Saturday, 11:57 p.m. by scheherezhad

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Sometimes it's just too hard to say what you really feel.

Disclaimer: Don't own, not making any money, please don't sue.

Author's notes: This is just a little moment-in-time sort of thing, without any real context. It just demanded to be written.

Feedback: 'Twould make me ever so happy. scheherezhad@yahoo.com

Gar panted and thrust a few more times, and he finally came. He dropped his forehead to rest between Bart's shoulderblades. That was... "That was really bad, wasn't it?"

Bart was quiet for what felt like a long time even to Gar.

"Bart?" He pulled out and rolled onto his side so they could see each other.

"I don't know how to say 'yes' without saying 'yes,'" he said, eyes apologetic.

It was...really not the answer he'd expected. It was completely Bart. Gar snickered, then slipped into full-blown laughter. "Come here," he said with a grin, pulling Bart to him and kissing him until he was smiling, too.

Bart ran to the bathroom and came back with a warm washcloth. Gar cleaned them both up, then they settled in to spend a while making out lazily. He thought it'd been a long time since they'd had a bad kiss. Not since the beginning, when Bart was learning how to slow down to Gar's speed and just enjoy the moment.

Gar decided that maybe this was similar. No one was a great kisser without practice, and everyone had to have bad sex sometimes. Their first time had been pretty good, and every other time had been great, so this was sort of balancing things out. That made him feel a little better.

Bart pulled back with a soft sigh. He ran his fingers over Gar's lower lip, feeling how it had swollen. Then he got a vulnerable, serious look in his eyes. "I love you," he said quietly.

Gar swallowed. He could do this. He could... "Yeah. I...yeah." Really not say it back.

He hated the sad smile on Bart's face, hated himself for putting it there. But every time he tried to tell Bart how he felt, he got shaky, felt like he was going to throw up, and nearly started hyperventilating. The idea of being at that point in their relationship was overwhelming.

He wanted to be there. Bart had been there for a month. It had to be getting lonely. And really, it was pretty much guaranteed that there was no one on the planet less likely to hurt him than Bart, who would do anything to make him happy, so...he didn't know why he was so scared.

He tried again. "I...I..."

Bart shook his head and curled into Gar's chest. "I say it because I mean it, not for you to say it back."

Gar held him tightly and fought against the lump in his throat. They both knew the "but I wish you would" was there, even if he didn't say it out loud.