Title: Joining Hearts
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, csi50
Prompt: 3, Content
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 Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg snuggled down under the covers, resting his head on Ryan's shoulder, feeling sated and contented. It seemed to get better every time they made love, he thought to himself, a smile curving his lips. And he only expected it to keep getting better.

What would he have done if he'd never met Ryan? Would he ever have been able to let anyone else make love to him? Would he ever have trusted anyone enough to give himself to them, body and soul, with the perfect love and trust that he felt for Ryan?

He didn't think so. He was sure that no one else could affect him in the same way that Ryan did; what they shared was a once in a lifetime emotion, something that no one else could ever touch. If he'd never met Ryan, he would more than likely still be alone.

He would have been alone for the rest of his life if they hadn't met, Greg told himself, suppressing the shiver that went through his slim body at the thought. Even if he had tried to tell himself that he should be in a relationship, he never would have been. He was sure of it.

Even if other people thought it was crazy, he knew that he'd have stayed single, probably never even dated much, if Ryan hadn't come to Vegas and they'd never been together. He'd have lived his life alone, wrapped in solitude, never letting himself come out of his self-imposed shell.

Ryan had been like a ray of sunshine bringing a flower into bloom. Greg couldn't help but smile to himself at the thought; he'd never thought of himself as being someone who put life into those kind of poetic terms, but maybe it was just one more aspect of him that Ryan had brought out.

He had never been as content as he was with Ryan. Oh, he had his moments of happiness -- everyone did. Nobody could be happy -- or miserable -- all of the time. But he'd never known the kind of happiness that he'd experienced every day since love had come into his life.

How was it that one person could be everything to him in the way that Ryan was? Before they had met, he would never have believed that one person could be the center of his universe -- but Ryan had proved him wrong from the moment they'd first looked into each other's eyes.

He knew that his boyfriend felt the same contentment that he did with their life together; Ryan didn't need to say the words to confirm it. It was written in those incredible green eyes every time Ryan looked at him, their unfathomable depths shining with the light of love.

Did Ryan read the same thing in his eyes when their gazes met? Greg was sure that he did; it surprised him a little that all the people they worked with didn't seem to have guessed at their relationship, given that the two of them had a hard time taking their eyes off each other.

He would have thought that attraction might diminish with time, as they grew used to being together. But it hadn't. It had only gotten stronger, and he couldn't help but feel that the attraction would continue to grow. It would never fade away, never die, never lose its power.

He turned over onto his side so he could slide his arms around Ryan, careful not to wake his sleeping lover. His own eyelids were becoming heavy, and he knew that if he let himself close his eyes, he would drift off into sleep within a matter of minutes.

But at the moment, he didn't want to. He wanted to lie here and think of Ryan, of what they meant to each other, of how much he loved this man, and of their life in the future. He didn't doubt that they would be just as much in love decades from now -- together for the rest of their lives.

He simply couldn't imagine a life without Ryan. If they'd never met, he would have been a very lonely man, never knowing the contentment and satisfaction that being in love could bring to his life. But somehow, he didn't think that he and Ryan would have stayed apart.

Somehow, some way, they would have found each other, even if Ryan hadn't come to work at the crime lab. Either he would have gone to Miami, or Ryan would have come here -- and they would have met. Nothing could have kept their hearts from finding each other and joining.

Maybe that would sound silly and overly romantic to some people, but he was sure that it was true. Ryan had been drawn here, not only to Vegas, but to the crime lab. It was as though fate had been guiding him, telling him exactly where the love of his life would be, and how to find him.

Greg didn't care what anyone else might think of them, how they had met, or what their feelings for each other were. As long as he and Ryan were together and happy, then he was content. Actually, he was more than content. He was the happiest man in the world.

Nothing could come between the two of them, he was convinced of that. Morgan had tried, but she hadn't been able to make a dent. Of course, she hadn't known that the man Greg was dating was also the man who was his partner at work, he thought wryly.

If she knew about that, she would go straight to her father, make sure that he and Ryan were separated at work -- or probably try her best to get Ryan fired. She would think that would give her a better chance at getting what she wanted, Greg thought with distaste.

Even if he was straight, he would never even consider having anything to do with her. She was the kind of trash he'd always avoided, and he would never lower himself to being with her, no matter what she did or said. She might as well have given up before she'd even started.

With a shudder, he dismissed her from his thoughts. He didn't want to ruin his peaceful contentment in the moment by thinking of something so unpleasant; he'd rather think about Ryan, about the love they shared, and the future they were building together.

He couldn't picture a future for himself now without Ryan in it. The man he loved had become such an integral part of his life, of his very heart and soul, that it was impossible to consider not having his lover by his side. Being without Ryan wasn't an option for him.

Some people might call that co-dependence, but Greg called it love. He had always dreamed of a love like this, a love that would envelop him with such warmth and tenderness that he would sink into it with every fiber of his being. And that dream had come true.

Contentment had always seemed elusive to him before Ryan had come into his life. He had been satisfied with the life he was leading, but there had always been something missing, something that hovered around the edges of his consciousness, but that he'd never quite been able to put his finger on.

That something was love, Greg told himself with a smile, stretching out his long legs and moving closer to his boyfriend under the covers. He'd never known real love until he had met Ryan -- and now that he'd found love, he wasn't going to let it slip away.

Smiling, Greg closed his eyes, resting his head on Ryan's shoulder. He was more happy and content than he'd ever been in his life, and he intended to hold onto that feeling for as long as he could. Hopefully, if he was lucky, that feeling would last for the rest of his life.

***