I've seen so many people assume that 'ust' demands a romance payoff, but that's just one school of thought. The whole point of the unresolved sexual tension, for me, is the narrative tension itself—it's a dynamic, not a destination. Take something like 'Sherlock' fanfic, the Johnlock stuff that dominated for years. Some of the most memorable pieces never had them kiss or confess. Instead, the ust fueled everything else: the heightened focus during cases, the sharper dialogue, the protective instincts mistaken for professional concern. The story becomes about how this unsaid thing warps their decisions and priorities, and you can argue that resolving it would actually deflate the entire premise. It's like a charged battery that powers the plot machine, and you never want to unplug it because then the machine just stops.
Another classic method is sublimation. The energy gets redirected into other intense, non-romantic bonds or achievements. I read a 'Hannibal' fic once where the monstrous, obsessive ust between Will and Hannibal was entirely channeled into this grotesque, collaborative art project—murder tableaus as their shared language. The romance was irrelevant; the intimacy was in the co-creation of something horrific and beautiful. That's a development, a terrifying one, but a development nonetheless. The characters evolve through the tension, becoming more or less themselves, but they don't 'couple up.'
Sometimes, the lack of resolution is the tragedy, and that's the whole story. It's not about building to a kiss; it's about chronicling the weight of the unsaid thing over a lifetime, how it shapes two people who orbit but never touch. That can be more devastating and, weirdly, more satisfying than a neat 'happily ever after.' The fic lives in the delicious, aching space of 'what if,' and that space is infinitely explorable.