Title: Rumor Mill
By: Caroline Crane
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Summary: Nick tries to find a way to end things before they get too complicated.

Five nights.

If he asked Greg to come over after their shift again that would make five nights in a row they'd spent together. He'd been thinking about it all night, but so far he hadn't figured out if spending a solid week together implied a commitment or not. He wasn't even sure if he wanted it to; sure, he liked Greg, but dating a coworker was usually a recipe for disaster. It was probably a little late to be worrying about that now, but they hadn't actually discussed it yet so there was still time to back out.

He should back out; he should have backed out awhile ago, like maybe after the first time they slept together. That was usually his M.O., after all, but something about this was…different. At first he'd told himself it was just because he already knew Greg so well, then he told himself it was just because it had been awhile since he'd been with a guy. After the first couple weeks he had to admit he kind of liked having Greg around, and now…now the thought of telling him it was over left Nick with a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.

So maybe a clean break wasn't going to be that easy, but he had to do something. He wasn't any good at relationships, he'd never stuck around long enough to figure out how they worked. Sure, he'd dated girls in college just to keep up appearances, but the closest he'd come to an actual relationship was a standing agreement with one of his frat brothers. Nobody knew about it, of course, which meant that there were no strings and no messy commitments. That was the way he'd always thought he wanted things, but with Greg it was different.

Maybe it was just because he was getting older, or maybe it was the fact that he actually liked hanging out with Greg. All he knew for sure was that he'd never wondered if his frat brother was sleeping with anybody else, and if the thought did cross his mind it never bothered him. It bothered him to think about Greg and other guys, though – it bothered him a lot, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that it didn't matter.

He still didn't have a clue what he was going to do about the situation when he finally found Greg alone in the lab. He wasn't even sure why he was trying to get Greg alone in the first place, because he was definitely not planning to ask him to come over again. Five nights was just way too much; he'd already pushed his luck far enough, and if he did ask and Greg said he already had plans Nick wasn’t sure what he'd do. He didn't even want to think about that possibility, because that would mean dealing with the fact that it mattered to him what Greg did with his free time.

"Hey," he said when he stopped next to the other man, and if his voice sounded more intimate than usual he told himself it was just because it was so quiet in the lab. Quiet and Greg didn't usually go together at work, which meant he must be working on something important for Grissom.

Greg lifted his head from the microscope long enough to grin over his shoulder at Nick; that wry, knowing grin that used to confuse Nick until he figured out what it meant. Now whenever he saw it he couldn't help smiling back, but he usually tried to ignore the tug at the center of his chest. "Hey yourself. You looking for your fiber analysis? Because I already gave it to Sara."

There was no ignoring the tug this time, because it was stronger than ever and it took every ounce of self-control Nick had not to lean down and kiss him. He reminded himself that not only were they at work, but they were in a room that was enclosed by very see-through glass. Even if he wanted to risk losing his job over a kiss he didn't have a right to drag Greg into his insanity. "No…I mean she showed me."

He knew he sounded like an idiot, but he didn't have an excuse for what he was doing in the lab. Something along the lines of 'I wanted to see you' or 'I just thought I'd say hi' sounded so lame in his head that he knew it would sound even worse if he said it out loud. Standing this close to Greg without being able to touch was distracting, though, and he couldn't even think up a decent lie. It shouldn't be this hard to talk to someone he'd woken up next to just a few hours ago, but lately Greg had been having that effect on him. It had started with the strip Sega; ever since he saw Greg standing in his living room in nothing but a pair of socks Nick hadn't been able to think straight, and since then it had gotten steadily worse.

That image still distracted him at the weirdest times, and now that Greg was standing right next to him it was even harder to remember that they were still at work. "You…uh…you working on Grissom's blood samples?"

"Almost done," Greg answered, and Nick swallowed a relieved sigh when he turned back to the microscope. "Why, did he put you on this case?"

"No, just curious." He rolled his eyes at himself and took a step backwards. What he needed to do was turn around and walk back out of the lab, because if he stood in the lab picturing Greg wearing just his socks and a goofy grin he was going to do something he'd regret.

He'd almost talked himself into turning around and leaving without another word when Greg looked up again. "So you wanna go get something to eat after work?"

Nick caught himself before he blurted out something stupid like 'what, like a date?'. They'd been dating for over a month, technically, and although they didn't actually spend a lot of time out, it wouldn't be the first time they'd gone somewhere together. He still worried what their coworkers would think if they saw them out together, but he had a right to spend time with anyone he wanted. Maybe Grissom thought he had a right to tell his employees who they could and couldn't go out with, but Nick knew better. Besides, dating Greg was a lot different than trying to save some hooker from herself. Not that he really wanted to have to explain their relationship to Grissom, but as long as they were careful the chances of anybody finding out were pretty slim.

"Yeah, okay," he heard himself answer. So that made five days in a row; it wasn't that big a deal, was it? He went out with the other CSIs after work all the time, going out with Greg wasn't that much different. Except that he wasn't sleeping with any of the other CSIs. "You wanna go to Bay City?"

Greg shook his head without looking up, but Nick could see the smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "How about Mimi's? Bay City's always crawling with tourists."

"I thought you liked tourists. You said you liked watching them or something."

