Title: Brown-eyed Boy
By: Mickeylover303
Paring: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG-13
Note: Takes place a year after Chocolate Cakes (even if it doesn't occur during the summer), and was conceived while I was taking my two hour walk and had "Brown Eyed Girl" on repeat on my iPod for the second hour. It didn't help that I kept passing two sets of bleachers on the track.
Summary: Because the whole thing was ridiculously clichéd, and Greg didn't realise he misheard the lyrics.

***

"You sure? I mean, I got some new ones in yesterday." Archie looked at Greg inquiringly, wondering if having a serious relationship had distorted his friend's once perverted mind.

"Nah...I've grown past the spankables."

"Suit yourself. You still planning to go out this weekend?"

"Yeah, I'll call you...before your mom finds out about your stash again."

"Whatever, man." Archie turned to walk away, giving his friend a less than friendly gesture with his middle finger.

"Bye, Archie." Greg laughed softly, shaking his head. He hoped Archie would be able to go to the beach, where Greg was celebrating his birthday this weekend. But only if Archie found a better place to hide his magazines.

"Gotcha."

Greg jumped as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist and a chin made it self comfortable on his shoulder. "What the...?" He turned his head only to come in contact with a familiar smiling face. "Nick? Warn a guy next time, would you?"

"That's the best I get? No Hi Nick, nice to see you?"

"Oh, let me make sure I still have a pulse first." Greg put two fingers on his wrist, waiting a couple of seconds before responding to Nick. He made sure his voice was mockingly enthusiastic. "Hi Nick. Nice to see you."

"Thanks..." Nick rolled his eyes. He got over the whole being underappreciated thing a long time ago...because his visit would eventually get to Greg later on. "What are you doing here anyway? Your mom told me you were staying after school, and no offence, but what are you doing near the football stadium?"

"Oh, we had a chess meeting today," Greg replied, leaning against Nick.

"Outside?"

"Only on Tuesdays, unless the weather's bad...see those tables over there?" Greg pointed to three sets of tables. Each had a thick base topped with a large, round surface engraved with a chessboard.

"Uh..."

"As team captain, I vouched for them last year...since chess is now recognised as a non-athletic sport. I may not be the proverbial jock, but chess doesn't automatically make me a geek, either."

"I came here to see you, not those...chess tables."

"And are you my present?"

"Maybe..." Nick removed his chin off Greg shoulder's, allowing Greg to turn around. He focussed his attention on fixing the collar of the younger man's jacket, to which he now took notice. "Wait...a nice jacket...an ironed shirt, a tie, dress pants..."

"What?"

"...and Converse shoes..." Nick trailed off, his voice tinged with something suspiciously close to disappointment. "How did I not know you go to a prep school?"

"I do not go to a prep school." Greg shrugged away Nick's hands, moving to fix his collar himself. "I just receive an education not afforded to all of the general public."

"Right," Nick replied, unconvinced. "Private school...prep school."

"It's just a uniform."

"Speaking of that, it makes sense, now."

"What makes sense, now?"

"That picture."

"What picture?" Greg asked alarmed. There were many pictures with him in them. And the majority of them were ones he didn't want Nick to see. But he knew there was only one incriminating photo that involved a school uniform...that wasn't necessarily his.

"The one Ryan showed me."

"He didn't."

"He did." Nick raised his eyebrows, giving Greg a lecherous grin.

"He wouldn't."

"Believe you me." Nick took a hold of Greg's tie, pulling the younger man behind a nearby wall. "There was some serious leg action."

"I only wore that thing for a bet."

"Really?"

"Archie gave me fifty dollars for it."

"I shouldn't be worried, should I?"

"Not really." Greg groaned, trying to pull away when Nick leaned in for a kiss. "So...I guess you won't burn that picture and any negatives if I asked you to?"

"Not a chance."

"I didn't think so." Greg pushed away from Nick, ignoring the other's man protests as he placed his hands on Nick's shoulders. "But no kinky stuff, all right?"

"What do you know about kinky stuff?"

"You were a teenager once," Greg reminded Nick, somehow astonished that the older man could forget. Especially since Greg was the one who always defended Nick's age to Ryan – who still liked to refer to Nick by a few choice words. "There are things you know even if you don't know where you know them from, you know?"

"Huh?"

"But seriously, I've outgrown my prepubescent boy body"

"Thank God," Nick muttered from under his breath. Not that he wasn't attracted to Greg a couple of years ago, but now he felt better about himself. He didn't feel as...paedophilic.

"What?"

"Never mind." Nick shook his head, dismissing Greg's question. "Now...where were we?" He smiled as he pulled Greg closer, running his hands up and down the other man's back. Nick looked at Greg's closed eyes, getting ready to kiss him when something else suddenly caught his attention. "Uh...Greggo."

"Hmm?" Greg opened his eyes, wondering why he and Nick weren't kissing.

