Things Have Gotten Closer To The Sun -starseas on ao3

Fourteen

"So, we're throwing a party at the end of the world." Niall repeats. Pale afternoon sunlight washes him in gold, the blond of his hair looking like a struck match as they make their way across the slush-covered pavement of the Wal-Mart parking lot. "Lads, I have got to say, that is bloody shameless."

Louis laughs at that, and his breath comes out white. "Better than sitting around and crying about it, if you ask me."

"Good thing I didn't." Niall grins.

Harry smiles, squinting against the light of the weakening sun. Like a fire in the middle of the sky, it burns.
Up in the distance, Liam and Zayn are already walking into the store, and the sliding glass door shuts behind them-makes them look like a single person, their bodies blurring into each other, becoming one.

Harry wonders about that, if it means anything.

Hands in his pockets, he walks across the empty lot with Niall and Louis, and the snow crunching beneath their booted feet sounds like fire. They reach the first set of door and Harry steps in last, following after the two other boys.

The air is warm inside, and there's a bench and a hallway leading to the bathrooms, but Harry keeps going until they're moving past the second set of doors, the low ceiling opening up into a stretch of beams and fluorescent lighting.

The lights flicker above them, tinting their skin off-white.

"Holy shit, this place is deserted." Louis says as they walk inside, his eyes travelling around the store. The place is empty, and the numbers near the cash registers glow. "Is anybody still working?"

"Doesn't look like it." Niall answers. "I wouldn't be working either."

Harry follows his gaze, noticing that he's right.

The entire store is empty of people and half-empty of anything else, aisles stretching out across the white linoleum floors, cans and cereal boxes scattered across the tile. Clothes are gone from the racks, and Harry realizes that people have been here, looking for ways to survive.

He almost thinks it's strange, this need people have to survive.

Especially at a time like this, when searching for survival seems useless, when in six days, the sun is going to reach out and turn them into dust.

He almost thinks it's strange, but then-

But then he remembers that he's walking through an empty Wal-Mart with the same boys that he hasn't been with in years, all together like this, and he supposes that maybe he's doing the exact same thing.

"Looks like it's not just you." Louis says as they walk past an almost empty section of women's clothes, glancing towards Harry with a smile.

"What?" Harry asks, caught off guard by the warmth of Louis.

Louis laughs, looking away. "You know. Going with hope and all that."

"Oh, yeah." Harry grins, understanding. "Yeah, I guess not."

Niall glances between them, saying nothing, but Harry can still feel the question there. It seems hot, burning, and he's glad that it doesn't get spoken. It's strange, but he feels like it's delicate, like his words could shatter what he's finally got back.

Harry's thoughts are shattered when Liam and Zayn come into view, Zayn strolling a grocery cart full of soda and potato chip bags, paper plates, paper cups, and plastic forks.

"We've got some stuff for the party." Liam says when he sees them.

"I think that they can see that, Li." Zayn smirks, flicking Liam's temple, the sound of it muffled against the fabric of Liam's hat.