Title: The Great Saint Valentine
By: Caroline Crane
Pairing; Nick/Greg
Rating: NC17
Summary: Holiday decorations can be misleading.

He'd never been any good at this stuff, so he had no idea if he was getting it right. This was half the reason he'd always avoided relationships, after all -- thinking up gifts for birthdays and Christmas was hard enough, but when it came to all those other holidays he was hopeless. He wasn't planning to do anything for this one either, but when he walked into Greg's lab and saw the pink crepe paper explosion he got the hint loud and clear.

It didn't really surprise him that Greg was into this stuff. He was...Greg, and unpredictable didn't even begin to cover it. That didn't really help him figure out what to do about it, though, and by the time he was finally done he still wasn't sure Greg was going to like any of it. It was possible he went a little overboard, but there was so much stuff out there that it was hard to know what to get. Getting one of…well, everything probably wasn't the best compromise, but there wasn't much he could do about it at this point aside from sweeping it all into a box and shoving it in a closet.

He was considering that very option when the front door opened, and for the first time he regretted giving Greg a key, because it meant he couldn't buy any time to hide the evidence. Not that Greg wouldn't figure it out anyway considering the weird artificial strawberry scent lingering in the air, and Nick wasn't sure what the inventor of that particular smell was thinking.

Greg stopped in the entrance to the living room, eyes wide and his keys still dangling from one hand. And Nick was pretty sure it wasn't possible to burst into flames from blushing too hard, but he was already putting the theory to the test. He reached up absently to tug at the collar of his t-shirt, hoping if he just pretended this is no big deal that Greg would let it slide.

"What…is that strawberry?"

He knew the candles were a little much when he bought them, but the sales girl seemed to think they were essential, and he didn't have the heart to tell her he wasn't shopping for a girlfriend after she spent half an hour flirting with him. "Technically, yeah."

Greg looked around again, taking in the candles and the flowers and the carefully set table. "You didn't try to cook, did you?"

He was too busy blushing to be as offended as he should be, but he scowled anyway. "Hey, I can cook."

"Better than you decorate, anyway," Greg murmured, his lips twitching into a grin. "What is all this stuff?"

"What do you mean, 'what is it'? You've been hinting around about this for a week."

He had – Nick was sure of it. It all started with that strand of heart-shaped lights he hung around his lab station, then there were the pink paper streamers, the red hearts hanging on the door with the little cutouts…by the time Valentine's Day rolled around Greg's lab looked like an explosion in a paper heart factory.

"Hinting around? You think I've been hinting around about scented candles and…are those cloth napkins?"

"No," Nick answered automatically, because he was trying to make a gesture here, but he hadn't lost his mind. At least he didn't think he had, but the longer Greg frowned at all his careful preparations the more Nick began to wonder. "So you weren't…then what's with all that stuff all over your lab?"

As soon as Greg rolled his eyes Nick knew he'd made a huge mistake, and when Greg laughed Nick started planning where he could hide the body. He was going to have to kill Greg now, because if he didn't everyone at the lab was going to hear about this, and he'd never be able to show his face at work again. He'd have to leave town – possibly even the country – and he couldn't even return any of the overpriced Valentine's Day junk he'd bought.

"I didn't put any of that stuff up," Greg said when he finally stopped laughing long enough to find his voice. "That was all the day shift girl – she's got a new boyfriend and she's in love with love. It's been driving me crazy all week, but every time I take it down she just puts it all right back up again."

"So you weren't…"

"Fishing for candy in a heart-shaped box? No. But did you get me something?"

"No," Nick lied, already calculating how he was going to make it to the bedroom and hide the rest of the stuff he'd bought without Greg noticing. And this was officially the dumbest thing he'd ever done, because he hadn't even thought about the day shift when he saw all that stuff in Greg's lab. Most of the time he forgot anyone else even used that lab – it seemed like Greg was always there, and when he wasn't he was wherever Nick was. "That blonde girl with the thick glasses? She's got a boyfriend?"

Greg shrugged and brushed past Nick to the kitchen, stopping next to the table and running a finger across the expensive paper napkins. "Guess there really is someone for everybody." He shifted his attention from the napkins to the flowers at the center of the table, grinning at them for a long moment before he continued. "Red roses. And everybody says you're not a romantic."

