you began to feel like home - liam/louis - pg
Title: you began to feel like home
Pairing(s): Liam Payne/Louis Tomlinson,
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,946
Warning(s): Unbeta'ed.
Summary: It's taken Liam a little while to realize he is, in fact, in love with Louis.
Disclaimer: You can't own real people, that's illegal.
“Now, Liam, the question everyone’s been burning to ask you. Is there someone special in your life?”
“Yes.”
Really, he should have seen this coming.
*
Liam sees the object fly onto the stage in Harry’s general direction, but Harry is too busy manhandling Niall to realize.
He wanders over and picks the thing up, rubbing his fingers against the rough material, and his first thought is of Louis.
He knows Louis is on the stairs behind him - always knows where Louis is somehow, keeps track of it without thinking about it anymore - and turns to bound up the stairs. It’s a lull between songs and Zayn is talking a bit, wishing Perrie a happy birthday, and Louis is drinking water and throwing bits of paper at Harry and Niall, though Liam’s not really sure where they came from.
Liam plops down next to him and considers for a second to make sure Louis is looking at him before he brings the flower crown up and attaches it to the crown of Louis’ head. Louis - surprisingly - sits still while Liam adjusts it, and when Liam is satisfied with how it looks, he pinches Louis quickly on the cheek - not really sure why, but extremely pleased with the blush it produces -- before leaping up and bounding back down the stairs, throwing himself into the first line of the next song.
Louis doesn’t take the stupid flower thing off the whole night, and blushes again, making a face at Liam when Liam catches him reaching up to fiddle with it.
*
“Make that two croissants please,” Liam says, handing over the appropriate change, “Thanks.”
Harry is looking at him in amusement, and Liam makes a face at him in return, “What?”
“Little hungry there, mate?” Harry asks, and Liam frowns.
“One’s for Louis, you nob.” He takes the bag from the cashier and leads the way out of the bakery, ignoring Harry’s raised eyebrow and how defensive he feels about it.
Harry is quiet in the few minutes it takes them to get back to the bus, and then disappears into the bunk area.
Liam takes his croissant out of the bag before passing it to Louis, who’s sitting on the couch scrolling through Twitter on his phone.
Louis blinks at the bag sitting on his chest in confusion, and then a second later, his stomach gurgles. He looks up at Liam in astonishment.
“How did you know?” He asks, already tearing into the bag. Liam shrugs and sits down at the other end of the couch, shifting to allow Louis’ feet to tuck under his thighs.
Truth is, Louis always gets a little hungry - and cranky - by this time of the day, and that’s why Liam brought him food. But as he goes to say that out loud, he thinks it might be weird that he’s paid attention to that fact about Louis, when Louis hasn’t even really. He frowns because he’s not used to thinking so carefully about what he says to Louis.
“I just guessed.” He says, and leaves it at that. Louis shrugs and turns his attention back to his phone, but Liam can see him smiling, and a few minutes later his phone vibrates with a notification from Twitter.
@Louis_Tomlinson: @Real_Liam_Payne is better than any of you !! :) xxxx
Liam’s heart thumps when he sees the four x’s at the end of the tweet and then puts his phone away before pinching Louis’ ankle lightly and smiling at him. Louis wiggles his toes, grinning, before picking up the remote and turning on the television.
If, later, Liam falls asleep staring very hard at those four little x’s, he’s the only one who’ll know.
*
They’re back in London for a few days before they’re off to the United States, and they’ve had a few recording sessions scheduled, and Liam is trying to find some food before his next session, which isn’t for a few hours.
Predictably, that’s when Louis pops up with a grin on his face.
“No.” Liam says automatically. They got a bit of a telling off the last time they decided to take a break from recording in London and went on that bike ride.
“Lee-yuuuum.” Louis whines, “We want to play with youuuu.” At the ‘we’, Liam glances behind Louis and sees that yes, of course, Loki is sitting there, with much the same look on his face that Louis has.
Liam sighs and gives up - because the combination of Louis and Loki’s puppy dog faces are relentless - and motions for Louis to lead the way.
“Good choice. I also exposed Niall to the whole of the cafeteria, so we’re on the run from him as well.” Louis winks and takes off, Loki following him immediately, barking excitedly.
That’s when Liam hears the running footsteps and a loud, Irish voice yelling - and then he’s running off down the hallway after Louis and Loki, laughing despite himself.
