DELETED SCENE 1 – GREG AND WARRICK IN BREAK ROOM – CHAPTER 1

Greg gave a small yelp as he was grabbed, suddenly pulled in to the break room. He heard the door slam shut and the lock click in to place, then he was thrown on to the couch. It took seconds to orient himself again, and he looked up in to the face of Warrick Brown. He had his arms crossed and his face was stern, but worried. Greg tilted his head.

"Um, ow?" he muttered. Warrick didn't apologize for the sudden attack, but sighed and let his dark head fall backwards, taking long deep breaths. Greg was a little worried and he had no idea what was going on until the taller man pulled his head back and sighed again, furrowing his brows.

"You looked…pretty happy Greggo. What did he say?" Warrick's question seemed roundabout, and Greg wondered at the meaning of it. This couldn't be what was upsetting him, could it? But as his conversation by the lockers filled his head he couldn't resist the goofy smile that broke out across his face, or the dreamy look that was probably springing up in his eyes.

"He said I'm the best friend a guy could ask for. You hear that? Best friend a guy could ask for." Greg closed his eyes, the dreamy look growing, until he felt Warrick put a hand on his shoulder softly. He knew that touch. Warrick always did that when Greg was having a Nick moment. He opened his eyes and found a pitying look directed at him. He'd had a lot of those from this man as well.

"Greg, you can't do this to yourself," he said in a low voice. "You know he only meant it as it sounded. A friend. Don't torture yourself, man, he's not interested. You know that." Greg felt the words drowning out Nick's complement and he found himself grasping for air all of a sudden as he felt the world shift again. His head fell to his chest, his heart deflating from its buoyed feeling and he nodded slowly.

So many times Warrick had been here to stop him making a fool of himself. He thanked the taller man, knowing that he was right yet again. Nick wasn't interested, and he would be an idiot to get his hopes up again. He would just have to go home and act like every thing was fine. He could do that. He'd been doing it for five years after all. Greg stood and squared his shoulders, thanking Warrick again, and reached for the door handle. At least he was a best friend. That was something right? Greg sighed as he opened the door, knowing it would never be enough.

DELETED SCENE 2 – GREG AND WARRICK FIGHT IN AV ROOM – CHAPTER 2

The case Greg had been set to work with Warrick turned out to be a triple homicide with so many twists and turns and backups that it was going to take the entire week to wade their way towards the answers. The entire shift was spent simply photographing the myriad evidence from the house they were all found in, then the bodies were processed and taken away. By the time that was done, shift ended in a half hour and they both wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

The scene was cordoned off and sealed for them to come back to the next day as Greg slipped in beside Warrick in the Tahoe. He closed his eyes and searched blindly through his backpack on the floor for something, anything, with the consistency of food. He came up blank and groaned a little, making Warrick snicker since he'd thought to bring an apple. Greg tried to snatch it away but it was held out the window so he couldn't reach. When they got back to their workplace, they had just logged all the evidence and turned in their reports when Warrick made the move Greg had known he would.

"Greg man, sorry about getting Nick drunk," the African-American started. "I just thought…well you know it'd be your chance to speak up." Greg stopped walking and looked at him like he was suggesting Greg quit his job and become a hula dance. Which, he would be quick to tell you, he had the body for. But that wasn't the point. He snarled a bit and glanced around. The AV lab was empty, so he grabbed the other man by the arm and dragged them inside, shutting the sound proof door behind them.

"Excuse me?" he ground out from between him teeth. Warrick almost looked like he was going to back down for a minute before his face hardened and he crossed his arms.

"You heard me," he retorted. "You're killing yourself here Greggo; you've got to tell him. Getting him drunk is perfect. He'd never remember it the next day!" Greg's eyebrows disappeared in to his spiky hairline and his mouth dropped open a little. He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"That's like suicide!" he said in a half strangled, half longing voice. "Even drunk he knows what he doesn't want. Look Warrick, I like where I live, ok? I'm not about to jeopardize the friendship that I worked so hard to build just to get something off my chest." Warrick narrowed his eyes and Greg glared right back at him. Sometimes, he wished that this wasn't the person he'd shared his secret with.