"There's a purple penguin staring at us."

"Oh." Greg turned around, seemingly unsurprised at the appearance of said purple penguin. "That's just Henry. He's the school mascot...Petey the Purple Penguin."

Nick repeated the name of the mascot. He mouthed the words silently as he tried to comprehend the mascot's presence while he listened to Greg try to make some sense of it.

"Even if purple isn't one of our school colours, we voted for a new mascot my freshman year, here. And Petey was born. Democracy's great, huh?"

"Yeah, but umm...he's still looking at us." Nick thought it imperative that he point out that little detail.

"Don't worry about Henry...he's farsighted."

"How does that make him stop staring?"

"Well, he doesn't like wearing his glasses in the costume, and he's too scared to try contacts. He thinks they'll go in the back of his head."

Nick nodded slowly, encouraging Greg to explain further. But some part of him was afraid to hear the rest.

"My point is, he always has these lemon poppy seed muffins before each game, but they make him high." Greg made quotation marks with his fingers. "His mom bakes them for good luck and he's afraid to tell her no, so he eats them anyway."

"Greg...I don't want Petey the Purple Penguin watching us while my-."

"Just wait for it. Henry high and without his glasses...he's going to think we're two giant bugs against the wall. And he doesn't like bugs"

"What the-"

Greg silenced Nick, putting up his hand and counting off with his fingers. "Three...two...one..."

Nick almost jumped when he heard muffled screams coming from the person trapped in the purple penguin suit – running around like some deranged creature until he hit the wall, falling backwards onto the grass with a loud thump.

Nick hoped the costume provided some cushioning.

He was going to move to help the...person in the penguin suit, but was halted as Greg took hold of his arm.

"You know, this happens all the time...they even redid the costume for better air circulation. But Bobby always cousin and gets him. Anybody else tries to help him and Henry will start freaking out." Greg continued, not deterred by Nick's incredulous look. "Bobby's his older brother – on the football team. He'll be here, soon."

Nick couldn't think of anything to say concerning the situation. He wasn't even sure if he could believe it. Then again, he personally knew Greg, so maybe it wasn't as farfetched as he'd like to think. "Okay...you're graduating next month, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Good."

"Why?"

"Don't worry about it," Nick assured Greg. He was now somewhat over the penguin incident...even though he was feeling slightly guilty about leaving the purple mascot on the grass, unconscious. But it didn't bother him for too long because his mind was distracted by something more interesting.

Like kissing Greg.

For a whole three seconds.

"You know..." Greg backed away from the kiss, biting his upper lip as he looked at Nick. "I never thought I'd be doing this."

"Doing what?" Nick asked, wishing he and Greg were back to kissing, again.

"Making out behind the stadium...at least not until college."

"Why not?"

"Because it's clichéd."

"And you're above that, right?"

"I'm dating you, aren't I?"

"Point taken."

"Plus, it reminds me about that old song with the guy masturbating when he's thinking about his old girlfriend."

"There's no song like that," Nick retorted. At least there wasn't a song like that to the best of his knowledge.

"Yeah, there is," Greg contested, completely convinced there truly was such a song. "It came out in the sixties so nobody really paid attention to it. Like Shakespeare and his sexual innuendos."

"You keep thinking that." Nick shook his head, knowing there was no such song. Never mind the fact that his tastes usually involved country music. But that wasn't important...not at all important, Nick thought as he leaned in to kiss Greg, again.

Or at least tried to.

"I bet you made out with tons of girls...and guys?" Greg asked, unsure if the second part rang true...or if Nick even had a preference.

Nick ran a hand through his hair, not really wanting to bring that subject up. "Let's not talk about that, okay?" It wasn't something he was particularly proud of, and after two years, he wanted to put it behind him.

"Oh, don't worry. Your lack of virtue is safe with me."

"Warrick told you?" Nick groaned as he already knew the answer to his own question. But there was still that small chance that his friend didn't reveal Nick's – for lack of a better word – escapades.

"If Ryan talks about me behind my back, what makes you think Warrick doesn't talk about you behind yours?"

Because he's supposed to be my friend is what Nick wanted to say...but it was too late to do anything about it. "That's fair...I guess." Though, he wouldn't mind a double standard.

"But in the future, we'll have to make sure we get you checked out. Not that I don't trust you, but I don't want to take any chances."

"What are you talking about?"

"Today's my birthday." Greg moved closer to Nick, feeling the older man's arms tighten around him.

Nick shivered when he felt Greg's breath on his skin. "Right..." He was too busy relishing in their proximity to understand what Greg was trying to say. "That's why... why I came." At least he didn't understand until Greg took Nick's bottom lip in his mouth, a whinge developing in the back of Nick's throat when the younger pulled away.

"And I turn eighteen," Greg whispered, smirking when he saw the realisation on Nick's face.

"Oh."