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Harry is drunk. Hopelessly, recklessly drunk.
Lucky for him, he's got amazing friends who look after him when he's had too much and know when to cut him off. They've spent most of the evening at a local pub celebrating Liam's birthday and Harry seems to have celebrated just a little too much.
They're back at Liam's house now and Liam is struggling to get Harry out of his clothes. Notably, this is not the way he's always dreamed of getting Harry naked, but he's not ashamed to admit - to himself anyway - that he's at least getting a pretty impressive view for his efforts. Not that Harry would even care, considering the fact that he's quite narcissistic.
"A little help here, please?" Liam asks Harry as he tries to peel off Harry's impossibly tight jeans. Harry stripped his own shirt off when they had just walked through the door but getting his jeans off is definitely a joint effort.
"Trying to get me naked, Li? You could just ask y'know," Harry slurs as he shimmies his hips enough so that the fabric starts to pull away from his legs. Finally, Liam is able to slide them off until Harry is left in only his pair of obscenely tight boxer briefs. They leave absolutely nothing to the imagination, not that Liam needs to imagine anything since Harry strips those right off also.
"Jesus Christ, at least keep your pants on if you're going to be sharing my bed, mate."
Liam is only human and there's no way he would survive the night if he has to share a bed with a very naked Harry Styles.
"Noooo," Harry whines and kicks his briefs aside. It takes every ounce of willpower in his body but Liam manages to avert his eyes as he carefully steers Harry over to the bed. Once he's convinced that Harry's not in any immediate danger, he rifles through his dresser for a pair of his favorite sweatpants and hands them over.
"Here, these are really comfortable so put them on okay?"
"Okay," Harry smiles up at Liam like he hung the moon, "but just for you, okay? Because you're so pretty," he adds and reaches out to pet Liam's face.
Liam can't help but blush, and he's grateful that the room isn't terribly bright. He didn't want to shock Harry's drunken senses, so he just switched on his bedside lamp instead of the harsh overhead lighting.
"You need to get some sleep, babe," Liam says, as he helps Harry into the sweatpants.
"I like it when you call me babe," Harry winks and allows Liam to manhandle him into the bed.
"All right, babe," Liam laughs and gets Harry all tucked in. He then quickly changes out of his own clothes and into a soft pair of shorts.
"Hey sexy," Harry says as his eyes shamelessly travel up and down Liam's body.
This time Liam feels the blush spreading all over him as Harry continues to stare. "Sleep," he repeats as he switches the lamp off and quickly slides into the bed next to Harry. The entire room is suddenly bathed in silvery moonlight which seems to intensify everything he's feeling. He really should make Harry sleep in one of the guest rooms, but he also doesn't want him to wake up confused and disoriented.
"I'd rather admire the view," Harry whispers as he reaches out to trail a finger over the dips in Liam's abs.
It tickles, and Liam can't help but squirm a bit. "Haz!" he hisses and swats Harry's hand away. "Stop that and please get some sleep? For me?" he adds, batting his eyelashes for added effect.
"Oh my God," Harry giggles, "how do you do that?"
"Do what?" Liam is confused, but at least Harry is no longer touching him. He doesn't need an awkward boner right now, that's for damn sure.
"How can you go from being incredibly sexy one minute to absolutely adorable the next? It's rude," Harry says like he's personally offended by Liam's very existence.
"I'm…sorry?" Liam offers because he's honestly not sure what to say. Harry has always been a flirty drunk, so his advances are nothing new. Still, it all feels far too intimate than Liam is comfortable with, considering just how much he desperately wants to drag his mouth all over Harry's body.
"You should be," Harry laughs too and moves closer. He doesn't touch again, but he does fit himself right into Liam's personal space and draws the blankets up around them.
It's too much, and everything around Liam is suddenly consumed by Harry. For someone who's done nothing but drink and dance all night, he smells divine. Like a heady combination of his favorite Tom Ford cologne, and the underlying sweetness of his skin from his coconut body wash.
"Good night, Haz," Liam whispers nearly against Harry's mouth since they're only inches apart.
"Night, babe," Harry smiles and leans in to rub his nose against Liam's.
It's such a ridiculously cute gesture that Liam wants to burn the image into his head for all eternity.
"Li?" Harry asks a moment later just as they both get settled.
"Yeah?"
"Did you have a good birthday?" Harry asks sweetly, and then reaches out to rub Liam's cheek.
"It was aces, thank you," Liam grins and for a fraction of a second, allows himself to melt into Harry's touch.
It really was a good birthday as far as Liam is concerned. He spent the day with his parents and then the evening with all of his best mates. Now he's sharing a bed with the boy he's loved for entirely too many years, and it's been perfect.
"Can I give you one last present?" Harry asks, and Liam doesn't miss the way Harry's voice has dropped a couple of octaves.
"What kind of present?" Liam knows better than to give Harry full reign when he's drunk.
"A birthday kiss?" Harry asks hopefully and reaches out to trace idle patterns on Liam's bare shoulder. "I'd make it really good for you, Liam. I promise. I'm a very good kisser, Liam."
Christ.
"Why do you keep saying my name?" Liam asks, instead of actually answering the question. As much as he'd love to kiss Harry, he's 1000% certain it would be a bad idea.
