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Starbuck was worried.

Last night he'd had too much to drink. He admitted that now; unfortunately, at the time, he hadn't cared, and he'd kept drinking. And then he'd done the unthinkable: he'd blurted out his true feelings for Apollo, to Apollo.

He was afraid that his relationship with his wingmate was broken beyond salvage. He didn't know what to say, what to do. Those three words "I love you" could change everything, but he didn't know if they would change in a good way or a bad way.

There was a knock on the door: Apollo. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." He let his wingmate in. His stomach was performing manoeuvres that even a viper couldn't duplicate. His hangover from the night before wasn't helping.

"So." Apollo didn't appear any more at ease than Starbuck. "About last night."

"What about it?" Starbuck was on the defensive. He was going to guard his heart as well as he could, though it was kind of late. He should have guarded it last night. He wished he had some form of alcohol to bolster his confidence right now.

"You said some things," Apollo continued.

"Look, Apollo, I was drunk. You've seen me drunk before. I can say all kinds of things I don't mean when I'm drunk."

"Really?" The Captain sounded surprised. "I always thought that alcohol made you more honest."

"Me, honest? No."

"I've always thought of you as a very honest person. Except when you're playing cards, of course."

"Then you don't know me as well as you think you do," Starbuck stated. He didn't want to hurt Apollo -- that was the last thing he would ever want -- but he was so afraid of what his friend was going to say that he would do anything to make it sound as if he didn't care what he'd said last night.

Apollo did indeed look hurt. "I guess I misjudged you, then. I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend!" Starbuck insisted.

"Then why can't you be honest with me?"

"Because there are some things you're better off not knowing. My feelings are one of those things."

"I think it's too late for you to hide your feelings, Starbuck."

"Please, Apollo, just leave me alone." Starbuck was getting more and more anxious. He wasn't used to talking about his feelings, and it scared him to death.

"I'm your friend too, you know," Apollo said softly, coming closer. "And I would never hurt you."

"You sure about that?" Starbuck asked. He was warring within himself. Part of him wanted to retreat, protect himself, push Apollo away. Another part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind and take the other man into his arms.

"I'm sure." And then Apollo closed the remaining space between them, wrapped his arms around Starbuck, and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

The Lieutenant, stunned, didn't react for a long moment. When Apollo let him breathe again, he asked, "What - what is this?"

Apollo smiled. "Starbuck, I am very glad that you got drunk last night."

Still stunned, Starbuck asked, "Why?"

"Because I don't think I could ever have let myself go like that. I don't know if I could ever have told you how I feel if you hadn't told me first. That is, if you were being honest last night. You were, weren't you -- honest, I mean?" Apollo suddenly looked very worried.

Starbuck let out the breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. "Yes, I was. I...." He took a deep breath. "I love you, Apollo."

A huge smile broke out on Apollo's face. "I'm very happy to hear that," he said, taking Starbuck in his arms once more, "because I love you, too -- very much."

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