It’s grown into something way bigger than we ever expected: in word count, in years of our lives invested, and in the incredible group of readers who’ve stuck with it.
We are always working on it, even when real life and day jobs slow our progress to a crawl, and it felt only right to mark the anniversary by sharing a sneak peek from what’s coming next—and to say thank you to everyone who’s read this enormous little story for your patience and support.
“Was it that gallerist guy again?” Liam finds himself asking after a moment’s silence, trying and failing to seem casual by turning his back to Louis to snag a water bottle from the minibar next to the dresser.
“No,” Louis scoffs. “Thought about him last night, but no.”
There’s another pause that’s long enough for Liam to debate letting this go; after all, who Louis hooks up with is really none of his business. Louis is an adult, and he’s allowed to engage in adult activities, and as long as it doesn’t affect anyone on tour with them, how much drama could it really be this time?
“Anyway ‘the gallerist’ had a name, you know. It’s in my phone somewhere,” Louis replies waspishly, flipping his phone over on the bed, but not unlocking it. “It was Mark. Or Travis.”
“Are you just listing members of Blink182?” Liam chuckles.
“No,” Louis protests, and then a second later: “Yes. Because that’s how I tried to commit it to memory at the time. It wasn’t Tom. Nothing to do with aliens.”
“Alright. So not Mark/Travis or Jesse,” Liam is still laughing to himself. “Your suitors sound like the cast of Full House.”
“What? No, they do not,” Louis scoffs. “And neither of them is a ‘suitor.’ How do you even know that word? Christ, your mind is a strange place. Anyway, stop trying to guess.”
“Sorry, you’re right, that's not fair. Just some guy, huh?”
“Just some… something.” Louis clears his throat, crossing his arms and looking away.
Liam believes him if he says it’s not someone from the tour, but there’s clearly something getting to him. Maybe he’s just that upset about breaking his New Year's resolution. He was quite adamant about 'no hookups' in January, and it’s been nearly five whole months. Or maybe it’s that—
Louis… well, Louis, historically, doesn’t have sex with people he knows. Or get to know the people he has sex with. As far as Liam knows, Louis leaves or makes them leave as soon as is socially acceptable. And he rarely sees them again, much less the very next day.
“You know, Lima Bean,” Louis huffs. He’s traded playing with his phone for taking a cigarette out of the pack on the nightstand and tapping it against the side. He really should have just taken Liam's balcony room. “I always thought I'd just stay single forever. Reclaim ethical gay bachelorhood as a symbol of, like, fulfillment and freedom. Gig until I’m old and grey with a man in every port. But I suppose if I’m going to do that—or anything else—I’m going to have to at least graduate from one night stands into fuck buddies, huh?”
Liam doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just shrugs and nods, kicking off his shoes, and crawling onto the bed, with his back against the headboard next to Louis. He takes the cigarette out of his mouth and sets it atop the pack. “Alright, come on. Snuggle with me, properly. Since I’m assuming no one cuddled you last night.”
Louis snorts but quickly relents, falling back on the bed with a heavy sigh, tugging Liam down to be the big spoon and grumbling about whether their relationship is codependent and unhealthy…
