All Over Again- Sequel to I'm Not Fine At All

Chapter 16

"So, where do you want to go first," Louis asked as he turned onto South Street. Harry's street.

"Um, I don't know. You're the one getting clothes."

"Alright, let's see. What's around here? This isn't exactly the nicest part of town. I doubt there's anything good." Louis looked back and forth at the dilapidated homes and apartment buildings, a frown on his lips.

"I don't think it's that bad," Harry said, trying not to get defensive.

"I wasn't saying it's bad. It's just that they never put stores in areas with low-income housing because the government hates poor people. Looks like we'll have to go to the other side of town." Louis pulled back out onto the main road and merged onto the highway. Harry sat, silent, not knowing how to react to what Louis said.

"Well, we have Target and the mall. Do you want to go to either of those places?" Louis asked, shifting his eyes from the road to look at Harry. Harry nodded and leaned his head back against the window. "Hey, are you okay?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, you know?"

"I'm fine, I promise. Just hungover."

"Hungover?"

"Yeah. I went out last night with my brother and one of his friends and I got a little too tipsy. I've got a killer headache now."

"Oh. That sucks. If you want, I can take you home."

"No, I'm fine. It's not that bad."

"Okay. Are you sure you don't want me to take you home?"

"I'm fine, Louis," Harry snapped, his fists clenching.

"Do you not want to do this?"

"What? Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, when I called, you asked me if I wanted to reschedule it and now you have a headache and you seem really upset. I'm just wondering if you just want a reason to not do this."

"Lou, I wouldn't have offered this in the first place if I didn't want to do it. Just drive to the mall. We can start there and then figure out where else we want to go while we walk around."

Louis nodded and merged off of the highway. Harry watched as Louis expertly navigated through the traffic, his hands holding the wheel casually as his left leg bounced up and down, his hands tapping on the wheel. Something stirred in Harry's belly and he looked away, licking his lips as he rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs. Louis didn't notice his change of mood and parked in front of the mall, turning the car off and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"We're here, love," Louis said, tapping Harry's arm and gesturing to the mall. Harry nodded, still in a daze, and got out of the car, following closely behind Louis.

Once they were inside the building, Louis turned left and pulled Harry along to Journeys at the other end. Harry followed him inside, looking around the store with disdain.

"Lou, do you really want to shop here? I mean, look at these shoes. They're for teenage boys, not for grown adults." Harry picked up a pair of Vans with emojis all over them. Louis chuckled and put the shoes back on the shelf.

"That's why you always buy plain black or checkered. I would never buy those, not even as a present for someone else." Harry sighed but kept his mouth closed, not wanting to disturb Louis in what seemed to be his natural habitat.

"Lou?" Harry came up behind Louis and tapped him on the shoulder. Louis hummed, not turning away from the pair of blue converse he was examining. "Um, I know we came to shop for you, but I don't think that you need new shoes. There are probably other, more dire, things that we need to be looking at." Louis sighed and stood up.