Chapter Text
Harry sat down in one of the few chairs in his job. Sighing, he took a swig of his latte and stared at the wall. All his life, he'd been lonely. And he was lonely now.
He'd been raised by his mum, and yeah, he'd had a sister. She was only a year older than him, but she didn't ever have time for him. It was always, "Off to the mall, mum," or "Study group today." It was never "I'm going to be with Harry today."
When Harry had finished school, he had quite a bit of excess money. He used it to buy himself a nice flat. And he'd been living there-alone-for years. He'd decided he needed a job, so he went to work at Starbucks. It paid decently, and he was living.
But he was just so lonley that when he met Louis it was like a miracle sent down from above. Louis, with his loud voice, Louis with his pretty face, Louis with his outright wittiness and charm, was Harry's friend. His first-and only- friend.
When he learned of Liam and how he and Louis were together, he felt a pang of emotions; sadness, that left out feeling, and the feeling of a third wheel. But he wasn't going to just give up: he had friends now. Friends.
Louis and Liam had a mate called Niall, and he and Harry hit it off instantly. They were loud obnoxious and rude, something Harry didn't know would be so enjoyable. He felt like a real person when he thought of Niall and Liam and Louis; a normal person.
But they weren't there right then and it reminded Harry of his childhood. Upon hearing the door bell chime, Harry sighed before getting up and going back to his place behind the counter. "Hello, how may-" Harry choked on his own spit. The man standing in front of him was- heaven.
He had dark hair and a bit darker skin than most people Harry knew. He had the most beautiful hazel eyes that Harry'd ever seen. And his lips were so.. pink. It was maddening just to know he was in the room.
And then he smiled. Harry felt a bit faint. "Hello. I believe that you've stopped yourself, if you'd like to continue?" He said mockingly. His voice! Harry thought before clearing his throat. "Yes, right, sorry."
"How may I help you?" and to this the man grinned. "Well, I was wondering if I could have The Grande White Chocolate Mocha Frap with no whip and the Toffee Nut Latte?" Harry nodded. "Sure. Is that all?" And Harry feels stupid even talking to this man but he knows that he'll probably only see the man two more times in his life.
"Oh, no. I'll be needing a very special order." Harry looked a bit confused, and the man bit his lip. "Your number. It's not on the menu but it looks so irresistible that I've got to try it before it runs out." and now Harry's shocked.
"Right, uhm, eh, erm, that'll be 4.99. And then an extra amount, I suppose." Harry gave the man his number and his coffee and expected him to leave and actually never use it. But the man stays, and he tries desperately to make conversation with Harry.
Harry learns that the man-whose name is Zayn- is a student, and that he studies music. Harry learns that the man has 3 sisters, and is British-Pakistani. Harry doesn't want to see his time with Zayn end, but it's time to close the shop. Zayn walks out the door and winks as he looks over his shoulder.
For a little while, Harry doesn't know what to do about Zayn. He was just so handsome and dark and tall and amazing that Harry was flustered just by the thoughts.
And then his phone buzzed. He almost didn't pick up, but decided that would be beyond rude. So, with shaky fingers, he taps the accept button. "Hello?" he says.
He hears Zayn laugh a little and then say, "Hey. This is Harry, yeah?" Harry feels his mouth go dry.
"Yeah. Yes. This is Zayn?" and to that he gets a ,"correct." He sighs and trys not to sqeak when Zayn talks to him, says his name. "So, Harry. How've you been? Of course you've been missing me, but other than that?" Zayn asks in a cocky way. Harry knows he's joking but he wants to say,"Nothing else. Just you." But he fakes a laugh instead. "I'll have you know that I can handle being away from half strangers quite well." Harry says in his own defense.
Zayn scoffs. "Half stranger." Harry laughs again. He really doesn't get what is wrong with him; Zayn is a half stranger, whether he admits or not. And the way he makes Harry feel is so foreign. It's scary. "Anyway. I've been thinking about you, Harry." Harry feels his heart stop. "What?"
"I've been thinking about you, and your face, and your hair and you and I don't know why, but I feel like I won't have a full life if I don't see you again." Harry feels like singing to Zayn, something old and nice sounding that he wouldn't even realize he knew until he sang it. Zayn's been thinking of him.
"Really? I met you today." Zayn sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I just wanted you to know about it. So, about seeing you again?" and Harry honestly thought he was joking. "Oh, uh. You could come over if you'd like, as I live alone." Zayn makes a happy sound. "Alright. How's tomorrow sound, then? Five o' clock?" Harry swallows thickly and has to catch his breath. "Sounds perfect." He finally manages. He hears Zayn clap in a final way. "Alright then! I'll see you tomorrow, Harry.
Harry sighed, letting his head rest in his hands. "How am I going to survive this?" He says to himself. He just really doesn't know.
