Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop - Chapter 4
The next morning was one of the worst mornings he had ever faced with Derek. First of all, Derek was hungover - massively. And when Derek is hungover, he get's pissy, and his temper gets shorter. It only gets worse as the day goes on. Meaning that by the time Harry had remembered to tell Derek he was meeting Niall for lunch, Derek's patience was already running thin. So when Harry broke the news to him, Derek's string snapped.
The thing people have to understand about Derek is that after his string snaps, he'll work himself up to the point of getting angry. At the start he doesn't seem angry, he'll sarcastically throw out a few comments such as, "Oh yeah I saw the way you two were looking at each other," or, "I hope you two won't be getting into too much risky business." Eventually, though, he'll start to get serious, almost as if he had been finding ways to justify his anger by looking for proof that Harry was really in an affair with another man. Most often times though, that isn't the case... most... often times.
Which is how Harry ended up shrinking lower into the couch as Derek towered over him, roaring, "Why don't you just go live with him, huh? I'm sure he'd love to steal you away from me! It wouldn't be the first time you've been at it with another man, would it?!"
Harry knows Derek doesn't believe half the things he's saying, but that doesn't make any of it any less painful.
Ten minutes to eleven, Harry sneaks out of the house. Derek had fallen asleep on the couch thirty minutes to ten, and hadn't moved since. Harry wrote Derek a quick note, telling him where he had gone, and stuck it on the fridge, next to his grocery list.
He then pulled on some black skinnies, brown combat boots, and a green plaid shirt with a grey jumper. Checking himself in the mirror, he then proceeded to quietly leave, making sure to shut the tv off and close the curtains to let Derek sleep for as long as possible.
Outside, the air was freezing, and Harry immediately regretted not having packed more clothes, he had originally planned to buy more when he got here so he wouldn't have to carry much in his suitcase, but he had never gotten around to it.
He pulled the grey hood over his head and walked swiftly towards the café Niall had pointed to the night before. Upon nearing the shop, he noticed the blonde sitting at a corner table by the window, holding a steaming mug in his hands. Harry took a deep breath and entered the coffee shop, suspecting, and maybe even hoping, that this meeting would be the start of something great.
Niall had been waiting for Harry for fifteen minutes. Granted, he did get there fifteen minutes early, but he still felt like Harry was late. He was beginning to worry that Harry had forgotten, or worse, Harry didn't care.
His worries disappeared when a green-eyed, curly-haired brunette collapsed in the seat across from him. Harry immediately reached for Niall's mug, holding it in his bare hands. Niall's face contorted with worry when he noticed Harry didn't have a coat on. He instantly shouldered his fur coat off, throwing it over Harry's shoulders. Harry smiled faintly at Niall in thanks, before slipping his arms in.
"What are you doing without a coat on?" Niall inquired, covering Harry's hands with his own. He jerked his chin to a waitress, who scurried over, "What would you like?" she asked. Harry stuttered, "Hot cocoa," he managed, shivering.
The waitress walked off, coming back with a small blanket that Niall took, standing up to drape it over Harry's shoulders. Niall sat back down, asking again, "Don't you have a coat?" Harry shook his head.
Niall hesitated, before nodding at his jacket, "You can have that one."
Harry shook his head, "No no," he said, "I just haven't had the chance to get one yet." Niall insisted, "Please take it, I have an extra."
Harry paused, looking at Niall intently, then he nodded. Niall could tell Harry was secretly glad he didn't have to worry about getting himself a jacket. Then, much to Niall's surprise, Harry took his hand off the mug, tangling his fingers with Niall's, their hands lay on the table. Harry stared at the spectacle he had just created, obviously confused as to what overcame him, he shook his head, getting his head back to the present.
The waitress came back with a steaming cup of cocoa, placing it gently down in front of Harry and smiling sweetly at Niall when she noticed their hands. Harry removed his free hand from Niall's drink and took ahold of his own. "So," he said, "what are we doing today, Niall?"
Niall smiled, "I dunno, Haz, what do you want to do today." Harry blushed, "I like it when you call me Haz," he murmured, "And I would really like it if we could just be lazy today."
Niall smiled, reaching up to poke one of Harry's dimples. "We can hang out in my dorm. I have a class at four," Niall said, "we have until then. After that, you can choose to stay and wait until I'm done, or you can go back to your... boyfriend." Niall scrunched his nose when he said it, which made Harry giggle a little. "What are you studying?" Harry asked
Niall grinned, obviously excited, "Writing. And a little bit of guitar, but mostly writing." Harry leaned a little more forward, "Can you sing too?" he asked.
