Title: Cowards - Part 12

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Nick/Greg Slash

Word Count: ~4500

Warning: Sexual Content, Violence, NonCon

Disclaimer: This story is complete fiction. They don't belong to me - I just play with them a little.

Summary: Nick honors Warrick's memory by finally being true to himself. It's a lot harder than he thought and he learns that his family is a much bigger issue than he ever thought. And so does Greg. AU, there are spoilers but the plot is mostly mine.

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Nick had never appreciated his gas-guzzling, over-sized, super-deluxe king cab as much as he did on the drive from Shooter's to Greg's place. His enthusiastic boyfriend had decided to forego the seatbelt and instead leaned across the console to latch himself onto Nick's neck.

Nick groaned. "You're making it a little hard to..."

"Hard?" Greg grinned, his lips still touching warm skin. He slowly moved his hand along Nick's thigh until his palm pressed against a rather large bulge. "Damn, Big Guy. You're right."

Nick hissed as he felt the pressure making the delicious discomfort almost unbearable. "I was going to say you're making it hard to drive, G."

"Let me help you out with this." Greg cooed before his deft fingers popped the top button and slowly slid the zipper down. He pulled Nicks neatly tucked shirt up until his firm belly was exposed before he slipped his hand inside of briefs that were already sticky from Nick's arousal and stroked him tantalizingly slow. "You're so fucking hard, Nicky."

Greg giggled when the man he was currently torturing squeaked.

"You wanna know what I'm planning on doing with this?" Greg squeezed the 'this' to which he was referring, causing another squeak from his boyfriend. "First, I'm going to take in just the tip and suck just enough to get your taste in my mouth. Then I'm gonna take you so deep you'll think you're coming out of my ass. Then I'm going to suck you so hard..."

"Jesus, G..." Nick's voice was mixed with need and frustration. "...I'd like to get us home in one piece."

"Then you better keep your eyes on the road, Mr. Safety." Greg practically growled into Nick's ear before he moved his head south and started sucking.

Just the tip.

"Fuck, Greg!" Nick meant to sound annoyed but it came out more like code for 'suck me harder'.

Yeah - having a roomy cab with lots of space between the steering wheel and the driver's lap was a really good thing.

Greg was feeling a bit appreciative, too. Nick was by far the best tasting man he had ever sucked off. He smelled good too. Hell - everything about Nick is just...fuck...so good.

Just as Nick pulled in front of the garage door, Greg took him deep. Nick grunted and slammed his head into the head rest. Greg gives outstanding head.

They both knew it, too.

"G." Nick managed to articulate as he felt suction and the back of Greg's throat. "Fucking hell. G."

As if rewarding Nick for expressing his pleasure, Greg swallowed expertly around his pulsing cock, sending sparks of white lighting shooting down Nick's spine.

Nick needed to get his hands on Greg.

Now.

"Ga...Garage, Greg." He pulled gently on Greg's hair.

Greg pulled off of Nick's cock with an audible pop. He looked up through dark lashes. His mouth looked like it had been sucking dick and it made Nick's mouth water with desire to suck back. Greg's brow crinkled when Nick didn't speak. "Something wrong?"

Nick shook his head. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Garage."

Greg looked confused.

"Open the garage." Nick explained a little further.

Greg peeked over the dash and realized they had made it home. "Be right back."

Greg hopped out of the truck, but before he trotted to the keypad to enter the code, he turned back to look at Nick. The sight of his man sitting red faced, disheveled, and a little frustrated with his gorgeous dick so hard it left tiny trails of come as it throbbed against Nick's belly. "Don't you dare move."

Nick held his hand up in surrender.

It earned him a brilliant smile before Greg hurried to get his task done. As the garage door was opening, Greg climbed back into the cab of the truck and immediately lunged for Nick's girth.

Nick silently thanked Sarah for spending the extra money on a condo with an attached, private garage. He wasn't sure he could get out of the truck before Greg finished what he had started. He slammed the truck into park and shut down the engine before he leaned back, closed his eyes and wove his fingers into the hair on the back of Greg's head. "Oh yeah...mmmmm...that's it, G...feels so good."

"Mmmm Hmmmm" Greg hummed in agreement.

That was all Nick could take. Between the suction and the bobbing of Greg's head and the swallowing and humming sending cascading sensations straight to his balls - Nick came harder than he can ever remember.

