Stranger Δ

Day Three

There were no customers today, and Harry was bored.
They were all bored.

Liam was sitting in his tattoo chair, letting Zayn create an intricate pattern on his right shoulder.
Niall was throwing small pieces of wadded up paper at Harry.

All conversation stopped when the door swung open, and Louis strode in like it was completely normal.
The small lad hopped up on a bar stool next to Niall and the two started chatting animatedly about something that the others couldn't quite make out.

Zayn, who was still a bit bemused over his 'conversation' with the lad the day before, has resorted to just fully ignoring him.
Instead, the raven haired man concentrated on the intricate tattoo he was giving Liam.

"Are you two dating?" Louis suddenly asked, watching Liam and Zayn curiously.
His question caught the two boys off guard, and they exchanged looks.

Zayn sighed and his mouth formed a thin line, as he continued to ignore Louis.
Louis rolled his eyes at the older man's pettiness, but his attention quickly turned back to Liam, who was nodding.

"Yeah, we are. For about 3 months now." he confirmed, smiling.

Niall cheered and lifted his hands on the air.
"Ziam is a thing!! My ship has salied!" he exclaimed, running over to Harry holding out his hand.
"You owe me 30 bucks mate!"

Harry groaned playfully and handed the money over to Niall, who pocketed it immediately.

Louis sat behind the counter, watching the scene with a small smile on his face.
Niall had abandoned their conversation to go talk to Liam and Zayn.
Louis didn't want to intrude, so he stayed silent.

Harry noticed and went to sit next to the boy.
"So Louis.. Tell me about yourself." he requested, trying to spark a conversation.
Ok, and maybe he wanted to know every little thing about this boy.
He'd never admit that though.

Louis ducked his head a bit, letting his tough persona drop for the moment.
"I'm really not that interesting.." he murmured bashfully, avoiding Harry's gaze.
His fingers fidgeted with the ends of his hoodie, pulling them down to create sweater paws.

That was when Harry noticed Louis' outfit for the day.
A pair of ripped, white washed skinny jeans, black converse, and a baggy purple jumper that looked like it was going to swallow him.
Adorable.

Harry shook himself out of his daze quickly.
He couldn't think of Louis like that.
The boy wasn't even legal yet, for God's sake!
For the sake of his sanity though, he persisted.
"Just tell me anything, love. I want to know more about you. About why you keep coming here." he pryed.

Louis hesitated, but ultimately caved into the curly haired lad's request.
"Fine.." he agreed reluctantly.
Without missing a beat, the teenager counted a few things off about himself.

"I'm 17, I had a younger sister, and my favorite color is green." he listed.
And if his favorite shade of green was the one that matched Harry's eyes, no one had to know.

Harry noted the past tense of Louis' second statement, but didn't press on it.
He got the sense that it was a sensitive subject, and the last thing he wanted to do, was make Louis uncomfortable.
"So you're 17? When's your birthday?"

"December 24th.."

Harry furrowed his brow.
Christmas Eve..
"So that's in 2 months then. You turn 18 in two months?"

Louis simply nodded.

"Well, why do you keep coming back here?" Harry pressed.

Louis' expression turned blank.
"To go horseback riding." he deadpanned.
"You own a tattoo parlor Harry, why do you think I keep coming back?"

Harry chuckled at the sassy reply.
"Here I thought you enjoyed our company." he retorted, placing a hand over his heart in mock offence.

Louis rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes, you guys are about as fun as a box of poison Ivy." he sassed back.

Harry gasped in an overdramatic fashion.
"Blasphemy!" he exclaimed.

Louis giggled.
He fucking giggled!

Harry's head was going to explode from the cuteness, oh my God.
'Play it cool H, play it cool..' he scolded himself.

Just as the tall man was about to reply, then was a soft ding, and Louis flinched.

The caramel eyed boy quickly grabbed his bag, and called out a quick goodbye as he bolted out of the shop, and down the street.
He ran until he was out of sight leaving Harry staring after him in confusion.