"Who said that?"

"Everybody," Greg said again, glancing at him long enough to smirk. "It's not the first time somebody's bought me flowers, though. This girl sent me roses once."

"I don't want to hear about your ex-girlfriends."

"Ooh, jealous," Greg said, grinning over his shoulder at Nick. And he was, but he wasn't about to admit it. He just didn't want to talk about the past tonight, that was all. He didn't really want to talk about anything, not while there was still the bedroom to deal with. "She wasn't a girlfriend. Just somebody who needed help passing Chemistry. She was pretty grateful, but I didn't take advantage."

He sounded so impressed with himself that Nick couldn't help laughing, a little of the tension easing out of him. So far it was just flowers and candles and take-out on real plates instead of paper – that wasn't so bad, and as long as Greg never found out about the rest Nick wouldn't have to move out of state and change his name. "The florist seemed to think they were the smart choice."

"I'm guessing you didn't tell her who they were for."

"Him. I feel kind of stupid here." Judging by his grin, Greg already knew exactly how uncomfortable Nick was, and he was enjoying every second of it. Not that Nick could blame him – he was the one who'd jumped to all the wrong conclusions, and he was never going to live it down. "Look, just forget the candles and the flowers, okay? I think there's a hockey game on ESPN tonight."

He reached around Greg to blow out the candles, but before he managed it Greg's hand closed over his mouth. "No way. You're not getting out of this that easily. Not until you tell me what else you had planned for tonight."

"Nothing," Nick lied, but he could tell already that Greg didn't believe him. He shifted uncomfortably under Greg's gaze, fighting the urge to glance over his shoulder in the direction of the bedroom. He caught himself just before he turned, but it wasn't fast enough, and before he could stop Greg the other man was already halfway down the hall. "Greg, don't…I mean it, stay out of my room."

Greg didn't even look back at the sound of Nick's voice, and by the time Nick caught up with him he was standing just inside Nick's bedroom, mouth half-open. The champagne was still chilling in the ice bucket he'd gotten at some fraternity banquet, the frat symbol and his name engraved in the side of the metal container. He hadn't actually turned the music on yet, but there were bottles of massage oil on the nightstand and a box in the center of the bed, carefully wrapped in bright red wrapping paper and a white bow.

That purchase had been a little harder to pass off as a gift for a girlfriend, but Nick just avoided the look on the lady's face when he paid for the gift wrapping. He was never going to see her again, and anyway he didn't really care what people thought about him and Greg. Okay – he was trying not to care, and it got a little easier every day.

It was almost worth his humiliation just to watch Greg's eyes light up as he crossed the room, picking up the box and throwing himself down on the center of the mattress. Nick followed him, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and watching as Greg picked up first one bottle of scented massage oil, then the other. "Is this stuff flavored too?"

"No. I don't think so," Nick answered, reaching for the bottle and peering at the fine print on the label. "You can get it flavored?"

Greg's laugh was soft this time, and Nick found himself grinning in spite of what he was pretty sure was a permanent blush. "Yeah. It tastes kind of weird, though. If you're gonna play sex games you can put in your mouth, the chocolate body paint is the way to go."

There was no way he was asking how Greg knew that – he didn't want to know, not even if it took some of the heat off him for being stupid enough to buy all this stuff in the first place. He leaned across Greg and set the massage oil back on the nightstand, sparing a longing glance at the champagne before he turned back to the other man. "Look, G…"

"So can I open my present now? Is it handcuffs?"

He looked so hopeful that for a second Nick almost regretted not getting him handcuffs. It had never dawned on him that Greg might want something like that, but now he sort of wished he'd thought of it. His cock twitched at the thought and he blushed even harder, clearing his throat and glancing at the box in Greg's hand. "Just open it."

Greg took his time pulling the ribbon off, then he tore into the paper and Nick couldn't help laughing. For a few seconds he even forgot to be embarrassed about all the trouble he'd gone to. Finally Greg got the box unwrapped, tossing the paper onto the floor and pulling the lid off to peer inside.

