Is This the End?

Chapter Two

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Greg entered the apartment building and knocked on a door. While waiting for the door to be answered, he glanced around the inside of the building. Shaking his head, he cringed slightly.

The carpet had stains, he probably didn't want to know what of, the walls looked like they used to be white but were now yellow, and there were children's toys everywhere.

Hopefully, the inside of Ethan's apartment would be better than the outside.

The door opened and he was greeted by a smiling Justin. "Hey, Greg! C'mon in."

Greg walked into the apartment and glanced around. At least it was clean. He smiled at his cousin, giving him a hug. "How are you?"

Justin and Greg sat down on the couch before Justin answered. "Alright. You?"

Greg frowned, staying silent. "Greg, I know that something's up. What is it? Maybe I can help."

Greg sighed and figured he might as well tell Justin. The blonde would just keep badgering him until he did. He sighed. "Its Nick. He... cheated on me." He could see Justin's surprise. He continued, "I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago, and he and Grissom ended up having sex."

"Wait a minute. Grissom, as in your boss?" asked Justin.

Greg nodded. "The one and only. Nick apologized over and over, saying that it just happened. But I just... I don't know what to do. Nick and I have been together three years. We promised that we'd be monogamous. He ruined that in one night!"

Justin could tell that Greg was hurt and angry. He could see the sheen of unshed tears in Greg's eyes. He and Greg were like brothers and it hurt him to see Greg in so much pain. He couldn't believe what Nick did. He had always liked Nick. Nick had always been so good to his cousin.

"I don't know what to say, Greg," Justin said as he wrapped an arm around Greg's shoulders.

"You know the worst part, though? He let Grissom fuck him. Yeah, his unfaithfulness hurt, but not as much as that. We promised each other that nobody else would be inside of us. Then, he goes and lets Grissom fuck him!" Justin could hear the bitterness in Greg's voice.

"I'm sorry, Greg," Justin whispered.

Greg shrugged. "I just thought that if I could get out of Las Vegas for a few days, I could figure out what to do. I love Nick so much. But will I ever be able to trust him, again? And, Grissom's my boss. But will I be able to continue to work with him?"

"I wish I could tell you what to do," sighed Justin. "But I'm the cheater, not the cheatee."

Greg wiped away a few tears that had slipped down his cheeks. "Are you okay, Justin? With Ethan, I mean?"

Justin shrugged, "We're okay."

"But you still love Brian, right?"

Justin remained silent for a couple minutes. "Yeah. But I made my bed, so I have to lie in it."

"Maybe there's still a chance..." Greg trailed off when Justin started shaking his head.

"I doubt it. I broke the rules that Brian and I had. The very rules that I asked for. I'll be okay, though. Don't worry. We’re supposed to be concentrating on you."

Greg smiled. "Well, I'd rather be eating right now. How about you?"

"I could go for some food. Wanna order in?"

"Well, how about you show me Liberty Avenue. You've talked about it so much, I'd like to see it."

Justin was hesitant. After a few minutes, he nodded. No reason to not let his cousin see Liberty Avenue, just because he didn't want to run into Brian or the gang.

* * *

LAS VEGAS CRIME LAB

Nick was sitting in the break room, when Catherine, Sara, and Warrick walked in. They all took in his sad face and knew that something was wrong.

"Nicky, what's the matter?" Catherine asked, her maternal instinct kicking in.

Nick just continued to look at the table top and shrugged.

"Well, where's G? I'm sure he can cheer you up," said Warrick.

"Not this time," Nick whispered.

"Does this have to do with Greg?" asked Sara.

Nick sighed and looked up at his three co-workers. He nodded.

"What happened? You two have a fight? I'm sure you can work it out," Catherine tried to reassure him.

"I don't think so. I really hurt him. He's not in Las Vegas right now. Ecklie approved his vacation, starting immediately."

"Where'd he go?" asked Warrick.

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. He just said that he needed some time to think."

"Well, I'm sure everything will be alright," soothed Sara.

"Not this time," said Nick. They could all see the tears in his eyes. "I... cheated on him while he was at that convention a couple of weeks ago."

"What?! Why would you do that?" demanded Catherine.

"It just happened."

"With who?" asked Sara.

"Id rather not say. It was a mistake. A terrible mistake!"

"Who was it, Nick? Somebody we know?" Sara persisted. She had a horrible feeling about who it had been. She hoped she was wrong.