Niall shrugged, "I like to think so," he said, "but no one's ever said so." Harry smiled sweetly, "I bet you're an excellent singer," he said.
"Oh yeah?" Niall asked, "Maybe I'll sing for you sometime." Niall leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. "You can serenade me to sleep," Harry whispered, one side of his face quirking upward, giving him an awkwardly-adorable lopsided smile. Niall winked, "Yeah I'll sing Eminem," he whispered, "send you straight to sleep." Harry laughed, face lighting up like a christmas tree, God, Niall loved that laugh. Harry settled back down, pressing Niall's fingers to his lips. "You're funny," Harry whispered, giggling. Niall cocked an eyebrow, "Why are we whispering," he asked.
Harry shrugged, "It's a little more intimate," he whispered, biting his lip to keep from laughing again.
Niall blinked bluntly, "Uhum," he whispered, "I can think of some things that would be a lot more intimate." Harry's eyebrows shot up, "Uh huh?" he asked, "for example?"
Niall blushed, "kisses, for one. By the way, you still owe me one from last night."
"Nuh uh!" Harry exclaimed, giggling.
"Uh huh!" Niall countered, poking Harry's nose, "I was going for a kiss, and you knew it!"
Harry blushed, "What if I wasn't going for a kiss?" Niall froze, unsure if Harry was serious. Harry snorted, "Your face," he pointed, quickly becoming a giggling mess. "You ass," Niall smiled, shaking his head. Harry shrugged, "Oh well, it only makes our real first kiss that much more exciting!"
"How can you be so sure there even will be a first kiss anymore?" Niall said, his flirty eyes giving him away, "Not with you and your attitude." Harry hid his blushing face behind his mug, downing the rest of his now lukewarm drink in one glup. When he put the cup down, he had a thick frothy mustache. Niall whipped out his phone, "Wait, don't wipe it off," he said, taking a picture and setting it to his background. Niall picked up a napkin and wiped Harry's mouth, smiling sweetly. "Let's go, yeah?" Niall asked. Harry nodded
Niall and Harry paid the bill and left, walking the three and a half blocks from the shop to the school. Harry had grabbed Niall's hand the moment they left the shop craving the warmth of Niall's gloves. Niall took Harry's left hand and brought it to his mouth, blowing warm air into it. The boys stumbled up the outside staircase to Niall's dorm, which was more like a tiny apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living area that also doubled as a kitchen.
Harry frowned upon entering Niall's room. It was all black and white, very modern and minimalistic. Incredibly different from what he had imagined. Harry turned to Niall, he said, "This is not what I imagined your room to be like at all."
"Oh!" Niall exclaimed, before switching off the lights, "Duh, I almost forgot." He dug in his dresser to pull out three blue-tinted lightbulbs and replaced them with the ones in the ceiling light. He turned these on, shutting the door and drawing the curtains closed. Harry gasped in amazement. Every single wall of Niall's room was covered in words. His ceiling had yellow tiny dots against the black, and Harry could pick out some constellations, which were defined with slightly larger dots. The walls and furniture in Niall's room were covered in line upon line of print. Some were written as poetry, and some were written as paragraphs, changing from green to blue to orange neon. Harry was overwhelmed, he wanted to read every word. "This is beautiful," he whispered turning to Niall. Niall smiled, "You like it?" he asked. Harry ran his fingers down the curtains, one half containing the words: "You're everything I never needed." The other half read: "But you're everything I ever wanted." I love it," Harry whispered, "what is it?" Niall shrugged, "Invisible paint, it comes in five colors: flamboyant green, flamboyant yellow, flamboyant orange, flamboyant blue, and flaming gay pink. I thought 'flaming gay' was a little too flashy for my taste." Harry laughed, wrapping his arms around Niall's neck. Niall pulled Harry in at the waist, one hand reaching up to tug at a curl. Niall turned around and put a vinyl on the record player, a mellow acoustic sound crackled in the air.
"So what's your thing?" Niall asked, turning back to Harry and pulling him in close at the waist. The two boys slowly began swaying back and forth. Harry paused, "My thing?"
