DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, except Liam Callaghan (he's mine). Greg Sanders and the rest of the CSI cast belong to CBS, I'm doing this as I have no life…please don't sue! I also don't own Dana Scully, she is property of Fox and whoever else made The X Files.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Dana Scully is only twenty four years old in this story as opposed to real life and Greg Sanders is only twenty five, just in case you thought I was guessing the ages I know the real ages of the characters involved.
The Wedding Day
2 Days Earlier
"Look I'm sick of you questioning me all the goddamned time! Yes I know what I'm doing and yes I'm certain I wanna marry him!" Dana Scully was sat in the break room listening to Greg telling her that she had to think about whether she really wanted to marry her fiancé of two months, Liam Callaghan.
"I'm just saying that you don't have to go through with it because his family is flying in from London to be there." He was jealous, there was no other way to put it and no matter how much he tried to get her out of his mind, he couldn't bear that Dana Scully, the love of his life, was marrying another man.
"What is the matter with you? I mean what are you…jealous that I'm getting married but you can't get Sara to notice you?" She'd cut him deeper than she'd realised, if only she could see that for the past three month, since they started hanging out together, he'd fallen fast and hard for her. It wasn't Sara he wanted anymore; it was her…it would always be her. His feelings were genuine, it wasn't a schoolboy crush this time; this time he knew it was real and every time he saw her kissing and cuddling Liam, walking to work holding his hand his heart broke a little bit more.
"Can't you see, this isn't about Sara, it's about you! You know as well as I do that you don't wanna go through with it, not really."
"Why are you doing this to me Greg? I'm getting married in two days, why can't you be happy for me? I thought you cared about me." She was on the verge of tears but he could see it in her eyes, he could see that she knew he was right.
"I'm doing this because I care about you." He took hold of her hands, trying to reassure her but at the same time knowing that she was not going to like what he was about to say. "Look you'll wake up one day, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a few weeks and hell, maybe not even in a few months but years from now you'll wake up and realise that you don't wanna be with him; that you wish you'd stopped the wedding when you had the chance. You'll get hurt and I don't want that for you Dana, you mean too much to me."
She sniffled and tried to stop the tears from falling down her face, tried to convince herself that he was wrong, that her and Liam would die together after years of marital bliss but in her heart she knew he was right; she knew that her and Liam were two very different people, people that weren't meant to be together. "Greg if you're worried about us drifting apart when I become 'Mrs Callaghan' then you really don't need to worry. You're my best friend, nobody, not fiancés, not boyfriends or girlfriends, will ever come between us, we've been through a lot together and no one will ever e able to change that."
"Don't you see, it's not that; I know that nobody could come between us but I can see it in your eyes…you don't want to marry him."
She leg of his hands and pushed him away, both mentally and physically but not only did she hurt him, she broke her promise. "You know nothing! I want nothing more that to wake up in a few days as 'Mrs Dana Callaghan' and if you can't see that then…then maybe there's no point you coming to the wedding."
"Maybe you're right, you promised me that nobody would ever come between our friendships, well guess what...you broke that promise! Whether you see it or not, Liam's won…he's split us up! Well I hope you're very happy together because our friendship is through!"
"So that's it? You're just not gonna come?" The hurt was evident in her voice and seeing her that way made Greg feel small but he wasn't going to back down.
"Yeah that's it! I am not gonna sit by and watch you throw your life away by marrying a man you don't love! So no, I'm not going to be there and if you realise how you really feel then you won't be there either! Have a nice life Dana."
Two hearts broke that day as Greg stormed out of the break room. Dana leaned on the wall and slid to the floor, wishing that she had the courage to tell him the truth. Greg sat in the locker room, staring blankly at a picture of the girl he cared most about in the world; wishing things were different.
The wedding day
Dana stood before her friends and co-workers, taking pictures outside of the church. A girls wedding day was meant to be the happiest day of her life but if that was true then why did she feel like running away and never coming back?
"Ok ladies, smile!" Nick happily snapped the pictures of Dana the people she had come to call family over the past few months that she had been at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Her real family were there of course but the pictures with them had been taken and now she stood at the front of the church with Catherine and Sara, a fake smile plastered on her face.
"So, today's the big day Dana. Our little rookie's all grown up." Her Boss, Gil Grissom, stood looking proudly at his youngest CSI, in the time that she had been at the lab she had become like a daughter to him and he had been like a second father to her.
Bill Scully was stood in the church entrance, waiting and staring at his daughter with tears in his eyes. She'd always been his little princess, the youngest girl in the family and he was finding it hard to let her go. He knew that in a few hours she would be married, she'd have a knew man in her life to look after her; she'd no longer have to rely on her daddy and that thought scared the life out of him.
"Well we'd better get inside, almost time to start. You ready for this?" Dana's oldest bridesmaid, Catherine Willows had been like an older sister to her and even know on her wedding day, she was still looking out for her.
"Yep, ready as I'll ever be, let's go." Dana lied to herself as well as her co-workers but Catherine wasn't blind to emotions and could tell that Dana wasn't ready at all and that although it was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, she wanted it to be over.
"You're wishing Greg was here aren't you?" Dana shook her head and said that hers and Greg's friendship was over but everyone could tell that Dana didn't want to get married without her best friend there behind her. Hiding her emotions and fears Dana turned to face the church and Catherine and Sara trailed behind her as they walked in.
