Title: The Then, The Now
By: staticdisturbed
Pairing: Nick/Greg & past Greg/OMC
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Looks back on Greg's high school experience. And Greg probably didn't go to a catholic high school but for this he did for a little while lol, and no offense to anyone. Nick/Greg
Warning: Kinda angsty but nice ending. Also written in about 15 minutes about ten minutes ago. Any mistakes are mine and only mine. Stupid Title I'm bad at those. And the way Greg's relationship in high school works out was kinda inspired by 'Perks Of Being A Wallflower' which you should read.

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The first 'I love you' from the lips of another boy came when he was 16, when love still meant butterflies and blushing. They would hide beneath the bleachers and exchange awkward, sloppy kisses that soon became a mastered art. They'd grope and gasp; return from lunch with their shirttails hanging out and their hair sticking in all directions and go their separate ways. In class, in the halls, they barely knew one another. People might have thought them acquaintances at the most, but no one ever would have suspected. Especially at that school, in that repressing Catholic environment that his grades had gotten him to for free. He was skinny and on a scholarship and his head found its ways into a toilet on more than one occasion. He hid bloody lips from his mother and invented fake friends to appease her worry.

None of that mattered though, not when they were beneath the bleachers and 'I love you' was whispered in his ear, husky and afraid and confused. Everything was perfect, and there under the bleachers was safe. Or so he thought. Until one day their perfect space was intruded upon, until they were caught flushed with hands beneath each other's sweaters, sneaking inside waistbands. Caught by boys with fear in their eyes, fear in their eyes and anger in their fists.

"Get away from me you fag", came from the same voice, the same voice that had professed love and the two hands that had been dancing on his abdomen pushed hard into his chest and he hit the dirt with a loud thud for such a small boy. And he'd learned how to take a hit in the elementary school and even sometimes managed to throw one back except there were four of them and they didn't have Varsity letters on their jackets because they were weak. And in the midst of it all he caught one pair of green eyes watching from a few feet away, wide and regretful, ashamed and most of all relieved and he didn't bother fighting back.

He never went back after that because he'd made a weeping confession to his mother from his hospital bed while his face was all uneven with bruises and swelling and she'd held him hard and rocked him and said 'I love you' and she'd meant it.

The second 'I love you' from the lips of another man comes when he's 24 in a room through swinging doors with 'Burn Unit' above them. Nick has a strong jaw and a strong smile even when there are tears in his eyes. He leans forward in the plastic chair and they don't really talk, just stare. His body hurts in a way he's never imagined and every time he closes his eyes he sees flames so he just focuses on Nick. Nicks hand finds his and they slip together effortlessly.

"I love you" Nick doesn't whisper and his words aren't laced with doubt or trepidation, they're just simple and honest and he's able to fall asleep, knowing that when he wakes up he's not going to be alone.

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