WITHIN THE PAGES

two; and he enters the unknown

harry bid zayn goodbye after he finished his tea. he was actually really surprised to see his quiet friend there. but then again, maybe not, even though zayn thought harry was a hipster, he was equally just as much of one as harry was. at least, that's what harry believed anyway. it was never really like, a big deal, to either of the boys, unless they were bantering or something like that. they did that quite often though. when he leaves he doesn't miss the slight bustle from within. 

anyway, he kept walking, he loves when he runs into zayn accidentally, between studying for finals these days you barely see him out of his house. catching up is wonderful, but during this time, zayn mentioned a book store. harry had never heard of it, and zayn simply chuckled, and bid the hipster-ish boy goodbye. 

harry is walking down the streets, knowing each ones name, having travelled them all many times on late night escapades with zayn. his boots hitting the pavement that had several cracks. which, knowing harry, he would've avoided, just to be kind to his mother, he cared for her too much to even think about that happening, and if it did, he would probably think back to the time that he used to do it on purpose when he was, like, six. and find some way to blame himself for breaking his own mothers back.

after walking for about ten minutes, following zayn's directions, he saw a small door in the side of an old, and well, breaking down, brick building. it said: 'books, open the pages, open the mind'. and suddenly, harry liked the place a lot better. sometimes, he reminds himself, it's not the cover that's extraordinary, it's the words. 

he walks up to the door, suddenly nervous for some reason. he breathes in deeply and pushes it open, a small bell sounding as he walked in. harry was expecting a musty smelling place, with molding books, by the looks of the building. but when he walked in, his senses were overwhelmed by the scent of books and cinnamon. if you've ever smelled a book that's never been open, the parchment untouched by anything... harry loved the smell, and surprisingly enough, it smelled really nice. and molding books were nowhere in sight. it reminded him slightly of belle's library in that princess movie, not that he's seen it or anything. not like he loves that movie...

there were books lining up the walls, shelves upon shelves upon shelves. harry never knew you could fall in love with geographical locations, but, well, he thinks he just did.

"is someone there?" a voice calls out, causing harry to jump. usually you'd expect an older person to run a library of all places, but actually, there was another young man there. he had blond hair, which was obviously dyed, for his roots were showing. and oddly enough, it looked cute. the guy was just cute in general. especially because he had glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, which just, jesus. harry wasn't thinking about making out in this library, nope.

"yeah!" he calls out to him. he turns, and smiles at me. 

"i'm niall, and i'd love to help you." the boy says, offering his hand out for harry to shake.

"m'harry, and i'd love to be helped actually, i'm looking for, well, a book." harry takes his hand, shaking it. 

"well harry, you've come to the right place, d'you have an exact title you're looking for? i can find it for you." niall says, pushing his glasses up further on his nose. 

"well, i don't know, i've run out of things to read simply, and i need something to get lost in... something to escape, y'know?" harry rambles, catching himself. "m'sorry, ha." he looks around a little bit more. he loves it. 

"ah, so you want something to be a surprise, to take you under. i know exactly what you mean harry, i need an escape too, everybody does." niall smiles at harry. 

there's this moment of recognition between the two boys, some sort of knowingness, they understand each other. and it is the first time they have found someone else as such.

"basically, yeah." harry smiles after his thoughts stop whirling around in his mind. 

"i think i have something just for you, follow me." niall motions to harry. 

"okay."

they walk past all of the shelves upon shelves of books, it seemed endless. the pair turned right, harry following niall, and they reached a shelf that looked even more beautiful than the rest. niall looks at harry and smiles, a beautiful one at that. 

niall runs his fingertips along the spines of the books in a particular shelf, and then stops at one, and pulls. 

this opens a door. 

"wow, that's, amazing." harry mumbles, a smile ghosting his lips. "i want a library like this in my house!" he laughs then, knowing the idea is completely ridiculous, but having an imagination can do wonders for the soul.

"i know right? i only discovered it a few weeks ago, but there are several books in which are very breath taking, and i have one in mind, that you'll like a lot. i know i did." harry looked at niall, and there was a sad smile on his lips. harry didn't worry about it though, he just wanted to see the books. 

they walk in, and harry stands in awed silence.

he watches niall as he walks to yet another bookshelf. 

harry looks around, and the room is grander than he imagined it, it was, beautiful to say the least. it looked like a setting from the book the great gatsby it was so extravagantly simple, and harry, yet again, fell in love with a place. 

"here, i think, i think this'll be good for you to read." niall hands him a book, which was worn down, it looked like it had been read several times, and hopefully, harry thinks, it could've been the same person. 

"okay niall, thank you so much! where do i pay?" i ask him, reaching into my back pocket for my wallet. 

"no charge." niall smiles a little. 

harry smiles back, shakes his hand again, and leaves the book store, book in hand, with an even bigger smile on his face.