Title: Something Special
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Gil Grissom
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: Un-themed 6, mission_insane
Prompt: 2, Special
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.

***

"Merry Christmas, Greg," Gil said softly, sitting down on the couch beside his boyfriend and handing Greg a small package. "I wanted to get you something special for Christmas, but I wasn't sure of what to get. Then I had a brainstorm. I hope you like it."

Gil had already unwrapped Greg's gift to him -- and he was wearing it. His boyfriend had given him a gold pocket watch with an engraving of their initials on the cover, something that Gil knew that he would treasure for all of his life. It was the most beautiful gift he'd ever been given.

What made it so special to him was the dedication on the inside of the watch. He already knew the loving words by heart: For Gil, Keep your heart open and love with always find its way in. With love, Greg. Those words meant everything to him.

They were even more special because he knew that they came from Greg's heart. No one had ever loved him in the way that Greg did, and even though they hadn't crossed that last barrier into physicality yet, Gil was more than willing to wait until Greg was ready.

He'd always wanted to own a pocket watch; there was something so stately about them, so elegant and old-world. But it was something that he would never break down and buy for himself -- and Greg knew that. So his boyfriend's gift had been an inspiration.

His own gift to Greg was something that he'd thought long and hard about; he had wanted to get Greg a gift that would show his boyfriend exactly how he felt, just how much he was loved. It hadn't been easy to choose a gift that would be able to say as much as he needed it to say.

Gil watched as Greg slowly unwrapped the small box, hesitating before he opened it. "Something wrong, sweetheart?" he asked, feeling anxious. Greg was almost acting as though he didn't want to open the gift, and Gil wondered why his boyfriend would feel that way.

But Greg shook his head quickly, looking over at Gil with a smile. "I always like to take my time when I open presents," he said, sounding and looking a little shamefaced, as though he was embarrassed by his words. "I like to drag the moment out, because I love getting gifts."

That was a little piece of information that Gil hadn't known about his boyfriend; he filed that inside his mind, putting it away in his arsenal of things that he knew about Greg. If his boyfriend liked getting gifts, then he'd have to give them more often.

Greg slowly removed the lid of the box, his dark eyes widening as the wrapping paper fell away and he could see the Irish claddagh ring that nestled inside the soft folds of gossamer-light tissue paper. "Gil, it's beautiful," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Thank you."

"I hope it fits," Gil said, still feeling a little anxious. He had taken one of Greg's rings to make sure that he'd be able to have this one sized accurately, but he wouldn't be absolutely sure that it was a perfect fit until it was on Greg's finger, where it belonged.

Slowly, carefully, Greg lifted the silver and onyx ring from the box and handed it to Gil; silently, Gil slipped it onto his finger, and they both looked at it for several long moments. Gil could feel his throat tightening; the ring looked as though it had been made specifically for Greg.

"What does this mean?" Greg asked softly, tracing his fingertips over the Gaelic writing on the band. "I wish I could read Gaelic. It's a beautiful language, but I was never good with stuff like that. I was always the chemistry kid. Languages went right over my head."

"The translation is engraved inside the band," Gil told him, swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. When he had first decided to get Greg a claddagh ring, he hadn't known what to inscribe on the band. When it had been time to tell the jeweler what he wanted, he'd found the perfect words.

Greg removed the ring as slowly as he'd put it on, squinting as he tried to read the inscription on the band. Gil smiled, reaching for the small penlight he kept on the table beside the couch. "Here, use this, sweetheart," he said softly, his heart beating faster as he watched Greg read the words.

"To Greg: My heart, my soul, the love of my life, and my best friend." Greg's voice was a mere whisper as he read; when he raised his head to look at Gil again, tears were glistening in his dark eyes, a few of them streaking slowly down his cheeks.

"This is the most beautiful thing anybody's ever given me," he whispered, the words ending on a sob. Without thinking about what he was doing, Gil reached for his boyfriend, drawing Greg into his embrace and stroking a gentle hand through the younger man's hair.

"It's supposed to make you happy, Greg, not make you cry," he murmured, feeling more than a little guilty. He didn't know exactly why Greg was crying, but maybe this had been the wrong thing to give him. Or the words had been the wrong thing to say.

But Greg lifted his head from Gil's shoulder, wiping at his tears and shaking his head. "I'm not crying because I'm upset or anything like that," he said, sliding the ring onto his finger again. "It's just that .... nobody's ever said anything like that about me before."

Gil took Greg's face between his hands, staring intently into his boyfriend's eyes. "Greg, you're not only the love of my life, but you are my best friend," he said softly. "And that what the claddagh ring is supposed to represent. Love, loyalty, and friendship."

"You've been my best friend ever since we first started working together, even though you didn't know it then," Greg said, his voice a choked whisper. "You taught me so much, Gil. And if it wasn't for you, I don't think I'd ever have known what real love is."

"I know that I never loved until I met you," Gil whispered, his thumbs stroking across Greg's cheeks as he gazed into his boyfriend's eyes. "It was always you, Greg. I just wish that I'd have had the guts to tell you that sooner. We have so much lost time to make up for."

"I'm not going anywhere," Greg told him with a smile. He raised a hand to wipe at the few remaining tears that still trickled from the corners of his eyes, though the cry jag seemed to have stopped. "I'll always be right here with you, Gil. I couldn't leave you. Not ever."

"That's good to know," Gil told him, wrapping his arms more tightly around Greg and drawing the young man into another warm embrace. He rested his cheek on the top of Greg's head, sighing contentedly. "Merry Christmas, Greg. I hope this is the best one either of us has ever had."

"It already is," Greg murmured, giving Gil a smile that took the older man's breath away. "Merry Christmas, Gil. I hope you're as happy right now as I am." He rested his head on Gil's shoulder again, his slender body relaxing into his boyfriend's embrace.

"I definitely am," Gil assured him, a smile curving his lips. It looked as though the gift he'd chosen for Greg had indeed been something special -- and it seemed to have brought them closer than they'd ever been. He was glad that he'd chosen it -- and that he'd chosen this man to give his heart to.

***