A/N: Ugh. That's pretty much all. Hopefully this isn't too short? (It's fucking hotttttt here, stupid Californiaaaaaaa).

Thanks, Malachite, for helping me edit this, you're amazing! (:

Los Angeles is a great place. Just not all the time. See, the thing is- there's two seasons. There's summer and there's fall. Fall is nice and sixty degrees. Summer starts at around eighty and works its way up into the hundreds. And all the air conditioning in the Palm Woods couldn't get it to drop to a reasonable temperature. Despite every fan in the apartment on high, and the AC on freezer mode, it was ninety some-odd degrees in the bedroom I shared with James. Maybe more.

It was…unpleasant, to say the least. I was sprawled out on my bed in gym shorts, taking up as much room as possible just so no part of me touched any other part of me. I was hoping that would kind of reduce the body heat factor and that all the heat I was giving off would kind of just go elsewhere, into the ceiling fan, because heat rises and all that. Unfortunately for me, that didn't happen. It still felt like I was under the white California sun, sweating out every bit of moisture in me until I was shrivelled and dried. I tugged futilely at the leg of my shorts, sticky and lightheaded.

"'S so hot, man," James breathed from his bed, on his back like me, staring up at the whirring blades of the fan. "Can I be in Antarctica right now please?"

"Seriously," I agreed, waving my arms in the air in some useless attempt to cool off. I closed my eyes, thinking, the mind is a powerful thing, and maybe if I tried really hard to imagine being cold, I'd feel cold. Except after a few minutes of that I kind of realised that this oven of a state was not going to change, and I would keep sweating until December came and it cooled off a bit.

That was a long, long way to go.

"Mmmf," James complained, rolling over onto his stomach with his face in the blankets. He mumbled something I couldn't understand into the fabric, flapping his arms and hitting the bed with them. He lifted his head, resting his chin on the bed and looking forward. "It's so dry and I feel damp. It's so gross."

"Because you're sweating," I reasoned lazily, too tired and hot to manage a glance over at James.

"That's it," he announced, sitting up quickly. He held a hand to his forehead, complaining that he got up too fast and then standing. "I'm going to the pool."

"The pool is warm," I told him before he could get too far, "it's awful. Tried to go in earlier, it might as well be a Jacuzzi."

"Don't they have heating season stuff? System, heating system. I mean like can they cool it down. Dude, Kendall, this weather's making me crazy. I need to be cool…I'm so cool that I should be cool temperaturely too…not just…like, awesome, cool."

"James…take a cold shower or something."

"Your mom's in there."

"Dunno what to tell you then."

"Tell me it's cold. Are your thighs sweating? The backs of my thighs are sweating, bro. It is so nasty. So nasty. I must have something lighter and smaller to wear," he insisted, looking into the closet like an answer would just come present itself if he stared long enough. "I'm just taking these off. You don't mind, right?"

"Nope," I said as passively as possible, eyes trained on the ceiling fan. I watched the string twitch back and forth as the fan shook slightly, hearing the sound of fabric sliding down James' legs. I rolled onto my side facing towards his bed, kind of halfway on my stomach with my arm crushed underneath me. "Stupid pool, stupid Bitters," I grumbled, watching James' ankles as he walked back to his bed and climbed lazily onto it.

"Dude, I know," he agreed, leaning over to the other side of his bed to get his phone from where it lay charging on the floor. I took this as a chance to steal a glance over, looking up and down the slender form draped over his bed. As not to distract myself too much, I didn't let my gaze linger on certain places too long, just kind of laying there marvelling at how amazing his body was; muscled but not annoyingly so, ironically masculine when compared to the way he acted sometimes.

He turned over, leg sliding up as he pulled himself up, cell phone in hand. "Kendall?"

His voice just kind of finished the image off, deliciously smooth but at the same time rough enough to be interesting, and really sexy.

"Kendall. Earth to Kendork." It finally kind of hit me that he was trying to get my attention, my face flushing with heat as I realised I'd been caught in the act. I forced myself to look at James' face, and only at his face, biting my lip and trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Yes?"

He smiled at me, repositioning himself on the bed and leaning back, relaxing. We were still making this awkward eye contact, both unsure what the other was thinking. Well, I at least had no idea, and I sure as hell hoped James didn't either. I just wanted him to say something, because no matter what he said, it would be better than just us staring each other down and waiting. Defensively, I sat up, his eyes following mine.

"Dude….I hate to say it, but you're not very subtle."

I felt a sinking feeling in my chest. "What are you talking about?" I asked, deciding it was probably better to pretend nothing was going on than admit to my obvious ogling. Besides, he could be talking about something completely different than what I was thinking, and then I'd be double screwed.

