Forever Young

Chapter 3

Harry has always been a vivid dreamer, a trait he now understands is common to Avians as the boys had revealed. His mind never rests, not fully anyway, always conjuring up imaginings from his subconscious into richly colourful and evocative scenes with crystal clear clarity, and at times, it can be hard to distinguish dreams from reality. Since meeting Louis though, his dreams have taken a decided shift into rather more provocative territory, as is the case right now.

After the events of last night, it's only natural that his mind would latch onto a scenario of Louis in his bed, cuddled up to his back, breath fanning out and tickling the short hairs at the nape of his neck. Unsurprisingly, in his dream, he's rock hard and dream-Louis is in a similar state, his length pressed up against the back of Harry's thighs. It's not the worst situation to be in and Harry lets the dream take him where it naturally wants to go. He circles his hips, seeking out more of the sensation, willing dream-Louis to respond and he doesn't have to wait long before his wishes are answered, lazy thrusts hard enough that dream-Harry has to push against them to hold his position.

Harry's enjoyment is so focused that it takes him a while to realise that there's a new sensation in the mix. His wings are tingling. It's a measured awareness, like is often the case in dreams; a disconnected, out of body experience that encroaches around the edges, as slow as an incoming tide. The feeling intensifies, radiating out from the centre and along the span to the tips. Every breath on his feathers, every touch of Louis' lips, every soft caress has a fire building within him as he creeps towards his release.

He hears dream-Louis moan behind him and it feels so real, so present, like he could push back into Louis' embrace and-

Harry freezes. Holy fuck .

His eyes fly open and his bedroom slowly comes into focus, the morning sunshine streaming through the window and lighting the room.

This is no dream. This is real. This is very fucking real.

Louis stills behind him. "Oh fuck ."

"Lou?" Harry ventures timidly, too afraid to move. What the hell is happening? He can feel Louis pressed against his back, against his wings . Jesus Christ.

Louis pulls away, scrambling off the bed. "Shit. Fuck. I'm so sorry. Oh my god ," he says, panicked, and Harry hears him back into the wall with a thud.

Harry sits up, craning his neck around to see his wings, reaching over his shoulder to touch them, but they're just the same as always, there, except not. Zayn's words from the previous night come barreling back as his fingers pass straight through them with no sensation just like Zayn had said it would be. "Lou. What're you..." Harry says, words trailing off as he spins around to find Louis pacing the floor from the window to the door and back again.

"I shouldn't have- we shouldn't have- I didn't mean to," he stammers, shaking his head, hands threading roughly through his hair which is now sticking up at random odd angles.

Harry takes in Louis' utterly dishevelled appearance; one leg of his sweatpants rucked up to his knee, t-shirt twisted around his body, a pillow crease in his cheek, and his dick tenting so obscenely that it's impossible to miss. Harry should be more alarmed by the situation, really, he should, but all he can think about is how cuddly and soft Louis looks, how much he wants to hold him close, to pull him back into bed and tuck him against his side. If only he could get him to stop pacing.

Louis is muttering to himself, dragging his hands down his face and Harry decides to take charge. He swings his legs over the bed and pads over to intercept Louis on his next pass by the end of the bed.

"Hey," Harry says as he stands in Louis' path. Louis comes to a halt, head snapping up, eyes wide and brows furrowed. Harry rests his hands on Louis' shoulders, holding him in place. "It's okay. It was bound to happen with us so close to each other. It was my fault for asking you to stay and then having you sleep in here. I'm not upset, Lou. Not even a little bit."