"Yeah, what're you studying?" Niall clarified. "Oh!" Harry answered, catching on, "Art. I paint." Niall gasped, "Maybe I'll let you paint on my wall someday," he said, smiling, "...and, Derek?"
Harry shook his head, nuzzling into Niall's neck, "I don't wanna talk about Derek," he mumbled. Niall nodded, a hand coming up to tangle in Harry'shair.
"So I assume that's what you're here for," Niall said, "You're going to Uni?"
Harry nodded. A few moments later Niall started to feel a wet spot growing on his shoulder - Harry was crying.
"Hey, hey," Niall whispered, "what's wrong, Haz?" Walking Harry to the bed, Niall sat them down and pulled Harry's head to his chest. "Shh. What's wrong," He said against Harry's head.
Harry sniffed, head coming up to look Niall in the eyes. "I should've told you before," Harry said, "I'm only here for a semester."
Harry could tell it hit Niall square in the face, he could tell the warm knot inside Niall suddenly went cold. "Wha-at?" he rasped, his voice cracking. Niall stood up from the bed, he was gasping like he couldn't breathe, and he started shaking uncontrollably.
"Niall!" Harry yelled, but Niall was a hundred miles away, but at the same time right in front of him. Niall reached for Harry as his knees buckled, and he quickly pulled Niall into his arms.
Harry leaned down and finally kissed Niall. Niall froze up, suddenly confused and unsure of what to do with his hands. Harry moved Niall's arms to his shoulders, and Niall's hands felt their way into Harry's hair. Harry kissed him one, two, three times before Niall remembered what to do with his lips. He kissed Harry back, their lips suddenly locking into place. Harry was all messy hair, midnight ashes, and morning sun, and Niall couldn't get enough.
Niall slowly backed Harry towards the bed, gently pushing him down onto the matress. Tears fell from Niall's eyes to Harry's cheeks, and Harry thumbed them away, much like Niall had done for him the previous night.
The boys ended with Niall lying on top of Harry, planting soft, lazy kisses on Harry's collarbone. "Why didn't you tell me before?" Niall whispered. Harry shrugged, fingers gently playing with Niall's hair, "I didn't think it would come to this," he said.
Niall sat up, "Come to what?" he asked. Harry propped himself up on his elbows, "I just didn't think I was going to end up caring this much." Niall scoffed, quirking an eyebrow "What is that supposed to mean?" Harry smiled teasingly, "Well, let's face it. You're not exactly my.. type." Niall snorted, "Your type? And your type is... Drunk assholes?" Harry smacked him, laughing, "Hey! He wasn't always a drunk asshole!" Niall rolled his eyes, "yeah, whatever," he mumbled, giving Harry a deep kiss before going back to cuddling.
Harry checked his watch, "It's 3:30, don't you have a class at four?" he asked. Niall raised his head, resting his chin on Harry's chest and quirking an eyebrow, "What class?" he asked. Harry giggled, shaking his head, "Ni, you should go," he attempted to push the blonde off him, "I should go too, Derek is probably pissed as hell."
Niall groaned, clinging to Harry's shirt, "don't make me go!" he whined. Harry sat up and Niall moved so he was straddling Harry's lap. Harry rolled his eyes, "Is there anything I can say to keep you from missing class," he muttered. Niall shook his head, kissing the brunette. Harry leaned in, whispering against Niall's lips. "I'll make you a deal," Harry said, fingers inching up under Niall's shirt, "you go to this class now, and I'll come back after my first class tomorrow with a list of intimate things we can do," he paused, Niall whimpered despite himself as Harry ran his thumbs over Niall's nipples. Harry continued "that don't require clothing."
Niall was almost halfway hard just imagining it. He moaned into Harry's neck, "Why can't we just do those things now?" He asked. Harry shook his head, laughing, "the point of this, Niall," he said, pushing Niall off him and onto the bed, "is to get you to go to class. If we kept you here that would be very counter-productive."
Niall groaned, "Fiinne. What time will you be back?" He asked. Harry smiled, leaning down for a kiss, "As early as I can," he said.
Niall smiled sweetly, grabbing his book bag, he walked Harry outside and down the road to the corner by a bus stop. Niall stood on his tiptoes to kiss his boyfr- Harry, whispering "I won't stop thinking about you." Harry giggled, kissing Niall's nose, "I should hope not," he whispered back. With that, Harry turned and walked towards his apartment, towards Derek, and away from Niall.