Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE
The beating of the bass hits his body in a steady pulse the second he enters the club. Red, yellow, green and blue light beams flash over the crowd swaying along with the music. Three deep breaths and he let the atmosphere sink in.
“Glad you came?” the strong male voice can barely be heard over the music as it yells into his ear.
“So far,” he smiles back at Gary. Gary is tall, lean, with a nice cut to his muscles, and he isn’t shy of showing it. His white t-shirt practically painted on his upper body and the blue denim caresses his cheeks as he gently shifts from one foot to the other. He’s hot and he’s of no sexual attraction to Nick. Been there, done him. They’re better off as friends.
Gary has tried to get him to come clubbing with him for quite a while but he’s always been too tired, held up at work or simply not in the mood. But he’s run out of excuses not to come. Grissom’s given him two days off, there hasn’t been much overtime lately, and he was actually in the mood to see other people for a change.
Not that he minds seeing Catherine, Warrick, Greg, Sara and the other people at work, but it was nice to see faces not related to LVPD for a change. That’s why it’s such an irony to stare straight at Greg Sanders.
Greg Sanders; CSI one, now dancing in trance in the middle of the Mecca of gay clubbing: Krave.
The way he moves is easy on the eye. His body keeps a steady rhythm and his face…. his face is so relaxed. The face that expresses concentration, focus and determination in the lab is now pure excitement. He keeps his eyes closed and seems to let himself be wrapped in the heat of hundreds of bodies moving around him. Life, he’s sucking in life, Nick realizes as he decides to approach his friend.
Greg has always been so full of life. Energetic, like he has an energy source hidden from all others. Watching him now Nick wonders if this is where he gets his energy from, absorbing it from people surrounding him. It’s like people are drawn to him, like he’s the centre of the crowd, and he doesn’t even realize. He just moves and fill up his storage.
“Excuse me,” Nick shoots an apology to Gary as he leaves him at the door to shuffle his way through the crowd. Never does he take his eyes of the target. Greg, who’s made a reputation of being the lab’s weirdest dressed, is surprisingly low toned. His jeans are hugging his ass, curving around the cheeks and emphasising the long lean legs hiding beneath them. His button down shirt is dark burgundy, giving his skin a reddish tone, making his face seem even more flushed and Nick can picture that flushed face in bed after a long bout of love making.
Bodies bump into his and he bumps into theirs. Greg has not yet seen him, and is currently dancing with his back to Nick. Unnoticed to his friend, Nick positions himself straight behind him and start moving according to his lead. Feeling the movements Greg reaches back to grip his hands and Nick lets himself be pulled even closer. His heart beat in the same rhythm as the music and he can feel it hit his chest with every thump. He presses himself close to Greg’s back leaning his forehead to his neck.
They sway together the rest of the song before Greg turn around and stare into his eyes. Nick takes one step to give his friend some space and room to acknowledge who he has been grinding his ass against. A momentary feeling of guilt for acting like this while not making himself known is washed away by the light in Greg’s eyes.
“Hi, Nick,” he says with a smile, not sounding surprised at all.
“Hi there handsome,” Nick winks at him, surprised the yelp is missing in his friends reaction.
Greg throws his head back laughing, taking Nick’s arm and pulls him closer in a slow dance.
“If you want to make an impression, you can’t do it at a distance,” he whispers in his ear, leaving but a millimetre of air between his lips and Nick’s earlobe.
Encouraged by Greg’s behaviour he lets himself fall into his embrace.
*
“Care for a beer?” Nick nods in the direction of the bar.
The song is finished and Greg is more than ready to slake his thirst after the workout on the dance floor. He hasn’t been out in months, not after the beat down, and his dancing isn’t like it used to be. He wouldn’t have been here tonight either if it wasn’t for Melissa nagging him for so long. To his surprise though, it didn’t take him long to relax and enjoy the dance. As soon as the music started he felt it pulse through his body and he started moving. Wrapped in the music the world around him disappears, and he can only be for a moment. He doesn’t have to think, he doesn’t have to feel, he can just exist.
