HARRY
"Your teammates were chatting in math today."
Louis looks up at me, tapping his pen against his open textbook. "Yeah?"
"They were saying you went out with someone."
His eyebrows knit together. "Yeah. And?"
"We never... you know, talk about sex."
"Were they talking about sex?"
"Niall said... something about you being a virgin."
He looks back at his book. "He was probably messing around."
I hum in response, but he's unwilling to meet my eyes. Louis has never mentioned anything when it comes to having sex. I haven't pushed because I'm not interested in hearing him doing anything sexual or romantic with someone that's not me. But Louis seems to have wanted answers even less than me, never questioning my hook-ups at parties—not that I've had very many as a senior in high school. Nearly no one is out, but I tend to come onto people so Louis isn't on my mind anymore, only he always comes back. And... as platonic as we are with one another, we're kissing each other more than what is presumably right when we're not more.
"Louis," I say, raising his chin with my pen. "Are you a virgin?"
He meets my eyes as his cheeks turn red. "It's not that I'm not interested."
"No?"
"I want sex as much as you," he says, looking away again. "And I've had chances... or whatever."
"So why haven't you?"
He shrugs. "I'm not sure I want something meaningless."
I'm quiet a moment, wondering how much I could ruin us by saying what I want. I watch him as he continues with his math questions, admiring his beauty as he writes and counts and calculates.
"I would, you know. Have sex with you."
He stops writing, looking up at me curiously. "You would?"
"If you wanted."
"But we're not... we're only..."
"Friends," I say. "Friends can have sex. I mean... we're kissing regularly, aren't we?"
He blushes as though he's ashamed. And maybe it's because we only kiss once I've turned out my lights and we're in bed, lips gravitating towards each other as we turn towards one another.
"Kissing is not... that."
"It's only a suggestion," I say. "I just thought... you know, you'd not need to worry with me in case you wanna try."
We're both quiet as Louis' mind wanders. I reach out to smooth out the crease between his eyebrows, moving my hand onto his neck so I can ease his mind. I continue tracing his skin until homework has slipped his mind so completely that he's nearly asleep on my bed.
He's closing his eyes with a cheek pressed against his book, so I move it away and replace it with a pillow instead. He sighs contently, absentmindedly slipping his hand into mine as sleep snatches him away completely. I could probably spend hours watching him sleep.
Mum comes up with pizza money once Louis has been out twenty minutes, quietly informing me that they're leaving and not coming back until tomorrow morning. And to remind me not to throw any parties as though I'd want that more than watching movies with Louis.
"Does he always nap when he comes over?"
"Sometimes," I say, tracing my thumb over his pulse point. "He was exhausted."