Harry giggles. "I like the way it sounds; it's very pleasing. Lee-yum," he laughs again and draws out the syllables. "Or just yum," he pants, right up against Liam's mouth. "You're very handsome, Lee-yum Payne."
Liam feels himself blush again. "Thank you, but you're very drunk, Harry Styles," Liam points out while reaching out to brush the curls from Harry's face.
Harry laughs like it's the funniest thing in the world. "Is that why you don't want to kiss me Lee-yum?" He asks and drags his fingers over Liam's beard.
"Something like that," Liam nods and swallows around the growing lump in his throat.
"You're a sweetheart, Lee-yum. Protecting my virtue and all," Harry says, breath ghosting across Liam's lips. He's too close and Liam can't breathe.
"You need to sleep," Liam reminds him, and leans forward to place a gentle kiss on Harry's forehead.
"I know you can do better than that," Harry teases and tilts his face up expectantly.
"Sleep," Liam counters and taps Harry's nose playfully.
"I'd sleep a lot better if I could have a goodnight kiss," Harry grins and rubs his nose against Liam's again.
"I thought it was a birthday kiss?" Liam raises an eyebrow at Harry but doesn't pull away.
"It's a 'whatever you want to call it as long as you kiss me' kiss," Harry says just before their lips touch.
Liam pulls away at the last second though because he just can't. Not like this.
"Harry, I'm not kissing you when you're wasted," Liam says gently and scoots back to put some distance between them. "Maybe in the morning if you still - " he adds, but then Harry cuts him off.
"About that," Harry takes a deep breath before he continues, "I have a confession to make."
Liam remains silent, but he can sense Harry's general discomfort.
"I'm not drunk anymore," Harry says, but Liam looks skeptical. "I was earlier, yeah, but I haven't been for a while. Not since the cab ride at least," he winces at Liam's shocked expression.
"So wait, you weren't drunk when we got back, and you let me undress you and everything?"
Harry winces again. "I know it sounds bad, but I kinda liked that part if I'm honest."
"Oh, now you want to be honest?" Liam teases, because he's not mad, not really. Just surprised. "How about in the interest of honesty you tell me exactly what's going on here, yeah?"
"So there's this boy," Harry starts, and Liam immediately feels his stomach drop. He's not sure where this story is about to go but he's afraid he's not going to like it much if it involves someone that Harry's interested in. There were a lot of cute lads at the pub, and Harry had easily charmed them all.
"I fancy him a lot, but I haven't figured out how to tell him is the thing. I know I should just be honest, but it's hard. What if he doesn't like me back? Or what if he does, but he doesn't think getting together would be a good idea? There are a lot of variables here," Harry continues and inches a bit closer. "I know it's ridiculous, but I thought what if I just kept pretending to be drunk and flirt a bit? Then I'd get to see how he would react. If he wasn't very responsive, I could easily blame the alcohol, couldn't I?"
Everything finally makes sense as Liam puts it all together.
"I suppose that's true," Liam nods, "but what if this boy really fancies you too, but he was just afraid to take advantage of you in your seemingly drunken state? What if he was afraid you'd regret it in the morning once you sobered up?"
"I clearly didn't think this through did I?" Harry looks sad now, and it hurts Liam's heart.
"Hey," Liam says and tips Harry's face up gently. "I admit it's not one of your better ideas, but it's flattering that you like this boy so much that you'd go to all this trouble for him."
"Yeah?" Harry asks, and gives Liam a hopeful smile.
"Yeah," Liam agrees and leans forward, "did you still want that goodnight kiss?" He whispers, breath warm against Harry's lips.
"Yes please," Harry nods and loops his arms around Liam's neck. "Happy birthday," he adds, just before Liam closes the distance and kisses him slowly.
It's just a light brush of their mouths at first, but then Liam slides his tongue between Harry's lips and reaches up to run his fingers through Harry's long hair.
Harry melts against Liam's mouth and kisses him back deeply. He loves having his hair played with too, so getting to kiss Liam at the same time is pure heaven.
"Fuck," Liam pants when they pull back for air. "I've been wanting to do that for so long," he admits and leans in to steal another kiss. Just a quick one this time, but he stays close.
"Why didn't you?" Harry asks curiously. "I mean, has my crush not been glaringly obvious? Niall teases me about it about constantly," Harry laughs and presses their foreheads together.
"Oh God... we're a pair, aren't we? Zayn has been teasing me for years about my crush on you!"
"Are we seriously that blind?" Harry laughs and slides closer so he can share Liam's pillow.
"Apparently so, but at least we've finally worked it out," Liam says and tucks Harry against his chest.
"Mmm," Harry nods and brushes his lips against Liam's neck.
"Harold," Liam warns and pulls back slightly. "I highly suggest you don't keep that up if you want to get any sleep tonight."
Never one to back down from a challenge, Harry's nips Liam's neck a bit just before he rolls right on top of him and pins him to the bed.
"Now why would I want to do something as useless as sleeping when I've finally got that beautiful boy all to myself?" Harry asks, and leans in to drag his mouth up Liam's neck.
This time, Liam definitely can't argue with that.
~*~