A/N: This is the last chapter. Boo. It's been a fun story to write; I love Greg and Ryan! Usual disclaimer still applies as per always. Please review!

Chapter 8

"So take these words and sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again"

When Ryan's cell phone went off the next morning, he uncharacteristically buried his head under his pillow and groaned. He had been having the best dream. Greg had taken him for dinner on a yacht, and dancing, and then he had proposed…

Ryan looked down at the ring on his finger and a grin lit up his face. It hadn't been a dream. It had been reality.

Leaning over, he kissed Greg's still half-asleep form on the lips. "Good morning," he whispered, still grinning wildly.

"Good morning," Greg muttered, squinting his eyes against the bright light of the Miami sun. He sat up slowly, still squinting, and nodded in the direction of Ryan's phone. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

Ryan rolled over and glared at his phone. "Yeah, I guess," he said, sighing deeply as he reached for it. He checked the display and grimaced. "Ugh. It's Calleigh. I'm sure she's calling because she wants the scoop from last night."

Simply grinning and stretching, Greg stood and shuffled towards the kitchen. "I'm just glad she called you and not me," he said as he went to go make some coffee.

Though Greg couldn't see, Ryan stuck his tongue out at Greg's retreating back before flipping his cell phone open and answering. "Good morning, Calleigh," he said dryly, settling back into his seat for what was sure to be a long conversation.

"Ryan." Calleigh's voice didn't sound excited, or happy, or any of the things he figured it would. "It's about time you picked up the phone."

Ryan frowned deeply. It wasn't like Calleigh to be this rude this early in the morning. "Well, you woke me up from sleeping," he retorted, his forehead creased. "Since, you know, I was tired out from my big night last night," he added, thinking maybe she would get the hint.

"Well, while you were having a 'big night' last night, murder was still happening in Miami," Calleigh snapped. "We've got a big case, high profile with multiple DBs. We're all being called in to work on this one, so don't even complain about going into work early. This was supposed to be my day off."

Ah. That explained Calleigh's foul mood. Ryan sat up instantly, switching into professional mode. "Where's the scene?" he asked, standing and getting clothes out from his closet.

"The scene's already been taken care of," Calleigh said. "Eric and I were out there early this morning. We need you and Greg to come into the lab and start running some tests. We've got a ton of stuff that needs to be fingerprinted, and Valera's running late, so we need Greg to come in and get started on some biologicals."

"Of course," Ryan said, already dressed and ready to go. "We'll be in as soon as we can. Greg," he called into the kitchen as he hung up. "We've got a case. We're needed in the lab immediately. Put some clothes on; we need to hurry."

Greg finished his coffee in one gulp. "Sir, yes sir," he said, grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and putting them on. Ryan grabbed two travel thermoses and poured some coffee in them, handing Greg one and keeping one for himself.

The ride over to the lab was quiet and tense, with both men concentrating on the task ahead. When they got to the lab and got out of the car, however, Greg surprised Ryan by pinning him against the car and kissing him deeply. "Greg, what—" Ryan started, but Greg cut him off.

"I love you," he said simply. "And this looks like it's going to be a long and stressful day, so I wanted you to remember that."

Ryan smiled at him. "Well, thank you," he said, kissing him back. "But in case you forgot, last night, you showed me that you loved me in more ways than I could ever forget. And thank you for that." He looked down at his hand and smiled. "Sometimes we all need reminders. And now I have the best one of all."

Greg grinned and kissed him. "The best is yet to come," he whispered, weaving his fingers through Ryan's as they turned and walked into the lab.

The first thing Ryan noticed was how quiet the lab was; normally, for a high profile case like this, the place would be buzzing with all the extra help. Oddly, he didn't see anyone. "Where is every—"

"SURPRISE!"

Ryan jumped a foot in the air as all his coworkers and friends came out of their hiding spots. There were balloons everywhere and a banner that said, "Congratulations Greg and Ryan!" Ryan looked accusingly at Greg. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Greg just grinned and held up his hands innocently. "It was all Calleigh's doing. You know how she is—once she gets started, there's no stopping her."

Rolling his eyes, Ryan turned towards the woman in question, who was strolling towards him with a giant grin on her face. "Congratulations," she said smugly, satisfaction obvious on every facet of her face.

Ryan didn't smile. "What if I said no?" he asked quietly, his expression somber.

Calleigh's face went from smug to horrified in 3 seconds, and the din of the surprise party deflated to silence. She stared at Ryan, completely shocked, and then, without warning, she hit him. "Ryan Wolfe"—smack, slap—"how dare you"—punch, whack—"say no?!"

"Ow!" Ryan said, laughing, holding his hands up in a weak attempt at self-defense. "Calleigh, I said yes! I was kidding!"

Though she looked taken aback for a second, she quickly began her second barrage of attacks. "Ryan Wolfe, don't you dare do that to me ever again!"

