Complicated. (2/2)
Fandom: Primeval.
Summary: Nick felt his chest contract slightly at the hurt look on the man's face and, refusing to think about what he was doing, he leant forwards and kissed his friend… Ex friend…
Pairings: Stephen/Nick,
Disclaimer: Not mine, I don;t own Primval, I just play with it.
A/n: Lover 100 Prompt Complicated, full table here: Lover100
So this took a while, sorry about that, I got a chest infection which made my asthma bad and I've basically just spent the past few weeks sleeping constantly. But hopefully now it's cleared up I'll be able to write again.
"That was unfair of Lester to say." Nick said quietly. "You would have figured it out eventually."
"No, I made the wrong call." Stephen muttered.
Nick frowned, "It was my fault Abby got caught in the first place." He pointed out.
"I should have listened to what you were saying though… Rather than just go with my own thoughts."
"Well we can both learn from all this." Nick said softly, realising there was no point in arguing. Stephen nodded in reply, shaking water from his hair, watching as Abby and Connor pulled their coats on.
"We're heading off." Connor said, walking over to the two men.
"Right… We'll see you tomorrow." Nick said quietly, looking at Abby who gave him a shaky grin, Nick smiled back, glad she didn't blame him for the fact that she'd been kidnapped by mer creatures. Nick watched them leave before turning back to Stephen, "You okay?"
"Yeah." Stephen murmured, "I should get home." He added.
Nick frowned then, wondering why he felt lonely at the thought, "Oh… I was kinda thinking we could grab a drink." He said, ignoring Stephen's surprised look.
"I'm a little damp to be going to the pub." Stephen chuckled awkwardly.
"I just… I could do with the company." Nick admitted, after everything that had happened that day, coming so close to losing Abby, he didn't want to be moping around on his own.
Stephen gave a small nod, not commenting, something that Nick was thankful for, "Well I need to get changed so… Meet me at mine? We can plan from there." The man offered.
Nick smiled, "Sure." He said, not caring if they stayed at Stephen's or went out, he ignored the little voice in his head that said he was asking for trouble, planning to get drunk with Stephen, when keeping his hands to himself when sober was difficult enough.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
Nick didn't bother knocking the door, knowing that Stephen would have left it open, instead he just went into the flat, turning the television on when he heard the shower running. Five minutes later Stephen walked out of the bathroom, wearing tracksuit bottoms and a blue tee-shirt, towelling his hair dry. "Sorry, that lake water was gross."
"S'fine, I stole your telly." Nick said, nodding to the screen.
Stephen nodded awkwardly, "Want a drink?" He offered.
"Sure." Nick said, following Stephen through to the kitchen and raising an eyebrow at the cupboard full of alcohol bottles.
Stephen flushed slightly, "Most of it's still from Christmas." He said and Nick nodded, a small smile on his face as he remembered them both passing out drunk in the living room on Boxing day. Stephen slopped some whisky into a glass for Nick, "Got no ice." He said quietly, pouring some for himself before grabbing the bottle and taking it into the living room with them.
Nick sank back down onto the sofa, picking up the remote and tossing it to Stephen, "You choose." He offered, too tired to care, "But nothing with mermaids." He added as an afterthought.
"Little mermaid is a no then?" Stephen teased,
"Not tonight." Nick chuckled, relaxing as Stephen flicked through the channels, settling on a comedy panel show,
Stephen leant back, "I've missed this." He said quietly after a moment, his eyes trained on the television.
Nick sipped at his drink, "Me too." He said eventually.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
They'd ordered food at some point and the cartons lay scattered around them as they lazed on the sofa, watching the television and occasionally talking, although making a point not to mention work, anomalies, Helen…Or what had happened between them. Nick knew that they should talk about it, he almost wanted to talk about it, even just to figure it out in his head. Then there was the fact that he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from Stephen's throat and the way it moved when he swallowed his drink… "Why is everything on the telly shit?" Stephen grumbled, flicking channels.
