Hal considered flying the ultimate turn-on, but he had never expected this to happen.
He’d taken Kyle for another flight. With everything that had happened recently—losing his mother, being possessed by Parallax, the war with Sinestro—Hal determined that Kyle needed something to take his mind off things. And spinning above the Earth in a jet seemed to have worked.
Kyle’s green eyes were bright with excitement when he jumped down from the plane. He was pumped with adrenaline, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, breathing hard. Hal smiled, glad to see Kyle genuinely happy again.
And that’s when it happened.
Their gazes locked and the next thing Hal knew, he had stepped forward and pressed Kyle up against the plane, kissing him hard. Kyle gasped and Hal pulled away, shocked by his impulse and what it meant. “Shit. Kyle, I … I’m sorry. I don’t …”
Kyle was gaping at him, eyes wide. Hal cringed. Why the hell did he do that? Sure, flying a plane always got him worked up and Carol had always told him the sex was best after a flight. But this was Kyle!
“Sorry.” He turned away, needing to escape, to think, but Kyle caught his arm.
“Don’t start what you can’t finish, Hal.”
Hal stopped, his heart pounding. Did he just say …? Images flickered through his mind, of half-remembered dreams, of furtive glances and lingering touches and feelings he’d worked to ignore, and oh shit this hadn’t come out of nowhere, had it?
Kyle’s hand still gripped his elbow. “Hal?”
Hal sighed. It wouldn’t be easy, there were many who wouldn’t understand, but if the war—losing so many fellow Lanterns— had taught him one thing, it was that life was too goddamned short.
He turned around. Kyle was watching him, but his eyes were no longer surprised. They were definitely saying “fuck me” now. Hal’s cock throbbed. Oh, hell …
Hal smiled nervously. “We should probably get out of here.” The plane was shielding them from the cameras, but they didn’t need to be doing anything that would get caught on the base security video. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed.
They didn’t speak again, not while they changed out of the flight suits (Hal realized his hands were shaking), not while they walked through the gate (Would the guard notice they were flushed and nervous?), not while they flew back to Hal’s apartment (Oh, Hell, what am I doing?). It wasn’t until they were standing in silence in Hal’s living room that Kyle finally spoke. “I know this is awkward. If you don’t want to …” He looked away and shrugged.
Hal hesitated. There were lots of reasons they shouldn’t do this. What would his fellow pilots say if they found out? What would Carol and Jill say? But … He closed his eyes and sighed. He’d be a coward to deny that he felt something. And he’d known for a while that he and Kyle had a special connection, a deeper friendship than he had with John or Guy. Something more…
“It’s okay, Hal. I’m going to go.”
“No!” Hal’s eyes snapped open. “It’s just … kind of … “ He shrugged helplessly. “I’ve never had feelings like this for a man before.”
Kyle laughed nervously and ran his hand through his already messy hair. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”
Hal screwed up his courage and stepped closer. “I don’t even know how to explain it, but … I don’t think I’m going to worry about it right now.”
Kyle grinned. Hal grinned back, then took Kyle by the arm to pull him into the bedroom.