Lucio slowly dropped his hands away from his face as Ansel spoke and he gazed up into the man’s beautiful hazel eyes, his own continuing to drip tears down onto his cheeks. He couldn't help but lean into his delicate touch as it graced his cheek. A shaky breath escaped his lips as he did his best to relax and regain his normally unwavering composure; he found that at this stage it was impossible to wipe the emotion from his face, however. His wall had been torn down, much to his chagrin, and he'd exposed much more emotion and truth to Ansel than he ever wished to.<br/><br/>The boy listened to what the man had to say quietly, his arms slowly winding about himself as though he could shield himself from all that he was feeling in that moment. They didn't have to fuck, Lucio just had to stay. It seemed easy enough in theory, but when Lucio thought about it simply staying was almost harder. When they were fucking there was a way Lucio could chalk up their relations to lust in his mind. Despite the fact that he could feel a multitude of other emotions writhing about within him, begging to be exposed, he was able to convince himself that physical attraction drove his desires. If Lucio were to stay, spend the night doing nothing but lying beside his beautiful companion, he couldn't deny the fact that there was something else brewing.<br/><br/>Yet, the prospect of lying in his lovers arms was beyond tempting.<br/><br/>Lucio gazed up into Ansel's eyes as they stood quietly before each other, the professor's arm holding him close gently with a hand on his back. He didn't protest when Ansel leaned forward, in fact, he found himself melting into the delicate kiss more than he usually did. The way Ansel's sweet flavor cleansed his palate of the bitter taste of salty tears was admittedly delightful, and Lucio found himself reaching up to take a hold of the man’s broad shoulders to steady himself. The kiss lingered, and by the time Lucio broke away he was utterly breathless.<br/><br/>"Ansel. It scares me that . . . That you make me feel safe," he whispered as the pair of them stood there close to each other. Their breath mingled in the cool air of the apartment and their lips brushed against each other as Lucio spoke, flirting with the idea of another embrace. "I've never felt like this, and I've never had the desire to. I've always been perfectly content with being alone and now all of a sudden I'm not; I already feel empty when you're gone and that terrifies me." Lucio contented himself with telling Ansel all of this with the assumption that he wouldn't remember any of it come morning. The man had drunk glass after glass of strong bourbon, Lucio doubted he'd even remember seeing his wounds when he woke, and they'd have to go through the entire scuffle again come the morning.