"Because." Nick replied, looking away quickly and stretching out, his elbow bashing into Stephen's chest, Stephen winced slightly and Nick frowned, "Sorry." He murmured, putting his hand where his elbow had just whacked, "Alright?"
"Fine." Stephen said quickly, jerking away and standing up, "I should…" He trailed off and suddenly Nick was sick of it all, sick of the way they were avoiding it, dancing around the subject.
"We kissed." He said.
Stephen seemed to slump slightly, putting his glass down and sitting back on the sofa "Was a bit more than that." He muttered.
"We should do it again, with less clothes." Nick said bluntly, distantly aware that perhaps he had had a bit more whisky than he'd first thought.
Stephen stared at him, shaking his head slightly, "You're drunk." He murmured, "Otherwise you'd know this was a bad idea. Too complicated, remember?" He said, his voice bitter.
"Everything's complicated now." Said Nick.
"I'm sorry." Stephen murmured and Nick sighed.
"What we did… You said you'd wanted it for a while, why?"
Stephen blinked again, grabbing his glass and tipping the contents down his throat, "Because you mean a lot to me… And to be fair you're pretty fit." He snorted, pouring out some more whisky. Nick made a snap decision, moving and taking the glass, putting it on the coffee table before leaning in and kissing Stephen, his fingers tangling in the man's hair. Stephen let his lips brush Nick's for a second before pushing the man away gently, Nick moved, watching him, "I don't want you to wake up tomorrow and decide this is another bad idea, something that shouldn't have happened." Stephen said quietly, looking at Nick's shoulder, avoiding eye contact.
Nick moved his hand, cupping Stephen's chin, "I promise there will be no regret."
"But -"
"Hush… We'll talk later." Nick murmured, kissing Stephen again, feeling the man relax against him, his arms circling Nick's body.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
Nick leant back against the pillows, breathing heavily. He smiled as Stephen leant against his chest, "We should clean up, grab a shower." Nick murmured, Stephen murmured something that sounded vaguely like an agreement but didn't move, instead wrapping his arm around Nick and closing his eyes, mumbling something else. "Hmm?" Nick asked.
Stephen turned, burying his face into Nick's chest, flushing in a way that was so unlike Stephen, "That was even more amazing than I imagined." He repeated finally, flushing even more and hiding his face.
Nick couldn't help but grin, "You've imagined it?" He asked, running his hand up Stephen's back. Stephen made a grumbling noise, wriggling his nose against Nick's skin and making him laugh, "How long Stephen?" Nick teased.
"How long have I wanted to shag you?" Stephen asked, moving to sit up slightly, watching Nick, "Well… probably since I first saw you. I mean it!" He added as Nick laughed, "My first thought was, I'd so do him."
"Well nice to know how seriously you took your education!" Nick laughed, stopping as Stephen tensed slightly. Nick sighed, "We should get that shower." He murmured sitting up and sliding to the edge of the bed.
"I never meant to lie to you…" Stephen said quietly, staring across the room, away from Nick, "I just couldn't bear the thought that you'd… That I'd lose you." He trailed off as Nick turned to look at him. Nick opened his mouth to say that it didn't matter, that none of it did but he stopped, realising that he needed to hear this, needed to understand, and apparently Stephen needed to say it. "I kept telling myself that I'd tell you eventually but… After a while it just got easier not to. And she'd just left! You were grieving for your wife… I… I didn't want to destroy your image of her by telling you that we'd been… I thought she was dead, I thought it was better to let you believe she was still perfect."
Nick laughed softly, "I never thought she was perfect. And I knew she'd been screwing around… I just wanted to pretend that everything was okay." He muttered.
"I'm sorry okay? I never meant to… To screw up quite so fucking amazingly." Stephen said quietly, glancing towards Nick before looking away again, chewing on his lip and looking decidedly uncomfortable.
Nick moved, putting his hand on Stephen's shoulder, "Come on, you really need a shower." He said softly.
"Saying I smell?" Stephen asked with a raised eyebrow, grinning slightly.
