Title: Natural
By: flipflopadd1ct
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Greg Sanders was a man in love with nature.

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Greg Sanders was a man in love with nature.

The beauty and the power of it all - it enchanted him, held him captive in a world he never wanted to escape.

It started when he was a young boy in California. All he can remember from that day was his mother frantically running to where he sat in the park five minutes from their house. Little Greg didn't understand what she was so upset about. "I've been right here, Momma," he had said. She had scolded him fiercely, telling him never to run off like that again.

The next weekend, he did it again.

His parents sought for a solution to Greg's "problem," and soon a very happy Greg found himself on monthly boating trips with his father. He had been to the beach many times before, but that didn't compare to his first boat ride. The sea amazed him to no end – the way the waves slopped lazily against the side of the boat, the brilliant Pacific sunsets. By the time he was fifteen, Greg managed the family boat better than his father could.

Experiencing the ocean like that became one of Greg's favorite pastimes, and as he grew, so did his obsession with the water and nature in general. He started spending his mornings before school walking, just walking with no destination in mind and no reason except to soak up the sights and sounds of a still, quiet California sunrise.

With no one else around, no one to bother him, Greg could think and reason and imagine in peace. All it took was one look to the sky.

One spot, discovered when he was sixteen, soon became his favorite. It was a small hill overlooking a secluded stretch of beach, a sandy dune that didn't seem to exist to anyone else. It was, in Greg's eyes, the definition of "romantic." He took each of his girlfriends and later his boyfriends to that place, enough memories lingering to fill a novel. Sometimes, he and his current love would just talk, or have a picnic, or sit in silence and watch the sun. Sometimes they would fuck. Whatever they did at that hidden beach, Greg knew he could forget anything that worried him and lose himself.

On Nick's first trip to California, Greg took him to that spot.

Greg was surprised, even shocked to find that his private beach was as private as ever. And just as Greg thought he would, Nick appreciated the beauty of the place as much as Greg did.

Their relationship had followed a slow, natural progression: co-workers became friends. Friends became fuck buddies. Fuck buddies became boyfriends. And – Greg likes to think to himself – boyfriends became soul mates.

If Greg had to list everything he adored about Nick, he could go on forever. But one detail stands out – in Nick, Greg found someone who loved the outdoors just as much as he did.

Greg had always known that Nick was a fan of the Discovery Channel, but it wasn't until Nick moved in that Greg realized the extent of Nick's obsession. And it was bird-watching, in particular. Nick never explained why he had such an interest in birds, but Greg never asked. Greg thought it was cute when Nick would, out of nowhere, point out a generic bird like a robin and spout out its scientific name.

On one of their first mornings after they had moved on from just sex and into the world of dating, it was Nick who suggested they take an early morning walk. Greg had stared open-mouthed at Nick because Greg had never mentioned his routine to him before. Nick rambled on about how walks always woke him up and how it had just rained and he loved the smell of rain and he stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that Greg was already out the door.

Experiencing nature together became as much a part of their life as their relationship. Greg never had to press Nick into going outside with him because Nick was always as willing. Whenever they had the chance, they would steal away to the mountains for an overnight camping trip, waking to the cold, sweet air and falling in love with each other all over again, or maybe they'd spend a few hours in the park, watching the day slip by with the clouds. Greg could never get enough of nature, and he could never get enough of Nick.

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