S A M U E L
Remi just looked at him, at first. Sam watched his eyes stare into his own, then move to his lips; for a moment it appeared as if his fantasy may come true but then Remi did not move in or pull him close. He began to speak.
Sam stopped himself before he jumped in to tell Remi that no, he'd said it before, he'd said it so many times and he'd meant it every one, when he'd first said it in the back of the Rathskeller and when he'd gasped it out making love and when he'd whispered it into Remi's hair while he was sleeping. He'd meant it all of those times and he meant it so much more now, but Remi couldn't know it.
"I...It's not..the first time in general, but it's the first time for this you. So it still means something." He tried to smile but somehow didn't have the strength in his face. No one had ever said 'I love you' to Sam, and still no one had. There was a part of him that envied Remi deeply.
But there was a side of him that keenly noticed that Remi had not run. That he had gazed at Sam's lips for a moment. That they were alone now in the temple, with people either having filtered down to the Rathskeller or gone home. His hand moved almost without his consent to touch Remi's jaw softly, the touch barely there.
"Remi...could I kiss you?" He asked. After all, I love you was hardly complete without it.
I AM THE OCEAN CLAWING AT YOUR MOON
