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When Liam first walked into his room, he didn’t notice anything was off. But, in his defense, the lights were off, he was tired—night shifts would be the death of him—and ready to collapse face first into bed, like he always did after a twelve-hour shift.
So, he wasn’t exactly at his best, and he really couldn’t be blamed for his delayed reaction. Really, he was exhausted, and returning from a grueling shift at six in the morning was semi-normal for him; he had a routine, it had never been disturbed before.
So, like he said, it wasn’t his fault that it took him a full ten minutes—the amount of time it took him to drag his ass out of his work clothes and into some sleep pants—to realize that there was a fucking person in his bed. A person who wasn’t him. In his bed. What the fuck?
“Umm,” Liam began, his t-shirt clutched tightly between his fists and against his chest. His poor brain was working double time, trying to figure out just exactly how tired he was—if this was an exhaustion induced hallucination, or if there really was a stranger in his bed. Then the person shifted, and Liam let out a shout—and yes, it was a shout, he did not squeak, okay—that had the person groaning, rolling over and sitting up to face Liam.
Heat rose in Liam’s cheeks as his sheets pooled around the man’s waist, exposing his bare chest and a hint of just as naked hips.
“What the fuck, dude?”
Liam felt a hysterical laugh bubble up in his throat as he watched the now angry man in his bed send him a glare because—because Liam was almost positive that he was the one that was supposed to say that, not the stranger in his bed.
“Umm,” Liam said, again, because his brain was still trying to process that there was a man he did not know, nor invite in his bed.
“What the fuck‘re you doin’ in my flat?” Angry stranger asked, and Liam blinked in response, his confusion ratcheting up again.
“What?” Liam asked because, well, this was his apartment. He was sure of it. “This is my apartment.”
Angry Stranger’s eyebrows drew together before bleary eyes darted around the room, taking in his surroundings with growing apprehension.
“Oh,” Angry Stranger whispered. “You’re right.”
Liam felt that laugh bubble up again, but he pushed it down. Somehow, he was sure that completely losing it wouldn’t get them anywhere.
“Right,” Liam agreed. “Right. Um. So, is there, um, is there a reason you’re naked in my bed, then?” Maybe not how Liam should have gone about getting answers, but he figured it answer most of the ones he had.
“I-I climbed in through the window,” Angry Stranger said, like that was a completely normal thing to do. Like this guy climbed through windows a lot. Again, what the fuck?
“O-kay.” Liam felt his head moving up and down, nodding like he knew what was going on, like that was a perfectly reasonable explanation for why this guy was in his bed. “Right,” he started again. “So, you climbed in my window, and that’s why you’re naked in my bed. Right.” Liam was starting to think he might have been onto something with that exhaustion induced hallucination theory.
“What?” Angry Stranger—though he seemed to be noticeably less angry now, maybe Liam would have to come up with a new name for him?—asked. “No. I-I mean, yes, I climbed in your window, but that’s not why I’m, um, n-naked, or anything.” A blush rose on the man’s face and oh, Liam thought, he’s very cute, isn’t he?
That…wasn’t a thought Liam thought he would be having about a random stranger in his bed at ass o’clock in the morning while he was half out of his mind with confusion and exhaustion.
“Right,” Liam said, again, because at this point it was the only word he could say. “And the reason you are, y’know,” Liam moved to gesture at the man’s nakedness, only to realize he was still clutching his shirt to his chest like a Goddamn heroine from a harlequin novel. “…um, naked?” he finished lamely.
“I thought it was my window,” Hot Stranger said—and yes, he had officially gone from Angry Stranger to Hot Stranger in Liam’s head because he was no longer angry, but he was, in fact, still very hot. And very naked. Liam was still struggling to process everything since he had walked through his door.
“But it…wasn’t,” Liam stated, like that wasn’t obvious at this point.
“Uh, no,” Hot Stranger muttered, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck. “It obviously was not.”
Hot Stranger still hadn’t made any moves to cover himself up, and the comforter was low enough at this point that it was indecent. It made processing things that much harder for Liam.
“Right.” Liam was very sure he winced after saying that word this time, but he couldn’t be sure. “And you climbed through the window why?”
“Because I locked myself out. It, um, it happens a lot? After, like, the eleventh time I had to have my friend bring me my spare key, I just decided to leave the window unlocked.” Hot stranger gave a shrug. “It’s quicker.”
“Right,” and really, Liam had just accepted his mind’s unwillingness to think of another word. “Of course.” Ah, there one was!
There were a few moments of awkward silence before Liam asked, “Any particular reason you chose my window tonight, instead?”
Hot Stranger hesitated a moment before saying, “I was very, um, tired. And maybe, possibly…slightly buzzed? Might not have been motivated to double check which window I was climbing through on the way up.”
Liam thought about that for a minute, considered where the fire escape was located, and realized that he was probably staring at his neighbor right now. His very hot, very naked neighbor.
“You know, it’s really dangerous to leave your window unlocked. You never know who’ll crawl through it,” Liam said. It took several moments, but the minute Liam’s words registered with Hot Neighbor, he started laughing.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Hot Neighbor said. “All kinds of weirdos in this city.”
Liam grinned, finally lowering his arms from in front of his chest, his t-shirt still hanging loosely from his fingers. Hot Neighbor’s eyes tracked the movement, giving Liam an appreciative once over that he absolutely refused to blush at. There was definitely another reason his cheeks were so warm right now.
“So, um,” Hot Neighbor started. “’m sorry about this.” He gestured to the room, and then himself, obviously trying to convey the mess they found themselves in at the moment. “I’ll, um, just grab me clothes and get out of your hair, yeah?”
And then Hot Neighbor stood up, in all his naked glory, and Liam had to force himself to not choke on his fucking tongue. Fuck, but the guy was gorgeous. All lean lines and tan skin, and Liam was practically fucking drooling. It was embarrassing, really, but he couldn’t help himself. But then all that glorious skin was disappearing as Hot Neighbor finished dressing, crossing the room to Liam’s window. He hesitated a moment, turning back to Liam with indecision written across his features before he seemed to make up his mind, squaring his shoulders and meeting Liam’s eyes.
“You should let me make this up to you. This whole,” again, he gestured to the room at large, “mix up we’ve found ourselves in the middle of.”
Liam just barely stopped his jaw from dropping to the floor, but he was positive he didn’t hide the absolute shock that overtook his features—he probably didn’t do a great job hiding his eagerness, either, not with the way he all but shouted, “Absolutely.” He quickly shut his mouth, clearing his throat as his cheeks flared up again, before saying, “I mean, um. Yeah. I think I could be persuaded.”
Hot Neighbor smiled, his teeth gleaming in the low light from outside, and Liam felt his knees go a little weak. “Awesome,” he murmured, before he ducked out of Liam’s window and around the corner.
It wasn’t until Liam had collapsed into his bed that he realized he still didn’t know Hot Neighbor’s name. Oh well, Liam thought. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t be seeing each other again, and soon, hopefully.