The Friends You Make Here… by BymagaJones 12/13
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Nick had never seen Monroe looking so defeated. People who’d stopped off at the farm and the produce stand on the way into town’d had nothing but good things to say, so he’d expected Monroe to walk through the door triumphant. Instead Monroe’s eyes were dim, his shoulders slumped.
He had been chewing on a slice of pizza when Monroe had made his appearance in the kitchen, and what he had seen had stolen his appetite. He’d noticed Monroe’s dizzy spell and shuffle into the living room once he’d learned that Hap had eaten his soup.
“He looks terrible,” Wu said.
Nick looked at Hap. “How much sleep has he been getting?”
Hap shrugged. “I don’t know, man. He’s almost never home. It sucks being here alone all the time. I don’t know how he does it when I’m out.”
“He likes being alone,” Rosalee said, walking back into the room. “Or at least he says he does.”
“Who was on the phone?” Wu asked.
“It’s none of our business,” Hank told him.
“You’re absolutely right,” Wu agreed, “but seriously, who was on the phone?”
“I think it was Professor Mendelsohn, Monroe’s advisor,” Rosalee said.
Nick finished his pizza and stood up. He ignored Hank’s knowing smirk and walked into the living room, leaning against the wall watching Monroe try to put words together in a way that made sense.
The man was pretty close to the end of his endurance, and all Nick wanted to do was take care of him. It’d been three months, and he still missed Monroe like they’d just broken up the day before. He couldn’t stop himself from walking up to his ex-boyfriend and running his fingers through Monroe’s hair and slowly sitting on the stairs, although he did manage to keep from leaning against Monroe and enjoying his warmth.
It was obvious that Monroe didn’t notice Nick shadowing him as he bumped against the wall on the way up the stairs, using a hand to balance as he tottered down the hallway. He eventually fell onto his bed, asleep as soon as he hit the blankets.
Nick pulled off Monroe’s shoes, noting the wet socks and damp bottoms of Monroe’s pants. He was peeling off Monroe’s second sock when Monroe rolled over to his back, muttering, “Nick”.
Nick froze. Was Monroe dreaming of him even now, or was it simply that Nick had been the last person Monroe had seen before going to bed? Nick shook his head. Just because he wasn’t over Monroe didn’t mean that Monroe felt the same way. After a short debate with himself, Nick climbed on the bed and unfastened Monroe’s belt. It was a bit of a fight, but he finally managed to pull the belt free and knelt there a few seconds longer to catch his breath.
He looked down at Monroe, remembering the mornings he would wake first and just stare at him, knowing it was probably a little creepy but unable to help himself. Those times, Monroe looked a little gruff when he opened his eyes, but he always greeted Nick with the hint of one of his goofy smiles. Right now, though, Monroe just looked tired. Lines crossed his forehead; his lips sloped downward.
Nick’s fingertips were already caressing Monroe’s face before he was aware his hand had moved.
“Nick,” Monroe sighed again, and this time Nick gave in, settling himself on the bed, his head on Monroe’s shoulder. By his second breath, he too was asleep.
G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M
Monroe awoke, feeling more rested than he had since before he got shot. He didn’t remember moving on the bed so his head actually rested against the pillows, but truth be told, he didn’t remember anything after falling onto the bed and only bits and pieces after getting into the car with the pizzas.
He laid there, ignoring the feeling that he needed to be attending to something. Earth Day had come and gone, and while he still needed to work with the seniors on the tree planting, the stress was now over. It was nice to feel lazy for once.
He heard a knock and looked up to see Nick poke his head around the open door. “You awake?”
“You say that like you’ve asked before,” Monroe said, thinking back furiously to figure out if he and Nick’d had the kind of heart to heart that would make them more comfortable with each other than they’d been for the last few months.
“You’ve been asleep for about fourteen hours.”
“Seriously?” Monroe was horrified. He pushed himself up.
“Stay there,” Nick said, and his head disappeared.
Monroe blinked, confused for a second, before swinging his legs over the bed.