Greg didn't release Nick's spent cock until he had swallowed everything Nick had to give. He pushed himself up until he could reach Nick's lips. "Yummy." He murmured before bestowing a deep kiss upon the slack-jawed mouth of his dazed lover.

Nick's hands quickly found their way to Greg's hair and he angled his face to deepen the kiss. When they pulled back Nick kept his loose hold on Greg's head and stared into his eyes. His thumb brushed against the raised line that would never let either of them completely forget the painful journey they had taken to get to this moment in time. Nick felt a rush of deep, renewed commitment to pull his shit together. "I love you."

"I love you." Greg said with a dreamy look in his brown eyes.

Nick smiled at the sight of it. "Yeah, I know. I'm lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with it." Greg argued. "You're a good man. You're a brilliant scientist and investigator. You're compassionate with people who are facing the worst moments of their lives. You're a defender, a protector, and yet, you're still vulnerable, and..."

"I'm fucked up." Nick interrupted.

"Yeah, you're that too. But you're self-aware and you're getting help." Greg smiled. "Oh...and you're hot. Very, very hot."

"No - you are." Nick teased flirtatiously.

"Nah - I'm not hot. But I make up for it with my amazing sexual technique."

"How can you be so unaffected?"

It was a genuine question.

Greg dropped the bravado so he could pay attention to what Nick needed. He had learned that with Nick, what he says isn't always what's going on on the inside. "I am affected."

"You just seem so...I don't know...expressive or something...and after everything...how can you be so..."

"Nicky." Greg took pity on him. Even on his best day, Nick's never been great at the talking thing. "I don't know how to explain it. I've always been fairly...what'd you call it - expressive? I'm no slut or anything, but I love sex. From the second I discovered my dick I've loved it. It feels good, Nicky."

"You don't think I know that?" Nick grinned.

"What I'm trying to say is that for me sex has always been necessary. Not in the 'oh god I haven't been laid in six months and I need to get off before my balls fall off' kind of necessary. It's more like sex is...I don't know...like it's a personality trait or something. It's not just something I do, it's part of who I am. Does that make any sense at all?"

Nick fingers were drawn to Greg's face again. "And all these years I just thought you just lacked a filter."

"That too." Greg admitted with a grin. "My point is that I couldn't let 20-minutes of...bad...change who I am."

"What about Paul?" Nick took advantage of the serious moment to ask a question that had been niggling at him since he first noticed Greg's bruised face in the lab's parking lot so many months earlier.

"What about him?"

Nick's fingers were still caressing Greg's face tenderly.

"Why him?" Nick struggled to find a way to ask the question without revealing how insecure he was. "He doesn't seem like someone you'd be with."

"He's not! I only went out with him for a few weeks - and with my schedule that equates to a handful of actual dates." Greg explained. "I thought he was hot."

"You think he's hot?" Nick obviously didn't.

"No." Greg thought it was adorable. "I said I thought he was hot. It wasn't exactly beer goggles, but I'm a dude with a healthy appetite for sex. He was interested and cute."

Nick suddenly looked a little insecure. "So why'd it go beyond the one night?"

"Why do I get the feeling that we're talking about more than just my psycho-ex?" Greg's fingers carded through short, dark hair. "I don't have a thing for damaged men, Nicky. I've wanted you for years - even before all of the shit we've been through since Warrick's funeral. I'm not looking for a project. I'm looking for a boyfriend. Nana would say I'm looking for a soulmate and I think she would say that I found him with you."

Nick still looked unconvinced.

"Look, the night I met Paul I wasn't in the best frame of mind. I had just heard through the grapevine that the guy I wanted was dating some floozy cocktail waitress he met on a scene. I thought Paul would be a nice distraction."

"Floozy?" Nick crinkled his face.

Greg nodded while he smoothed out the lines between Nick's eyebrows affectionately. He was relieved that Nick was allowing him to lighten the mood. "Yeah - floozy - you have terrible taste in women."

"That's because I wanted men." Nick stated the obvious. "More specifically, I wanted you."

"Well, you've got me." Greg kissed Nick's neck before whispering huskily into Nick's ear. "Now the question is, what are you going to do with me?"

Nick chuckled fondly. "Your resiliency is amazing - inspiring actually."

