Chapter Text
Harry’s been going to the same café at the same time everyday for the past few weeks – ok maybe it’s been a few months and his friends are starting to notice and question him but he doesn’t care. Blondie is worth it. Not the band, but the guy who works at the café Harry frequents. Despite knowing his name is Niall – he read it on the nametag on day a few days back – Harry likes to call him Blondie sometimes. In his head, he’s never spoken to Niall beyond the casual hello’s and giving his order. He often doesn’t even do that anymore, Niall knows by now that Harry likes to get his coffee black with room for cream and a slice of banana bread with butter on the side, please. So now their conversations have been reduced to ‘hello, how are you today?, and thank you’. Not that Harry’s really upset about it, honestly it’s kind of confusing because on the one hand he wishes he could talk to Niall more even if the only thing they talked about was his order, on the other hand he appreciates that Niall’s paid attention, that he remembers Harry despite all the other people that come in everyday. When Louis voices his concern for Harry’s sanity one day after he comes back home with another coffee he finally admits the real reason he keeps going to the same place everyday. It’s pretty obvious, and Louis definitely noticed weeks beforehand, but he still listens as Harry goes on about how blue Niall’s eyes are and how his smile lights up the room.
It’s not until today that Harry realizes he’s fucked. Royally fucked. It’s a Saturday and he’s hungover, really hungover. Like ‘I don’t remember how I got home last night’ hungover. His head is pounding, he’s had to clean vomit out of his hair, but he’s heading out the door on his way to the café. It’s as soon as he steps out of his flat that he realizes that his feelings for Niall go beyond just a crush. If it had been just a crush, he’d be in his bed asleep right now; if it was a crush he wouldn’t have set an alarm to wake up before Niall’s shift is over in the first place.
“Shit” Harry can’t help but let it slip out as he pulls the door shut behind him. What the fuck am I gonna do? I can’t talk to him all of a sudden that’d be too weird I’ve been going there for too long to say something now. But I can’t not go because then he’d think something was wrong with me. Or he wouldn’t notice, god I hope he’d notice if I didn’t show up. What if he thinks I’m crazy for going there during his shift everyday?! He can’t help but let his thoughts spiral into disarray, he doesn’t even notice until he hears the bells clink that despite everything going on in his head he’s still been making his way to Niall.
“Hey mate, how are ya?” Oh god, I haven’t brushed my teeth I must smell like puke. And I look like shit, god fucking dammit!
“Umm been better. How are you?” He’s hyper aware of everything both he and Niall are doing. Chastising himself for even coming to the café today when he’s in such a state of filth.
“’M just fine mate, you have a big night out last night or sommat? Don’t mean to be rude, but you look a bit hungover” he says as he prepares Harry’s coffee and bread.
“It’s not rude,” Harry can’t help but chuckle. “It’s probably just your Irish blood helping you spot any drunk lad that passes by you.” He smiles hoping Niall isn’t offended by his little quip, not sure he’s bothered by the Irish stereotypes people have. Oh wow his smile grows as Niall laughs he needs to do that more. It’s amazing. Before today he’d never heard Niall really laugh,chuckle maybe, but full on head thrown back laughter, never. But there he is: one hand on his stomach the other hand holding the plate, laughing.
“You must be right mate,” he responds, still giggling a bit. “Here, I made it extra strong today, seems like you need it.” Niall stage whispers giving him a wink.
“Thanks Blondie” he blushes a bit when the nickname slips out, but Niall’s smile never falters, in fact it grows wider.
“Me name’s Niall mate” he replies with a cheeky grin on his face pointing to his nametag.
“Right um Harry.” It seems weird not to tell him his name at this point. “I’m Harry,” he says a bit awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck.
“Well I can see that meself thanks mate.” He’s got that same mischievous smile on his face and it makes Harry wary and very confused.
“What?”
“All that hair!” He cries reaching over the counter and ruffling Harry’s hair a bit before pulling back behind the counter again. It startles Harry at first and then he can’t help but giggle. Fuck he’s so cute. It’d almost be better if he were an absolute asshole.
The door behind him clinks as another customer walks in and Harry reluctantly makes his way over to one of the armchairs in the corner pulling out the book he’d brought with him and starting to read.
