got to get you into my life ➥ narry

two

The light from the fridge illuminates Harry's face as he goes to grab the carton of milk on the top shelf. He untwists the cap and brings it up to his nose, grimacing at the ripe odor. It's definitely expired, not that it really matters considering there's hardly any left. He planned on having cereal for dinner but unfortunately he's now missing half of the simple meal.

He used to dread having to go to the market. There'd always be too many people and it often took way too long to get out of the place. However, lately he's rather enjoyed the trip. It might just be a small thing to look forward to, but it was something to Harry.

Besides from work, Harry didn't really have much of a social life. He has a few childhood friends that he still keeps in contact with occasionally and a few friends he made through work, but other than that, there's not too many close friendships in his life. He of course has his sister and his mum, but he doesn't get to see them as much anymore. His job moved locations fairly recently which meant that he had to move further from his family. The drive was about three hours, but with their busy schedules, they try to always visit around the holidays.

For the past two years, Harry has been the manager of a local, but very popular music store. He works full time and makes decent money, but he gets to be around music all the time and he's always had a passion for it. He also knows the owner is planning on retiring soon and wants to pass the position over to him which is a promotion he's looking forward to.

He's tried the dating scene a few times here and there and he just hasn't met anyone that he's truly clicked with. He hasn't quite given up, but he's just stopped actively searching and figured the right person will appear soon enough. He's hoping Niall might be that person but it's all too early to assume.

The thought of pursuing a relationship is quite exciting to Harry. It does make him laugh that he chose to flirt with his local grocery store's cashier, not that he's embarrassed of his occupation, but rather it occurred at a relatively random time. However, he does have an allurement to Niall and if he can't score an actual date with him, then he's fine with making a new friend. He also hadn't had a close friend in quite some time and the idea of making one sounds quite nice.

Instead of sighing as he grabbed his keys to leave his apartment, he grinned happily. Harry actually felt a spring in his step leading up to the arrival at his car. He ducks down to enter and places the key into the ignition. The only bad part of going to the market purely to see Niall was that he never knew for a fact if he was going to be there on any given day. Of course he needed to get milk, but in past occasions he would have just procrastinated going and found something else to eat rather than cereal.

He felt like he was back in school with the crush he held on Niall. It was mainly based on the attraction he held for him, but from the few conversations they had, he enjoyed his witty personality as well. Harry knew that visiting him while he worked didn't leave them much time to talk. He had to bear in mind that Niall couldn't stand around and chat to a customer for all that long. He made it his goal to get Niall to go on a date with him. Harry felt like he was charming and convincing enough to persuade him, but he had a feeling that the blonde might be too stubborn to agree so quickly.

It had been a few days since his last visit and even then he felt impatient waiting those three days, but he didn't want to come off too strong so soon. Once he reached the vicinity of Tesco, he did his usual look around for the blonde cashier and smiled once his eyes landed on him. He wanted to run to the dairy section and grab a carton of milk so he could interact with Niall quicker, but he knew he had to play it cool.

Harry wanted to curse the store for the layout of their items, but unfortunately he understood why they always had the essential items in the back, such as the said milk he needed to acquire. In a matter of a minute or two, he held the carton in his grasp and made his way back to the front where the checkout was located.

Niall's line was actually empty this time as he spotted him idly standing behind the till. Before Harry even walked up, the cashier noticed him and smiled smugly.

"Harry, fancy seeing you here," Niall spoke casually.

Harry sheepishly smiled, trying to contain his shit eating grin.

"Oh you know, just came to see my favorite cashier," He replies, placing the milk down for him to scan.

"I'm your favorite now?" Niall smirked.

"I take that back, I don't want to feed your ego," He replies, looking around at the other cashiers nearby and nonchalantly points at an older woman. "I think I might just like her better now."

The blonde follows where Harry is pointing and sees his coworker Barb, "I wouldn't blame you, she's a sweet lady."

Harry shakes his head, "Mm, but I think I'd rather cook dinner for you."

Niall laughs a little as he scans his only item and completes the transaction, "How'd I know you were gonna bring that up again?"

"Smart lad," He replies, taking his card out and entering it in the chip reader. "Come up with a decision yet?"

"Hmm," Niall ponders as he hands Harry his receipt. "I think I'll need more time to decide."

"Then I guess I'll have to come back again soon for your answer," He responds.

The cashier looks around to see if there's anyone else waiting in line but sees that there isn't yet.

"Tell you what," Niall says, "tell me a few facts about you and it might help my decision making."

Harry grins, "Well my last name is Styles, I'm twenty-three, I'm the manager of a music store, and as you already know I'm a great cook."

The cashier rolls his eyes at the last statement, "A great cook that gets penne pasta for alfredo."

"That was one time!" Harry points at him defensively, "I came back for the correct noodles, didn't I?

As Niall is about to reply, another customer approaches his line which signals the end of their conversation.

"I'll see you later, Styles. Have a good evening." The blonde waves.

"Yeah, you too, Niall," He says, turning around to make his dreaded departure.

As Harry walks out of the store, he's smiling giddily to himself. He'd have to say that this was his favorite interaction yet. For a cashier he's only known for a little bit over a week now, he never fails to put a smile on his face. What can he say, Niall is a charming and devilishly handsome bloke, but he wouldn't admit that to him for a while.

It made him happy that he remembered his name and the foolish fact that he got the wrong pasta on a prior occasion. He even mentioned getting to see Harry again because he knew he'd be coming back soon. Of course he would return, especially when he was anticipating some sort of response about this long awaited dinner he hopes to share with him.

From what he can tell, Niall would draw the invitation to dinner out for as long as he can. Perhaps he likes the chase, Harry thinks. However, Harry is very persistent and he'll keep coming back until the lad says yes. It goes without saying that if Niall didn't express any reciprocation back, then he'd leave him alone. Fortunately for Harry, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Who knows, maybe in ten years if they're married this is a story they can tell for ages about how Niall played hard to get and Harry never gave up.

After the quick ride home from the market, Harry pours himself a bowl of cereal. Once he pours the milk, he grabs the box of cereal from the pantry and pours the rest of it in. Luckily for him, he's now just ran out which makes for the perfect excuse to go back to the store tomorrow.