"No." Nick chuckled, "You're just a bit… Sticky." He said, not able to think of a better word.
Stephen snorted, "Your fault." He murmured, "You… You don't regret it?"
"No chance." Nick said, standing up, "Come on lad." He added, moving towards the bathroom.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
Stephen's head was against Nick's chest when the man woke up the next morning. Nick smiled, running his hand through Stephen's hair, which was still slightly damp from the shower they'd shared before falling asleep. Nick slowly moved the other man so that he was resting against the pillow, then he slid off the bed and pulled a pair of Stephen's underpants on, heading into the kitchen and turning on the kettle before checking his phone. He quickly replied to a text from Lester, asking them to be in the ARC by midday to sign some paperwork, and washed two mugs, rolling his eyes at the state of Stephen's kitchen. Nick turned the television on as he waited for the kettle to boil, and he couldn't help the small smirk that crossed his face when his eyes landed on the clothes that had been thrown on the armchair last night as they'd rushed to undress each other. Nick knew that things were still complicated and that he was far from trusting Stephen, but he also knew that the man meant a lot to him, in fact thinking about it he was rather surprised it had taken them this long to get together… If they were together. Nick let out a sigh, clearing up some of the takeaway boxes and moving back into the kitchen, pouring the boiling water on top of the tea bags. He looked up as there was a thump and muffled swearing from the bedroom, Nick moved towards the room, raising an amused eyebrow when he saw Stephen sat on the floor, tangled in the bed sheets, "Need a hand?" Nick teased.
Stephen stared up at him, ducking his head, "I… I thought you'd left." He muttered, and Nick sighed.
"I was making tea, Lester needs us in the ARC in two hours." He said quietly, moving over and helping Stephen up, grinning as the man made a soft moaning noise, stretching his legs, "Sorry." Nick said.
Stephen laughed, leaning down to massage his upper leg, "Don't be." He smirked, "It was worth it."
Nick grinned, moving to sit on the edge of the bed as Stephen rummaged through his drawers for some pants. "You alright?" He asked quietly.
Stephen looked up in surprise, "Yeah…" He said, frowning slightly, "Are you?" He asked hesitantly a moment later.
"Yeah, yeah I am." Nick smiled, watching as Stephen pulled his underwear on.
Stephen sat down next to Nick, "What now?" He asked quietly, looking confused and Nick wondered briefly if Stephen was always like this when it came to relationships, he rarely saw the vulnerable side to Stephen and it was quite nice, not that he was feeling vulnerable but that he was willing to show Nick that he was.
"Cup of tea, some toast. Possibly a bit of kissing. Then work I guess. Maybe dinner tonight? My place… Then you could stay over." Nick shrugged, "I want to give this a go Stephen, try and make it work. And obviously there'll be issues, we can't pretend the past never happened but…" He let out a sigh, "Tea?"
"Sounds good." Stephen murmured, a smile playing on his lips.
.~*~*~*~*~*~
"So?" Jenny leant against the door, raising an eyebrow as she watched Nick.
"So?" Nick repeated, shoving the last of his paperwork in his bag.
Jenny laughed lightly and Nick looked away, wondering if she would ever stop reminding him of Claudia, "So… What's going on with you and Stephen?" Jenny grinned.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked, they had after all agreed to keep their relationship quiet for a while, needing to take the time to get used to it themselves without having to deal with everyone's questions and comments and judgments.
Jenny rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid Cutter, I know something's going on with you two. You look happier, and Stephen's actually managing to smile these days."
"I…"
"I'm happy for you." Jenny said softly and Nick tilted his head to the side.
"I know it's not exactly conventional… Given everything, but I do care for him, a lot." He said finally.
Jenny smiled, "Well that's all that matters really, isn't it? Just be careful, when Helen comes back, and by the sound of her she will, she's not exactly going to be thrilled…"
Nick sighed, "Yeah well… What's coming will come, and we'll meet it when it does."
"Cutter, did you just quote Harry Potter?"
