Title: Tread Softly, and Carry Your Heart in Your Hands
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Gil Grissom
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: Un-themed 7, mission_insane
Prompt: 5, Tread
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.

***

Gil stood in the door of the bedroom he shared with Greg, watching the younger man as he slept. Greg wasn't usually a heavy sleeper, but Gil knew that his boyfriend hadn't been getting a lot of rest in the past few weeks; Gil was sure that he wouldn't awaken.

All he wanted to do at the moment was to go to that bed and crawl underneath the covers next to Greg, take his boyfriend into his arms and wake him with a kiss, then make love to him all night, until the sun came up in the morning and they were both sated.

Of course, that was something that wouldn't happen for quite a while to come, Gil thought with a soft sigh. He wasn't going to push Greg into making love if he wasn't ready for it yet -- and he didn't think that his boyfriend was going to be able to overcome his traumas in the snap of a finger.

But he was willing to wait. Greg was worth waiting for; he had loved this young man for years, and he had already waited patiently for them to be together. He'd waited all this time; he could wait a little longer, and give Greg the space and time he needed.

After all, they were together; he knew that Greg loved him, and really, nothing else mattered. As long as that love was there, and it was allowed to keep growing stronger day by day, the emotional connection they shared would become physical as well. Greg just needed time.

He would have to tread lightly, but he was used to doing that. He wasn't the kind of man who felt that he had to have his senses gratified constantly; it was enough for him to know that Greg was in his life, and that they were lovers in the emotional sense, if not the physical one.

He'd had his heart in his hands, ready to offer it to Greg, ever since they'd first met. He had always wanted nothing more than to have Greg in his life; preferably as a lover, but if it had never come to this, he would have been happy just to know that Greg was a part of his world.

No, Gil told himself, that would never have been enough for him. He could try to fool himself into thinking that he would have been satisfied for them to merely be friends, but that would never have been good enough. He would have always wanted more, longing for what he could never have.

Nothing would change the desire he felt for Greg. And if that desire could never be slaked, then he would live with that fact. He would tread carefully, holding his heart in his hands, giving that heart to Greg and accepting whatever the younger man chose to do with it.

Being in love was both the easiest and the hardest thing he'd ever done. He had always assumed that when he finally fell in love, it would be overwhelming, something that he couldn't fight. That much had been proven true -- but he'd also thought that the object of his affections would feel the same.

Gil smiled wryly at that thought. Greg did feel the same, he told himself firmly. Greg had said many times that he loved Gil, and he knew that those words were true. Greg wouldn't lie about something like that. But the horrific experience he'd been through was making him hold back.

That wasn't Greg's fault, and he had every intention of being patient and waiting until his boyfriend felt that he was ready to knock down the walls that still stood between them. But waiting was so hard when he was so much in love --and when desire surged more strongly every time they touched.

Desire was the least of what he felt for Greg, Gil reflected as he stood in the doorway watching his boyfriend sleep. Desire went hand in hand with love, but in the end, it was the love that was the most important. It was the emotional, not the physical, that meant more to him.

If he and Greg never made love in the physical sense, never went further than the kissing and touching that they shared now, it would be enough for him. Yes, he wanted more -- but if Greg never got to the point where he wanted it as well, that wouldn't matter.

He would still love Greg with all of his heart and soul, no matter what the physical side of their relationship might morph into. It wasn't the physical sensations that were the most important part of what they shared, but the emotions that he felt in his heart.

Greg was more than just an object of his lust -- even more than the object of his affection. Greg was the center of his heart, the core of his soul, his entire life. IF he had to give up everything else in his life to be with Greg, he would do so gladly. Any sacrifice would be worth it.

No one had ever meant this much to him -- no one else possibly could. Greg had been the center of his life from the first moment they'd met, even though he'd tried to deny that fact to himself for a long time. So much time that they had wasted, when they could have been together.

But had they been ready to be together before now? Gil thought with a frown. He didn't think so. Both of them had needed to ease into this relationship -- and Greg had needed to do some growing up. If they had been together before now, their relationship probably wouldn't have lasted.

He had been ready all along to welcome Greg into his heart, his bed, and his life -- but Greg might not have been prepared to be there. It had taken all of this time -- and the life lessons that had gone along with it -- for both of them to be ready for this step.

They had both made mistakes along the way, but now those mistakes were behind them. They had finally found each other -- and Gil knew that he would never regret everything that had brought them here, because all of those mistakes had made them the people they were now.

He had waited all of his life to find the person who was right for him -- and now that he'd found that one, Gil wasn't about to let anything come between them. He would be here for Greg in every way possible, his heart in his hands, offering it to the man he loved every day of their lives.

He would lift Greg to the heights of passion, and be there to catch him when he came back down to the ground. He would love Greg more every day, treading carefully in to the future with his lover's heart held in his hands, careful never to drop it.

Gil smiled at the thought, feeling a wave of contentment wash over him. It didn't matter that he and Greg hadn't been together in the physical sense yet. It was enough that they were lovers in every other form -- and he was sure that the physical side would come to them eventually.

It might take a little time, but he had waited this long already -- be could keep being patient for as long as it took. And really, as long as Greg was by his side and he knew that his boyfriend trusted him with his heart, that was the only thing that really mattered.

Slowly, quietly, he moved across the room and pulled back the covers on the bed, sliding under them and wrapping his arms around Greg. His boyfriend didn't awaken, but snuggled into his arms in his sleep, making Gil smile as he closed his eyes and settled down for the night.

This was all he needed, he told himself, feeling more contented than he'd thought he could ever be. He had Greg in his arms, in his life, and in his heart .And as long as they were together, the rest would come naturally. It was, after all worth waiting for.

He would tread carefully, and carry his heart in his hands to offer it to Greg whenever his boyfriend might want to take it. Really, Greg already held his heart, he thought, feeling a warm glow surround his heart at the thought. He'd given his heart already, just as Greg had given his.

Whatever might happen to them in the future, he was sure of one thing, Gil thought as he began to drift into sleep. He and Greg would always be together, and they would always be in love. Their hearts were right where they belonged -- and neither of them would ever stray.

***