Title: What Once Was Panic
By: Caster
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
A/N: Just read and enjoy. :)
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me in any shape, way, or form. I'm not making a cent!
Summary: There's no reason to panic when everything's fine.

***

So this is what it was like.

Nick was still waiting for the evening-after panic to kick in as he stared at the sleeping man next to him. Actually, "stared" might have been too loose of a term, because he couldn't seem to look away, and staring implied the ability to glance somewhere else when conscious demanded it of him. He would have been more than happy to break away from this moment. He wanted to. He wanted to shower and dress, cook some breakfast before David woke up so that they wouldn't be stuck looking at each other in an awkward silence.

But that would require moving, and he was pretty comfortable where he was. That is, slowly waking and sitting up, cleaning the sleep from his eyes while he watched David continue to slumber, curled up in blankets and breathing softly. Nick had to smile at that; David was absolutely oblivious to Nick's attentive eyes, and when he was oblivious then he was also himself. Nick loved the times when David thought no one was watching. He didn't hide beneath any pretence when he was alone; even with Nick, David would sometimes try too hard and Nick would remind him to relax, to be himself. The true David Hodges was the man he fell in love with, after all.

David was getting better at the whole "be yourself" thing, but this was still too good of a moment to let escape.

Three months ago, they had both been struck with a feeling of surrealism. They seemed to realize it at the same time; the breakfasts they would share, the coffee breaks, the time spent in the lab… it was flirting, almost dating. One moment they'd been eating breakfast and the next they caught each other's eyes, stopped, and the unspoken recognition materialized. David later admitted that he'd been nervous as to how Nick would react. It was always possible that Nick could decide against the whole quasi-dating practice and break things off, but as they sat staring at each other, Nick didn't stutter an excuse or storm out. He just gave a small smile and shrugged, as if to say let's just see where it goes.

That was it. No giant proclamations or elaborate schemes (not that Jacqui hadn't been trying); it was just them, just he and David, doing what they'd been doing before, only with a few hesitant kisses thrown in. That's not to say the kisses hadn't become more confident. Over the past few months, they'd become quite confident, thank you very much. Toe-curling, even. Nick loved it.

The only variable of their relationship they hadn't discussed was… going all the way. Nick inwardly winced at the high school phrase. Wasn't that a bit childish? Maybe so, but David had been careful at first, as though he were waiting for reality to suddenly rear its ugly head. He was dating Nick Stokes, ladies man, and one couldn't blame him for watching out for any signs that might indicate relationship failure. But no signs ever came, and after yesterday morning-

Nick sucked in a long breath. Yesterday morning. They had gone out to breakfast, something they did once or twice a week. Nick didn't have any groceries and David's oven was on the fritz, and neither was in the mood to go shopping or try to fix anything mechanical. There wasn't anything particularly special about it (unless one decided to be sentimental by saying being together made it special. And Nick did have a tendency to be more sentimental than David. Much more.) Nick did, though, notice how David was more relaxed than he'd been the past nine weeks. He laughed and smiled and Nick knew he was finally beginning to realize how real this was.

Maybe that was why the kiss Nick had given him was more insistent. They stood on David's porch, the noise of the city draping like a stage curtain. David's returning kiss was equally persistent, an indication of what he craved, what he was ready for. Nick had asked, a continuing chorus of are you sure? until David had practically drug him into the bedroom, hoping to prove just how sure he was.

Brief flashes from the morning before danced through Nick's memory. Skin and sweat and nerves and shaking hands. But they bypassed all that, made it to the point where they were both very much fulfilled and curled around each other, Nick playing with David's hair and David idly drawing patterns on Nick's back with his fingertips.

But that was yesterday. And Nick loved it, but there always the chance that maybe they rushed into things. Maybe they went too fast or maybe David would regret what happened. Nick had no way of predicting this, because David could be pretty unpredictable himself, and he only wanted to-

"Nick?"

Nick was startled by the voice; it was instantly recognized, but unfamiliar with its traces of raspy sleep. Nick looked down to see David staring up at him with clear blue eyes.

"It's too early to be thinking," David continued, a hint of a smile on his face. "Go back to sleep."

Huh. Well, that didn't sound like regret. It sounded like sleepiness and calmness and maybe even a bit of satisfaction.

David reached out and gently tugged at his arm. Nick swallowed, because they were here and he was happy and this one moment was perfect.

So he lay back down, nestled his arm across David's waist, and fell back asleep.

Breakfast could wait.

FIN.