Title: Laughter
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Gil Grissom
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
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.

***

Gil couldn't help but smile when he heard Greg's laughter.

It seemed that it had been forever since Greg had laughed like that -- spontaneously, with a burst of joy that had seemed to be missing for a very long time.

The sound of that wholehearted laugh reminded him of the Greg he used to know, the boy who he had worked with when he had been running the crime lab and Greg was a lab rat, before he had become a CSI. It was a good sound, a sound that brought back memories.

Gil wanted to wrap the sound of that laughter around him, to let it take him back, to remind him of all the good times in the past when things had been much simpler.

Had they been simpler, or just more out of reach? He frowned at that thought; maybe the past hadn't been as good as he liked to remember it as being. It had been full of uncertainty and heartache, and feeling that he couldn't have the person he truly wanted.

So maybe the past hadn't always been all that great. But in the end, he had gotten who and what he most wanted. He was with Greg, and Greg loved him.

They'd struggled to get to where they were, for a long time.

No, it hadn't been easy to get to this point. And they were still working on their relationship, something that Gil didn't think would ever stop. But that was the way of relationships, wasn't it? They took work. They were never easy, not if you wanted them to move forward.

They had both made so many mistakes, and they'd both dealt with a lot. He had tried to settle for less than what he wanted, and Greg had been victimized.

But now, they were together, and they were slowly but surely working through the traumas of the past. Just hearing Greg's laughter as he cavorted with Aghra in the back yard made Gil's spirits lift; hearing that laugh gave him more hope for the future than he'd ever had before.

Aghra had been the catalyst Greg had needed.

There had been days during the past few months when he had wondered if Greg would ever get over what had happened, but the puppy seemed to have helped immeasurably.

Gil had hoped that the puppy would lift Greg out of the doldrums he had seemed to be in, but that plan had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Greg loved playing with the little dog, feeding her, grooming her, taking her for walks. Gil could see the love light up his dark eyes whenever he looked at the puppy -- and Aghra obviously felt the same, judging by the way she stuck by Greg.

He could almost see the look of adoration in the puppy's eyes whenever Greg picked her up and nuzzled his cheek to her soft fur. Love seemed to radiate from her.

It was as though the two of them had formed a bond not unlike a parent and child -- and it was a bond that Gil was thankful for with each passing day.

He loved seeing how happy Aghra made Greg, loved hearing his laughter more often and seeing that smile bloom on his features when he walked in the door after work and the puppy ran to him, jumping up and braking to be picked up and cuddled.

Getting that dog was the best thing he'd ever done for anyone, Gil told himself, smiling as he heard Greg's laughter ring out again from the back yard.

After a few more moments of watching the two of them through the kitchen window, Gil went to the back door, leaning against the frame and watching them romp.

Greg threw a stick across the yard, and Aghra bounded after it.

The young man looked up and saw Gil standing in the doorway; he moved towards his lover, letting Gil put an arm around his shoulders and draw him close. Greg leaned against him, standing on the stop below Gil and resting his head on the older man's shoulders.

"Thank you so much for giving her to me, Gil," Greg said softly, his voice full of the gratitude he obviously felt. "She means so much to me."

"I know she does, baby." Gil smiled as he ruffled Greg's hair, pleased by the words. "I thought you needed something to get your out of that blue funk you'd been in lately. And she really seems to have done the trick. I'm glad I found her."

"So am I," Greg whispered. "I needed her more than you know."

"I think she needed you too, sweetheart," Gil murmured, nuzzling his cheek against Greg's hair. "When I first saw her, she seemed to be calling your name."

"Maybe she was, and you're a dog whisperer," Greg said with a grin, lifting his head from Gil's shoulder to look into his eyes. "She's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. But not the best thing, even though she comes really close to it."

"What's the best thing?" Gil couldn't help asking, almost holding his breath as he waited for Greg's answer. That would tell him a lot about how well his boyfriend was recovering.

"The best thing that's ever happened to me was us finding each other again, after we were both convinced that it would never happen," Greg said softly, his gaze never wavering from Gil's face. "It's proof that dreams do come true, and there can be happy endings."

Gil couldn't hold back a smile at those words; he bent his head to brush his lips across Greg's, looking down as the puppy raced back with the stick.

This time, when laughter rang out across the yard, it came from both of them.

***