*
After being told off about slipping off to the park with Louis and Loki - and he knew it was going to happen, but of course he did it anyway - Liam is watching the water fill his bathtub and wondering where Loki could have hidden himself in the apartment because he knew this bath was inevitable.
Because of course Louis tackled Liam into a big mud puddle in the middle of the park - not caring that the two of them would have to spend the rest of the day in those clothes before they got to go home - and of course Loki joined in, rolling gleefully around in the mud until Liam couldn’t see any of his white fur anymore.
He hears a knock at the door and turns off the faucet, drying his hands as he looks around for Loki, and so he’s not looking at whoever it is as he opens the door, thinking he’s spotted Loki’s tail sticking out from behind the island in the kitchen.
“Hey-” Liam hears Louis say, and then abruptly stop, and he swings his head around to look at him.
Louis’ eyes are trained somewhere around Liam’s middle, and Liam suddenly wishes he put on a shirt after stripping off his mud caked one, but he knew he’d just get messy giving Loki a bath, and why is he even self conscious about it around Louis anyway?
Liam does a bit of his own staring and notices Louis’ changed and his hair is a bit damp, so he’d gotten to shower. He looks comfortable and warm and Liam smirks.
“I was about to give Loki a bath, and since you helped put him in that state, I’m electing you to help.” Liam grabs Louis by the wrist -- feeling a jump in his stomach as Louis’ fingers reflexively curl around his wrist in return - and drags him to the bathroom.
Loki pops out of his hiding place and the sound of Louis’ laughing protests and bounds into the bathroom with them, not realizing he’s trapped himself until Liam swings the door shut.
Liam shouts in triumph as he picks Loki up and swings him into the tub, and Louis shrieks as soapy water cascades over the side of the tub and soaks his feet. Louis reaches down and scoops up a handful of bubbles, flinging them in Liam’s face.
There’s a moment of silence - even Loki has stopped splashing - and then Liam is laughing and flinging water back at Louis.
It’s all our war after that, and when it’s all over, Loki is clean, but Liam and Louis - and the entire bathroom - are soaked.
It’ll be hell to clean up, but Liam doesn’t even care.
*
“Leeeeeeeeeee-“ The high pitched shriek is cut off with a choking sound, and then someone - trying - to whisper, “He’s ill, you twat. Let him sleep.”
Liam shifts a bit, scrunching his face up at the weird angle his neck is at. He breathes in and smells the faint scent of cigarette smoke -oh. He did fall asleep on Zayn.
But that must have been hours ago. The rest of the boys had left early this afternoon in pursuit of a new chip shop, and Liam and Zayn had declined to continue their Fifa tournament. Not long after they’d left though, Liam had felt the persistent exhaustion creeping in on him, and given up and tipped into Zayn’s lap and fallen asleep.
They said they wouldn’t be back until late though, which means Liam’s been asleep this whole time.
He attempts to wet his lips and says, “’m not sick.”
His voice comes out as a rasp that tears at his throat and he makes a face at himself. Maybe he’s a little sick.
“You’ve been burning up the whole time you’ve been passed out on.” Zayn says.
Liam hears a sigh and then feels the presence of someone crouching down next to his head. “Li, can you open your eyes for me?” Louis slides his hand into Liam’s hair, and Liam hums in approval, cracking his eyes open to squint at Louis.
Louis is smiling at Liam gently, and it’s not a smile that Liam gets to see all that often, but he’s glad for it right now. That smile, in addition to the presence of Zayn as his pillow, and Harry and Niall hovering worriedly not that far away, makes him feel safe and comforted.
“You want to sleep in a proper bed?” Louis asks, and Liam just nods, trying to struggle upright. Four pairs of hands steady him, and he swats them away.
“I’m fine, it’s just a cold or something. I’m not dying.” He gets up slowly and shuffles to the back of the bus, crawling into Louis’ bunk instead of his own, because he doesn’t have the energy to climb that little bit up. Loki climbs up silently and curls up at Liam’s feet, and he smiles at that.
He’s already closed his eyes again, but hears someone walk past the bunks to the bathroom. He hears water running and the sound of plastic clinking together before the footsteps return to his bedside.
“Can you sit up? Just for a second I promise.” Louis’ voice is low, but Liam grumbles anyway, curling in on himself more.