"Shut up."
Summary: Nick felt his chest contract slightly at the hurt look on the man's face and, refusing to think about what he was doing, he leant forwards and kissed his friend… Ex friend…
Pairings: Stephen/Nick,
Disclaimer: Not mine, I don;t own Primval, I just play with it.
A/n: Lover 100 Prompt Complicated, full table here: Lover100
So this took a while, sorry about that, I got a chest infection which made my asthma bad and I've basically just spent the past few weeks sleeping constantly. But hopefully now it's cleared up I'll be able to write again.
"That was unfair of Lester to say." Nick said quietly. "You would have figured it out eventually."
"No, I made the wrong call." Stephen muttered.
Nick frowned, "It was my fault Abby got caught in the first place." He pointed out.
"I should have listened to what you were saying though… Rather than just go with my own thoughts."
"Well we can both learn from all this." Nick said softly, realising there was no point in arguing. Stephen nodded in reply, shaking water from his hair, watching as Abby and Connor pulled their coats on.
"We're heading off." Connor said, walking over to the two men.
"Right… We'll see you tomorrow." Nick said quietly, looking at Abby who gave him a shaky grin, Nick smiled back, glad she didn't blame him for the fact that she'd been kidnapped by mer creatures. Nick watched them leave before turning back to Stephen, "You okay?"
"Yeah." Stephen murmured, "I should get home." He added.
Nick frowned then, wondering why he felt lonely at the thought, "Oh… I was kinda thinking we could grab a drink." He said, ignoring Stephen's surprised look.
"I'm a little damp to be going to the pub." Stephen chuckled awkwardly.
"I just… I could do with the company." Nick admitted, after everything that had happened that day, coming so close to losing Abby, he didn't want to be moping around on his own.
Stephen gave a small nod, not commenting, something that Nick was thankful for, "Well I need to get changed so… Meet me at mine? We can plan from there." The man offered.
Nick smiled, "Sure." He said, not caring if they stayed at Stephen's or went out, he ignored the little voice in his head that said he was asking for trouble, planning to get drunk with Stephen, when keeping his hands to himself when sober was difficult enough.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
Nick didn't bother knocking the door, knowing that Stephen would have left it open, instead he just went into the flat, turning the television on when he heard the shower running. Five minutes later Stephen walked out of the bathroom, wearing tracksuit bottoms and a blue tee-shirt, towelling his hair dry. "Sorry, that lake water was gross."
"S'fine, I stole your telly." Nick said, nodding to the screen.
Stephen nodded awkwardly, "Want a drink?" He offered.
"Sure." Nick said, following Stephen through to the kitchen and raising an eyebrow at the cupboard full of alcohol bottles.
Stephen flushed slightly, "Most of it's still from Christmas." He said and Nick nodded, a small smile on his face as he remembered them both passing out drunk in the living room on Boxing day. Stephen slopped some whisky into a glass for Nick, "Got no ice." He said quietly, pouring some for himself before grabbing the bottle and taking it into the living room with them.
Nick sank back down onto the sofa, picking up the remote and tossing it to Stephen, "You choose." He offered, too tired to care, "But nothing with mermaids." He added as an afterthought.
"Little mermaid is a no then?" Stephen teased,
"Not tonight." Nick chuckled, relaxing as Stephen flicked through the channels, settling on a comedy panel show,
Stephen leant back, "I've missed this." He said quietly after a moment, his eyes trained on the television.
Nick sipped at his drink, "Me too." He said eventually.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
They'd ordered food at some point and the cartons lay scattered around them as they lazed on the sofa, watching the television and occasionally talking, although making a point not to mention work, anomalies, Helen…Or what had happened between them. Nick knew that they should talk about it, he almost wanted to talk about it, even just to figure it out in his head. Then there was the fact that he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from Stephen's throat and the way it moved when he swallowed his drink… "Why is everything on the telly shit?" Stephen grumbled, flicking channels.