"You're obviously….okay, you're obviously checking me out."

I swallowed hard, breaking eye contact at last and choosing to look away from him altogether. "So? I mean, I'm not, but if I was, then so what?"

"I don't know, I figure, I mean, I'm hot, you're hot, there's no problem with hot dudes being hot together, right?"

I slowly turned my head to look at him, my eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, James, I'm not really sure what you're implying, but if you're trying to say that we….should…. you know….do things, then…" For some reason, I wanted to say everything as vaguely as possible, and then I realised it was too risky to actually put myself out there, or make a decision, so I just kind of left my sentence open.

"Oh come on, aren't you curious?"

"Okay, yeah, a little, but…"

"But what?" He looked at me evenly, and I found it kind of hard to decide what was the best thing to do, what I wanted to do, and what I was going to do, hoping that James would make the choices for me.

"I don't know." I felt increasingly embarrassed; everything I said felt like the complete opposite of what I was supposed to say.

"Then….wanna come over here?"

I had thought it was hot before, but the room seemed twenty times hotter with that. My heart immediately sped up, and I sighed, sliding off my bed and making my way over to his. He smirked at me, and, wanting to avoid another uncomfortable staring contest with him, I watched his mouth as I crossed what seemed like yards and yards of carpet to his bed. I sat on the edge before shifting up to where James was and staring into my lap, heart racing.

"Hey." I felt his fingers on my jaw, turning my head towards his. I looked back and forth from his eyes to his mouth, shivering as his palm slid up onto my thigh. Taking this as my cue, I let him tip my chin up as I leaned forward to kiss him softly. He pressed forward, lips slick and hot on mine, hand slipping down to the waistband of my shorts. I gasped between firm kisses, reaching down to wrap a hand around his cock.

I slid my thumb over the tip, pulling my lips back from his, my finger slightly slippery from a mixture of pre-existing sweat and new precum. I leant into him, stupidly enough, since that would only make me hotter, but it wasn't about getting more of his body heat, it was about getting more of him. Just….I was kind of in love with his body, a certain part in particular.

"Hey James…" I was taken aback at how slutty I sounded, making a face at myself and sliding my free hand up James' arm. I don't know how I had just kind of ignored my own needs for that long, realising how painfully hard I was. I palmed my erection through the material of my shorts, licking my lips and looking up at my best friend.

"Damn, Kendall," he laughed a little distractedly, fingers plucking at the waistband of my gym shorts. "These need to come off." I felt my dick twitch against my hand at his touch, rising up onto my knees and breathing in the humid-hot air. I slid my hands into the elastic waistband of my shorts, pushing them down and sitting back down so I could slide them off my legs and throw them back onto my bed.

I slid my leg over his, moving my body so I was kind of halfway in his lap, sitting before him so that my legs were loosely around his waist and my dick was up against his. His eyes fluttered closed, teeth closing around his lower lip as he pushed forward gently. I gasped, overwhelmed, my hips slipping up in a tiny movement that both of us completely overreacted to.

"Kendall…off," he ordered, and I shifted back, allowing him a little room. "God." He ran both hands through his hair, seeming not to care that it ended up going every which way (a sure sign of the apocalypse). "So did you actually, like, wanna go all the way?"

I bit my lip, looking down at my hands and away from his pensive stare. "I'm not sure. Do you want to?"

"Kinda."

I nodded slowly. I just wasn't sure. "So…who's…you know, pitching, and who's catching here? I feel like that kind of…needs to have a part in this decision."

James laughed. "This is so awkward."

"Hey, it's only awkward if you make it! It's your call, man. This was your idea, anyway."

"Fine then." He reached forward, and I ducked away instinctively, but he grabbed my hair nonetheless and pulled me into a kiss. I felt his lips curving into a smile on mine, amazed at how absolutely fantastic it felt kissing him. Despite that, I was the one to break away first.

"So are you going to answer my question?"

"I wanna ride you," he said bluntly, and a little desperately.

I tried to pretend that sentence didn't turn me on quite as much as it did, my mouth going a little dry. "Um, sounds like a plan," I finally managed to say, which was probably the nerdiest fucking thing I could have come up with. I mentally slapped myself, deciding to shut myself up by connecting my mouth to James' again. He trailed his hands down my sides, stopping to grip at my hips and climb over me.

"We're not just going to go right into it, right? Don't you need to, like, prepare?" I couldn't believe how dumb I sounded, James still invariably smiling down at me.

"Yeah…" he agreed softly.

I sat up slowly, smirking and pushing him back so he was half-sitting. "Then do it."

