bad feeling he was doing it for himself.
Greg stretched out on the bed; noticing how big it was without another person lying next to him. He wasn't used to it, not having someone there to hold, not having some warmth beside him and he missed it already… And he hadn't even broken it off yet.
He clambered from the warmth of the sheets, the cool air of the apartment making his skin prickle. He was nervous, he couldn't deny that fact nor could he deny how guilty he was already feeling; he supposed it was his conscience telling him exactly what was going on and exactly what he was proposing to do.
It made his stomach turn.
Greg tried to pretend that he was just being a roommate to someone, that he was married, he wasn't cheating on Archie. That was a lie though, he was married, he was technically cheating on Archie and Nick at the same time… He wasn't like that.
He padded to the bathroom, peering at himself in the mirror, blanching at the sight. That wasn't the normal Greg looking back at him, there wasn't the normal grin on his face, there wasn't the sparkle in his eyes, there wasn't youth there… He was different, all because of guilt.
Greg gulped as he walked along the cobbled walkway towards the Asian man sat on the bench, staring out over the park. He looked back over his shoulder towards the gates, where Nick was perched waiting for him, just in case this got messy (not that Greg expected it to, but Nick had insisted). He hadn't really been himself the whole morning, he'd sort of been there but not been there at the same time. It was as if he was watching a movie, completely detached from his body, with no control; in other words it didn't feel real.
He wasn't ready to do this; he wasn't sure what to say or what to do… He wasn't sure how to handle the situation… He wasn't ready for it.
"Hey," The familiar voice called out to him, Archie noticing him before he had time to back out and high-tail it right out of there.
"Hi," Greg croaked back, his throat squeezing shut as he looked at his boyfriend. He wasn't sure how he could explain to Archie what happened, how it'd come down to this… How could he break that news to him?
Archie didn't leave the bench, but moved up to give Greg some room. He smiled at the gesture and sat down next to him, staring blankly ahead across the lush green grass that seemed so abnormal surrounded by the dusty reds and browns. He didn't want to look at Archie and be reminded exactly why he'd fallen for him in the first place, he didn't want to fall all over again to just try and ignore the feelings.
"Greg, are you okay?" Archie asked tentatively, putting his hand on his leg. "You know you can talk to me, right?"
He nodded mutely, trying to escape the touch. Greg had always been comfortable around Archie; they'd always had fun together… And he'd thought he'd found his soul mate… That was until a few weeks ago, that's when things had been shifted. They'd both become irritable around one another, there wasn't comfort. They'd both put it down to over-familiarity, decided to cool it a bit, go back to leading their separate lives and meeting for the dates…
And things weren't really getting better.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder and Greg really hoped it was true. The twelve months apart would make them both realise that they were really meant to be together, that's why he was doing it.
"I know." He squeaked, wondering whether the past day had a permanent effect on his voice. It had only been squeaking or yelling, not normal sounds. "We have to talk."
He felt Archie jerk his hand away, the traditional 'we have to talk' line, never a good sign. Greg had never been one for traditional usage of words, or traditional lines in general- at one point he's sworn he'd never use them… There went that promise along with so many.
"Oh." Archie said simply, putting some distance between them both, trying to sound un-phased. "Sure. What is it?"
"We have to break it off."
"Break it off?" Archie repeated, and Greg nodded. "But why?"
He knew that question was coming, but it had still caught him off guard. How could he explain it in a way that would still mean he could salvage a relationship when this was all over? Would Archie understand what he was trying to explain?
"It's hard to explain…" He trailed off, knowing that Archie was staring at him, probably mouth slightly ajar, he couldn't bring himself to look at him. "Really hard; as in if I explain it you, you'll probably think I'm crazy. I'm not crazy though, it's the truth, and it sounds really out there."
"Okay then," Archie said. "Just explain it to me then."
"Well, I'm married. And before you interrupt it's a legal marriage, and I'm not getting a divorce or an annulment either… I want to make a go of it, you know? I don't want to give up already. It sounds really odd, I know, but I met someone… Nick… A couple of months ago now, we were friends- going out for the odd drink, hanging around, doing friend things and that's when I realised I fell in love with him."
Archie snorted, and Greg looked up at him- wishing that he didn't almost instantly.
"I know, I told you it'd sound ridiculous but hear me out okay? The feeling was mutual, and I thought I should take a chance on him. So here I am, a married man."
"What about us?" He could hear the pain in Archie's voice, and felt the guilt twist his stomach.
"I loved you Archie, I just… I couldn't wait around any longer. You were always there for me, we were always having fun. Just Nick, he was different… He swept me off my feet… And we were going no where…"
"We were going everywhere Greg!"
Greg flinched, he'd never heard Archie raise his voice before, and he had never seemed the type. But he supposed that this was a desperate time, so Greg could forgive him for the outburst.
"Were we? When were you going to say you loved me? When were we going to move in together? You never told me any of this… You never made it known I was important… I couldn't wait any longer, I found someone that loves me and was willing to give it all to me without waiting around."
Moments passed in silence, Archie still trying to understand what was going on, and Greg trying to justify what he'd just done. Greg found it ironic that this was the only time in their whole relationship that he'd said what was really bothering him; he'd never spoken out against him.
"I'm going to fight for you."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to fight for you. I'm not going to let you go that easily, we have something special and I'm not going to let Nick ruin it."
That was the response Greg had been hoping for; but he couldn't let on he was that excited about it. Instead he smiled slightly, nodding at Archie.
"I know." He said softly, looking up at him. "I know you will."
Nick watched the scene from behind the metal railings that contained the park. He couldn't help but feel quite envious of Greg; there he was obviously with a person of significance and with an important relationship, whereas Nick had never had something that meant that much to him. He was also quite envious that it was ending quietly, without a smack round the face or with a fight…
Greg was one lucky guy.