“Look, you big lump, you’re sick and you’ve taken over my bed. The least you could is stop being so stubborn and take some damn medicine.”
Liam drags himself up, glad for Louis’ steadying hand in the middle of his back, and swallows the pills with a sip of water from the cup Louis offers, hands the cup back to Louis, and then flops back onto the bed, turned toward the wall. He hasn’t opened his eyes the whole time, but does when he hears a hesitant, “Li?”
He looks over his shoulder and sees Louis hovering uncertainly next to his bed.
“What, Lou? What’re you doing, get in.” Louis looks relieved and immediately gets in, scooting close to Liam and tucking his knees behind Liam’s and reaching around to grab one of Liam’s hands. Liam feels him take a breath, like he’s about to say something, but then, nothing.
“Lou?” Louis sighs, and his breath ruffles the hair at the base of Liam’s next. He tries not to shudder, and then wonders why he’d be shuddering.
“Nothing. Just sleep, okay?” Louis says, and presses his forehead to the back of Liam’s neck. Liam falls asleep between the breaths he was taking to ask another question.
*
Liam checks the time once more as he knocks on the door to Harry’s room. Zayn is Skyping Perrie in his own room down the hall, and had directed Liam here with a small smile when Liam asked him where Louis is.
“It’s open!’ Harry sings out, before laughing maniacally. Liam hears Niall shrieking even before he opens the door, and Louis is shouting insults as usual.
“Louis, let’s go.” Louis looks up at him and grins, jumping up from his seat on Niall - keeping him pinned so Harry can tickle him, and honestly, when will they just admit it already - and bounces over to Liam.
“Where are we going?” Louis asks, following Liam regardless. Liam just grins at him, “You’ll see.”
As they make their way from the hotel down to the street, Liam can’t help smiling at Louis. He hasn’t been able to hang out with him all day, and he’s been a bit anxious about it. Honestly, he’s noticed it for a while, but today it was even worse because they’d just gotten back from a longer break a few days ago, and Liam had already missed Louis so much then.
Louis grins back at him and then abruptly shivers, and Liam frowns. It’s the middle of the summer, but it’s a cooler night, and all Louis is wearing is a thin, stretched out t-shirt -Liam’s shirt in fact. He’d wondered where that’d gone.
Liam shrugs out of his jacket and hands it to Louis, who takes it gratefully.
“Are you sure?” Liam nods. He’s already a bit cold, but he’d rather Louis be warm.
They come to a stop outside of the cinema and Louis turns to grin and shake his head at Liam.
“Li, you’ve seen this like five times already.” Liam shrugs, grinning.
“But not with you.” He says simply, feeling his face heat up, and noticing the same on Louis’ cheeks. “Plus, it’s bloody fantastic!”
Louis pulls out his phone and tugs Liam next to him, taking a picture of the two of them. Liam’s phone vibrates a second later and he pulls it out to see Louis’ mentioned him on Twitter.
@Louis_Tomlinson: @Real_Liam_Payne is the steve to my tony !!! :) x pic.twitter.com/ B0kQawCBT9
He looks at the picture and feels his stomach flutter as he realizes the shirts they’re wearing, and Tweets back as they enter the theater.
@Real_Liam_Payne: @Louis_Tomlinson you bet babeeeee ;) x
When he gets back to his hotel room later that night, he makes the picture his phone background and falls asleep smiling.
*
So Liam has come to terms with the fact that he’d like to kiss Louis - like, a lot of kissing, and more - but he also just wants to be around Louis all the time and cuddle with him and make him tea and watch superhero movies together and-
Really it’s not that much different from what they’ve always done, Liam would just like Louis to know that he thinks he’s a bit in love with him.
It’s a dilemma.
Because if says something to Louis about it, and Louis doesn’t want the same thing, well then he’s going to be heartbroken, and he doesn’t think he can handle that-
Yeah. Dilemma.
*
So when the interviewer asks Liam that question, he just answers without realizing what the implications might be, because he’s been thinking hard about it the past few days - months, really - and he can’t hold it in any longer.
“Oh, really.” The interviewer laughs, and Liam , who is sitting the closest to her, sees the spark of triumph in her eyes. The boys are muttering behind them, but he ignores them and focuses on the woman in front of him. “Can we know who?”