Greg, chuckling to himself, slipped away from his fiancé, heading over to where he saw Horatio standing. "Congratulations, Mr. Sanders," Horatio said in greeting, offering him his hand to shake. "I expect you'll take good care of him."

There was an implied threat in that comment, but Greg just smiled. "I will," he promised. "In sickness, health, and whatever else may come our way. After all," he added, leaning against the wall and smiling grimly, well aware of the bandage still on his shoulder from his most recent wound, "we've come this far, and that was more than half the battle."

"When were you thinking of getting married?" Horatio asked, and then, in a softer tone, "and where were you planning on getting married?"

Greg chose to answer the first question first. "We don't have a specific date in mind. Basically, it'll be whenever all of us and all of the Las Vegas crime lab can get time off, since I want all my Las Vegas friends to be there."

Nodding, Horatio agreed, "Of course." Then he fell silent, obviously doing some mental calculations. "Obviously, it will depend on case load, but I can try to take of things so that you can get married in, say, a month or so? I'll call Mr. Grissom and ask if that works well for them."

"Sounds great, H," Greg said, grinning. Then his grin faded slightly. "And, well, I hope this won't be a problem for anyone, but we were thinking of getting married in California. Before the November election, of course, just in case they decide to pass the amendment to the constitution."

Horatio looked thoughtful, but he said, "I don't think that should be a problem for any of us. Eric might be the only one, but I assume you'll take to him about it.

Greg nodded quickly. "Of course."

Horatio smiled and clapped him on his good shoulder. "Well, then, I wish you all the best, Greg. You've become a true member of our team. Good luck," he said before he left, putting his sunglasses on as he went. Greg smiled slightly. Horatio Caine never stopped working, no matter what the celebration.

He was startled by someone coming up beside him. He was even more surprised to see that it was Eric. Granted, Greg had always gotten on well with the entire team, but there had always been a bit of strain between him and Eric, strain inherited from Ryan's relationship with Eric. So while Greg was not entirely shocked that Eric had sidled up next to him, there was still an inherent wariness as for Eric's motives. The dark-haired CSI didn't meet Greg's eyes. "So you and Wolfe, huh?"

Greg shot him a sideways look, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Me and Wolfe?" he repeated. "Well, yeah, Eric. We've been dating for a long time now, and it was about time we made it official."

"I know that," Eric said, giving him a look. "I just mean…you and Wolfe. Making it official. Getting married. I mean, this is going to screw everything up, isn't it? Like, you know that you and Ryan can't work on the same shift anymore, or anything like that…" He trailed off, looking off into the crowd. "What if your entire relationship was built around work?"

And suddenly, Greg realized that Eric was not talking about Greg and Ryan; of course, he was talking about the one thing that Calleigh also couldn't shut up about: Eric and Calleigh. Well, at least this was a fairly neutral topic, and one that Greg did have a little bit of experience in. "Well," he said slowly, weighing his options in his mind. "Yeah, things can get pretty screwed up. I mean, it's hard working with someone who you're dating. And, trust me," he added, grimacing, "it's really hard when you fight, or, worse, when you break up. But here's the thing." Greg lowered his voice, letting it take on the still-slightly-amazed inflection of a man in love who was still marveling at being loved back. "If you love them, really truly love them, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters, because at the end of the day, you have each other. And that is all you need."

Eric wasn't looking at him, and Greg didn't have to follow his gaze to know that he was looking at Calleigh. "Thanks, man," Eric said, his voice distant. "I'll see you later. Oh—congratulations."

Greg leaned against the wall, a contented grin on his face. Another person came up beside him, but Greg wasn't surprised, even when this person snuck an arm around his waist. He turned to smile at Ryan, who in turn rested his head on Greg's shoulder. "Did you have a good chat with Eric?" Ryan asked.

Still smiling, Greg leaned over and kissed the top of Ryan's head. "I did, actually," he said, happiness radiating from every surface.

"You seem happy," Ryan remarked, looking up at him, a smile stretching across his face.

"I am happy," Greg said, leaning over again to kiss him fully on the lips. "And you're happy. We're happy." Pausing, he looked over to where Calleigh and Eric stood together, talking and laughing. "With a little help, maybe they'll even be happy soon. Things are finally as they should be."

Ryan grinned, resting his head on Greg's chest. "Yes they are," he murmured, as Greg's arms tightened around him. "Yes, they finally are."

FIN

A/N: I don't know if this is the end. There is a sequel that I have plotted out, but I just don't know. Ryan and Greg finally have a happy ending, but, you know, I don't feel like it's THE happy ending. The final one. We'll see. Thanks to everyone who reviewed or even just everyone who read. This beast started as one story that's now mutated into five, with a possible sixth (and maybe even seventh!).