Winter Night Traveler

Is

Louis woke up beside Harry in the morning and laid there, watching him sleep. His body was more content than he ever remembered it being. He didn't wonder how or why he responded so strongly to a man about whom he knew nothing more than his name; he simply accepted the joy that the unexpected encounter had brought into his life. The warmth of their bodies made the bed a cozy nest that he didn't want to leave, especially since the chill in the room told him that the fire in the fireplace had burned out.

It had been so long since he had been able to enjoy the simple pleasure of lying beside another person, listening to the slow, deep rhythm of his breathing. He wanted to cuddle close, but was reluctant to wake the man. After nearly freezing to death, he hadn't exactly had the most restful night.

One of Harry's muscled arms was draped across the pillow, and there were dark bruises forming on his shoulder. On top of everything else, he had been in a car accident. The wonder wasn't that he slept now, but that he had been so energetic during the night.

Louis surveyed the other details available to him. Harry had beautiful hair, dark and thick and rather long, formed into beautiful curls. And indeed, there were a few lighter, golden strands laced throughout the rich chocolate color. His face was turned towards Louis in his sleep, and the singer wanted to trace his finger along the bridge of Harry's nose, which was perfectly shaped, if not a little too big for the rest of his features. His mouth was wide, his lips plump and soft. His jaw was distinct, but neither too sharp nor too rounded. Good looking, attractive, definitely handsome, as Louis had noted before. Just looking at the sleeping man warmed his skin and sent blood to places he really didn't need it to go to.

He felt dizzy with the force of their attraction. He had forgotten how heady infatuation could be, and how powerful. If they had met under normal circumstances, they most likely never would have looked twice at each other. The necessary physical intimacy of their naked bodies had established an unconscious connection between them. Louis had caressed him, stroked him, knew the textures of his skin from the roughness of slightly stubbled cheeks to the sleekness of muscular shoulders. The sharing of the blanket had caused some unavoidable contact of the most sexually intimate parts of their bodies, but at the time Louis hadn't allowed himself to think about it. Until they had woken up, that is.

Louis's sexual attraction wasn't due to simple deprivation. If he had thought it was before, now he knew differently, because he was certainly no longer deprived and he still felt the same. The sexual fit was devastating in its perfection. It was as if this Harry Styles had been born knowing exactly how to touch him, as if his body had been purposely crafted to bring Louis maximum pleasure.

He thought it must be the same, at least sexually, for Harry. As exhausted and drained as he had to have been, still he had turned to Louis time and time again, his hands literally shaking with need as he drew their bodies together.

The wind still blew, rattling the windows. Louis couldn't see anything beyond the glass but an impenetrable white curtain. While the blizzard raged, the world couldn't intrude, and they belonged to each other.

What a difference one day made. Yesterday, Louis had been panicked by the sense of time passing him by, thinking he had lost all opportunity to get what he had always wanted most-- to experience, just once, an all-consuming, undeniable love. Then Harry Styles had blown in on a snow storm and abruptly turned the world upside down.

Despite the heady sex of the night, and more he hoped to enjoy while the stranger was still there, he was afraid to automatically assume they were anything close to a couple. The circumstances that had brought them together were extreme, and once the weather cleared, he might be on his way without a backward look. Even with all the odds stacked against them, Louis was hopeful. Harry hadn't freaked out when he had woken up next to a man. In fact, Harry had been nothing but wonderful, not to mention the sweetest, most amazing lover Louis had ever known.