Tangerine

Chapter 77

Soundtrack: The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreamin'

Dedication: (@changethenight) hello love! thank you for sending me such sweet messages and asking about certain details and plot points in tangerine, you helped me plan a good chunk of this chapter simply by being curious and you may even recognise many of the words in this update from the analyses i sent you :) hope your writing goes well, never stop doing what makes you happy, thank you and take care :)

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Louis and Harry are best friends.

Louis ‒ and everyone else ‒ knows that Harry and I have always been close. We've always had that slightly-more-than-friendly relationship growing between us. It's been like this since day one.

Sure, when Louis suggested we try an open relationship, he did imply that he knows that I want to hook up with Harry guilt-free. One thing that struck me, however, is that he came off as if he wasn't entirely sure how far I've gone with Harry ‒ which is both relieving and irritating. If I tell Naomi most of what happens between me and Harry, then who does Harry tell? Who is Harry's Naomi? Or, does he have a Naomi at all? Regardless, even if Harry hasn't said a word, if Louis believes we've already done the deed or not, Louis has clearly come to terms with the idea.

That, and his sizeable offer also had a lot to do with his own self.

I got the vibes that Louis' suggestion was more for himself than for my benefit. I don't blame him, but now I know for sure that Louis wants to hook up with other people, and it took longer than just our chat time for me to fully accept that. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of imagining Louis sleeping with other people, but the mere thought of being free to explore with Harry has made it ten times more bearable to handle.

From the way Louis was coming off in the dressing room, however, I got the impression that he has his own plans tonight. I wasn't sure if he expected to fuck again right away, or if he was going to take a step back and let us breathe for a little longer, relying on our natural magnetic attraction to pull us together as it tends to. Apparently, he was going for the latter.

Which- is respectable on Louis' part... but it also screams, "I'm interested in someone and I'm kinda focused on doing them first."

Aside from Louis' personal gain, however ‒ and I have to give him this ‒ our talk was also a moment for him to let me know that we're cool, as well as a small push in Harry's direction, as to say, "It's okay, you're allowed to do this."

It's not like I needed Louis' consent in that case, but it's always nice to know that I'm not stepping on anyone's toes while I'm enjoying myself.

We're still a little on edge, but most of our concerns have been resolved. We're still growing and learning as people, and yes, our intention is to actually do this. For now, anyway. We're gonna follow through with our plan for an open relationship, hopefully become close again and explore with other people, all while Harry and I begin to enjoy each other physically; for real this time.

Or, at least, that's the plan.

Now, I just have to wait and see where that brings us.

·

"I wanted it..." I pant into the microphone, beads of sweat glistening over my forehead, "but I couldn't imagine this."

I beam out to the crowd, hearing my own voice echo around the arena and the screams of the thousands of fans echo right back to me. I chuckle to myself in disbelief, readjusting one of the monitors in my ears.