Baby, It’s Cold Outside
The fire was burning happily, its red and orange flames were playing a game of hide and seek with their own shadows reflected upon the wooden tiles. A winter wonderland offered its marvelous colors for everyone who happened to lean their nose against the window and gaze outside: crystal snowflakes were slowly travelling down from the grey sky, falling upon what had been once an emerald green lawn and making it look like an endless stretch of white; flashing and multicolored lights differed from that monotone painting, dressing up the trees in the shapes of Santas, reindeers and sleighs full of presents and red bows.
“I really should be going.” An annoyed voice broke the silence inside the living room. The owner of the voice, a tall and blond guy, wasn’t really thrilled about it: he didn’t want to leave that secret and sacred place, that tangle of blankets that had been thrown on the pavement and was still holding the most precious and beautiful star. At least to him.
“It’s cold outside.”
“Then lend me a coat.”
“You’re too big. When did you get so much bigger than me?”
“It’s not my fault that you’re a pocket.”
“Should I be insulted?”
Lips brushed their twins, the angles curved in what was meant to be a frown but magically turned into a smile. “You’re the perfect size. Small enough so I can put you in a pocket and take you with me all the time.”
“Even when it is storming outside?”
“It’s a little bit of snow.”
“It’s gonna get worse in a matter of minutes. You’re gonna get yourself killed.”
“Oh, so now you’re just worried about my safety?”
“Of course. I’m always worried. – Nose tips brushed against each other. Lips leaned close to the corner of the mouth, tasting an inch of skin and breath before softly whispering back. – It’s cold outside.”
A silver laugh echoed in the room, a sound that Brian’s lips tried to steal away and, then, just settled to leave a trail of kisses along the jaw line. “That’s why I’m gonna wear the scarf you gave me. - Nick kissed Brian’s forehead, hesitant to unravel the tangle of arms wrapped around his lover’s waist. He really should be going but, at the same time, his mind and soul had joined forces in coming up with reasons why he should be staying instead. – I don’t wanna go too.”
“Then don’t go. It’s simple.” Brian expressed straightforwardly, not even caring if he managed to sound as a whiny kid who didn’t want to leave his best friend’s house. He didn’t want Nick to leave, not when they'd barely had a whole week together in the last months: their relationship had just been born, a couple of months divided between concerts and solo adventures that had kept them apart for too long; their relationship had been born from something that had always been there, hidden and undiscovered when they have been still too stupid and blind to see that what they had been looking for had always been in front of their eyes. Their love, young and at the same time older, stronger and wiser than others, was still trying to find a new balance, for both Brian and Nick weren’t the same people they had been when they first met: life had changed them, life had put them through obstacles and hard times and roles had been totally flipped over. But that love had always been there, that love had helped them through the hardest and darkest times and if there was one thing Brian totally believed was that they, him and Nick, deserved some infinite time to spend together: time to get to know each other in new ways; time to learn each other’s bodies and souls, every inch of skin and every scars that life and experiences had left on their soul. Their love was secret, but not because they were ashamed or scared of being out in the public; it was a secret because they didn’t want the world to interfere, to pick something so precious and pure and turn it into something dirty and perverse. They just wanted to be them, two halves that were finally melting into each other and once fully whole, once they had merged into a new and strong being, only then they would be ready to face the world and their judgments.
“I have to, you know. – Nick replied with a kiss on the temple, as Brian nuzzled his face inside that sensible notch between the neck and the shoulder. – I’ve promised my brother that I’d help him with a few songs.”
“Bet your brother can’t do this.”
Before Nick could reply, before he could even process what had been said by those red lips, Brian started to nibble slowly, very deliberately slowly, the skin just above the collarbone; those touches, those devil’s kisses, sent shivers of pleasure down Nick’s spine as his whole body started to reply and respond at Brian’s mastered touches. Nick’s body was Brian’s favorite playground, an infinite ocean of nerves and sensations that came alive only when his fingertips brushed or caressed them.
“That’s not fair, Bri.” Nick moaned, half in protest and half because Brian’s fingertips, in feather light touches, had travelled down his chest and stopped just an inch before the hem of his jeans. A mischievous light appeared inside Brian’s eyes, a new shade of blue that spoke of an abyss of pleasures and new sensations that had yet to be discovered. And, oh, if Nick wanted to just fall within those waves and find out how far and deep Brian’s love could go. Wasn’t that just the sweetest surrender of all?
“I’m just showing what you are going to miss out...” A smile. A grin. Lips curved before travelling up and land somewhere close to Nick’s. Brian knew he had shattered Nick’s last resistances, a confidence bron from the fact that it was still new, to his lover, that side of him. And there wasn’t anything more rewarding and fun than taking Nick by surprise, leave him speechless while his body just melted under his touches and kisses. Words were powerful but, sometimes, they didn’t need a voice or a language to be told; sometimes all they needed was that particular language that the heart knew, a language that only the body could use and share.