As the pair departed from the bench, he could see that Greg was going to need some time alone to recover from what he'd just done. He looked rather dejected, his shoulders slumped and he wasn't looking away from the pathway; Greg obviously hadn't planned on it being that hard.
Greg meandered towards him slowly, dragging his feet along, probably wondering what he'd done to end up in this situation. Nick couldn't help but wonder why too, they were just two mismatched men that had ended up in a situation that was beyond bizarre.
"Why don't you go for a walk?" Nick suggested as Greg came towards him. The younger man looked up at him, his brown-eyes wide with pain evident. He nodded slowly, and wandered back off without another word.
Nick sighed, leaning against the railings, trying to block out the world again. As if he didn't have enough guilt to deal with, he now had to feel guilty that he'd ripped apart a perfectly functioning relationship, and for what?
"Are you Nick?"
Nick nodded, recognising the man from Greg's photos. He was much like Greg in the way he was built, same height, same ruffled hair (although his was black to Greg's sandy brown) and same big brown eyes. He suddenly felt very nervous around him; how could he possibly pass as Greg's soul-mate when he was the polar opposite to the previous boyfriend?
"Greg told me all about you." Archie said, but there were no bitter undertones he sounded perfectly friendly. "I didn't quite now what to expect… You're certainly different from what I thought."
Nick wondered what Archie had imagined. Probably someone scrawny, slender with that air of intellect to them… He had to stop himself laughing out loud. Yeah, he was nothing like that.
"He spoke about you too." Nick said quietly, hoping that Archie didn't want to know exactly what he'd been saying. It was the odd mention of breaking it off and guilt from it; beyond those two facts Nick had no idea about Archie.
"Of all the ways I expected it to end; I had never thought about this one." Archie laughed slightly, "I always thought it'd never actually end, childish huh?"
"Uhhh…" Nick wasn't sure how to respond to that, it wasn't really childish. It probably wouldn't have ended for a long time if it weren't for him.
"I guess I shouldn't have thought it'd always be that way. I should have grabbed on with when I had the chance. But you do know I'm going to fight you all the way for him. You're not going to walk away with him that easily."
To Nick that sounded slightly unnerving; as if there was something dark about Archie but he wasn't going to dwell on that thought. After all, this was a temporary thing, and in twelve months time Greg could easily walk out of the relationship and straight back to Archie.
He just hoped Archie wasn't going to cause too much trouble between then and now… Something told him keeping Archie away was going to be easier said than done.
***
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.
***
As the normal lunch-hour arrived Greg decided that he was going to duck away from his friends and the building, instead deciding to spend it outside away from everyone else, instead settling himself down at the fountain outside. Normally his lunch hour would be spent gossiping with his friends, flirting with Archie and talking about things he didn't care about; but this wasn't a normal lunchtime. He knew his friends would be gossiping about him, he couldn't flirt with Archie and there wouldn't be a conversation- just stagnant silence.
He sat watching the water of the fountain that never actually had a purpose, until now. He took his shoes off and dipped his feet into the cool liquid, watching as the water distorted everything else, how he wished that it would distort his reality. His food lay forgotten beside him as he watched the water, finding the silence of the air actually pleasant as it stopped the barrage of questions he couldn't answer.
"Greg!"
He sighed, recognising the voice as Sara's, enjoying the fleeting moment of freedom away from the reality of the world. He could hear her hesitating by the entrance of the building, feeling the stare of her eyes upon his back, able to visualise the stance she was taking. Greg decided not to answer in the hope that she'd give up and go back inside and enjoy her lunch with Grissom and Hodges and deciding on what they'd tell Wendy when she'd got back off holiday.
"Don't pretend you can't hear me, come back inside or I'll come and join you." She threatened. "Fine then."
He could hear the echo of her shoes against the concrete and the gritting of her teeth coming closer until the sounds were right beside him as Sara sat beside him, facing the building rather than the water like the was.
"If you want to tease me about it, just do it and go back and enjoy the rest of lunch."
"Tease you?" Sara laughed slightly, "I don't tease you."
Greg looked at her sceptically.
"Okay, I wouldn't tease you about this. I'd tease you about a lot of things: your hair, your sense of style, your childishness." She listed them all on her fingers, trying to remember what else she had teased him about in the past. "But trust me; I wouldn't tease you about something like this. Your marriage is important to you, we can all tell that, it's just come as a little surprise to the rest of us."
Greg remained quiet; deciding to let Sara talk, maybe shed some light onto their reaction. She was, after all, one of his best friends and had always found comfort in talking to her. She was the only person to know about his relationship with Archie before they had decided to 'come-out'; she was the first person to know about their problems; she was the first person to know a lot of things about him.
"I mean, when you admitted about your relationship with Archie, remember how Grissom, Hodges and Wendy had reacted… I knew about it though… I knew about your on-off relationship with him but I didn't know about this other person… It shocked me more to think that you hadn't told me about it."
"You didn't tell me about Grissom."
Sara cringed; she'd know that it would be used as ammunition against her in this battle.
"I'm sorry, that was wrong of me considering we've told each other everything until now. I guess we both had a little trick up our sleeves that we weren't telling each other about huh? I was planning on telling you, honestly, it's just we're in the early stages, I don't want to jinx it."
"Early stages?" Greg finally looked up at her, his face in a frown of confusion.
"Yeah, as in we went for dinner on Saturday night together. I think it went well, he did say we'd have to do it another time."
"Wow, how on earth did you manage that one?"
"I don't know, I guess it was after the cuts… Seeing so many people with the ends of their jobs, to Grissom that would be the end of everything important in his life, but all those redundant people had families to go back to. If Grissom did end up in the next cuts, everything he'd ever worked for would be gone and so he decided to make something else work and asked me out to dinner."