“Stay in bed!” Nick shouted up the stairs. “I mean it!”
Monroe wasn’t about to yell back that he had to go to the bathroom, so he quickly ran down the hall, relieved himself, washed his hands, and ran back into the bedroom just as he heard Nick’s footsteps on the stairs.
Nick backed into the room, revealing a tray filled with food.
“What’s this?” Monroe asked.
“If Mohammed won’t come to the mountain…”
Monroe was confused. “What is exactly is the mountain in this case?”
“Food. Sit up.”
Monroe sat up, resting his back against the wall. “I could have just come downstairs.”
“Nope. You’ve been working hard for the last couple of weeks. You deserve to relax a bit.” Nick carefully put the tray over Monroe’s lap.
He knew it was probably creepy, but Monroe inhaled subtly as Nick bent in front of him, smelling his shower gel mixed with Nick’s inherent scent, instantly settling a primal need, like two pieces slotting together, clicking perfectly.
“It’s nothing too fancy, since you’re the cook in the house,” Nick said.
Monroe looked down at the scrambled eggs, toast, strawberries, coffee, and orange juice and felt a warmth in his chest. He’d never had anyone serve him… anything in bed before. The possibility had never even entered his mind.
“Is it okay?” Nick’s hesitant voice caught Monroe’s attention, and he looked up to find Nick biting the side of his lip.
“It looks terrific but way more than I can eat. How many forks are on here?”
Nick grinned. “I’ll be right back.”
While Nick was gone, Monroe slid over to make space - but he made sure it was just enough for Nick to fit.
Nick walked into the room, slightly breathless, Monroe was pleased to note. He cocked an eyebrow at the space before slipping onto the bed.
Monroe separated the food so they had a piece of toast and eggs on both the plate and the saucer that had held the toast. He slid the bowl of strawberries between them.
“You keep the plate,” Nick said, reaching for the saucer.
Monroe held the saucer aloft. “You did the work.”
“But I did it for you.” Nick insisted, leaning against Monroe to try to reach it.
Monroe enjoyed the feel of Nick’s pressing against him immensely and put the saucer further out of reach. He turned to tease Nick but found Nick’s face closer than Monroe had expected, and the words died on his lips. Suddenly all he could hear was his own heartbeat as he stared into Nick’s eyes, all of the want he hadn’t let himself feel for the last few months rising up inside him. He only needed to lean in slightly to take Nick’s mouth.
And it was glorious. It was coming home and finding something new and opening up the best present ever all at once. He heard a groan, wasn’t sure whose it was and didn’t much care as Nick kissed him back, his lips firm, his mouth welcoming.
All Monroe could think was that he wanted more, he needed more right now, and he reached to pull Nick closer.
G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M
Monroe’s forgotten eggs and toast sliding off the saucer in Monroe’s hand and onto Nick’s back quickly returned him to reality. He jerked back, staring at Monroe, who sat there looking at him, the passion turning into apprehension. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. ”
Nick looked down for a second, thinking rapidly. He was sitting on Monroe’s bed, pressing against the other man. He’d slept the night before against Monroe, waking up with his head on Monroe’s chest, Monroe’s arms around him like they’d slept almost every night when they’d been dating. Was it really a surprise that they’d kissed?
Suddenly Nick felt guilty. “No, I’m sorry. I think in the back of my mind I knew that this was going to happen. I need to tell you that after you fell asleep, I kind of… went to sleep beside you.” He wasn’t sure what to expect. He knew what he deserved.
“You slept with me last night?”
“Well, for about nine of the fourteen hours,” Nick conceded. “I know it was without your permission, but - ”
“You always have my permission.” Monroe said. “But you know what I am. One day, you’re going to be a Grimm, and all you’ll see is Blutbad.”
“So what?” Nick countered. “I’m in love with who you are, not what you are. But your family won’t ever accept a Grimm in your life.”
