#or just good ole I cant help falling in love with you by elvis

[birdybellicose]

The corners of Lark’s mouth lifted into an almost smile at Nick’s singing as he tried to make himself more comfortable in his friend’s lap, feeling oddly safer than he had ever felt in a long time. 

He falls asleep to Nick’s voice and the hypnotic twang of guitar strings in the air, the lyrics flowing out of Nick’s mouth like liquid honey. Lark falls asleep before he can understand the full weight of the song Nick chose to “practice” with, or notice how hushed and breathless Nick’s voice had suddenly become.

Nick continued to sing that same song long after Lark falls asleep, long enough for the itch of caressing Lark’s face to become downright unbearable. Nick suddenly paused and his left hand slowly uncurled and slid down the fretboard, his eyes trained on the small strands of hair that had fallen over Lark’s eyes. A second later Nick stopped himself, shook his head as if he had been under a spell, and forced himself to play the next guitar riff-- accidentally strumming the strings a little too loudly. Lark stirred and grunted in his sleep for a second before going quiet again. Nick breathed a sigh of relief before chuckling affectionately at the man.

Nick adjusted his old hand-me-down acoustic in his lap and began slowly singing the song again, this time really feeling the lyrics. His voice softly crooned perfect reverence and longing into each verse, heartbreak was evident in the words and all the notes he hit. After awhile, Nick’s lip began to tremble and his eyes burned but he sang on, his left hand now gripping the fretboard so hard it made his knuckles white.