Title: Stranger Than Fiction
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, csi50
Prompt: 26, Strange
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.

***

"Do you ever feel like there's something strange about the way we fell for each other when we first met?" Greg asked, looking at Ryan across the desks in their office. "It's kind of weird that neither of us had ever felt that way before about anybody, isn't it?"

Ryan frowned, not quite getting what Greg was driving at. "What do you mean, weird?" he countered, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair, staring at his boyfriend. "Do you think there's some reason that we shouldn't be together?"

"No!" The one word was like the crack of a whip; Ryan blinked, startled at the intensity of his lover's voice. "There's absolutely no reason we shouldn't be together," Greg said, his voice softer now. "I just wondered if that kind of instant attraction happens with other people."

"I'm sure it does, or a phrase like 'love at first sight' wouldn't be so popular," Ryan pointed out, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. For just a few seconds, he'd thought that Greg might be tired of him, that he might be ready to end their relationship.

Instinctively, his hand went to the heart on the chain around his neck. He never took it off, and he never would. That heart symbolized his attachment to Greg; if he took it off, even for one second, he would feel naked and alone, as though part of him had been ripped away.

He hadn't realized how much those necklaces would come to mean to him when Greg had first brought up the idea of being collared. He couldn't see them as collars; he could only see them as a bond, one that had brought them closer from the moment they'd put on those delicate chains.

His bond with Greg wasn't strange at all, he told himself. There were a lot of people in the world who fell in love at first sight, weren't there? People were always talking about it -- if so many people believed in such a thing, then it had to be true.

And it really didn't matter what other people thought about falling in love with someone when you first looked into their eyes, or if they thought that sharing like the one had with Greg was strange. As long as it made the two of them happy, then he wasn't going to question it.

"I don't want you to feel like I think there's anything strange about us," Greg said softly, his gaze riveted on Ryan's face. "I just wondered if you thought there was anything weird about the way we feel for each other when we met. I don't -- just curious about what you think."

Ryan shook his head, a smile curving his lips. "No, baby, I don't think there's anything the least bit strange about falling in love at first sight," he murmured, wishing that he could take Greg into his arms and kiss him to prove just how much he meant what he was saying.

How could there be anything weird about what he felt for Greg? True, they hadn't met in a conventional way -- but nobody ever expected to meet the love of their life when they were being given a tour of the new place they'd be working, did they? It wasn't any stranger than meeting somewhere else.

"I've heard of people meeting their true love waiting in line at a grocery store -- or just bumping into them on the street," he said softly, his gaze locking with Greg's. "I think we're not so strange compared to that. We met at work. That seems pretty normal to me."

Greg laughed softly, nodding and propping his chin on his hand, still gazing at Ryan. "I guess you're right about that," he admitted, his somewhat worried look fading as he smiled at his boyfriend. "Maybe I just worry too much. I should stop that, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, you should," Ryan told him, reaching out to take Greg's free hand in his own, squeezing his hand gently before letting go. He wanted to keep holding his lover's hand, but they had to be careful about their intimate gestures at work, especially when the door was wide open.

"There's nothing strange about us in any way, baby," he said softly, glancing towards the door to be sure that no one was listening there. "Every couple has things about them that make them unique. In that respect, I don't think we're any more strange than anyone else."

Greg nodded, looking relieved. "I've never thought so, but I couldn't help wondering if you did. After all, we're not exactly your run-of-the-mill couple. We not only live together, we work together. And at work, we have to hide the fact that we're together at all. That's kind of odd."

Greg sighed, also glancing towards the door, as though he felt that someone might be listening. Even though there was no one there, he lowered his voice when he spoke again. "Yeah, most people don't have to hide their love lives from all their friends."

"I hope there'll come a day when we won't have to do that, sweetheart," Ryan said softly, a lump forming in his throat. More than anything, he wanted for the two of them to not have to hide any more at work, but that might be a long time in coming.

"We shouldn't have to hide how we feel about each other when we're at work," Greg said with a frown, sitting back in his chair and pushing out his lower lip. Ryan wanted to laugh; his boyfriend looked so adorable when he pouted. But he held the laughter back, knowing that Greg was serious.

"That's the only thing I think is strange about our relationship," he said, holding back a sigh. "That we can't be honest and open with everybody around us about the fact that we're together. But it won't be forever, Greg. At least, I hope it won't be. They'll change that stupid rule at some point."

"I hope so," Greg said, closing his eyes for just a moment before opening them again to stare at Ryan. "Do you really think they will? I keep hoping it'll happen, but it never does. And now, I want it to happen more than ever. I'm tired of hiding how I feel about you."

"It'll happen," Ryan said with more conviction than he actually felt. "And until then, we'll just keep on doing what we do now." He reached across the desk again to take Greg's hand, twining their fingers together, not caring who might walk past the office door and see them.

He was tired of hiding, too. He wanted to be able to show everyone around them just how he felt about Greg, just how much in love he was. It felt strange to have to keep their relationship under wraps, to pretend that they were nothing but friends and professional colleagues.

"I guess our lives are stranger than fiction, in some ways," Greg said, drawing Ryan out of his thoughts. "Our lives are kind of like a novel -- the way we've got to hide our relationship from everybody we work with. Wonder if we could write a book about it?"

"Maybe one day we can," Ryan said with a laugh, squeezing Greg's hand again before reluctantly letting go. "I can't see something like our life being a best-seller, though, even if it is a little left of center. And I don't think I'd want the world reading all about us!"

Greg's answer was a soft laugh, and a smile that made Ryan's heart turn over. As long as he could see that smile every day of his life, he didn't care if anyone thought that their relationship was strange. He had Greg in his life, and to him, nothing else really mattered.

***