Monroe lifted an eyebrow. “I love my parents, but I need to live my life. If they can’t accept you, then I guess we won’t have to worry about their coming without calling first anymore.” He started to look uncertain. “Your Aunt Marie - ”
“My Aunt Marie has learned that just like humans, Wesen are all different. While we were together, she realized that most of the ones we met just wanted to live and be happy. There were some who were hurting others, and we couldn’t let them go.”
Monroe nodded.
“I love her, but she can’t tell me who to love. I think she knows that now.”
“You talked her? About us?” Monroe asked, horrified.
Nick smiled. “We have a way of understanding each other without really talking much.”
Monroe looked confused. “So should I invest in a bulletproof vest in case we run into each other?
Laughing, Nick pushed against Monroe with his shoulder. “She won’t shoot you again.”
“Promise?”
“If she pulls out her gun, she’ll have to shoot me first.” Nick leaned in slowly, giving Monroe a chance to say no, until he pressed his lips gently against Monroe’s.
He loved the passion Monroe brought out in him, but he also loved the slow, soft kisses they shared. Nick wasn’t sure which ones he liked best, but he knew he’d missed it all. He leaned forward, pressing Monroe deeper into the bed, and he felt cold and wet slide further down his back. Pausing, his lips still against Monroe’s, he whispered, “You do know that you dropped your eggs down my back, right?”
Monroe winced. “Maybe?”
Nick leaned back, pulling off his t-shirt and gathering the toast and as much egg as he could into the material. He turned back to Monroe to find that the tray had disappeared. “Where - ”
“On the floor,” Monroe said, taking the shirt and also dropped it on the floor, heedless of the mess. He turned back to Nick, reaching around to pull him close.
Nick welcomed the contact. “You can tell me the truth. You poured those eggs down my back just so I’d take off my shirt.”
Monroe wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so much skin.”
Nick pulled back to look into Monroe’s eyes. “So, we’re really going to do this?”
Monroe stared back. “Do you want to?”
“I do.”
A slow smile slowly crept across Monroe’s face. “Me too.”
It was another hour before Monroe finally ate some food.
On to Chapter 13 - Epilogue
Chapter 12
Nick had never seen Monroe looking so defeated. People who’d stopped off at the farm and the produce stand on the way into town’d had nothing but good things to say, so he’d expected Monroe to walk through the door triumphant. Instead Monroe’s eyes were dim, his shoulders slumped.
He had been chewing on a slice of pizza when Monroe had made his appearance in the kitchen, and what he had seen had stolen his appetite. He’d noticed Monroe’s dizzy spell and shuffle into the living room once he’d learned that Hap had eaten his soup.
“He looks terrible,” Wu said.
Nick looked at Hap. “How much sleep has he been getting?”
Hap shrugged. “I don’t know, man. He’s almost never home. It sucks being here alone all the time. I don’t know how he does it when I’m out.”
“He likes being alone,” Rosalee said, walking back into the room. “Or at least he says he does.”
“Who was on the phone?” Wu asked.
“It’s none of our business,” Hank told him.
“You’re absolutely right,” Wu agreed, “but seriously, who was on the phone?”
“I think it was Professor Mendelsohn, Monroe’s advisor,” Rosalee said.
Nick finished his pizza and stood up. He ignored Hank’s knowing smirk and walked into the living room, leaning against the wall watching Monroe try to put words together in a way that made sense.
The man was pretty close to the end of his endurance, and all Nick wanted to do was take care of him. It’d been three months, and he still missed Monroe like they’d just broken up the day before. He couldn’t stop himself from walking up to his ex-boyfriend and running his fingers through Monroe’s hair and slowly sitting on the stairs, although he did manage to keep from leaning against Monroe and enjoying his warmth.
It was obvious that Monroe didn’t notice Nick shadowing him as he bumped against the wall on the way up the stairs, using a hand to balance as he tottered down the hallway. He eventually fell onto his bed, asleep as soon as he hit the blankets.
Nick pulled off Monroe’s shoes, noting the wet socks and damp bottoms of Monroe’s pants. He was peeling off Monroe’s second sock when Monroe rolled over to his back, muttering, “Nick”.