“Ah,” Liam hesitates, “Well it wouldn’t be fair if I told you before I told him, now would it?”
The woman’s eyes widen, and she squeaks, “Him?”
Liam freezes, and can feel Louis stiffen next to him. He feels Louis’ fingers come to rest on his side, out of view of the cameras or anyone else in the room, and he takes a deep breath.
Harry distracts the interviewer then, telling one of his long, ridiculous stories, and Liam doesn’t open his mouth again for the rest of the interview, and Louis’ fingers stay tucked in his belt loop.
He didn’t really mean for that to happen.
*
Louis comes to find him a few hours later, when he’s curled up in Louis’ bunk, clutching Loki to his chest.
“Liam.” Louis’ voice is low, and Liam doesn’t like that.
“Not now, Lou.” Liam’s emotions are all muddled right now, and if Louis stays and talks to him, he’ll probably end up telling him everything, and he can’t deal with that right now.
“Li, it’s fine, we can get management to release a statement saying you made a mistake, or something-“
“No,” Suddenly Liam is angry, “Because that would be a lie.”
Louis stares at him for a second before nodding and saying, “Okay.”
He climbs into the bunk with Liam, not touching him besides the hand he tentatively lays on his hip. He asks his question so quietly that Liam isn’t sure he’s heard it correctly for a second.
“Is he anyone I know?” And his voice sounds so small, so unsure, and it’s not right at all.
Liam releases Loki, and tries not to feel disgruntled when he immediately jumps down, and sighs.
“I think you know him pretty well.” He states, hoping that’s enough of an answer.
Louis frowns, confused, and then says, “Liam, we know a lot of people, you’re going to have to help me mphf-“
Liam pulls back from where he’d stopped Louis talking with his own mouth, and whispers, “Was that okay?”
Louis is grinning as he laughs and sneaks a hand in to pinch Liam’s nipples - “For fucking months Liam, the Steve to my Tony! Are you thick?” “But they’re just best friends!” “Please.” - and Liam laughs as he pulls Louis to him and hears the other boys whooping at the other end of the bus, because of course they were eavesdropping.
*
Management ends up releasing a statement that yes, in fact, Liam is the Steve to Louis’ Tony, and they couldn’t be happier.
Pairing(s): Liam Payne/Louis Tomlinson,
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,946
Warning(s): Unbeta'ed.
Summary: It's taken Liam a little while to realize he is, in fact, in love with Louis.
Disclaimer: You can't own real people, that's illegal.
“Now, Liam, the question everyone’s been burning to ask you. Is there someone special in your life?”
“Yes.”
Really, he should have seen this coming.
*
Liam sees the object fly onto the stage in Harry’s general direction, but Harry is too busy manhandling Niall to realize.
He wanders over and picks the thing up, rubbing his fingers against the rough material, and his first thought is of Louis.
He knows Louis is on the stairs behind him - always knows where Louis is somehow, keeps track of it without thinking about it anymore - and turns to bound up the stairs. It’s a lull between songs and Zayn is talking a bit, wishing Perrie a happy birthday, and Louis is drinking water and throwing bits of paper at Harry and Niall, though Liam’s not really sure where they came from.
Liam plops down next to him and considers for a second to make sure Louis is looking at him before he brings the flower crown up and attaches it to the crown of Louis’ head. Louis - surprisingly - sits still while Liam adjusts it, and when Liam is satisfied with how it looks, he pinches Louis quickly on the cheek - not really sure why, but extremely pleased with the blush it produces -- before leaping up and bounding back down the stairs, throwing himself into the first line of the next song.
Louis doesn’t take the stupid flower thing off the whole night, and blushes again, making a face at Liam when Liam catches him reaching up to fiddle with it.
*
“Make that two croissants please,” Liam says, handing over the appropriate change, “Thanks.”
Harry is looking at him in amusement, and Liam makes a face at him in return, “What?”
“Little hungry there, mate?” Harry asks, and Liam frowns.
“One’s for Louis, you nob.” He takes the bag from the cashier and leads the way out of the bakery, ignoring Harry’s raised eyebrow and how defensive he feels about it.
Harry is quiet in the few minutes it takes them to get back to the bus, and then disappears into the bunk area.
Liam takes his croissant out of the bag before passing it to Louis, who’s sitting on the couch scrolling through Twitter on his phone.