"So those cuts did some good after all."
"Yeah they did. So now I've told you, you've got a choice whether to tell me or not about your partner. And before you ask, no I'm not going to go and tell anyone about this- not even Grissom."
Warrick hadn't come near him since he'd told him he was married, which left Nick to wonder whether he'd just lost his best friend. He couldn't understand why he'd taken it so hard, or why he was being ignored for it because in his opinion he'd done right in telling his friend about it. If he wanted to he could have kept the marriage a secret and not honoured his best friend with the knowledge of his partnership.
Lunch normally meant they'd have an hour gap whilst the other trainers worked the hour and then had theirs later. Nick, Warrick and Catherine had always tried to arrange it so their lunches fell around the same time so they could head to the café for food.
Today, however, Nick didn't feel much like eating with the two of them. In fact, he didn't feel much like eating at all and decided that he'd rather spend his hour toning himself. It was something he always did when he was angry at himself, it took his mind off the world around.
He set up the bench, looking around at the other people that were there trying to loose weight or get fit, and he felt slightly out of place. That wasn't unusual now, he felt like an alien everywhere he went, just he'd never imagined to be alienated by someone he trusted so much with.
He began the regime of making his muscles burn to forget the anger that raged on inside. Since a young age he'd done it, deciding to bury himself in something he enjoyed rather than feel the anger and frustration out on someone else.
"Nick, man, can I have a word?"
He pushed the weights up, sitting himself up but avoiding Warrick's steady gaze.
"Look, if you're here to ask me to lunch with you and Cath, I'm not going, so you two can totter off alone." He snapped, the anger coming out. "If you don't mind I'm working out."
"Cath's working through lunch so she can get home and go to parent's evening with Lindsey. I want to talk to you somewhere outside the prying ears of everyone else. Lunch is on me."
Nick looked at his friend questioningly but thought better than to refuse the offer, although he'd be ordering the most expensive thing he could find on the menu just for the sake of it.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, I swore to myself I wouldn't tell anyone so I could avoid the gossip."
"I wouldn't gossip about you, the whole purpose of our lab is to gossip about those people outside of our click."
"True, but Hodges can't help himself sometimes."
She nodded in agreement, taking a bite out of her sandwich, as Greg splashed the water with his feet whilst still avoiding his food and anyone apart from Sara.
"I want to be honest with you Sara; I've totally gone against my normal type."
"A woman?" Sara asked before she could help herself. She'd known about Greg's preferences since he started working there, but she'd seen few women and more men.
"No," Greg laughed, thanking the stars that hadn't happened… He'd find the scenario very, very difficult if that had been the case. "Just not anything like Archie,"
"Oh, you have a picture?"
That was something Greg hadn't thought about, photographs the real proof of anything. He hadn't got a photograph of Nick to prove his existence or even a memory of the wedding. She was bound to ask him questions like that one day; they'd both have to find out so they were ready for it.
"No, I left them all back at our apartment."
"You've already moved in together? Wow, you guys had it all sorted out didn't you?"
"You could say that."
"So go on, tell me all about him."
Greg shifted uncomfortably, recalling the previous night and the game they'd both participated in.
"Well first off his name is Nick and he works at a gym downtown. We met in a bar a couple of months back when Archie and I were just starting to go through our bad patch and you know he was someone to talk to. We both just decided to meet up every once in a while when either of us were going through a rough patch, became good friends and all that. Basically Archie and I were going no where and we were both fed up of trying to find the perfect partner who could be our friend and a carer and a connection and have a strong attraction too. We both realised that in each other we'd found exactly who we were looking for all along…
He's Texan, athletic, muscular, very handsome, strong defined features, rich brown eyes and black hair although it could be really dark brown you never can tell."
"Very nice." Sara said appreciatively, glad that her friend had found someone he'd fallen in love with and someone that put that wistful look back in his eyes, but she couldn't help but feel familiar with the person he was describing- but she could pin-point why. "What's he like?"
"Well, he's protective and he's chivalrous like your typical knight in shining armour. Yeah, that's how to describe him… He's just like all the knights in the tales you hear about. Defend the weak, fight for honour… Although he does have a bit of a temper on him."
"You'll be amazed to find how many of them actually do."
The waitress smiled at her usual patrons that were sat in their normal booth in the corner but were without the third of their normal party. Today it was just the two men, Nick and Warrick if she remembered rightly; undoubtedly they were going to order their normal a steak sandwich and a grilled cheese sandwich. Both men were tense, she could sense it as she sashayed her way over to the table with the usual drinks.
"Afternoon boys," She said politely placing the glasses down in front of them both. They both mumbled something in response, neither smiling like normal more of a sombre mood had settled around them. "You having the normal?"
They both nodded and she tottered off, wondering what had caused such an odd mood to appear between the two friends. She'd just leave them to it, unless they started fighting, in that case she's have to remove them both from the premises.
Warrick watched the waitress walk away, obviously trying to work out what was going on between the two of them, whilst Nick was content with staring out of the window at the Las Vegas traffic and avoiding his friends gaze.
"Look, earlier on I didn't mean to be off about you getting married or anything. It was just a bit of a shock to the system."
Nick didn't say anything, didn't even move or acknowledge what Warrick was trying to say. Instead he watched the blue Nissan speed down the street at some obscene and illegal number.
"There was me talking about maybe getting married and you were already one step ahead and were already married! You could have told me man!"
"I wasn't planning it." Nick snapped his voice low and threatening. "It just happened; at least I had the decency to tell you. I didn't even have to do that."
"How could you not plan a wedding? You just decided on a drunken night to get married to a total stranger and when to a 24-hour drive through? Somehow I know that wouldn't happen to you."
Nick snorted, wondering how his friend could actually dismiss what happened as 'something that wouldn't happen to him', was he truly thought of as safe?
