Rec: One Direction
Title: I Had Rather Hear My Dog Bark At A Crow
Author: sunsetmog
Pairings: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson
Fandom: One Direction
Word Count: 122,594
Warnings: Watersports, Bad Break Up (but there is a Happy Ending!), Undernegotiated Kink, RPF
Summary: The first time Louis Tomlinson kisses him, Nick is three sheets to the wind, wearing a pirate hat, and so fucking tired of Louis being a complete and utter knobhead that he's spent the last ten minutes snapping at him. The kiss takes him rather by surprise, all things considered. (Or: Nick and Louis don't like each other, not even a little bit, not even at all.)
"What the fuck do you want from me?" Nick asks, since he's an interviewer, and occasionally that means asking the difficult questions. "You're always in my face. It does my head in."
"God," Louis says again. He's looks about a second and a half away from stamping his foot. "Nick, fuck-"
Then Louis pushes Nick back against the wall and presses his mouth to Nick's.
It's not actually the answer Nick was anticipating and it takes a few seconds for his brain to catch up. "What the fuck?" he manages, because Louis' hands are cupping his face; then Louis' mouth covers his again, and Nick is sure he's supposed to be doing something right now that isn't kissing him the fuck back.
Fair warning to those who don't like this sort of thing: this fic is RPF (it contains real people in fictional situations), and it features rather kinky sex. While these facts might sell some people, I can imagine they will turn others away. If you have any doubt as to whether this fic is for you, then please read the author's warnings before embarking on your journey...
With that aside... I'd like to tell you exactly why you should read this fic.
The formula behind this fic is fairly average: Boy meets boy. Boy hates boy. Boy and boy sleep together, make a mess of things and eventually fall in love. It's something I've seen before, a thousand times, maybe more, but...
This fic - this particular fic - kills me every time I read it. (And I've read it about four times.) There are a number of things that do me in... and while most of them make me want to cry, a few of them have me grinning like a loon through the tears.
The relationship between the two characters is at the heart of the story, of course, but I the main thing that sold me on this fic was simply: Louis. I can't even begin to describe to you just how much I was invested in Louis Tomlinson in this fic.
At the start of the fic, Louis has all the sharp angles and harsh facades of someone who has been lying to themselves for years, unable to accept themselves - or their sexuality - for what they are. But, throughout the fic, small cracks start to appear in his facade, turning into large fractures as he deals with all the wants and needs he's been damming for years. It's these walls and their slow disintegration that did me in.
Of course, Nick shone too... but I think that, for me, this is Louis Tomlinson's fic, and always will be. I'm surprised now, when I read other fics, when I find a depiction of Louis that isn't quite what is shown here. In some ways this Louis is more real to me than the real Louis could ever be. (Which is probably to be expected... and also very welcome. I'm pretty glad that the fictional Louis and the real Louis don't overlap at all in my head. This is one of those occasions when I think a very firm line between reality and fiction is both necessary and beneficial).
Beyond Louis, the next best thing about this fic is actually the horrific break up between Nick and Louis that exists at the centre of the story.
Normally I'm not a fan of break-ups (I'm a much bigger fan of the get-togethers). But this break up actually featured a plot device that I hadn't realised was a plot device before, and which I'm now searching for elsewhere (largely in vain)... Namely the 'I know that to all outward appearances I've been acting like a dickhead and everybody hates me for that, but you don't know how it is, not really, not underneath it all, so let me tell you how I'm not the dickhead you think I am because I'm operating with a broken heart' plot device.
Or, as Nick puts it in this story: the "He's the one who broke my fucking heart, okay? He's the one who left me. So don't fucking start on me about hurting him, all right, because I'm the one who-" plot device. The moment when the outside observer (in this case Harry) had his entire worldview tilted sideways made me want to punch the air in joy. What is more, it was just executed so beautifully in this fic it almost made me want to cry.
But, don't let the sadness that is at the centre of the fic scare you off! This fic does have a happy ending. The tissue worthy plot in the middle just makes the journey there all the more worthwhile. The highs feel so high precisely because the lows are so low.
Anyway. Rambling aside, I adored this fic. (There were so many things I adored). I can already tell that it has been one of those stories that will never quite leave me. Something about the narrative of love, loss, secrecy and despair tugged on my heart strings in a way that is really very rare.
