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Lex had been home for over a year now, slowly readjusting to life outside of the lab. He had his teammates by his side, helping him through the rough days, and he was never alone in the base; he shared a room with Nightmare after all. Neither party seemed to mind sharing a room, Lex happy to have someone there at night while Nightmare was still in disbelief that he was back home, his best friend was finally back home.
Amanda, their boss, watched as both Lex and Nightmare grew happier as they spent time together, though it was weird to see the normally angry and emotionless man smiling by just hanging out at home. But Amanda was good at reading people, way too good at it. She saw a bit of pain hidden behind Nightmare’s smile, and she knew why; the man was head over heels for Lex.
Ever since Lex joined the team it’s been so obvious, the blushing, the smiling, the stumbling over words, all of it. Lex didn’t seem to notice, and if he did, well, he was doing a damn good job at hiding it. She wanted to talk to Nightmare about it, but he was never the type to talk about his emotions, or anyone’s emotions.
When she walked into the living room late one night, Nightmare was sitting on the couch, face buried in his hands. This was her chance. She sat down next to him, he didn’t move, didn’t even give her a glance.
“This is a first; you being out of your room willingly.” She teased.
“Need a break.” He mumbled into his hands.
“A break? From Lex? Did something happen?”
“No, I just...need a break, my head needs a break.” He sat back on the couch, fingers tangled in his hair.
“Night, I’m gonna be honest with you; you aren’t good at hiding the fact that you like-”
“Shut up!” He yelled, panic in his eyes. “Shut up. I know what you’re gonna say and I don’t need him to hear it. That’s the last thing I need him to know right now.” His hands were shaking now.
“He’s gonna hear you yelling before he hears me, relax. You know you’re gonna have to tell him eventually, right?” She has to tread carefully now, one wrong phrase and he’ll shut down the conversation.
“I know, and I will, but,” He hesitated. “Now? He’s just getting used to being out of that place, I doubt finding a relationship is even close to being on his mind right now, let alone with the guy who got him stuck in the lab in the first place.” He sighed and deflated into the couch.
“Stop saying that! I was the one who called the retreat, not you, so stop blaming yourself. And you two seem happy together, just tell him. He’s Lex, he won’t hurt you and he’ll still treat you as a friend even if things go south.” She pulled her legs on the couch, sitting cross legged. “I mean, you two share a bed a few times a week, so he probably has at least some idea that you like him.”
Nightmare’s eyes went wide and his face went red. “How do you know that?” He asked in shock.
“Oh please, I have to wake your asses up for training. Every time I see you two sleeping together, I leave you alone until one of you wakes up by yourself. And I also may have taken a picture of you curled up against Lex’s chest like a cat.” She smiled, scrolling through her phone looking for the picture.
“You have a- don’t pull it up!” He yelled, growing more and more flustered. He tried to grab Amanda’s phone, but she found the picture anyway. Nightmare was now staring down at a picture of him and Lex sleeping on his bed, his face completely buried in Lex’s chest. He didn’t know how to react, instead just staring down at the photo, face hot a red.
“I fucking hate you.” He tossed her phone back to her. “You showed that to the team, didn’t you?” He crossed his arms.
“Nah, you hid me and Mike dating, so I’ll keep this one secret. Call it even, yeah?” She held out her hand, Nightmare took it and shook it.
“So...you gonna tell him now?”
“No, I’m not telling him shit, he doesn’t need to know what bullshit emotions I have for him, not now, not fucking ever.”
“Emotion for who?” A tired voice said from behind. Nightmare froze; he woke Lex up.
“Well, that’s my cue to leave, have fun.” Amanda said, giving Nightmare a pat on the shoulder before ducking into the kitchen.
“Don’t fucking- boss!” Nightmare yelled, not wanting to be left alone to talk this one out. He turned to face Lex, he was leaning against the door-frame, his vine arm slowly growing out of where his right arm used to be. “Hey Lex, how long have you been standin’ there?” He asked nervously, silently cursing at his magic for not telling him Lex was there.
“Since you yelled ‘shut up’. Your voice can be really loud sometimes.” He chuckled. He pushed off the wall and leaned over the back of the couch, his vine arm now fully out and grown. “So...if what I heard was right, you two were talking about me, you wanna, you know, tell me before I ruin your moment?” He smiled tiredly at his worked up teammate.
“Uh...well, you see...goddamn it, I’m sorry man. I really am, I know you’re going through a lot and I wasn’t really gonna tell you any-” He was cut off by a warm and soft pair of lips on his. His eyes were wide and unfocused while his shoulders rose from tension. Lex pulled away just as quick as he moved in, but this time he stared at Nightmare with a goofy smile.
“Don’t be sorry, I’ve known for awhile now. Well, I’m going to bed,” Lex turned around and started towards the stairs. “Feel free to join, it’s your room after all.” He said from the hall.
Nightmare sat on the couch completely stunned. His mind was racing along with his heart, and his face was hot and red. He didn’t even realize that Amanda had sat back down on the couch.
“Earth to Night, you there?” She waved a hand in front of Nightmare’s face. She didn’t get a reaction. “Well, I just wanted to say that I fucking told you so! Now go get some sleep, you’ve got someone waiting for ya~” She teased as he went to her room, Nightmare still just sat there on cloud nine.