Lirry Stayne One Shots

Summer Fireflies

Liam had a thickness in his lungs from all of the words left unsaid.

By writingwords1d on Tumblr

It was hot, that night. The sweat stuck to them in the warm, July midnight air. But it was always hot in the summer, so they were used to it.

And there was a bonfire burning somewhere-the smoke and sound of crackling wood filling the air with thickness. A thickness that invaded. Invaded Liam's heart, making it pump faster, faster, faster with all of his thoughts and words that he had left unsaid.

And there were fireflies flying up above them, down near them, all around them. They gave off their little lights-making it summer. Making Liam want to fly away and float with the warm winds of summer.

"Haz." Liam whispered, impeccably softly in the thick air, not wanting to ruin the moment of summer. But he had to say something, because the thick air was pressing, pressing, pressing in his lungs, threatening to escape and reveal something he didn't want to be revealed. "Have you ever wanted to be a firefly?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask, Li?" he whispered back, unaware of the internal struggle going on in Liam's lungs.

"Because sometimes I think it would be nice to be a firefly. Just forget about everything going on and float away. Fly anywhere I wanted, pulled by the wind and lost in the sheer number of other fireflies doing the same exact thing." Liam whispered, huffing out a breath of thick air, full of the things he wanted to say but couldn't. And what Liam said didn't really make sense, but it didn't need to. Because it was summer and it was Harry. And Harry understood him.

"Why do you say that, Li?" Harry asked, his voice sounding a little wispier in the wind, as if it were floating away too. And it probably was. Because Harry was floating away. But Liam refused to really talk about it.

"No reason." He whispered back, and they left it at that. Sitting in silence, the thickness built up pressure in Liam's heart until all was threatening to spill out in a rush of HarryIdon'twantyoutogo. Until he was talking about it. Even though he really didn't want to. "I just meant, I don't want to be left behind. Because what if you come back and everything changes? What if you find a better best friend? What if you replace me? Or worse, you change, and I don't and we don't fit anymore?" Liam said. And Liam really hated saying things. He did. Because when he said things, it usually did more damage that it did good.

But the pressure in his lungs was too much because of the thick air, and it was like his heart was pumping out blood that had been thick for too long, the thoughts constantly clogging up his mind, his heart, his lungs, until he had to say something.

"Yeah. I guess, I do know what you mean. Just forget people and fly off and be a firefly for a little while. I think that would be nice. Forget about all of the things I want to do and say and all of the things other people want me to do and say. I think that would be nice." Harry whispered, and Liam was grateful.

Because it was like Harry was telling him that he understood what he was saying, that he understood him. That he wouldn't leave him out to dry or forget about him and replace him. Because if Harry could make up something dumb about how he wanted to be a firefly, just because Liam said he sometimes wanted to be a firefly, then he was obviously the best kind of friend Liam could've ever asked for, ever.

And that appeased Liam a little more, and a comfortable silence enveloped them.

"Li?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, Haz?" Liam asked, his ears perked up, because Harry rarely did anything hesitantly. That was more Liam's thing. Harry was insane, and sure, and confident. Liam was hesitant, calculating, and insecure. That's why it worked.