I Love You But I Can't Breathe

Chapter Four

Harry giggled, tripping over the slim pole and tangling up in the slippery fabric of the tent.

"Oh my God," Niall huffed, laughing so hard, he sank down to his knees next to Harry, hands over his stomach. "You and Louis are better take this tent, I don't want it to collapse on me while I'm sleeping."

Harry tripped again as he tried to stand up, the blue fabric of the tent pulling him down like a wave.

"Lookin' good, lads!" Louis called out, from where him and Liam had just finished setting up their tent so precisely, it could have been on the front page of a camping magazine.

Harry was still giggling as he tried to sit up. By the time Niall and Harry had finished struggling to put up their tent, Liam had already started a fire.

"You want a s'more, babe?" Louis asked, holding out the sticky marshmallow sandwich for Harry. The younger boy nodded and let Louis feed him the s'more, sucking on his fingers when he was finished.

"Christ, why did we possibly think letting these two live together would be a good idea?" Liam said to Niall, shaking his head and fighting off a smile. He turned to Louis. "No tent-sex, Tommo."

Louis glared at Liam, clearly offended. "My God, Payno, do you think I have no class?"

As Liam shuffled off into the woods to find more marshmallow roasting sticks, Louis turned his attention back to his boyfriend, pressed so close to Harry that he could feel his lips tickle the shell of his ear. "I was just kidding to Liam, you know... you didn't think I had you buy all those supplies for no reason did you?" Louis murmured against Harry's ear.

The younger boy could feel the heat rising to his cheeks already. "You're not talking about the cucumber and the stockings are you?" he whispered, his brows knitting together in worry.

Louis bit back a laugh. "I'm not that kinky, love. I just was talking about the lube. I mean, if you want...?" He ran his hands along Harry's thighs.

"Yeah," Harry whispered breathlessly. "Yeah, please, can we?"

"Once the lads fall asleep," Louis promised, smoothing back Harry's curls to kiss his forehead.

The four of them stayed by the fire for hours, Harry progressively curling tighter and tighter against Louis as the night went on. The soft sounds of Niall's guitar were lulling him to sleep, mixed with the sweet raspy lilt of Louis' voice, so much softer than his speaking voice. The crackle of the fire soon turned to a hiss as Liam poured a bucket of water over the last few coals, and Louis tugged Harry along into their tent, zipping it up behind them.

Harry was a giggly sleepy mess as the two of them tried to fit themselves together into one sleeping bag, and Louis' mouth still tasted like sweet marshmallows, and as tired as Harry was, he was never too tired for this. He was still holding onto Louis long after they'd untangled and cleaned up as best as they could.

"What are you thinking about, love?" Louis asked, struggling to sleep while Harry was still awake next to him.

"I just love you and I love this," Harry said quietly. "I'm not ready for today to end."

"I'll make every day this perfect when we're living together, boo," Louis murmured, brushing Harry's curls back and snuggling closer to his warmth. "Promise."

They fell asleep holding hands, and even though Harry knew their hands would drift away as they slept, Harry whished there were some way to keep them together so he could be anchored to Louis even as he slept.  

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Harry's eyes darted open as soon as he felt the chest pains.