Title: Before The Ring On Your Finger Turns Green
Author: Jaxson K.
Pairing: Greg/OMC & past Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: own nothing, etc.

Nick awoke to the sound of his doorbell. He couldn't figure out who on earth would be ringing his doorbell in the middle of the afternoon. He groaned as he rolled over and looked at the clock. It read 2:45pm. He got out of bed to see who was at the door so he could politely tell them to fuck off. Evidently the sign 'day sleeper' near the doorbell meant nothing to some people.


 

Nick got to the door and looked out the peephole. He didn't recognize the guy standing there, and almost didn't answer the door. Curiosity got the better of him, so he opened the door.....

“Can I help you?”

“Are you Nick Stokes?”

“Who wants to know?”

“My name is Jon Harper, and I've been dating your ex Greg Sanders.”

“What does any of that have to do with me?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you some questions about Greg.....”

“Is Greg in some kind of trouble?”

“No.....I was just curious about some things, and I was hoping that maybe you would help me.”


 

Nick thought about it for a few seconds and then told Jon to come in. He went into the kitchen to make coffee, and while the coffee was making, he and Jon sat down at the kitchen table.....

“So what is it you want to know about Greg?'

“For starters, I wanted to know why the two of you broke up. He's never really given me an answer. He says that you two couldn't see eye to eye about certain things, and that's why he left.”

“For starters, I asked Greg to go. He didn't leave on his own. And the only thing we couldn't seem to see eye to eye on was the fact that he claimed that he wanted “variety”, and wanted to bring multiple partners into our relationship.”

“He never said anything about that!”

“Of course he didn't. Don't get me wrong, I loved Greg deeply and he disrespected and hurt me all in the course of one evening. I'll be willing to bet that he didn't tell you that I caught him in the act with two other men right here in my own living room. That's why I asked him to leave.”

“No, he didn't tell me that, either.”

“Jon, I want you to know that I'm not trying to be vindictive or spiteful. I don't even know you, but if telling you the truth will keep you from being hurt like I was, then I'll damn sure tell you.”

“I appreciate your honesty, Nick...”

“Let me ask you a question. You said that you have been dating Greg, right? How long?”

“About a month. We've been talking about taking our relationship a bit further.....”

“How much further?”

“We were talking about moving in together and committing to each other.”

“You mean with a ceremony like he and I did?”

“I guess so.....”

“Don't do it! He'll be gone before the ring on your finger turns green!”

“You think so, Nick?”

“I know so!”


 

After Jon left, Nick knew there would be no getting back to sleep, so he ran a few errands, and stopped to pick up some take-out for his dinner that evening. When he turned onto Rose Avenue, he saw Greg's silver Jetta parked at the curb. As he pulled into the drive, Greg was out of the car like a shot headed to the front door.....


 

“I hope you're fucking satisfied, Stokes! How could you?”

“How could I what, Greg?”

“How could you fuck up the best thing I had going for me? You did this deliberately, didn't you?”

“No, Greg, I thought I was doing Jon a favor.”

“So you admit that you talked to him?”

“Yes, I did. He stopped by, and had a few questions about you and what happened between us, and I told him.”

“You sure did!!! He doesn't want to see me now because of what you told him.....”

“I didn't tell him anything but the truth, Greg. It's not my fault that you can't face the fact that you are the one that screwed things up between us.....”

“I screwed things up???”

“Yes, Greg, you did. You wanted “variety” and multiple partners, and things like that. I didn't. I liked what we had. I didn't get caught on our living room floor screwing two guys at the same time.....”

“You're never gonna let that go, are you? You can't face the fact that you couldn't satisfy me anymore, can you?”

“Greg, I faced everything, and am trying to put it all behind me. Now, I think the best thing you can do is leave now.”


 

With that, Nick turned, unlocked the door and went into the house. He heard Greg's car screech away from the curb and tear off sown the street. It made him sad to think that Greg still didn't want to face the facts about them and what went wrong. It had taken him a long time to do that, and it hurt like hell, but he had done it.


 

Nick called the lab and told Catherine that he wouldn't be in that night because he wasn't feeling well. She said that she understood. Nick spent the evening doing household chores, checked some e-mail, and even read some entries on LiveJournal. As he was getting ready for bed, he thought about everything that had happened in the past few hours and decided that it was for the best. He couldn't fix Greg's problems, he just knew he needed to continue concentrating on his own.


 

THE END