Title: Best Laid Schemes
By: Verisimilitude
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Although, Christmas is coming...
Summary: Unbeknownst to him, Greg has a date. Thus, Nick has a plan.

***

What Greg didn't know, not that it would have meant anything to him if he did, was that Nick could hear the conversation Greg had with Henry. To Greg, the toxicology technician considered him a role model for a lab rat who wanted to make the transition to the field and he was flattered by Henry's attention. To Nick, who was outside the situation somewhat and could see the joyful look in Henry's eyes as Greg accepted his breakfast invitation, the attention Henry was bestowing on Greg had little to do with Greg's work and much more to do with how goddamn attractive he is.

And Nick should know how attractive Greg is, just like he should know that look in Henry's eyes that once upon a time he had sported himself at any chance he had to be alone with Greg, because he is Greg's boyfriend.

When Henry came into the locker room at the end of shift Nick and Warrick were changing and discussing the latest football scores and how they boded for the teams in the future games of the season.

Even a non-CSI would have felt the nervous tension radiating from Henry as he tried three times to open his locker before succeeding. He changed hastily; aware of the scrutinous, amused glances Nick and Warrick were casting in his direction. Unfortunately his efforts at seeming nonchalant were seriously undermined by the amount of extra deodorant he applied to his underarms and the vast amount of time he spent trying to ‘fix' his short, almost unstyleable hair.

"Hey guys." Greg said, walking into the locker room at an unhurried pace, but his words frightened Henry, who was already a nervous wreck, into dropping his keys on the floor.

"Hey." Nick and Warrick responded, having finished changing but remaining to chat with Greg and to see how the situation would play out.

If the reason for Henry's nervousness had not been clear before, it was crystal clear when Greg removed his shirt to change. If the tech had been a cartoon character his eyes couldn't have popped more out of his head or his jaw been any closer to the ground.

"What's up, G?" Nick asked, desperately trying not to smirk at Henry's reaction.

"Henry and I are going out for breakfast." Greg replied as he pulled a clean shirt over his head, grabbed his gear and shut his locker. "I'd invite you, but you know, we're just so much cooler than you are."

"You think so, huh?" Nick responded to Greg, teasing in like kind.

"Yeah. Henry, are you ready to go?"

Henry mumbled through an affirmation and closed his locker and began walking toward the exit. Greg winked at Nick, waved at Warrick and followed Henry out of the locker room. Nick held up a hand to signal silence to Warrick and counted a full 10 seconds before he allowed himself to release the laughter he had bottled up since Henry had entered the locker room. Warrick immediately joined in.

Nick wasn't laughing at Henry-oh no, he knew far too well the irresistible charm that Greg had and how difficult it was to maintain one's wits when Greg walked into a room, let alone the times he was shirtless. He was laughing at Greg. The man had no idea what he had gotten himself into. He had no idea how absolutely gorgeous he was, or how attractive his personality was, or that so many people had become entangled in his unconscious web of charm.

"Man, I can't believe you just let your boyfriend go out on a date with Henry." Warrick said, the question in his voice rather than his words.

"Didn't you see Greg? He has no idea that it's a date." Nick replied as the two men walked out of the locker room to head for the parking lot.

"Yeah, he seemed completely oblivious to me. But I still wouldn't of let my honey go out on a date with another guy. You either really trust him or you're asking for trouble."

"Nah, it's ok, Rick. I trust Greg and I know that he loves me. Besides, there is a major upside to this situation that I don't think you've considered." Nick said as he leaned back against his truck and put on his sunglasses.

Warrick thought for a moment, but couldn't see how any good could come of letting one's significant other date someone else, even unknowingly, so he asked, "What could that possibly be?"

Nick smirked as he answered, "In about an hour, maybe two depending on how Henry plays his cards, Greg is going to figure out that he's on a date. Then, he's going to nicely let Henry down, hopefully without crushing the poor guy. Then he's going to drive directly to my place where he will beg for forgiveness and spend the rest of the night thinking up ingenious ways to…make it up to me."

