Title: Inner Scars
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Gil Grissom
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 7, Change
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 Gil Grissom, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg stood in front of the mirror, staring at himself, wondering just what it was that Gil saw in him. Yes, he was fairly good-looking, but there had to be more than just physical attractiveness that attracted a man like Gil. He saw something deeper, something inside.

There had been so many changes in his life lately, Greg reflected as he stared as his reflection. He'd changed a lot in the past few months, but none of those changes really showed.

He looked exactly the same as he always had; now that the bruises had faded, nothing of the trauma that he'd endured showed on the outside. But the scars were still there, etched into his soul, and he wasn't sure that they would ever fade away.

Those inner scars would be a part of him for the rest of his life.

Gil saw those scars; he knew the worst of them, but yet Gil still loved him. He had said so many times since they'd been together that those scars didn't make Greg ugly; rather, they made him strong, and they were something he should be proud of.

It was hard for him to see himself in the way that Gil did, but maybe that would change, too. All of the other changes in his life had been positive; he was with the man he loved, they were living together, and he had discovered an inner strength that he hadn't known he possessed.

Those scars that couldn't be seen were hard-won; they weren't something that he would have chosen to be a part of him, but now that they were, he had to learn to accept them. They were a large part of what made him the person he had become, and he was proud of that person.

Gil was proud of him, too. His boyfriend showed that pride every day, just by loving him and being with him. That was another one of the good changes in his life.

Only a short while ago, he would have never thought that he'd have someone in his life who loved him the way that Gil did. He had given up on that kind of love; it was something meant for other people, not for him. It was an impossible dream that wouldn't come true.

Yet that dream had come true. He was loved -- and he loved in return.

Maybe if it wasn't for those inner scars, he'd never have found that love, Greg mused, taking one last long look at himself before he turned away from the mirror. He couldn't be thankful for what had happened to him, but he had survived, and that was the important thing.

Those scars were a part of him, and he was learning to live with them. They had changed his life in ways that he hadn't expected, ways that he hadn't thought were possible. But love had come along with those changes, and because of that, he couldn't regret having those scars.

***