Title: Driving home for Christmas
Author: Beverly aka Bev *too*
Pairing: Gil/Nick
Fandom: CSI
Rated: PG-13
A/N: A little while ago I read that George Eads finally wants to leave CSI. Can't say that I blame him. But this gave my muses the perfect opportunity to come up with this little piece of fluff. I sent it to my beloved Counselor aka Monemaus who simply said: perfect! So here it is. Enjoy.
Summary: Nick spends Christmas in Paris with Gil. And he realizes he doesn't want to leave ... like ... ever!

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It was their third Christmas together. The second one together in Paris.

Nick Stokes was curled around his lover for several years, Dr. Gil Grissom who was still sleeping peacefully. Nick though was lying awake, listening to the other man's breathing.

Going home after spending time with Gil was always the hardest. And if he was honest with himself, Vegas felt less and less like home. More and more did he feel at home here, in the arms and the apartment of his lover. The decision to quit his job in Vegas hadn't been a hard one. All the horror and the violence was starting to get at him. Without Gil there to balance him, but with the snappy and snarky comments of Sara instead, it was getting harder for him to find his former enthusiasm to go to work.

He pulled the warm body next to him a little closer, pressing a soft kiss to the silken skin. He didn't want to go, didn't want to leave his lover behind him again. Not again. He thought about his letter of resignation that was waiting in his drawer at work. Was waiting there for the last two years.

Gil mumbled something in his sleep, turned around and gripped him tight around the waist. With a smile, Nick also turned around and pressed himself close to Gil's naked body. It felt incredibly good, and with a very content sigh he closed his eyes again. He would be three more days in Paris. Time enough to come to a conclusion. A conclusion about his life.

Would Gil even *want* him in Paris permanently? Or would he be eventually willing to come back to Vegas? For him?

A soft bite to his shoulder made him moan, and Gil murmured, “It's not as if I can hear you thinking but I know you well enough to feel something is bothering you, Nicky.”

Nick sighed, and moved in his lover's arms so that he could look into his blue eyes. A gentle kiss was pressed to his lips, and Nick murmured without thinking, “I don't want to go.”

“Then don't,” Gil whispered, “stay with me. Here. In Paris. Could you do that? Would you want that? Or I can come back to Vegas with you.”

“Whoa,” Nick moved out of his lover's embrace, and sat up. “What are you talking about? Would you … would you really do that? For me?”

Gil also sat up, watching him with a slightly wary expression on his face. “Of course I'd do that for you, Nicky. But if you don't want me to … “

He couldn't finish his sentence because Nick more or less threw himself into the older man's arms, silencing him with a deep kiss.

“I can't believe you would leave everything behind you just for me,” he murmured happily.

Gil pulled him even closer. “For whom else if not for you, Nicky, my boy?” he answered, and Nick could hear the smile in his voice.

Then Gil moved a bit back, and grabbed Nick by his shoulders. “I love you, Nicky, you know that, right?”

Nick nodded, a little surprised.

“I,” Gil said, and hesitated for a moment, then he laughed quietly and continued, “letting you go, Nicky, again and again, nearly tore me apart every time. But I needed you to make your own decision. Needed you to be sure.”

Nick laughed out loud in pure joy. “And I always thought you were glad to be rid of me again, to have your peace and solitude again.”

Gil smiled, shook his head. “Quite the contrary, my dear Nicky. I wanted you to stay here with me. And more than once I was tempted to jump on the next plane to Vegas just to see you again.” He moved a little closer. “To kiss you again. Hold you again.”

He took Nick's face gently between his hands, and pressed a loving kiss to the younger man's lips. “I even considered to come to the lab and get you. Can you imagine Sara's face when I'd have come to you and kissed you in front of everyone?”

Nick giggled. “Hell yeah. That would've been priceless.” Then his face grew serious again. “I want to be with you, Gil. Paris, Vegas, London. I don't care. Where you go I'll follow. I can work everywhere.”

“So can I,” Gil said quietly, then he chuckled slightly, “god, look at us, two sappy old guys.”

“Old? Speak for yourself,” Nick smiled, playfully punching Gil in the arm. Then he stretched and yawned. “Now I need breakfast. All this soul bearing is making me hungry.”

Gil nodded. “Me, too. I know a nice little Café near the Eiffel Tower which is opened even on Christmas day. Let me take you out, my boy.”

Nick nodded, and they got up to get dressed. It took them longer than usual for they seemed to be unable to *not* touch each other. When they left Gil's apartment, they walked hand in hand. Nick smiled at the few other people they met on their way to the Café, and they all smiled back when they saw them walking like that. A couple in love.

Later, when they sat in a booth at the Café with a spectacular view at the Eiffel Tower, Nick watched his man lovingly. They would be together. He would call Catherine tomorrow, tell her where to find his letter of resignation. He would cancel his flight later this day. And they would make plans. Plans for their future life together.

He reached over the table, and took hold of Gil's hand.

The end

***