best kind of bad something » l.s.

part nine

Louis broke up his weekly salary into three parts. One was for his mom to pay her back for all the fees he'd gotten. Two was for his spare pocket money. And three was for Des to pay him back for the damages at the diner. He didn't necessarily ask Louis to pay him back, but a part of Louis wanted a reason to go to the diner so that he could see Harry. Despite living in a small town, Louis hadn't seen him at all and he could feel himself going just a little bit crazy. His old pictures of them on his phone were only doing so much.

He missed him. He missed Harry every day and he knew he would miss Harry a little more tomorrow and every day after that. He felt like his bones ached from missing Harry and he had to do something. It took a lot of courage to walk into the diner when Louis had managed to get the full amount he wanted to pay Des back. He wasn't even sure if it was an accurate amount, but his mom was helping him with budgeting and he hoped however much it was, Des was still happy with it. He could bring in more, but it would take a bit more time, if he was willing to wait.

The build-up of going to the diner was excruciating, but surprisingly enough, the diner didn't burn down or explode when Louis walked in. The patrons were chatting and concentrating on their food and not one person looked up to see him. Louis warily walked further inside and sat down at an empty booth, not sure of what to do. Des wasn't anywhere in sight and Louis realized he usually did stay in the back where the kitchen was. It was Harry who usually manned the front.

However, since it was mid-afternoon. Harry might not even be here. He could be in class and that made Louis' stomach plummet. He'd been hoping to see him, even if he was scared. Slowly, Louis got up from the booth and walked over to the counter. There, he saw a guy a little older than Louis, handling out orders and chatting with customers. He must be new because Louis had never seen him around. When he approached Louis, Louis asked for Des.

"Louis," Des greeted him upon walking out of the kitchen. "What can I do for you?"

"I brought, um, I brought something for you," Louis stammered, handing over the envelope.

"What's this?"

"Just something to help payback for everything. I'm not even sure it covers everything, but I can get more."

Des shook his head. "No, Louis. I can't take this. You don't have to pay me back."

"Please let me," Louis pleaded a little desperately. "I want to help however I can."

Finally, nodding his head, Des said, "Okay, but this is enough, just so you know."

"Thank you," Louis said softly. He turned around, heading toward the door, and stepped back when he saw it opening from the outside. He was met with the sight of Harry, backpack on his shoulder and hair wild and unruly from the wind outside. Harry's expression blanked when he saw Louis, his lips parting in surprise. And God, he was gorgeous. So, so gorgeous and wonderful and everything Louis ever wanted and needed.

Louis could feel the need to reach over and touch him, make sure he was real after all this time, but he held back. He stood his ground, even if it felt shaky, and he took one last, long look at Harry and walked past him, out of the diner and toward the mechanic's shop where he had a shift.

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Louis didn't mean for it to become a thing after that, but he found himself at the diner two days later, having a coffee and burger after work. Harry was there this time and they made eye contact at least thirteen times, which was the amount of times Louis glanced up from his booth. They didn't talk, though. They didn't talk the following four times that Louis showed up, either, just to see Harry in the pretense of wanting food.