"Here you go." The waitress set the plates down between the two men that were bickering and disturbing the people in neighbouring booths. The men were still tense and the air was electric as they eyed each other up over the table. "You need anything else just call me over. Enjoy." She waltzed away, watching the men cautiously, she did not want a fight on her hands.
"So what Warrick? It's done now, I'm married, you've just got to accept that fact and move on." Nick said, still eyeing the other. "I thought you'd be happy for me."
There was silence again, as the two mulled over what they'd said to one another. Nick wouldn't have deliberately avoided telling his friend about a milestone in his life but there was no way he could have in the scenario. Warrick didn't mean to make such a big deal about it, but it had affected him more because he'd just told his friend about his marriage plans and he'd been completely avoided in Nick's!
"I am happy." Warrick said through a mouthful. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you found some girl right for you. I just wished you had told me."
"I'm sorry. I wasn't sure I was going to do it. Otherwise I would have told you."
"So when am I going to meet her?"
Nick paused for a moment, considering whether to be honest or not. Would Warrick ever meet Greg unless they were introduced? Would Warrick stop socialising with him if he thought he was gay? What would be better for all of them?
"I've got to be honest; you're not going to meet her…"
"How come?"
"She doesn't exist." Nick admitted knowing he was tempting fate; Warrick was looking at him confused. "It's not a she… It's a he."
Nick cringed and looked out of the window again; waiting for Warrick to punch him or get up and walk out of the door- it was inevitable.
"Still, I will have to meet the guy, what's his name?"
"Greg." He answered slowly, realising that his best friend wasn't actually stunned or sickened by the revelation. Nick grinned and so did Warrick, their normal friendly conversation returning once more. The waitress smiled, relaxing in her seat, disaster averted.
It wasn't out of choice that Sara participated in yoga; it was all because of her doctor and psychiatrist. Her doctor had advised that she participated in a sport to help her fitness as well as building a stronger immune system and when she had complained about it in a therapy session her councillor said that a physical activity that was also proven to be very relaxing could do no harm.
Sara hated professionals.
She put the last of her clothes away into the locker and headed to join the other members of the group. They were an odd group; a few house-wives that did the class to get away from their homes, a few professionals that were there to unwind after work and a few women that were there to keep themselves flexible because it was good for business- if Sara didn't know any better she'd swear that the teacher had been one of them at one point.
"Afternoon ladies." The teacher smiled at her class, opening the door to the yoga/dance studio. "Everyone go get yourself a mat and we'll do some warm up stretches before starting."
Sara was probably the least enthusiastic student of the class; she found that it was a waste of time, she'd much rather put the lesson time to some good use by working or meeting up with Grissom. She wasn't exactly enthused by the teacher either; her physique and her demeanour completely rubbed Sara up the wrong way.
"Okay then, if you'd just copy me." She directed, stretching herself out and watching as her class attempted to copy her (with little success) "And hold the position for ten seconds."
The class made her feel like a young pre-schooler again, being directed in crude movements and even being counted for, made her feel young and incompetent again and that was another reason she didn't like the teacher being so downgraded like that.
"Good, now the other side."
Replicating the move on the opposite side and Sara decided not to argue with the teacher, instead just following her simple instructions and copying her every move. Yoga didn't exactly require mental focus, that's probably why she disliked it so much, it was just simple.
Why yoga? Why didn't I do something else, maybe kick-boxing or something? Didn't my psychiatrist say to avoid martial arts and any violent sports because I need to relax and keep my temper low? Hmm, he has no idea what it's like to do yoga… He probably sees it as an opportunity to be tranquil but it just makes me angrier being patronised by the dancer turned instructor. Ergh, this is beyond boring. I wonder if they allow men in this class… Heh, that'd be interesting, I'd get Greg, Wendy Grissom down here to keep me company and laugh at their pathetic attempts at yoga- then again Greg has a husband to get home to and he wouldn't want to spend time at the gym.
Wait, didn't Greg say that Nick worked at a gym? He did! I wonder which one it is, could it be this one? That'd be interesting. Okay, so Greg said he was Texan- that accent shouldn't be too hard to pick out around here, black hair, brown eyes, athletic… He shouldn't be too hard to find if he's here.
Why don't I ask her? I mean, staff should know each other. If I just ask if Nick's here and say I'm a friend of his I should be able to get to talk to him and introduce myself.
"Into the crane," She said smiling at her class as they all tried to remember how to do it. Sara knew the exact stance, could recall all of them… She just couldn't do this specific one.
Whoever came up with these positions spent way too much time around nature.
Sara hung around at the end of the session, pretending that she was just helping out with packing the mats away, because she couldn't outright go and ask because that'd look suspicious.
"That was good work today." She remarked, picking up one of the mats and handing it to Sara. "You're really improving."
Sara knew that was a blatant lie; she'd fallen over twice and nearly sent some of her classmates flying and she wouldn't have done that normally. She sensed the opportunity that she had and leapt for it, the worst the teacher could do was ban her from yoga lessons (which would be heartbreaking for Sara).
"I did worse today than normal, I couldn't really concentrate, I had a lot on my mind." She took another mat and folded it away. "I was trying to remember where Nick said he'd meet me after work,"
"You're looking for Nick?" The teacher asked surprised, eyeing her closely. "I've heard him mention you actually."
"You have?" She said shocked, covering it over quickly wondering how Nick even knew her- did Greg talk about her? "Of course you have. Any chance you could show me where he is?"
"Sure, I'm Catherine by the way- one of Nick's colleagues and a good friend." She put the final mat into the box, before wheeling it to the wall. "I suppose I'll take you to him after you've gotten changed."
Sara followed Catherine up the stairs to the staff locker rooms, keeping conversation to a minimum to avoid revealing that she didn't actually know Nick. There was the typical 'how do you know him' to which she responded that she'd met him in a bar a few months back and avoided giving clear answers to anything else.
