Page 334 of Untouchable

Harp doesn't know if he should do his best to usher Parker into the elevator before he has too much time to think about it, or if he should linger here while Parker relaxes. He freezes up, gritting his teeth.

* * *

Harp hasa strange look on his face, and Parker blushes.

“Sorry,” he says. “I know this was my idea. I, um, I mean, I definitely still want to go, but—”

Harp still looks like he’s just eaten a bee. Parker turns to Harp, placing his hands gently on Harp’s broad chest and bringing their faces close together.

“Okay, seriously, Harp,” he says, as gently as he can. “I know something’s on your mind, will you please tell me what’s going on?”

This is something they’re both still working on—Parker knows it’s not fair to demand Harp spill his soul whenever it’s convenient for Parker, but Harp also does sometimes need a reminder that it’s okay to talk about whatever is stressing them out. They still have plenty of missteps and miscommunications, but it’s okay.

Because they love each other. And even when one of them is worn out or stressed or upset, there is always, always, always an undercurrent of commitment and devotion in everything they say and do together.

It’s a little bit revolutionary, Parker thinks, to feel this secure. He’s still learning and growing, of course, but Parker no longer pathologically tries to placate the people around him. He isn’t as afraid of disagreements—he realizes now, that, if he makes a mistake, Harp will never hold it over Parker’s head. Harp will never use it as leverage against Parker. Harp is nothing like his mother, his family, his ex.

Harp is the safest place in the world.

Parker laces their fingers together, squeezing Harp’s hand.

* * *

Harp frowns.He hates lying to Parker, but he knows it'll be worth it in just a few minutes if they can make it up. He tries to strike a compromise.

"There is something on my mind, but can I promise to tell you later?" Harp asks. "It's a good something," he adds.

Or at least I certainly hope you think it's good.

Parker gives him a long look that isn't unkind—just confused. "Pinky swear," he demands after a moment, putting his hand up, pinky-out.

Harp smiles. God, I love this man. He curls pinkies with Parker.

"I pinky swear."

"And you have to hold my hand until I say you can stop," Parker says, their fingers still locked.

"Just try and stop me," Harp says.

Parker grins finally and it feels like something is growing too large in Harp's chest again, that carbonated, butterfly-wings feeling of falling in love for the first time but different now because it is the thousandth time Harp has felt this way for Parker and it's never gotten any less intense.

There is no doubt in Harp’s mind that Parker is the person for him. There is no one who could make him happier. There is no one like him on earth.

He has to say yes. He will say yes,Harp repeats in his mind like an affirmation as he takes Parker's hand.

"You ready?" he asks, the question meant for himself as much as it is for Parker.

* * *

“Ready as I’m gonna be,”Parker says with a grin. They step into the elevator and immediately Parker presses his back to Harp’s chest, wrapping Harp’s arms around him.

“Here we go,” Parker says softly. He shuts his eyes and drops his head back against Harp’s chest, taking deep breaths and trying not to think too much about the way the elevator rattles, how with each passing moment they’re getting further and further from the ground, how, if the elevator were to fall—

Okay, enough of that,Parker tells himself. He distracts himself, thinking back to the previous night, to the feeling of Harp’s mouth on his cock and Harp’s fingers in his ass. He thinks back to the night before that, how Harp had made him come without ever touching his cock. And, by the time the elevator shudders to a halt, Parker is feeling flustered, yes, but not quite as nervous as he’d been before.

* * *

When they reach the platform,one level underneath the highest point tourists can reach, Parker heaves a huge deep breath and steps out, turning immediately to grab Harp's hand.

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