the latest nights h.s. -a.u

ii

"for on that day he met a new face, a face he would never forget."

***

It had been just about a month now since Harry had gotten hired at the café. He had become accustomed to making the special drinks and the detailed designs; he absolutely loved his job. The café usually wasn't too busy, just late at night when students from the university came to do last minute homework or quickly type up an essay.

But Harry's favorite part of the job in particular was when the rushes of the day calmed down and it was just him alone in the quiet café. He used this time to sit on the comfy furniture and read one of the many books from the giant bookshelf or to listen to music, which he had always had control over. Also, Susan and her husband were incredibly kind, they almost acted as family to Harry, since his family was back in Holmes Chapel.

He's made a friend while being here too, a nice lad named Zayn. Zayn came a couple of days a week and always orders the same thing while him and Harry sit at a table and chat. He was very nice, kind of quiet and had loads of tattoos. Harry didn't mind since he had a few tattoos himself. The thing Harry liked most about Zayn is that he was absolutely amazing at art. Whenever he came into the café he always had his sketchbook in hand, ready to show Harry his most recent drawing. Other than Zayn and the Landonbrooks, everyone was a stranger to him.

It was currently 10 o'clock, officially an hour until Harry could go home and sleep. He was in the middle of changing the radio station when the ringing of a bell chimed throughout the café, indicating that someone was here. He looked up and saw a short girl adjust the strap on her backpack before giving him an exhausted smile. She walked up to the counter and set down the heavy backpack with a heavy sigh.

"Get me the strongest thing you've got, I have a long ass essay to write and I'm tired as fuck."

Harry smiled to himself and turned around to make her drink. He looked back to see her head face down in her arms on the counter. She looked to be around his age, maybe a little younger. A lilac sweater hung from her petite frame, her hair in a ponytail with many hairs trying to escape. The beep of the coffee machine interrupted his gaze, indicating that her drink was done. He poured it into a to-go cup and picked up a sharpie.

"Could I get your name?" he asked, making her head shoot up from her arms.

"Uh yeah, Aviana," she replied, rubbing her eyes.

Harry wrote her name, put on the lid and put it in front of her. She handed him a the cash with a quiet "thank you", and tried to pick up her bag.

"Here, let me get that for you," he said and went around the counter to retrieve the bag. She smiled at him, relieved she didn't have to lug it to a table.

She led him to a table and sat down slowly, letting out a sigh of relief. Harry gently set her backpack down in front of her and she looked up and said a quiet 'thank you' before opening her laptop.

He took his place behind the counter again. Resting his face in the palm of his hand out of boredom, his eyes settled on Aviana. Her fingertips worked fast against the key board while her eyes occasionally darted to the huge textbook lying open beside her on the table. She was adorable, Harry thought to himself. The lilac sweater she wore was a tad bit big for her small body, the sleeves bunching up over her hands, causing her to push them back every now and then. Her black leggings hugged her short legs, the ends of them being pulled into a small pair of brown boots. That's how he would describe her; adorable and small.

She stopped typing to stretch her tired fingers and looked over to Harry. Her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of pink then before. He softly smiled at her, there was no point looking away when she already saw him looking. She returned the smile and turned back to her laptop and got sucked in to the 'long ass essay' once again.

He turned around to change the music, scrolling through the endless list of songs on the playlist he had made for the café. He selected one of his all-time favorite songs and smiled when it played throughout the place. Aviana looked up as the first note rang out and immediately smiled at Harry. He smiled back of course, she must like Billy Joel, which was one of his favorite artists. She got back to her computer and started singing along to the music. Little did she know Harry was listening to her the whole time. Her voice was unique and strong, sounded lovely along with his.

He wanted to know more about this girl- she seemed different. Different from the other girls he had met and from the ones he knew. It was safe to say he had never had a steady girlfriend which he was fine with. He wanted to wait for the right person, because to him, there's no point wasting time with anything less than love. Most guys his age were much different and pounced on any girl in sight, but he didn't see the point.

But she, she was definitely different from other girls. He could tell just by her appearance and the way she carried herself. She seemed very independent from what he could tell, even though he had barely spoken to her. But, he knew that he would know more about her soon enough.

Before he knew it the clock struck eleven. Aviana closed her laptop and looked relieved, she must have finished the essay. Harry had cleaned everything up before and all he had to do now was lock up the shop.

By the time Harry walked out from behind the counter she had packed up everything in her backpack. Right as she was about to put it on her shoulder Harry stopped her, picking it up and slinging it on his shoulder with ease. He grinned and motioned for her to walk out. He shut the door behind them after shutting off the lights, fishing the set of keys out of his pocket and locking the café. Aviana stood patiently behind him. He turned around and looked around for her car but didn't see any besides his own.

"I walked," she said after noticing what he was looking for.

He nodded and took the backpack off his shoulders, walked behind her and held the bag by the straps by her back. She turned around and gave him a confused look before realizing what he was doing. She slipped in her right arm followed by her left. She couldn't quite find the left strap so Harry took her arm gently and slipped it through the strap. He hesitated but pulled her hair out from under the backpack, stepping away after. She turned around and pulled her sleeves over her hands.

"Thank you um," she stopped.

"Harry."

"Thank you Harry, have a good night," she said and shivered. Harry found it adorable.

"Thank you, be safe walking, its late. Also, stop by again soon," he said while shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I think I might just do that."

He watched her walk up the snowy sidewalk and got into his car, immediately turning the heat on. He drove past her and honked, cheekily waving and drove on down the street, occasionally glancing at her in the mirror until she faded way.

*vote, comment, share* -A :)