"Just--," Nick started.

"Who, Nick?"

"It was Grissom, alright?!" Nick blurted out.

Sara had been right. She was both saddened and angry about that. Warrick and Catherine were shocked. They couldn't believe what Nick had just said!

* * *

LAS VEGAS CRIME LAB--BREAKROOM

"What the hell were you thinking?" demanded Warrick.

Nick sighed and shrugged. "I wasn't. It just happened. I tried to explain that to Greg, but he didn't want to hear it."

"Can you blame him?" asked Catherine. "I've been cheated on, and let me tell you, it's not a good feeling."

Nick nodded. "I know. And, if I could take it back, I would do anything."

Just then, Grissom walked into the break room. "What's going on?" he asked. They had all fallen silent when he had entered. It made him uneasy.

Sara, who had been silent, answered. "Nick informed us of your little tryst two weeks ago." They all heard the coldness in her tone.

Grissom's heat sank. He had foolishly hoped that nobody would find out about what he and Nick had done. It was bad enough that Greg had found out. Grissom stayed silent. He had never been one to openly display his emotions, and this time was no different.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Sara demanded.

"It happened. I can't change it. Nick can't change it. It's over."

"It's not over! Greg's hurting. Hurting so bad that he left." After a slight pause, Sara continued in a softer voice. "I'm hurting." With that said, Sara gave Grissom a look that was a mixture of disgust and disappointment, then left the break room.

"What was that about?" asked Catherine.

"Nothing," replied Grissom.

Catherine's investigative instincts had kicked in. She'd find out what was going on with Sara eventually. But, back to the matter at hand... "Grissom you're a good friend. So are you, Nick. But I have never been more disappointed in you two than I am now. I just can't understand how you could do what you did."

"I didn't even know you were gay, Gris," said Warrick.

Grissom just remained silent. Catherine and Warrick had said what they wanted to say. With one last look at the two men, they left.

"This is going to be a long shift," Grissom muttered to himself.

Nick stood up and hurriedly left the room. It was too uncomfortable being around Grissom. Not to mention the fact that Grissom had played a role in Greg leaving. As Nick walked to the trace lab, he was determined that he wasn't going to lose the man he loved. He had to find a way to get Greg back. That's all there was to it.

* * *

THE LIBERTY AVENUE DINER

As Greg and Justin reached the door of the Liberty Diner, Justin prayed that Brian wouldn't be inside.

"Ready?" asked Greg.

Justin nodded. Greg opened the door, causing the little bell above it to signal their entrance. As soon as they entered, Justin saw that his prayer had gone unanswered. Not only was Brian sitting at his regular booth, but so were Ted, Emmett, Ben, and Michael. Even though Justin worked at the diner, he had managed to avoid Brian for the past month that he and Ethan had been together. The last time Justin had seen Brian had been at the infamous Rage party. Slightly shaking his head, he just decided that he'd have to make the best of the situation.

"You okay?" Greg asked.

Justin nodded as they started walking towards a booth. The only problem was they would have to walk by Brian and the gang. As they walked by, Justin heard Michael's voice.

"Boy Wonder, who's the new guy? Cheating on the fiddler already? I guess it's no surprise, you did cheat on Brian after all."

Justin and Greg stopped walking, turning to face the five men in the booth. Ben was looking disapprovingly at his partner. Emmett and Ted were just watching and listening. And, Brian was drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. It looked like he was ignoring everyone, but he was actually listening to everything that was said.

"This is my cousin, from Las Vegas. He's here to visit. Greg that's Emmett, Ted, Ben, Michael, and... Brian. This is Greg."

"Whatever," mumbled Michael.

Greg had to repress the urge to roll his eyes at the man's childish behavior.

"Let's go sit down and order," Greg said. Justin silently nodded and they walked to a booth in the back.

After they sat down, Greg spoke. "So, that was Brian? He's hot."

"Yeah," was all that Justin said.

Just then, a red-headed waitress walked up to them. "Hey, Sunshine!" Seeing Greg, she asked, "Who's this?"

"My cousin Greg. Greg, this is Debbie."

"Well, what can I getcha?"

They both ordered the cheeseburger platter and Diet Cokes. After she had left to go put in their orders, they resumed talking.

"So, that was the woman that you lived with for a while," said Greg.

"Yeah. I also work with her here. She's Michael's mother."

