There's More to the Picture Than Meets the Eye (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter Two

Eh, i decided to keep going. I'm excited about this story, so what the hell. Happy Reading!

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CHAPTER TWO

Louis stands with his back leaning against the counter, waiting for his tea to boil and his toast to pop. He thinks about the previous night, the memory of the hot guy he met's curly bush of a hairstyle and the deep dimples in his cheeks.

Louis sighs, jumping slightly as the toast presents itself by dramatically shooting out the top of the toaster. He places the singular piece of bread on a plate and butters it. He heaves another sigh and checks off the precise amount of calorie intake in the little notebook he keeps in his rucksack.

After finishing off his tea and toast, Louis heads to another boring, minimum-wage filled day at work. He's embarrassed to say that he works in a small coffee shop, alternating between barista, cashier, and mop/toilet cleaning boy. He had tried going to university for acting when he graduated, but that didn't turn out too well. He got kicked out.

Louis depressingly thinks of the past years of his life, from seventeen to about twenty-one. He thinks on his way to the worst job in the world how it could have gone better if he didn't waste his life being the person that he was. Always so insecure. Never good enough for even himself. Never smart enough for university.

He walks into the coffee shop, suppressing these thoughts like he does every day and planting a smile on his face. He puts on his apron and takes his place at the cash register. Jennette, his co-worker, has gotten here before him and opened up. He takes the orders of his first customers, taking their money and giving them change. The usual dull tasks. He is just stretching his arms and yawning when the person he had been internally hoping for walks in.

Harry.

He walks up to the register, looking at the board of coffee and not even glancing at Louis. He orders his drink, and doesn't look Louis' way until he hands him his money. He freezes, with his hand outstretched. It takes him a second to recover before he hands Louis the money. Louis notices the way their fingers grace each other's slightly, and finds himself wishing for more.

"Fancy meeting you here," says Louis, a bit monotone. In truth, he is freaking out. He wasn't sure if Harry would ring him, but now he can make sure of it. Louis' never taken to someone so quickly.

Harry chuckles quietly. "Thought I'd get a drink before heading to work. Woke up late today." There isn't a line behind Harry, so Louis decides to continue conversation.

"What, hung over?'

"Maybe a little."

Louis smiles and says, "Thanks for letting me buy you a drink, then. You made my birthday."

Harry blushes slightly, and Louis smiles at his timidness. Doesn't Harry know he is absolutely stunning? He's got to have men and women alike falling at his feet. Yet Harry seems to shy away from any sort of attention, in a very awkward and cute way. Louis finds his bashfulness endearing.

"Maybe next time I'll be the one buying you a drink."

Louis nods, noticing the invitation and mentally trying to will away the redness creeping onto his face. "I would like that. Ring me, then. You have my number."

"Why don't we just make a plan now, since we're both here." Harry sounds confident enough, but his pinked cheeks give him away.

"Sure," Louis breathes.

"When do you get off your shift?" Louis refrains a gasp. Today? 

"Erm, um, ah," Louis stutters before saying, "around three in the afternoon."

Harry smiles, appearing to like the way he can make Louis stumble on his words.

"I get off at four, how about we meet then?"

"Where?"

"Come to my work," Harry offers. "I have a job as a waiter in Agrella's, the Italian restaurant on Hutton." Louis practically rejoices at the fact that Harry isn't ridiculously successful or rich. He would just feel odd being with him if he was. Like he was too stupid, too poor to be in the presence of him.

"Meet you there," says Louis, handing him the coffee Jennette has just finished making and watching him walk away. Through his peripheral vision, he catches Harry turn around for a mere second to look at him through the glass window of the café.

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Louis stands outside the restaurant, a sign above the door labeled Agrella's: Italian Cuisine. It looks semi-fancy, but nothing too posh. The people emerging are dressed well but not like they would at Le Bec Fin or something ridiculous like that. He has been waiting all of ten minutes when Harry walks out of a door to the side, looking about before spotting Louis and smiling lightly.

"Hey," he says, reaching him.

"Hey," Louis replies, unsure of what to do.

"I said I'd buy you a drink, but I don't feel like going to a bar. Like you said, I'm not the party type. Mind if I buy you a coffee?"

Louis should have said yes. He really should have. And ignored the nagging in his brain or the resentment of the beverage. But instead he replies with a very blunt and rather rude, "I work in a coffee shop."

Harry's smile wavers, but he comes back smoothly with, "Tea?"

Louis shakes himself slightly, replanting the smile upon his face. "Sorry, yeah. Tea sounds great."

They head to a small café-like place, like Louis' work but opened late into the night. They sit down for tea and begin sipping.

"So, I didn't learn much about you last night besides your name," begins Harry.

"Oh?" Louis says. "What would you like to know?"

"Start simple. How old are you?"

"Just had my twenty-third birthday. You?"

"About to turn twenty-one. Did you go to Uni?"

Louis sighs. He hates this question. And considering Harry has seen him at work, he figures he should know. "I tried it. Flunked out. Guess I just wasn't cut out for that type of thing," says Louis lowly.

"It was never for me, either," Harry reassures. "I never even tried. My parents tried to make me, but I wouldn't budge. I had this crazy idea that I would make it as a singer or something," says Harry, scrunching his nose and the sheer dumbness of his younger years.

Louis laughs. "I went to uni for acting," he admits.

"That sounds nice."

"Like I said, it didn't work out," Louis replies sadly, stirring his tea and staring into the reddish-brown circle.

The two progress from there, sharing little stories about their families and their childhoods. The hopes and dreams from their youth, laughing at themselves because none of the things they thought were going to happen actually happened. They both tiptoe around the more personal questions, but share facts like who their friends are and what their favorite bands are. Silly, unnecessary things. Still, both Harry and Louis seem to enjoy the hours they spend together. Until, at the end of the night, they are kicked out of the little café because it is so late.

Even after this, Harry and Louis continue to talk. They punch their numbers into each other's phone's, more civilized than writing on skin. Louis follows Harry to his complex, looking over the large building.

"See you later," waves Harry. "Maybe I'll get coffee tomorrow and we can talk more."

Louis finds himself seriously hoping that Harry will be there tomorrow. As he walks home he realizes for the first time that he is actually looking forward to another day at work.