Title: One More Detail
By: flipflopadd1ct
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Nick thought he knew every inch, every detail of Greg's skin. He was wrong.

***

Nick thought he knew every inch, every detail of Greg's skin. He was wrong.

They were lying on Greg's bed, both in nothing but boxers. But they weren't having sex. They were just talking, holding, loving each other in the soft morning light.

Nick traced a faint, inch-long scar on Greg's left side, above his hip. He realized that he had never noticed it before, and it was different than the explosion scars. No, this one was much older. "When'd you get this?" he whispered.

Greg looked down to where Nick's fingers were barely touching his skin. When he saw the mark that Nick was pointing to, he moaned and dropped his head on to the pillow. "I try to forget that exists."

Nick saw the pained expression on Greg's face. "We don't have to talk about it-"

"No! No, I want to. I've never really sat down and talked to someone about...that." He offered a shaky smile. "Can I get a drink of water before I go on?"

"Sure," Nick nodded. Greg swung his legs off the bed and padded into the kitchen. Nick watched his boyfriend, who was wearing just a pair of thin boxers and an uneasy look on his face. A noticeable change had come over Greg's entire persona since Nick had pointed out the scar. It had been a while since Nick had seen Greg like this.

Greg took a long, slow drink of the cool liquid when he returned. He finished the glass and set it down on the bedside table with a clink. Then, he leaned closer to Nick, snuggling into his warmth. "I was a freshman in high school when I came out," he began.

Suddenly, Nick knew where this was going.

"Everyone was fine with it," Greg continued. "Even my parents. I'd been worried about the way they would react, you know? But they didn't mind at all. Not one bit. My friends loved it. They told me they always knew." He gave a short laugh. "I guess the whole coming out thing was pretty unnecessary. I was fucking obvious, really."

Nick didn't say anything. Truthfully, he didn't know what to say.

Greg went on. "There was one guy at school – Tommy Burke - who always had it out for me, ever since elementary school. He was a junior who failed a bunch of times, so he was, like, nineteen. Called me a nerd, a geek, whatever. He beat me up a couple times, but nothing like what he did that Saturday."

"What happened?"

Greg took a deep breath before starting. "I'd been out with some friends, at the mall. When we were done shopping and having our fun, we had to split up because I had to run an extra errand for my parents. I bought what they wanted – I don't even remember what it was now – and I was on my way home when I heard a voice."

"What's up, faggot?"

Greg winced at the sound of that word. The voice was chilling, piercing. He turned slowly to meet its owner. He put on his best defense as he spoke, tried to look more brave than he felt. "What do you want, Burke?"

"I bet I know what you want," Tommy Burke said with a malicious grin as he grabbed his crotch through his jeans.

Greg rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Leave me the hell alone."

A strong hand landed on his shoulder, spinning him around and forcing him to the ground. "On your knees, you fucking cocksucker!" Greg looked around, trying to find an escape but Burke had pushed him into a secluded side-street. He tried to get up and run away but Burke caught him and slammed him against the brick wall.

Time seemed to slow as the first punch slammed into his stomach. Greg could smell the vile stench of alcohol on Burke's breath. He could see Burke's eyes glazed and wild and Greg idly wondered which drugs Burke was on.

Burke held Greg against the wall as he punched him twice more. Coughing and spluttering, Greg did the only thing he could: he hit the older boy hard in the chin with his fist.

That's when he saw it.

The blade glinted in the streetlight. Greg froze, opened his mouth to scream, but it was too late. A new pain blinded his senses as he felt the knife stab into his side. He fell to the ground, holding his hand against the quickly bleeding wound.

Burke dropped the weapon in shock as if he didn't realize what he had done. He ran as fast as he could until he was out of sight. Greg weakly called out for help, but there was no one around.

Nick was shocked. He had no idea anything like this had happened to Greg. He reached out to wipe away the tears shining in his boyfriend's eyes, but Greg pulled away.

"I got lucky. Some man driving by saw me and drove me to the hospital."

"I can't believe-"

"I couldn't either," Greg said, sniffling. "I thought I was...special or something because no one had acted weird around me since I came out. I thought it was going to be easy. Then that happened."

Nick was at a loss for words. Instead, he pulled Greg tighter into his arms and soothingly ran his fingers through Greg's hair. "What happened to the bastard?" he asked, finding something to say.

"They caught him. Charged him for aggravated assault, busted him for underage drinking and possession of marijuana. I told them he tried to rob me."

"Why didn't you say he tried to rape you? He would've gotten a worse sentence, Greg!"

"I was scared! Scared and, and...ashamed! I felt like an idiot, almost letting him take advantage of me." He wiped away the tear that had rolled down his cheek. "It didn't matter anyway. The asshole died in a prison riot about a month after he got in there."

He paused. "I kind of wished I could have done it myself."

Nick nodded as he held Greg tight, kissing him on the forehead. He knew exactly how Greg felt. He had felt the same burning hatred after that night years ago when he was only an innocent child of nine. Nick let the silent tears fall.

"He really screwed me up. I couldn't trust anyone like him after that. None of the jocks or popular guys. I was even weary of you when I first met you." He whispered the last line, turning to look into Nick's eyes.

"Then how did that change?"

"I discovered that you're not like them. You're not like anyone. You're you, Nick, and that's why I love you." Greg was smiling softly now.

Nick leaned in, kissed a spot on Greg's cheek, quietly spoke a few words into Greg's ear.

"What doesn't kill us just makes us stronger..."

***