"When the night has come and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we see."

[theateroflove]

Who: Tori Kingston, Sasha Stanford and Zeke Wyatt + Squad
What: Chilling Out & Enjoying Memories
Where: Lakehouse, Vermont
When: After this

After the memorial when everyone had finished watching the wreaths and lanterns float across the lake, Cassidy had ushered Tori to one of the nearest cushy beanbag and unceremoniously planted him in it and told him to rest and relax. She brought him a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows (which were also purple, Justin didn't miss a thing in his planning) and sat with him for a little bit to make sure he was okay. Probably double-checking he wasn't about to keel over and start bleeding and vomiting all over the place like the night he lost his shit at the neighbour's barbecue. Other than a lingering headache, a little dull nausea, and some wooziness if he stood too long, he was on the mend. He could've done without any of that crap, but he had to learn the hard way that there was nothing simple about grieving.

Soon, Sasha had come over and pulled another beanbag up beside him while Justin sat nearby playing the bongo drums and started to sing the classic song, Stand By Me, which was one of Andi's favourites. When Sasha asked him how he was feeling, Tori gave him a reassuring smile. "Better. Kind of done-in with all the emotion and still feeling a little rough with cracking my head on the pavement, but I think better than I have in awhile." He looked back over to Justin. "Did you give him a list of the songs she loved? I didn't know he could play the bongos. He blows me away, I feel so honoured to have the chance to work with him. Cas adores him. I love that he takes care of her and she can trust him to confide in. I can't believe he did all this for Ands and he barely knew her."

Comments

[amareladanza]

Harry laughed and nodded, waving his hand. "I've eaten. Don't worry. The showbiz types really know how to put on a good spread and lucky for me, the one who arranged this completely catered for a diabetic. Just have to go easy on the sugarfree gummi worms. We all know what that can lead to." It was such a nice night and he didn't really know what he was trying to achieve here. Maybe just progress or reconnecting with Ainsley without any anger or confusion. Like old times. "It's such a nice night and the lanterns look amazing on the water. She's got to be up there looking down thinking her BFF is going to marry a hell of a party planner. It's kind of nice that she's brought us all together like this, relaxing and enjoying the place."

[groovykindoflove]

Ainsley winced but he laughed too. "No one needs to end up with explosive diarrhoea, so I'm going to make sure you steer clear of too much diabetic candy. Just for the record, though, if you got sick I'd take care of you the best I could. But you're right. It's too nice a night to be stuck in the crapper. I haven't had a walk around the lake yet. Sash said there's some amazing walks around here. I guess it seems hard to think of someone so young dying but we sort of get it on some level, don't we? With Justin and all that. He's come so close. We all had to think about the chance he might be here one day and not the next. It's not nice to think about but tonight was such a reminder that we're all still young. We should be enjoying all this stuff. The little things as well as the big. Like, look at all the stars. They look so incredible," he murmured stepping up to the bank of the lake and stretching his arms up to the sky.

[amareladanza]

Harry remembered how Nick warned him of the dangers of sugarfree candy. The sugar substitute in them had a laxative effect and Harry made the mistake of thinking that was just an over-exaggeration. He definitely found out the hard way that it wasn't, and it didn't take a whole lot to trigger said effect. Once he had gotten over it, he and Ainsley had a huge laugh about it. It seemed like so long ago now. He missed how much they laughed together. It was pretty much the thing that attracted them to each other in the first place, both being big kids. "Trust me, I'm not tempting fate. I'd be mortified if it happened in front of all our friends." He stopped by Ainsley and looked up at the sky when he drew attention to the stars. It reminded him of how the sky looked over the beach in Florida on the really clear nights. Ainsley looked awed and something stirred in Harry he couldn't identify in words, but it made him take a step closer and kiss him without warning.

[groovykindoflove]

The kiss took Ainsley so much by surprise that he stumbled back a little but managed to stop himself falling on his ass by grabbing Harry's arms. He didn't break the kiss. As soon as he was stable again, one hand easily went to the back of Harry's head and the other to his waist like it had done so many times when they had been dating. There was a thrill of surprise in this but it wasn't horny-fueled snogging like they did in the car on the way up here. Mostly, that was giving into UST. He didn't think anything remotely near that would happen again with how Harry had responded to it. But Harry could be a brooding Italian artist and sometimes needed time with something to think about it and process it. That didn't mean Ainsley hadn't been perving on him doing yoga on the banks of the lake or ballet training in the games room. They were sharing a room, but it was twin beds. This? The kiss? There was so much in it but he still didn't want to get his hopes up. He just let it be what it needed to be and it was incredible. Soon, though, he did stop though parted their lips just a couple of inches. "Wait... hold on... are you sure? I don't want you to be pissed off at me again," he asked, trying to catch his breath.

