"Simmons!"
The sound of the machine starting up covered a lot, but not the sound of Simmons shouting his name back. Grif turned to see him hit the ground and run over.
“Nice going fat ass! Now what?!” Simmons was distracted looking at the glowing tower and the lights that were starting to envelop them. Grif could hear Caboose talking somewhere over to the right, but didn’t care what he was saying.
“Simmons, I-”
“Holy shit, is that Church?”
Grif shrugged. “Who cares? I need to-”
“How are we going to shut this thing down? The whole planet is gonna-”
“Simmons, listen, I gotta say this-” Grif clenched his teeth when Simmons started walking away.
“Maybe there’s something we can do to-”
“SIMMONS!” Grif grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, holding him still before ripping off his helmet.
“What, Grif? What could be more important than the end of the fucking world?” Simmons was staring, and even behind the visor Grif could feel it. Because he’d seen Simmons this close before without all that stupid armour on. Because they …
“I love you! There, I fucking said it, and I’ll say it again! I love you, Simmons! I’ve always loved you, okay?! And y'know what, I’m glad we got stuck in that stupid closet together, because at least I got to kiss you before we all die!”
Simmons was still, and for a moment Grif felt his stomach drop out. The light that enveloped them was blinding, but then Grif felt something hit the ground by his feet and all the sudden there were lips against his. Armour crushed against Grif’s chest as Simmons put his arms around him, and he moaned and threaded his fingers through Simmons’ stupid ginger mop. It was all Grif could do to hang on when he felt like he was flying.
“Hey losers! Quit sucking face, the machine’s down! Apocalypse fucking cancelled!” Tucker startled them apart and Grif realised that everything was quiet and the light tower had been replaced with black smoke. Oh.
“Shut up, Tucker!” Simmons yelled back, and Grif grinned. They leaned back in at the same time for another kiss. “I love you too, idiot.” Simmons said, softly.
Not bad, Grif thought. I finally found the words. And the world didn’t even have to end.