"You got me video games for Valentine's Day?"

And he really was terrible at this sort of thing, because he'd spent ages trying to come up with something to get Greg and it was this or something lame like a new watch. Handcuffs definitely would have been the way to go, and maybe if Nick hadn't been a cop he would think of stuff like that on his own. "What, is that against some sort of rule?"

Greg was shaking his head, though, pulling the games out of the box and flipping them over before he looked up at Nick. "Are you kidding? Arcade Classics…you really do love me."

The awe in his voice surprised a laugh out of Nick, and he rolled his eyes and tugged the box out of Greg's hands. "What, you didn't believe me?"

"Well you could have been trying to charm me out of my virtue." He was pretty sure he should be insulted by that, but it was hard to be mad at Greg when he was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. "But after tonight I think I'm convinced."

Nick rolled his eyes at himself this time, because he knew better than to think Greg was going to let all this slide without at least a few jokes at his expense. Still, he was pretty sure it was worth it – or it would be, anyway. "Yeah, well, I know how much you miss the challenge of Asteroids."

"I'll have you know there's a fine art to that game," Greg shot back, falling into the speech he'd given Nick on their first date. "It's elegant in its simplicity."

Nick opened his mouth to argue that no game that involved shooting at little pixilated blobs could be considered elegant in any sense of the word, but Greg was already pushing him back onto the mattress.

"Dinner's going to get cold," he protested, but he let Greg straddle his hips anyway, dropping the video games at the end of the bed and running his hands up the other man's sides.

"That's why God invented microwaves," Greg said, leaning forward to swallow the sound of Nick's laughter with a kiss. It started out slow, Greg's hips rocking lazily against his and Nick's hands sliding under his shirt. He managed to get Greg's shirt off without breaking the kiss, and by the time he came up for air his own shirt was unbuttoned and pushed open.

Greg straightened up long enough to let Nick pull it off, reaching for his jeans to tug them open while Nick was busy with his shirt. He climbed off Nick's lap long enough to get the rest of their clothes off before he leaned over Nick again, mouth following the trail of his hands down Nick's chest and by the time he was naked Nick was flushed and hard. He forgot all about dinner, forgot the candles they'd left burning in the other room and the hockey game he'd never really planned on watching.

When Greg pushed at his hip he turned onto his stomach, arms folded under his head as he watched Greg pour coconut-scented massage oil onto his hands. He blew on his hands a few times to warm the oil up, then slid one leg over Nick's hips and ran slick hands down the length of his back. Nick groaned at the pressure of Greg's hands working their way down his spine, arching into the sensation as Greg reached the small of his back and started back up again.

This wasn't the way this was supposed to go – he was supposed to be the one pampering Greg, but he wasn't going to complain. It felt way too good, and if Greg wanted to do it Nick wasn't going to try to stop him. He was pretty sure he'd regret it tomorrow when he was trying to get the oil out of his sheets, but he wasn't going to worry about even that now, not when Greg was doing that thing with his thumbs that made Nick's whole body feel like it was made of Jello.

He groaned again when Greg's hands dipped lower, sliding across his ass before moving back up to his spine. His hips moved minutely with each stroke of Greg's hands, cock rubbing against the sheets and for the rest of his life he was going to associate the scent of suntan lotion with sex. Sex and Greg, and he couldn't think of a better combination.

Warm lips brushed across the back of his neck, Greg's chest warm where it pressed against his back. His skin slid against the other man's and he moaned at the image of Greg pressed against him – Greg under him, skin slick as he arched up into Nick's thrusts. It was tempting to flip them over until Greg was trapped underneath him, but those hands felt good on his skin and he was too relaxed to do anything but groan with each new knot of tension Greg found.

"Don't fall asleep."

"Mmm," Nick murmured in response, already drifting on the warm waves of pleasure Greg's hands were sending through him.

Greg laughed, chest vibrating against Nick's back when he leaned close again. "I mean it. Don't even think about it."

He punctuated the command with a soft kiss against Nick's shoulder blade, then another at the center of his spine. He kept moving down, mouth following the trail of his hands until he reached...God, right there, and suddenly Nick wasn't thinking about sleep anymore. All he could think about was the wet warmth pressing inside him, talented fingers sliding between his legs to tease the skin just behind his balls.