[amareladanza]

Harry put his finger to Ainsley's lips, nodding before he picked the kiss back up where they left off. This time, it wasn't as urgent. He took his time to refamiliarise himself with Ainsley's lips and how it felt to have him this close. "I was pissed off because it all fell apart when it shouldn't have," he murmured against Ainsley's lips between the series of tender kisses they were sharing. "We have a second chance and we're lucky because we're healthy and have plenty of people who love us. I just hated when you hurt me because it wasn't you. But everything was going on in your life and I was dealing with being sick, so maybe we just shelve all that as things we can't change and try again? It can work. Look at your big sister. And I... I never stopped loving you either. I just didn't want you to know it because I was scared I'd get hurt again. That's all." He took both of Ainsley's hands in his, swinging them lightly between them and looking at the reflection of the moon on the lake's surface.

[groovykindoflove]

Ainsley very nearly burst into tears of happiness hearing all Harry was saying but he just gave a laugh of disbelief, nodding. "Me too. I mean, yes! Yes. To all that. I didn't think I had a hope in hell of a second chance with you. I was going to just be your friend but I couldn't just switch my feelings off. They've been driving me crazy since I knew I was coming back to New York and I'd see you." He took Harry's face into his hands and gave him another kiss. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts in all the crazy good ways. I never want to fuck up like that again. I want to have fun with you and laugh with you and all the things! I want to... to..." He dropped his voice, lip caught between his teeth and glanced back at their friends dotted around the yard chilling out. "Would it be awful if we went inside? To bed? I mean, we don't have to. We can go for a walk instead. It's just... I can't stop thinking about you naked. I want to make up for lost time. Sorry, Andi! I hope you don't think I'm a basic bitch," he added, glancing up at the sky.

[amareladanza]

Harry laughed and followed Ainsely's gaze upwards but he shook his head. "From what Sash was saying about Andi, I think she'd be cheering us on. Or encouraging waiting on any sort of reunion. But let's grab a tent instead. If we pick the furthest one away, no one will hear over the music." He grabbed Ainsley's hand and they ran up the lawn to the tent that was furthest from the house. He pulled back the door and crawled inside. He was too tall to stand anywhere but right in the middle. "Oh wow, this is so freaking cool! This beats all the tents I've ever gone camping in. I could seriously live in something like this. He flopped down on the end of the makeshift bed, legs crossed and grinned up at Ainsley. This was the first time things truly felt like how they used to be. That was the whole point of tonight. To remember to still live life while they had it.

[groovykindoflove]

Ainsley 100% perved on Harry's ass as he crawled into the tent and it was just as exceptional a view as he always thought it was, way back the first time he perved on it in tights when he saw him performing at Joffrey. He grinned once they were inside and pulled the door closed, zipping it up behind them. He shrugged his hoodie off and tossed it to the side. "You know what's even more freaking cool?" He went over to Harry and straddled his lap, easily picking their kissing up where they left off to come to the tent. Harry always smelled and tasted amazing and Ainsley was already turned on as all hell with the anticipation. He had a hard-on back out on the bank of the lake and his jeans were even tighter now. He paused to catch his breath, running his tongue over his lips and tracing his thumb over Harry's but busied his other hand unzipping Harry's fly to get his hand inside. A warm thrill shot through him when he felt Harry was as hard as he was. "I missed this."

[amareladanza]

With a smile, Harry drew Ainsley's thumb into his mouth, sucking it gently and letting the tip of his tongue swirl around it. He wouldn't have thought something could feel both familiar and comfortable, yet new and thrilling, all at the same time. Breaking up with someone didn't erase the memories. They were all still there in an easily accessible bank, spilling back to the forefront. He sucked in a sharp breath when Ainsley's hand connected with his dick through his underwear. It had been awhile since he and Brody even hooked up so he was eager as it was, but it was brimming with a different sort of excitement that came with this reunion. "You realise Mamma is going to want us to go down and visit as soon as we can so she can cook for you until you eat so much, you feel like you want to die. You wanna come back home with me for a visit?" He didn't wait for an answer. He was right back to kissing Ainsley deeply, falling back onto the bed and pulling Ainsley on top of him to get a little more leverage and pushed his hips up towards him, inviting as much friction as possible.

[groovykindoflove]

"You say Florida and all I can think of is beach sex. But your momma's food is a very close second. She just knows I'll eat anything she puts in front of me. Oh my god, you don't have to as me twice," Ainsley said in a rush through a heavy exhalation when the kiss broke with Harry pulling him down on top of him. He had to admit, he was waiting for Harry to change his mind and back out of this but with that one gesture, he realised he didn't have to worry about anything. Harry was a strong guy and didn't have any issues expressing his thoughts and feelings. Ainsley knew if there were doubts, they wouldn't be about to reunite with sex like this. He would be backing off and holding Ainsley at arm's length. Feeling that fiction and knowing Harry was an extreme expert with those hips of his, Ainsley groaned and reflexively pushed back. "You're going to make me come in my pants. Speaking of pants. Let's get out of them. I wanna see you naked and kiss you all over." He pushed Harry's shirt up and leaned over to kiss his belly, tracing the tip of his tongue over Harry's gloriously perfect six-pack.