Title: The Way You Are
By: Star Kindler
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Summary: A case has Greg looking for reassurance.

Greg reset the alarm and tossed his keys and sunglasses on the table. He wished he'd been able to come home earlier, but last-minute evidence processing wouldn't allow it, so he and Sara had to stay after shift and finish up. Greg had half hoped that Sara would offer to stay and let him go home early, but he didn't have that kind of luck. He didn't know why she didn't offer like she usually did. It's not like she had much of a life at home anyway.

Greg wanted nothing more than to slide into bed, but his stomach had other plans and released a loud rumble. Right, food first, shower and bed next. Into the kitchen he went, peering into the refrigerator and smiling as he found all the ingredients for an omelet all ready, just waiting for him to put it together.

Humming softly to himself, Greg turned on the burner under the pan also awaiting his arrival, and while he waited for it to heat up, he pulled out the fresh-baked bread—the bread was his favorite, bought daily at a little hole-in-the-wall bakery about half a mile away—and sliced a couple of pieces to place in the toaster. Omelets and toast with butter and strawberry jam was his favorite breakfast in the morning, after a long night at the lab. That Nick, who had worked a double shift and was most likely exhausted, would take the time to put this together for him, even though Greg knew Nick didn't like omelets and wouldn't do all this for himself, reminded him again why exactly it was he loved Nick so much.

Breakfast made and eaten, Greg quietly slipped into the dark bedroom. He could see Nick lying in bed, his naked body covered only by a thin sheet from the waist down. Greg admired the vision of his lover for a moment before closing the door softly, cutting off all light from the room.

He moved to the bathroom, confident in his steps even though the room was pitch black. They always kept everything off the floor and the furniture in its place in the bedroom, just for moments like these, because often one would make it to bed sooner than the other, depending on their cases.

Once in the bathroom, Greg closed the door and turned on the light. Turning on the shower, Greg undressed and took a moment to admire their brand new bathroom, now that everything was unpacked and there wasn't a big mess.

Greg had begged Nick for this house for the bathroom alone, even though the home was just shy of being out of their price range. Of course, after much begging and pleading, and more than a little horizontal bargaining, Nick had agreed, just like Greg knew he would. Nick could never say no when it came to something Greg really wanted, hence the reason they were now together, instead of pining for each other from afar and pretending their flirting was nothing more than innocent. Greg wasn't fooled, though. He knew Nick wanted this house just as much as he did, because it had the perfect back patio, just the place to set up a picnic table and to build a brick barbecue pit, just like the one Nick's daddy had back home.

It took a lot of sacrifice on their parts—no special cable sports packages for Nick, no forty dollar a pound Blue Hawaiian for Greg—and a great deal of elbow grease to get the house ready to move in, but here they were, proud homeowners who had just moved into their dream home a week and a half ago.

For Greg, Nick was his dream come true. Truth be told, he'd have lived in a single-bedroom apartment for the rest of his life, if it meant he could have Nick. He'd adored Nick since the day they'd met, and he'd flirted with Nick constantly, but it wasn't until Greg had nearly been blown to kingdom come and Nick had helped care for him after Greg had been released from the hospital that Greg had realized he was in love with Nick.

Greg stepped in the shower, smiling as he remembered the first time he'd kissed Nick. After his release, he'd stayed at Nick's house. A week into his stay, Nick had just finished changing the bandages on his back, and it had been particularly painful because Greg's pain meds had worn off and the ones he'd taken hadn't kicked in yet. Nick, being the kind soul he was, grabbed a tissue to dry the tears Greg couldn't keep from falling.

There was no mocking, no jokes cracked at Greg's expense, only the gentle touch of a tissue to his cheeks and soft strokes to his hair while Greg waited for the pain to go away. When the pain finally receded enough that Greg could get up without feeling like the skin on his back was being zapped with a cattle prod, Greg pulled Nick close and kissed him.

Nick hadn't moved away.

Greg, in that moment, knew Nick was The One, capital letters and all that particular position entailed, and Greg vowed to do whatever it took to make Nick realize it. Fortunately, it didn't take much, since Nick felt the same way about him and was more than ready to face everything that came their way. And they had. They'd faced parents, friends, and the coworkers who mattered to them the most. The rest of the world could go hang themselves as far as Greg was concerned. All may not have accepted their love for each other or were uncomfortable with it at best, but that was okay. What mattered was what they meant to each other, and that was enough.

Greg stepped out of the shower and dried off. Standing in front of the full-length mirror, Greg wondered what Nick thought of him, what was it that attracted Nick to Greg?

Greg threw the towel over the top of the shower door and studied himself with closer scrutiny. He supposed he was handsome enough. Nick always told him he had a killer smile. Greg thought he was maybe a little too wiry, and after seeing their vic in all his buffness—was that a word? Ah, well, it was now. After seeing what that guy looked like, Greg wondered if he shouldn't start working out more.

Greg stepped back further to get a better view and started flexing his arms, much like he had at the vic's home while Sara wasn't looking.

"What are you doin', Greg?"

Greg jumped and turned to see Nick leaning in the doorway, looking at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion. He hadn't heard Nick open the door. Grinning, Greg shrugged and flexed again. He wasn't embarrassed, because Nick had seen him do weirder stuff. "We had a real fitness buff who died from a mold infection combined with steroid abuse. I was just wondering what I'd look like if I had a little more muscle. Would you love me more if I had arms the size of my thighs?" Greg turned and performed the Hulk Hogan chest flex.

Nick let out a loud laugh at Greg's antics. Then he stepped further inside and pulled Greg to him. He pressed a deep, lingering kiss to Greg's mouth. "Never change unless it's somethin' you really want. I love you the way you are, right now. I don't care what you do, so long as you don't stop being my Greg. Okay, baby?"

Greg leaned against Nick, unable to stand on his legs, which were nothing but half-set Jell-O, as they always were after one of Nick's smoldering kisses. "Got it. No changing. Nope, no changing at all. Wanna take me to bed?"

"Oh, yeah." Nick chuckled and dragged Greg out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

Mm, yeah, Greg thought, his life was great just the way it was.