Title: A Very Good Start
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Zeke Barnes
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/A Gifted Man
Rating: PG-13
Table: Romance, mission_insane
Prompt: 10, Champagne
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Zeke Barnes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"Do you realize what today is?" Greg asked Zeke as he greeted his boyfriend at the front door of his apartment and stood aside to let Zeke come in. He couldn't keep the smile from his face; he was sure that Zeke knew exactly what he was talking about.

Zeke shook his head, trying to hide a smile. He knew exactly what day it was, but he didn't want Greg to realize that he did. He could tell that his boyfriend wanted to spring some kind of surprise on him; Greg's eyes were sparkling, his smile infectious.

"It's the six-month anniversary of the day we met!" Greg told him, sounding slightly reproachful. "I would have thought you'd remember that." He tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly as he studied Zeke. "You didn't forget, did you? You're just playing with me."

Zeke laughed, nodding as he held out his arms to Greg. "Of course I am," he said softly as his boyfriend moved closer to him, wrapping his arms around Greg's waist and drawing him close. "You don't think I could forget an anniversary like that, do you?"

"I got us something special to celebrate," Greg murmured into his ear as he pressed a kiss against Zeke's cheek. "I don't know if it's something you like, but I hope it is. I just thought this was the kind of day that we should celebrate with something out of the ordinary."

Zeke's brows rose in question; he couldn't imagine what Greg would have gotten for their celebration, but he was interested to know just what it was. He'd learned that his boyfriend had a mischievous side, and he was sure that whatever Greg had for them, it was something unique.

"I'm guessing that you'll tell me about whatever it is pretty soon, so I don't burst from curiosity," he said with a soft laugh, his gaze meeting Greg's. He loved seeing that sparkle in his boyfriend's eyes; he loved Greg's effervescence, his joie de vivre.

"You bet I am." Greg disentangled himself from their embrace reluctantly, heading for the kitchen. "Close your eyes!" he called, and Zeke did so obediently, wondering just what it was that Greg intended to surprise him with. He could guess, but he would probably be wrong.

He could hear Greg's soft footsteps padding across the carpet from the kitchen into the living room; after just a few seconds, he sensed his boyfriend standing in front of him. "Okay, open your eyes!" Greg told him, his voice carrying just a hint of excitement.

Zeke couldn't help but smile at the sound of his lover's voice; he loved how Greg could seem so childlike, how he could take such pleasure in surprising someone. There was a kind of innocence about him, despite all the horrible things he'd encountered in his line of work.

He opened his eyes -- to see Greg holding up a bottle of champagne. At first, he didn't realize what was so special about it -- until he caught sight of the date on it. "1942 Rothschild? Greg, how much did that set you back? That stuff costs a fortune!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"You don't want to know," Greg answered, wrinkling his nose. "Let's just say that it was a lot more than I expected -- but it's worth it to celebrate our six-month anniversary." His lips curved into a smile as he watched Zeke's reaction. "I thought it was kind of fitting."

If this was what his boyfriend did for their six-month anniversary, Zeke couldn't wait to find out what he would do once they'd been together for a year. "Greg, how could you afford this? I don't want you to do something that's going to set you back a lot of money."

"Don't even think about that," Greg said firmly, shaking his head. "To me, this was worth it. Six months is a pretty long time to be with anybody, Zeke. And I know we're going to be together for a lot longer. For the rest of our lives, I hope. But the first six months .... that's big."

Zeke could only nod, seeing Greg's point. Had he ever been with anyone for six months? He didn't think so -- most of his relationships had been short and intense, even though there had been a few that he'd wanted to last longer. It just hadn't been the right time.

He'd always been so busy with his internship, then with work and the band .... But now, even though he did work a lot, his life had slowed down. He finally had room for a relationship in his life -- and now that he'd found love, he wasn't going to let it go.

"I plan to be with you for all of our lives," he said softly, taking Greg's hand and twining their fingers together. "I agree, six months is something to celebrate -- but I'll be celebrating even more when we've been together for twenty years. And then thirty, and more."

Greg blinked, looking as though he was holding back tears. "I want to spend my whole life with you, too," he told Zeke, his voice very soft and husky. "I just wish we'd found each other a lot sooner than we did. We've got a lot of lost time to make up for."

"Yeah, we do," Zeke told him, squeezing his hand gently. "But let's not think about all the time we lost before we met. Let's think about all the time we've got ahead of us, Greg. We've got years together. Decades. And we're going to make all of them happy ones."

Greg nodded, smiling at his words. Zeke could feel a lump forming in his own throat; he coughed softly, hoping that they could manage to lighten the moment. He didn't want to spoil Greg's lovely surprise of the vintage champagne with maudlin thoughts that might depress them both.

"We should open that champagne," he pointed out, gesturing towards the bottle in Greg's hand. "We don't want to let it go to waste, after all. And since neither of us have to work tonight, we can have a glass. Or two." He grinned at the thought, looking forward to tasting it.

"I've heard this is one of the best champagnes ever made," Greg told him, looking at the label on the bottle. "I wasn't surprised at how much it cost -- but that doesn't matter. What matters is what it represents for us. This is kind of symbolic of the rest of our lives together."

"If you see it that way, then we'll have to save some of it," Zeke said quietly, agreeing with Greg without putting that agreement into words. "We'll have to drink some of it on our one-year anniversary -- and our five-year, and ten-year. If there's any left by then," he added with a laugh.

"Let's hope there will be," Greg told him, going into the kitchen and returning with a corkscrew. Within a few moments, he had the bottle open, and was pouring the sparkling wine into two glasses that he'd brought with him. He handed one to Zeke with a soft smile.

"To us," Greg said, raising his glass and clinking it against Zeke's. "To us, and to the rest of our lives together. Years and decades -- and all of them happy ones." He sipped the liquid, his gaze meeting Zeke's over the rim of his glass, promises hidden in their dark depths.

"To us," Zeke echoed, sipping his wine as their gazes met. He had no doubt that they would spend all of their lives together -- and as Greg had said, that those lives would be long and happy ones. Thus far, they definitely seemed to be off to a very good start.

***