"You mean that whiney fellow?"

Justin laughed. "That would be him." Sighing, he continued. "He's been giving me grief since the whole Rage party. I guess I can understand it. He's looking out for Brian."

Greg snorted. "Bullshit. From what you've told me, he's been like that since you met him. If you ask me, he wants Brian for himself. He should be happy with the man he has. He's hot."

"Yeah, he is. He's also positive."

"Wow," Greg said.

Justin nodded. "Anyway, we're supposed to be fixing your problem. Have you thought any about what you're going to do about Nick?"

Greg sighed, his eyes turning sad. "Deep down, I know that I need to talk to him. But I'm still so angry!"

"Understandable," replied Justin.

Greg sighed as their meals arrived. "Maybe I'll know what to do by the time we get back to the apartment."

Justin nodded, knowing that Greg was wanting to drop the subject for the time being.

* * *

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Nick looked at his watch and saw that it was eight in the morning. Good. Shift was finally over! Nick left the locker room and hurried to his car. Arriving home ten minutes later, he went straight to the phone. It was time to put his FIND GREG plan into action.

BACK AT THE CRIMELAB

Catherine walked into the locker room and saw Sara sitting in a bench, her head in her hands. Catherine walked over to her and laid a gentle hand on Sara's right shoulder.

Sara hadn't heard anyone enter, so she jumped when she felt the hand. "Oh, hey, Cath. I didn't hear anyone."

Catherine sat down beside her. "That's okay." Catherine tried to think of a way to ease Sara into the conversation that she wanted to have. Finding none, she decided to just get to the point. "You've seemed to have a lot on your mind, since the whole Nick and Grissom thing."

Sara looked at Catherine, allowing Catherine to see her tired and sad eyes. "You're fishing, aren't you?"

Catherine gave her a slight smile. "Guilty as charged. Look, I'm just worried. Warrick is, too. Do you want to talk about it?"

"If I say no, you'll just keep digging until you find out what you want to know." When Catherine didn't deny Sara's claim, Sara took a deep breath and continued. "I'm so... hurt and angry. Grissom and I flirted for a while when I started here. That went on until a month ago. We've been on four dates. It's hard to date with this job, as you know.

"But, I thought that we had something. It never even entered my mind that Grissom also liked guys. We never talked about being exclusive. I guess I just took it for granted that we would be. I wish... I don't know what I wish."

Catherine could see the heartbreak in Sara's eyes. "I'm sorry, Sara. I don't know what Grissom and Nick were thinking." Letting out a sigh, Catherine added, "You need to talk to Grissom. Just like Nick is going to have to talk to Greg."

Sara nodded. "I know. I just don't know if I can be with Grissom, knowing that he also wants to fuck guys. I love this job. I don't want to have to give it up, so I guess Grissom and I are going to have to work something out." With that said, Sara stood up and left the locker room. Catherine looked worriedly after her.

NICK'S HOUSE

Nick silently cursed as he hung up the phone for the third time. He had just tried Greg's parents. They hadn't even known that Greg had left. So, now they were worried. The good thing was, Greg's mother had mentioned that Greg had a cousin, that he was close to, in Pittsburgh and gave him the address. The bad news was that she didn't have a phone number for the cousin. And, Nick had tried Greg's cell phone three times, but he wasn't answering or returning any of the calls. So, he didn't know if Greg had actually gone to Pittsburgh or not.

Deciding on his next course of action, Nick locked up and hurried to his car. He drove to the airport and hurried to the closest ticket agent that he could find. Flashing his badge, he told her that he needed to know about a passenger.

"I don't know, sir...," the young ticket agent said, looking unsure.

"Please, ma'am. I need you to help me. This is an emergency!" he said as he gave her his most charming and pleading look.

After a few minutes, she relented. "Alright."

"I need to find out if a Greg Sanders bought a ticket to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the last couple of days."

The young woman, whose nametag read Amelia, tapped away at the computer for a couple of minutes. Nodding, she said, "He bought an open-ended ticket yesterday."

"Great. Do you have any flights available for Pittsburgh?"

"Yes. There's one leaving in an hour."

"I'll take a seat on it."

Half-an-hour later, Nick was in his seat on the plane. He knew that he was going to be in deep shit for not letting Ecklie or Grissom know that he was leaving the state, but at the moment, he didn't give a rat's ass. He was going to bring his partner back home, no matter what.

 

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