"Contest: Whoever comes up with the most ways to say 'I love you' wins." Maybe this is his own, ridiculous manner of saying those three words for the first time? It's certainly never been said before.
Heās only half-listening, nose stuck in a book as he leisurely reclinedĀ āpon the couch they shared. Thereās only a brief flit of his eyes as first reactionāonly a moment spared from the written word to glance at the blond, brow raised. Always with the silliness. Where did he keep coming up with such things?
Ā Ā āCongratulations, youāve won.āĀ Ā Spare him the honor of joining such ridiculous competition. If Guy wanted to make a fool of himself, so be it; he didnāt have to drag the militant down with him. For so silly a thing as saying in different ways āI loāāĀ for sayingāl o vĀ Ā lĀ Ā
Saying what now? He must have misheard, surely. Heād saidĀ ālikeā, hadnāt he? Oh dear. Slowly the book dropped and his interest in words had changed dramatically. Oh dear. A flat snark come-back wasnāt the proper response after all, was it. What was? He couldnāt justāhe couldnāt just say it back, surely not. He wasnātāhe wasnāt sure he felt quite so strongly as the blond did. Heāwasnāt sure it was possible. Could he? The man had already left once. Whatās to say he wouldnāt do so again?
And even thenāit was inevitable, wasnāt it. Perhaps not that month, year, decade, but eventually. Heavens!āa decade. That seemed like far too much time. He could easily see himself with Guy a year from then, but a decade? Oh dear. That was a bit much. By then heād really be expected to think about the family legacy. Was adopting two generations in a row an okay thing to do? He couldnāt just hand the family off to Raymondāthings would fall back down into corruption and his cousin hadnāt quite the mind his father had. The family would be ruined.
Oh dear. He was panicking nowāquietly, stoically, only noticeable in that the heat that burned his face when heād realized what had been said had chilled into pale pallor as his breath came shallow and quick.Ā Okay, relax. Donāt take things so deathly serious for once. Stop clenching that jaw, and say something. Smooth it over. Those lessons in conversation and manners and such had to have some use, surely.Ā
Ā Ā āErm. Well, erāshall we⦠celebrate your victory then? Air sounds nice. I meanāice cream. No, frozen gels. Yes. Anything.āĀ Ā Nailed. it.Ā















