A/N: Thank you to Sunhawk for beta-ing.

Part 1

Nick Stokes had made a mistake. A big one. He was sitting on the edge of a bed that wasn't his, in a room he should not have been sleeping in, or doing anything else in for that matter. He looked around the room that wasn't his, refusing to look at the sleeping person lying in the bed next to him. For a long time he had wanted this but the picture sitting on the side table of Warrick and his, well now, ex-wife Tina was the clear sign that what happened last night shouldn't have. Nick sighed and rested his head in his hands; he hadn't meant for it to be like this.

The room was starting to lighten as the sun was rising outside. Nick sighed and grabbed his shorts and slipped them on but he froze when he heard the sheets on the bed move. A second later everything was quiet again and Nick turned slightly to look at Warrick. Warrick had shifted on the bed so that he was now sleeping on his back.

Warrick looked so content in his sleep. For the last couple of days, Warrick had looked tired and ragged. Since things had fallen apart with him and Tina, he always seemed to be on his guard. But now the worry lines were gone and he looked so peaceful laying there. Nick sat there on the edge of the bed watching for a while, listening to Warrick's steady breath. Before Nick knew what he was doing, his hand reached out to touch the other man. He stopped himself before he did that though. He had no right, Nick reminded himself. He had taken advantage of his friend. He had no right. He got up and gathered the rest of his clothes that were tossed on the floor and hurriedly put them on, doing his best to stay quiet so that Warrick could sleep. After he finished dressing, he picked up Warrick's clothes and put them neatly on the bench at the foot of the bed.

He crossed over to the door and was about to leave when he stopped and looked back at man sleeping in the bed. His best friend. His secret crush. A person he never wanted to hurt. And Nick had managed to mess it all up.

'He'll probably never speak to me again anyway,' Nick thought, going back over to bed. He bent over and gently placed one last kiss on Warrick's lips.

"I'm sorry." Nick whispered as he straightened up. He left Warrick's house as quietly as he could and somehow managed to drive back to his own place without breaking down. But that forced composure only lasted until he closed the door to his own house.

Once he was back in his house, all the pain that he was trying to push to the side broke loose in his body. He felt like there was something heavy on his chest making it hard to breathe. Leaning against the door, dry gasping sobs tore from his throat. Nick didn't know how long he stood there paralyzed by the fact that he has just made the greatest mistake of his life.

Warrick woke up some time around nine o'clock, feeling happier than he had in weeks. The sun was blearing in through the window and he was only one in the bed. Warrick was used to waking up alone; when he still married to Tina, he was often surprised to wake up beside her and it was one thing that he quickly got used to again after their divorce. But this time being the only one in his bed confused him; his sleepy brain started to work out why that something that was so normal every other time felt so odd this time. He sat up in bed and leaned back against the headrest; he shifted his sitting position a bit because he felt a bit sore. His eyes fell on the pile of folded clothes at the foot of his bed.

"Oh God! Nick!" Warrick said in a harsh whisper as last night came back to him. He looked around the room as if expecting to see Nick where he wasn't a second ago. He wasn't sure whether it was fear he was feeling or something else that he couldn't name.

Warrick pushed the covers off and took a step towards the closet. His legs felt like they were going to tangle up in the first step.

"Whoa," he said steadying himself. Warrick should have expected that, but from his memory of last night Nick had been real gentle with him. Warrick made it over to the closet and took his time getting dressed. Giving himself time to think about last night.

Warrick had gone to a bar early in the evening yesterday and spent the entire time with a bottle of beer in his hand brooding. Maybe he was expecting Nick to show up. Sometime around eleven or twelve or maybe later, Warrick wasn't sure, Nick showed up with that sweet smile of his and took Warrick back home. Nick listened to him in the car; he was so supportive of Warrick. He was always there for him. Once Nick had dropped Warrick off in the bedroom, he was just going to leave, when somehow Nick wound up on the bed with Warrick straddling his hips. How on earth that happened, Warrick's inebriated memories weren't telling him. Warrick remembered that Nick said something about that being a dangerous position for Warrick to be in; he doesn't remember what his own response to that was but does remember that the next thing was Nick kissed him. And that kiss lead to other kisses which invariably lead to other things. Maybe Nick only did what he did last night because he thought Warrick was drunker than he actually was.

That kiss was different form any kiss Warrick had ever felt before. The only way to describe it was the kiss was like Nick, sweet, strong, gentle and warm. Just thinking about the first kiss made Warrick's breath come faster.

Fully-dressed, Warrick went and walked out into the rest of the house.

"Nick?" He called out. The house felt so empty with no answer. Warrick listened for a while and, once convinced that Nick wasn't there anymore, he went and sat down on the couch.

He didn't understand. What was last night? What was he to Nick Stokes? Warrick frowned; part of him didn't want to know the answer to the question. In fear that the answer was: nothing more than a friend. Was he even that anymore?