"I do. But you don't." Greg looked up then, and Nick's heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. He knew he had to get a grip on himself before this thing between them got too far out of control, but the thought of Greg never smiling at him like that again was way too much for him to handle. "Besides, Mimi's is closer to my place. So you wanna meet me there?"

Nick nodded and waited until Greg turned back to his microscope before he left the lab. He made it halfway down the hall before he start wondering if he should have said no, made up a story about having other plans or something. Putting a little distance between them was probably the best thing to do right now, especially after all the time they'd been spending together lately. The last thing he wanted was for things to get serious between them, after all; that wouldn't do either of them any good. This was supposed to be just a little fun, a few nights together and then it would run its course. Only a few nights had already stretched into almost two months, and instead of slowing down things just kept getting more intense.

The weirdest part was that Greg wasn't the one turning up the heat. If Nick had slept with some girl he worked with he'd probably be thinking up new ways to avoid her so he wouldn't have to make up reasons why he hadn't called. If he'd slept with any other guy from work they'd be avoiding each other, but with Greg everything was different. It was like none of the rules applied to him, and everything about him that defied logic just made Nick want him more.

He definitely needed to do something, the problem was that he had no idea what.

When he walked into the locker room Warrick was already there, so he did his best to push Greg out of his mind and opened his locker. "Hey," he said, nodding at Warrick before he slipped his I.D. off and put it in his locker.

"Hey. Catherine and I were talking about getting some breakfast. You wanna come?" Warrick asked as he shrugged into a clean shirt and started working on the buttons.

"Can't. I've got this thing." He caught Warrick's smirk as he turned back to his locker, and he knew the other man probably thought he was meeting a girl. It didn't matter what Warrick or anybody else thought – he told himself that a thousand times a day, and any day now he was going to start believing it. "So where are you guys going?"

"Bay City," Warrick answered, tucking his shirt in before he shut his own locker and leaned against it. "This 'thing' of yours wouldn't be a date with somebody we know, would it?"

"No," Nick answered way too quickly, frowning to cover his embarrassment. "Why would I care if you knew who I was dating?"

"You tell me. You've been acting kinda weird for a while; disappearing right after shifts, sometimes right in the middle of a shift. A couple weeks ago I spent like twenty minutes looking for you."

"I had something to take care of," Nick said, willing himself not to blush when he remembered what he'd been taking care of. He had a feeling Warrick wouldn't count sucking off Greg in the middle of their shift as a decent excuse for…well, anything. "Besides, it was just that one time."

"Whatever." Warrick gave him one last appraising look, and Nick did his best not to cringe or look away. Finally the other man gave up, shaking his head and letting out a low chuckle. "Alright, man. Have fun."

Nick shot him a sarcastic look that just made Warrick laugh harder, and he waited until the sound of laughter faded before he let out a heavy sigh. So he hadn't been playing it as cool as he'd thought; that wasn't much of a surprise, especially considering he worked with criminal investigators. There wasn't much he could get past them, but at least they hadn't figured out who he was sleeping with. The real question wasn't whether or not they would, though – no, it was just a matter of time before they did, and he had to decide whether he was willing to risk everyone on the night shift finding out about him and Greg.

He shook his head and slammed his locker shut, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before he opened them again. There was only one thing to do, really – he had to sit Greg down and tell him the truth. They both stood to lose a lot here, after all; it wasn't just him whose job was on the line, and it wasn't like Vegas was all that big. He didn't want to have to go back to Dallas with his tail tucked between his legs, and he was pretty sure Greg wasn't really interested in looking for a new job. So he'd just tell him the truth; they were both adults, so Greg would understand. Maybe he'd be a little pissed, but in the end he'd see that it was for the best.

He nodded to himself and walked out of the locker room, thankful that the hall was deserted for once so he wouldn't have to make small talk with anybody else. When he turned the corner, however, he stopped and backed up until he was mostly obscured by the wall. Warrick and Catherine were standing in front of the reception desk, laughing over some joke. A second later Sara joined them, but they still stayed right where they were. That meant they were waiting for Grissom, and there was no telling how long it would take for them to get out of the building.

"Hey."

A voice near his ear made him jump, and he spun around and rolled his eyes when he saw Greg peering over his shoulder. "Jesus, Sanders, are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry," Greg said, grinning unrepentantly. "What are we doing?"

"Waiting for the mod squad there to get the hell out of the way," Nick answered, peering around the corner to make sure they were still blocking the exit. "I don't really feel like explaining again why I can't go with them."

"Where are they going?"

"Bay City," Nick answered, grinning over his shoulder at Greg. "You wanna go with them?"

"No, but if you do…"

He was still smiling, but there was an edge to his voice that let Nick know he was actually worried about it. That was all it took to make him forget his plans to let Greg down gently; he forgot why it had been so important for him to end their relationship in the first place, because the truth was that he didn't want to go with Warrick and the others. What he really wanted to do was take Greg home and stop thinking at all for awhile, but first he was going to take him out and buy him breakfast. "I've already got plans."

Greg upped the wattage on his grin a little, and Nick barely caught himself before he remembered why kissing him right now wasn't such a good idea. Instead he turned away long enough to glance around the corner, letting out a sigh when he caught a glimpse of Grissom's back as the door swung shut behind him. "Coast's clear."

"Good." Nick jumped when a hand ghosted across his ass, narrowing his eyes at Greg when the other man laughed. "Get a move on, Stokes. Trust me, you're gonna need the calories."