"Here we go." She said, stopping outside the closed door. "Nick's got a ten minute break before his next client, the final of the night. You're welcome enough to stay around; Warrick would love to meet you. Anyway, I better go, I have a parents evening to get to. Hopefully I'll see you for next week's lesson!"
Catherine walked away, Sara mumbling thanks in her wake and waiting for her to disappear back down the stairs before knocking on the door, praying Nick would be in there.
"Come in, I'm decent."
Sara grinned, knowing that it was definitely a Texan accent that answered her. She took a deep breath before opening the door- her eyes scanning the room for the man Greg had described.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, you can. I'm Sara Sidle, one of Greg's friends."
He didn't react to her, instead he kept his eyes focused on her, obviously trying to figure out whether she was being honest or not. For a few seconds there was just silence between the pair, Sara had only planned this far but hadn't thought about what she'd say once she'd got this far.
"Ah," Nick finally nodded, "It's nice to meet you."
"Same to you, before you panic I didn't come and track you down, Greg said that you worked at a gym and I come to yoga here, coincidence that you work at the same one I come to."
Silence again, Sara wasn't sure now what to say, she didn't know a lot about Nick except he'd helped Greg out during his relationship with Archie, she didn't know any of his interests or anything more than her friend had rambled on about.
"How do you know Greg?" He asked finally breaking the silence that had settled over them both; Sara was almost stunned to hear his voice.
"We both work together down in lab 34, known him for a couple of years now." Sara grinned at the memory of Greg's arrival, fresh and overenthusiastic with the hair cut that was worse than his new one- she wondered if Nick had seen that photograph, if he hadn't she'd make sure he would.
"You two close then?"
"I would say so. Although I was a little stunned to hear he was married."
Nick laughed, and Sara couldn't see what the humour was. Was there something she was missing?
"Sorry," He said, registering the confused look Sara was giving him. "Everyone seems a bit shocked about it, even we were."
"Yeah, Greg made it sound as if you didn't actually realise it either until Friday. It's nice that he's found someone though, after all the stuff that happened with Archie I didn't think he'd find someone else for years, but he has and I'm so glad."
"Yeah," He said guiltily, wondering what would happen in 12 months time when everyone realised this had just been a charade.
***
"Wait, you mean to say Sara came and visited you at your work?"
"Uh-huh, apparently she does yoga there and managed to convince Catherine she knew me really well. Actually if I think about it Catherine probably thinks I'm married to her."
Greg laughed brightly, taking another bite of his meal, whilst trying to gage Nick's reaction to one of his friends practically stalking him. He wasn't sure whether Nick was putting a positive spin on it, or whether he was looking for an escape route already. Greg wouldn't know what to do if one of Nick's friends just appeared at his work, could he handle it as expertly as Nick had done? Somehow he doubted it; he'd probably rip a whole in their perfectly crafted story.
"Sorry, I was vague enough about you because I don't even know the details and yet she still manages to find you. I swear if she didn't work in medical sciences she'd be an awesome detective."
"No kidding. I can't believe that Catherine thinks she's my wife. She's not my type."
"And I am?"
"No."
"Calm down, I know that. You're going completely out of your normal gender." Greg took another bite before continuing. "How did that go down?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full, it's disgusting." Nick said, looking at his clean table that was now littered with scraps of food. "And it went down well with the one I told, surprising well. I had envisioned a punch at least."
"Friends can be very surprising, just look at Sara the Super Sleuth."
Nick nodded, demonstrating to Greg the concept of manners about eating with your mouth closed and not talking with a mouth full. He really needed to house-train his partner, he was beginning to equate him to a little puppy… But that wasn't fair on dogs.
"Warrick wants to meet you." Nick said, taking a sip of water and watching as Greg's mouth hung open- revealing the half eaten piece of chicken. "Greg, mouth!"
Greg snapped his mouth shut, his surprise emphasized by his wide eyes. He swallowed his mouthful, almost choking on it, coughing wildly.
"Meet me?" He said between coughing fits. "I can't meet him."
"Of course you can meet him. It's easy enough, I invite him over and you say hi and excuse yourself to your studies. That way you don't have to make small-talk and haven't really met him."
Greg took a deep gulp of his water, wishing that he could have some alcohol instead to numb the pain he was experiencing. He hadn't intended to meet any of Nick's friends, for them to all realise what Nick had married, then again he hadn't intended any of his friends to meet Nick but that had still happened.
"I can't meet him." Greg rasped his throat sore from the dry coughs. "Seriously, it's for your sake more than mine."
"How is it for my sake?" He said confused at Greg's reaction. It had shocked him (and sent him into panic mode) when Sara had turned up at the gym, but he'd blundered through it because it'd help with the illusion. It was now Greg's turn to return the favour.
"Think about what rubbish you're going to hear about at work when it's discovered you are married to a weedy scientist. Any reputation you have will probably be shredded to pieces if that becomes common knowledge."
Nick looked at Greg in disbelief, trying to figure out how someone that had seemed so confident could be so insecure at the same time. To him it made no sense, because confidence came when you were sure of yourself, not when you were trying to solve your insecurities. Maybe Greg wasn't confident beneath the surface, he wondered why that was.
"Why would I get ripped to pieces?"
"I am not the type of person you want to be seen with. Trust me."
"I don't trust you." Nick admitted, "Warrick is going to meet you, end of story. If I ruin my reputation it won't be that much of a loss, I can rebuild it easy enough."
"You're sure that I can just excuse myself and take refuge in my room?" Greg asked, pushing his half eaten meal to the side, suddenly not feeling so hungry. Nick nodded slowly, and Greg sighed. "Okay then, as long as I can go and exit to my room I'm sure I can manage a few minutes in awkward silence."
