Louis avoided Harry all week. When he would see him coming up to the store, he got Jack to cover his shift until he saw him leave. He came up with every excuse possible to leave, including that he had taken up smoking, while also having developed arthritis, a bladder infection, and asthma. (Maybe not the best two lies to pair together, but hey, it had worked.)
But after two weeks, he saw Harry coming up to the shop and he couldn't get away.
"Jack, cover for me, I need some air. Thanks!" He exclaimed, quick-walking toward the door.
"Oh no you don't." Jack growled, reaching out and grabbing Louis' shoulder so he couldn't get any farther.
"I've seen you avoiding that kid for like 10 days and whoever he is, he obviously cares about you enough to come back and ask why every day. I'm not covering your ass this time, Tommo. You're on your own." He said, closing the drawer of the register and walking into the back room.
Louis' heart sped up and his palms started sweating, very aware of what was about to happen. Harry was going to come in here and yell at him for avoiding him all week and then Louis would cry and run home to Liam who would cover them with a blanket and cuddle him on the couch until he felt better.
He heard the bell above the door jingle and he crouched behind the counter in hopes that Harry wouldn't notice him and maybe he'd just leave. But Louis has never been very lucky and his luck sure wasn't turning today.
"Hi Lou." He heard Harry say. He scrunched his face up in displeasure, knowing he had no way of getting out of this now. He slowly stood back up until he saw Harry's face.
Of course he looked gorgeous, when does he not look fucking gorgeous? Louis hates him for it. Okay, maybe not.
He had a brown jacket on with a red scarf around his neck. His skin was pale now that it was winter time and his nose was pink from the cold temperature and it made him look like a little boy.
He looked so cute Louis wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and kiss him.
"Hey." He said, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"Have you been avoiding me?" Harry asked, eyebrows drawn together like they always did when he was frustrated or listening hard. Louis looked down at the counter, ignoring Harry's question.
"Well I know you have been, so you don't need to answer that. But can I ask why? What did I do?" Nothing! Louis wanted to scream. You did absolutely nothing and I'm head over heels in love with you and you're out of my league so I'm trying to fight it!
But Louis knew he had to tell him the truth. He couldn't deal with the sadness in Harry's eyes and the despair in his voice, knowing that he was the reason it was so.
"I don't want to waste your time." Louis gently whispered. He didn't want to look up and meet Harry's eyes.
"Waste my time? How on earth do you think you're wasting my time? I thought we'd become really great friends over the past two months." Louis felt his heart drop. There was that word again. Friends. Friends. Friends.
"Erm, well, I don't know. Just..yeah."
"I wanted to call and ask you what was going on, but I realized I still don't have your number. Even after two months." Louis plastered a smile onto his face and handed his phone over to Harry and asked for his in return.
He could pretend that he didn't like Harry. He could pretend he didn't want to kiss him every time he said something dumb. He could pretend that whenever Harry talked about his family and loved ones like they were the the stars in the sky, that he didn't want to be one of those stars more than he'd ever wanted anything. He'd just have to try harder.
