He knew exactly when it started. It was cold that night and he'd heard the call for all available personnel, and like an idiot he'd rushed right to the crime scene without even stopping to think about what Grissom was going to say. His parents had always taught him that enthusiasm counted for a lot, though, and he knew he was never going to get Grissom to take him seriously about doing field work unless he took the initiative.
Getting assigned to follow Nick around and take his notes wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but at least Grissom hadn't ordered him right back to the lab. And in the end it turned out he wasn't ready to do even that, because when the guy started coughing up blood he couldn't even go for help, let alone write anything down.
It had been a humbling experience, but while everybody else was making him feel like an idiot for trying to break out of his role in the lab, Nick made him feel better. He'd told Greg the story of his first night out in the field, about how bad it had been and how he'd had a hard time dealing too. He'd made Greg feel better about screwing up, even if it was just for a few seconds.
He started paying more attention to Nick after that, beyond the usual wow, he smells good or trying to show off whenever he knew something about Nick's cases. He still showed off - it wasn't the kind of thing he could turn off even if he wanted to - but he paid more attention to how he did it after that.
And granted, that thing with the copies of "Crime Stopper" was kind of stupid, but he still had a copy of the issue tucked in a desk drawer at home. Nick didn't know about it, and if Greg had anything to say about it he never would. He knew that article reminded Nick of the whole stalking thing, and that was the last thing Greg wanted to do. It was a good picture, though, and it seemed a shame to toss it just because Nick was the kind of guy who didn't like to be in the spotlight.
He'd taken his crush a little far with the newsletter, but he'd learned his lesson. Nick didn't like public displays; that was okay, he could be subtle when he wanted to. So he flirted. For an entire year he flirted, whenever he and Nick were alone in the lab, and sometimes even when they weren't alone. And Nick was a hard guy to read, but eventually he started to show signs that he'd noticed. He smiled a lot more easily, and the first time he flirted back Greg thought for sure he'd die of shock. But it was cute - really, really cute - and it made him want more. A lot more.
The first time they went out Greg practically had to beg. He knew it should have been annoying or maybe even insulting to have to work so hard just to get Nick to go out with him, but they'd known each other for a long time and he knew how weird Nick could be about relationships. Greg still wasn't sure how he'd gotten his ladies' man reputation considering how often he dated anyone, let alone actual ladies, so he wasn't surprised that it practically took agreeing to leave the state just to go on a date.
In the end they spent their first date playing ancient video games in the back of a pizza parlor on the outskirts of town, drinking beer and eating pizza. Pepperoni, which Greg could have predicted even before he asked. Still, he kind of liked Nick's predictability, and he liked even more that Nick was the kind of guy who didn't think it was stupid to spend the night playing video games like they were a couple high school kids.
It was like hanging out with a friend. And in a way, that was exactly what it was. So maybe their real first date was the second time they hung out together, on one of those rare days they both had off. Nick invited him over to watch the UNLV game and Greg had gone, because he didn't give a damn about UNLV, but if that was what it took to spend time with Nick he'd take it.
Halfway through the game Nick kissed him for the first time. Or maybe he'd kissed Nick; it was hard to remember, really. All he knew was that they'd both reached for the bowl of pretzels on Nick's coffee table at the same time, and the next thing he knew Nick was pushing him back onto the couch. By the time his back hit the cushions clothes were already flying, and he never did find out who won the game.
Things were a little weird after that first time; at work Nick acted like nothing had happened, and Greg acted like a jerk because he was pissed that Nick was giving him the brush-off. He was even more pissed that he liked Nick as much as he did, but he'd dealt with rejection before and he wasn't going to let it affect their working relationship. And okay, he let it affect him more than he should have, but only because Nick refused to acknowledge that anything was wrong.
That lasted until Nick showed up at his door to ask him what his problem was. He'd laughed right in Nick's face, but when he told Nick to go home and started to shut the door Nick put a hand out and stopped him. And he was strong, so it wasn't like Greg was going to be able to keep him out if he was determined to invite himself in. Which was exactly what he did, and as soon as Greg shut the door and turned to face him Nick pushed him up against the wall and kissed him.
It was like one of those scenes from the movies that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it doesn't matter because the audience has been holding their breath waiting for somebody to make a move for two whole hours. So he'd let Nick kiss him, he'd even kissed back.
When Nick pulled him toward the bedroom he'd just gone with it. He still wasn't proud of that; he probably should have made Nick tell him what they were doing first, gotten the basics out of the way so they wouldn't go through this all over again the next day. But his mouth was kind of occupied and Nick still smelled incredible and somewhere along the way he forgot what he'd been so pissed about in the first place.
