Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and no profit, monetary or otherwise, is being made through the writing and subsequent online publication of this.

A/N: Written because it just came to me, and I decided to just go with the flow. The song, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," by Christopher Cross, was instrumental toward the end. Thank you to lederra, , UmbrataLupus, SpagettiTacos, suerum, and others, for sticking with me through my writing slump. I know that, of those I've mentioned, only one is likely to read this.

Jesse followed Joey down to the basement. He was so angry that he was actually bristling. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end; his hands were clenched in fists, the nails digging into his palms; and he was holding his jaw shut so tight that he could actually hear his teeth grating against one another.

When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Jesse stood on the last step and just stared at the other man who returned his glare with a baleful look. Joey couldn't hold Jesse's gaze for long, though, and he looked at the floor.

Shifting from foot-to-foot, like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Joey took a deep breath, opened his mouth as though to speak, but didn't say anything. He ran his hand through his hair, and let his hand drop to his side.

Jesse's heart ached a little for the man he loved more than a friend and brother, but he held onto his anger, letting it distance himself from Joey, because he needed to maintain that distance for a little while longer. He needed Joey to understand that it wasn't okay, and that it would never be okay for him to do what he'd done.

"Jess…" Joey's voice was a strained whisper. "I…" He took a deep breath and shuddered.

It took all of Jesse's willpower not to go to Joey and wrap him in a hug and hold the other man until his anger, and Joey's discomfort, passed. But, he reminded himself of why he was angry, and he held his position on the bottom step.

"I'm sorry," Joey said, and he lifted his eyes to Jesse's, visibly flinching at whatever he saw in Jesse's eyes.

Jesse's heart thundered in his chest, and he took a steadying breath. A thousand thoughts were vying for his attention, and yet he couldn't pick out a single one of them to focus on and give voice to.

Before he was even fully aware of what he was doing, Jesse's body was in motion, and he was down the final step and standing an inch away from Joey. His mouth was moving, words spewing from his lips like molten lava – thick and hot.

"You're sorry? Sorry?" Jesse's finger seemed to have a mind of its own, jabbing into Joey's chest with every word that he spoke. "Tell me, Joe, what're you sorry for? For blowing me off to go on a date with some floozy or getting the crap beat out of you?"

His voice cracked on the last word, and Jesse's finger stilled. He could feel Joey's chest heaving beneath his fingertip. Joey's heart beat a staccato rhythm that Jesse easily translated into fear. Before Joey could back away from him, Jesse grabbed him around the waist and pulled him close. All of his anger spent with his sudden outburst, Jesse just wanted to hold Joey and 'fix' all of the damage that had been done to his partner.

Jesse cradled the back of Joey's head in his hand, and kissed a particularly livid bruise that had blossomed along the blonde's jawline. His lips moved from Joey's jaw to the cut above the man's right eye, and then to the bridge of Joey's nose, which was already swelling from his altercation with the woman's ex-boyfriend.

"I'm sorry," Joey repeated. His voice was thick with unshed tears, and regret. "I'm sorry; you know that you mean the world to me, Jess."

"I know, Joe." Jesse punctuated his words with another kiss; this one to Joey's split lip.

The kiss was soft and tender, more of a gentle caress than anything else. As angry as he'd been, Jesse didn't want to hurt the man he loved almost more than anyone else in the world. The girls were, and would always be, first and foremost in Jesse's life, and Danny, well, Jesse loved his brother-in-law like a real brother.

"You mean the world to me too," Jesse confessed, pulling back to look Joey in the eye, and wincing at the swelling of the other man's face.

Joey cracked a lopsided smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "That bad huh?"

Jesse shook his head and nodded. "Yeah, I think you'll have a double-shiner."

"Just call me Ricky the Raccoon," Joey's said wryly.

Jesse smiled and pulled Joey close again.

"Why did you do it? What were you thinking? Am I not enough for you?" His insecurities bled through and Jesse's heart hammered in his chest as he bit his lip in anticipation of Joey's answers.

Joey chuckled.

"Honey, you've got it all wrong." His breath was whisper soft against Jesse's neck as he spoke. "I went out with Pauline to help her get away from that goon she used to call a boyfriend. It wasn't supposed to go down like that. He was supposed to see that she was moving on with her life, and stop trying to get back together with her."

Jesse released a breath, and rubbed Joey's back. He brushed his lips over the top of Joey's head and marveled that he had such a wonderful, caring and generous man in his life. He felt like a first class heel for doubting Joey.

"If you hadn't happened along when you had…" Joey let the rest of his sentence taper off and sighed.

"I love you," Jesse whispered the words. His lips lightly grazed Joey's, and both men stilled.

"You do?" Joey's voice was filled with skepticism and wonder, and when he tried to pull away, Jesse just held him tighter. Neither man had spoken those words aloud to each other before, not like this.

"Yeah, I do." Jesse kissed Joey on the lips, pressing his lips to the other man's as hard as he dared, and smiling when Joey's lips parted with a moan that wasn't from pain.

"Joey Gladstone," Jesse marked each spoken word with a kiss, "I, Jesse Katsopolis, love you. You big lug."

"Ditto," Joey replied, kissing back.

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