Pillowtalk / Niam

Chapter 2: Sunrise

There's something about the feeling of watching a sunrise; the feeling that you're totally alone in the world, only it's not a frightening thought at all, but a chance to escape your problems and leave yourself free to think. This morning in particular, Liam's awake because he just couldn't seem to get much sleep, so he stopped bothering around four in the morning. He's standing against the railing of his apartment balcony, breathing in the fresh smell of the new morning. It rained last night, so the air is damper and chillier. The callous cement under his bare feet is still saturated from the downpour, the metal railing is still covered with droplets of water that touch the skin of his naked arms and chest, but he doesn't mind. He senses the sun about to begin its daily ritual, and closes his eyes to let the last moments of the night wash over him.

The blackness of the sky begins to cut away with blue at the horizon, and slowly but surely, the blueness spreads wider and wider. Right after the dark blue comes a light blue, then yellow and orange, light shyly casting over the city that's mostly yet to awaken. The clouds turn from a dark blue to an orange before reflecting off a deep pink, making the sky a painting of saturated colours. Bright white penetrates the blueness of the sky, and the warm tones keep their place at the horizon and in the clouds.

Briefly, the sky turns a deeper pink with tones of purple, then the clouds subside to a yellow as the sun itself makes its first appearance. The slightly pink reflection off of the grey buildings in the city reminds Liam of the roses that are given to first loves, the delicate shades of pink that belong to first loves alone. The thought moves him to think of all of the pink roses that would surely be given that day, and the chaste feelings of a tender love being shared between couples on the holiday.

As the sun ascends higher, the sky maintains a light blue, and the colour of the clouds fade to a clean white. The intensity of the yellow lessens, and within a minute, the city is covered in daylight, and the parade of morning colours is over. Liam takes a few more moments to appreciate the new day before he returns inside.

Reflecting the morning light and contrasting the monotonous pristine white of his pillows, sheets, and down comforter is the pale almost snow like back of his lover. He's lying on his stomach with his face buried in a pillow, his shaggy blonde hair wild from sleep, and the blanket has been kicked down to the point where it's only barely covering his ass. Shame, though, it's a great ass.

Liam yawns as he pulls up his corner of the blanket and crawls back into bed. Niall's a heavy sleeper, so he only subconsciously sighs at the disruption. Liam smiles to himself and leans over to sling his arm over Niall and press his chest to the man's back. Niall makes a faint humming noise, and Liam kisses the peak of Niall's shoulder, carefully watching the long lashes peacefully flutter as he continues to dream.

They have been together in most senses of the word for almost a year, and over that time, Niall's become something of importance to Liam's happiness. Having a beautiful boy with a heart of gold, the lips of a sinner, and the beautiful mind of an artist in one's life is definitely among the positives to anyone. It was more than that, though. Of course, it's always "more than that" with Liam, so maybe it's nothing special... except that it is.

Liam kisses over Niall's shoulder and the top of his back until he connects his lips with the side of Niall's neck and up behind his ear. He feels Niall make the humming noise that indicates he's actually conscious, but doesn't bother opening his eyes. Liam grins and kisses Niall's neck again, breathing in deeply and hugging him to his chest. "Morning'," Liam mutters against the pale skin.

Niall makes an objecting noise. "Too early," he slurs in a gravelly voice, his mouth muffled by the pillow.

Liam presses his whole body up against the back of Niall's and continues pressing gentle kisses to the skin on the back of Niall's neck. "Sun's up."