~~~~
When tomorrow comes around, Harry's is in a panic. He romps around his house, messing about in thebathroom and throwing every piece of clothing he has out of the closet. He didn't know what he was going to wear or do or say and he was scared because honestly, he's never been out with anyone. It wasn't that he hadn't been allowed; he had no real friends. But then Liam comes around and he helps Harry look sharp and smart and attractive, and Harry wants to kiss him a little because Liam is just too fucking nice.
When it gets to being about 4:40, Harry panics again and says "Liam, I'm calling it off. I can't do it!" Louis walks in and looks at Harry as it was his date that Harry was planning to call off. "Oh, no you aren't, mister. You're going to open the door for him and he's going to sit on your couch and then you're going to talk to him and it will be nice, ok?" and Harry nods and tries to think of good thoughts so that he would have a panic attack.
"Alright. But that means you guys have to leave. Go, shoo, go fuck or something." And Louis' eyes light up a bit at the mention of sex and he eyes Liam thoughtfully while Liam pointedly looks away before slowly dragging him out of the house, calling a "Good bye, Haz! Good luck!" Over his shoulder. Harry sighed and tried to clean up his house before Zayn could see how much of a pig he was.
~~~
Zayn walked towards Harry's front door, feeling butterflies and stress sweat building up all around him. He shouldn't be so goddamn nervous about this; it was just a boy. But he felt his palms sweating as he knocked on the door. He hears a bit of shuffling before the door opens and Harry is standing there, and he's really fucking hot right now. "Hey there. Gonna let me in?" And Harry looks a bit embarrassed when he steps to the side to let Zayn walk into his flat.
Zayn looked around at Harry's home. "It's nice here." He says conversationally before going to sitting down on the couch. Harry follows him and sits awkwardly. "So. How are you Zayn?" He says, obviously trying to control some emotion. Zayn smiles and hopes he made it better. "Uh, it's a bit hot, don't you think?" And he doens't know why, but as soon as he says it, he feels it go away. Because it was just Harry, causing the heat of arousal to come to Zayn's skin.
Harry shakes his head. "No, but I can turn the thermostat down if you'd-" Zayn waved down the rest of his sentence. "No, no. I'm fine now." And Harry relaxes a bit. "Are you hungry?" Harry asks. Zayn shakes his head. "No, but some tea would be great right now." And Harry nods and goes to fix it. Zayn looks about the flat again.
"How long have you been living here, Harry?" Zayn asked as Harry messed around with his kettle and tea mugs. "A few years, actually. It's really lonely by myself but I've never been with anyone in a serious thing." He says after setting the mugs down. Zayn feels a little stab of sympothy; it wasn't that they never got there, it never happened in the first place. But he tried to brush it off and instead went back to interogating.
"Have you ever kissed anyone, Harry?" And there was silence as Harry flushed and eventually tugged his jacket off because wow, it really was kind of hot. "No." He eventually said, and Zayn figured. "Oh. Do you want to?" And again there is no answer as Harry sets the tea things about for the fifth time. "I don't know if I'll be any good at it." Harry finally says when he comes back to the sofa with his mug and Zayn's.
Zayn took a sip but decided it was still too hot. Setting his mug down, he smacked his lips a bit. "Well, do you want to try it now?" And Harry's shocked; kiss Zayn?
But he nods and waits for Zayn to tell him what to do. Zayn's very eager to kiss Harry- had been the second he'd layed eyes on him. He positioned his body in front of Harry's. "Ok. You lean in." And he waits for Harry to figure out how much. Then, when thy're millimeters apart and Zayn can feel Harry's breath going on his face he says, "And then you-" But Harry figured it out and put his lips on Zayn's in a flushed hurry. Harry moved his lips and Zayn fell into sync and couldn't help but notice how perfect their lips felt together. When the need to breathe was getting to be a bit much, Harry pulled away. He licked his lips and tasted Zayn on them.
Slightly breathless, Zayn said, "I don't believe that was your first time doing that." But Harry shakes his head and smiles. "Oh, it surely is." And Zayn wants to kiss him again but doesn't want to rush it, he met Harry yesterday. "Why do you live alone?" And then Zayn kind of regrets it but it's ok cause Harry's an open kind of guy. "I don't have any friends that want to live with me. They're all either in love or stalking a person they'll never meet." To Zayn this is interesting. "Who does that?"
Harry laughs. "Niall. Thinks Justin Bieber is fit and wants to know him so bad but he's hopelessly hopeless and it's really actually funny." Harry smiles at his thoughts. "Can I stay the night?" Zayn asks after a while and he holds his breath and bites his lip because, again, yesterday.
But Harry just smiles and nods and says, "Yeah. You can wear one of my shirt if you'd like." And Zayn feels a weight lift. He can stay.
But Harry feels that weight come onto him. Zayn's staying here. And he's going to wear my shirt?
Harry was definitely not ok.