Kevin woke up the next morning to his alarm, but he felt different than he usually did in the mornings; he felt warm, and was surrounded by something that smelled really nice.

His eyelids felt like lead weights were attached to them, but slowly managed to open his eyes to see what was so different.

He immediately snapped wide-awake and went ramrod-stiff when he realized that he was cuddled against Eli’s chest, with Eli’s arms wrapped securely around him, holding him close. Kevin’s heart started to speed up, thudding painfully in his chest, as he could feel blood rushing to his cheeks. His mind went into panic-mode – what would Eli say when he woke up? Would he freak out and push Kevin away? Would he start to distance himself from Kevin because of their awkward position?

Kevin wanted to scramble out of Eli’s embrace, but something held him back – and it wasn’t just Eli’s strong arms holding Kevin tightly against his chest. Kevin fisted his hands in Eli’s shirt and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing that time would stop.

He didn’t want Eli to ever wake up, he admitted to himself quickly. He wanted to stay there forever, wrapped securely in Eli’s embrace, surrounded by his warmth and comfort. Kevin felt safe in Eli’s arms, safer than he had ever felt anywhere else. But time kept moving, and Kevin could hear the other members leaving their rooms. He had about ten minutes before they would wonder why Kevin hadn’t left his and Eli’s room yet and would come to check on them – they would never let either of them live this down, and Kevin immediately jumped to the conclusion that Eli would hold it against him. Kevin started panicking to himself, but started to relax when Eli sighed and tried to cuddle even closer to Kevin, buried his face in Kevin’s hair, and let out a contented sigh that made Kevin’s heart melt.

But the fact was: they had to get up. At least, Kevin did. He willed himself to release Eli’s shirt and started poking his chest.

“Eli…” He whispered while poking the older boy. “Eli… Eeeliii…” It took a few sharp jabs in the chest, but Eli eventually opened his eyes and shifted his head a little bit to look down at Kevin’s wide eyes. Once Eli’s eyes fluttered open completely, he blinked slowly, as if trying to process the slightly-awkward position they were in. Kevin winced and tried to move away a little bit, because he was worried that Eli might make an outburst and shove him away; but instead, Eli just closed his eyes and laid his head back down again, tightening his arms around Kevin’s waist.

Kevin’s mouth fell open in disbelief in reaction to Eli’s blasé reaction to their ‘compromising’ position.

“Eli,” he hissed, jabbing Eli’s chest again.

“What?” Eli whined softly.

“We have to…” he hesitated, wondering why Eli was so set on not letting him go. “We have to get up,” he tried to insist, but he stopped when Eli opened his eyes and looked at Kevin, his eyes glazed over with sleepiness. “At least…” Kevin his lips nervously – although Eli was half-asleep, his eyes still struck Kevin as really intense. “At least I have to get up.” Eli made a soft whining noise and pouted, loosening his hold on Kevin.

“But it’s so comfy with you here,” he mumbled. Kevin felt his heart skip a beat and smiled at Eli, shifting away so that he had room to lift his hand and brush some hair away from Eli’s forehead.

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Kevin said, nudging Eli’s arms away so that he could sit up and crawl over Eli to get out of bed.

“Kevin,” Eli called out softly as Kevin stood up. Kevin faced Eli, who had rolled onto his back and was now looking at Kevin, his eyelids still drooping with tiredness. “Do you still want to know what Kate was talking about last night?” Kevin froze and thought for a second before he nodded. Eli smiled softly and closed his eyes. “I’ll tell you tonight.” Although Eli had closed his eyes, Kevin nodded quickly as he darted out of the room, ignoring the suspicious looks that he got from the members who were awake when he entered the kitchen.

-

Later that evening, the members of U-KISS returned to the dorm they were staying in, all of them tired from a long day of promotions and performances.

“I’m too tired to go the gym tonight,” Hoon sighed. Soohyun grunted and trailed after him – Dongho had long-since disappeared into their room. AJ and Kiseop went back to their room, leaving Kevin and Eli standing awkwardly next to each other as they both slowly took of their shoes.

