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“You don’t have to do that.”
“What?” Michael blinks.
“It’s okay, Michael,” Alex sighs, even though his heart feels like it’s filled with lead, so heavy it’ll pull him right through the floor if he’s not careful. “She makes you happy, you don’t—you don’t have to give that up just because I still love you.”
For the longest minute of Alex’s life, all Michael does is stare at him like he’s just told him he’s been reassigned to the moon.
“Alex,” Michael says finally, taking a step closer to him, his eyes wide and a little hysterical in his disbelief. “I built a bomb that can kill me, my family, and every other alien on this planet for you and you think breaking up with Maria is where I draw the line?”
Alex opens his mouth to speak, but the words catch in his throat.
“You’re an idiot,” Michael announces, eyes shining with tears. “I love you so much, but you’re such a goddamn idiot, Alex.”
Michael’s words ring in Alex’s ears, his brain barely able to comprehend the depth of what Michael is finally, finally saying to him, and before Alex knows that’s happening, Michael is crossing Alex’s living room to meet him where he stands.
For a wild second, Alex thinks Michael is about to kiss him, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just holds Alex’s face between his palms, forcing him to pay attention, making sure he hears every word of what he’s about to say.
“I’m breaking up with Maria,” Michael tells him, a determined look on his face, “and then you and me are gonna talk, okay? No more hiding, no more bullshit—all our cards on the table. We are figuring this out, Alex, because I got a taste of a world without you in it and, I’ve gotta tell you, it’s not worth living in. Not for me.”
“Michael,” Alex says, his heart breaking and soaring in equal measure.
“Do you understand?” Michael asks.
Alex gulps and nods as much as Michael’s grip allows. Satisfied, Michael lets his hands fall from Alex’s face, but he doesn’t pull away entirely.
Alex watches him hesitate before he leans in and presses a kiss to Alex’s cheek, so gentle and heartfelt that Alex feels his eyes burning in his skull. Michael stays close for another minute after his lips leave Alex’s skin, breathing in slow and deep like he’s savoring the moment.
Alex stays stock-still, unwilling—or unable—to break the spell.
When Michael does pull back, Alex can see that he’s smiling, soft and hopeful.
“I’ll be back soon, okay?” he says, reaching up to brush against Alex’s cheek. His finger comes away wet, and it’s then that Alex notices he’s crying.
“Okay,” Alex sniffs and nods, a watery smile finding a home on his face. “I’ll be here.”