So, a while ago (while I was complaining to Mara about my crippling writers block and she was being the encouraging angel she is) I told her I had two ideas for this prompt and I couldn’t decide between the two. Mara, being the genius she is, said why not both? So here we are!
6. Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?
When Liam first walked into his room, he didn’t noticeanything was off. But, in his defense, the lights were off, he was tired—nightshifts would be the death of him—andready to collapse face first into bed, like he always did after a twelve-hourshift.
So, he wasn’t exactly at his best, and he really couldn’t beblamed for his delayed reaction. Really, he was exhausted, and returning from a grueling shift at six in themorning was semi-normal for him; he had a routine,it had never been disturbed before.
So, like he said, it wasn’t his fault that it took him afull ten minutes—the amount of time it took him to drag his ass out of his workclothes and into some sleep pants—to realize that there was a fucking person in his bed. A person who wasn’thim. In his bed. What the fuck?
“Umm,” Liam began, his t-shirt clutched tightly between hisfists and against his chest. His poor brain was working double time, trying tofigure out just exactly how tired he was—if this was an exhaustion inducedhallucination, or if there really was a stranger in his bed. Then the person shifted,and Liam let out a shout—and yes, itwas a shout, he did not squeak, okay—thathad the person groaning, rolling over and sitting up to face Liam.
Heat rose in Liam’s cheeks as his sheets pooled around theman’s waist, exposing his bare chest and a hint of just as naked hips.
“What the fuck, dude?”
Liam felt a hysterical laugh bubble up in his throat as hewatched the now angry man in his bed send him a glare because—because Liam wasalmost positive that he was the one that was supposed to saythat, not the stranger in his bed.
“Umm,” Liam said, again,because his brain was still trying to process that there was a man he did notknow, nor invite in his bed.
“What the fuck‘re you doin’ in my flat?” Angry strangerasked, and Liam blinked in response, his confusion ratcheting up again.
“What?” Liam asked because, well, this was his apartment. He was sure of it. “Thisis my apartment.”
Angry Stranger’s eyebrows drew together before bleary eyesdarted around the room, taking in his surroundings with growing apprehension.
“Oh,” Angry Stranger whispered. “You’re right.”
Liam felt that laugh bubble up again, but he pushed it down.Somehow, he was sure that completely losing it wouldn’t get them anywhere.
“Right,” Liam agreed. “Right. Um. So, is there, um, is therea reason you’re naked in my bed, then?” Maybe not how Liam should have goneabout getting answers, but he figured it answer most of the ones he had.
“I-I climbed in through the window,” Angry Stranger said, likethat was a completely normal thing to do. Like this guy climbed through windowsa lot. Again, what the fuck?
“O-kay.” Liam felt his head moving up and down, nodding likehe knew what was going on, like that was a perfectly reasonable explanation forwhy this guy was in his bed. “Right,” he started again. “So, you climbed in mywindow, and that’s why you’re naked in my bed. Right.” Liam was starting to thinkhe might have been onto something with that exhaustion induced hallucination theory.
“What?” Angry Stranger—though he seemed to be noticeably lessangry now, maybe Liam would have to come up with a new name for him?—asked. “No.I-I mean, yes, I climbed in your window, but that’s not why I’m, um, n-naked,or anything.” A blush rose on the man’s face and oh, Liam thought, he’s verycute, isn’t he?
That…wasn’t a thought Liam thought he would be having abouta random stranger in his bed at ass o’clock in the morning while he was halfout of his mind with confusion and exhaustion.
“Right,” Liam said, again,because at this point it was the only word he could say. “And the reason you are,y’know,” Liam moved to gesture at the man’s nakedness, only to realize he was still clutching his shirt to his chestlike a Goddamn heroine from a harlequin novel. “…um, naked?” he finishedlamely.
“I thought it was my window,” Hot Stranger said—and yes, hehad officially gone from Angry Stranger to Hot Stranger in Liam’s head becausehe was no longer angry, but he was, in fact, still very hot. And very naked.Liam was still struggling to process everything since he had walked through hisdoor.
“But it…wasn’t,” Liam stated, like that wasn’t obvious atthis point.
“Uh, no,” Hot Stranger muttered, bringing a hand up to rubthe back of his neck. “It obviously was not.”
Hot Stranger still hadn’t made any moves to cover himself up,and the comforter was low enough at this point that it was indecent. It made processing things that much harder for Liam.
“Right.” Liam was very sure he winced after saying that wordthis time, but he couldn’t be sure. “And you climbed through the window why?”
“Because I locked myself out. It, um, it happens a lot? After,like, the eleventh time I had to have my friend bring me my spare key, I justdecided to leave the window unlocked.” Hot stranger gave a shrug. “It’squicker.”
“Right,” and really, Liam had just accepted his mind’sunwillingness to think of another word. “Of course.” Ah, there one was!
There were a few moments of awkward silence before Liamasked, “Any particular reason you chose my window tonight, instead?”
Hot Stranger hesitated a moment before saying, “I was very,um, tired. And maybe, possibly…slightly buzzed? Might not have been motivatedto double check which window I was climbing through on the way up.”
Liam thought about that for a minute, considered where thefire escape was located, and realized that he was probably staring at hisneighbor right now. His very hot, very naked neighbor.
“You know, it’s really dangerous to leave your windowunlocked. You never know who’ll crawl through it,” Liam said. It took severalmoments, but the minute Liam’s words registered with Hot Neighbor, he startedlaughing.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Hot Neighbor said. “All kindsof weirdos in this city.”
Liam grinned, finally lowering his arms from in front of hischest, his t-shirt still hanging loosely from his fingers. Hot Neighbor’s eyestracked the movement, giving Liam an appreciative once over that he absolutelyrefused to blush at. There was definitely another reason his cheeks were sowarm right now.
“So, um,” Hot Neighbor started. “’m sorry about this.” He gesturedto the room, and then himself, obviously trying to convey the mess they foundthemselves in at the moment. “I’ll, um, just grab me clothes and get out ofyour hair, yeah?”
And then Hot Neighbor stood up, in all his naked glory, andLiam had to force himself to not choke on his fucking tongue. Fuck, but the guywas gorgeous. All lean lines and tan skin, and Liam was practically fuckingdrooling. It was embarrassing, really, but he couldn’t help himself. But thenall that glorious skin was disappearing as Hot Neighbor finished dressing,crossing the room to Liam’s window. He hesitated a moment, turning back to Liamwith indecision written across his features before he seemed to make up hismind, squaring his shoulders and meeting Liam’s eyes.
“You should let me make this up to you. This whole,” again,he gestured to the room at large, “mix up we’ve found ourselves in the middleof.”
Liam just barely stopped his jaw from dropping to the floor,but he was positive he didn’t hide the absolute shock that overtook hisfeatures—he probably didn’t do a great job hiding his eagerness, either, notwith the way he all but shouted, “Absolutely.” He quickly shut his mouth,clearing his throat as his cheeks flared up again, before saying, “I mean, um. Yeah.I think I could be persuaded.”
Hot Neighbor smiled, his teeth gleaming in the low lightfrom outside, and Liam felt his knees go a little weak. “Awesome,” he murmured,before he ducked out of Liam’s window and around the corner.
It wasn’t until Liam had collapsed into his bed that herealized he still didn’t know Hot Neighbor’s name. Oh well, Liam thought. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t be seeing eachother again, and soon, hopefully.