****
Niall catches himself fixing his hair in the reflection of the coffee machine right before Green Eyes walks in. Hungover, he’s never come in hungover before and it kind of shoots down Niall’s theory that maybe he’s been coming in before he goes to work each day. It was a flimsy theory anyway. Now he wonders if maybe Green Eyes is trying to get away from a one-night stand. He really hopes not. Which is dumb, crushes are dumb he grumbles.
But he feels bolder, even tries to flirt a little with Green Eyes – Harry he learns – but he doesn’t think it works. He sneaks peeks over at where Harry is sitting in the armchair in the corner reading. How does he make a hangover look good? He wonders to himself. The sun is filtering through the window by Harry and it makes his hair looks almost golden in the sunlight. By now he’s become very engrossed in his book it seems. Normally he doesn’t stay this long. Ok Horan, get a hold of yourself, just because he’s been here for longer than normal doesn’t mean he likes you back. Maybe it’s just a really great book. Wait, oh my god, is he asleep?? That's so cute, he's so sleepy he fell asleep. Another customer walks in and the bell on the door seems to wake Harry up from his little cat nap. As soon as he can he looks over at Harry again, he’s curled up in the armchair now, folded his long legs up and is back to reading. Must be an amazing book then Niall reasons. He’s probably just an avid reader who just so happens to have the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. And fuck he realizes if Harry’s smart as well as beautiful then he’s really and truly fucked himself over.
He just can’t see how to give Harry his number without it being weird. He once tried to write his number on a guy’s napkin before handing over his sandwich but it hadn’t gone over well, never got so much as a text from him. And even if he were to write his number on a napkin now it seems like it’s far too late, it just seems like they’ve created a sort of relationship as not-quite-strangers-not-quite-acquaintances and he doesn’t want to scare Harry away just because he feels awkward when Niall says he wants more.
He gets back to work, wiping down tables and clearing up dishes, as he gets lost in his thoughts. To his surprise the next time he glances up at Harry his green eyes are looking back at him. They make eye contact and Harry blushes looking quickly back down at his book, though it doesn’t look like he’s reading anything anymore. It startles Niall and makes him wonder. He knows what it looks like when someone doesn’t want to be caught staring and Harry definitely had been staring at Niall. He begins to piece things together a bit, especially when he remembers how Harry was asleep earlier and it gives him a boost of confidence as he walks over to where Harry is curled up in the armchair.
“What are you reading?” It seems like a good conversation starter, he’ll probably learn more about Harry and what he likes, maybe something about his studies, either way he’ll get to hear his deep raspy voice so it’s a win in Niall’s book no matter what.
“Oh um,” he looks so surprised that Niall is talking to him it’s adorable; his eyes widen and he glances around as if to make sure he’s actually the one being spoken to as he puts his legs back down and sits up straight. “It’s called The Bacchae.” He closes the book slightly to show Niall the cover.
“Are you reading it just for fun?”
“Oh, no, it’s for a class I’m taking this semester, but I really enjoy it. It’s my favorite one we’ve read so far.”
“What’s the class?”
“It’s a literature class focusing on books written in ancient Greece and Rome. Basically books written before the supposed birth of Jesus Christ.”
“So why is this one your favorite?” They’re the only ones in the café at this point, it’s the awkward post-breakfast-lull, so he feels like he can just relax and sit for a while with no repercussions.
“It’s really funny and super violent.” Niall can feel his eyebrows shoot up. Violent? He likes it because it’s violent? He doesn’t seem like the type to like violence. Harry seems to understand the question Niall doesn’t ask and responds quickly, “Well not because it’s violent per se, but because of how insane the violence is and the reasons behind it and the crazy repercussions of it all. And culturally it shows how important the Gods were to the Greeks.” He goes on telling Niall about Dionysus and how he killed his cousin. It’s maybe the cutest thing Niall’s ever seen, they way Harry gesticulates and his eyes widen as he tells Niall how important the Gods were to ancient Greek people. They sit talking about Harry’s classes and what he wants to do when he graduates until the bell on the door rings again. Niall sighs before he stands up.
“Don’t leave, my shift’s almost over,” he tells Harry trying to muster up all of his confidence and fight of his blush. “We can go and get lunch or something.” He looks up and sees Harry’s eyes have gone wide and his eyebrows are near his hairline.
“Oh! Um yeah, yeah I’d like that,” and then they’re both looking at each other and blushing.
