Work Text:
There's a gentle knock at the door, though Rodney's awake in an instant. He's always been a light sleeper when offworld, something he learned from sharing a tent with Sheppard. He wipes a hand over his sleepy face and crosses to the door, opening it and finding Sheppard on the other side.
"Why'd you knock?" Rodney asks. "Are you guys still up?" He tries to get a look around John, but finds he's standing alone in the hallway. Finding no one, he turns to head back to his bed, throwing, "Well don't just stand there. Come in and go to bed."
John enters the room silently, and Rodney watches as he takes off his TAC vest, the sound of the Velcro unfastening filling the otherwise quiet room. But after he drops the vest and his P90 on the bed, John looks around for a moment before coming to loom over Rodney's bed. "Yes?" Rodney asks, wondering what was behind the stormy look in John's eyes.
"I, uhh," John says, averting his eyes at first and then running a hand through his unruly hair. "I just wanted to say...sorry."
Now Rodney's really confused. "Sorry for what?" he asks as he pulls the light blanket over his midsection and re-fluffs his pillow. "For waking me up?"
John responds with a headshake at first, and then finally sighs out, "No..." But there's so much left unsaid that it worries Rodney a bit. "I just... Sorry for the way I acted back there. You should..." Rodney watches John closely as he takes in a deep breath and swallows. And then, his voice hushed, adds, "I shouldn't have acted like that. She was clearly interested in you, and I... Well, I kind of sabotaged it." John hangs his head, then sits on the edge of Rodney's bed.
Rodney considers John's words carefully, the weight of the word 'sabotaged' heavy in his mind. "So you were..." He doesn't want to say the word 'jealous', but based on the look John gives him, he's sure John knows that's what was left unsaid.
"Yeah, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't let personal-"
Taking a leap of faith, Rodney cuts John off mid-sentence with a hand to his thigh. "Well, you could have said something, you know," he says jovially, trying to make light of the otherwise serious mood.
John stares at Rodney's hand for a few seconds, so Rodney gives him a confidence-building squeeze. Then he watches as John's hand slowly comes up, covering Rodney's own hand with warm, calloused fingers. And when John finally catches Rodney's eye, Rodney can see everything - the love, the fear, the hesitation that's hidden behind hazel pools of wonder, and he feels like a fool for never seeing this, never noticing this before.
Scooting over, Rodney pats the mattress and says, "Come to bed." And with the slightest hestiation, John strips to his boxers and climbs under the covers, Rodney pulling him close, John's back plastered against Rodney's chest as their joined fingers come to rest on John's stomach, and a restful sleep takes them both.