It was powerful. It was delicious.
It was love.
Pure and exciting love.
“You’re naughty, Mr. Littrell.” Nick replied with the same playful light in his eyes and voice, as his hands played the game Brian’s had started just a few moments before: fingertips landed upon the porcelain skin of his back, following the line of the spine and leaving a trail of shivers and trembles behind their passage; Nick’s lips didn’t wait or waste any moment but captured Brian’s in a kiss. Oh, those lips were seriously the most delicious taste in the world, the sweetest surrender that any logical mind could conceive before it could know what real love meant and was. He remembered, Nick, those weeks, painful weeks, before they both accepted their feelings and decided to give that relationship a chance; he remembered how he could just stare at those lips and wonder how it must felt to fall upon those inches of red skin, how he wondered if they would taste like something forbidden, like something that should be kept away from the lights and from curious eyes because they would never understand it. Those lips had become Nick’s safe heaven, a source of love and comfort that hadn’t, never had, needed words or a voice to be expressed or shared: even during the darkest moments, even at his worst when he could barely let out a word and every sound came out raspy and out of breath, those lips never faltered or missed to remind Nick how much he was loved and treasured, as if he was one of the most treasured thing in the world.
“Why? – Brian asked, tilting his head a little back so he could look into Nick’s eyes. – Just because I don’t like being apart from the person that I love? Just because I wanna make up for all those weeks we haven’t been together?” All traces of playfulness had disappeared from Brian’s voice, settling for a more serious and totally honest tone that managed to get through Nick, nestling inside his heart and starting a fire of love and warmth that soon enveloped his whole soul and body.
How he always managed, Nick wondered. How did Brian manage to pick sentences and phrases, that would had been so cliché if told by other’s lips, and make them sound as if they were lyrics of the most beautiful and romantic song? It was humbling because Nick never knew it was possible to be loved like that, even though he had written and sung that type of sentiment for almost twenty – two years. It was humbling because Nick had never believed that a love like that, an ocean that ran so deep that surely couldn’t have a beginning or an end, could exist in real life. Or, let alone, could happen to him. But it had. It had happened, in the form and features of someone who had entered his life like a south wind and, through highs and lows, had managed to teach him how to love and be loved.
“How do you do it? Where do you find these words?”
“I’m just saying the truth. Just what I feel here.” Brian took one of Nick’s hands and placed it upon his own chest, there where his heart was beating steadily.
Nick couldn’t reply, for the simple reason that his own voice had been stuck inside his throat by a lump of tangled emotions and tears. Nick couldn’t reply using his voice but, instead, he followed Brian’s lead andexample and let his lips offer his reply; then he lowered his face while his lips travelled down that white and still visible scar that had saved not only Brian’s but oh so many other lives: sometimes it still scared him knowing how close he had been to live a life without Brian breathing and smiling as if nothing was or could ever be wrong; it still scared him seeing that line reminding everyone how quickly life could change in a minute, how quickly someone so important could disappear without them knowing how much they were loved and treasured. Butterfly kisses brushed the white skin, soft touches able to raise goose bumps up and down the arm’s length, but Brian turned his face away as a flush of red embarrassment colored his cheeks: it didn’t matter how long it had been since that surgery, a pang of shame still managed to linger with every attention and caress that Nick dedicated. He just wanted to forget, he only wanted not to remember how his body was and had always been flawed and broken. Nick didn’t, instead. Nick didn’t want to forget, he actually couldn’t and wouldn’t let Brian keep thinking that something so precious, something that had managed to save two souls at the same time, could be ugly.
Because it was totally the opposite. Because Nick wholeheartedly believed that it was the most beautiful feature on that body.
Fingertips rested under Brian’s chin, forcing him to turn around and look into Nick’s eyes.
“So... is it really going to snow really badly?”
Brian smiled, tightening his embrace around Nick’s waist. “Totally. But you don’t have to stay if you... I mean, I get it. You’ve made a promise and you want to...”
“I don’t wanna go. – Nick replied, placing his lips on the angle of Brian’s mouth. – I don’t have to go and my brother will understand.”
“Are you sure? Are you totally sure?”
“Totally. His songs can wait for a few days. Plus, it’s cold outside.” Nick replied with a grin before his lips silenced any other objections coming out from Brian’s lips and stole away a silver laugh, although some rebel echoes managed to escape and joined the flames in their happily dance.
Chapter End Notes:
Well, there is nothing better than starting the Christmas week with some fluff Brian/Nick.
