At around 3 am, while everyone was slowly leaving the party, someone staggering, someone holding up their drunken friends, Theo, still strictly in his boxers, thought it was time to see what had happened to Liam. So it was that he found him sitting behind the kitchen counter, his head lying between his legs.
"What the hell are you doing?" He laughed as he slid beside him.
"I'm dying" Liam mumbled, his voice muffled by his arms.
Theo laughed shaking him from a shoulder. "You're not dying, you're just really really drunk."
"Don't shake me, Theo, or I could throw up" Liam warned him with a grimace and a slurred voice, pulling back and lying his head against the surface behind him, exposing his throat in a way that didn't attract Theo's attention at all. Then Liam turned his head slowly towards him, a sudden confused smile spreading across his face, his eyes small and shiny, and Theo's gaze immediately snapped up from his throat to meet them, a smile that opened on his face in reflex. "Theo... someone stole your pants..." Liam grumbled then.
Theo chuckled "Okay, you definitely drank too much." He gave him a slap on the knee, standing up and holding out his hand for Liam to take "Come on, it's time to go to sleep"
"Uh ..." Liam stare at his hand confused before grabbed it clumsily, but did nothing to help Theo lift him up. He staggered when Theo pulled him to his feet, ending up against Theo's chest, who grabbed him quickly by his shoulders to hold him up. "Are you there?" He asked, amused.
"Uh-uh" Liam groaned, but as Theo lowered his arms, Liam staggered back and didn't end up with his ass on the floor just because Theo caught him promptly, grabbing his hands and pulling him back close again.
"Apparently not" Theo murmured with a smile, his face now a few inches from Liam's.
Liam looked up faltering, his heart skipping a beat at the sudden closeness, unsure about what to do, given the way the alcohol clouded his vision and his mind at that moment. He had no time to figure it out, because a voice calling eagerly Theo's name interrupted them, and Theo took a step back, letting go Liam's hand and turning to Tracy, who had just got in the kitchen, stumbling in his steps, evidently still a little tipsy.
"Hey T" She approached Theo with a confused smile, throwing her
arms around his neck and pulling him into a wet kiss.
Theo pulled back almost immediately, hands on Tracy's waist to push her back, an almost annoyed expression on his face. "What are you still doing here? Isn't it about time you go home?" He asked her.
"Mmmh .. Hayden is waiting for me in the car, but ... I could stay here" she said, his voice soft and tempting. "Keep the party going..." She looked at him with an allusive smile, but Theo's expression remained unchanged.
"You should go home" he just said. "You're drunk"
"This has never stopped you" she said, amused.
Liam squirmed again, embarrassed, not knowing what to do, especially because he was sure that if he took one only step, he would fall down.
"Tracy" Theo sighed grumpy, glancing quickly at Liam "Just go, it's not the time"
Tracy pursed her lips, the smile now gone. Her gaze swayed slightly over Liam as she took a step away from Theo, dropping the hands that was still resting on his shoulders. Then she looked back to the boy. "Okay" she sighed eventually defeat, and maybe a little irritated. "See you tomorrow?"
"Sure" Theo replied, but he didn't sound sure at all.
Tracy snorted, and left without another word.
Liam looked up at Theo when Tracy slammed the door behind her.
"You weren't very kind" he mumbled, raising an eyebrow, and stumbling back again.
Theo laughed at his slurred voice because of the alcohol, taking his hand to prevent him from falling and starting to make his way to the upper floor. "You should know by now that I am not nice" he just said
Liam let himself be dragged upstairs, his eyes fixed on their entwined hands, Theo's palm warm against his, a slight blush on his cheeks when his gaze lingered on Theo's bare shoulders.
"Come on" Theo whispered, and Liam suddenly realized he was in his room, Theo lightly pushed his shoulder, helping him to lie down, and to slip under the blankets.
Liam grumbled, settling himself better against the pillow, his eyes closed in a now pleased expression, mumbling something confused.
"What did you just say?" Theo asked, frowning, not having grasped his words at all.
"You are" Liam repeated more clearly.
"I'm what?" He repeated again, even more confused.
"Kind" Liam replied, opening his eyes with a small smile on his face.
Theo's heart jumped painfully into his chest, but he tried to keep a chill tone "You must be really drunk then"
"Aliens didn't kidnap you, did they?" Liam grumbled then, his eyes closing again.
"What?" Theo laughed.
When Liam didn't answer, Theo thought he had finally fallen asleep, and started to walk away. But Liam's hand around his wrist kept him in place, making him stumble. "..ay here" he grumbled.
"Uh?"
Liam opened his eyes again "Stay here" he repeated weakly. "I'm dying"
Theo laughed again "You're not dying" he said, a fondness in his
voice that sounded strange even to himself. He hesitated for a moment,
unsure about what to do, before lying down next to Liam, but staing
above the blanket.
He had sex with so many different people that he couldn't count them anymore, but he had never shared a bed with anyone, sleeping together. Even someone like him felt like it was an extremely intimate gesture, perhaps even more than the sex itself.
Liam turned on his side, facing Theo, who imitated his position, resting his head on his right hand, his elbow pointed in the mattress.
"Are you dead?" He asked, when Liam gave no more sign of life.
Liam laughed weakly, then opened his eyes again. His gaze lingered on him again, in a way that got him goosebumps. Then he suddenly narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Why are you naked?"
"You're becoming repetitive" Theo snorted. "The dare, remember? I had to strip to quit playing the stupid bottle game"
" ... Bottle?" Liam muttered thoughtfully. "Mhh .." Then he seemed to remember something because his expression cleared, his eyes rose to Theo's face and with a half smile he propped himself up on his elbow.
"What-?" Theo looked at him taken aback, while Liam got closer with a face that would been a predatory gaze if he wasn't been hopelessly wasted. Theo froze when Liam placed a quick and light kiss on the corner between his lips and cheek before dropping weight against the pillow.
"What-?" Theo repeated, his eyes wide and his heart beating fast in his chest. It had been so light and fast that Theo was wondering if it had really happened, or it had been just a dream.
"You owed me a kiss" Liam muttered weakly, before finally falling
asleep with a last sigh, leaving Theo alone with his heart going crazy
and his mind working hectic.
Trying to gather his thoughts, Theo dropped onto the pillow. He wondered if he should go back to his room, but at that moment he didn't find the strength, courage or willingness to do such a thing. So he stood there, watching Liam sleep.
He said that he had to stop that attraction before it became something more. But maybe, maybe it was already too late. Because looking at the boy next to him, sleeping with a peaceful expression, all he could think of was how much he wanted to stop the time at that moment, close the world in that room, a world where Liam asked him willingly to stay by his side, a world where Liam could stay by his side so relaxed, so peaceful ... so himself.
He said that it was only attraction, he said that it was a passing crush that would go away as it came, but it was not like that. Maybe, maybe ... it had always been there. Since they were kids. He had hated him, he picked on him because he saw the weaker part of himself in Liam. The only one he wanted to erase. Now, after all, he could see how this implied that even back then, he had recognized a piece of himself in the other boy, something that bound them together, something that made them similar.
And if he had been stupid at the time, and he had hated that bond, now instead it was like a warm comfort, like a voice in the back of his mind that kept repeating
'You're not alone, you're not the only one who's hurting here, everything's gonna be fine'
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