Title: To Be Seen From Space
By: Serenity
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Summary: Written for the phone challenge at Live Journal. Greg's hopes get dashed. But then he discovers something interesting.

Greg yawned as he walked into the locker room, pulling off his dark blue button down shirt as he went. It had been a long shift and he was looking forward to breakfast, a shower and then bed.

He jumped a little when he realised Nick was already in the locker room, sitting hunched over on the bench, his elbows on his knees. He rubbed roughly at his face with his right hand, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Puffing out his cheeks with air, he exhaled it loudly through pursed lips.

"Hey man, you OK?" Greg asked, worried about his friend. He moved around the bench and kneeled in front of him, discarding his shirt behind him.

Nick's head snapped up in surprise. "What! Oh, yeah, I'm fine Greg, no worries."

Greg took in the furrowed brow and the tired bloodshot eyes ringed with dark circles. He knew Nick was lying and decided to pursue the issue. "You don't look fine. Are you sleeping?"

He reached a hand up as if to squeeze the top of Nick's arm, but quickly changed the motion to run his hand through his own hair. He didn't want Nick to think that he was invading his personal space.

Pushing up wearily off the bench, Nick busied himself at his locker, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "I've just got something on my mind, G'. I'm not quite sure what to do about it." He pulled off his own shirt and grabbed a towel. "I'm just gonna take a shower before I head home. I'll see you later, OK?"

Greg reached out and grabbed Nick by the wrist, turning him round so they were facing each other. He used every ounce of his willpower not to stare at Nick's naked torso, because he knew that this really wasn't the time for such an indulgence.

"Whatever's on your mind, you should do something about it. You're gonna make yourself ill if you don't sort it out. Take a look at yourself." He chose his words carefully so he didn't accidentally let slip more than he meant to. "I'm….. I'm worried about you."

Nick looked into Greg's brown eyes, brimming with genuine concern. "You're right." he nodded, stealing a glance at the hand holding him. "At least then I'll know." He turned away again and made his way to the showers.

As the sound of running water filled the room, Greg tugged a fresh t-shirt over his head. Banning any thoughts of Nick showering from his over active imagination, he grabbed his bag and headed out to his car.

He was halfway home before he remembered the blue shirt, still lying on the floor of the locker room where he'd tossed it. He debated leaving it there, but it would probably have disappeared by the time his shift started that night, and it was one of his favourites. He groaned and turned his car around, heading back towards the building he'd just left.

He arrived back at work, intending to be in and out within minutes, but he stopped short of the lockers when he heard Nick's voice drifting out from inside. He moved silently to the door and caught sight of Nick sitting on the bench, clad only in a fluffy white towel, his skin still gleaming with moisture from his shower. He was clutching his cell phone in a trembling hand, his voice shaking slightly as he spoke.

Greg told himself he should leave again, that this wasn't any of his business, but his feet had mysteriously turned to lead. And he was worried that if he moved, he'd draw Nick's attention to his presence.

Nick cleared his throat and continued his conversation. "I know this is probably a pretty crappy way of doing this, over the phone, but I've been thinking about you a lot."

Greg sighed inwardly. So it was a girl that Nick had got so wound up about. He should have known. This one must be pretty special for him to be so freaked by it.

Nick played with the hem of his towel as he spoke. "And to be honest, it's been driving me a little crazy. People at work are starting to notice." he laughed nervously and Greg felt it like a knife stab in his heart.

So he was just a 'person at work' to Nick, not even a friend, not even a buddy. Deep down he knew that Nick would never feel the same way about Greg as Greg felt about him, but while Nick was still single, he always had a glimmer of hope. He wondered who else had noticed Nick's behaviour and tired appearance, Warrick perhaps, and probably Catherine. She was always pretty intuitive.

Nick continued. "And I figured if I tried to tell you face to face I would back out of it. This way, it's done and I can't take it back. It's just….. I've been attracted to you for a long time and if you have any feelings for me, then I'd like it if you came over to my place and we can talk properly. And if you don't, then…. We can pretend this phone call never happened and we can go back to being friends. You mean a lot to me."

Greg wiped a lone tear from his eye and cursed himself for being so foolish to ever think Nick would be interested in him. He wondered who the lucky girl was on the other end of the phone. He guessed Louise from Days, she was always flirting with him and Nick seemed to enjoy the attention.

Swallowing down a sob, he finally managed to move away from the door. The blue shirt forgotten, he ran to the parking lot and only just made it back to his car before the rest of the threatened tears spilled from his eyes.

The drive home was a blur of stinging eyes and a runny nose and sobs that wrenched his chest. He was such an idiot, getting upset like this. It's not like Nick was cheating on him or anything. The man had no idea that Greg was in love with him. And now he never would. When Greg finally reached his apartment all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and die.

He awoke three hours later, after much tossing and turning and vivid, disturbing dreams that were forgotten the instant he opened his eyes. He pulled the covers over his head to try and get back to sleep, but he was starving and needed to eat something. He rose groggily, his eyes sticky with old tears, stripped off his clothes and collapsed into the shower.

The hot water revived him and he quickly dried off and dressed in distressed blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Now, time for food, something quick and easy to make as he hadn't eaten in almost ten hours. He was mixing up an omelette when he noticed that the light on his answering machine was blinking.

He pressed the button and went back to mixing his omelette. The electronic voice informed him that he had three new messages. After the beep, the first message began to play.