Warrick laughed and responded, "Wow. I never would have thought of this in quite that way. You, my friend, are one sly man. Just don't be too tired during shift tomorrow, I'm not picking up any slack for you."

Both Nick and Warrick laughed and went their separate ways.

***

Greg felt horrible as he let himself into Nick's apartment. His feelings of guilt intensified as he remembered the trust they shared three months ago on the night they exchanged keys. He wanted to curl up and die, but he had to talk to Nick. He had to convince him that he had no idea he was on a date with Henry until after he was on the date. And that he never meant to hurt Nick ever and that he loved him with all his heart and soul.

"Hey G." Nick called out from the sofa where he was reading a forensic magazine. "How was your breakfast?"

Nick could tell from Greg's slumped shoulders and kicked-puppy expression that he felt horrible and for a minute, Nick got worried. He never expected Greg to look quite so upset. Suddenly, his plan of being ‘made up to' didn't seem like such a good one, and Warrick's words of caution now seemed like good advice. Oh God, what had he let happen?

"Nick, we need to talk." Greg said somberly as he set down his bag and sat down next to Nick on the couch. They were conspicuously not touching-not even their knees. Nick's worry increased exponentially by the nanosecond.

"What's up, G?" His attempt to lighten the situation fell flat. Greg had his hands folded in his lap and was clenching and unclenching them while staring at them.

"You know how I went out to breakfast with Henry this morning?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he…I…um…he tried to kiss me."

"Ok." Nick replied. He had been expecting something like this, so now Greg will tell him the really bad news.

"Ok?" Greg questioned, and turned his head to meet Nick's eye. "You aren't mad? I really thought you'd be mad."

There was a moment of silence where both men looked into each other's eyes. Nick realized that there was no more bad news and that Greg just felt this guilty over going on a date with Henry. It was all ok after all.

"You knew." Greg said. It was a statement, not a question. He saw the answer in Nick's eyes.

"Yeah." Nick replied.

"Why the hell didn't you say anything? I had no idea he liked me. Instead you just let me go off on this date." Greg stood and began pacing in front of the couch. "I felt horrible all morning because I thought I had accidentally betrayed you, but you just don't care, do you? Do you even care if I date other people? Do you even want me? Do…"

"Greg, stop!" Nick interrupted in a firm tone while standing up to talk with Greg eye to eye. "Of course I care, baby. I love you so much. I didn't say anything because…well, because of reasons that don't seem so great anymore.

"I never thought that anything would happen between you and Henry. I know you love me and I trust you. I knew that you had no idea that it was a date and that you don't realize the effect you have on people by being so goddamn sexy. If I had come up to you in the lab and said that I didn't want you to go to breakfast with him you would have told me that I was paranoid, jealous and delusional.

"I thought that if you figured it out yourself then I wouldn't seem like a possessive jerk and then you'd come home all sorry and we'd have lots of great sex."

Nick sat down again and rested his elbows on his knees, bending his head forward so he could rub the back of his neck with his left hand. Greg stood for a few more seconds, staring at Nick and absorbing what he had admitted.

"You're right." He began, "If you had come to find me in the lab and told me you didn't want me to have breakfast with Henry I would have thought you were possessive and I would have been angry. But, if you had come to me and said that you thought that Henry might have a crush on me, and to be aware of that during breakfast that would have been a whole different story. I might have still thought you were delusional, but I would have been on my guard."

Greg sat down beside Nick; putting an arm over his back and gently knocking knees with him. He then continued, "Nick did you ever think that if I knew it was a date I wouldn't have wanted to go? I don't want to be with anyone but you, baby. And I don't ever again want to have to deal with defending myself against the onslaught of someone else trying to kiss me. I'm all yours and I don't want to be anywhere else."

Nick looked at Greg and could see the love shining in his eyes. He placed a hand on Greg's cheek and gently stroked the smooth skin with his thumb while he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Greg whispered too before Nick hooked his hand behind Greg's neck and pulled him in for a gentle kiss.