“OK um, awesome, I’ve got to go deal with this customer, but I’ll be back soon.”
As he walks away Niall’s sure he’s never smiled so big, and he’s never been prouder of himself for actually having the guts to talk to his crush.
**
Holy shit. He actually talked to me. And asked me out?? Harry had thought that Niall would think he was a creep when he got caught staring, but Niall actually talked to him. This could be the greatest day of his life. As Niall makes a woman her coffee he runs off to the bathroom to fix himself up a bit. He’s a bit horrified when he looks in the mirror; his hair is a greasy mess and he’s still got crusty bits in his eyes. He tries to wash his face and pulls his hair back into a bun to hide the greasiness before he walks back out into the café. He looks over to see Niall greeting his co-worker and he smiles nervously. His palms are sweating and his heart is pounding as Niall walks over to him. He looks different without his apron on, somehow he looks even better. Harry can actually see his stomach and legs now and it makes his heart pound even more. He tries to stop imagining Niall naked as he goes to pick up his book.
“Hey, you ready?” Niall asks. The smile he gives Harry is blinding and it makes his breath hitch.
“Uh yeah, you look good,” he finally finds some of his courage and charm and the blush creeping across Niall’s face definitely makes everything better.
“Thanks you too,” they start walking out of the café before Niall pauses and looks over at Harry. “Where do you want to go?” he asks.
“Oh um I hadn’t really thought about it, sorry.”
“No, shit, no I was the one who asked you out I should have put more though into this. Shit I’m sorry Harry.”
“No, please Niall don’t worry about it.”
“No I’m sorry.” He looks so flustered and upset with himself it makes Harry’s heart burst with fondness. “OH! I know!!” Harry almost has a heart attack when Niall grabs his hand and starts pulling him along. They’re both laughing as Niall pulls him into the grocery store down the street.
“Wait Niall, what are we doing here?”
“We’re gonna have a picnic! We can get some snacks and some of the hot food they have here and then bring it all to the park and eat it there.” Harry’s surprised both at how quickly Niall came up with this plan and at how romantic it is and, unfortunately for his sanity, it makes him even more infatuated.
“That sounds amazing.” He murmurs as they go through the store and pick out their food. As they head out to the park Niall has the bag of food in one hand and in the other he has Harry’s hand. It’s all driving Harry crazy and he can’t stop smiling. It’s insane to him that all of this has happened today, just yesterday he had been pining over Niall wishing he had the confidence to talk to him and now they’re walking side by side and holding hands.
This has definitely been the best day of Harry’s life.
They get to the park and decide to just sit on the grass by the pond to eat the food they brought. It’s quiet at first, just the two eating their food but they point out dogs and babies to each other whenever one is seen. Once he’s finished eating Harry wants to talk to Niall and get to know him better, beyond the few bits he’s already learned. He has to wait a bit while Niall finishes his chips but as soon as he’s done Harry launches in to a series of questions.
“Where in Ireland are you from and why did you move to England? How long have you been living here?” He asks rapid fire.
“Whoa Curly you gotta slow down, that’s too many questions at once. How about this: you ask me a question, I’ll answer and then ask you one. It’ll be more even that way.”
“Ok sounds reasonable enough. Where in Ireland are you from?”
“Mullingar, where in England are you from?”
“Holmes Chapel, do you have any siblings?” It goes on like that for a while as they learn the basics about each other, but soon enough Harry wants to know more. He wants to know more of how Niall works, he’s understanding him better already but he needs to know as much as he possibly can about the bright eyed boy who’s stolen his heart. But he also doesn’t want to scare Niall away so he starts off fairly slow when he asks, “What is you biggest fear?”
“I’m claustrophobic, but I wouldn’t say that’s my biggest fear,” Niall answers slowly and Harry’s glad that he’s understood he doesn’t want surface level answers any longer. He craves the deeper reasoning behind how Niall thinks and feels. “I know it may sound egotistical but my biggest fear is being forgotten. Or unknown, not making a difference in anyone’s life so that my death goes unnoticed and my life unrecognized.”
“I would notice,” Harry murmurs, too shy to say out loud the reasons why. “I would never forget you Niall.” He looks up then, wants Niall to know that even though he can’t say it yet, Niall means so much to him. Niall looks surprised and oh so happy at what Harry has said, and it makes Harry’s heart flutter in his chest and forces the corners of his mouth up into a smile. They sit there for a moment smiling at each other with words left unsaid hanging in the air until Niall breaks the silence. Blushing he asks, “what makes you the happiest?”
