Title: Just Someone I Used To Know
Author: Jaxson K.
Pairing: Nick/Gil, Nick/OC (past)
Rating: PG
Summary: Gil stumbles onto a bit of Nick's past.

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Gil carried a load of boxes to the living room so the movers could load then onto the moving truck. Nick and Greg had gone to get some burgers for lunch while Catherine was at the new house giving directions to where some of the new furniture was to be placed. While gathering a few odds and ends from the guest room closet, Gil found a small box hidden on the top shelf. Not recognizing the box, he opened it to see what was inside.

There was a stack of photos of a young Nick, possibly when he was in college. In most of the photos Nick was grinning or actually smiling, his arm slung over his buddies' shoulders. As Gil looked at more of the photos, he found more photos of Nick with a very good-looking young man and he recognized young love when he saw it.

At the bottom of the box there were a bunch of letters from someone named Ray Marlo. Most of them were postmarked from Texas and had the address of Nick's first apartment on them. The letters were in the vein of "I'm sorry, please reconsider coming home, it won't happen again..." , etc. There were sealed letters in Nick's handwriting that had obviously never been mailed.

Gil heard Nick's truck pull up out front so he shoved the photos and letters back in the box and hastily placed it in one of the packing boxes marked 'storage'. He went out to greet Nick and Greg so they could eat and finish packing. He made a mental note to ask Nick when they were alone about Ray Marlo.

After they finished their meal, Catherine called and asked how much longer they were going to be. Gil told her they should be done and headed to the the new house in about an hour. After ending the call, Gil told Nick and Greg that Catherine was getting anxious and that they needed to finish and head over to the new place.

Finishing up and loading things took Gil's mind off of Ray Marlo. He and the guys were headed to the new place a bit later than he'd told Catherine. That really didn't matter. The fact that they were done at the old place was the main thing.

About a week later, Nick and Gil were sorting through the boxes marked 'storage'
to determine what they really wanted to keep and what could be gotten rid of forever when Gil came across the box he'd found with the photos and letters. Nick was in the kitchen when Gil called out for him to come to the spare room.....

"What is it, Gil?"

"I found this box with photos and letters and wondered if you wanted to keep them..."

Nick paled slightly when he saw that box in Gil's hands. He'd kept that box well-hidden (or so he thought) because it held so many memories. Some were good, but most were sad because of all the hurt Ray had caused him and the betrayal. He took the box from Gil without saying a word and left the room.

Gil sat there thinking about Nick's reaction to seeing the box. He could see many emotions cross his lover's face, but hurt and sadness were predominant. He didn't know what to do, but knew he needed to try and comfort Nick id he could. He went in search of the man and found him in the kitchen in tears ripping the photos and letters to shreds. Gil walked up beside Nick and put an arm around his shoulder. Nick jerked away from him and continued ripping letter pages.....

"Nick?"

"What?"

"I didn't mean to....."

"Don't, Gil..... it has nothing to do with you....."

"But....."

"Gil, leave it.....please....."

"Nick, who was Ray Marlo?"

Fresh tears began to fall at the mention of his name. Nick threw the rest of the shredded paper and photos into the trash and as he walked past Gil all he said in reply was ".....just someone I used to know....."

END

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Next story in series - Leave Him Out of This.