Nick froze. Was Monroe dreaming of him even now, or was it simply that Nick had been the last person Monroe had seen before going to bed? Nick shook his head. Just because he wasn’t over Monroe didn’t mean that Monroe felt the same way. After a short debate with himself, Nick climbed on the bed and unfastened Monroe’s belt. It was a bit of a fight, but he finally managed to pull the belt free and knelt there a few seconds longer to catch his breath.
He looked down at Monroe, remembering the mornings he would wake first and just stare at him, knowing it was probably a little creepy but unable to help himself. Those times, Monroe looked a little gruff when he opened his eyes, but he always greeted Nick with the hint of one of his goofy smiles. Right now, though, Monroe just looked tired. Lines crossed his forehead; his lips sloped downward.
Nick’s fingertips were already caressing Monroe’s face before he was aware his hand had moved.
“Nick,” Monroe sighed again, and this time Nick gave in, settling himself on the bed, his head on Monroe’s shoulder. By his second breath, he too was asleep.
G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M
Monroe awoke, feeling more rested than he had since before he got shot. He didn’t remember moving on the bed so his head actually rested against the pillows, but truth be told, he didn’t remember anything after falling onto the bed and only bits and pieces after getting into the car with the pizzas.
He laid there, ignoring the feeling that he needed to be attending to something. Earth Day had come and gone, and while he still needed to work with the seniors on the tree planting, the stress was now over. It was nice to feel lazy for once.
He heard a knock and looked up to see Nick poke his head around the open door. “You awake?”
“You say that like you’ve asked before,” Monroe said, thinking back furiously to figure out if he and Nick’d had the kind of heart to heart that would make them more comfortable with each other than they’d been for the last few months.
“You’ve been asleep for about fourteen hours.”
“Seriously?” Monroe was horrified. He pushed himself up.
“Stay there,” Nick said, and his head disappeared.
Monroe blinked, confused for a second, before swinging his legs over the bed.
“Stay in bed!” Nick shouted up the stairs. “I mean it!”
Monroe wasn’t about to yell back that he had to go to the bathroom, so he quickly ran down the hall, relieved himself, washed his hands, and ran back into the bedroom just as he heard Nick’s footsteps on the stairs.
Nick backed into the room, revealing a tray filled with food.
“What’s this?” Monroe asked.
“If Mohammed won’t come to the mountain…”
Monroe was confused. “What is exactly is the mountain in this case?”
“Food. Sit up.”
Monroe sat up, resting his back against the wall. “I could have just come downstairs.”
“Nope. You’ve been working hard for the last couple of weeks. You deserve to relax a bit.” Nick carefully put the tray over Monroe’s lap.
He knew it was probably creepy, but Monroe inhaled subtly as Nick bent in front of him, smelling his shower gel mixed with Nick’s inherent scent, instantly settling a primal need, like two pieces slotting together, clicking perfectly.
“It’s nothing too fancy, since you’re the cook in the house,” Nick said.
Monroe looked down at the scrambled eggs, toast, strawberries, coffee, and orange juice and felt a warmth in his chest. He’d never had anyone serve him… anything in bed before. The possibility had never even entered his mind.
“Is it okay?” Nick’s hesitant voice caught Monroe’s attention, and he looked up to find Nick biting the side of his lip.
“It looks terrific but way more than I can eat. How many forks are on here?”
Nick grinned. “I’ll be right back.”
While Nick was gone, Monroe slid over to make space - but he made sure it was just enough for Nick to fit.
Nick walked into the room, slightly breathless, Monroe was pleased to note. He cocked an eyebrow at the space before slipping onto the bed.
Monroe separated the food so they had a piece of toast and eggs on both the plate and the saucer that had held the toast. He slid the bowl of strawberries between them.
“You keep the plate,” Nick said, reaching for the saucer.
Monroe held the saucer aloft. “You did the work.”
“But I did it for you.” Nick insisted, leaning against Monroe to try to reach it.
