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Second OpinionPeter grinned, “You know if I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a crush on me!”The smile on Neal’s face changed. The change was subtle but there. Most people would not have noticed, but Peter immediately recognized Neal’s smile for what it was; the smile he uses to hide from something. It was enough to cause Peter to sit up straighter in his seat and take a closer look at his partner. “And what if I said I did?” Neal finally answered; his tone almost challenging. He had been flirting with Peter, maybe even shamelessly flirting with the older man, but he wasn’t in the mood to be made fun of for it. Peter often made light of his flirting, tossing it aside as if it didn’t matter, didn’t mean anything. Usually he was right and it didn’t. Usually it was just something second nature to Neal that was nothing more than part of his con persona meant to tease or throw Peter off his game a little. Today had somehow been different. Peter had actually flirted back or at least it had seemed that way to Neal and it had left him feeling off balance. Had Peter’s responses simply been part of his undercover act or had Neal correctly picked up on the undercurrent of truth in the way Peter looked at him, at how his body seemed to react to Neal’s casual touch?Peter waved a hand to dismiss what Neal had said believing him to be deflecting from some unknown, more important issue. “You’re just fucking with me!”There was his answer. It hadn’t been real. “Yeah, I’m just fucking with you,” Neal said, flashing Peter his thousand watt smile to cover his disappointment.Peter’s eyes narrowed and stared hard at Neal, his smile not fooling Peter for one second. “Shit, you’re not messing with me!”“More than a crush, actually,” Neal said so matter of fact, Peter wasn’t sure he heard him right. But when Neal’s eyes avoided his and instead picked a spot just over Peter’s shoulder, he knew Neal was being completely honest with him. So honest in fact, that Peter swore he could read the fear and anxiety that briefly crossed Neal’s face. For that one moment, Neal had opened himself up to Peter before the conman mask came crashing back down in place.Now it was Peter who found himself turning away and avoiding eye contact. Neal’s words left him speechless. Neal had *feelings* for him?! Neal was his friend. Nothing more, he told himself. He wouldn’t dwell on the fact that Neal was smart and Peter liked smart. It was what had first attracted him to Elizabeth after all. Oh, that and her dark hair and deep blue eyes. And just because Neal had dark hair and blue eyes, didn’t mean--shit! Okay, so maybe he had a type. It still didn’t mean he was attracted to Neal. No, he was most certainly *not* attracted to Neal. Maybe on occasion he had noticed how Neal’s ass filled out his suit pants and maybe ever so often Neal’s smile (the honest one) left Peter feeling a little out of breath and his body a bit heated. That didn’t mean anything and it was pointless for him to sit here and dwell on any of that! Particularly when all of a sudden he found catching his breath to be just a little bit harder and his cheeks felt just the tiniest bit warmer.“Neal, I’m straight and I’m married!” Peter said; desperately trying to defuse the situation and get his own thoughts back on neutral ground. But even as he said the words, he knew his objections didn’t really ring true. And he knew (hoped?) Neal was sharp enough to pick up on that as well. Neal shrugged in response. He did find it interesting the order that Peter had prioritized his objections. More interesting was the fact he hadn’t brought up the anklet and position of power he held over Neal. Neal had felt certain his parole status was going to be the biggest hurdle. If that really wasn’t a factor…he could get around the other two issues. Sexual orientation could be a very fluid thing. And judging from the sudden change in Peter’s breathing and the spreading flush on his face, Neal really didn’t think the fact Neal was a man was all that big of an obstacle. As for being married, Neal wouldn’t have said anything to Peter if he had really thought that to be a problem. Elizabeth had accepted him into their family years ago and Neal would never do anything to hurt her or jeopardize his place in their lives. No, Peter was and continued to be the only real wild card here. “I know that.” Neal said to break the silence. When Peter didn’t respond, Neal decided if he was in for a penny then he was in for a pound. Locking eyes with his partner, Neal slowly closed the distance between them. When Peter made no move to stop him, Neal entered Peter’s personally space and cupped a hand behind Peter’s neck drawing him closer until he felt Peter’s rapid breath across his cheek. There, Neal hesitated for only a moment before brushing against Peter’s dry, slightly chapped lips. Withdrawing back to the safety of his side of the car, Neal continued the conversation as if he hadn’t just kissed his partner, his handler, his friend and blown up the world that Peter had been living in. “And if I’m being completely honest, I have a crush on your wife as well.”Peter rubbed his face, stunned by Neal’s kiss and the added bombshell he had just exploded on him regarding his feelings towards Elizabeth. He turned away to stare out the windshield, his thoughts unfocused; bouncing back and forth between the fact Neal had kissed him and the fact that Neal also wanted to kiss Elizabeth. Seeing Peter in a near panic state, suddenly Neal felt very unsure of himself as if he was trying to tread water that was choppy and crashing all around him. With his own panic threatening to take over, Neal tamped it down. One of them had to remain calm. Another glance at Peter, and Neal knew he had to take action or the situation was about to turn into a complete disaster. Taking a deep breath, Neal initiated the vehicle’s voice activation feature. “Call Elizabeth.” As he waited for her to answer, Neal felt a little numb. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared but he really had no choice. Depending on Elizabeth’s response, he would either drown or the ship would be righted if he wanted to continue with his analogy. There simply was no middle ground on this one. Despite his feelings, Neal made certain his face was neutral and didn’t reveal any concern. Ever the con man, he told himself he would live with whatever choice Elizabeth made. Okay, so maybe he was conning himself if he believed that one! Meanwhile, Peter sat wide-eyed and frozen in fear in the driver’s seat. Neal was calling Elizabeth! She was going to kill him. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Neal had kissed him. That probably wouldn’t matter, he reasoned. She was still going to kill him. He was the one who had brought Neal into their lives and now he was bringing Neal into—Peter cut off his train of thought and focused on the phone as it rang once, twice, and on the third ring…“Hey, hon,” his wife’s cheerful voice ran out.“El,” Peter barely managed to croak out. The breath knocked out of his chest at the sound of her voice. The fear of what he had to lose if she knew what he was thinking, what he now knew he wanted. What if she said no? Hell, what if she said yes?!“Peter, what’s wrong?”When Neal saw that Peter couldn’t answer, he called out to her, forcing his voice to sound as nonchalant as possible. “Elizabeth, I’m here with Peter. He’s gotten a bit of shocking news, I’m afraid.”Peter stared incredulously at his partner, finding it hard to believe how calm Neal was about the whole matter. Did he not realize that Elizabeth would most certainly kill them both? Neal, she would probably dispatch of quickly, but with Peter…she would take her time, make his death excruciatingly painful, and his body would likely never be found. Turning his attention back to Neal, Peter again saw the mask slip and realized his partner was far from being calm. He was scared shitless. It was a testament to how much he really wanted to speak with Elizabeth, how much he had on the line with Peter because under normal circumstances, Neal would have done what came natural to him. Neal would have run. He would have stolen the kiss with Peter and ran as fast and as far as he could. Of course, Neal had to know that Peter would catch him. Peter always caught him. Peter felt his breath catch as he came to a realization. Was it possible that their game had just turned upside down and inside out? Was Peter the one running and Neal was chasing him? Not ready to really consider what that would mean or its implications, Peter tucked that thought away for another time.“Oh, Neal, what did you do?” Elizabeth asked Neal knowing full well the possibilities were limitless. They could both imagine her sitting at home shaking her head at them, wondering what antics Neal had gotten Peter into this time.Before he could lose his nerve, Neal said quickly, “I may have kissed your husband and confessed my feelings for you both.”They could hear Elizabeth sigh, “Neal, I thought we had agreed to let me handle things.”Neal smiled in relief. It was okay. She was making it okay just like she had promised him when he had finally confessed his feelings to her. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I couldn’t help myself and your husband made me do it.”“I made you…!” Peter exclaimed. He should have known the conman would avoid taking responsibility for his own actions.“Well, what’s done is done,” Elizabeth answered smartly, effectively cutting Peter off. “Now Peter, breathe for me.” Hearing a sharp intake of air, Elizabeth continued, “Good, that’s good. Now, hon, tell me how was it?”“How was what?” Peter asked hesitantly. She really couldn’t be asking what he thought she was asking. And was that excitement he heard in her voice? He rubbed his face again. This was all so very confusing. His day really wasn’t going the way he had expected it to, but then had any day since Neal had entered his life? “The kiss,” Elizabeth explained patiently.“The kiss?” Peter found himself repeating. Still not allowing himself to believe that she wasn’t in the least bit upset by the fact that he had kissed Neal or rather Neal had kissed him.“Yes, hon, the kiss.” Her response demonstrated her obvious amusement over his plight.“I-I don’t, ah, know,” Peter stammered in response. Sadly, it was a true statement. Neal had taken him by complete surprise and Peter found he couldn’t really remember how it was. He frowned now feeling a little annoyed with himself. It might have been his one and only opportunity.“Well, that’s a problem,” Elizabeth stated simply. “Neal, don’t you think that’s a problem?”“Yes,” Neal concurred promptly. “A real problem.” To rectify the situation, Neal leaned back into his space, and drew a stunned Peter in closer by his tie. Staring into his brown eyes, seeing the enlarged pupils, Neal smiled before kissing Peter for the second time. Neal slid his tongue along Peter’s lower lip and was pleasantly surprised when Peter opened up to him. Believing Peter wasn’t really ready for what he seemed to be offering, Neal didn’t deepen the kiss but lingered just on the edge before slipping away to his side of the car.Wide-eyed, Peter stuttered, “Stop kissing me!”Neal looked at him with amusement, “Is that really what you want?”“No—yes—no, I--” Peter stopped speaking. He knew he was only making a further fool of himself and now both Neal and Elizabeth were laughing at him. He should have known they would gang up on him at a time like this.“Oh, hon, come home.”“Home? Now?” Peter asked her, still feeling overwhelmed by the entire situation. “Yes, Peter, home and bring Neal with you,” Elizabeth ordered. Although her voice left no room for argument, still Peter couldn’t stop himself from asking anyway. “Why?”“Because I don’t think you are in any condition to drive and…”“And?” Peter prompted. “And obviously you need a second opinion about the kiss!”