Louis blinks at the bag sitting on his chest in confusion, and then a second later, his stomach gurgles. He looks up at Liam in astonishment.
“How did you know?” He asks, already tearing into the bag. Liam shrugs and sits down at the other end of the couch, shifting to allow Louis’ feet to tuck under his thighs.
Truth is, Louis always gets a little hungry - and cranky - by this time of the day, and that’s why Liam brought him food. But as he goes to say that out loud, he thinks it might be weird that he’s paid attention to that fact about Louis, when Louis hasn’t even really. He frowns because he’s not used to thinking so carefully about what he says to Louis.
“I just guessed.” He says, and leaves it at that. Louis shrugs and turns his attention back to his phone, but Liam can see him smiling, and a few minutes later his phone vibrates with a notification from Twitter.
@Louis_Tomlinson: @Real_Liam_Payne is better than any of you !! :) xxxx
Liam’s heart thumps when he sees the four x’s at the end of the tweet and then puts his phone away before pinching Louis’ ankle lightly and smiling at him. Louis wiggles his toes, grinning, before picking up the remote and turning on the television.
If, later, Liam falls asleep staring very hard at those four little x’s, he’s the only one who’ll know.
*
They’re back in London for a few days before they’re off to the United States, and they’ve had a few recording sessions scheduled, and Liam is trying to find some food before his next session, which isn’t for a few hours.
Predictably, that’s when Louis pops up with a grin on his face.
“No.” Liam says automatically. They got a bit of a telling off the last time they decided to take a break from recording in London and went on that bike ride.
“Lee-yuuuum.” Louis whines, “We want to play with youuuu.” At the ‘we’, Liam glances behind Louis and sees that yes, of course, Loki is sitting there, with much the same look on his face that Louis has.
Liam sighs and gives up - because the combination of Louis and Loki’s puppy dog faces are relentless - and motions for Louis to lead the way.
“Good choice. I also exposed Niall to the whole of the cafeteria, so we’re on the run from him as well.” Louis winks and takes off, Loki following him immediately, barking excitedly.
That’s when Liam hears the running footsteps and a loud, Irish voice yelling - and then he’s running off down the hallway after Louis and Loki, laughing despite himself.
*
After being told off about slipping off to the park with Louis and Loki - and he knew it was going to happen, but of course he did it anyway - Liam is watching the water fill his bathtub and wondering where Loki could have hidden himself in the apartment because he knew this bath was inevitable.
Because of course Louis tackled Liam into a big mud puddle in the middle of the park - not caring that the two of them would have to spend the rest of the day in those clothes before they got to go home - and of course Loki joined in, rolling gleefully around in the mud until Liam couldn’t see any of his white fur anymore.
He hears a knock at the door and turns off the faucet, drying his hands as he looks around for Loki, and so he’s not looking at whoever it is as he opens the door, thinking he’s spotted Loki’s tail sticking out from behind the island in the kitchen.
“Hey-” Liam hears Louis say, and then abruptly stop, and he swings his head around to look at him.
Louis’ eyes are trained somewhere around Liam’s middle, and Liam suddenly wishes he put on a shirt after stripping off his mud caked one, but he knew he’d just get messy giving Loki a bath, and why is he even self conscious about it around Louis anyway?
Liam does a bit of his own staring and notices Louis’ changed and his hair is a bit damp, so he’d gotten to shower. He looks comfortable and warm and Liam smirks.
“I was about to give Loki a bath, and since you helped put him in that state, I’m electing you to help.” Liam grabs Louis by the wrist -- feeling a jump in his stomach as Louis’ fingers reflexively curl around his wrist in return - and drags him to the bathroom.
Loki pops out of his hiding place and the sound of Louis’ laughing protests and bounds into the bathroom with them, not realizing he’s trapped himself until Liam swings the door shut.
Liam shouts in triumph as he picks Loki up and swings him into the tub, and Louis shrieks as soapy water cascades over the side of the tub and soaks his feet. Louis reaches down and scoops up a handful of bubbles, flinging them in Liam’s face.
There’s a moment of silence - even Loki has stopped splashing - and then Liam is laughing and flinging water back at Louis.
It’s all our war after that, and when it’s all over, Loki is clean, but Liam and Louis - and the entire bathroom - are soaked.
It’ll be hell to clean up, but Liam doesn’t even care.
