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The apartment was black as pitch for the early evening when Leon unlocked the door and let himself in.
As he trudged down to his bedroom, he busied himself with unlocking his phone and catching up on any texts he had missed while he’d been out of range. Most of them were from Claire reaching out to make plans for a day out to catch up. He got a quick response back from her, and he smiled, amused, at the lighthearted joke that he had better show up this time.
His bedroom was as he left it in the morning—slightly messy in some areas from when he had to rush out when the call came in. Dumping his bag down beside the bed, he set both sets of keys and phone on the nightstand before he beelined for the shower. For a simple recon op that had him in and out in under a day, he was filthy.
Figuring that he’d had the rest of the evening to himself, along with tomorrow, he took his time before he jumped in. So, when a knock rang throughout his apartment as he was drying off, he paused. Who the hell decided to come visit him now? He wasn’t given the luxury of questioning any further when another knock sounded and was followed up with, “Leon?”
Cursing under his breath, he gave his hair another pass under the towel before he set it aside to snag a shirt and pants to put on.
Whoever he was thinking about, it was certainly not who was standing on the other side of the door once he opened it just wide enough to see who had come around.
“Chris?” he asked, eyebrows jumping up in surprise, and ran a hand through his hair, knowing that some of it was sticking up. He automatically moved to let the other man inside, and missed the quick once-over Chris had given him. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard you were back,” Chris explained as he moved about the apartment like it was his second home. Hell, it might as well be with how many times the other man had come over before. Leon leaned against the wall, and was powerless to stop the curl of warmth unfurl within him as he watched Chris open up the kitchen cupboards.
“So, I thought we could take that movie night we talked about if you aren’t too tired.”
Leon hummed, a noncommittal sound. That particular conversation had been a while ago. They’d always had to reschedule thanks to both the DSO and the BSAA calling them both in for whatever they needed, field work and office work alike. “Sure. Got any preferences?”
“Whatever’s good with you,” Chris answered easily, and glanced back over just in time to catch Leon’s agreeable wave before he made his way back out into the living room.
Cue his current predicament.
They were lounging on the couch, and even if Leon wasn’t fully pressed up against Chris, he could feel the solid line of heat against his thigh from where he had it resting. Chris hadn’t moved his away when Leon’s had first brushed up against it, but Leon just attributed it to him being engrossed enough to even notice.
A couple of movies in, his jaw cracked open in a yawn.
“You can go to sleep if you want,” Chris said, glancing away from what was happening on the screen. “I came over pretty late.”
Leon didn’t mind it. The alternative was him spending the night alone curled up on the couch, anyway. “Alright,” he said with a shrug, and situated himself until he was lying across the couch, his feet kicked up on the armrest. His head was gingerly resting on the man’s thigh, but when Chris didn’t immediately shift him away, he relaxed.
“Sorry,” he murmured, though he wasn’t sure if Chris caught it, slightly slurred as it was. Let alone him being aware enough to catch whatever Chris said in response, but he hoped it wasn’t anything concerning, given their positions. He could weather his annoyance in the morning if Chris was still around by then.
As sleep rose up to claim him, he thought he felt a hand gently running through his hair. He could almost see it: Chris looking down at him with a soft smile, adoration plain in those earnest, brown eyes. Like the center of his world was just Leon; everything else had faded away.
It made his heart flutter. And he nursed that feeling as best he could before he was lost to sleep’s inevitable embrace.
They met up again a couple times after that night. Chris had indeed stuck around after Leon had fallen asleep, and thankfully didn’t seem awkward around him. Nor did he make any mention about it.
Leon was sort of grateful for that. It, of course, didn’t help lessen his affection, but at least Chris didn’t start to pull away from him. His fantasies could remain just that: fantasies.
Though, every time Chris touched him it drove Leon crazy. Whether it was a clap on the shoulder, their fingers accidentally brushing as they handed one another something, or whatever else, the lingering touches were enough to make Leon think that on some level, Chris felt the same way for him. Or, at the very least, he was attracted to him.
Apparently, Leon turned out to be partly correct on the former.
He couldn’t remember what led them up to this point as he sat there frozen over his lunch. “What?” he asked inelegantly.
A faint, red flush was sitting high atop Chris’s cheeks as he repeated, “I’ve been in love with you for years.”
Leon’s mind was blank.
Was this really happening?
Was Chris Redfield seriously confessing to him? Him?
He knew he was staring, and as the seconds ticked by without a word from him, Chris’s hopeful expression slowly began to falter.
“You, uh—” the man started, glancing down at his plate, and fidgeted with the fork in his hand. “You don’t have to say it back. Or anything at all, really. It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way. I just—”
Chris’s beginnings of a ramble stuttered to a stop as Leon finally moved, a hand coming to rest atop Chris’s own that was closest to him.
He waited until Chris met his eyes. “Chris, I—” Leon paused, his heart pounding a rhythm inside his chest. “I love you, too. Have for years, actually. I just didn’t know if you felt the same.” This was wholly unexpected, but Leon couldn’t find it in himself to hold back the truth, now that he knew the depth of the other man’s feelings. Not when his own obviously ran just as deep.
“Besides, you’re moving awfully fast there, Redfield. You haven’t even taken me to dinner yet,” he teased, smirking as Chris fondly squeezed his fingers, and took the opportunity to lace theirs together.
“I was thinking about going out for some breakfast instead. How about it?” Chris asked, grinning.
A warm feeling spread throughout his chest. This was unexpected, yes, but if pressed, he wouldn’t change a thing about it. He found himself unable to look away from Chris’s bright eyes and grin, and smiled. “It’s a date.”