"Resiliency Schmasiliency." Greg said before he nipped at Nick's chin. "I'm just horny."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Every part of me is exhausted except for Mr. Longfellow." Greg giggled. "And Mr. Longfellow kinda rules the sleep cycle."

"Mr. Longfellow?" Nick raised a brow. "You're so weird, G."

"Maybe." Greg squirmed. "Can we go inside before you rock my world? This cup-holder is digging into my ribcage."

They were naked before they passed through the bedroom door - bodies touching from head to toe - literally. It had been little more than a day since the first time they had meshed together in this way, but they moved with the intensity of lovers who had been starved of each other for years.

Greg's hands roamed every speck of skin they could reach. Nick's body was perfect and Greg was pretty sure he would never completely understand what a sex-god like Nick was doing with a skinny, mangled mess like him. It was a part of him that he would probably never share with anyone - not even Nick.

He was almost painfully insecure.

While Greg had never had trouble finding lovers - he always assumed they were with him just because he was good. He went out of his way to please his partners and there wasn't anything he wasn't willing to try at least once. What he lacked in looks, he more than made up for in personality and libido.

It was his perceived deficit in attractiveness to which Greg had always attributed his single status. He could get laid, he could maintain friends with benefits, he could even manage a few months of exclusivity - but he was incapable of capturing someone's interest beyond that.

And now he was groping the hottest man he had even known and this same man was offering him so much more. Nick was offering him love. And this simple four letter word seemed to have the power to take something that Greg had always enjoyed immensely, and crank up the wattage until he thought his heart would explode from the intensity of the pleasure. They were just holding each other - not even in bed yet - and Greg felt like he was on the cusp of a powerful orgasm. "Bed?"

Nick nodded without taking his lips from Greg's neck.

They managed to move themselves across the room and fall into Greg's borrowed bed without incident. Nick draped himself on top of the slender frame of his lover. Their legs scissored until they were cock-to-cock and engaged in the grinding rhythm they had started an hour earlier on the dance floor. "How do you want this to go, G?"

Greg felt the question float across his ear in a gush of warm breath. "I want this to go until you're fucking me into next week."

Nick stilled. They hadn't gone that far the first time. It wasn't because Greg didn't want to - they were just taking it slow. For both of them. Nick looked into Greg's eyes and asked a million questions without saying a word. It was then that Greg understood that for Nick, this was a big step. Huge. Maybe insurmountable.

"Nicky." Greg soothed with his voice and his touch as fingers traced along the ridges of Nick's spine. "I want you. All of you. Everything. You won't hurt me."

"You're right." Nick said with a sudden confident undertone. "You trust me, don't you?"

"You know I do." Greg smiled.

"I trust you, too." Nick said soulfully. "You stop me if you get uncomfortable, okay?"

"You taking control, Stokes?" Greg teased. He was a little confused by Nick's sudden shift in mood, but he really wanted to move past the nervous boyfriend stage.

"Just for a little while." Nick answered between sucking kisses along Greg's chest. "No more talking for a while."

Nick moved slowly, taking his time to remember every detail of the statement Greg had recorded from his hospital bed a few months earlier. He wasn't supposed to listen to it, but he pulled up the file one day when he was supposed to be working on paperwork and listened with his headphones while he pretended to catch up on email.

He was recalling every moment stolen from his lover and replacing it with something else.

Greg had it figured out right after Nick gently rolled him onto his belly and started methodically kissing every scar on his back. It was the most beautiful gesture he had ever experienced. He closed his eyes and melted into Nick's ministrations while he filed every sensation away in his heart so he could relive them over and over.

Which is exactly what Nick intended. A new loop of memories to replace the nightmares.

Greg followed orders and stayed silent while Nick broke his own rules and murmured softly into Greg's skin. Greg couldn't hear everything Nick was saying - but he heard enough to know that Nick thought he was beautiful and sexy and everything he had ever dreamed of.

It was horribly romantic and Greg wasn't complaining.

After trailing a series of open mouthed kisses across the small of Greg's back, Nick's large hands kneaded the fleshy globes of Greg's ass. He gently parted them enough to brush his thumb across the pucker of Greg's most private of places. Seeing this part of Greg for the first time reminded him that hadn't been this close to another man since he was a high school quarterback exploring sex for the first time. Nick remembered how it felt to give himself to Dillan. The pleasurable pain that melted into the kind of climax that felt like coming undone rather than simply coming. Nick remembered how much he liked it. He liked giving it and he liked getting it. Even back then, when he was just a stupid kid fucking his high school boyfriend, Nick believed that allowing another man to be inside of his body was something special.

