Title: Right Next Door
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my 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.

***

"I think that's the last of what I want to move in here," Ryan told Greg as he paused by the door of Greg's apartment, his gaze moving around the room. He still had some of his cds here, as well as some of his movies; he still had a presence here.

It didn't really feel like he was moving into a completely new apartment, at least not to him. He was only in the place next door; as far as he was concerned, it was just an extension of the apartment they lived in now. It only gave them more space.

Having another apartment would double their bills, of course; but it would also double their space, and give them two of everything they might need. They would have two bathrooms, two comfortable beds, and he would be able to take a lot of his belongings out of storage.

Ryan couldn't miss the dejection in Greg's gaze, the droop of his shoulders as he turned towards the other man. He put down the box of cds he was carrying, going to Greg and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's slim waist, nuzzling his cheek against Greg's hair.

"Greg, you know that if we don't have two separate apartments, people at work are going to start talking," he said softly, wishing that his words weren't true. "Neither of us wants that. We want to be able to keep working together. I don't want either of us to be moved."

"Neither do I," Greg admitted with a soft sigh. "But this just feels like .... Well, like something's going to happen to pull us apart. I know you're only moving next door, but what if we get to the point where we don't want to sleep in the same bed any more?"

"Oh, baby .... You don't really think that's going to happen, do you?" Ryan asked, his tone tender. "It won't, I promise you that. I don't think I could sleep if you weren't right there beside me, either in your bed or mine. Or even on the couch."

Greg looked up at him, his dark eyes clouded with doubt. "This isn't going to tear us apart, is it?" he asked, his voice trembling and uncertain. "If it is, I'd rather risk everybody at work finding out about us. I don't want anything to come between you and me."

"Nothing will, babe." Ryan hated to think that Greg could possibly believe anything could come between them; they had already been through so much in the short time that they'd been together, and all it had done was strengthen their bond with each other.

"This is just going to mean that we have more room," Ryan told him, his voice soft and soothing. "Yeah, I'll be paying the bills on one place and you on the other, but that's going to be worth it to be able to work together and be able to be with each other all the time."

Greg nodded, brightening a little at Ryan's words. "You aren't going to want to spend a night away from me, are you?" he asked in a small voice, still sounding unconvinced. "Because I don't want to sleep alone. Not ever again. Not as long as we're together."

"I never want to spend a second away from you," Ryan whispered, burying his face against the softness of Greg's hair. "I don't think I could stand a whole night without you. I'd be sneaking in here and sliding under the covers with you before the night was halfway over."

"Do you really think you'd have to sneak in here?" Greg asked with a laugh, raising his head to grin at Ryan. "You've got a key. You'll never have to sneak into my place. Our place," he corrected with a sheepish smile. "I'll always feel like you live here, too."

"That's because I do," Ryan murmured, nuzzling his cheek against Greg's. "Just like you live in the place next door. We live in both places, Greg. It's kind of a pain in the ass to have to get two apartments -- but we have to make it an asset, instead of a liability."

"If only we could knock a doorway from your kitchen to mine," Greg sighed, sounding wistful. "Then we could just go right into each place, without having to come outside and unlock the front doors. That would save us some time going from one place to the other."

"A few seconds, at most!" Ryan said with a laugh, shaking his head. "The only thing that might be a little annoying is having to go outside if it's really cold, or if it's raining. But neither one of us is the Wicked Witch of the West. A little rain isn't going to hurt us. Or cold."

"The only thing that would hurt was if we weren't together all the time." Greg's voice was still hesitant, but Ryan thought that he could hear the indecisiveness falling away. "But we will be, won't we? Where you are, I am. And vice versa."

"Greg." Ryan cupped Greg's face in his hands, gazing into his boyfriend's eyes. "I could never, never leave you. I know that I was going to at one time, but that's in the past. My heart belongs to you. My body, my heart, my soul. I'm yours. And I always will be."

Greg didn't answer those words; instead, he wrapped his thin arms around Ryan, hugging him close and resting his head on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan's arms went around Greg, molding their bodies against each other, closing his eyes and inhaling the scent of his lover's hair.

This was the only place he ever wanted to be. It didn't matter if he called the apartment next door his own, or if he and Greg were living in this one. As long as he was in Greg Sanders' arms, as long as he had this man in his life and in his heart, then he was right where he belonged.

"Come on, babe," he murmured, reluctantly moving away from his boyfriend and picking up the box of cds. There weren't that many; he was probably going to keep most of them in this apartment, along with Greg's music collection. "Let's start getting things put up over there."

Greg nodded, following him out of the front door and into the apartment next door. It only took a few seconds for him to lock his own apartment, then unlock the other one; Ryan didn't think it would be that much of a problem for them to go between both places.

The living room was still fairly empty; Ryan's two bookcases had been taken out of storage, and they'd bought a new entertainment center for his television and stereo. Everything had already been set up; they just had to arrange the shelves.

"I think we're going to like having two places," Ryan said, turning to Greg as he set the small box on the coffee table. "We'll each have our own personal space -- and we'll still share it. All of it. We each have a key to each place, and we're just as together as we've ever been."

"I think once we spend a few days here, it'll start to feel more like home," Greg murmured, looking around. "It's going to be just as much our home as my place is, isn't it? We'll make it a home. And I think Wolfie will like having two places to live, too."

"Yeah, I think he will," Ryan agreed, sitting down on the couch and pulling Greg down beside him. "Hey, this is going to work out fine, okay? I'm never going to be away from you. We'll be together every day and night, Greg. Don't ever doubt that. Not for one second."

Greg nodded, the look of uncertainty slowly leaving his face. "Coming here is going to be just as much like coming home as going to my place will be," he murmured, looking around them. "It already feels like home to me, just because your things are here."

"And once some of your stuff is over here too, then it'll feel even more like home," Ryan told him with a smile. "This place is just like the other one, Greg. It's just a mirror image. And it'll be just like having an extension of your place right next door."

"I think I'm going to like coming home to this place," Greg answered, his gaze roaming around the apartment, taking in the way they had set everything up. "It'll give us a way to change things up if we ever feel like we're getting restless, right?"

Ryan laughed, pulling Greg into his arms and moving his hands down the other man's back. "Exactly. It's going to be cool to have two places. The bills will be a bitch, but we'll manage. Besides, having a bigger place would mean paying a lot more, anyway."

Greg sighed contentedly, stretching and relaxing in Ryan's embrace. "We're both going to like having this arrangement, I think," he told his lover, raising a hand to run his fingers through Ryan's hair. "And now .... didn't we have plans to test out our new bed?"

"Now that sounds like a plan I can get into," Ryan laughed, getting up from the couch and pulling Greg along with him. Hand in hand, they headed down the hallway towards the bedroom, both of them trying not to run and see who could jump on their new bed first.

***