Title: CSI100Fics Prompt Challenge No. 2 - Middles
Author: Dee
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1034
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Characters: Gil Grissom and Nick Stokes
Warnings: V.fluffy and AU.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: In my dreams they are like, totally mine!
Beta: podga, so the remaining mistakes are all mine!
A/N: This is the second part of a trilogy with prompts 1 and 3 – Beginnings and Ends. As usual, I’ll update quite quickly!

They did go out for a beer after that storm.  They talked quite animatedly about that storm.  They talked at length about the case they’d been working and then they went home…to their own homes.

 

They had another beer another day and talked about the murder they’d just solved.

 

They had a breakfast and discussed a trial at which they’d both given evidence.

 

They even had another beer on yet another day and talked about that storm, again.

 

And so it went on.  Whatever Gil had had in mind when he’d suggested they go out for a beer, it was not what Nick had expected.

 

He didn’t know, exactly, what Gil had expected.  Was it was more than work?  Was it friendship?  Was it more than friendship?  He just didn’t know.  

 

On the other hand he knew exactly what he wanted from Gil.  What he didn’t know was how to go about getting what he wanted from Gil?   He felt stupid really, adolescent even, but that’s what Gil did to him, without even lifting a finger.

 

Expectations. 

 

Maybe that was it; maybe Gil didn’t share the same expectations as Nick.

 

If they shared the same expectations then he would have no problems at all getting what he wanted, but what if they didn’t?

 

Nick would look at himself in the mirror while he shaved and wonder what he needed to do…how to approach the situation and get exactly what he wanted from Gil.  To fulfil his, maybe, if he was really lucky, their, expectations.

 

His only problem as far as he could see?  How to determine Gil’s expectations.  How?

 

He spent many days trying to get to sleep, while all the time trying to come up with a plan to determine Gil’s expectations and his intentions.  So not only did he need to find out what Gil’s expectations were, he also needed to find out Gil’s intentions?  Were they different, or were they the same?

 

Intentions.

 

What were Gil’s intentions?  Nick had no idea.

 

The problem was it just wasn't as easy as that.  It would be dead simple if it was anyone other that Gil, he’d just jump their bones and if it worked out that was okay, and if it didn’t, well that was okay too. 

 

Nick could make pass at him and Gil could jump his bones and that would be that; they’d be at it like a couple of sex starved…men, which was an apt description of Nick, in his estimation.  He suspected the same applied to Gil, but he only suspected, he had no evidence.

 

Evidence.

 

He needed evidence of Gil's expectations and intentions.  That’s all he needed.

 

But: Nick could make a pass at him and Gil could deck him and never speak to him again.  And they worked together or more pertinently, Gil was his boss.  That could be nasty.

 

Actually, Nick knew Gil would never hit him, even if Nick did hit on him, so to speak. But it would never be the same and Nick would probably have to change shifts…no, he’d have to leave, Las Vegas.

 

And so, day after day, week after week and several months after several months, this went on.  They had beers together, they had breakfasts together, they spoke at length about that storm, but Nick never laid another hand on Gil and Gil never laid another hand on Nick.

 

But then Nick never let on that he liked men.

 

And Gil never let on that he liked men, either.

 

Gil was very conscious of the fact that he was Nick’s supervisor.  Nick was the kind of guy who could be anyone’s friend, and he was certainly Gil's friend.  Or so Gil believed.  But was that all Nick wanted to be, his friend? 

 

Because Gil was Nick’s boss he couldn’t afford to just lay one on him and hope that he’d hit the jackpot.  Gil had to investigate and the draw conclusions of Nick’s expectations and intentions from the evidence.

 

Gil had never just rushed headlong into any relationship in his adult life.  He’d always weighed up the pros and cons of a relationship and in the main the object of his desire had moved on before he’d made a firm decision either way, which always went down as a ‘con’ in his book, because they obviously were wrong for him or they would have hung around.

 

So what was he waiting for this time, Nick to reveal that he wouldn’t be averse to a little gay action?  Or Nick to reveal that all he wanted was a solid friendship?  To have someone to turn to who was a friend, not a friend with benefits, and certainly not a lover.  Just a friend.  At least Nick hadn’t gone away, he hadn’t moved on.  Not that he would anyway, because they worked together.  Was that a plus or a minus?

 

Gil certainly had no problem inviting Nick out for a beer, a breakfast, but he was almost pathologically incapable of asking for something more…even indicating to Nick that he wanted something more.

 

And so, day after day, week after week and several months after several months, this went on.  They had beers together, they had breakfasts together, they spoke at length about that storm, but Gil never laid another hand on Nick and Nick never laid another hand on Gil.

 

But then Gil never let on that he liked men.

 

And Nick never let on that he liked men, either.

 

It was inertia.  Inactivity.  Both men had the disposition to remain inactive.  From the physics standpoint their tendency was to maintain their uniform motion, or, in their case, inactivity, unless acted upon by an external force.  This didn’t bode well for either man since there was no ‘external force’ available to activate their inactivity!

 

In truth, had Gil applied the theory of physics in relation to inertia, a little more literally, he might well have deduced that a bolt of lightning very nearly killing them both could well be construed as an act of external force.

 

Nevertheless, the men were in the middle of something, or, maybe more accurately, the middle of nothing!