The last person to breach Greg's cherished barrier was a violent, hateful man who happened to be an exact replica of himself. Nick placed his lips against the place his dark-half had violated and he bestowed a sweet kiss there as if apologizing to Greg's body in behalf of his brother.

When Greg felt the wet heat of Nick's talented tongue sliding along the overly sensitive flesh behind his balls, he was surprised to discover that Nick had managed to spread his legs and lift his hips without him even knowing it.

Then Greg felt lips and tongue kissing and swirling between his cheeks and he couldn't stop the sound from breaking his vow of silence. "OhmygodNicky..." He could only think about the fact that he had had an incredibly long shift and hadn't showered since the hours before it started. He knew from experience that what Nick was doing to him was way more pleasant for the giver if the receiver was freshly showered, with extra attention given to the area in question. But Nick didn't seem to mind.

Because Nick didn't mind at all. He nuzzled between Greg's cheeks while pulling Greg's ass closer and licked his way inside of Greg's tight hole. Greg arched his back and pushed himself back to get more of Nick's tongue inside of him. "You like this, Darlin'?" Nick asked before diving deeper into the heat of Greg's ass.

"Ohgod..." Greg moaned into the sheets.

"Where do you keep your stuff?" Nick asked with his face still buried between hot, spit-slick cheeks.

"Love Shack." Greg groaned the name of his favorite sex shop while swiveling his hips to get more of Nick's face in his ass.

Nick wasn't sure he heard Greg right. He pulled his head back. "Huh?"

"Don't stop, Nicky." Greg begged.

"I need supplies if we're going any further with this, Baby."

Greg's heart fluttered when he realized Nick was starting to use pet names. "I don't have anything. It's been a while since I've needed it."

"But...you said...what about fucking you into next week?" Nick was almost certain he was whining.

"I totally forgot, Nicky. I can run out real quick." Greg turned his head enough to look at Nick, who looked incredibly sexy while pouting with his face half hidden behind Greg's ass.

"You're not going anywhere." Nick was starting to wonder if anything was ever going to go right for them. He literally ached to finish what he started. "Roll over."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. But instead of freezing from the memory of the last time those two words were spoken, Greg just rolled over without any hint of distress and spread his legs wide. The sight of Greg's obvious trust and comfort caused Nick's chest to ache a little.

Greg did have a flash of memory when he heard those two words, but it was quickly replaced by visions of Nick doing tantalizing things to his body. His trust for this man was indisputable.

And he was not disappointed.

Nick took him deep into his mouth while spit slick fingers deftly found that spot inside of him that caused his eyes to roll into the back of his head. Nick skillfully finger-fucked him, adding fingers one at a time until Greg didn't miss the fact that it wasn't a cock in his ass - especially combined with the swirly-tongue-suction being applied to his dick. He couldn't even tell Nick how good it felt because the pleasure had rendered him speechless.

Greg had one hand gripping Nick's shoulder and the other buried in Nick's hair. His hips were thrusting in an attempt to get Nick's fingers deeper inside of his ass and his own cock deeper inside of Nick's mouth.

When Greg came without warning it surprised them both, leaving them both gasping for air in a boneless heap of fucked-out bliss.

"That was..." Greg was panting.

Nick head rested on Greg's hip. "Yeah..." He scooted up clumsily until he was laying next to Greg. He allowed his lover to curl into his side and pulled him closer with one arm and buried his fingers into Greg's sweat soaked hair.

After several minutes of basking in the afterglow, Greg's tired voice pulled Nick from his gradual tumble into sleep.

"Do you think you could get next weekend off?" Greg asked before nuzzling into Nick's damp neck.

Nick continued to play with Greg's sweaty hair. "It's kinda short notice, but I could try to trade with someone. Why?"

"I'm going to my friend's wedding back home."

"You want to take me to your friend's wedding?" Nick sounded surprised.

Greg adjusted his position so he could look Nick in the eyes. "I want everyone to meet my boyfriend."

"Do you think your parents will feel weird about me?"

"Why should they?"

