Shrug. “Maybe. I guess there’s only one way to prove it?” He’s still smiling a lot.

"...I haven't talked to my parents in ten years."

“.....wow.

I, um, never met my dad. And I don’t really talk to my mom much now, either, she... got kind of sick of me. Not that I can blame her. I think—all those years totally dependent on me got to her, you know? But before she went to the home, I mean—I took care of her. I couldn’t go a day without talking to her, like, I just... actually couldn’t.”

"Your parents are not supposed to get sick of you."

“I. It’s fine? I get it? Um.

...Thank you.”

"No, actually it's not fine!" He scoots up a bit so he can look Martin in the eyes. "Martin, you're a good person. I know because I am an amoral asshole and my parents-- uh, kind of suck, like, they mean well and they were trying and they only wanted me to be happy and, uh, not live in an apartment infested with rats, but they had a very confused idea of what me being happy looked like. And so when I got into Oxford and had a scholarship paying my bills I stopped returning their calls and if they wind up in a crappy nursing home I don't give a shit. But you did not do that! Your mom is awful to you and you're taking care of her, you lied on your resume to take care of her and I'm guessing dropped out of school to take care of her and you were willing to do something where you might die so that she could be okay even though she doesn't want to interact with you, her son, whom she is supposed to love unconditionally! You are a good person! And your mother, who is the beneficiary of your goodness, is clearly an asshole!"

...Martin is going to burst into tears and cling to Lev a lot. 

He does not seem like he’s planning on letting go anytime soon. 

This was a predictable outcome!

He is going to hug Martin and make generally soothing noises.

Yeah Martin’s not going to stop crying for a while. He does eventually peel himself off, though. “...Sorry for, um, crying on you. And. Thanks.”

"You don't have to be sorry for crying on me. I'm your friend."

Martin has a lot of faces about that statement! Most of them are confused! 

“I......... guess?”

"This is how friendship works. Pretty sure. --I mean, I have had like two friends so I am not exactly an expert, but I have read many papers."

“No, yeah, I mean. 

..........I thought we were dating? I’m sorry, I know it was a stupid assumption—“ 

Martin bites his lip and is clearly trying very hard not to cry. 

aaaaaa he knows he knows he knows--

wait no that's stupid, Lev has passed for years, most people don't know what it means when a guy is as short as Lev and has a voice that sounds like his--

but Martin might--

Lev says very cautiously, "I didn't know you liked guys."

“Oh! Oh. Yeah, I— guess I kind of forgot to come out to you? I, um. I’m gay! I. Thought it was kind of obvious. With the. Blushing and talking about how cute you are and. I’m. Really sorry.”

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Martin is dead of embarrassment he is dead.

"You've blushed a lot the entire time I knew you! I just thought you were like that!"

“—This is fair! Normally I, uh. Stop. After I know someone. I would... still have blushed at, like, your huge speech about how I am a good person? But. Um. I knew you liked guys, and you—asked me to a movie date and then took me to your flat where the only place to sit is a bed and—I may have made some assumptions?”

"Yeah, that-- um. Sorry. --I mean it's not that I don't want to it's that. I don't know if I want to or not."

“That’s fine! That’s. Fine.”

Lev rolls his eyes and kisses him quickly.

"I like you."

Martin is bright red now and kind of failing to produce words!

Eventually he manages: “....oh.”

"But I have only ever dated one person, who died, and I kind of spent the past few weeks thinking you were straight and I had acquired a weirdly intense best friendship and intellectual collaboration with cuddling so I don't know if I additionally want to kiss you." 

“This is very fair!”

"...I guess I have technically slept with one and a half people."

“One...and...a...half? How does that, uh, work?”