It was only half way through the ceremony that Dana heard the old church doors creak open and turned to see Greg sneak in and sit at the back of the church. She smiled a little but in her heart there was still something missing and that something was love; Greg had been right…she wasn't in love with Liam. She loved Liam so much, he was a wonderful man but the problem was that she wasn't in love with him; she loved him like a best friend, like the way she used to love Greg. Her biggest problem however was that she sill loved Greg but in the way that she should have loved Liam. She was settling for second best because she was too scared to confess her love for the spiky haired lab rat but the truth was that she did, she loved him more that anything else in the world and that was the reason that she couldn't marry Liam. Her head was ruling when her heart should have been.
"Do you Liam Christopher Callaghan take Dana Catherine Scully to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, until death do you part?"
"I do." The look on Liam's face made Dana realise what she had to do.
"Do you Dana Catherine Scully take Liam Christopher Callaghan to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, until death do you part?"
She looked him in the eye and was pained by the adoration she saw in his hazel eyes. He loved her and she loved him but she didn't love him enough to marry him, the plain fact was that her heart wanted her to be with Gregory Hojem Sanders. "I…I…I'm sorry, I can't do this." She ran out of the church, not ready to face anyone. She sank down on the steps outside the church and dropped her head into her hands, sobbing and not caring about her makeup running, making her look like a panda.
Inside the church Liam realised that his fears were true, Dana wasn't in love with him. He apologised to everyone in the church then followed her outside and sat down next to her. "You…you could have told me you didn't wanna go through with the wedding."
"I'm sorry, I was scared of hurting you but the truth is…we're two completely different people. There's a girl out there somewhere for you but I'm afraid that girl isn't me. You're a great guy and I do love you but the problem is that I'm not in love with you and if I marry you, we'll both wake up in a few months or years or whatever and we'll both be miserable." He looked at her and nodded and for the first time in months she felt relieved that a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"I guess you're right, all I want is for you to be happy and if that's not going to be with me then, maybe we should go our separate ways." He genuinely smiled at her and at that moment she knew that everything was going to be ok, he'd get over her, he'd move on and in time his heart would belong to someone else.
"I'm glad you think so too, I'm so sorry I didn't have the courage to tell you sooner." He nodded and told her that it was ok then he kissed her one last time and said that he would explain everything to the guests inside the church. She thanked him and he went inside to tell all their friends and family that they had decided that it was too soon and that they had rushed into everything without thinking things through.
Greg walked out and she was surprised when he sat next to her and wrapped her in a warn embrace, telling her that everything would be ok while she sobbed into his white shirt, leaving eyeliner stains in her wake. "What you did took guts."
"Is this the bit where you tell me that you told me so and that I should have listened to you?" Her voice was muffled by his shirt and he strained to hear her but he caught what she said.
"Do you really think I'd do that to you?" The hurt was evident in his voice.
"No, I don't but I wouldn't be surprised if you never wanted to speak to me ever again." She sniffled but managed to stop the tears escaping her eyes.
"Look, I said to you the other day that you broke a promise when you promised me that nobody would ever come between us but I realised this morning that I was about to break a promise too. I told you once that I'd be here for you no matter what and I'm not about to break that one."
"So you came to the wedding to make me happy even though you weren't happy about it?" It was that precise moment that she decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
"Yeah, look I did this because I care about you, you mean the world to me and the only reason I tried to stop you going through with it was because I didn't wanna see you get hurt." When he said those words, Dana realised that he'd never feel the same way about her as she felt about him.
"Umm Greg, I think I need a minute alone, do you mind?"
"No, I'll be waiting with Cath and Griss."
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." He gave her a squeeze then stood up and left, left her like every other guy in her life had. She always chased guys she couldn't have but this time she thought he was the one. She loved Greg Sanders with all her heart but he didn't feel the same way, he only had eyes for Sara.
She was sat in a daydream world when Greg walked back over to her, leaned down and surprised her by softly kissing her lips. He was about to pull away when she pulled him closer and deepened the kiss, kissing him back with everything she had. When they both needed oxygen they pulled back and rested their foreheads together, a silly grin gracing both their lips. That was the moment that Greg Sanders realised that he would never let her go ever again. He loved Dana Scully more than anything else in the world and he was going to make sure that she knew that.
1 year later
"Do you Gregory Hojem Sanders take Dana Catherine Scully to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, until death do you part?"
"I do." Greg grinned at Dana and she realised that exactly one year ago today her dreams came true. Her and Greg had been dating for about four months when he had gotten down on one knee and proposed. It had been the best birthday present she had ever received.
"Do you Dana Catherine Scully take Gregory Hojem Sanders to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, until death do you part?"
She looked back at him and smiled, unlike with Liam she was certain that this was what she wanted; Greg was what she wanted. "I do."
"In that case, I know pronounce you man and wife." The priest looked at the couple before him and saw that they loved each other. He knew that they would be together forever, he could feel it. "You may kiss the bride."
Greg leaned in and kissed her, then they turned around and hand-in-hand, walked out of the church. They had pictures taken, went to their wedding reception and then were whisked away for their honeymoon. It was on their honeymoon that Dana fell pregnant with their first child. Greg and Dana Sanders were going to be parents and on the day that she showed him the positive pregnancy test they both knew that this was exactly where they wanted to be.
AN: Well this was my first fic so please, please, please read and review…and don't be to harsh. Thanks for reading and umm…yeah…hit the review button, thanks xxxxxx