"Because of everything that's happened."

"I didn't tell them." Greg explained. "They don't need to know. Maybe in a few years, but right now I just want them to get to know you without any baggage."

"You went through all of this without the support of your family?" Nick was shocked.

"I didn't need them for that. I have everyone here." Greg said. "My mom would just freak out and I don't want to put her through that."

"Do you think you'll ever want to go home with me?" Nick wondered more than asked The harsh reality that had hit him earlier suddenly weighed heavily in his chest.

Greg scooted up enough to place them face to face. "In a heartbeat, Nicky. Nothing could stop me if that's what you wanted."

"But..."

"You would never put me in an unsafe or uncomfortable situation." He kissed Nick softly. "I wouldn't hesitate to go to the place you call home."

Nick slid his hand around Greg's head to pull him back for another kiss. "You're my home now, G."

They slipped into a dreamless sleep a few minutes later after agreeing to continue the conversation after Greg could coherently string three words together.

Nick woke up a few hours later, still holding Greg tightly in his arms. At some point they had turned themselves around into a spooning position. Nick thought they fit perfectly. He kissed the scar at the top of Greg's neck before carefully untangling himself so he didn't disturb Greg's much needed sleep.

He couldn't feel anything but happy and content as he picked up the trail of clothes that led from the bedroom to the still opened door that led from the kitchen to the garage. It made his heart soar to remember how the clothes ended up there to begin with.

He pulled on his boxer-briefs after finding them hanging off of the corner of the drawer that contained the coffee filters. He then brewed some coffee and looked through Greg's kitchen to find something to make for dinner later. When the phone rang he hurried to answer it so it wouldn't wake up his sleeping man.

"Sander's residence." He answered quietly. "This is Nick speaking."

"Nick?" The woman's voice sounded a little familiar. "Nick Stokes?"

"Um...yeah." He answered nervously.

"This is Greta." She said as if Nick should know her.

"Greta?"

"Greta Sanders." She clarified. "Greg's mom."

"Ohhhhhh! Of course." Nick remembered meeting her a few times - always at the hospital and always in the worst moments of her son's life. He felt a little guilty knowing that she didn't know anything about the absolute worst moment. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize your voice Mrs. Sanders. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, and my name is Greta. Mrs. Sanders is an old woman living in my in-law suite." She shared her son's sunny disposition. "Where's that son of mine? He owes me a few phone calls."

"He's sleeping. He had a long..couple of days." Nick could feel himself blushing when he thought about some of what he and Greg had done to make his day even longer.

"Greg's sleeping and you're...not?" She asked knowingly. "Do you usually hang out at my son's place while he's sleeping?"

"Uh..."

"Please tell me he finally bagged his man." She suddenly sounded giddy.

"Ma'am?"

"He's been pining over you for years." She explained. "Did he finally get you into his bed?"

"We're...uh...dating." Nick blushed redder. The apple doesn't fall far from that tree! "Do you want me to have him call you later?"

"No. That won't be necessary. I'll just spend a little time getting to know the man who has captured my son's attention so completely." He could hear the mirth in her tone. "I guess this means I'll need to move the queen-sized bed back into the guest bedroom."

"Um..."

"My dear boy." She said affectionately. "I know my child. He's got you now. He's not planning on letting you go."

Nick liked the way that sounded. He smiled into he phone. "Good to know."

"Good." She said. "Now Greggy said you're not a talker. So I'll make it easy on you and ask questions and you can just answer them. How's that sound?"

Nick chuckled. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

"Didn't think so." He stuck the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could pour himself a cup of coffee. "No questions about sex." He warned.

"I'll save those for Greg." She teased. "So, tell me Nick Stokes. Why Greg?"

He didn't even hesitate. "Because I love him."

"Greg wasn't kidding! You certainly are a man of few words." She confirmed what her son had always told her. "But you pick the right ones."

Nick stretched out on Greg's couch and prepared for a long conversation. "Any other questions?"

"Are you kidding? I got a notebook full of 'em." She laughed pleasantly.

It all just felt so right. He was talking to the mother of his sleeping lover as if it was the most natural thing in the world. For the first time in his life, Nick felt like he belonged to someone - and someone belonged to him - in a forever kind of way. And he was ready to embrace it and everything that came with it. "Well, let's get started then."

FIN