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It was lunchtime, and Harry was removing his robe and setting it down on his chair. Dan had asked to speak to him about something in private, so, as usual, they met in Harry’s chambers.
Energetic as ever, Harry took a seat atop his desk, smiling and asking “so, what is it you wanted to talk about, Mr. Prosecutor?” Dan, pacing slightly, had one hand on his hip, the other hand holding his chin and covering his lips in thought. He glanced up with a look in his eyes Harry wasn’t sure he’d seen before. Dan didn’t say a word, but it gave Harry a moment to take it in as his own smile fell to a more serious look.
The expression was devoid of the things he had come to expect from Dan Fielding. He saw no lust, no pride, not even the false deference he showed when he was sucking up. Dan’s eyes were almost blank, not as if he felt nothing, but as if he wasn’t putting up any walls. Harry felt like he was gazing into Dan’s soul.
“Your Hon… Harry,” Dan sighed. “Harry.”
“Dan.” Harry probably just looked more confused than anything at that moment. “What is it?”
“Harry, I… Do you…” Dan looked away, and Harry never planned to admit how much he resented no longer being able to see that honest look on Dan’s face. “Do you remember when I was in the hospital?”
“Well, gee, Dan, of course I do. That was… Well, it was,” Harry searched for the right thing to say, “hard to forget.”
“Harry,” Dan repeated, looking back in Harry’s direction. “Do you remember, do you remember that… thing. What we said to each other?” He said it less like a question and more like a statement.
“Well, I said it. You had to rely on that other guy saying it for you.” Dan squinted in annoyance and Harry held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I’m just saying what happened.”
Dan’s expression returned to that genuine look and he let out a small laugh that was more like a puff of air through his nose. “Well, at least we’re talking about the same thing here.” Dan leaned on the arm of the couch, crossing his legs and looking down at his feet.
“Harry,” Dan started once more, and Harry felt like he wouldn’t mind if Dan said his name a thousand more times, because he liked the way it sounded from Dan’s lips. He didn’t plan on admitting that either. “Harry, I really did mean what I… didn’t say. I still do. Love you, I mean.”
“I love you too, Dan. Is that all you wanted to talk about? Just wanting to say it out loud, or…?” Dan stood up, looking Harry in the eyes.
“No, Harry, I wanted to say that I love you.” He started to pace again. “I mean I love you, as in I love you. Not in the way either of us meant it when we said in the hospital. Do you know what it was like to wake up to you lying on my chest, Harry? Being able to have you so close, knowing you were there, knowing you were safe and being able to hold you and keep you safe with me was one of the best things I’ve ever felt.
“I worry about you, Harry. I worry about you a lot. I know that sounds ridiculous but I’ve never been more scared than when your life has been threatened. When I woke up with you on my chest, I knew you were safe and that I didn’t have to be worried,” Dan paused for air and glanced up at Harry a bit fearfully. The look on his face made him chuckle.
“You have that puppy dog look in your eyes, Harry,” Dan muttered, looking back down at the floor. Harry slid off the desk and started moving toward Dan, slowly, as if he was trying not to startle him and scare him away. When he reached him he put his hands on Dan’s shoulders, prompting him to look at Harry’s hands and then into Harry’s eyes as Harry pulled him tightly into a hug. He wrapped his arms loosely around Dan’s neck, resting his cheek on one of his shoulders.
For a moment, Dan wasn’t quite sure what to do with his arms, but he eventually wound them tightly around Harry. His hand moved up Harry’s back as his eyes fell shut and he breathed in Harry’s scent, resting his chin on his shoulder.
“I love you too, Dan. I mean that,” Harry whispered, and if he was a note or two above the pitch he normally spoke in, Dan wouldn’t mention it. He just smiled and took in the feeling of holding Harry, of loving Harry and knowing that he loved him too. “I think I’ve always felt that… safeness, stuff, just being around you.”
Dan pulled away from the hug and Harry’s arms dropped. Dan wrapped his hands around Harry’s biceps, just to look in his eyes for a while. He still had that puppy dog look. His eyes glistened, his bottom lip pressed up against his upper. Before, though, he had a more serious look across his lips, but now he was smiling slightly.
“Dan?”
“Yes, Harry?”
“We should probably get something to eat before the lunch hour is over.” Dan smiled and cupped Harry’s face in his hands.
“Yeah, we should,” he answered. “How about this… I know a great place a block over, why don’t we go there together?” That brought a smile to Harry’s face.
“Are you asking me on a date, Mr. Fielding?” Harry wrapped a hand around Dan’s wrist.
“Maybe I am,” Dan flirted, leaning in closer. Harry’s smile fell slightly as he leaned in as well, both of their eyes falling to one another’s lips as they met in the middle, kissing each other softly. When they parted, Harry looked into Dan’s eyes once more.
“Well, I accept,” he whispered. “I’ll go get my jacket.”