[A/N: i thought this would be something, but i realize that it may be a lil derivative of those IZ fics of mine (i forgot that i did more than one oml). I'm sorry that i do so much with this fancharacter. Who am i trying to impress with this??? Who am i disappointing?? And how long will it take me to stop?

This is supposed to take place a few years after they know each other, after all of the other fics in this set. I'm going to move it to the back every time i update, until there's a story that takes place after this.

TW/CW: anxiety/attack, overheating, fainting, confession, reaction to confession, rejection???, carrying, sitting together, apologizing, understanding, friendship,idk where the ending went]

It wasn't supposed to come out like this. It wasn't supposed to come out at all, if he could have helped it. But it did, the words can't be unsaid, and the truth was now known.

He stared. It was all he could do. He was so shocked that he said those words that he was unable to do anything else. He was paralyzed by all of the nerves inside of him firing off in every direction imaginable, but as long as he stayed quiet and still, then none of it would come out. Like those words had.

The recipient was also stunned. He stared for a few seconds as well, as he took in the words and what they meant, and what they would mean henceforth. "Auto???"

"What?" He interrupted. "What, what? What did i say???" It was probably the panic.

"You said you love me." The words were clear, they couldn't be mistaken.

"What? What, no i didn't?" Eyes were darting everywhere. He was shaking where he stood.

Robot made a confused face. "Yes, you did." He could replay it if he wanted to.

Auto wouldn't look at him. He tapped a finger to his head. "No. No, i don't think i did." Androids could not gaslight each other. "Maybe it was an audio glitch that you heard."

Robot frowned. "No, you definitely said you love me. Why are you pretending you didn't???"

Auto was shaking so much that he could have welded himself to the concrete where he stood. His temperature gauge was reaching its upper limits, and he was not at all able to look at the person in front of him. He stayed silent and anxious beyond belief.

"Auto." Robot was losing his patience.

He felt like he was about to fall into a million pieces. It would be a welcomed relief if it would actually happen. He would have prefered anything happen instead of having to stand here right now. He could never imagine a timeline where this would have a decent ending for him.

Robot sighed. "Auto, you know that…" He didn't want to have to say it.

"Yes i know." That also came out on its own. He needed to go home right away and get rid of all of this glitchy behavior, every last bit of it.

Robot's sight fell to the ground. "I don't want this to get in the way of our friendship. I like you, Auto. But i don't… 'like' like you…"

Auto knew that well. It wasn't as if he said it to try and convince him otherwise. But that wasn't exactly something he could verbalize and be believed. In fact, he couldn't verbalize anything at that moment.

Robot watched him shake. He could see that Auto wanted to say something, but knew that his anxiety sometimes made him unable to do anything. He gave him a minute to try to recover, but it wasn't enough. "Auto, please try to calm down. I'm not upset at you. You're going to hurt yourself if you keep thinking about this."

That made his components drop. He knew he was upset to some degree, but having him say that he wasn't proved to him that he was. He felt like he was going to fall over. "S-sorry." And he did.

"Auto…" Robot shook his head as he stepped over to him to make sure that he was okay. He stooped to get a look at his limp friend. He could feel heat coming off of him as if he opened an oven door in the middle of summer. "Auto???"

He didn't get a response. He looked at the limp, noodly limbs that sprawled out from Auto's molten body. It was hard to tell whether he was conscious or not from this angle, so Robot circled to get a look at his face. The screen was dark, and there wasn't a reaction when he leaned in to get a better look. It seemed like Auto was shut off, which was probably the best way to get him to cool off from this overheating.

Robot stood up and looked around him. There wasn't anybody nearby, but he figured that the middle of the sidewalk wasn't a good place to let an android recover. He decided on a good way to fold him up, and carried him onto the grass. He set his burning body down gently, and spread his limbs out to give him some space. He sat on his knees and rested Auto's head in his lap as he ran a fan over him.

A short while passed before Auto's temperature must have gotten to a level low enough for him to continue functioning, because his screen turned on. The rest of his body reeled from being completely limp, but he still needed time to process why he spontaneously powered down. Only a second after he turned on did he see that Robot was looking down at him with concern. He wasn't recovered yet, but he did immediately feel nervous about being here.

"Are you doing okay, Auto???" He was holding his head on either side.

"RJ…" When his hard drive finished running through the footage from before he powered off, he started shaking and his temperature started going up again. He looked panicked.

"It's okay Auto. Just stay calm." He gently pet his forehead.

"I'm sorry, RJ." He turned his eyes away. "I'm sorry that i'm like this. I'm sorry that i put you on the spot like that. I really didn't mean to."

"I know, Auto. It didn't seem intentional. It just came out. I'm not upset at you." He smiled delicately.

Auto still wasn't convinced of that. He debated saying it, because he did want to be honest, but he also didn't want to overheat again or make Robot more upset. He thought about it for a minute.

"I…" He couldn't help himself. "I-i did mean what i said, though…"

"I know you did. I never doubted that." Auto looked up at him apologetically, and Robot responded with understanding.

"I don't want you to feel pressured about it. I know that you don't feel the same way about me. I… i guess i just wanted you to know."

He smiled and shook his head. "It's okay, Auto." Robot hugged his head. "You and i are still best friends."

Auto's components ached. He knew he would never say it back, but he felt almost disappointed that he didn't. "I-i guess we should probably get up now…"

"Are you sure you're going to be okay???" Robot watched as Auto sat upright.

Auto stood up on his feet. "I will." Robot stood up next to him. "Thank you, RJ."

"It's no problem, Auto." He smiled softly at Auto's sad face.

Auto intended to walk home alone. He needed time to get through everything on his own, and it would be best if he started right away. "I'm, uh…" Robot listened carefully. "I'm not gonna bring it up again, b-but i w… i want to say it one more time." Auto locked eyes with Robot. "I love you, RJ."

Robot didn't know what to say to respond to that. He respired, and just smiled gently and nodded.

Auto nodded a bit and turned away. "I'll see you again soon. Good night, RJ."

"Good night, Auto. Get home safe. Be well, okay???"

Auto started to turn away, but Robot touched his arm. He looked over to him, and Robot smiled in a way to suggest that Auto do the same. He didn't feel happy enough to, but he didn't want to disappoint Robot. He remembered that he said that the two of them would still be best friends, and that made him feel good enough to return a tiny smile. Robot lowered his hand and watched Auto start to walk away, happy that the truth was known.

[Post a/n: huhh. Well, there you have it, i guess. I'm sorry that i keep saying that Robot and Auto are best friends, i feel like that may be overstepping for this set of fics. I hope that this makes up for the other ones that i do: i feel like this would be more like "canon," if that, uh… means anything when it comes to fc fics :p know that all the rest really are on the "just for me" side of things.]