***

The kiss may have started out gentle, but it quickly became inflamed with the desire Nick and Greg shared after their quarrel. Once they broke for breath Greg panted, "So, you said something about us having great sex. Did you have anything specific in mind?"

Nick shook his head and pulled Greg in for another kiss. He was desperate to feel Greg against him and to kiss him and kiss him until he passed out from lack of oxygen. His need to claim Greg as his was so strong because he had been fighting jealously all morning while trying to act cool about the whole thing. Now that he had Greg in his arms and they had cleared up the issues between them, every beat of his racing heart was like an order from his body to take the man he loved into his arms and keep him there.

Greg reacted in like kind to every grasping kiss of Nick's. He could feel the other man's need to possess him and confirm their status as lovers. He felt it too.

Nick pushed Greg down on the couch and pulled both their shirts off. He plunged back in to another wet, burning kiss and the added sensation of their naked chests inflamed him and he knew they wouldn't even try to make it to the bedroom.

He ran his hands all over Greg's chest, roughly pinching his nipples and grasping at skin. He grabbed Greg's still-clothed ass as Greg wrapped his legs around Nick and pulled their hips together. The feeling of their stiff cocks rubbing together was intoxicating.

Nick pulled away from Greg and sat up on his knees, his hands going immediately for Greg's belt. Greg, reluctant to let Nick pull away until he realized that it was a good thing, began to unbutton Nick's jeans too. Nick stood up and ripped his jeans and boxers off as fast as he could before he grabbed a hold of Greg's and nearly unseated him from the couch in his haste to get them off.

Nick jumped back on top of Greg-his actions were frenzied and wild. He needed to be naked with his lover and fucking him right now. Greg eagerly wrapped his legs around Nick again and pulled his body closer.

"Nick," Greg panted, "I need you. I need to feel you inside of me. Please baby, please fuck me."

"Oh God, Greg. I need you too." Nick answered as he reached in to the bottom drawer of the small table by the side of the couch where they kept a small bottle of lube. This was not the first time they'd ended up having wild sex on the couch and so they began placing lube in strategic location around both their apartments.

Nick popped the cap on the bottle, poured some on his fingers and quickly inserted two into Greg. Greg moaned and arched at the invasion, used to the sensation but still loving it every time. He began to gyrate his hips, hoping Nick's fingers would reach his prostate, but Nick was stretching him out quickly and not seeking the pleasure spot. Greg knew, however, that as soon as Nick's big cock was inside him that he'd get all the stimulation he could ever need.

Nick couldn't wait for another second. He pulled his fingers out and pulled Greg's legs around his waste. Greg was only too happy to comply, arching up to Nick and pulling him forward with his legs. Nick pushed his cock into Greg slowly and then back out just as slowly. He picked up speed with each thrust of his hips. Every time Nick pushed forward Greg pushed back and moaned.

They tried to kiss, but the motion of their lower bodies made it difficult and the need for oxygen was making them pant so hard that they needed to breathe. But they continued to try to kiss anyway, both of them moaning and making noises of pleasure and love.

Nick loved to feel Greg's body around him and with all his might he was thrusting into him, using his feet on the end of the couch for leverage. He was getting close to climaxing and from the look on Greg's face he was too. Greg snaked a hand in between their frantically moving bodies and started stroking his cock to get the added pressure he needed to come. It only took him a few strokes over the head and he was spilling his seed and tightening his legs around Nick as he screamed Nick's name.

Nick came almost at the same time as Greg, Greg's legs squeezing him and Greg's internal muscles doing the same pushed him over the edge with a loud moan that was meant to sound like Greg's name but wasn't that articulate. He collapsed on top of Greg and rested his head on Greg's chest. Greg kissed the top of his head and wrapped his arms around Nick.

They lay like that for a while until they recovered. Naturally, it was Greg who broke the silence and laughing he said:

"That'll teach you to let me go on a date with another man."

Nick laughed too.

***