"Good!"
"As long as I don't have to talk about sport."
"You won't have to talk about sport." Nick assured his nervous partner.
"And I don't have to watch any sport or talk about my sporting achievements."
"Sporting achievements?"
"Chess team," Greg confessed, "Helped win the regional tournament."
"Don't worry; we'll avoid that topic of conversation for your sake."
Greg visibly relaxed, not too worried about the meeting because Nick would help him out if he needed it. Nick had dealt with Sara; he could return the favour with dealing with Warrick. After all, it couldn't be that hard…
Could it?
"Just so I can field all questions you better tell me the back-story you have going."
"I don't." Nick shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "We didn't do details, I was telling a guy- unlike Sara he didn't want to know when we met or where- he just wanted to know when he could meet you and whether we could double date."
Greg paled, shaking his head in disbelief. He ran a hair through his hair making it more dishevelled than normal.
"Relax; I was joking about the double date. I don't think you and Catherine would get along- she'd have no company to go and powder her nose with."
"Ha-ha." Greg said dryly, resting his elbows on the table. "Okay, so if he asks me, or you, the back story is basically we met in a pub a few months ago, we were just friends helping each other out back then. Anytime you ran into trouble you couldn't talk to Warrick about you called me and I did the same. Eventually we realised that in each other we'd found the person we were desperately searching for all along and we got married. By the way, we have no idea who proposed to who- which of us do you reckon did it?"
Nick laughed, realising that it was a very valid question that Greg posed. They'd never stopped for a moment to think about what their wedding had been like, whether they used the traditional vows or whether they invented their own, whether Nick proposed or whether Greg did…
"Do you reckon they'd have recorded our wedding for legal purposes of the contract?" Nick asked, getting up and collecting their plates- scraping the remains into the bin before dumping them into the sink. "If they did I think we should get a copy of it, for purposes of sentimentality because married couples are very sentimental and love clinging onto the memories."
"Plus we don't remember it. Might be nice to see what my wedding night was like."
"And that too." Nick turned on the water, filling the sink with scalding water and numerous bubbles. They'd yet to discuss about splitting the cost of groceries and utilities and splitting the household jobs- that was something they really had to do, Nick was fed up of always washing the dishes, straightening his apartment because Greg was certainly messy.
"But out of a guess, which one of us do you reckon was the proposer and which was the proposee?" Greg pressed for an answer. In his mind he had an idea, and Nick probably had an idea too… He wanted to know whether they matched up.
"Haven't really thought about it."
Liar
"I mean, it's not something I think is important."
Liar
"It's a matter of opinion really; we'll probably say different things."
Possibly, still want to hear what you have to say though.
"Still want to hear my opinion?"
Yes! Oh wait, he can't hear me… I'm already nodding, that's good.
"I think it was you that proposed to me."
Liar
"Ah, I think it's the other way around. No offence or anything, even intoxicated I'm a one person guy. I wouldn't have suggested it because I have," He cringed, correcting himself. "Had Archie."
"You forget the fact that with or without alcohol I am a hetero."
"Apparently not." Greg snapped back at him. "Look here," He pointed to the ring on his finger as a statement. "This proves that you're not as hetero as you thought. If a heterosexual man was proposed to by another male- he'd run away screaming or beat the guy to a bloody pulp- look you didn't do either to me!"
"Are you accusing me of not being straight?" Nick yelled, spinning to face Greg at the table, a dish clutched tightly in his hands. Greg identified the threat, but didn't back down, he was willing to stand up and fight Nick.
"Either you're not as straight as you claim to be or you proposed to me- which means you're not as straight as you claim to be!"
Nick could see sense in what Greg was saying, by now he was getting used to the fact that Greg always spoke a lot of sense in every situation. There was truth to his words, a truth Nick didn't want to face, a truth that Nick didn't want to believe and hated hearing about- Greg had said it with ease, without feeling guilt or remorse- but it always pained Nick to hear someone else identify it.
"And I'm supposed to believe that you are a bisexual? I know that's a lie to make you more socially acceptable, we both know there is only one gender for you- but you're afraid to admit that to anyone because you know you'll be shunned!"
When the door slammed he was relieved to hear the silence of his house.
"Gimme another," He slurred out whilst swaying on the bar stool. The bartender looked at the man with curiosity, he wasn't a regular to the place, in fact he'd only seen him once before and that was on the Friday night in a similar state. He wondered what the man's story was, why he found himself in his bar on a Tuesday morning mumbling to himself whilst downing another shot.
The bartender waddled over, setting another glass of the electrifying blue liquid in front of the young man.
"You'd feel better if you spoke about it rather than drinking it away."
Greg snatched the glass up, wiping his finger around the rim.
"Maybe I would, but I ain't got anyone that'd listen." He said downing the shot again and cringing as the liquid sent a burn down his throat. "Besides, who would understand?"
"More people that you realise…" He paused for a minute, remembering all those years ago when he'd found himself alone in a pub, drinking his problems away and someone had offered their ear to him. Back then it hadn't seemed all that important, but now he knew it had been a turning point. "I'm Norris."
"Greg."
"You want to go somewhere a bit more private." He said, gesturing to the numerous booths and tables that were submerged in the darkness and smoke coming from the patrons. "Because until you do, you're not having any more alcohol."
For a moment it looked like the man was going to protest and stagger out the door to find himself another pub, but he eventually sighed and hoisted himself off the stool and swayed towards a secluded booth in the corner.
"You're holding the fort now Lozza." Norris said to the man that was busy cleaning the glasses, "I've got some important business to attend to."
He took the seat opposite Greg, wondering since when the booths had become so tight for his rapidly developing beer-belly. It had only seemed like a few years ago that he'd been youthful and skinny with shaggy brown hair; but now there was wrinkles around his eyes and his mouth, there was a beer-gut and a second chin and his brown hair was now more grey tied back in a ponytail- the years hadn't been kind to him.
