Today was Gus' last time visiting the hospital. His ribs were healed, and he had three tight shiny cars, the only long term physical mark from his ordeal. He should've been happy, right?

But Gus wasn't happy.

It was kind of silly, really, the reason he wasn't, but what it came down to was this: Now that he had recovered, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep living with Keith and Mira. He didn't really know where else to go. He supposed he could get his own apartment, and yet-

He couldn't see how he was going to live without them. Especially Keith, who he had always been with while he was Spectra. Gus couldn't remember how his life worked before meeting him.

So there Gus was, chewing his lip, out late that night with Keith at one of those convenience stores, the ones for the oh-damn-I-forgot-the-milk moments. Which was why they were there; for milk. They needed milk because Mira had made cookies from scratch. Cookies required milk.

So there you go.

Gus had been feeling keyed up anyway and wanted to get out. He trailed along behind Keith, letting his gaze drift across random displays as he thought of possible ways to bring up the topic to Keith. He was failing. Miserably.

His gaze fell on a rack of condoms and stayed a second too long. Keith glanced back and caught him looking, causing him to blush and tear his gaze away. Keith smirked and looked forward again.

They were in front of the freezers where the milk was. Gus stared at the rows of dairy, still chewing his lip, thinking.

"Two percent is a nice compromise if you're torn between skim and whole." Keith drawled, a smile still on his face.

"I wasn't thinking about the milk." Gus admitted.

"What about, then?" asked Keith, reaching past him to open the freezer to grab the milk. A blast of cold air emitted from the open door. Gus shivered, but not from the chill, rather, from the nearness of Keith.

You, you, you, I'm thinking about you.

Gus didn't say anything. He didn't say anything when Keith closed the freezer, he didn't say anything when they went to the front to pay, he didn't say anything when they went back to the car. He didn't say anything until Keith held him the milk to hold while he drove and asked "Are you ever going to answer my question?"

Gus sighed. "I'm just… wondering what I'm going to do now."

"What do you mean?" asked Keith while backing out of the lot.

"Well… it's just… " Gus sighed again, then decided to just bite the bullet and say it. "Am I still going to be able to live with you?" the word came out in a rush.

"What?" Keith asked Gus in a shocked voice. Gus' heart sank, then "Why would you ask that? Of course you can still live with me!"

"I-I can?" Gjus asked, a bright flicker of hope flaring up in his chest.

"Gus, you'll always be able to stay with me if you need to." Keith said softly. He frowned, then added "I mean, if you wanted to get your own place… "

"No, no! That's fine." Gus laughed, a relieved and elated sound. "I like staying with you."

Keith smiled "I do too."

Gus was extremely happy to hear that; he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

-x-

Keith jerked awake at some time in the middle of the night.

Another bad dream…

He sighed to himself, wincing when he realized his head was pounding. His head had been hurting a lot lately. He figured he should go to the kitchen and take an ibuprofen. Keith got up, the bed springs squeaking slightly.

"Where are you going?" Helios mumbled from his nightstand.

"Headache." Keith replied.

Helios grunted and didn't say anything more. Keith left his room and crept down the hall to the kitchen; it still smelled faintly of the cookies Mira had baked earlier. He opened the cabinet where they kept the medication and grabbed what he though was the ibuprofen, but when he pulled it out, it was Gus' pain medication. Keith stared at it.

Gus won't really be needing this anymore… But he couldn't seem to bring himself to just throw it away. In a weird way, he was going to miss the Gus from the past three months. Not the pain he was in, but the way he would always look to Keith for things. After years of having Gus do so much for him, he found he was pleased to have their roles reversed. Keith remembered Gus' shy expression from earlier when he asked if he could still live with him. At first, Keith had panicked thinking Gus didn't want to stay with him. The thought had brought a sudden sharp pain through his chest. He shouldn't have worried though.

I like staying with you.

Keith smiled then heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Mira padding into the kitchen. "Mira, what are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." she said, coming to stand beside him. She glanced down at the pill bottle in his hand. "Isn't that Gus' medication?"

"Yeah, I grabbed it by accident." Keith said, putting it back in the cabinet and grabbing the ibuprofen. "I was just thinking about how he wouldn't need it anymore."

"You don't sound very happy about it." Mira noted.

Keith sighed "No, I am. I'm glad he's not in pain anymore."

"But?"

Keith didn't respond, not knowing what to say.

"Keith," Mira said softly "when are you going to tell him?'

He looked at her. "How did you know?"

"Because I know you. I'm not blind Keith, I see you two act around each other all the time."

Keith sighed again, happy that someone knew and yet slightly sad at the same time; he wasn't really surprised. "I don't know. It's complicated."

"It's not as complicated as you make it out to be."

"Maybe." Really what Keith was afraid of was being rejected.

"I'm not trying to force you Keith. Just think about it, okay"?" she said hugging him; he hugged her back. "Just be happy Keith."

"Getting there." he whispered softly.

"Get there faster." she pecked him on the cheek and let him go. She started to exit the kitchen, calling over her shoulder "Goodnight Keith."

"Goodnight Mira." he responded before turning his attention back to the bottle in his hand. Talking with his sister seemed to clear his head; it didn't hurt as much.

Maybe I don't really need these.

He put the pill bottle back in the cabinet and, as he did, his gaze fell once again on Gus' old medication.

Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

Keith walked quickly and quietly down the hall to Gus' room, stopping right outside the door. He took a deep breath and, before he could lose his nerve, knocked on the door. A long, anxious moment passed and he debated knocking again. Or just walking away. The he heard movement on the other side of the door and a second later it opened. Gus was looking at him with sleepy green eyes and wearing a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Keith? What is it?" Gus asked sleepily.

Keith's eyes took in everything about Gus: his messy blue hair, groggy green eyes, dark long sleeve shirt slightly rumpled from sleep, sweatpants, his bare feet. His eyes darted back up to meet Gus', who was still looking confused. Keith opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead, Keith crushed his lips to Gus', trying to show him what he was feeling. The bluenette was frozen against him. Keith pulled away, taking in Gus' shocked expression. Immediately, he tried to backtrack.

"I-I'm sorry." Keith stuttered, feeling exposed and embarrassed. "I-I won't do that again. Ju-just forget about it." he started to turn and back away. Something grabbed his arm and he turned back to find Gus' green eyes locked on his.

Swiftly, Gus pressed his lips to Keith's, warm and soft. He responded immediately, bringing his hands up to cup the bluenette's face. His lips and hands burned, a slow smoldering flame, where he was touching Gus. He poured everything he had been feeling for the past several months into the kiss, Gus responding with the same intensity. The kiss seemed to go on forever, and yet it some ways, it wasn't long enough.

Reluctantly, Keith pulled away to look at Gus once more. The bluenette was looking at him, a soft shy smile on his face. Keith smiled back, lightly stroking one thumb down the side of Gus' face. Softly, Keith whispered "I love you."

Then, in a voice sounding like it had waited a thousand years to say it, Gus said "I love you too."

And there you have it. Hope you all enjoyed this short little story. Who knows, maybe I'll do something else with it, albeit probably not under this title, but canon to it. Thank-you all for your support, especially you, Troth, who re-inspired me to keep writing this after I read through several of your works.