Monroe enjoyed the feel of Nick’s pressing against him immensely and put the saucer further out of reach. He turned to tease Nick but found Nick’s face closer than Monroe had expected, and the words died on his lips. Suddenly all he could hear was his own heartbeat as he stared into Nick’s eyes, all of the want he hadn’t let himself feel for the last few months rising up inside him. He only needed to lean in slightly to take Nick’s mouth.
And it was glorious. It was coming home and finding something new and opening up the best present ever all at once. He heard a groan, wasn’t sure whose it was and didn’t much care as Nick kissed him back, his lips firm, his mouth welcoming.
All Monroe could think was that he wanted more, he needed more right now, and he reached to pull Nick closer.
G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M G R I M M
Monroe’s forgotten eggs and toast sliding off the saucer in Monroe’s hand and onto Nick’s back quickly returned him to reality. He jerked back, staring at Monroe, who sat there looking at him, the passion turning into apprehension. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. ”
Nick looked down for a second, thinking rapidly. He was sitting on Monroe’s bed, pressing against the other man. He’d slept the night before against Monroe, waking up with his head on Monroe’s chest, Monroe’s arms around him like they’d slept almost every night when they’d been dating. Was it really a surprise that they’d kissed?
Suddenly Nick felt guilty. “No, I’m sorry. I think in the back of my mind I knew that this was going to happen. I need to tell you that after you fell asleep, I kind of… went to sleep beside you.” He wasn’t sure what to expect. He knew what he deserved.
“You slept with me last night?”
“Well, for about nine of the fourteen hours,” Nick conceded. “I know it was without your permission, but - ”
“You always have my permission.” Monroe said. “But you know what I am. One day, you’re going to be a Grimm, and all you’ll see is Blutbad.”
“So what?” Nick countered. “I’m in love with who you are, not what you are. But your family won’t ever accept a Grimm in your life.”
Monroe lifted an eyebrow. “I love my parents, but I need to live my life. If they can’t accept you, then I guess we won’t have to worry about their coming without calling first anymore.” He started to look uncertain. “Your Aunt Marie - ”
“My Aunt Marie has learned that just like humans, Wesen are all different. While we were together, she realized that most of the ones we met just wanted to live and be happy. There were some who were hurting others, and we couldn’t let them go.”
Monroe nodded.
“I love her, but she can’t tell me who to love. I think she knows that now.”
“You talked her? About us?” Monroe asked, horrified.
Nick smiled. “We have a way of understanding each other without really talking much.”
Monroe looked confused. “So should I invest in a bulletproof vest in case we run into each other?
Laughing, Nick pushed against Monroe with his shoulder. “She won’t shoot you again.”
“Promise?”
“If she pulls out her gun, she’ll have to shoot me first.” Nick leaned in slowly, giving Monroe a chance to say no, until he pressed his lips gently against Monroe’s.
He loved the passion Monroe brought out in him, but he also loved the slow, soft kisses they shared. Nick wasn’t sure which ones he liked best, but he knew he’d missed it all. He leaned forward, pressing Monroe deeper into the bed, and he felt cold and wet slide further down his back. Pausing, his lips still against Monroe’s, he whispered, “You do know that you dropped your eggs down my back, right?”
Monroe winced. “Maybe?”
Nick leaned back, pulling off his t-shirt and gathering the toast and as much egg as he could into the material. He turned back to Monroe to find that the tray had disappeared. “Where - ”
“On the floor,” Monroe said, taking the shirt and also dropped it on the floor, heedless of the mess. He turned back to Nick, reaching around to pull him close.
Nick welcomed the contact. “You can tell me the truth. You poured those eggs down my back just so I’d take off my shirt.”
Monroe wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so much skin.”
Nick pulled back to look into Monroe’s eyes. “So, we’re really going to do this?”
Monroe stared back. “Do you want to?”
“I do.”
A slow smile slowly crept across Monroe’s face. “Me too.”
It was another hour before Monroe finally ate some food.
On to Chapter 13 - Epilogue