"You know I love you, right?"
Lukas looked over at Mathias who had spoken the words. They had both been lounging on Mathias' bed, Lukas immersed in a book and Mathias knocking himself out on a video game, the controller still lying in his lap as he sat up straight, looking at Lukas seriously.
Lukas closed his book after bookmarking the page he was on, resting it on his stomach as he looked at the Dane.
"You do say so everyday," he pointed out, confused at the strangeness of the man's behaviour. What had brought this on?
"I'm serious." Mathias put the controller to the side, turning onto his knees to face Lukas on the bed. Lukas mimicked him to a degree, though he sat in a half cross-legged position, one foot dangling off the edge of the bed.
"What's brought this on?" he asked, unsure how to react to Mathias' sudden attitude shift.
"I know I throw the words around a lot," Mathias started, furrowing his brows a little, "so I thought it was important you know I mean them."
Lukas stared at him for a few moments before shuffling up to him, placing a hand over his. Mathias needed to speak so he'd listen. It wasn't often that he saw the Dane so serious about anything, and it worried him.
"And not just you, of course! I love everyone - Emil, Berwald, Tino, heck! Even little Peter. I love all of you so much." He had been looking at some invisible object on the floor before, but he now looked at Lukas, and Lukas felt lost in those bright blue eyes. He looked away again too soon. "If anything ever happened to any of you..."
Lukas flicked him lightly on the nose, bringing him back to reality after he drifted away a little, bringing his eyes back to meet Lukas'.
"It's okay," he said, making sure to not break eye contact. He didn't know what started this and he didn't want to pressure Mathias into talking until he was ready to. But he had to let him know they all loved him too.
"Everyone loves you too," he continued, reassuringly, flicking Mathias on the forehead lightly for good measure. "Idiot."
Mathias rubbed the spot he had been flicked a little, smiling gently. It wasn't the breathtaking grin Lukas had become accustomed to receiving since they were little but it was a start.
With a long sigh, Mathias' head dropped onto Lukas' shoulder and he reached out to intertwine their fingers, and Lukas could feel his smile growing steadily brighter as he admired their joint hands.
"I don't ever want to see you - any of you - hurt," Mathias mumbled into the crook of Lukas' neck, who rolled his eyes lightly, playing with Mathias' hair. He kissed the top of Mathias' head gently, their hands still intertwined. He loved this man so much it hurt.
"I know, Mathias. I know."
