fine line

𝚝𝚎𝚗

August 2010

Harry really couldn't complain. He was competing on a nationally televised talent show, he was impressing the judges, and he was pretty sure he'd met the love of his life.

Louis was just so perfect — celebrating with him after his performances, planning picnics, kissing him under the stars...

If only they didn't have to hide all the time.

Contestants couldn't date each other. It was a pretty big rule, written in bold in the official rulebook and repeated several times over the course of the competition so far. Harry was ready to burst with how much he wanted to let the words just spill from his lips. Oh, yeah, the one with the feathery hair and cheekbones made for cutting glass? All mine.

Except he couldn't.

It was times like these, though, when two of Louis' fingers were in the crook of Harry's elbow, leading him to somewhere they won't be seen, that he forgot about it all.

When Louis sent him a look for tripping over a bucket in the supply closet. When their noses knocked together and Louis' breath fanned across his face as they laughed.

When their lips finally touched.

Kissing Louis was like being brought to life. And that wasn't Harry being dramatic; that was Harry being truthful. He had always valued telling the truth.

Well, most of the time.

"Listen," Louis whispered between kisses, one of his hands in the dip of Harry's waist and the other buried in his curls. "We have to stay in our cabins tonight, but tomorrow I thought we could have another picnic? Just us, by the lake..."

Harry cut him off with another feverish kiss, unable to control his grin. "Sounds amazing." He pulled Louis flush against him with both hands cupping his jaw.

They made out for minutes or days, he didn't know and didn't care. Eventually they had to stop, having used up their whole lunch, but Harry didn't think of it as a waste of time. Any time spent with Louis was sacred.

***

"Hey...I've been thinking," Louis said one afternoon. The last member of Harry's cabin had been eliminated a few days prior, and while he was sad to see the lad go, it meant his cabin was empty except for him. Louis had been sneaking over more often than not.

They were lying in Harry's single bed, the pillow dented on both sides from the two of them sleeping there the night before. It was risky for Louis to be coming to Harry's cabin to sleep almost every night, but neither of them even considered stopping...whatever they were doing.

"About what?" Harry wondered, turning and resting his cheek on Louis' bicep. The older boy looked back at him, then shifted his gaze elsewhere.

"Have you ever...like, gone all the way with anyone?"

Harry's brain took a second to process. "All the way? As in..." he held up one hand in the perfect symbol and put one finger in the hole he'd created. Louis laughed at his representation, but nodded.

"No." Harry stared up at the ceiling. The conversation should have felt awkward, but it didn't. Past their first kiss, nothing felt awkward with Louis; it just felt right.

"Have you ever thought about it?" Louis asked nonchalantly, tracing circles on the exposed skin of Harry's hip where his shirt had ridden up.

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat, trying not to shiver at Louis' touch. "Maybe," he said noncommittally. His eyes stayed fixed on the place where the white paint above them was peeling slightly.

He probably should have expected Louis' next question, but it still kind of took him by surprise.

"Do you want to?"

Harry was suddenly fidgety, every muscle in his body wanting to move at the same time. "What, like, now? Here? With..." he left it unfinished, but the implication hung in the air between them.

Louis cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We don't have to, obviously, I just thought..."

Harry had already had a lot of firsts with Louis. His first kiss, if he didn't count the Epic Fail of Year Eleven, involving a doomed game of Spin the Bottle and a silly crush on a boy two years older than him (hmm, maybe he had a type). His first handjob from anyone but himself, which was messy and weird, but not in a bad way. There was a lot of laughter, and Louis cuddled him after, further proving his theory that he is, in fact, perfect.

Neither of them had ever talked about blowjobs. In a way, that almost felt scarier than full-on sex — besides, with them being in a singing competition, anything involving their throats was kind of off-limits anyway.

"Sorry I brought it up," Louis mumbled into the silence Harry had unintentionally created. He tried to remove his arm from under Harry's head, but Harry didn't budge, instead slinging an arm around Louis' waist and looking up at him.

"Yes," he said, meeting Louis' confused eyes.

"Yes what?" Louis whispered, sounding scared to believe anything until Harry had clarified for him.

"Yes, I have thought about going all the way, and yes, I do want to do it. With you."

He got it out all in one breath, and he didn't leave space to be afraid. Louis was the one who brought this up in the first place. Harry was just answering his questions.

"Okay," Louis said, subconsciously — or consciously, Harry wasn't sure — pressing the tip of his finger into the skin right above the top of Harry's shorts, causing Harry's breath to hitch.

"When?" Harry asked, slightly shakily.

Louis leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Whenever you're ready, love."

Perfect.

A/N: Again, kinda short, but it's setting some stuff up. Hopefully I'll be able to write another chapter tomorrow :D.

Thoughts? Ideas? Opinions?

All the hugs and many kisses my lovelies <33333.

xoxo, K