i love nick and wayne as much as the next person, but I cant see how anything could get going? Most people focus on wayne’s ocd or just him in general as the stump in the road, but nick’s trust issues are his most obvious trait in the show. He loves wayne, yes, but those are HARD to get over. He is EXTREMELY closed of, and in a similar (but different) way, wayne is too. How would it happen?
I've put a decent amount of thought into this, actually! I try to remain as close to canon with my fics and drabbles and whatnot, this is just a trait of mine I've carried with me for an incredibly long time.
Personally, I think that under normal circumstances, you are completely correct. Nick has incredibly prominent trust issues, and this is seen in pretty much everything about him- from his distant blocking on stage to his lines and, of course, his demeanor as a whole. However, we also see that for whatever reason, he just isn't like that around Wayne, and vice versa. This might have something to do with their connection before the DNB was formed, it might not. Since we don't know how they met or the circumstances surrounding it (though that possible double entendre from Nick in I Know a Guy is tempting to use as evidence), I'd like to focus on what we do know, because there is substance. I'll be using things from both the professional recording with Joey Pero and the other recording with Alex Bender for this, as I consider both Nicks canon.
Nick commands offers for Wayne to live with him. In the proshot, Nick handles the entire situation with a bit more of a mild-mannered temper. He starts off joking with the "I know how your wife falls to pieces" line, but as soon as Wayne starts to tell him the truth of the situation, the jokiness is gone and replaced with him genuinely listening to Wayne- we can see this when he nods after Wayne says "I guess she fell to pieces because of my schedule". He invites Wayne to continue, and isn't annoyed by Wayne not reciprocating the joking nature he was trying to go for. We see him take a moment to prepare himself to invite Wayne to stay with him, as he clenches his fist and makes a face, suggesting that it is hard for him to take a step like this and open both himself and his house up for another person. However difficult it is, though, he still takes that step. In the other recording with Alex Bender, Nick's character is much more brash. The joking line (same as before) is dripping with sarcasm, which makes the sudden flip to sincerity incredibly clear. When Wayne tells Nick the truth in this version, we see Nick slowly turn from facing away, to facing him. His volume drops significantly with "Shit Lieutenant, I'm sorry to hear that," and the look on his face emanates sincere sympathy for Wayne, despite the footage not being clear like the proshot. He genuinely feels bad for the man, and isn't annoyed or upset with him in any capacity for saying all of this. In fact, when he shouts, "Consider that an order", I don't think any of the anger behind that tone was aimed at Wayne- personally, I've interpreted it as Nick simultaneously being upset with the world while wanting him to have a stable living condition. He's upset, but not with Wayne. One last note on this scene: the flyers Nick takes from him at the end of the scene represent the way their dynamic shifts. In the beginning, Wayne is putting them up by himself. He has a small handful of them, while Nick has none, and we don't see any of the other guys putting them up or carrying them. We already know at this point (from Proud Riff) that he's carrying an immense amount of responsibility on his shoulders at any and all times. While struggling to make his OCD and PTSD work with his daily life/family, he's also doing three gigs other than the DNB. And considering that in 1945, the patriarchal, nuclear family was still a strong presence in most families, Wayne was undoubtedly dealing with stressors coming from his home life, his work life, and his own mind. When he moves out, he also has to worry about getting food every day, paying the hotel each night he stays, and there isn't a single doubt in my mind that he was in hell trying to stay clean while living at the hotel, because those things are so! Germy! When Nick takes those papers, though, we can see Wayne's hands stay where they are (or start to fidget, in the proshot), not knowing what to do with themselves. Nick's just taken a huge burden off of Wayne's shoulders, relieving him of some of the copious amounts of stress in his life at that point. Immediately after, too, Nick steers the situation back towards positivity, ending it with the maid joke (which I personally think he did with excellence). To summarize, they both have issues with trust and they both have their anguishes, but both of them put those aside and step out of their comfort zone. But that covers the One Scene. Oh my god I've been writing for an hour. (Also, side note! I'd like to add that Wayne must trust Nick to some degree emotionally, otherwise he probably wouldn't have gone into as much details about his situation as he did. As a veteran in 1945, opening up about situations like Wayne's would have been incredibly difficult, since men were expected to be tough and invulnerable; considering the amount of care towards historical accuracy that this show has... Well. Him showing that much vulnerability and then taking Nick up on his offer makes it difficult for me to fathom the idea that Wayne does not trust him to some degree.)
After that scene, their bond grows SIGNIFICANTLY faster than I would expect it to if they were wary of each other in the ways that they are wary of other people. Wayne is consistently wound-up and rigid around other people. In the proshot, I will admit that he is the same way when he and Nick have the small argument after Julia gives Welcome Home to Donny. In the other version? Hoh boy. The man picks up his suitcase, turns to Nick, and sits in one hip. You can see the fluidity of his movement as he does it, and I know it isn't much, but this is so incredibly important because he doesn't do this around anyone else. You're also, as a consequence of the fluidity, able to see that he isn't holding much tension in his body at all. For a man like Wayne, that is a feat. Without getting too much into it, I have issues with relaxing my body due to anxiety, even when I'm not feeling anxious- so for him to be able to turn to Nick, look him dead in the eye, and continue to have a spat with him while not tensing up or getting visibly nervous, is significant to me.
