Jeff had to be honest with himself when he admitted, if only in his mind, that he didn't just want sex either. Of course he wanted sex, and of course he wanted it with Nick. There was no reason not to. Nick was a great guy, an amazing friend, sexy as hell, and a kickass kisser to boot. There was nothing to have qualms about there. Nothing at all. But Nick was opening up here, giving Jeff a very real, and very serious confession that Jeff had to take seriously. There was no joking going on right now. There was a very real possibility that they were about to have sex, but not if it was just sex. A casual fuck wasn't even on the table here, and Jeff realized fully how heavy that was. His dark eyes rested on Nick as the other man seemed to struggle for just a minute before explaining further. This couldn't just be a random fuck. It wasn't even an option, and when Nick spoke, Jeff couldn't help agreeing wholeheartedly. All that talk earlier about finding someone to cuddle with on the bad days... Someone to love and have with him through the good times and the bad ones... maybe his mind was running away with him here, and there was so much on the table with it all to think about, but he could imagine himself having those things with Nick. He didn't believe for a minute that it was the horny side of him running away. He'd fucked hot guys before, even hot guys he cared about, but it had never really felt like this to him on any level.

He took a step to put himself closer to Nick, and reached out to take the hand that wasn't holding the baby monitor. "Nicky... I know. And I don't... I don't just want to fuck you, either. I've... We've cared about each other for a long time. And we missed some time... a lot of time, really. But I never stopped caring. I... I couldn't help wondering when I found out you liked guys, too, if... If we'd stayed in touch, maybe would something have happened with us? So we'd end up together? I don't know. I know we can't really know that for sure because it's not how things went. But Nicky, I do care about you. And if we sleep together, I swear to you, I won't just be fucking you. I'm open to whatever might happen next. As long as what happens next isn't us being weird and never talking again." His hand squeezed Nick's tight. "I'm willing to try this, though. Are you? Because if you're not, I'll understand. Sleeping together was never a given for me anyway."