by Amiroq
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Disclaimer: Character theft? Me? Never!

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It was only after Tom rang Sam's doorchime that he realised he didn't know how late Harry would be there. Ah, well. If Sam answered he'd come up with something believable.

She didn't, though. Harry was still holding his PADD, and he scowled when he saw who it was. Petulant was a good look for him. "I thought I told you--"

"It's important. Is Nam asleep?"

"You say that at least five times a day. It's beginning to lose its sparkle. But yeah, I sent her to bed an hour ago." He walked back into the main room and sat down.

Hah, Tom thought. There was that old scientific curiosity shining through. He almost smiled, until he remembered what he was here for. Ah, crap. This could be interesting.

"Look, Har…" He walked to the wall and inspected a picture Nam had drawn. Cute. It could have been Sam, but he wasn't really sure. Uh, Harry. Right. "You're my friend, right? We've been through a lot together, and… I guess what I'm saying is that if I tell you this, you have to promise not to judge me or anything."

"Okay," he replied, sounding more than a little dubious. Ah, Harry, the good old stick in the mud.

Tom laughed nervously. There was only one way to do this, and that was to spit it out. But not literally. Yeah, that would be perfect. 'Harry -- hwack, ping! -- I'm in love with you, bud.' Right. Like that would work.

"I'm bi."

Well, it wasn't all of it, but it was a start. He watched Harry expectantly, trying to read his expression. After a moment, he nodded slowly. "That explains a lot, actually."

It did? God, that was a scary thought. Okay, one down, one to go. "Hang on, that's not all of it. You know I went through a lot of shit in the DMZ, right? I mean major swearing off sex for life stuff. Obviously I didn't, but I did decide to stick with women for a while. Like, forever. So," here's the cliffhanger, he thought grimly, and oh god Harry would hate him. "It took me a while to admit it when I fell for another guy.

He's got really nice eyes, he thought suddenly when Harry looked up at him. "I could talk to him if you want. Test the waters or something."

"Uh, no; he's taken. And I doubt B'Elanna would like me moving in on her man." Put that in your glass and drink it. Maybe he should tell him about B'Elanna's earlier appearance… nah. Probably not the best idea.

"You mean me?" Harry asked.

Tom nodded.

"Oh." There was a long, tense moment. "How long have you known?"

Well, he wasn't running, or throwing up. Both good signs. "Remember the night we got really drunk?"

"Which one?"

Okay, yeah, good point. "About a week before you started going out with B'Elanna." He could almost see what Har was thinking. Yeah, that one, bud. Bet that puts a whole new light on my actions.

"And you still convinced me to ask her out? That must have been hard."

Tom chuckled. God. Poor, sweet Harry. Always thinking of others. Hard? At the time it had been the most incredibly difficult thing he'd done in his life. Only this made it a close second. "It was for purely selfish reasons. You're cute when you're happy."

Harry grinned, and he immediately felt an answering smile. He was damn gorgeous. "You aren't mad at me, are you?" he asked, and was disappointed when Harry's grin faded slightly.

"What for?"

"For not telling you, I guess."

"You just did."

"B'Elanna seems to think everyone knows."

Harry frowned slightly. "B'Elanna knows?"

Oh. Yeah, was he supposed to say that? Probably not. But he knew now, he may as well explain. "Yeah, she dropped by earlier. Actually, she convinced me I should tell you."

And he bet she'd be just stoked when she realised Harry hadn't freaked. Somehow, something told him that this hadn't been part of her plan.

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End