Title: We Get It Right
By: kennedy
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13
Note: For catlover2x, a small Christmas giftie after ignoring The Love for so long.
Spoilers: Spoilers for recent plot developments in Season 8.
Summary: Nick Stokes is fine during the day, but falls apart at night.

***

Nick's been drinking again; his snores reverberate through the open bedroom door and down the hall to where Greg is sitting in the study and trying to work upon the article that Grissom has been encouraging him to submit.

Greg doesn't want to worry, but he is. Nick has been doing this a lot, and Greg has been making excuses for him. He knows the reasons why Nick wants to get drunk almost every night, even though he knows, and Nick certainly knows that it isn't the right way to deal with...

He can't even bring himself to think it: Warrick's death. Greg himself has been existing in some sort of waking fugue, doing what has to be done. Trying not to dwell on the fact that a colleague and a friend has become a body that needs to be processed, a crime that needs to be solved. He doesn't even comprehend how Nick is able to drag himself out of bed in the mornings with his hangover and still do his job at the same level he always does.

They're not communicating; they're barely talking. They are a fully functioning team at work, but once they get home they fall apart again.

There's a hitch in Nick's snoring. Greg tenses, and when the breathing starts up again he is relieved. As if Nick escaped the death that Warrick didn't.

The worst thing is, Nick has been drinking alone. Greg had assumed he was drowning his sorrows with Catherine, but she destroyed that illusion for him by approaching him on the sly at the crime scene and stating that she was worried about Nick, with the clear implication that he should be doing something about it.

Greg has begun typing again, and is finally getting lost in the flow of his words when he hears his name being called out in a panicked voice. Nick is bellowing for him, and Greg instantly flies out of the study and into their bedroom. Nick is twisted up in the sheets, his chest gleaming with the sheen of sweat, and his eyes are wide and stricken with fear.

"Greg..." he manages to croak again, the relief apparent in his voice when he sees him.

Greg doesn't say anything; he just slides in next to Nick and puts his arm around him. Nick's skin is burning, and he can't get a grip on him. The smell of his sweat is pungent with liquor. Greg feels like he should be repulsed by its potency, but his concern for his partner overrides his natural response.

Nick begins to ramble, his speech slurred in places as he fights through the haze of alcohol to try to be coherent. Greg only catches parts of it, as Nick talks of being stupid and scared, and how when he woke up he thought Greg was gone. "Not just gone," he spits out with grief, "Gone like Warrick gone."

Greg pulls him in tighter.

"Can't keep doing this," Nick says, and Greg has no idea what he means. But Nick is pulling away from him, and he stumbles out of bed and lurches to the door of the ensuite. Greg follows to make sure he doesn't injure himself, and winces when he gets into the bathroom and sees Nick leaning on the sink supporting his weight with one hand, jamming the fingers of his other hand down his throat as he starts retching.

Nick groans and shudders as he expels the drink from his system. Greg slowly moves closer and starts rubbing his back soothingly. When it sounds like there is nothing else for Nick to get rid of, he rinses out his mouth and turns to head back to the bedroom.

"Feeling better?" Greg asks as Nick crawls back under the covers.

"No," Nick admits, gesturing for Greg to join him.

Greg does so, and this time Nick reaches for him.

"I'm sorry," he says. "Finally had some clarity."

He doesn't say it that clearly; he is still working off the excesses of the night, but Greg finally feels a lot better than he has all week.

"You mean it?" he asks.

"I promise," Nick murmurs, and Greg knows this is the truth. Nick never breaks a promise. Even those made while intoxicated, where others would forget or choose to forget. Of course, it would have been better for all concerned if only he had made the promise four days ago, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Stay with me," Nick says, and Greg lets himself forget about the laptop still on in the study, or the work he should be doing. Nick is back, and Greg isn't going to let him go, or else this tenuous thread could break before morning.


As the sun comes in, unwanted, gleaming through the thick blinds both men stir awake. Nick begins nuzzling Greg, and although nothing is said about the night before they both know that things are better between them. There is sadness still hanging over them, but the lost look in Nick's eyes has been replaced with Greg's reflection - a reminder that life still goes on whatever tragedy befalls them.

Greg is still dressed, having fallen asleep before he could strip off. Nick undresses him now, desperate to feel his partner's skin against his own. Despite the fact that Nick still doesn't smell the best, and his teeth definitely needs cleaning, Greg is glad to have him here, have him now, to make things feel real again. Naked, they move against each other, slowly, surely, making love, reconnecting, taking pleasure in each other. Life is reclaimed as theirs yet again. They're survivors.

***