Nick was still there when he woke up, which was kind of nice and a little surprising, but it answered a few of those questions he hadn't gotten around to asking yet. After that everything sort of went back to normal; he flirted and Nick flirted back, they went out and played video games or stayed in and played other games. It was kind of-comfortable. But at the same time it was a little weird, because they acted the same way they always had but there was this new thing between them that they never discussed.
Greg wasn't used to keeping quiet about anything, but the few times that he thought about bringing it up something always stopped him. At first it was the fear that if Nick started thinking about what they were doing he'd change his mind about them. Once he got past that he started to worry that he wouldn't like the answer, that Nick would just laugh and tell him they were just screwing around. So he didn't ask, and he occupied whatever uncomfortable silences that arose with pointless stories about surfing or chemistry or the history of heavy metal.
It took him by surprise when Nick suggested they go camping, but he'd agreed because it meant spending time with Nick, and that was something he never turned down. He'd been sorry almost as soon as they got there, because there was no sign of a tent and it was fucking cold in the desert. His coat was too thin and the fire Nick built didn't do much to warm him up, and it was nothing like those nights he and his friends had crashed on the beach in Hawaii and woken up with the sun.
Still, it was Nick, and that made it about a thousand times better than any sunrise surf. Not that he'd ever admit that out loud. Well, at least not until Nick said something first, because Greg wasn't going to start spouting his feelings all over the place and scare off the best thing that had ever happened to him.
So it was an even bigger surprise when Nick mentioned going on vacation together next summer, like they'd been talking about the future all along. Two months together and neither of them had even mentioned the word 'exclusive', and suddenly Nick was making plans to head up to Alaska, of all places. Part of Greg had wanted to laugh, but the rest of him had been too stunned to speak. So he'd kept his mouth shut, which was getting to be a habit for him, and he'd waited for Nick to elaborate, because if he was just misunderstanding he didn't want Nick to see how disappointed he was.
Only Nick never elaborated much on anything, and in the end Greg had to ask. He thought he'd done a pretty good job of covering his shock when Nick assured him that he was serious, but he really wasn't sure. It was hard to know what he was doing when it came to Nick, and it was the closest either of them had come to making any kind of actual commitment. Still, it meant Nick was thinking of them in terms of a 'them', and that meant he didn't have to be so careful about what he said anymore.
He hadn't really let himself believe it at first; they had been out in the desert, after all, and the desert did weird things to people. But when they got back to the city and everything went back to normal Nick mentioned it again, teasing Greg about never having the right coat and promising to take him shopping for 'something decent' before they went camping again. Greg had countered with a vaguely scandalous remark about liking the way Nick kept him warm just fine, and he knew that at least Catherine had noticed Nick's blush when he left Greg's lab.
That had been a couple weeks ago, and since then there had been more pillow talk about vacations in some godforsaken wilderness somewhere, and a couple guide books to Denali had showed up on Nick's coffee table. Greg didn't really mind that he was being dragged off on some camping trip; he would have preferred surfing, but there was always next time. And the fact that he could fantasize about a 'next time' at all was good enough for him, so he didn't even bat an eye when Nick suggested they look into some sea kayaking trip he'd read about on the internet.
He was grinning to himself at the memory of that conversation when his lab door swung open, and he looked up just in time to see Nick walk in. "If it isn't Adventure Boy," he said, his grin turning a little predatory when Nick blushed at the nickname.
"Cute," the other man muttered, but Greg was pretty sure he didn't mind. Nick leaned in close and dropped a few samples on Greg's lab station, giving Greg a few blissful seconds to breathe in the familiar scent of Nick's cologne. "Think you've got time for me?"
"Always," Greg answered, his voice practically a purr.
"I was talking about my samples," Nick said, but he didn't bother pulling away.
"So was I."
He grinned when Nick groaned and straightened up, fixing Greg with a mock-stern expression. "You gotta work on some new material, G. That was pretty bad."
Greg laughed and picked up the samples Nick had brought for him. "Much as I love being your personal entertainment committee, I've got work to do."
"You can entertain me later." His voice was low and just a little rough, making it sound a lot more promising than he'd probably intended. "Unless you've got other plans."
"Nope," Greg answered, looking up long enough to smile at Nick. "I'm all yours."
"Good," Nick said, and something about the sudden fierceness in his expression sent a shudder down Greg's spine.
A second later he was gone again, leaving Greg to try to refocus his mind on DNA analysis. Thankfully everything he had to process was pretty routine, so it didn't matter much if his mind wandered to Nick's expression just before he left the lab. And he wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that was the closest they'd gotten so far to putting a name to what they were doing. Not exactly the most conventional relationship he'd ever been in, but if that was what Nick could give him, he'd take it.
end
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