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“You’re gonna make me fall in love with you.”
Cloud bites his lip as he curls a finger in the fabric of Leon’s thin undershirt before slipping forward and nuzzling their neck. “Is it working?”
Leon flicks an eye down but only sees blond spikes brushing against their chin. A small smile slips across their face as they gently give Cloud another squeeze. “You’re in luck, I think. And an icebox for some reason,” Leon says as he tugs a blanket over them.
“Well, you’re hotter than the sun, Leonhart,” Cloud quips. Leon’s cologne is what Cloud genderlessly refers to as ‘boy smell,’ and even though his neck is stretched a bit far, it’s worth it to take Leon in. “Will you give me this shirt when you die?”
“…are you planning on dying after me? You think I’d leave you alone like that?”
It’s a joke. It’s always a joke. But the tiny fireworks in Cloud’s heart explode in a rapid staccato, forcing a breath of air from his lungs. Is it praise? Or is it just the awareness and reassurance that, yes, his super hot partner that he’s been dating for over five years does, in fact, care about him?
Cloud tilts his head back down and puts his ear back over Leon’s heart. He takes a deep breath and then another, exhaling slowly across the warm, scarred hillside of Leon’s chest.
“I love you so much,” Cloud says softly.
Leon runs a hand through Cloud’s hair. “I know, starshine. And I love you back.”
They love me back They love me back They love me-
Cloud whimpers into Leon’s chest. “Don’t say it back; I can’t…I’m…you’ll get hurt, Lee.”
Leon abruptly sits up and gently but swiftly lifts Cloud to scoot him back onto Leon’s legs. While he’s still wide-eyed from the surprise, Leon puts their hands on Cloud’s cheeks and leans forward to touch their noses together. They look straight into Cloud’s eyes, barely blinking.
“Then hurt me. Rip me apart, I don’t care. As long as it’s you I don’t care.”
“Leon,” Cloud breathes.
“No, listen to me,” they reply, gently tapping Cloud’s cheeks. “I can’t fall out of love with you. It won’t happen. It’s impossible. And yeah, we’ve had rough patches, but we got through it. We always get through it. And those silly little thoughts in your head that are trying to convince you that you’re toxic or not worth it are lying.”
Cloud stares at Leon for a long time in silence. He doesn’t dart his eyes away in fear like he wants to. He keeps looking, searching hesitantly for any deception or hesitation, but that just doesn’t exist in Leon’s steel-blue eyes.
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely,” Leon says. They drop their hands from Cloud’s cheeks before pulling him in for a soft kiss. “You’re…you, Cloud. You’re a good person.”
Cloud sighs before leaning forward and dropping himself against Leon’s chest again, forcing the elder to catch him. “I’ve ruined you. You’re crazy now.”
Leon laughs before kissing Cloud’s hair. “Yeah. In love.”