"Because." Nick replied, looking away quickly and stretching out, his elbow bashing into Stephen's chest, Stephen winced slightly and Nick frowned, "Sorry." He murmured, putting his hand where his elbow had just whacked, "Alright?"
"Fine." Stephen said quickly, jerking away and standing up, "I should…" He trailed off and suddenly Nick was sick of it all, sick of the way they were avoiding it, dancing around the subject.
"We kissed." He said.
Stephen seemed to slump slightly, putting his glass down and sitting back on the sofa "Was a bit more than that." He muttered.
"We should do it again, with less clothes." Nick said bluntly, distantly aware that perhaps he had had a bit more whisky than he'd first thought.
Stephen stared at him, shaking his head slightly, "You're drunk." He murmured, "Otherwise you'd know this was a bad idea. Too complicated, remember?" He said, his voice bitter.
"Everything's complicated now." Said Nick.
"I'm sorry." Stephen murmured and Nick sighed.
"What we did… You said you'd wanted it for a while, why?"
Stephen blinked again, grabbing his glass and tipping the contents down his throat, "Because you mean a lot to me… And to be fair you're pretty fit." He snorted, pouring out some more whisky. Nick made a snap decision, moving and taking the glass, putting it on the coffee table before leaning in and kissing Stephen, his fingers tangling in the man's hair. Stephen let his lips brush Nick's for a second before pushing the man away gently, Nick moved, watching him, "I don't want you to wake up tomorrow and decide this is another bad idea, something that shouldn't have happened." Stephen said quietly, looking at Nick's shoulder, avoiding eye contact.
Nick moved his hand, cupping Stephen's chin, "I promise there will be no regret."
"But -"
"Hush… We'll talk later." Nick murmured, kissing Stephen again, feeling the man relax against him, his arms circling Nick's body.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
Nick leant back against the pillows, breathing heavily. He smiled as Stephen leant against his chest, "We should clean up, grab a shower." Nick murmured, Stephen murmured something that sounded vaguely like an agreement but didn't move, instead wrapping his arm around Nick and closing his eyes, mumbling something else. "Hmm?" Nick asked.
Stephen turned, burying his face into Nick's chest, flushing in a way that was so unlike Stephen, "That was even more amazing than I imagined." He repeated finally, flushing even more and hiding his face.
Nick couldn't help but grin, "You've imagined it?" He asked, running his hand up Stephen's back. Stephen made a grumbling noise, wriggling his nose against Nick's skin and making him laugh, "How long Stephen?" Nick teased.
"How long have I wanted to shag you?" Stephen asked, moving to sit up slightly, watching Nick, "Well… probably since I first saw you. I mean it!" He added as Nick laughed, "My first thought was, I'd so do him."
"Well nice to know how seriously you took your education!" Nick laughed, stopping as Stephen tensed slightly. Nick sighed, "We should get that shower." He murmured sitting up and sliding to the edge of the bed.
"I never meant to lie to you…" Stephen said quietly, staring across the room, away from Nick, "I just couldn't bear the thought that you'd… That I'd lose you." He trailed off as Nick turned to look at him. Nick opened his mouth to say that it didn't matter, that none of it did but he stopped, realising that he needed to hear this, needed to understand, and apparently Stephen needed to say it. "I kept telling myself that I'd tell you eventually but… After a while it just got easier not to. And she'd just left! You were grieving for your wife… I… I didn't want to destroy your image of her by telling you that we'd been… I thought she was dead, I thought it was better to let you believe she was still perfect."
Nick laughed softly, "I never thought she was perfect. And I knew she'd been screwing around… I just wanted to pretend that everything was okay." He muttered.
"I'm sorry okay? I never meant to… To screw up quite so fucking amazingly." Stephen said quietly, glancing towards Nick before looking away again, chewing on his lip and looking decidedly uncomfortable.
Nick moved, putting his hand on Stephen's shoulder, "Come on, you really need a shower." He said softly.
"Saying I smell?" Stephen asked with a raised eyebrow, grinning slightly.
