Starbuck stared at Apollo, open mouthed. "What—what—what—" His legs chose that moment to refuse to support him, and he sat heavily on the bed. Apollo glared at him and shuffled his feet, obviously uncomfortable but unwilling to back down.

"Well? You got a problem with that?" Apollo said, when the silence became too uncomfortable.

Starbuck took hold of his whirling thoughts and tried to organize them. Okay. Apollo was jealous of his girlfriends. That much had been obvious from the very first time he'd gone out on a date. Okay. He could understand that.

Apollo was jealous because he loved Starbuck. Well, yeah—of course. He'd known that from almost the very beginning—from the night he'd gotten his ass beat so bad and Apollo had gotten him to the Academy doctors. Starbuck was a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid. He could see how Apollo felt—and he knew how he felt, as well. Okay. So far, so good.

But Apollo thought he didn't care? Apollo thought he needed to get a new roommate, because he couldn't handle getting ignored anymore?

"Well?" Apollo was impatient.

"What makes you think I don't care?" The words finally came out.

"Because of the way you act, idiot!" Apollo burst into a flurry of frantic pacing. Starbuck grinned a bit, irresistably reminded of Adama.

"But Apollo—I do care!" He forced his legs to obey him and rose to block his friend's unchanging orbit from door to window.

"Fine way you have of showing it," Apollo grumbled, but didn't pull away when Starbuck caught his arms.

"But you know I love you," Starbuck smiled. Apollo tried to look away, but Starbuck caught his chin and held it so he couldn't.

"You love me so much that you don't give a damn about me." Apollo couldn't look away from those blue, blue eyes.

"That hurts, Pol—you know how I feel." Starbuck smiled a little wider. "Maybe you don't, though- maybe I'd better tell you. Come here." He ignored Apollo's token resistance and pulled him over to sit on the bed. "Okay, it's like this—I love you. You love me. Girls are fun, but I don't give a shit about them. Got it?"

"You really think I'm going to believe that?" Apollo looked away.

Starbuck sighed. "Apollo—what do I have to do to prove it? Give up fooling around with girls?"

"That would be a start," Apollo said, with a sideways glance at his friend.

"Damn, man—you don't ask for much, do you." Starbuck thought for a moment, then decided there couldn't be a better opportunity. He slipped an arm around Apollo's shoulders and gathered him in close. "Maybe I could show you how much I care?" he whispered into Apollo's ear.

Apollo shivered. "Star—what if—"

"Don't say it," Starbuck interrupted. "After everything you said, don't even try to pull the old what-if-we're-caught felgercarb. I love you, you love me, and we've never done anything about it because of those damn rules. Now you think I don't care, and I think it's time to blow the rules to the nether reaches of hell and back."

Despite himself, Apollo had to laugh. "Star—where do you pick up such language?"

"Never mind my language—what about other things I've picked up? Like certain things to do with my mouth other than swear?" Then he kissed Apollo, who melted into his arms.