leather journal / h.s

35

M A R Y

it was pitch black outside as the van pulled up in the parking lot of an empty outlet store.

harry squeezed my hand lightly. "we're here." he said gently. "time to climb out again."

we both helped each other out of the van, and zayn held a key that let us inside. the lights came on at once, and a loud alarm went off, making me cover my ears.

harry swiftly walked over and touched the security system's buttons. it stopped right away. "sorry." he grumbled, scratching his hair in confusion. "louis always forgets to disarm the place."

"hey!" he said in his defense, his arm slung around eleanor. after what had happened earlier, i wouldn't expect him to make such a romantic gesture. "it's your store, harry. you disarm it."

he shrugged, mimicking his best friend and holding me close. his comfort felt better than anything in the world. "okay, geez." he frowned, earning a laugh from zayn and eleanor. "but mary, this is my store. i call it... styles selections." he made jazz hands, which was actually really cute.

i smiled. "what do you sell?" i asked.

he stared into my eyes with adoration, while the rest of his friends started to wander around. "well, mostly i design bandanas and erm-- i make clothes. fans buy them because i make them and I donate them towards a cure for cancer and to save the elephants and all that stuff."

every time he said something like that i fell harder and harder for him. "that's so great, harry." i grinned. "can i look around?"

"sure." he said cooly. "let me show you my favorite parts of the whole store."

he took my hand in his and led me over closer to a far wall, where a rack of bandanas sat. there was a pretty collection, and i noticed that a few of them were made from the cloths of some of his shirts.

"wow." i said in awe. "do you make these?"

he nodded, looking around and he must've noticed that the rest of the group was in the back of the store. "yeah. me and lou come out here when we're bored. louis likes to tear up my shirts. i make the bandanas from the cloth and anne is flying in for the grand opening."

that made me smile. "that's sweet of her. i thought you'd already opened the store, though."

he clicked his teeth. "that's what ive been meaning to show you."

he grabbed my hand tightly again, and we joined the rest of the group in the back. a large curtain separated us from something unknown, and louis stood there impatiently. "well," he frowned. "can we open this now? because el is getting hungry."

zayn and niall stared at him in adoration. "look at louis, stepping up to the plate!"

but what did he mean, "el was hungry?"

harry sighed before tugging on the curtain lightly. "this," he said dramatically. "is the reason i can't open the store yet."

when he tugged it away, i expected to see a rack of designer clothes. but instead it was a mini bakery.

"what?" i asked in confusion. "you can't open your store because of a bakery?"

he looked at me with a small grin. he didn't even say a word, stepping behind the counter and looking down at all the pastries he must've baked himself. "i used to be a baker." harry said happily, grabbing a paper towel and scooping up a white chocolate chip cookie. "your favorite." he smiled, handing me the cookie.

"aww." louis and eleanor hummed in unison as i took my first bite. it was delicious. it was hard to believe that harry had baked these himself. "harry wanted to give you one of his favorite treats!!"

he blushed, tying something around his waist and putting on a baker's hat. he looked really cute. "the problem is that i need someone else to work at this bakery." he said with a grin. "and i was thinking that you and i could run it together."

the thought brought a grin to my lips. but there was only one problem. "harry, school starts in two weeks. i can't just try to balance working in a bakery and--"

he interrupted my by leaning over the counter and fitting his mouth to mine, in front of all of his friends. the thought of them seeing us kissing unnerved me, but the feeling of his lips on mine was pure bliss. he pulled from the kiss and whispered in my ear,

"i can make your hours flexible."

i shuddered. "o-okay. then im in."

despite what had just happened, harry's band mates cheered, along with eleanor.

"now i can buy your bandanas!" louis said with glee. "since, you know, you don't let me borrow any of yours!"

harry laughed and beckoned for me to come with him behind the counter. still recovering from the sudden kiss, i hastily made my way over to harry's side. he put a baker's hat on my head like it was a crown.

"fit for a queen." he mumbled, "now, im going to teach you how to make a mean lemon cake." he smirked, and took the time to shoo off niall and the rest. "leave!" he giggled. "find something you want and maybe you can buy it."

they all cheered about that, instantly scattering and disappearing out of my field of sight.

"okay, is there anything you'd like to buy?" he asked me, preheating the oven.

i thought about it for a minute. "i want one of your bandanas and a shirt to match." i explained, "like a bandana made from the cloth of the shirt that i buy."

harry nodded in understanding. i watched intently as he reached into a refrigerator and pulled out a carton of grade a eggs, along with milk. "ill buy it for you. im my own cashier."

i giggled. how cute could harry possibly get? "so you're going to be here all the time?"

"no." he answered, looking at me for a brief second before getting a bowl out of a cabinet. he dumped the ingredients in the bowl and gestured for me to come over.

i skipped over and he handed me a whisk. "stir this, and stir it good." i did as he said, and he smiled down at me. "we don't want our cake tasting like eggs, now do we?"

i kept stirring, until my arm hurt. the things id do for harry, i thought when he walked over. "are we almost done?" i whined, "id like to eat our cake now." but he just shook his head with a laugh and squeezed lemon juice in the mixture.

"stir." he commanded playfully, and i hit him in the head with the whisk. eggs stained his perfect brown hair. "aaah!" he screamed in a rage, squeezing lemon juice in my hair.

"at least im going to have nice smelling hair." i cheesily grinned. "you're going to smell like raw eggs."

harry smiled warmly and poured flour and sugar in the bowl. this time, he stirred it. "only so you won't put raw eggs in my hair." he laughed.

i helped him pour the mixture, and slide the pan into the oven. harry watched it the whole time it was baking, and pulled it out at the right time down to the millisecond.

"now we have to wait for it to cool." harry said eagerly. "let's go pick out your bandana!"