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It begins with a look.
Rather, it begins with a non-look, if there is such a thing. Because Finch had refused to look at him. At all. As if doing so would cause the world to collapse in on itself. He'd been teasing as usual and hadn't meant anything. Despite it's implications, the question had been innocent. But then Finch had dropped his gaze back down to his monitors. John was used to being ignored by the genius, to being dismissed over his flirty banter. This, though, was different.
“Have you been thinking about me, Harold?”
The tease had hung in the air like an electrical current and that had never happened before. Seconds later Finch said, “We have a new number, Mr. Reese,” in his usual dead-pan delivery. He went back to typing on his keyboard, deliberately careful not to show a reaction in his words.
John's resulting body language, however, hunching over the smaller man with one hand on the back of his chair and the other next to his mouse pad, was full of emotion. He'd tapped into that current somehow, his breath caught in his throat as Finch's shoulders visibly tensed. His face was an inch away. If he turned his head ever-so-slightly to the right he could pretend nothing was happening, pass it off as one of those things and never speak of it again. If he turned his head left Finch's temple could be his for the kissing. Warm and smooth and much too close.
Instead he'd straightened up, silently inhaled and recognized the sharp ache in his chest for what it was. A tell-tale sign of missed opportunities. Then they both carried on like all was right with their world.
Of course, now that John's laying down in Finch's, no, his apartment he finds that he can't sleep. He keeps doing exactly what he accused the other man of. He thinks next time, and it's not a matter of if, only when, they share a moment he won't be so scared. An inch is a helluva thing to take a chance on, but it's a chance nonetheless. Surrounded by the creature comforts Finch cared enough to buy for him he settles deeper into bed, considering the possibilities, and feels a smile steal across his face.
His partner is definitely worth the risk.