Title: A Cherished Memory
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Nick Stokes
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 5, Memory
Author's Note: Sequel to "The Open Door."
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 Danny Nagano, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg sat on the living room couch, looking at a picture and smiling.

"You look happy," Nick told his boyfriend, sitting down beside him and sliding an arm around Greg's slender waist. "What are you looking at?"

He peered at the photograph that Greg was holding, expecting to see a picture of Jonah. His boyfriend hadn't been nearly so maudlin about his ex lately, but he knew that there were times when Greg still thought about what might have been. He didn't mind that.

It was normal to grieve for someone you had loved, Nick told himself. If he was in Greg's shoes, he would be doing exactly the same thing.

Greg handed him the photo, and Nick looked at it in surprise.

"It's my grandmother," Greg said with a soft smile. "She was an amazing woman, Nick. I wish you could have met her. Grandma Olaf was .... well, she was different."

Nick had to smile at Greg's use of that word; he'd talked about his grandmother before, and though Nick had laughed at what he'd said at the time, he had become more open-minded since then. "You said that she was kind of a white witch, didn't you?"

Greg nodded, looking serious. "She could sense things, and I think she saw things, too. She passed that on to me. I think it's why I still feel so close to Jonah."

Nick wanted to protest, but he wasn't going to. If Greg needed to believe the words he was saying, then he wasn't going to contradict the man he loved.

Personally, Nick thought that everyone who had lost a loved one felt that way for a long time -- that the person was still close to them in some ways, maybe even watching over them. And who was he to say that it wasn't so? He had to reason to deny that belief.

"She's a cherished memory for you, just like he is," Nick said softly, placing his hand over Greg's. "I hope you'll let me share some of those memories sometime."

Greg nodded, looking at Nick with love in his eyes.

"I will, one day," he said softly, leaning to brush a gentle kiss across Nick's cheek. "I wish you could have known her -- and known Jonah better, too."

Nick nodded, smiling at his boyfriend, his words, when they came, sincere and from his heart. "I want to know everything that's a part of you, Greg. I want to share your whole life. And I wish I'd known Jonah better. He seems like a really good guy. I'm glad you had him."

"So am I," Greg told him, nodding. "Like you said, he's a cherished memory for me. But now, he's just a memory. You're my present. And my future."

Those were the most beautiful words that Nick had ever heard.

***