"It's not like that at all," Jeff protested, though he realized from Nick's words just how it had come across. "I don't think it's some hard, miserable job to date you. But I think you're worth my time and my effort... Worth doing those special little things that you're supposed to do when you care about someone. And I do care about you, Nick. I want to show you how much I care. It doesn't feel hard to want to spend time with you or anything. I understand why you're thinking that's what I meant, but it's not. It's just a matter of this being something that's worth it to me. You are worth it to me, and I don't want to just walk away from this without knowing that I gave it what it deserved... That's all I mean."

He paused, folding his hands over in front of him quietly. As a kid, he'd had pretty serious ADHD. It could still come out, but he'd learned ways to deal with it, as well as taking medication for it. And this was hardly the sort of situation where he wanted to let his ADHD get the better of him. It was important. Nick was important, and he had feelings for him that went above and beyond just thinking that he was a hottie... which was also true. Nick was clearly more than a little put off, and Jeff couldn't blame him for that. "I can't imagine how crappy I must've made you feel. I'm sorry, Nick."