It throws Harry off guard. Though it’s the logical next question and there is no hidden agenda in asking Harry knows his true answer may send Niall running because his answer is this. Being with Niall, close enough that he can count every freckle on his nose, Harry’s never been happier and it scares him so instead he tells Niall that sunshine, blue skies, the ocean, his family, dogs, reading, those make him happiest. He doesn’t mention that to him Niall is sunshine and blue skies, that his eyes remind him of the ocean, that his laugh makes him think of Christmas morning with his family, that his smile when he sees a dog is his favorite thing he’s seen all his life, that reading and watching Niall over the top of his book is his favorite pastime. He doesn’t mention those things, but one day he will, he swears to himself that one day he’ll tell Niall everything that for now is hidden in his heart.
They lie back on the grass and talk for hours learning all the ins and outs of each other. As the sun sets they lie next to each other quietly admiring the beauty of it, occasionally commenting on the spectacular array of colors.
“Beautiful,” Niall whispers, and Harry turns his head to see Niall looking directly at him.
**
Kiss him. Just do it you idiot, just kiss him! Harry’s cheeks are rosy after blushing at Niall’s comment, they’re facing each other and it all just adds up to the perfect time for a first kiss. If only Niall had the courage. He glances down at Harry’s lips, beautiful just like the rest of him, and then looks back up at Harry’s eyes, full of nervous energy. But he looks excited and as if he wants to be kissed, Niall reasons with himself. So he takes in a shaky breath and leans in closer to Harry. Tentatively he pulls his arm up and cups Harry’s jaw stroking his thumb along his cheek. The skin is smooth and warm and it makes Niall’s thoughts stray into dangerous territory, wondering if his whole body feels that way. He glances back down at Harry’s lips and wonders why this is so hard for him, he’s initiated many first kisses before and never thought much of it, but now with this guy he hardly knows he’s never been so nervous in his life. Maybe it has to do with all the secrets they’ve shared, though Niall knows that’s not true. Somehow, through the months of their flimsy interactions and Niall’s incessant pining it became something more for him. He can’t say he just has a crush on Harry any longer. He can’t lie to himself anymore. And when their lips meet and heat rushes through Niall’s body and his heart is beating out of his chest he knows, he doesn’t just like Harry.
They pull apart and Niall rests his forehead against Harry’s, still with one hand against his jaw. “Wow,” he exhales, finally opening his eyes to see bright green ones staring back. Harry smiles, the most amazing smile he’s ever seen in his life, and then they’re kissing again. It the best kind of kiss, the kind that starts off sweet and then turns into smiles pressed against each other. Niall can’t help but laugh, letting his happiness roll off of him in fits of giggles.
“I can’t believe I waited so long to ask you out,” he says suddenly. “I’ve wasted the past two months.” Harry starts laughing too, big full belly laughs, he turns away and untangles their legs from one another as he lies back onto his back with a hand on his belly laughing. It’s all Niall can do not to kiss his again, then again his will power is shot to hell so he does what he can and kisses Harry’s cheek.
“I should have asked you for a date and not a coffee the first day I saw you,” Harry tells him. It surprises Niall that Harry has wanted to be with him this whole time.
“I thought I was crazy for wanting to ask out a perfect stranger, I’m glad I’m not alone.”
“You’ve never felt like a stranger,” it sounds like a confession to Niall the way Harry says it, the way he looks away and won’t meet Niall’s eyes. “You just feel right.” His cheeks are bright pink and he’s tense, clearly worried how Niall will react.
“Have you ever heard Plato’s theory on love?”
“No, what does he say?”
“He says that humans were originally created to have four legs and four arms and two heads but Zeus feared their power and split them in half with his lightning bolts and cursed the new humans to have to live their lives searching for their other halves.”
“Soul mates,” Harry whispers eyes shining. Though the conversation has turned to talk of soul mates and being meant for each other, it doesn’t make Niall nervous. He knows they aren’t ready to tell each other they love one another, he’s not sure he loves Harry yet, but he knows one day he will. Whether that day is tomorrow or years from now he can’t tell, but for now they’ll talk of soul mates and meant to be.