"Well you have to do it sometime. You can't go on like this," the tall man insisted. Greg sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward and praying to Nicky's god for some patience.

"Look, I have it under control, ok?" he asserted. Warrick looked dubious. "I mean, even when we sleep in the same bed it's-" Warrick's choking noise cut him off and he looked up to see the man darkening with a blush. His eyes were bugging out of his head a little too.

"Say WHAT? You sleep in his bed?" he demanded. Greg threw his hands up in the air. This guy just couldn't listen to a whole story before he leapt to conclusions. Greg really, really wished that it had been Catherine he had told about his crush. She would have been so much easier to deal with. She also would have listened better.

"Only when we have nightmares! It's totally platonic!" he clarified quickly.

"But not to you!" Warrick shouted back.

"It's just comfort! God, am I not allowed that?" He was yelling now too, and he could feel the back of his neck flushing with anger. Even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he had to privately concede that screaming at Warrick was a very good way of letting out all his stress. They'd never screamed at each other over this, but he was starting to think that maybe they should. It might calm him down more.

"Of course you're allowed comfort," Warrick was saying, "just not like that! Greg you know what that's going to do to you!" It was at this point that Greg realized that he didn't want to talk about it right anymore. Screaming was all well and good, but even thinking about giving up his nighttime escape made his insides shrivel. So he threw up his hands again in defeat for this round.

"I don't know why I talk to you about this, you're never on my side!" He yelled. He whirled and shoved the door open, striding purposefully through the lab. Warrick's voiced chased after him.

"I'm just watching out for you!" Greg didn't even turn as he shouted back.

"Well don't!" he yelled. He didn't mean it of course, and Warrick knew that. He was just…in love. And love did funny things to people, like make them scream at their friends as if it were all their fault. Greg fumed all the way to the lockers, but the banging sound when he threw his open gave him a small wake up call. There was nothing he could do about his situation short of extracting himself from it. And both he and Warrick knew that if he did that he might fade away to nothing. So this left him with only the same option he'd been riding for five years. Pretend.

By the time Sara appeared next to him, he'd pulled his façade around him with such completeness that she didn't even suspect something was wrong. They joked around, and he flirted like he always did. He was trying to get her to dance with him when Nick came in, and he hoped that his act was good enough. It wouldn't do to be found out this way.

DELETED SCENE 3 – GREG IN BATHROOM AT SARA'S PARTY – CHAPTER 4

Greg leaned shakily against the sink in the bathroom, breathing heavily. His head hung down between his arms for a moment before he glanced in to the mirror to see his own face. A small trickle of sweat ran down one temple, and he could see all the muscles contracting with the effort of holding himself in. Nick had been right there between his legs; his head leaning back dangerously close to something precious. And all Greg had been able to think about was him just turning around and-

He cut his own thought off right there. It wouldn't do to get a hard on in the middle of a surprise birthday party for his boss. Greg looked down. It was a little too late. He sighed and looked back up, forcing himself to relax and watching as his face returned to a semblance of normalcy. Wryly he wondered when the last time was when he had actually felt normal.

After a few long minutes he had stopped breathing like he had run a marathon and his limbs were no longer shuddering like jello. He happily noted that his semi had also subsided, and he ran a hand through his hair without stopping to give it thought. Halfway through he realized it would mess with his 'do and he just barely managed not to squeal like a girl. He frantically looked in the mirror only to discover that his carefully wild hair was now all standing straight on end as if he'd stuck his finger in a light socket.

Greg groaned as searched through the cupboards for any type of hair product. Came up with nothing. He cursed Sara's un-girly tendencies and tried to reshape his hair with just the gel that was already there. It took a few more long minutes and it wasn't as good as it was before, but it passed his strict standards. If only barely. When it was done he stopped and looked in the mirror again.

"All right self. A list. Reasons I Am Not Allowed To Flirt With Nick Stokes When At A Work Party, Even If He Is Hot Beyond The Meaning Of The Word. Oh boy what a list."