Title: Another Man Loved Me Last Night
By: Jaxson K.
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Nick gives in to temptation...

***

Nick sat in the driveway of the house he and Gil shared. He didn't wantto go in, but he knew that he had to. He couldn't sit outside for the rest of the night, so he gathered his things and went inside.

He quietly poured himself a drink and sat down in the darkened living room. He finished his drink while trying not to think of where he'd been and what he'd been doing. Whn he finished his drink, he went and took a shower in the downstairs bath. When he finished his shower, he was drying off when he noticed the marks on his neck, chest, and shoulders. He knew then he was in big trouble.

As Nick made his way upstairs, he went into the guest room and got in bed. Sleep was elusive, and Nick ended up crying himself to sleep.

When Nick awoke the next morning, he could hear Gil downstairs making breakfast. His stomach immediately drew up in knots, especially since he knew he was expected to make an appearance.

When Nick made it the kitchen, he was greeted with a quick kiss from Gil. Nick went and sat down at the table.

Gil was making idle chatter when he brought the coffee to the table. He happened to glance down at Nick and froze. Gil reached down and pulled the neck of Nick's t-shirt aside. Nick sat there with tears streaming down his cheeks. This was the moment Nick had been dreading. Gil reached down and lifted Nick's head to look him in the eye.

"Nick, what is going on?"

"I let another man love me last night....."

"You did what?"

"I said that I let another man love me last night....."

Gil sat down at the table in shock. He simply couldn't believe what Nick had just told him. Nick with another man? It just couldn't be true. But the proof was right in front of him.

"Nick, what happened?"

"It's pretty simple, Gil. I stopped at a bar on my way home last night, I met a guy, we started talking, and nature took its course."

"Nick, I don't understand. What made you do this?"

"I think mostly it was the fact that I wanted to feel loved and needed for a little while. I wanted to feel like I was wanted."

"You don't feel that way here at home, Nick?"

"No, because if I did, I'd have never done what I did."

"I see....."

"No, Gil, I don't think you do see. You're always working overtime on cases, you have those meetings you have to go to, and that's just the beginning. Here at home, you've always got yur head crammed in a forensic journal, or you're messing with your experiments, or you're watching something on the damn Discovery Channel. You hardly seem to notice that I'm around, and when you do notice, you hardly pay attention. You haven't come near me in bed in weeks, and the last time you did, you had all the enthusium of a goddam corpse!"

With that, Nick stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs...

***

Nick heard Gil when he left the house. He lay on the bed thinking about what had happened. He knew that all of this wasn't all Gil's fault. He knew he could have said something to Gil and all of this may have never happened. He might have been able to get Gil to see what was going on, and maybe they could have fixed it together.

But it was too late now. The damage was done, and there was no going back. Nick decided that he should figure out what he wanted, and find out what Gil wanted to do also. Nick knew he didn't want them to break up. He loved Gil way too much for that to happen.

Meanwhile, at the lab, Gil sat in his office with the door locked so he wouldn't be disturbed. He was trying to digest all the information, and wasn't very successful with it. This was so out of character for Nick. Usually Nick was as faithful as a puppy. And now to find out tht he'd slept with another man was almost beyond comprehension.

An idea began to form in Gil's mind. He was pretty sure that he knew how this happened. As long as he and Nick had been together, Gil noticed that Nick needed lots of assurance. Since things had been so hectic lately, maybe Nick was seeking out the reassurance and validity Gil wasn't giving him

Gil knew one thing for sure. Even though Nick had pulled this stunt, Gil still loved him desperately. He knew that he wanted to try to stay together, work this out somehow, and put it all behind them. He got up, unlocked the office door, and tried to get some work done.

Nick heard Gil pull up in the driveway. His stomach muscles tensed and he began to get really nervous. Gil came into the house and stopped just inside the living room door.....

"Hello, Nick..."

"Gil....."

"Nick, I've put some thought into our problem."

"You have?"

"Yes, and if you'll fix me a drink, we'll talk about....."

***

"What's on your mind, Gil?"

"Well, I've been giving our situation some thought, and I think I've figured this out."

"I'm listening....."

"Nick, I simply took you for granted. I didn't mean to, but it happened. I see now that I should have paid more attention to what was going on around me. Instead, I concentrated on work and other stuff. Another thing is that I assumed nothing was wrong because you didn't say anything, You just went on like everything was okay."

"I did because I didn't want to make waves, Gil. I didn't want you to think I was nagging. All those night I went to bed alone, I would lie there thinking I'd done some thing to fall out of favor with you, and I couldn't figure out what it was...."

"But, baby you didn't do anything...But you didn't know that because I wasn't there to tell you."

"Gil, what are we gonna do?"

"About us?"

"Yeah....."

Nick held his breath while he waited to hear what Gil had to say.....

"Well, I do know that I want us to stay together. It's gonna take some time, but I think we can work our way through this."

Nick began to cry and went into Gil's arms. He cried with relief that Gil still wanted him and wanted to try and work things out.

"Gil, thank you for giving me another chance. This means the world to me. I love you so much, and I promise I will do my level best to work on us and put this thing behind us."

"Me, too, Nicky, me, too....."

END

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