Fire

Chapter Three

"Well I never expected that from you Finch." Finch could absolutely hear the smile on Reese's lips as he practically jumped out of the bed and stumbled backwards. He saw Reese quickly move as if to try and hold him up but the other man's soreness made him too late. Finch landed unceremoniously on his behind with a thud and a small 'Oh' escaping his lips. He felt his face grow intensely hot and as he resettled his glasses back onto his face properly he did everything in his power to not look the object of his desire, although at this time it was more hate than desire, in the eyes.

"You alright Finch?" Reese sounded concerned but Finch knew better. The man must be laughing his perfectly shaped butt off inside.

"Y-yes Mr. Reese. I'm just fine." Finch stuttered his words. He never stuttered. He had made it a mental note in his life to never be nothing less than eloquent, even in the most stressful of occasions. Clearly this occasion was more than he even bargained for. He thought he heard Reese let out a short sort of giggle from his spot on the floor and then he remembered he was actually still on the floor. He made a face and began to raise himself up with great effort.

"Oh Finch." All of a sudden Finch felt a pair of strong arms being wrapped around him and he was no longer on the floor. With Reese so close to him he had no other option but to look him in the eyes. They looked pained and the man remembered that his partner had just recently been in a dangerous explosion that left his body just as weak as Finch felt everyday. He felt like a very bad friend and overall a careless person and he grabbed on to Reese to keep him from falling over too.

"Mr. Reese there was no need." He began to apologize, "With your condition nonetheless."

"What condition? I feel just fine." Reese tried to play off his pain, as he often did but Finch was not having it. He gave Reese an 'I know you are lying' look and the taller man couldn't help but sigh in a defeated manner and let himself be led back to the bed. Finch pretended not to notice the wince Reese made and he tried his hardest to place him in a comfortable position but his own pain, both old and new, began to resurface and it made for a very awkward trek back onto the twin sized bed. Once on, Finch quickly let go of Reese and cleared his throat in an attempt to dissipate his uneasy feelings. He had just short of molested the man before him and then he had tried to run away like a frightened school girl only landing him on the ground looking silly. He could feel the heat coming back up to his face and cleared his throat again.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're conscious." Finch said, trying his best to sound as calm and unaffected by what was transpiring between them. Reese looked at him with those eyes of his, a curious glow sparkling within, and his lips were curled into a sly smile.

"I bet you are." He said, his smile growing wider and Finch felt like he couldn't breathe. Was this man really making fun of him already? There wasn't any need to bring up anything, not yet, and Finch was going to make sure to avoid the subject for as long as possible. No way was he going to even slightly touch on the fact that he had kissed Reese, that he had stolen a kiss actually. No, he was not going to let Reese suck him into one of those little games of his and make him feel even more uncomfortable than he already felt. No, he was going to apologize and mention that he had cleaned him up and there where no extensive wounds that needed to be looked at but if he preferred it he could have it arranged. He was not going to let Reese say a single word. He was simply going to say his peace and flee the room as quickly as his body would allow.

"Yes, well, I worry about you." Finch was shocked to hear those words come out of his mouth instead, the mouth that so recently had been kissed, twice, by a striking man that just so happened to be laying on his bed right now, shirt open, looking at him through shaded eyes. Surely that was the reason why he had deviated form his plan, Reese had such a hold on him that he only needed to look in Finch's direction and the bespectacled man would turn into putty. Damn you John. Finch cleared his throat yet again.

"I-I mean—"

"I know what you meant Finch." Reese cut him off in mid explanation. He was smiling again, this time a true genuine smile, the kind that Finch treasured above anything else. "Thank you for coming to get me."

"Of course I came to get you, Mr. Reese." Finch didn't really know what to say so he just stated the obvious. He still wanted to do right by his plan and get out of the room quickly, and he would try his best. "Now if you excuse me, you need some rest." With those words Finch turned on his heel and headed for the door but was stopped by a very scornful sounding Reese.

"Oh Harold, you don't think I'm going to let you go so easily do you?" Finch heard this and froze. His eyes closed, he feared for the worst. Clearly Reese was taunting him and this was bound to end in a very unpleasant place. He heard Reese move on the bed and he made a slight coughing sound. "Aren't you going to look at me?" Finch heard himself swallow loud enough for Reese to hear but he turned around nonetheless, completely aware of the lack of any color on his face.

"Mr. Reese I don't believe this is the right time to—" Finch began to wiggle his way out of this conversation but was cut off again by Reese.

"To talk about the way you kissed me just now?" Finch closed his eyes in defeat. There was just no way to win with this man. "I have to say," Reese continued, "It was a hell of a way to wake up."

"Yes, well, in my defense I did not think I would wake you." Reese laughed out loud at this and Finch didn't know what to make of it. If Reese was mad at him he sure wasn't acting like it.

"Oh Harold." Reese shook his head and smiled again. "You are something. Why didn't you just ask if you wanted to kiss me so badly? You didn't have to wait until I was asleep you know."

Finch was shocked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all this time of feeling what he considered to be very inappropriate feelings towards his partner, here was the man acting as if being kissed by Finch of all people was no big deal at all. It confused Finch. He didn't know if it was because Reese had similar feelings or if he was just playing another 'Let's get Finch as flustered as I can' game. And if this was another game it was in very bad taste, very bad taste indeed.