"Now this is how it works; you talk, I listen and chip in when I feel necessary."
"You wouldn't understand it though." Greg whined, "No one else has the same problem as I do. But you're asking, so I'm going to tell me. Don't blame me if you come away from her traumatised because it'd be your fault for making me talk about it to you. It will warp you, it's so fucked up that it's unbelievable. You won't believe me actually."
"You're babbling and it's not even about what's bugging you." Norris pointed out to the man that was still swaying back and forth as if it was a nervous impulse.
"Sorry, if I'm upset or excited or nervous or hyperactive I babble. I can't help it." He took a deep breath knowing that he would need it if he wanted to tell the story all in one. "It happened here on Friday, you probably don't remember us but there was me and a Texan."
"Of course I'd remember, you and Nick, you two seemed to be hitting it off quite well."
"Yeah, quite well, anyway to cut a long story short we got married. Yeah, I'm a married man and I'm bi, if you want to maul me can you wait until I finish the story? Okay, so we're married. Of course Nick wants to pretend we're playing happy families, that everything is fine in paradise. Problem is it's not. It's not fine at all, there's no sunshine in paradise, just rain and a lot of rain at that. We're not in love; I don't think we can be in love because we're two mismatched men that have been thrown into something that's really not working for us. He's in denial that it happened. He doesn't want it to happen because I ruin his reputation; he's heterosexual he swears. But if he's hetero why would he propose to me or accept my proposal? I mean, you wouldn't, would you? So that means he can't be, or is bisexual and just won't admit it because he's afraid of the word and the truth of the situation. Okay, so I told him outright that he wasn't as straight as he claims to be and then he had a go at me saying that my bisexual status is fake, he thinks I am just a one gender guy. He wants me to admit I'm gay, like fully. So what if I'm gay! It doesn't matter if I'm not interested in women because I'm already in a gay marriage- it doesn't alter my position in the relationship unlike him. So I stormed out, I don't want to pretend anymore, I want it to go back to the way it was before I met him. I was happy; I had a boyfriend, a wonderful boyfriend I was planning on spending the rest of my life with and I bumped into Nick and that whole plan went out the window. I'm not with Archie, I'm not spending my life with the person I thought I was in love with, and I'm with someone else pretending that we're in love in public and then you close the doors and we're trying to kill each other!"
Norris signalled to Lozza to bring another drink over, as Greg clenched and unclenched his fists whilst he blinked back the hot tears.
"You're right about no one else having the same problem as you; I think this is one of a kind. You were speaking way too fast- I could only catch bits and pieces when you spoke clearly and slowly, but I got the gist I think. You and Nick are married and you're regretting the marriage because it's so fake and you're unhappy. There was something about straight and gay in there though, that confused me. If it's making you unhappy, just up and leave. It's easy enough."
Lozza set down another shot in front of Greg and he looked into the liquid as if it held all the answers and all the solutions.
"If only it were that easy." He said, downing the shot and moving back to the bar, leaving Norris alone in the booth to try and decipher the strange tale Greg had just told him.
"What are you doing here so early?" Sara asked as she entered lab 34 to see Greg already working on the various samples and experiments they were working on. "I thought you'd be at home with that Texan of yours."
"Yeah," Greg snorted. "I love spending time with him."
Sara sensed that he was being sarcastic; she could smell the alcohol wafting in the air, mixed with the stench of cheap perfume and cigarettes- she instantly knew that Greg had been out on a binge last night.
"If you don't, I will." Sara said light-heartedly. "Your description really didn't do him justice."
"You want him? Take him. Take Grissom too. I bet that could be a fun evening for all involved."
"Someone is a little cranky today, rough night? Too much alcohol, too little sleep on the back-seat of your car and too many emotions all running high?" Sara said coldly, snapping a pair of gloves on violently. "Guess the honeymoon period is already over for you guys huh?"
"There wasn't a honeymoon period. There wasn't anything. There weren't any feelings. There were just two guys thinking they could make something work when in reality, they were doomed from the beginning."
"Someone is on an angst fest today." Sara said, taking up her space next to her friend, noticing the bags around his eyes and his rumpled demeanour- it wouldn't go unnoticed by the other two. "Come on Greg, you can talk to me about the troubles you're having. I know marriages aren't easy."
She was referring to her parents, there had been a honeymoon period where they'd had their daughter- but within a few months it had all but vanished and turned into drunken brawls and finally resulted in the police arriving and arresting the pair for a drunken fight that had escalated into full on blood bath. She'd vowed from that day on to keep an eye on anyone close to her in a marriage or a relationship because you could never tell what was going on behind the scenes.
"We had a fight." Greg admitted, "I said some things I shouldn't have, he just retaliated the same way- words that really hurt and I just walked out on him and spent the night down at some bar."
"You're both under a lot of stress."
"I know."
"That's probably what did it. You've both been wound so tight that you just snapped and he snapped too."
"Yeah probably."
"By the time you get home he'll have a meal waiting for you and a bunch of flowers and a thousand apologies."
Greg snorted, only in his dreams would anyone do that for him.
Warrick had been slightly uneasy about coming here and meeting Nick's partner; he didn't want to have to adjust his view on Nick because he was married to some flamboyant guy or even realise that Nick was gay and married to a guy. It sounded selfish but Warrick didn't want Nick to be gay, it totally distorted his world. He'd never considered that his best friend, the supposed womaniser, the guy that loved sports was actually homosexual.
He was happy for his friend, he couldn't help to be, but he wished that he'd found the love of his life in the opposite gender. He wasn't going to tell Nick that, because as a friend he knew you had to be supportive of each other and really he owed Nick that much. It was just going to take some getting used to knowing that all along he'd been in a closet and had never told him about it.
