Work Text
Louis clamped his jaw, in an effort to stop his teeth from chattering. He was not going to let Harvey have the satisfaction of knowing that—
“Give it up, Louis. Stop trying to pretend that you’re fine.” God damn Harvey Specter, always so sure that he knew everything.
“I—I am fine.” It would have helped if his voice hadn’t been shaking. Treacherous, treacherous body.
“You’re freezing.”
“I’m not freezing. I’m perfect—perfectly warm.”
“Louis—”
“Look, Harvey, we wouldn’t even be in this mess if it wasn’t for you—”
“Whatever. Have it your way.”
And that was probably as close as Harvey would ever come to admitting that he’d messed up. Of course, Jessica deserved her share of the blame, for dragging them all out to the Adriondacks for a so-called “Partners’ Retreat”; it had been Jessica who had confiscated their cellphones, and it had been Jessica who had forced him to work with Harvey—Harvey who had decided to jump into that deceptively calm mountain pool and break his ankle during their day-long orienteering exercise.
Naturally, that left Louis to fix everything, as usual. Louis who found this abandoned little ranger’s cabin, who had hauled Harvey into the little cot, who had helped Harvey pee, for God’s sake; Louis who had insisted that Harvey take the one shock blanket from their first aid kit, when he’d starting shaking with the pain that aspirin couldn’t mask.
Of course, come tomorrow, this would all be Louis’s fault. Because Louis had been the one to drop their emergency flares into the water. No matter that he’d only dropped them because Harvey had been trying to use Louis as a prop in an ill-considered attempt to become vertical again. Harvey would just flash that smile of his, and suddenly all his sins would be forgiven.
“Fuck,” Louis muttered. Or tried to, at least. It came out as more of a strangled shudder.
“Louis.” Harvey sighed. “Just get in the cot with me, okay?”
“I—I said I’m—not cold.” Louis forced himself to focus on his anger. “Stop—stop pretending that you care about me.”
“I don’t care about you. I care about me. I’m freezing my ass off here.”
“Hmph.”
“What do you think Jessica will have to say if you let me catch pneumonia tonight? If I’m out of action for the next month because you were too stubborn to share some blankets.”
“There’s no—no way you’d let pneu—pneumonia hold you back for a whole month,” Louis muttered, but he found himself standing up anyway, because—just because (not because he was weak). “You’d better not try anything funny, Specter.”
“Don’t worry, Louis; your virtue is safe with me.”
“I hate you.”
“I know.” Harvey shifted back against the wall.
Louis grit his teeth, bent down, and slid into the cot as quickly as possible.
“Arg.” Harvey seemed to swallow the syllable as it reached his lips; he drew breath sharply, and the air whistled through his teeth.
“Ah, shit,” said Louis. “Your ankle?”
He felt Harvey nod behind him. “You just—nudged it a little,” he said, his voice strained.
“I knew this was a bad idea.” Louis shifted away. “Look, I’ll just leave—”
“No.” One of Harvey’s hands clamped down on Louis’s shoulder. “There is no point in both of us freezing to death.”
Not that it was really cold enough for them to freeze to death. In fact, Harvey wasn’t freezing at all. He was warm, Louis, realised. Not feverish, just warm—snug even. His hand, still on Louis’s shoulder, was radiating a gentle heat.
“Oh, hell,” said Louis.
“What’s the matter now?”
“Nothing. Nothing.” Louis forced the words out. Harvey had tricked him. He hadn’t been cold at all. Even when he was being nice, the man was a complete asshole. And Louis had fallen for it--fuck. Harvey shifted behind him, and Louis had to resist the urge to move closer into his warmth.
Oh, God, please don’t let me get an erection. Louis winced. Where had that thought come from? As if this situation wasn’t bad enough already. Not that he really had to worry. He hadn’t had a though like that about Harvey since—no, best not to think about it at all. He was Louis Litt, and his mastery over his physical body was complete. He had never thought about Harvey like…
Harvey shifted again, and now Louis could feel the his breath against the back of his neck. It was going to be a long night.
But, he admitted grudgingly, at least it would be a warm one.