"Oh I hate this machine… Greg, it's mom. I had hoped to catch you before you went to work. I just wanted to remind you that you promised to make Fattigman for your Grandpa Hojem's birthday party on Thursday. Everyone's really looking forward to seeing you. Make sure you drive carefully. OK, I'll see you then, bye honey."

*Beep*

"Mr Sanders, this is Jenny from Watson's Bookstore, I'm calling to inform you that the book you had on order has now arrived, you can collect it at your convenience. Thank you."

*Beep*

"Oh, I thought you'd be home by now. I was hoping to speak to you rather than the machine but I guess it's too late now. Oh, it's me.. It….it's Nick. OK, I've been thinking about what you said and you were right about getting things sorted so I've decided. I'm going to finally do something about it."

Greg practically ran across the room to the answer phone. Of course Nick would want to let him know he'd resolved his problem, but the last thing he needed to hear was him calling to brag that the love of his life was on her way to his house. He reached out to press the 'delete' button, Nick carrying on regardless.

"I know this is probably a pretty crappy way of doing this, over the phone, but I've been thinking about you a lot."

Wait a minute…. That sounded very familiar. Greg's hand hovered above the button. "And to be honest, it's been driving me a little crazy. People at work are starting to notice." The same nervous laugh he'd heard before rang out and Greg gasped in realisation.

"OK, I'm still dreaming. I got home, I went to bed and I'm dreaming this." he pinched himself hard on the arm, yelping at the pain. No, he was still standing here, listening.

"And I figured if I tried to tell you face to face I would back out of it. This way, it's done and I can't take it back. It's just….. I've been attracted to you for a long time and if you have any feelings for me, then I'd like it if you came over to my place and we can talk properly. And if you don't, then…. We can pretend this phone call never happened and we can go back to being friends. You mean a lot to me."

This was real! But still Greg couldn't believe it. He grasped at some sort of rational explanation for this. Nick must have dialled the wrong number, yes, that's it. A simple mistake. He'd be so embarrassed if he found out what he'd done. He could never be interested in Greg. But the answer phone had picked up, Nick would have heard his voice on the message. He must have known who he was phoning!

Greg realised that he wasn't breathing. He sat down on the couch beside the phone and thumped himself on the chest, willing his lungs to work. Nick's message continued.

"So, I hope to see you soon. Either that, or I've just made the biggest fool of myself. I just felt that there was something between us, Greg. I want to see exactly what that means."

The way Nick said his name like that made him shiver. It held so much promise, so much hope and yet it was full of apprehension. He listened to the message again. Nick wanted to see him at his place…. But he'd left that message hours ago! He must think Greg wasn't interested!

Panic set in and he ran around the house like a man possessed, pulling on his sneakers as he ran and desperately searching for where he'd thrown his keys that morning. He tumbled over his own feet and ended up in a pile on the floor, laughing almost maniacally at his own ridiculousness.

"OK, calm down Greggo, you can do this." From his position on the floor he was able to spot his keys where they had ended up under the couch. He grabbed them and made his way to Nick's, with no clue what he was going to say when he got there.

The drive to Nick's place went by in a flash and he was pulling up outside before his brain caught up with where he was. This was it. He was really gonna do this! He switched off the engine, took a deep breath and exited the vehicle.

He practically skipped to Nick's front door, with a smile so wide that his jaw hurt. He rang the bell three times and stood back waiting for the door to open. He folded his arms in front of his chest, then put his hands in his pockets, then took them out and folded his arms again.

The door opened to reveal Nick standing in grey sweatpants and a black vest, his skin sheening with fresh sweat. He visibly blushed when he saw who his visitor was.

"Oh, hey. I was just working out. Come in, please. I, ah….. I thought you weren't going to come." He looked shyly at the floor as Greg passed him and walked to the living room.

"I only just got your message Nick. I'm sorry about that." He sat down on the couch and Nick sat beside him, glancing at him nervously. Clearing his throat, he turned to fully face him. "So, Greg. Do you want to talk about this? About how I feel?"

Greg looked deep into the anxious brown eyes. "You know, sometimes words are overrated." He leaned forward slowly and brushed their lips together, with a feather light touch. Even that slight connection sent electricity pulsing through both their bodies and they united again, taking it deeper. It was warm and soft and wet and Greg thought it was like coming home.

When they were finally forced apart by the threat of hypoxia, they realised they were now lying flat on the couch, face to face, their limbs intertwined. Nick smiled and nuzzled into Greg's hair, taking in the smell of shampoo. "So, I guess I wasn't going crazy, there really is something between us."

Greg grinned up at him. "Just slightly" He sighed and snuggled himself even closer to the other man. "Shame we have to get up and go to work, I could stay here all day with you."

"Yeah, me too G' but duty calls I guess." He untangled himself from the younger man and walked over to his holdall that was lying by the door. "Oh, I noticed you'd left your shirt on the floor, I brought it home because day shift would probably have tossed it on you and I know it's one of your favourites." He lifted the blue shirt out and handed it to Greg.

Greg pounced on him and pushed him against the wall, devouring him with kisses. Nick laughed at the sudden enthusiasm, not understanding why Greg had reacted like this to a shirt. Greg just continued to kiss into the smiling mouth. When he finally pulled away he was wearing a matching smile, big enough to be seen from space.