Warrick knocked on the door and waited for his friend to open it. He wondered if the place would be reorganised and redecorated and whether Nick would still have all his possessions or whether Greg's would be mixed in as well. He heard the shuffling towards the door and the muffled voices discussing something quickly before the door swung open to reveal Nick stood there, Greg hovered a few paces away looking terrified.
"Hey," Nick said, stepping aside to let his friend in. Warrick nodded an acknowledgement at Nick before turning his attention to his husband.
He was certainly different to what Warrick had envisioned; then again he was in a different gender from what he'd imagined too. When he'd found out Nick was married to another guy, he'd imagined some southerner with a passion for football or sports, someone that was Nick's equal in everyway… Not someone that was skinny and not at all brawny, someone that wasn't conservative and wore his hair with blonde streaked through and spiked at odd angles. He didn't seem to be Nick's type… But then again, what was Nick's type in men?
"You must be Greg." Warrick said, realising he'd been eyeing the man, who now looked even more edgy. "It's nice to meet you, Nick's told me a lot about you."
"He has?" Greg squeaked, looking surprised. "I didn't know he really spoke of me at work. You know business and pleasure and all that sort of thing."
Warrick raised his eyebrow at the young man who was still shifting nervously under his steady green eyed gaze. He wondered how old this man was, he didn't seem old enough to be someone Nick would even consider to be mature and yet he was stood there, both with matching bands.
"Anyway," Greg said, trying to break the tension. "It was nice to meet you Warrick, but I really have to get on with my studies."
Warrick's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, and Greg looked panicked looking at Nick for help. Nick was just as clueless to his friend's reaction it seemed.
"Studies?"
"Yeah, for work… Oh wait, you thought I was still in UNLV!" Greg's laugh seemed forced and strangled. "I am not that young, although as they say looks can be deceiving. Anyway, I'll leave you two to your thing and I'll go to do mine."
Greg spun on his heel and headed towards the back bedroom, Nick looked visibly relieved that his partner had managed to get through the first introduction. Warrick hadn't come there to do his thing with Nick (whatever that meant); he'd come here to meet the husband, the person Nick was willing to dedicate the rest of his life to and get to know him better. With Greg retreating into his room, he saw that opportunity disappearing and knew that he had to stop it.
"Greg, can't you're studies wait?" Warrick asked and the young man froze, "I came over to meet you, learn more about the newly weds- get to know all about wedded bliss. I'm not sure if Nick told you yet but I'm thinking about getting married myself."
"Congratulations." Greg said, still facing the bedroom with his back to Warrick. He was torn between keeping to the plan and trying to win over Nick's friend and lull him into the illusion. "I don't think I can really put off my research though." He squeaked.
"Yes you can." Nick spoke out this time and Greg turned around to face his husband, looking confused. "Come on, Warrick wants to get to know a bit more about this all and if the worst comes to the worst I'll phone your boss and say you're ill."
Greg looked flabbergasted at Nick's suggestion and Warrick hazarded a guess that Greg was an honest person that wouldn't dream of lying to anyone, even for personal gain… Oh, how wrong he was.
"Fine." Greg sighed dramatically, flopping down onto the sofa and stretching himself out. "Grab me a beer will you? If you want to steal me away from my studies then at least grant me this one pleasure."
Warrick laughed slightly, taking one of the armchairs, watching as Nick skulked off to the kitchen to retrieve the three of them beers.
"So what do you want to know about married life? Perks or downfalls?"
"There are no downfalls!" Nick called from the kitchen, eyeing Greg carefully as he came back into the room. "It's all perks, perks, perks."
"For you maybe. I, however, was sort of used to living solo and you were a huge shock to the system." Greg said, snatching a beer off Nick. "Downfall number one, the bed is cramped."
Nick choked on his intake of alcohol, as did Warrick. Both men began to cough and looked hysterically at Greg.
"What?" Greg said, playing innocent. "It's a downfall and I know if someone had warned me about it, I'd have second thoughts about getting married."
"You can sleep on the couch if you think it's that bad." Nick retorted.
"Downfall two, partners sometimes get hormonal and you really don't want to be on the receiving end of that."
And Warrick actually laughed at that, so it went unnoticed by him when Nick gave Greg a thumbs up.
"I really hadn't thought about that; I'd been in the house with two hormonal women… Ouch." Warrick rubbed the back of his neck, looking between Nick and Greg.
"And I thought he was bad." Greg quipped lightly, dodging the cushion that flew towards him. "See what I mean."
"I can tell you a few downfalls too," Nick said to enact his revenge upon Greg. "Clothes everywhere."
"I don't leave my clothes anywhere!" Greg protested meekly.
"Sure," Warrick rolled his eyes at Greg, seeing straight through the lies. "Anyway, less about the downfalls, what about the perks?"
Both Nick and Greg exchanged a quick glance, wondering what to say because at that time they'd only found downfalls. Nick remembered back to his parents, what they had told him were the perks of getting married… Greg however was relying on what Papa Olaf had told him about when Nana had been by his side.
"Company." Nick said, "You always have someone to talk to, someone to spend empty moments with. A companion that will always make sure you don't feel alone."
"Someone to keep you warm at night, no need for blankets anymore."
"You care about each other, you look after each other, there's always going to be someone there to make sure you're going to be okay and someone that you know cares for you."
"It's like a friendship, amplified." Greg summarised. "Friends care, friends support, friends keep you company, friends watch your back but unlike friends this person will always be there… Through thick and thin."
Warrick felt as though he'd fallen through the looking glass- because things were suddenly very different to what it had been before. But at the same time as wondering whether he'd ever escape it and come back out the other side; he was glad to be there because his best friend was happy, in love with a man that he knew was actually a perfect match for him.
***
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