I'm Not Fine At All

Chapter 59

The next day, Liam picked up Harry from Zayn's house at nine, telling him that he had a special surprise for him when they got in the car. A slurry of possibilities swam through Harry's mind. Ice cream, shopping, breakfast at his favorite diner, Louis. He shook his head at the last one, knowing his surprise wasn't going to be Louis. "Come on, Li. Tell me what the surprise is," The younger boy whined, putting his feet up on the dashboard. Liam just turned the music up louder, blasting The Man by Taylor Swift. "Liam!" Liam shook his head at the boy. "Sorry, can't hear you over the loud feminism dripping from this song! What I was wearing, if I was rude, could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves!" The older boy screamed along to the song, his thumbs drumming out a beat on the steering wheel as they stopped at a stoplight. Harry just sighed and leaned his head back, flipping off his older brother.

They drove for about half an hour until they reached Doncaster. Harry sat further up, wondering why they were in his boyfriend's hometown. "What are we doing here?" Liam simply placed a finger to his lips and turned right, driving toward a large intersection. They stopped at the stop sign and then turned right again, this time ending up in a mostly deserted parking lot. "Come on, hop out," Liam urged as he unbuckled his seatbelt, getting out of the car. Harry followed and linked his fingers through the older boy's, keeping close to him as they crossed the street. "Louis told me about this place and said that you would love it here," Liam said as he opened the door to a small, almost-hidden building. Harry stepped in and his nose was immediately filled with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and cinnamon. He looked around and saw one or two people sitting at tables, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, and only one waitress was working behind the counter. She had on a crochet top and high-waisted jeans and her messy curls were pushed back from her face by a bandana.

"Morning, boys. How may I help you today?" She asked cheerfully, coming over to the two and smiling at them. "Umm, just a table for two would be wonderful," Liam said, smiling right back at her. The woman, whose name tag read Liz, gestured for them to follow her and led them to a two-seater table right in front of a window. "I'm Liz," She said, pointing at her name tag with one of her red nails for emphasis. "And I'll be your server today. What can I get you guys started with?" Liam motioned for Harry to go and he glanced down at the menu in front of him. "Could I just get an iced mocha? With whipped cream on top?" Liz nodded and wrote the order down on a notepad. "Sounds great. And what about you?" She turned to Liam. "Just a black coffee with two packets of sugar." She nodded and made a note. "Alright, I'll get that out to you in a few minutes." Harry waved at her and she turned back around, going back behind the counter to start on their coffees. As they waited, the other customers dwindled and eventually left, leaving only Liam and Harry in the diner.

Up at the counter, Liz was making their drinks and singing quietly to herself. The place was so quiet that the two boys could hear her well, and her voice was wonderful. Harry wasn't sure what she was singing, just something about a guy named Jerome, but he liked whatever it was. Their drinks were finished a few minutes later and Liz placed them in front of the two boys. "Your voice is really pretty," Harry blurted out before she turned to go back to the counter. "Thank you. That's really sweet." Harry smiled, already liking her even though he barely knew her. "I've never heard that song before," He added, taking a sip of his drink. "Oh, I wrote it myself. I really want to be a singer. I actually moved here to do that, but until then, I needed a place to work so I could pay rent." Harry nodded, taking another sip and humming. "This is really good. I've never had something like this before. It tastes different." Liz smiled at the boy. "My own personal recipe. It's all vegan."

"Well, I really like it. The vegan part's great too because I'm lactose intolerant anyway." Liz laughed, not some fake, pretty laugh, but a real laugh that made you feel good inside. "Bitch, me too. You know every hottie has stomach issues." Harry cackled, slamming his hand down on the table. "Yes, yes! I love that! We're both certified hotties!" They both burst into laughter, leaning toward each other as they did so. Liam watched them with an amused smile on his face. Harry eventually quieted down, wiping his tears of laughter from his eyes. "Oh, fuck, I don't remember the last time I had a laugh that good. Thank you, Liz." Liz smiled and winked at the boy. "Call me Lizzo. I kind of hate the name Liz, but that's what my boss printed on my nametag, so I kind of have to go with it." "Well, Lizzo, I love your energy. We need to hang out sometime. My boyfriend, Louis, also does music and he has a producer that he works with. Maybe he could make some connections for you."