"No." Nick chuckled, "You're just a bit… Sticky." He said, not able to think of a better word.
Stephen snorted, "Your fault." He murmured, "You… You don't regret it?"
"No chance." Nick said, standing up, "Come on lad." He added, moving towards the bathroom.
.~*~*~*~*~*~.
Stephen's head was against Nick's chest when the man woke up the next morning. Nick smiled, running his hand through Stephen's hair, which was still slightly damp from the shower they'd shared before falling asleep. Nick slowly moved the other man so that he was resting against the pillow, then he slid off the bed and pulled a pair of Stephen's underpants on, heading into the kitchen and turning on the kettle before checking his phone. He quickly replied to a text from Lester, asking them to be in the ARC by midday to sign some paperwork, and washed two mugs, rolling his eyes at the state of Stephen's kitchen. Nick turned the television on as he waited for the kettle to boil, and he couldn't help the small smirk that crossed his face when his eyes landed on the clothes that had been thrown on the armchair last night as they'd rushed to undress each other. Nick knew that things were still complicated and that he was far from trusting Stephen, but he also knew that the man meant a lot to him, in fact thinking about it he was rather surprised it had taken them this long to get together… If they were together. Nick let out a sigh, clearing up some of the takeaway boxes and moving back into the kitchen, pouring the boiling water on top of the tea bags. He looked up as there was a thump and muffled swearing from the bedroom, Nick moved towards the room, raising an amused eyebrow when he saw Stephen sat on the floor, tangled in the bed sheets, "Need a hand?" Nick teased.
Stephen stared up at him, ducking his head, "I… I thought you'd left." He muttered, and Nick sighed.
"I was making tea, Lester needs us in the ARC in two hours." He said quietly, moving over and helping Stephen up, grinning as the man made a soft moaning noise, stretching his legs, "Sorry." Nick said.
Stephen laughed, leaning down to massage his upper leg, "Don't be." He smirked, "It was worth it."
Nick grinned, moving to sit on the edge of the bed as Stephen rummaged through his drawers for some pants. "You alright?" He asked quietly.
Stephen looked up in surprise, "Yeah…" He said, frowning slightly, "Are you?" He asked hesitantly a moment later.
"Yeah, yeah I am." Nick smiled, watching as Stephen pulled his underwear on.
Stephen sat down next to Nick, "What now?" He asked quietly, looking confused and Nick wondered briefly if Stephen was always like this when it came to relationships, he rarely saw the vulnerable side to Stephen and it was quite nice, not that he was feeling vulnerable but that he was willing to show Nick that he was.
"Cup of tea, some toast. Possibly a bit of kissing. Then work I guess. Maybe dinner tonight? My place… Then you could stay over." Nick shrugged, "I want to give this a go Stephen, try and make it work. And obviously there'll be issues, we can't pretend the past never happened but…" He let out a sigh, "Tea?"
"Sounds good." Stephen murmured, a smile playing on his lips.
.~*~*~*~*~*~
"So?" Jenny leant against the door, raising an eyebrow as she watched Nick.
"So?" Nick repeated, shoving the last of his paperwork in his bag.
Jenny laughed lightly and Nick looked away, wondering if she would ever stop reminding him of Claudia, "So… What's going on with you and Stephen?" Jenny grinned.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked, they had after all agreed to keep their relationship quiet for a while, needing to take the time to get used to it themselves without having to deal with everyone's questions and comments and judgments.
Jenny rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid Cutter, I know something's going on with you two. You look happier, and Stephen's actually managing to smile these days."
"I…"
"I'm happy for you." Jenny said softly and Nick tilted his head to the side.
"I know it's not exactly conventional… Given everything, but I do care for him, a lot." He said finally.
Jenny smiled, "Well that's all that matters really, isn't it? Just be careful, when Helen comes back, and by the sound of her she will, she's not exactly going to be thrilled…"
Nick sighed, "Yeah well… What's coming will come, and we'll meet it when it does."
"Cutter, did you just quote Harry Potter?"
"Shut up."