“So…” Kevin began to say, fumbling with his hands once his shoes were off, “I hate to harass you about it, but I’m just really curious -”

“You’re too cute,” Eli said, standing up and cracking his back. “C’mon, let’s go back to our room and I’ll explain,” Eli took Kevin’s hand and started pulling him towards their room – Kevin tried to ignore his racing heart as Eli nudged him into the room and closed the door after him. Kevin sat down on the bed and blinked at Eli in surprise when he saw that Eli’s face was as red as his.

“Eli, are you okay?” Kevin asked with a frown, getting ready to stand up so that he could feel Eli’s forehead.

“Nonono! I-I’m fine!” Eli insisted with a nervous smile. “I’m just… this is really awkward for me,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Done what before…?” Kevin asked slowly. Eli took a deep breath and sat down next to Kevin.

“Kevin…” Eli began slowly. “You’ve always been there. From the very beginning, you’ve been there – I mean, I was such a to you when we first met!” Eli smiled weakly, “but you were still nice to me anyways. I think that’s…” Eli cleared his throat nervously as he put one of his hands on top of Kevin’s. “I think that’s one of the things that I like about you so much,” Eli said softly, slowly raising his eyes to meet Kevin’s gaze. He winced when Kevin only stared at him with a look of disbelief. “I… I’m sorry if this is really awkward,” Eli said slowly, retracting his hand. “I’ve been so afraid of telling you because I was worried about how you would react -”

“This is what Kate talked to you about?” Kevin said softly. Eli pressed his lips together and nodded slowly.

“Since we grew up together, Kate knows me better than I know myself – I messaged her because I figured she could help me figure out my feelings. She did,” Eli looked up at Kevin and smiled. “She gave me the nudge in the right direction to see that I’ve been an idiot – Kevin, I really like you,” Eli admitted, taking Kevin’s hand again. “I might even go so far as to say that I love you,” he said softly, leaning towards Kevin and slowly taking Kevin’s other hand. “And…” he paused as he rested his forehead against Kevin’s, “I hope that you won’t hate me for telling you this.”

Kevin stared into Eli’s eyes for a few moments before his head tilted to the side so that he could more easily fit his lips against Eli’s. Part of Kevin was well-aware that time was still moving, but the way Eli’s breath hitched for a moment, and with how Kevin’s heart skipped a beat, he could have sworn it stopped for a moment.

But only a moment, because that was how long it took for Eli to slip one of his arms around Kevin’s waist and pull him closer while placing his other hand on the back of Kevin’s neck, guiding his lips gently.

His lips were soft against Kevin’s, and Kevin felt like he was melting as he sunk into Eli’s embrace, clutching weakly at his shirt. Kevin could feel himself running out of breath, and not because Eli as holding him too tightly or was kissing him as he ran out of air – but because he was so stunned, even by his own actions, to breathe properly.

Eli pulled away after a few moments of slowly and gently moving his lips against Kevin’s, smiling at him at they separated. Kevin felt his face growing hot at the affectionate glow in Eli’s eyes. Eli moved the hand that had been on the back of Kevin’s neck and gently his fingertips down Kevin’s cheek before cupping his face and kissing him again. Kevin felt himself falling into a daze as Eli pulled him into his lap and turned around, gently laying Kevin down on the bed, not once breaking their kiss.

“Eli,” Kevin gasped when Eli broke away from him to leave a trail of feather-light kisses down his neck.

“Hm?” Eli mumbled, pressing his lips gently against Kevin’s throat.

“Let me know the next time you’re chatting with Kate.”

“Why?” Eli asked, pulling away so that he could frown a little bit in confusion. Kevin smiled and wrapped his arms around Eli’s neck, pulling him down so that their lips were merely centimeters apart.

“I need to thank her for giving you that advice,” he whispered against Eli’s lips before kissing him again.