When looking at Wayne's character as a whole, we are given a lot to work with when it comes to how he deals with affection- particularly with being touched. He notoriously hates being touched, especially when under stress or otherwise upset. He yells "Don't touch me!" when Jimmy touches him right before Right This Way, and I've noticed several occasions throughout the show where Wayne moves away from Johnny because he was touched (the most prominent to me being during Breathe, where it happens in both versions of the show; it's harder to see in the proshot, but from the lines "I know this is worth all the sweat" to "Order out of chaos", we see Johnny approach Wayne, the shot cut away and make them go out of the frame, and when they're both seen again, Johnny's got his hands up, Wayne's making a motion as if he had just shrugged them away, and Wayne walks away from him. In the non-official recording, Johnny puts his hands on both of Wayne's shoulders and Wayne does a FULL body flinch and immediately walks away. But who does he never do this towards? Who does he not flinch away from a single time (I've tried to find a time he flinches away, trust me)? Nick. Don't get me wrong, I can only count the number of times Nick touches him on one hand, and it's primarily in the unofficial recording, but... Wayne is still Wayne regardless of the performance. First, we have the bit just before the conflict before Right This Way, when the DNB is getting their picture taken. Then we have A Band In New York City. In the beginning of the number of the unofficial recording, while on the train, Nick puts a hand on one of Wayne's shoulders, patting it, and leans in incredibly close to the side of his face. Wayne has this goofy grin on his face the entire time. Granted, Wayne seems much more comfortable with being touched during this number in particular, as pretty much everyone else sets their hands on his back/shoulder at some point, but the fact that he is so close and Wayne doesn't care seems to hint that Wayne is much more comfortable with him than everyone else. When Donny gets that close moments after Nick leaves and kisses Wayne on the head, obviously Wayne flinches, but you can see that just after Donny sets his hands on Wayne's shoulders, he snaps his head over to the side. This makes it seem like he's only really super comfortable with Nick touching him in the first place; if Nick is in front of him, who's behind him with their hands on his shoulders? I also would like to think that Donny knows how close they are and is just flat-out teasing Wayne. Why else would he have kissed him on the head? He knows Wayne doesn't like being touched and has already gotten better about respecting his space (this is shown in Breathe vs Right This Way), so what the hell is up with that? Lol. Also, the unofficial recording is leagues more fruity than the proshot (looks at Jimmy's coming out scene longingly). So take that opinion as you will.
All of this being said, yes. It would be INCREDIBLY hard for either of them to make any sort of move. I believe both of them would be worried about breaking the bond between them, just for different reasons. Nick, to me, would be afraid of losing the one person he has confidence in and knows better than anyone else, and Wayne doesn't want to go through the pain of losing someone he cares about a second time. They'd almost certainly have moments, considering how small apartments in big cities like Cleveland were in the 40s (I'd have to look at my research again, but they are TINY), but there would be brushing against each other, late nights on Fridays and Saturdays staying up and drinking with the radio going, sometimes catching the other glancing over, neither of them would care about being fully dressed with the other in their presence (they were in the military. Not scandalous in the least UNTIL they start to feel things for each other). Just a lot of little things that would make their feelings painfully grand. I think Nick would probably end up biting the bullet and would ask Wayne if they could do something together; it's safe and unassuming, and if Wayne doesn't feel anything romantically towards him, it can easily be spun into a platonic sense. Wayne would immediately catch on. Bastard's sharper than a tack. Their relationship would be slow and cautious, just like each of them is, but it would simultaneously feel natural for them. They wouldn't push the progression of things and would take them as they come, though both of them would be scared of screwing up for the first month/two months. Wayne especially would take his time to get used to being with Nick and would constantly check in and reassure him that if anything he said ever hurt him, he would always be willing to hear what he has to say and change for the better. Nick would think it's sweet but wouldn't do it. He knows Wayne doesn't mean any harm. Nick would be equally as anxious, because he KNOWS how abrasive he can be, but finds that as time goes on, living with Wayne is kind of mellowing him out. He's still firey, but most of his anxieties are assuaged firstly by the band, then quashed by Wayne being there. So bit by bit, things get easier, and he starts to warm up to the band and loosen up. This would make Wayne comfier, which would make him comfier... Just kind of a circle of feeling more comfortable with each other. This isn't to say that they depend on each other to feel relaxed and comfortable, but they do find great comfort in each other for multiple reasons. If that makes sense.
Sorry for such a long post, I've been writing this bit by bit by bit, and I love diving into the show to pick apart characters' actions and what they might mean. I should say that this is all completely up to interpretation! My interpretation of certain aspects of the show might be completely different from what other people might think, so please don't feel like I'm trying to force interpretations or anything on anyone! This is just what I think the show was going for. :)
Thank you for the question! Love answering stuff about the grumpy father figures.
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