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Nick is so very tired.
He feels like he hasn’t slept in about a million years, which is only a slight exaggeration, really.
Don’t get him wrong, he’s so grateful for his life. Not many people get to do their dream job and be on their favourite telly show, but for some reason he does. And he doesn’t regret signing up for X Factor at all. Well. Except for when he’s running on three hours sleep and has to work almost constantly and never really sees his mates but. Other than that he’s great.
But really. As cranky and sleep deprived as he is now, he knows he wouldn’t give it up for the world. He’d just like to get a little sleep occasionally.
Its 1am, they’ve just finished a round of auditions at Wembley. He’s been up since 5am for the radio. And he kind of feels a little bit dead. But tomorrow is Saturday, which means no radio. And there’s no X Factor, either. So he can finally sleep.
He’s proper excited about it.
He tries to open his front door as quietly as possible, just in case Pig is asleep. He knows that’s unlikely, she’s practically nocturnal at this point, loves to patter around in the middle of the night.
And just like he thought as soon as he closes the door behind him he’s bombarded by doggy kisses. It’s not like he minds, of course. He crouches down to give pig a scratch behind the ears and a big hug. Another downside to his busy schedule. Less time with his favourite little dog in the world.
He smiles at her little yipping noises. “You lunatic,” he mutters fondly, “have you missed me?”
She barks happily. He’ll take that as a yes.
He goes about getting ready for bed, starting with a quick cuppa to calm him down after the hectic day he’s had. He sees that Pig’s bowl’s still fairly full, so he assumes either Ian or Aimee popped ‘round to lend a hand. He’ll thank them later. He refills her water, though, and gives her a final kiss on the head before he heads into his bedroom.
He’s only got one arm out of his jacket when he realises.
There’s a Louis Tomlinson in his bed. Correction. There’s a naked Louis Tomlinson in his bed. Lying spread eagled on top of the duvet.
“About time you tuned up, Jesus,” the sprawl of beautiful, naked boy says.
He doesn’t quite know where to look.
Nick’s kind of frozen a little bit. “Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?”
He grunts and rolls over onto his stomach, which is in no way helping things at all. “It’s hot.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” he mutters, mainly to himself. Louis pushes up onto his forearms, looking over his shoulder and curving his back seductively. It really goes to show how tired Nick is that he doesn’t just jump the boy.
“You flatter me, Mr Grimshaw, but I meant the weather.” When Nick still doesn’t stop staring at him, he adds, “You’re such a perv, God, just get over here.”
Nick can’t help but smile. He’s missed this, thought he wasn’t gonna get this for a good month yet. If there’s anyone busier than himself, it’s definitely One Direction. Come to think of it, he’s pretty sure they’re still on tour right now, aren’t they? Maybe the heat and the tiredness is making him hallucinate. He’s not surprised that his hallucinations would take the form of his extremely attractive and naked boyfriend.
Louis raises his eyebrows at him, rolling his shoulders slowly. Nick’s not undressed this quickly in a long time. They both know they’re far too tired to actually do anything, but Nick just can’t wait to be close to him again.
He strips down to just his pants – because he’s not as youthful, beautiful or confident as Louis is – and brushes his teeth and hair in record time.
When he steps back into the room, Louis’ lying on his side facing away from him. It’s ridiculous how curvy he is, really. Nick had always thought curviness was an inherently feminine thing, and thus something he’d never be interested in. But the curvy of Louis’ waist just about makes his mind melt, loves nothing more than to fits his hands around him. And don’t even get him started on Louis’ arse.
“You really are a perv today, aren’t you?” he asks, voice soft. He’s obviously very tired. Nick wants to sleep with him forever. In all the ways.
He rushes over then, opting to join Louis on top of the covers rather than under, seeing as it really is quite hot for English weather. He plasters himself to Louis’ back, arm wrapping securely around his waist and hand rubbing softly at his tummy. He hopes Louis isn’t too hot for a cuddle. The boy hums.
“Hi,” Nick whispers.
Louis hums again. “Your hands are cold. S’nice.” He leans his weight back into Nick’s chest.
Nick can’t help but smile. He loves all sorts of Louis’, but sleepy, cuddly Louis might be his favourite. He presses a kiss to Louis’ shoulder. “Knew you only wanted me for my hands.”
Louis chuckles, kicking him gently. “The rest of you is good too, I suppose.”
They lie there, close and almost too warm, but Nick wouldn’t move even if the world were ending.
He’s surprised that Pig hasn’t come scratching at the door for attention, but, he supposes, Louis’ probably been playing with her all day. Figures he must have been the one to feed her as well.
“I thought you were on tour,” he whispers into the nape of Louis’ neck.
“We’ve got a week off, I wanted to surprise you. I forgot, of course, that you’re too busy for me and Piggy anymore.” He turns towards Nick as he says it, curling up against him so their face to face and so entwined, he’s not sure if it would even be possible to separate them.
Nick traces a finger along Louis’ jawline, entranced. “I always have time for you.” He knows that if Louis were more awake he’d probably call him a sap, would probably smack him in the balls too, really. But now he only smiles, tucking his face into the curve of Nick’s neck. God, he’s missed this. “I missed you.”
People would probably assume that Nick wasn’t a very love-y dove-y person. What with his very vocalised disdain for PDA and anything to do with relationships. And to be honest, he was pretty sure he’d hate it too. Spending so much time alone with one person, having to think about them in all the decisions that you make for yourself. But he loves it. Loves being with Louis like this. Loves it when they’re intimate and sweet as much as when they’re hot and chaotic. Loves getting to see him soft and vulnerable, loves getting to be the same with him. Hates having him away on tour so much. He’s never missed a person as much as he does Louis.
Louis hums, softly. “I missed you too, you nutter.” He says it quietly, clearly already half asleep.
Nick pulls Louis so he’s lying almost completely on his chest from where he’s now flat on his back. Louis hums again. He tends to do that a lot when he’s happy. It’s nice to have an indication that Nick’s doing things right. It makes his chest feel warm.
He relaxes into the sheets, one arm settling on Louis’ lower back, his other hand reaching up to play with the boy’s hair, knows that’ll get him to sleep even quicker. And he’s right. With a kiss pressed to Nick’s collar bone and another hum, Louis’ breathing evens out, body pressing heavier against Nick’s.
God, Nick loves him. Hasn’t told him yet. Rarely accepts it himself. But in moments like these, when he’s covered in warm boy, too tired to try to convince himself otherwise, he knows it’s true. Of course he loves him. How could he not, really. But he’ll get to that another day.
For now he presses a kiss to Louis’ forehead, tightens his arms around him, and closes his eyes to sleep. And if a hand sneaks down for a bit of a grope, well, he can’t really be blamed. He has got a naked boyfriend on him, after all.
Louis hums in his sleep.