Kidd never knew how to say it.

Well, he knew how but he couldn't seem to ever have the nerve to.

He'd think it all out, plan it from start to finish (start being when he tells Star that he really likes him him and finish being the point when they share their first kiss) and he'd even practice the emotions he'd convey with his voice and his face, because you could never be too prepared for this sort of thing, but it never happened how he wanted it to.

In fact, if you want the truth, it never happened at all.

When put face to face with that loud mouthed, blue haired jerk (who just so happened to be the cause of quite a few wet dreams as of late) Kidd's mouth would always clamp shut and when he was forced into communication it usually didn't end well. The most common result was the two of them getting into a fight but the favored one being they just ended up ignoring the others presence in general.

He wasn't sure why this was, especially since he didn't have much trouble speaking his mind any other time or with any other subject. Why should this be any different? Did it mean that he was ... in love with Star?

No! Of course not, there was no way – they'd had absolutely no intimacy at all and to think there was anything more then a crush between them at this point was ludicrous. That was all it could be, really, a crush. Or perhaps even what Patty had called an extreme like towards another ... smash? Was that it?

Kidd wasn't the most up to speed on such terms but he figured that if their names were any indicator at all, then it was overall quite painful (though he did not doubt on any level that Star could easily crush or smash him if given the chance to sit on him) and didn't want to apply such terms to himself.

Besides, what was wrong with just saying "I like Star"? Why on Earth did it have to evolve to "I have a crush on Star" or "I have a ... smash on Star"? It shouldn't have become so complicated and damn it all, Kidd should have been able to say it to his stupidly grinning face.

He just didn't understand why he couldn't just take a breath and tell Star how he felt. It would make things a lot simpler and not to mention ease some tension. Unless, of course, Star was freaked out at the thought of Kidd liking him in which case it would do nothing but make things more complicated and more tense! Hmm, perhaps that was why he afraid to admit his feelings ...

Aside from that if word got out that Death the Kidd swung that way then ... well, not to say he was concerned about what other people thought about him, but he didn't quite feel like spending his adolescent years in solitude because the general American population were nothing if not homophobic. That included even techs and weapons alike – not to mention a few choice witches no doubt.

But still ... he couldn't just go on with his feelings all bottled up inside, could he? That just wasn't healthy; so he decided to take the wimps way out.

He wrote a letter.

Of course, he had some problems starting it off because his nerves caved in quite a few times and when he did finally put pen to paper he had to keep restarting due to symmetry issues, but once it got started it was smooth sailing. Smooth, frantic, chicken scratch sailing, but sailing none the less.

By the time he'd finished, he'd filled up only about half of the paper but had written more then enough to make even hearts of stone to feel a stab of empathy. No doubt if Soul ever got a hold of it he'd shed a tear of felt pain (and then act like it had never been there and then proceed to laugh uproariously at Kidd's predicament) so it was obvious how much he'd put himself out there to say such things.

The only issue was that his nerve failed him yet again and he tore the thing to shreds with an aggravated scream that echoed throughout the mansion.

After taking a nice, long bath and thinking things over, however, Kidd hurriedly rushed into the study to empty the trash can's contents onto the expensive Persian rug and then proceed to painstakingly put the note back together.

The next day, Star found an envelope (that had clearly been crumpled into a ball at one point) taped to his usual seat with his name written in elegant curls across the front.

It's probably worth noting at this point that Kidd spent the whole of that day in Stein's office trying not to throw up in anxiety as he all but hyperventilated into a paper bag.

It was only that evening when Star stopped by that they even saw each other – and upon seeing who it was, Kidd had promptly doubled over in what was a very near heart attack. He hadn't expected such a quick response – hell, a part of him hadn't expected a response at all! But there he was, Black Star, in all his blue haired glory, backdropped by a rather heroic looking sunset that made his skin look all the more bronze and his hair almost glowed with it, and he was staring so intently instead of his usual foolish expression and, and .... and -

"Kidd ..."

And why oh why hadn't he popped a mint into his mouth after eating those potato chips because ohmygod their first kiss was coming, he could feel it, practically taste it already and --

"I think someone tried to play a prank on me today. They wrote me this and signed it in your name." Star gave a little laugh as he held up the envelope (which looked like it had become even more crumpled from someone gripping it tightly) and with the faintest of blushes on his cheeks.

Heart plummeting into his stomach, Kidd had to grab onto the door frame to keep from falling flat on his face. What ... what an idiot!!

Luckily, Star continued without apparently noticing. "See, I knew it couldn't have been you because it said stuff like 'your smile makes my heart flutter', which is like ... really weird – oh, and also the writing was really messy so it was easy to figure out someone was just playing a bad joke."

"Yuh-yeah ..." Kidd could barely make the effort to breath at this point, how was he suppose to feel after something like this? Just laugh and go with it or be outraged and slap Star right across the face? He didn't know, couldn't even begin to fathom, but the slapping idea was sounding really good ...

"Well, here's the note in case you were wondering what all you said to me." Chuckling in a highly amused manner, Star shoved the envelope into Kidd's unresisting hand before turning to leave. He made it about half way down the front stairs before, apparently having a brainstorm, he turned to grin back up at Kidd. "Oh, and by the way, I love you too ~" Then, he was gone.

Golden eyes widening, Kidd couldn't even bring himself to care about how foolish he must have looked standing in the front door blushing like a schoolgirl and, knowing full and well that this was going to inspire even more wet dreams for many nights to come, trying not to embellish the proceedings too much.

With a wavering sigh, he drew back into his home, silently shutting the door. It may not have been the exact scenario he'd been hoping for but damn was it a start.

(XxXxX)

FIN.

Yeah, just sort of spewed this out in probably ... 30 minutes. XD It just sort of came to me, so I apologize if it sucks.

Yep, still keeping with the Star X Kidd thing – I think I might try writing something more exotic next time. The first thing to come to mind is Giriko X Kidd but ... I'm not really sure how that'd work out. |D