Title: No Longer A Dream
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Carl Hickman/Louis Daniel
Fandom: Crossing Lines
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 475
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Carl Hickman or Louis Daniel, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

This was going to be a big change for the team to adapt to.

Or was it? Louis asked himself as he stared into the bathroom mirror. He looked exactly the same; it wasn't as though anyone would be able to see the changes that had been wrought in him by just one night with the man he loved.

No, they would see the changes the moment he walked into the office that the team worked in. They would all know that something momentous had happened to him.

He smiled more now; that was obvious. He felt as though he hadn't been able to stop smiling this morning; all he could think of was how much his life had changed in just one night, and all of those changes had been for the better. They were all marvelous.

Carl had changed his life irrevocably. There was no looking back.

Yes, a part of him would always mourn for his lost son, and he would always have regrets about the failure of his marriage. But there was an entire new life in front of him, a change that he gladly welcomed with open arms. And all because of Carl.

There was so much in his life to be thankful for now. His days and nights were no longer empty; he finally had something to live for.

His life had felt so bleak for so long now that he almost didn't know how to adapt to this sudden feeling of happiness. It was almost too much to fathom.

But yet, it was here, and he was determined to grab onto it and hold on with all of his might. This was what he had wanted for so long -- Carl at his side, as both a colleague and a lover -- and he wasn't going to give up that dream now that it had finally become a reality.

It was no longer a dream. It was his life.

The change had been unexpected, but he welcomed it. And the rest of the team would simply have to accept that change ,and get used to it. The old Louis was gone forever; the new Louis would hopefully be someone who was a much brighter, happier person.

He had a feeling that the rest of the team would appreciate this change, and that it would be one that they would all welcome. Well, they would soon find out if that was so.

It wouldn't be much longer before he would be back at work; he couldn't convalesce forever, and he already wanted to go back to work. He hoped that he could talk his doctors into giving him some sort of release in a few days, permission to go back to work.

Then they would see just how much of a change this would be in the professional sense.

***