Title: Little Things
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, csi50
Prompt: 17, Simple
Author's Note: Spoilers for the S5 CSI: Vegas episode "No Humans Involved" & the S7 CSI: Vegas episode "Fannysmackin'."
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 leaned back in his desk chair, glancing towards the doorway of the office he and Ryan shared at the lab. His boyfriend had gone to take their case reports to Russell, and he was waiting for Ryan to get back so they could clock out for the night and go home.

They hadn't had a break in the case they were working on yet, but they had both put in a few hours of overtime in the past week, and Russell had told them in no uncertain terms that they were to take two days off. If they were needed, they would be called in.

Greg stifled a yawn, closing his eyes and heaving a sigh. He was more tired than he wanted to admit to being; he hated spending so much time at work, but it seemed as though Vegas had been teeming with more crime than usual in the past week or so.

They hadn't heard yet whether or not they would have to make a trip to Miami for Santos' trial, but at this point, Horatio Caine seemed to think that they would have more than enough evidence to put the man behind bars permanently without needing Ryan's testimony.

That thought made relief course through Greg's veins, the feeling as heady as any drug. Ryan's fears had come to nothing, thank goodness. He knew that his boyfriend had been tense and nervous about having to sit in front of a courtroom full of people and talk about his experience.

They both wanted to avoid that if it was at all possible. Ryan because he didn't want to be looked at as a victim -- and Greg because he didn't want the man he loved to go through that kind of scrutiny. It would almost feel as though Ryan had been raped all over again.

A shudder went through Greg at the thought; that wasn't something he needed or wanted to think about at the moment. They still might have to go to Miami for the trial, but he didn't need to worry himself about it before the time came.

He just wanted their life to go back to being what it had been when they'd first met, when they didn't have something like this hanging over their heads. Everything had seemed so much simpler then, during those first days of getting to know each other and falling in love.

He wanted to be able to enjoy all of the little things with Ryan, the things that most people never took the time to pay attention to. Things like watching a sunset, walking in the park, or just looking across the table at his boyfriend and seeing the love in Ryan's eyes.

Greg wanted everything to be simple and uncomplicated, though he knew that it couldn't be. The two of them led lives that would always be hectic -- and there would always be a certain amount of danger that awaited them, due to their jobs.

He hated to think of the job he loved in that way, but it was true. There was always a chance that a crime scene could turn into a dangerous place to be; he'd known that since he had been in training to become a CSI, when he and Grissom had been shot at in the street.

There was no telling what could happen to either of them when they were called out to a crime scene. He shuddered at the thought of the night he'd been attacked and beaten; that could happen again, though if it did, this time around he would have Ryan with him.

Greg pushed that memory firmly out of his mind; it had happened, and it was in the past. He'd lived through it; there was no reason to relive it yet again. He'd done that often enough when he'd been in the hospital, and during the months that had followed.

If only Ryan had been there to chase those nightmares away! He sighed at the thought, closing his eyes. So many things in his past would have been a lot easier to get through if he'd had Ryan by his side back then. Being in love would have changed his whole life.

But if his life had changed in the past, he might not have the present here with Ryan -- and he wouldn't change that present for anything in the world. He was completely happy with his life as it was, with his job and his boyfriend and the life they were building together.

They just had to remind themselves to take more time to enjoy the little things, he told himself, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling with a smile. The simple things that they usually took for granted, that most people usually never even thought about.

Those simple pleasures in life were what he looked forward to the most. Just being able to curl up next to Ryan in bed, to know that he had someone who he loved more than life, and who loved him just as much, was enough to make him happy.

How had he gotten through life without that kind of happiness before Ryan came along? Greg could barely remember how it felt not to have Ryan in his heart and in his arms; that time of his life seemed to belong to another person entirely, not at all a part of who he was.

He didn't want to go back to those times. He wanted to have Ryan in his life forever; he didn't want to think about being lonely again. Loneliness was something he didn't want to revisit; it might have been a part of his past, but it was one that he'd been glad to leave behind.

Something as simple as meeting the right person and falling in love had changed his life forever. And all of the little things that they did together every day, things that he often didn't even think about, made him feel more complete than he'd ever dreamed they could.

It had been so simple, the way they had come together -- one look into those deep green eyes, and he'd been smitten. He'd fallen deeply in love within a matter of seconds; he'd tumbled faster and further than he had ever believed he could, and he was happy with that.

He would love Ryan forever; he had no doubt of that. Ryan was the man he'd been intended to be with since the moment of his birth. Greg couldn't hold back a smile at that thought; he might never have believed in that kind of fate before, but he did now.

It seemed like a simple twist of fate that had brought him to Ryan, just one fortunate moment in time when their eyes had met and he had known that this man was the one. It might seem like such a little thing, but it had meant the world to him.

And there would be more seemingly little things that would shape his life in the future, Greg told himself, the smile still on his face as he got to his feet to go in search of his boyfriend. A lot of little things that added up to what he hoped would be a long and happy life with the man he loved.

***