Author: sunsetmog
Pairings: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson
Fandom: One Direction
Word Count: 122,594
Warnings: Watersports, Bad Break Up (but there is a Happy Ending!), Undernegotiated Kink, RPF
Summary: The first time Louis Tomlinson kisses him, Nick is three sheets to the wind, wearing a pirate hat, and so fucking tired of Louis being a complete and utter knobhead that he's spent the last ten minutes snapping at him. The kiss takes him rather by surprise, all things considered. (Or: Nick and Louis don't like each other, not even a little bit, not even at all.)
"What the fuck do you want from me?" Nick asks, since he's an interviewer, and occasionally that means asking the difficult questions. "You're always in my face. It does my head in."
"God," Louis says again. He's looks about a second and a half away from stamping his foot. "Nick, fuck-"
Then Louis pushes Nick back against the wall and presses his mouth to Nick's.
It's not actually the answer Nick was anticipating and it takes a few seconds for his brain to catch up. "What the fuck?" he manages, because Louis' hands are cupping his face; then Louis' mouth covers his again, and Nick is sure he's supposed to be doing something right now that isn't kissing him the fuck back.
Fair warning to those who don't like this sort of thing: this fic is RPF (it contains real people in fictional situations), and it features rather kinky sex. While these facts might sell some people, I can imagine they will turn others away. If you have any doubt as to whether this fic is for you, then please read the author's warnings before embarking on your journey...
With that aside... I'd like to tell you exactly why you should read this fic.
The formula behind this fic is fairly average: Boy meets boy. Boy hates boy. Boy and boy sleep together, make a mess of things and eventually fall in love. It's something I've seen before, a thousand times, maybe more, but...
This fic - this particular fic - kills me every time I read it. (And I've read it about four times.) There are a number of things that do me in... and while most of them make me want to cry, a few of them have me grinning like a loon through the tears.
The relationship between the two characters is at the heart of the story, of course, but I the main thing that sold me on this fic was simply: Louis. I can't even begin to describe to you just how much I was invested in Louis Tomlinson in this fic.
At the start of the fic, Louis has all the sharp angles and harsh facades of someone who has been lying to themselves for years, unable to accept themselves - or their sexuality - for what they are. But, throughout the fic, small cracks start to appear in his facade, turning into large fractures as he deals with all the wants and needs he's been damming for years. It's these walls and their slow disintegration that did me in.
Of course, Nick shone too... but I think that, for me, this is Louis Tomlinson's fic, and always will be. I'm surprised now, when I read other fics, when I find a depiction of Louis that isn't quite what is shown here. In some ways this Louis is more real to me than the real Louis could ever be. (Which is probably to be expected... and also very welcome. I'm pretty glad that the fictional Louis and the real Louis don't overlap at all in my head. This is one of those occasions when I think a very firm line between reality and fiction is both necessary and beneficial).
Beyond Louis, the next best thing about this fic is actually the horrific break up between Nick and Louis that exists at the centre of the story.
Normally I'm not a fan of break-ups (I'm a much bigger fan of the get-togethers). But this break up actually featured a plot device that I hadn't realised was a plot device before, and which I'm now searching for elsewhere (largely in vain)... Namely the 'I know that to all outward appearances I've been acting like a dickhead and everybody hates me for that, but you don't know how it is, not really, not underneath it all, so let me tell you how I'm not the dickhead you think I am because I'm operating with a broken heart' plot device.
Or, as Nick puts it in this story: the "He's the one who broke my fucking heart, okay? He's the one who left me. So don't fucking start on me about hurting him, all right, because I'm the one who-" plot device. The moment when the outside observer (in this case Harry) had his entire worldview tilted sideways made me want to punch the air in joy. What is more, it was just executed so beautifully in this fic it almost made me want to cry.
But, don't let the sadness that is at the centre of the fic scare you off! This fic does have a happy ending. The tissue worthy plot in the middle just makes the journey there all the more worthwhile. The highs feel so high precisely because the lows are so low.
Anyway. Rambling aside, I adored this fic. (There were so many things I adored). I can already tell that it has been one of those stories that will never quite leave me. Something about the narrative of love, loss, secrecy and despair tugged on my heart strings in a way that is really very rare.