Title: To Love You More
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Mike Keppler
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: Inspired By Songs, mission_insane
Prompt: 2, To Love You More
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 Mike Keppler, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Mike took a deep breath as he got out of his car, walking across the parking lot towards the front door of Greg's apartment. Today was the day that he was going to ask the man he loved a question that he'd been wanting to ask for a while, a question that meant everything to him.

Mike hoped that he would hear the words he so desperately needed to hear -- only one word, really. He needed to hear Greg say yes, to see those beautiful dark eyes sparkle with happiness, to know that Greg felt the same way about him, and that he was ready to take such a big step.

He reached into his pocket, feeling for the velvet box. He had only asked one person to marry him in his entire life, and that hadn't worked out very well. But this time, he and Greg were going to work. They were going to have their happy ever after.

He intended to ask Greg to marry him, to go down on bended knee and look up into that handsome face, to pour out his emotions to the man he loved. He hoped that Greg would feel the same, that he would say the one word he most needed to hear and make him the happiest man in the world.

What was Greg going to say? Would he be overjoyed that Mike had proposed to him -- or would he think that it was too soon, and say no? Mike found himself faltering and lowering his hand before he could knock on the door, overcome by the doubts in the back of his mind.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before raising his hand again and knocking. There was no reason to think that Greg would say no. Greg loved him; Greg wasn't going to refuse him. He was going to think positive, and believe that his boyfriend wanted this as much as he did.

When the door opened and Greg stood there in front of him, a smile on his handsome face, Mike was sure that he could feel his heart leap within his chest. He had never loved anyone the way he loved Greg; the two of them belonged together, whether they got married or not.

He still had a few things to take care of before they could announce their engagement -- and maybe it would have been better to wait on asking Greg to marry him until after all of that was done. But he hadn't wanted to wait. He needed Greg's answer now.

All that was going to happen once the truth about his past came out could end up tearing the two of them apart. Greg would have every right to walk away from him after that -- and he wasn't going to stop his lover from doing that, if it was what Greg wanted to do.

But before that, he would know that Greg had wanted to marry him. He would be able to hold on to that for all the long years of his life that he might end up having to spend without Greg by his side. He would at least be able to take comfort in the fact that Greg had once wanted him.

"Hey, babe," Greg greeted him, a frown wrinkling his brow. "What are you looking so serious about? Did something happen at work?" He tilted his head to the side, looking worried as he stepped back so that Mike could enter the apartment. "Is everything okay?"

Mike was quick to nod as he entered, letting Greg close and lock the door behind him. Now that he was here, his palms had started to sweat, and he'd never felt so nervous in his life. "Yeah, everything's okay. I-I just had something I wanted to ask you, Greg."

"Whatever it is, it must be important," Greg said, frowning as he moved across the room to sit down on the couch. He patted the space on the cushion beside him, inviting Mike to sit. "Come on, sit down and talk to me. Tell me what's wrong, Mike."

"Nothing's wrong." Mike made his way across the room to the couch, but instead of sitting down beside Greg, he knelt in front of his boyfriend, his mouth going dry at the thought of what he was about to do. This was the time; it was now or never.

He'd never felt so nervous in his life. He was going to pop the question; he was going to ask Greg to marry him. He'd intended to wait until he'd taken care of everything, but that would have been too late. He had to have Greg's answer now, to know that they were together.

"Greg ...." His voice trailed off as he took his boyfriend's hand, looking up into Greg's dark eyes. "I've been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but it never felt like the time was right. It might not be right now, but I've got to know. I can't hold myself back any longer."

Greg looked confused, as though he had no idea what Mike meant to ask him. Mike pressed on, refusing to back down now that he'd started saying the words. "Greg, I-I've loved you ever since we first met. And I want us to be together for the rest of our lives."

"We will be," Greg said softly, his voice barely audible. He was staring at Mike, their gazes locked, and comprehension was slowly starting to dawn in his eyes. "Mike, whatever you want to say, just say it. You don't have to be nervous. Just .... say the words."

"Marry me, Greg." The words came out more easily than Mike had thought they would; looking into those eyes, his whole world reduced to just the two of them and this moment, everything seemed to come more easily, words slipping into the world with barely a thought.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out the velvet box and opening it. Inside was a gold band with a square-cut diamond in the center; he knew that Greg wouldn't be able to wear it openly when they were working, but he'd thought of a way for it to be with his boyfriend at all times.

Mike reached into his pocket again to pull out a gold chain, laying it on his palm. "So you can wear the ring close to your heart, even if you can't wear it on your finger for a while," he whispered, falling silent as he waited for the younger man to speak.

Greg stared down at the ring, his dark eyes wide with what Mike could only assume was shock. It was obvious that he hadn't expected this; he had probably thought that Mike was going to come to him with some kind of problem, not with a marriage proposal.

"Marry me," Mike said again, his voice barely a whisper. "Marry me, Greg. Be mine, not just in our hearts, but in the eyes of the law. I know it might cause some wrinkles at work, but we'll iron them out. I want us to be married. I want you to be mine in every sense of the word."

He caught his breath when Greg's gaze met his, those dark eyes locking with his own. Mike could hardly breathe; he was sure that if Greg said no, his heart would stop, and he would topple to the floor and never get up again. All it would take was one word ....

"Yes," Greg said softly, the word hardly a whisper in the quiet room. "Yes," he said again, the word coming out more strongly this time. "Yes, I'll marry you, Mike. I didn't expect this so soon, but I-I've been hoping it was going to happen. I want to marry you."

"Oh, Greg ...." Mike's eyes filled with tears; he had to blink them back as he rose to his knees and leaned forward, capturing Greg's face between his hands and gazing into his eyes. "I know other people have said they loved you before. I want to be the one to love you more than all of them combined."

"You already do," Greg murmured, his voice breaking on the last word. "You're the only person who's ever wanted to marry me and spend their whole life with me. I want to let you love me more than anybody else ever has, Mike. I want us to be together forever."

"We will be, babe," Mike answered, standing up and pulling Greg to his feet, then wrapping his arms around the younger man's slim waist and holding him close. "I can't wait to marry you. Wherever and whenever you want. I've got a few things to take of first job-wise, then the sky's the limit."

"This is going to make our jobs harder, you know that," Greg told him, pulling away slightly to look into his lover's eyes. "People are going to talk. I don't think they even guessed that you're gay, and marrying a guy you work with, even if we're on different shifts .... It'll cause some tension."

"I don't care about that," Mike told him, shaking his head. "All that matters is that I'll be with you, and we'll be together. That we'll be married. And that I'll be the man to love you more than anybody else ever has, for every day of our lives from this moment on."

Greg nodded, moving out of Mike's embrace and taking his hands. He sat back down on the couch, pulling Mike down beside him. Swallowing hard, Mike took Greg's hand in his own, slipping the ring onto his finger. It was a perfect fit; it wouldn't even need to be sized.

"I'll wear it on my finger when I'm not at work," Greg murmured, looking down at the ring on his hand, then back up at Mike, a brilliant smile lighting up his face. "I'm engaged. I'm really engaged. You and I are going to get married. I don't know when, but it's really going to happen."

Mike nodded, his throat tight. He couldn't tell Greg about what he still had to do to set things right -- and after all was said and done, maybe Greg wouldn't want to be with him then. Only time would tell, after the dust had settled and all of his intentions had been accomplished.

He didn't know exactly what was going to happen once the dust had settled and they were left standing in the middle of the wreckage. He could only hope that his relationship with Greg wouldn't be wrecked -- and that they would be able to move forward into their own happy ever after.

***