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Liam is high as a kite as they come off stage, bouncing around on his heels, and he knows he probably looks ridiculous but the rest of the lads are buzzing, too.
He runs up to Louis and flings an arm around his shoulders. "Tommo!" he hollers right in Louis's ear, and Louis winces away, then grins and swings his head round to yell right back in Liam's ear, "Payno!"
"That was so funny," Liam says, grinning widely, dropping his head in close towards Louis.
"What was?" says Louis, grinning right back.
Liam holds up a pretend mic and croons into it, quirking his eyebrows up and trying to look sincere, meaning the bit in Moments where he was singing to Louis.
Louis nods, clocking on. He raises an imperious eyebrow, clearly biting back a smirk. "Honestly, Liam, I know I'm funny, but you should really learn to control yourself. Our fans pay good money to come see us sing, not to see you become so overwhelmed by my hilarity that you can't carry a song. Talk about unprofessional, Mr Payne."
Liam is laughing, can't help it, feels warm and giddy inside like he always does when Louis is laughing with him - or at him, to be honest - because everyone knows there's something special about Louis's full attention on you, and he's so funny that it feels like you've really done something special if you make him laugh even half as much as he makes you laugh. Liam keeps hold of Louis's shoulders and swings around to face him, dancing backwards down the backstage hallway towards the dressing rooms. "I wanna be with you," he sings loudly, making Louis bark out a laugh. "I wanna feel your love--"
Louis ducks his head with a bashful grin like he had on stage, like there's only so long he can keep a straight face when Liam is singing at him, and the breath hitches triumphantly in Liam's chest and he dances closer to Louis, the two of them stumbling down the hallway very ineffectually.
"I cannot hide this," he sings again, then has to drop his head into Louis's shoulder to giggle into it.
"Oh Liam," says Louis in a falsetto. "I never knew you felt this way!"
Liam lifts his head, and Louis is grinning at him, all blue eyes and crinkles - by his eyes when he smiles, and Liam laughs helplessly again, feeling too big and warm. "It's you, it's you," he half says, half sings, and leans in, meaning - meaning - later on, he doesn't know what the fuck he was meaning to do. He knows the difference between playing around and meaning something, he knows it was stupid, but it happens anyway.
They bump noses first, and that's still hilarious, and Liam can smell Louis, sweat and aftershave, and it's familiar and comforting and then Louis's mouth is half open against his, warm and soft.
Everything stops, then; it isn't funny anymore, it's just - it's Louis's mouth, he's kissing Louis, and the warmth that was fizzing in his chest goes hot and solid and drops into his belly, and he gasps.
They part for a second, long enough to Liam to look up at Louis. Louis's also stopped laughing, but he's still close, and Liam doesn't think about anything, just sways back in on instinct, pulled by the hook in his stomach, like something in Louis has reached out, attached itself just behind Liam's belly button, reeling him in. Their mouths bump again, then Louis opens his lips purposefully, tilts his head, and they slot together with a rush that Liam can feel down to his toes.
He's stepped in closer, their thighs bumping, and they kiss properly, a full-on snog, the ringing in Liam's ears drowning out anything else. His hands have found themselves on Louis's hips, and he tightens his grip convulsively when he feels the warm, wet nudge of Louis's tongue, and he opens to it readily. He opens his mouth wider, their lips sliding wetly together, and rubs his tongue against Louis's and into Louis's mouth, feels the soft inside of Louis's lower lip and the ridge of his teeth.
He's breathing hard, his heart going in fast, sick pounds, feels like it should be visibly shaking his chest. He can feel Louis breathing fast too, chest moving against Liam's because they're pressed so close together; Liam realises slowly, hazily, that he's getting hard, a slow dull thudding pulse between his legs, adrenaline and kissing and the slow hot way Louis sucks on his tongue, oh god.
He jolts against Louis, involuntary movement of his legs, and it's like it switches off the insanity switch that Liam had flipped on in both of them because they pull apart with a heaving breath at almost the same time. God, they - they hadn't even been looking around, hadn't even checked, realised they they were in public, because they - Liam anyway, and Louis too by the blankly shocked look on his face - hadn't been thinking about anything.
Louis takes two big steps back, expression not changing.
"I," says Liam, and licks his lips. He realises he can taste Louis, and there's that hook in his belly again, tugging so hard with a hot swoop that he feels sick and dizzy. "Sorry," he says, gasps, really.
Louis opens his mouth like he's going to say something, then he glances around, and Liam follows his gaze. It looks - the hallway looks deserted apart from a couple of venue staff looking very determinedly at the floor as they scurry past, but Liam gets a stab of fear anyway because he's so stupid, what the fuck was he thinking?
Louis looks back at Liam, but still doesn't say anything, and his expression doesn't give anything away, apart from how red his lips look, and Liam can't stop staring, crap. He tears his gaze away, and shakes his head. "I," he says, then turns completely around and nearly runs down the corridor, bypassing the dressing room entirely and heading out to the bus. He needs to be - anywhere but where Louis is, because apparently Louis makes him into a raging thoughtless moron.
He'll be fine, they'll be fine, he just needs some space and a nap and some food, probably, and to stop touching his mouth as though he can save the sensation of Louis's soft lips against his. He'll be fine.