"Look, Mr. Reese I—" Reese cut him off again and Finch was beginning to really get annoyed at this.

"'Mr. Reese?'" He said, "I think we're passed that now, don't you Harold? Call me John." The smirk on his lips remained intact and Finch's lips curled into a thin line at the sight of him. "Now, want to tell me what the kiss was about?"

This was not a fair game at all but Finch was not one to take losing lightly. "I was just paying back the favor John." Finch put an emphasis on the name as to show his annoyance with Reese's care free reaction to all of this, but also to show that he was not backing down anymore.

"What favor?" Reese asked and Finch let his eyes grows wide as he realized that the man was serious. He honestly had no recollection of having been the one to kiss Finch in the first place, not that Finch honestly thought he would after his accident and all, but it did put a damper on the only bargaining chip he had to deal with such a teasing person.

"You don't remember do you?" Finch asked and Reese looked confused yet amused at the same time.

"Remember what?" he asked.

"When I found you in the wreckage, you…" Finch felt embarrassed thinking back and he paused for a second before continuing, "You pulled me down and kissed me before passing out." He knew he was blushing now, silly of course having just been through a lot more embarrassing things in the past ten minutes alone but he couldn't help it. The thought of his first kiss with John would always have this effect on him, even if it did taste like kerosene and the other man didn't quite remember it.

He looked at Reese and saw in his face that he was trying to make himself remember but was coming up with a blank, and the smallest of frowns appeared on his face before he looked up and met Finch's eyes with his own. There was that glow in them again, a glow Finch couldn't quite discern but it made him feel warm inside, even amongst all the chaos happening before him he forgot what was left of his annoyance and let himself be warmed by those eyes.

"I guess..." Reese spoke slowly, the glowing shaking a bit. "I guess my feelings finally won out. I just wish I hadn't been half unconscious when I finally got the balls to kiss you."

Finch didn't know how to react to that. He simply stood there, gaping at Reese unsure whether to jump for joy at the sudden confession, or run away from it, from him, from the man he had loved for too long now. Reese looked just as embarrassed as Finch felt and it gave the shorter man the encouragement he needed to finally make a move and approach the bed. He limped slowly forward, sat next to Reese, wincing as he did so and looked him in the eyes. Reese smiled at him and looked down at his disheveled appearance and winced himself at a slight pain that passed through him from having been thrown about by an exploding building. The two men looked at each other and began to smile clearly having the same thoughts.

"A fine pair we make, huh Finch?" Reese asked and Finch knew he was referring to the way they both seemed to be broken. They smiled again, bigger and fuller until their smiles turned into chuckles that then turned into full out laughter. It was like laughing with a friend at a very funny joke, a moment that neither of them had experienced in many years, and they both appreciated the rarity of the occasion and treasured it greatly.

The laughter slowly died out and the two were left there looking at each other through teary eyes and aching sides, their eyes gleaming in a very similar way. Finch was the first to break the silence.

"So, you needed balls to kiss me, John?" he asked in a teasing way that was very similar to Reese's. It made them both chuckle again but Reese looked as if he wanted to make Finch truly understand what he meant.

"I've been wanting to kiss for as long as I can remember Harold." Finch felt his heart skip a beat when he heard that. "I can't tell you when I started feeling this way, but I want you to know it isn't just a fleeting crush. I have strong feelings for you and I…" Reese stopped and looked down at his hands with a frown. Finch moved his hands to his and held them tightly, silently telling him to go on. "Today when I lost you, when I lost connection I mean, I couldn't think of anything other than how I was going to die and… and I never even got to tell you I loved you."

Finch felt tears pushing up again. He had so often, so very often felt the same exact way, had the utter desire to tell Reese that he loved him, that he needed him, that there was nobody in the world that could do what he did, nobody else Finch would pick over him, in any scenario in any time or place. He felt relieved, happy, for the first time in years he felt completely happy. He pulled his hands away from Reese and caused the man to look at him with questioning eyes. Finch just smiled and reached up, placing his hand on the back of Reese's neck and he pulled him down for a kiss much in the same way that had been done to him. Reese opened his eyes in mild surprise but quickly closed them and kissed back. It was firm and assertive yet still a little soft. There was meaning behind this kiss, it was not just a half conscious decision or a sneaky steal but a real passionate kiss.

There was fire between them, an understanding that had them both feeling that this was not just a one time thing. It was the beginning, the beginning of something real, something they both had been wishing for but never had the chance to accomplish.

They pulled apart and looked into each other's eyes once more, their happiness tangible in the small space between them.

"What's that an 'I love you too'?" Reese spoke into the silence and it made Finch laugh at the innocent tone in the man's voice, the man he loved above anything else in the world.

"Yes Mr. Reese, it was."

-Note- Chapter three! I told you I would try to update soon! I know it is cheesy and a little long but I hope you liked it. I also know that I had Finch call John Mr. Reese in the end but I just felt like it was more appropriate that way. I don't very well know where to go from here or even if I should continue so if you have any ideas I would more than gladly take any advice I can get! Please review and let me know if I can improve on anything and I do hope I didn't let anybody down!

Also, anybody else freak out over the Baby Blue episode like I did? I simply cannot wait for all the FanFiction that is sure to come!

Much love, AF