records: l.t. // h.s.

one

"Lou, can you pass me that record by your foot?"

Louis stops the ball he was kicking, bending over to retrieve the loose record and hand it to his mate.

"I don't get why you're working in this shit place when there was a job opening at that sick restaurant down the street."

"Why would I work as a waiter?" Zayn scoffs, placing the record into the bin before moving to the next aisle.

"Two words, Zayn. Free food."

Louis follows behind Zayn, dribbling the ball between his small feet.

"You know you don't actually get free food? Just discounts."

"And what do you get here?"

Zayn rolls his eyes, finishing up the loose records and walking back to the front desk.

"Exactly," Louis grins.

The two settle into small banter, mostly consisting of Louis mocking Zayn's job and Zayn mocking Louis's height. It's noon on a Monday so the record store is of course bare and eerily silent. A song from The Beatles' record plays softly throughout the store and Zayn hums along as Louis talks. A few people begin to gather in the store as four o'clock rolls by, leaving Louis by himself on the couch as Zayn works.

He's tossing the football in the air when the small bell above the door rings. Louis mutters the word 'hipster' like he always does when he hears that stupid, little bell. And like always, he rolls his eyes before checking to see who is walking into such a crappy store.

Louis expects to see another girl with a flannel shirt around her waist or another guy with some fake glasses on. Louis expects someone with a cup of coffee in their hand. He expects everyone except the young male before him.

The boy is a few years younger than Louis. He has long, dark curls that frame his face so nicely it makes his jawline appear sharper. A somewhat loose, blue flannel accompanies his torso. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, allowing black ink on his arms to come into view. Ripped, black jeans cling to his long legs and worn out, brown boots cover his feet. When Louis looks back up to the boy's face, his eyes come into contact with a green so clear you could swim in it.

All Louis can think is ohshitohshitohshit as he quickly grabs the ball off the floor and stumbles behind a shelf. He takes a few deep breaths before peeking through a couple of record player boxes in front of him.

The young boy is walking around, looking at the labeled bins of records before he stops in front of the bin Louis knows is labeled 'Classical'. A low chuckle slips from Louis's lips as he watches the boy flip through the endless supply of shitty records. All Louis can wonder is how a boy like that can listen to that kind of music. The boy is searching through when he finally stops at a record and his lips turn up into a huge smile. Louis feels like he's suffocating because the boy has the pinkest lips and cutest smile he's ever seen.

As the boy begins walking to the counter, record in hand, Louis shifts on his feet and the ball beside him begins to roll away.

"Shitshitshit," Louis mutters as he crawls to try and get the ball without anyone noticing him.

Unfortunately when Louis finally throws himself onto the small ball, he is no longer hidden behind the safety of the large shelf. He sucks in a breath when he turns to find the same green eyes staring down at him with worry.

"Are you okay?"

The boy's voice is so raspy, deep, and slow Louis can feel himself struggling to find air. When Louis doesn't reply, the boy repeats the question except this time with a smile on his face.

Louis finally snaps back into reality, pushing himself off the floor and grabbing the ball.

"Uh-yeah-let me-I can-" Louis stutters and somehow the boy's smile gets wider. "Do you want me to ring that up for you?"

The boy nods and they both walk to the counter, Louis going behind the register. Zayn gives Louis a confused look as he pushes him aside so he can get full access to the machine.

"So classical music, huh?" Louis asks even though his voice is shaky.

The boys lets out a deep chuckle.

"It can be good sometimes," he grins.

Louis nods as he struggles to find the right buttons to press. The boy stands there patiently though, just admiring Louis with that silly yet cute smile on his lips.

"My name's Harry."

Louis's small finger freezes from pressing buttons as he turns to look at the boy. Harry. It's such a perfect name for a perfect human Louis thinks he's going to faint.

"I'm Louis," Louis mumbles as is he finally able to finish up on the cash register. "That'll be twenty, please."

Harry hands over the money and Louis takes a minute to look for the button to open the register.

"That's a lovely name."

Louis jumps at both the register opening and Harry's statement. Maybe he didn't hear him correctly, so he shoves the money into a random slot and closes the register.

"Here you go, Harry," Louis grins as he hands Harry the bag with the record.
When Harry goes to grab the bag Louis takes note of how much bigger Harry's hands are compared to his own.

"Thank you," Harry grins and turns on his heels.

When Harry is just half way out the door, he stops and turns back around.

"It really is a lovely name."

With that in the air and Louis feeling his knees go weak, Harry turns back around and heads out the door, leaving the only sound left the ring of that stupid, little bell.