Melissa should be thankful for that, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so forgiving about her leaving him here to follow some new, young brunette home after just 45 minutes. He’s happy for Melissa, she’s a good friend and deserves all the happiness she can get. She was one of the first to make friends with him when he moved here seven years ago, and she is still one of his best friends. She’s the only one who dares calling him mid day when she knows he’s asleep, and he always forgives her. She can cuddle next to him in bed on sleepovers, knowing that neither is interested in anything more, and just give each other closeness of another person.
He hadn’t expected to run into Nick tonight though, or being danced into by Nick or whatever…It was a surprise, yet it didn’t take him long to recognize the owner of the steady body positioned behind him. He would have known those hands wrapped around him anywhere, even without that massive ring on his right hand. The moment he had reached back for them to pull them to his chest, he has missed a beat, but only one. Nick Stokes, the one and only was dancing with a half hard on firmly pressed against his ass. He couldn’t help himself but push further back.
Hardly anyone could have broken his trance tonight, but Nick had a presence even the music couldn’t restrain. His personality is so strong and his soul reached out to Greg’s. Greg would lay his life in Nick’s hands if he asked him to, and being held in a dance with him is pure privilege.
“A beer would be great,” he answers Nick’s question and follows him to the counter. “I haven’t seen you here before,” he says as they find an empty spot. He has no trouble jumping up on the high barstool positioning himself half facing Nick and half viewing the dance floor. Nick mirrors his pose and place his knee directly between Greg’s legs. The lack of space in the crowded bar pushes them far into each other’s personal space, and Greg doesn’t care.
“Probably because I haven’t been here before.” Nick smiles back at him while he looks over the masses at the dance floor. He enjoys the view but is perfectly happy sitting next to Greg. “I’m not out much.”
“So what brings you here today?” He barely hears Greg’s voice over the music.
“Gary dragged me,” he shouts back.
”Gary?” Greg looks around to find who Nick is talking about.
“A friend.” He points in the direction of a handsome man currently occupied licking another man’s neck.
“Ah, okay. See, I didn’t take you for the Krave kind of guy.” Greg gesture his hands out to the same-sex couples occupying the dance floor.
“In what sense? The clubbing or the gay part?” Nick lifts an eyebrow and throws him a smile.
“Both.” Greg shrugs.
“Well, you’re partly right.”
“Oh?” Greg seems more interested now.
“Yeah, I don’t do much clubbing.” Nick look him in his eyes confirming that he indeed meant to say what he just said.
“But you are gay?”
“Yeah. I thought that was pretty obvious after that dance.” Nick tossed his head in the general direction of the dance floor.
“So, are you gonna ask me the same?” Greg looks at him challengingly.
“Nah,” Nick shakes his head, ”don’t think I have to.”
Greg can only lift his beer to take a sip to that. He has to agree that the dance they just shared had revealed the truth about them both, and he liked it. He hasn’t actually hid being gay at work, but he hasn’t actually told either. He figured he would be honest if anyone asked, but so far, no one has. It wasn’t like it was anyone’s business anyway. He wouldn’t mind if they knew, he just doesn’t want it to be an issue. Working as a CSI he is in a vulnerable position in law enforcement, and all he wants is to do his job and do it well. He didn’t want his personal life make his or his colleagues professional life harder.
They drink their beers in silence watching the dance floor. Now and then one of them nudges the other and points out a guy. Both men gaze at one particular specimen showing off merely four feet in front of them, and Greg laughs and confesses to Nick that checking out men with him is a new and exciting experience. “I never thought I would comment on guys with you, I like it!”
“Well, always glad to be of service,” Nick answers, lifting his beer to his lips emptying the bottle and putting it firmly on the counter. “I think I have to call it a night. I’m not going to be any good at work if I don’t get some sleep soon.”
”Yeah, same here. Share a cab?”
“Sure.”