*
“Leeeeeeeeeee-“ The high pitched shriek is cut off with a choking sound, and then someone - trying - to whisper, “He’s ill, you twat. Let him sleep.”
Liam shifts a bit, scrunching his face up at the weird angle his neck is at. He breathes in and smells the faint scent of cigarette smoke -oh. He did fall asleep on Zayn.
But that must have been hours ago. The rest of the boys had left early this afternoon in pursuit of a new chip shop, and Liam and Zayn had declined to continue their Fifa tournament. Not long after they’d left though, Liam had felt the persistent exhaustion creeping in on him, and given up and tipped into Zayn’s lap and fallen asleep.
They said they wouldn’t be back until late though, which means Liam’s been asleep this whole time.
He attempts to wet his lips and says, “’m not sick.”
His voice comes out as a rasp that tears at his throat and he makes a face at himself. Maybe he’s a little sick.
“You’ve been burning up the whole time you’ve been passed out on.” Zayn says.
Liam hears a sigh and then feels the presence of someone crouching down next to his head. “Li, can you open your eyes for me?” Louis slides his hand into Liam’s hair, and Liam hums in approval, cracking his eyes open to squint at Louis.
Louis is smiling at Liam gently, and it’s not a smile that Liam gets to see all that often, but he’s glad for it right now. That smile, in addition to the presence of Zayn as his pillow, and Harry and Niall hovering worriedly not that far away, makes him feel safe and comforted.
“You want to sleep in a proper bed?” Louis asks, and Liam just nods, trying to struggle upright. Four pairs of hands steady him, and he swats them away.
“I’m fine, it’s just a cold or something. I’m not dying.” He gets up slowly and shuffles to the back of the bus, crawling into Louis’ bunk instead of his own, because he doesn’t have the energy to climb that little bit up. Loki climbs up silently and curls up at Liam’s feet, and he smiles at that.
He’s already closed his eyes again, but hears someone walk past the bunks to the bathroom. He hears water running and the sound of plastic clinking together before the footsteps return to his bedside.
“Can you sit up? Just for a second I promise.” Louis’ voice is low, but Liam grumbles anyway, curling in on himself more.
“Look, you big lump, you’re sick and you’ve taken over my bed. The least you could is stop being so stubborn and take some damn medicine.”
Liam drags himself up, glad for Louis’ steadying hand in the middle of his back, and swallows the pills with a sip of water from the cup Louis offers, hands the cup back to Louis, and then flops back onto the bed, turned toward the wall. He hasn’t opened his eyes the whole time, but does when he hears a hesitant, “Li?”
He looks over his shoulder and sees Louis hovering uncertainly next to his bed.
“What, Lou? What’re you doing, get in.” Louis looks relieved and immediately gets in, scooting close to Liam and tucking his knees behind Liam’s and reaching around to grab one of Liam’s hands. Liam feels him take a breath, like he’s about to say something, but then, nothing.
“Lou?” Louis sighs, and his breath ruffles the hair at the base of Liam’s next. He tries not to shudder, and then wonders why he’d be shuddering.
“Nothing. Just sleep, okay?” Louis says, and presses his forehead to the back of Liam’s neck. Liam falls asleep between the breaths he was taking to ask another question.
*
Liam checks the time once more as he knocks on the door to Harry’s room. Zayn is Skyping Perrie in his own room down the hall, and had directed Liam here with a small smile when Liam asked him where Louis is.
“It’s open!’ Harry sings out, before laughing maniacally. Liam hears Niall shrieking even before he opens the door, and Louis is shouting insults as usual.
“Louis, let’s go.” Louis looks up at him and grins, jumping up from his seat on Niall - keeping him pinned so Harry can tickle him, and honestly, when will they just admit it already - and bounces over to Liam.
“Where are we going?” Louis asks, following Liam regardless. Liam just grins at him, “You’ll see.”
As they make their way from the hotel down to the street, Liam can’t help smiling at Louis. He hasn’t been able to hang out with him all day, and he’s been a bit anxious about it. Honestly, he’s noticed it for a while, but today it was even worse because they’d just gotten back from a longer break a few days ago, and Liam had already missed Louis so much then.
Louis grins back at him and then abruptly shivers, and Liam frowns. It’s the middle of the summer, but it’s a cooler night, and all Louis is wearing is a thin, stretched out t-shirt -Liam’s shirt in fact. He’d wondered where that’d gone.
