//dear leo// barsandmelody︱au︱

Shelter

"Maybe I had said, something that was wrong
Can I make it better, with the lights turned on?"
- Birdy - Shelter

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/charlie/

"You need to stop doing that, mate." Charlie tried to keep a straight face, but it was impossible. Leo was stuck to him like glue, both of them a mess of limbs and covers on Leo's - thankfully - upgraded and much bigger bed.

"I'm not doing anything." feigning innocence, Leo squirmed a little more, rubbing along Charlie.

"Leo." not that he was particularly opposed to this, but Charlie didn't want to push. Leo on the other hand, was all about pushing - in all the wrong directions.

"What?" he was smiling and his eyes were trained on the tv, but neither one of them was actually watching the movie that was playing; they haven't been watching it for a while now.

"I know what you're doing - stop. Just watch the tv." he pressed a small kiss on his neck and wrapped his arm around Leo's waist, making him squirm further and even giggle when the kiss tickled.

"I don't wanna watch tv." Leo whined and stretched out like a cat in a sun spot. While doing so, he brushed up on Charlie and he suspected that it wasn't accidental at all.

"Oh yeah? And what do you want to do?" he knew very well what Leo wanted, but it was way more fun to taunt him a little first.

"Come on." Leo whined as he twisted in order to reach Charlie's lips. When they connected, as lame as it sounded, Charlie felt butterflies - full on winged, fluttering and colorful beasts that filled his stomach.

"Oh, that's what you want." he murmured against Leo's lips and slowly kissed him back. How did he ever get so lucky?

The kisses turned into deeper ones and there was a note of urgency to them, but just as he pulled him in, Leo was quick to push him away when Charlie's hands strayed underneath the hem of the over-sized sweatshirt Leo constantly wore.

"Don't."

"Leo-."

"No."

Leo couldn't quite deal with life without The Sweatshirt. It became a daily occurrence, even in the summer, with unimaginable heat shining down on the entire country, Leo refused to part with the ratty thing. It had more holes in it then Swiss cheese and in certain areas, Tilly managed to strip the actual color with bleach, but getting Leo out of that thing was impossible.

"I don't know how you've planned this, but that has to come off at some point." Charlie joked, but deep inside, he felt a small sting of pain.

"Leo?" Charlie tried again after a few minutes passed by in silence and Leo refused to meet his eyes, busying himself with the frayed edged of the aforementioned hoodie instead.

"Come on, off it goes." he muttered at last and hooked his fingers under the edge, waiting for Leo's protests, but they never came. His eyes were screwed shut the entire time it took Charlie to drag the material over his head, with his hands squeezed into fists at his sides - oh yes, Leo was uncomfortable and what he wouldn't give for a chance to just crawl out of his own skin.

"There, all done." Charlie mentioned and looked at the boy sitting in front of him. Leo was beautiful, if a tad too skinny if you asked Charlie, with a beautiful body to match the beautiful personality. God, they were turning all mushy, it made Charlie want to gag.

"Are you okay?"

"No." Leo pushed out, nervously crossing his thin arms across his chest; his go to gesture whenever he felt uncomfortable or embarrassed.

"Leo."

He refused to open his eyes and meet Charlie's; and how could he? His arms, scarred and ugly, were out and on full display for Charlie to see. The remnants of their earlier conversation about Charlie leaving were still lingering in the back of his mind and it was no wonder that Charlie was leaving - what reason could he possibly have to stay?

"Stop it." Charlie's voice cut through the storm brewing in his mind and he opened his eyes, at last.

"I'm sorry." he managed to push out, but the tears that threatened to spill over were harder to fight.

"I'm sorry I'm this - I know you deserve,-"

"If you say better, I swear to God I'll start screaming." Charlie interrupted his little tirade and felt his heart swell with pain at the sight of Leo looking so broken and sad. If anyone deserved better, it was Leo, not Charlie.

"You are the single, most epic and best thing that's happened to me." Charlie's words were accompanied by small kisses he left all along Leo's shoulder. Goosebumps rose all over his skin at the small contact and he couldn't stop the soft groan that left his mouth.

"I love you."

And suddenly, the kisses stopped. Charlie froze and Leo inwardly cursed himself and his big mouth. He just had to go in and ruin it all, just like he always did.

"Say it again."

Charlie breathed out, still unable to grasp the words he just heard. But before he allowed his heart to leap with joy, he needed to make sure that what he heard was true.

"I-I love you." stumbling like a drunk over those words, he awkwardly pushed them out once more, much to Charlie's overwhelming joy.

Charlie didn't answer him with words. Instead, he all but tackled him, pushing him down on the bed. The kisses were both slow and rushed, like neither one of them could get enough of the other and it was all they wanted it to be.

"Are you sure about this?" Charlie paused only for a short moment, peering down at Leo to make sure he was okay. Leo stared up at him for a second before nodding his head in confirmation. To further confirm it, Leo hooked his fingers underneath the band of Charlie's sweatpants, pulling the thick fabric down, over his hips.

That was all the incentive Charlie needed before he dove right back in, pressing his lips to Leo's.

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"i don't write smut"  - D in 2017
"watch this" - D at the end of 2019
idk either, bare with me.