Nick slowly opened his eyes, only to close them again when his vision was so blurry it wasn't worth the effort. He suddenly became aware of the throbbing pain in his forehead and instinctively reached up to where his head was hurting. Before he came close to his hand's destination, another hand slowly pulled his back down to rest on his chest. Opening his eyes again, Nick was able to focus on Warrick standing over him with a worried expression on his face.

"Don't touch it bro, it just finally stopped bleeding. How ya feelin?" He asked softly.

Nick shrugged slightly. "Other than my head, I'm fine. What happened?"

"You fell asleep on the couch and fell off and hit your head on the coffee table pretty bad." Nick only half heard what Warrick said. He was really dizzy and light headed.

"Oh man...thank God you're awake." Came another voice from the kitchen that was oddly familiar to Nick, but somehow out of place. But as soon as he heard the footsteps coming into the living room, his heart beat increased tenfold. When he saw the spiky hair, his heart stopped.

Greg entered the living room with the same worried expression on his face as Warrick. "Are you okay?" He asked frantically.

Nick opened and closed his mouth several times in an attempt to speak, but came up short of words. After many failed attempts, all he could come up with was a muffled, "How?"

Greg's expression changed from worried to confused. "How what?"

Nick began tripping over his words and stuttering to the point where he was uncomprehendable. He looked at Warrick to confirm his surprise at seeing Greg, but was met only with another confused look. Nick looked back at Greg and couldn't stop himself from saying "But you're supposed to be dead."

Greg came over to the couch and sat down next to Nick's side and rested his hand on his boyfriend's. "Sweetie...what the hell are you talking about?" He asked with a small smile.

Nick shook his head slowly and rapidly tried to explain his own confusion. "You went to Sara's and g-got in a car accident then fell into a c-coma and I told the doctor to let you go cuz I didn't think you w-wanted to be like that and then there was the f-funeral and Max and-"

Greg cut Nick off. "Woah woah woah. Slow down Nicky." He threaded his fingers with Nick's and gently ran his hand back and forth through Nick's dark hair to calm the older man down. "Now, slowly, repeat what you just said."

Nick took a deep breath, but still spoke at a higher rate than he normally did. "You got in an accident and died...and I swear it happened because I remember being so sad and going to your funeral and you were gone for like three months and it hurt so bad...Warrick don't you remember?"

"I remember Greg calling me and freaking out cuz he came home and found you with a huge gash in your head. You were knocked out for a pretty long time Nick, you just had a bad dream."

"It felt so real." Nick said quietly. "I honestly thought I really lost you...it was the worst feeling in the world."

Greg gently squeezed Nick's hand. "But you didn't. I'm still here, it was only a bad dream. Everything's okay, I promise." Nick closed his eyes as Greg continued to run his hand through Nick's soft hair. Greg looked at Warrick, silently telling him how worried he was about Nick.

Reading the younger CSIs mind, Warrick shook his head and stood up. "Don't worry about it man, he's gonna be fine. Don't let him sleep too much and call me if you need anything. I gotta get back to the lab before Cath kills Grissom. Feel better bro." He left, closing the door silently behind him.

Nick weakly raised his left arm, but Warrick had already left. He moved his hand so it was no longer hanging off the couch, but instead let it rest on Greg's thigh. A few tears slowly slid out from his closed eyelids and slipped down Nick's cheeks. Greg gently wiped them away, causing Nick to open his eyes and meet Greg's dark brown ones.

"I honestly thought you were gone. It was...I can't even describe it. I thought it was real. Nothing has ever hurt so much."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm okay huh?" Greg said with a smile.

Nick couldn't hold back his own smile at seeing Greg's. "Oh yeah." He pulled Greg down so he could kiss him softly. "A very good thing."

Greg smiled as Nick kissed him again and pulled away slowly. "You hungry?" He asked.

Nick shook his head. "No. I don't wanna eat or sleep or do anything but just be with you. I never wanna lose you Greg." More tears started falling from Nick's eyes as he sat up and tightly wrapped his arms around Greg's waist and pulled him as close to himself as he could.

Greg draped his arms around Nick's neck and kissed the side of his head softly. "Then you won't. I'm not going anywhere, so you're stuck with me for a very long time Stokes."

Nick laughed lightly. "Good."

Greg slowly stood up, bringing Nick with him. "Let's go to bed...even though I can't allow you to sleep."

Nick shrugged. "That's fine with me. I've done enough sleeping as it is."

Greg smiled and took Nick's hand, leading him to the bedroom. They both stripped down to just their boxers and slid into the warm bed. Nick wrapped his arms around Greg and let his boyfriend rest his head on his chest. He held him tightly and kissed the top of Greg's hair and tried not to think of life without him.

"Swear you'll never leave me." Nick said into Greg's hair.

"Why would I d-"

"Just...just promise me."

Greg nodded slowly. "I promise."

"I love you so much Greg."

Greg nuzzled into the crook of Nick's neck. "I love you too Nicky."

Greg had dozed off soon after making his promise to Nick. Nick, however, hadn't even thought to sleep. He was too afraid that if he closed his eyes, he would open them and this would be another dream. If he woke up and Greg was gone, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Instead of sleeping, Nick spent his time tracing the faint scars from the lab explosion on Greg's back. By now, he knew everything about each one by heart. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing though. It reminded him of the hell his boyfriend had been through. But on the other hand, it reminded him of how strong Greg was and that he could make it through anything.

Greg began to stir, causing Nick's hand to slow its pace on Greg's back. His muscles tensed and he jumped a little, like when you dream you're falling off a cliff. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around before relaxing and easing back into Nick's shoulder. He craned his neck so he could look at Nick and smiled weakly.

"Bad dream?" Nick asked.

Greg nodded slowly. "Yeah...the lab exploded again." He said quietly.

Nick felt Greg's hands start to shake against his side, so he carefully took both of Greg's hands in his own and rubbed the tops of them with his thumbs. He kissed the top of Greg's head as he nuzzled back against his neck.

"It's okay Greggo...you're safe now. I promise."

Greg's hands started shaking harder, but eased up when Nick squeezed them gently. "Thank you." Greg said softly.

"For what?"

Greg sighed and closed his eyes. "For being you."

Nick smiled and allowed his own eyes to close. Before long, they were both asleep, safe and sound in each other's arms.

This is how I wanted this story to end all along. Sorry if it's confusing or makes any of you mad for thinking I really killed Greg, but I wanted to show how much Nick loves him, so I did it this way. Thank you to everyone who stuck with it and reviewed. It meant a lot. Hope you liked it.