The day passes just as slowly as yesterday, the hours seem to drag on endlessly. Once again, Harry stays locked up in the back office and I'm itching for some company. I think about calling James, but his pictures aren't finished yet and I left his number somewhere at home. I lay my head down on the cool counter, meaning to only shut my eyes for a few moments, but before I know it, I've fallen asleep.
I wake up to the sound of a keyboard clicking rapidly. I look around, thoroughly disoriented. I'm laying down, an itchy blanket wrapped around me and a pillow stuffed under my head. The room is dark except for the pale glow of a computer screen. I blink the sleep out of my eyes, and focus on the gently illuminated face behind the screen. Harry's eyebrows are drawn together and he occasionally mutters things to himself as he types. I can't help but smile a bit; his earnest, concentrated expression is so different from the sullen one he usually wears.
After a few moments I begin to feel a bit creepy, so it sit up, stretching and pushing the coarse afghan off of me. Harry looks up from the computer and his concentrated expression smooths out into one of indifference. A little part of me is saddened that he feels the need to hide parts of his personality like that, but we barely know each other so perhaps there's still hope.
I clear my throat in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence, but Harry doesn't say anything. I can feel my face starting to get warm, so inch towards the door to escape the stiflingly awkward atmosphere.
"Er, well, I'm really sorry about falling asleep. I stayed up late with Connor and-"
Harry cuts me off with a noise of disgust. "Ugh, please, spare me the details. Trust me, I don't want to know." I blink in surprise and move a few paces away from the door.
"What are you talking about?"
He raises an eyebrow. "You and Connor. I am in no way interested in what you did," he grimaces, "all night. Okay?" I realize what he's implying and a giggle escapes my lips.
"Oh, no, see, um Connor and I- we're not together in any way. Connor is asexual so he doesn't like to...you know. And he's homo-romantic so he's not even interested in dating girls. Dylan from earlier is his boyfriend. Connor and I were just talking last night. We share an apartment."
He blinks a few times and I swear I can see a faint blush tinging his cheeks. He glances down at the computer and drums his fingers against his thighs.
He finally manages a quiet, "Ah, sorry,'" and stares intensely at the wall next to him.
I smile at the back of his head. "It's really okay, don't worry about it. Anyway, I'm gonna work on printing some of the pictures Ja- a customer gave me. You could come up to the front if you want; this dingy old room probably isn't the best place to work."
He shrugs, still staring at the wall and I sigh internally, heading out into the front room. I grab the canister of film and go into the dark room. I realize that I've forgotten a pair of tongs out at the front desk and go to retrieve them. I glance around quickly to make sure we don't have any customers, but when my gaze lands on a curly head peaking out from the top of the sofa, I can't help but smile. Back in the dark room, my good mood only grows when it hits me that he'd probably carried me into the back room and wrapped me up in a blanket.
Perhaps we could be friends after all.
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I work for the rest of the day, finally finishing up James' photos. I figure I can call him tomorrow from the store to let him know they're done. I come out of the dark room about 6:30, so I know Dylan and Connor should be here soon. I glance at the couch to find that Harry's till there, hunched over the computer, typing rapidly. I decide to let him be for the time being and go to sit behind the counter where I begin to shuffle through some papers.
YOU ARE READING
picture this //h.s. au//
Fanfiction"I worry less about falling in love and more about falling out of it. That seems to happen a lot these days."