He raised an eyebrow, extending a hand and pressing two fingers against my lower lip. Closing my eyes, I took them into my mouth, curving a hand around his wrist and working my tongue around his fingers in order to cover them in saliva. He squirmed slightly, taking his hand back when I opened my mouth and trailing it up his thigh. I watched, intent, as his fingers neared their destination, his hips shifting forward as he pushed his middle finger into himself.

I swallowed hard, making work for my idle hands by jacking James off slowly. He took a deep shuddering breath in as he added his index finger. I stared at his fingers disappearing into his body, increasingly kind of anxious and excited for what was to come next.

He sat up further, brushing his lips past my cheek. "I'm ready for you," he murmured into my ear, and we kind of switched position, me settling back so that I was lying down and him climbing atop me again. I gasped at his hot fingers on my cock, gripping it as he kneeled above me. I grabbed at his hips, guiding him down onto my dick and sighing loudly once he was all the way down on me.

"Jesus fucking Christ, James, god…"

He let out a quiet whine, rocking forward a little. I touched at his thigh encouragingly, convincing him to lift himself up a few inches and then back down again. I shut my eyes tight, gripping his thighs for support so I didn't spontaneously combust or something. Because, seriously. As much as I thought being cold would feel good, the hot, slick tightness of being inside James…there was no match for that.

"Fuck, yes," I whimpered, arching up into him as he pushed himself up and down on my cock. I slid one of my legs over his calf, just wanting more of my skin touching more of his skin, kind of slipping together with the way we were both sweating pretty profusely- it was probably in the triple digits, and engaging in rather strenuous physical activity- and it was amazing.

"I don't think I can….James," I breathed, watching him smirk as he slowed down, torturous as he rolled his hips forward leisurely. I grasped blindly at the sheets, his deliberate movements coaxing these pathetic noises out of me. "Please," I begged, feeling my cock pulsing against his insides.

"Please what?" he asked me innocently, sliding his hands up over my chest and stopping at my shoulders.

"Move," I pleaded with him, "please, fuck me, I need…"

Thankfully, he didn't push me any further, just obeyed, probably because he needed it just as badly as I did. He lifted his hips, shoving himself down onto my dick and moaning. I slammed back into him erratically, gasping for air and tightening my fingers around his sheets as I felt that I was about to come.

I let myself go, a thought that I should have warned James flashing through my mind for a split second before I was taken by the intensity of my orgasm. James waited until I was able to start thinking straight (well, considering) before climbing off me and kneeling. I sat up, changing position so that I was on my hands and knees and taking James' cock into my mouth quickly.

He tangled his fingers into my hair, coming almost the instant I started actually sucking, holding me in place as I swallowed down his seed. I jerked back when he let me go, catching my breath and sitting, exhausted, on his bed.

"You're unbelievable," I told him, staring at his bangs clinging to his forehead with perspiration, kind of avoiding eye contact for some reason.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled at me, leaving me helpless, leaning forward to kiss my chin and then my lips. "We should do that more often, anyway."

"I agree," I replied promptly, blushing at how enthusiastic I sounded. Fucking James, though, on a regular basis? Who wouldn't be excited? "By the way, I think my mom's out of the shower by now. Should we, you know, clean up, cool down?"

"Mmhmm." He kissed me again, teasing me with short, light kisses to my mouth, laughing quietly when I pressed a hand against the back of his neck, pushing him forward so I could kiss him more deeply without him going anywhere. He moved into my lap, inhaling sharply and resting his arms over my shoulders, loosely wrapped around my neck. I heard a firm tapping, panicking and pushing him away when I realised it was the door to our bedroom.

We both looked at each other, terrified, James mouthing 'be quiet' and holding a finger to his lips. I was completely still, kind of wanting to get him off my lap, but realising that would make the bed creak massively. Maybe if Logan thought we weren't in the room, he'd leave.

"Kendall? James?" he called from behind the door, the two of us frozen in place. "Okay," Logan sighed, and I thought he was going away, but apparently he had other plans. I watched with horror as the door creaked open slowly, willing him to turn back, but it was too late, our bandmate pushing the bedroom door open and entering.

"I- " He stopped in his tracks, staring from me to James and back again. I smiled sheepishly at him, as if there was any way to pretend what was happening wasn't happening- I couldn't just tell him that James somehow managed to fall on me naked and land in my lap.

"Heeey, Logan," James said in a tiny voice, trying to act casual but sounding like he was scared shitless. "You never saw any of this, right? Never happened?"

Logan stood there for a few seconds, adjusting the towel that was over his shoulder. "What never happened?" he asked, the smallest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. I gave him a thumbs-up, watching as he quickly turned and left the room.

"That wasn't awkward," James said, still sounding shocked. "Pretty sure Logan will never unsee that…"

"He knows it was hot," I decided, taking James hand and pressing my mouth to his again. "Whatever, let's shower."