"I don't mind that you asked me. It wasn't your fault it stirred feelings up in me. I thought just telling myself they were stupid because you wanted to be with someone else, and it was my job as your best friend to respect it would work. But... it was hard. Couldn't have anticipated how hard," Paxton admitted quietly. It was quite a confession. He had honestly thought he could be by Liam's side to help him get his life back on track, but his own heart went and got involved. "I don't know, I just... I guess sleeping with you made me realise we had a special force between us. Like, friendship force, not The Force. If you're going to whip Yoda out from the closet over there, though. Pride month would be a good time to do it. I can see him with a rainbow painted on his face waving his little Pride flag." He needed to joking. Joking it what they did. Joking pared the edge off the tension. He didn't want it to be tense. What he wanted was exactly what he was getting... being able to talk about what was happening, without it feeling like a dirty little secret he shouldn't have been partaking in.

He rested his hand on Liam's arm. "You know I'd do anything for you. If I didn't think I could do it, I would have told you. I think I've just felt something deeper for you for years, but didn't identify it. Zander thinks he could see it, and maybe he could. I just always thought it was because we had a special friendship. Even if I did identify it, I wouldn't have told you. You were with someone else. I just don't know if I could deal without feeling hurt if you decided you just wanted friends-with-benefits or something. I'm confused as fuck, Li. I have been since London. I thought it would go away. I wanted it to. Because that would have been easy."