Liam shrugs out of his jacket and hands it to Louis, who takes it gratefully.
“Are you sure?” Liam nods. He’s already a bit cold, but he’d rather Louis be warm.
They come to a stop outside of the cinema and Louis turns to grin and shake his head at Liam.
“Li, you’ve seen this like five times already.” Liam shrugs, grinning.
“But not with you.” He says simply, feeling his face heat up, and noticing the same on Louis’ cheeks. “Plus, it’s bloody fantastic!”
Louis pulls out his phone and tugs Liam next to him, taking a picture of the two of them. Liam’s phone vibrates a second later and he pulls it out to see Louis’ mentioned him on Twitter.
@Louis_Tomlinson: @Real_Liam_Payne is the steve to my tony !!! :) x pic.twitter.com/ B0kQawCBT9
He looks at the picture and feels his stomach flutter as he realizes the shirts they’re wearing, and Tweets back as they enter the theater.
@Real_Liam_Payne: @Louis_Tomlinson you bet babeeeee ;) x
When he gets back to his hotel room later that night, he makes the picture his phone background and falls asleep smiling.
*
So Liam has come to terms with the fact that he’d like to kiss Louis - like, a lot of kissing, and more - but he also just wants to be around Louis all the time and cuddle with him and make him tea and watch superhero movies together and-
Really it’s not that much different from what they’ve always done, Liam would just like Louis to know that he thinks he’s a bit in love with him.
It’s a dilemma.
Because if says something to Louis about it, and Louis doesn’t want the same thing, well then he’s going to be heartbroken, and he doesn’t think he can handle that-
Yeah. Dilemma.
*
So when the interviewer asks Liam that question, he just answers without realizing what the implications might be, because he’s been thinking hard about it the past few days - months, really - and he can’t hold it in any longer.
“Oh, really.” The interviewer laughs, and Liam , who is sitting the closest to her, sees the spark of triumph in her eyes. The boys are muttering behind them, but he ignores them and focuses on the woman in front of him. “Can we know who?”
“Ah,” Liam hesitates, “Well it wouldn’t be fair if I told you before I told him, now would it?”
The woman’s eyes widen, and she squeaks, “Him?”
Liam freezes, and can feel Louis stiffen next to him. He feels Louis’ fingers come to rest on his side, out of view of the cameras or anyone else in the room, and he takes a deep breath.
Harry distracts the interviewer then, telling one of his long, ridiculous stories, and Liam doesn’t open his mouth again for the rest of the interview, and Louis’ fingers stay tucked in his belt loop.
He didn’t really mean for that to happen.
*
Louis comes to find him a few hours later, when he’s curled up in Louis’ bunk, clutching Loki to his chest.
“Liam.” Louis’ voice is low, and Liam doesn’t like that.
“Not now, Lou.” Liam’s emotions are all muddled right now, and if Louis stays and talks to him, he’ll probably end up telling him everything, and he can’t deal with that right now.
“Li, it’s fine, we can get management to release a statement saying you made a mistake, or something-“
“No,” Suddenly Liam is angry, “Because that would be a lie.”
Louis stares at him for a second before nodding and saying, “Okay.”
He climbs into the bunk with Liam, not touching him besides the hand he tentatively lays on his hip. He asks his question so quietly that Liam isn’t sure he’s heard it correctly for a second.
“Is he anyone I know?” And his voice sounds so small, so unsure, and it’s not right at all.
Liam releases Loki, and tries not to feel disgruntled when he immediately jumps down, and sighs.
“I think you know him pretty well.” He states, hoping that’s enough of an answer.
Louis frowns, confused, and then says, “Liam, we know a lot of people, you’re going to have to help me mphf-“
Liam pulls back from where he’d stopped Louis talking with his own mouth, and whispers, “Was that okay?”
Louis is grinning as he laughs and sneaks a hand in to pinch Liam’s nipples - “For fucking months Liam, the Steve to my Tony! Are you thick?” “But they’re just best friends!” “Please.” - and Liam laughs as he pulls Louis to him and hears the other boys whooping at the other end of the bus, because of course they were eavesdropping.
*
Management ends up releasing a statement that yes, in fact, Liam is the Steve to Louis’ Tony, and they couldn’t be happier.