I'm Not Fine At All

Chapter 5

"So, Liam, is there any specific reason why you absolutely begged for me to come along with you two?" Niall interrogated Liam as they walked down Main Street, window shopping at all of the cool stores. Liam stuttered and flushed bright red. "I-I wouldn't necessarily say I, uh, b-begged for you to, you know, come along. I just thought it might be more fun for all of us if you were here." Niall snorted into his palm and turned around, walking backward as he stared at Liam. "Seriously, Li? That's the answer you're going to give me? I'm not mad that you lied, just mad that you lied really badly."

Liam rolled his eyes and glared at Harry, who was walking next to him. "Harry, can you please control your friend? He's accusing me of lying." Harry just shook his head and walked faster, linking his arm through Niall's once the blonde lad turned back around. "Sorry, Li. I will always take the side of my best friend no matter what. Plus, he's not wrong. You were lying. We all know why you actually invited him." Niall thanked the younger lad and leaned over, kissing him sloppily on the cheek.

Liam grimaced at the show of affection. He wanted that kind of friendship. Not with Niall, but with someone. All he and Zayn did was argue over FIFA and go over to each other's apartments to steal their food. "Hey, Harry, did you actually want to go shopping, or do you just want to walk around?" Liam asked the boy in front of him. Harry turned around, his arm still linked with Niall's, and just shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we could shop a little. I brought some money. Niall?"

Niall nodded and patted his back pocket. "Got my wallet right 'ere, and I just got paid yesterday. I have to spend my whole paycheck today or else I'll be too tempted to blow it all at that new strip club in town. They don't card me because I'm hot." Niall flicked a nonexistent lock of hair over his shoulder and winked at Harry, both of them bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Liam rolled his eyes and pushed them forward harshly, making both of the boys stumble and knock into each other.

Niall rubbed his arm and whimpered under his breath while Harry just glared at the boy over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out at him. "Niall, Harry is still innocent and I want to keep him that way. Please don't talk about dirty stuff around him and please I beg of you, never take him to a strip club. He's just a baby and I don't need you ruining him." Liam slid between the two boys and wrapped an arm around each of them, making them share a look when he wasn't paying attention.

Niall grimaced at the feeling of Liam's arm on his shoulder, but at least he wasn't touching anything he shouldn't have been touching. The group of three continued down the sidewalk until Harry stopped, making the other two stumble slightly before coming to a halt. "Look." Harry pointed at the store. "Li-Li, can we go in? Pretty pretty, please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Liam sighed and nodded, opening the door for the two boys. His subtle glance at Niall's ass didn't go unnoticed by either of the boys, but Niall just shook his head, not having enough energy to care anymore.

Harry gasped as he walked into the store, his eyes widening when he saw all of the pretty scarves on a rack at the front. "Ni-Ni, look at these. They're so pretty." The younger lad ran his hands over one of the silk scarves, sighing as he felt how soft they were. "Yeah, they are soft." Niall paused to read the price tags. "And fucking expensive too. Jesus Christ, what the fuck are these prices? They can't be that nice." Harry shushed the boy and pointed to the woman at the register. "What, Haz? I bet she already knows that these things are overpriced." Niall put the scarf he was holding back down and walked over to the shoes, which weren't much better priced than the scarves were.

Harry wandered over to the men's section and flipped through the t-shirts, eyeing all of the band tees. "Ni, look." He held up a Who t-shirt and handed it to the blonde. "Thanks, Haz. What do you think?" Niall held the shirt in front of him. "Do you think I could pull it off or nah?" Harry examined the boy. "I think you could pull it off. What size is it? Maybe we could share it." Niall looked at the tag. "Uh, 's a medium. Might be a bit baggy, but baggy is good to cover up all of the insecurities."

Harry giggled and took the shirt, laying it over his arm and moving on to the next rack. "Maybe you should try and find some new pants. Some of your old ones are looking pretty worn." Niall rolled his eyes and flipped through the button-ups. "You sound like my mum. She's always telling me to get new pants but I like my old ones. They fit perfectly and they have a good stretch to them. New jeans don't have that kind of stretch."

Harry just ignored the boy and turned away, immediately rushing off when he saw a rack of jumpers. He flipped through them, getting a closer look at all of the ones with pretty colors until he found one he liked. It was a soft blue color, and it had small birds, swallows, on the sleeves. The sixteen-year-old smiled to himself and hugged the sweater to his chest. He was about to go on to the next row of clothes when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something pink and pretty and perfect.

Harry walked across the store to the far right wall. An array of sundresses and other summer-y clothes were displayed there, but all Harry cared about was the bubblegum pink skirt at the top of the display. "Hey, Haz, I found this jumper I thou- Ooh, that's pretty." Niall came up behind Harry, startling him, and tugged on the pink skirt. "You think? You don't think it's weird that I want a skirt?" Niall shook his head and took the skirt off the wall, handing it to the boy. "Nope. Go try it on." The blonde patted Harry's bum and shoved him in the direction of the changing rooms.

Harry opened the curtain to one of the changing rooms and walked in, shutting it behind him. Niall waited outside, making sure no one would walk in on the boy while he was changing. "Does it fit, Haz?" Niall called through the curtain. He heard some rustling and then the sound of something banging into the wall. "Ow, shit!" Harry shouted in pain. Niall yanked open the curtains at the sound of Harry's cry, not caring what state of dress he was in, and knelt down beside Harry where he was on the floor.

Niall ran his hands over Harry's head and torso, feeling for injuries. "What happened, babes? Are you okay?" Harry grunted and sat up, smacking the blonde's hands off of him. "Stop, Ni, I'm fine. I didn't hurt myself. I just stubbed my toe and fell when I was hopping around. It's all good. Don't tell Liam, though. He'll make a fuss about it." Niall stood from where he was kneeling on the floor and held his hands out to help Harry up. The younger lad pushed the blonde out of the fitting room and slammed the curtain shut, glad he wasn't exposed when Niall ripped it open.

After the boy made sure the skirt fit, he walked out of the fitting room, his comfortable jeans back on. He looked around the store, trying to find either Niall or Liam, and snorted when he saw Liam cornering Niall at the underwear rack, dangling a pair of heart boxers in front of his face. Harry made his way over to them and tapped Niall on the shoulder. "Oh my God, Haz, you are my savior. Would you tell him to stop?" Harry just laughed and shook his head, yanking the boxers out of his older brother's hands.

"Thank you, Li. My future boyfriend is going to love these." Liam groaned and rolled his eyes as he followed the two boys to the front of the store, waiting behind them as Harry checked out with his items. Once Harry's new clothes were all bagged up and ready, the three of them left the store and set off back down the street, ready to empty their pockets even more.