Content Notes: Takes place during S4, canon-compilant.
"I think I have feelings for you."
It's a ridiculous string of words. Thinking of them is embarrassing, humiliating, so Peter banishes them from his mind, and simply lets his hand linger on Martin's shoulder whenever he gets the opportunity to grasp it. It should be enough.
"You make me feel like nobody else ever has."
As a sentence, it's much better. It's as true as the previous thought, but it's just as awkward to roll on his tongue, so Peter never lets it slip out. He keeps standing in Martin's personal space, leaning over him when they go through Institute reports together by Martin's desk.
"I want you."
He says those words for the first time in the Lonely, when nobody else is around to hear. Hearing them echo around him is strange and disorienting, alarming him, and Peter flees fast, but the echo remains inside his head. He crowds Martin against the wall, looks him in his eyes as Martin tilts his chin up and returns his gaze.
"I will never let you leave me."
This he declares to Martin when they enter the Lonely together, when Peter is about to show Martin what their god really is. Saying them is easy, he means every word, and when he sees fear spread into Martin's eyes, he knows Martin believes them, too.