Nick pressed up into the sensation, hips lifting off the mattress just enough to let Greg reach under him, a warm hand closing around his cock. A few seconds ago he'd been so relaxed he couldn't even think about moving, but now his whole body was buzzing with anticipation and he moaned low in his throat and pressed back against the tongue still working in and out of him. And this was worth it – worth all the jokes Greg was going to make at his expense for the next few weeks, worth even the chemically manufactured scent of strawberries in the kitchen.

It was still a weird holiday, but he was glad that he'd decided to celebrate it. He knew Greg didn't need stuff like flowers and nice napkins to let him know how Nick felt – neither of them did – but it was…kind of nice. Not that he was planning to show up with flowers all the time or anything, but if it got him this it might be worth it.

He rolled onto his back when Greg pulled away, catching the other man around the waist and dragging him forward for a hard kiss. When they came up for air again Greg was pinned underneath him, eyes wide like he was a little surprised to find himself there. Nick laughed breathlessly and leaned in for another kiss, soft against the corner of Greg's mouth. He reached for the massage oil, shifting onto one elbow long enough to pour a little on his fingers.

Greg's eyes fluttered closed when Nick's fingers pressed inside him, back arched into the sensation and Nick swallowed hard when Greg just…opened for him like this was all he'd been thinking about all day. It was all Nick had been thinking about, at least when he wasn't busy worrying about what exactly people did for Valentine's Day in the first place. He still wasn't sure exactly what other people did, but this seemed pretty perfect as far as he was concerned, and he promised himself he'd make sure it was an annual tradition.

"Love you," he murmured against Greg's mouth, something he didn't say that often, but it was a special occasion. The words earned him a groan and Greg tightening around his fingers for a second, so Nick waited until he relaxed to say it again. That time Greg's hand threaded through his hair, pulling his head down to fuse their lips together. He murmured incoherently against Nick's mouth, but Nick understood anyway, and his heart skipped a beat as he pulled his fingers out of Greg and pushed up onto his knees.

He slid a slick hand over his cock, once, then again before he lined up and pushed inside Greg. The first press of tight heat was expected, but it still made him groan helplessly as Greg's legs wrapped around his waist to pull him deeper inside. He still owed Greg a massage, and there was still dinner and champagne and the dessert Greg hadn't seen yet sitting on a shelf in the fridge. There were a dozen different things Nick still wanted to do, a hundred things he wanted to tell Greg about everything and nothing, a thousand places on Greg he still hadn't kissed.

They had all night, though – longer than that, and Nick wasn't thinking words like 'forever', but it was there in the back of his mind anyway. Maybe Greg was thinking the same thing, because as soon as Nick thought the word Greg's eyes opened, dark and clear and he thrust up one last time, moaning Nick's name as he came. Nick waited until Greg stopped shuddering to move again, holding his breath until finally Greg relaxed under him. He thrust again, one hand under Greg's thigh to push his knee a little higher, then one last time before he came.

He was still trying to catch his breath when Greg's mouth pressed against his neck, feathering hot kisses along his skin. Nick laughed for no reason, summoning the energy to push himself up on one elbow and look down at Greg.

"I didn't get you anything," Greg said, grinning when Nick rolled his eyes.

"I'll let you make it up to me. You hungry?"

"Starving," Greg answered. "What do you say to dinner in bed?"

"You read my mind. I'll be right back," Nick promised, pressing one last kiss to Greg's lips before he forced himself off the bed and into the kitchen. He glanced at the plates still sitting on the kitchen table, shaking his head and leaning over to blow out the candles before he picked up two forks and the bag of takeout still sitting on the kitchen counter.

It wasn't exactly warm anymore, but it wasn't cold either and he didn't think Greg would really mind. Even if he did he wouldn't complain, and the last thing Nick felt like doing was waiting for the microwave while Greg was stretched out in his bed waiting for him. Dinner in bed hadn't been part of the original plan, but as far as Nick was concerned the night was working out perfectly. He'd never admit it out loud, but he was starting to think maybe Valentine's Day wasn't such a bad idea after all.