Secrets [Zarry]

Pickles

The next day after their class, Zayn volunteered to take Harry to work.

"I'll come pick you up tonight and we can go back to my place, okay?" Zayn asked.

"Sure. Sounds great. You know what time, right?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Zayn said before he kissed him.

"Have a good day, I love you."

"I will, I love you too." Harry said, resisting the urge to climb over into his lap and kiss him until neither of them could breathe.

He was wearing joggers and a hoodie, his hair nice and messy.

Plus he hadn't shaved, which added to the look.

Harry reluctantly got out of the car, heading into work.

Nicole caught up with him before he could go in, stopping him.

"Hey, I thought about something. We're going to have a word for every time Charlie does something that's more than friendly. This means words, looks, actions, anything. I'm going to say that word every time, then you'll see what I'm talking about." Nicole said.

Harry sighed. "But I said I'd be more careful-"

"Yeah and I don't believe you. I know you weren't taking me seriously last night." She said, giving him a look.

"Now c'mon."

"Wait, whats the word?" Harry asked.

"Pickles." Nicole replied with a smile.

"Hey, I need one of you to start cutting lettuce and the other to start cutting tomatoes. Our special today is a BLT." Charlie told them when they entered the kitchen.

"Dibs on lettuce." Nicole quickly said, making Harry glare at her.

Charlie chuckled at them. "Cutting tomatoes isn't that bad. Let me show you a trick."

After Harry and Nicole were in there aprons hairnets and gloves, Charlie nodded for Harry to join him at the counter.

"I like to cut the sides off first, then just space it about like this each time and slice it." He showed him as he spoke.

"You try." He said, handing him the knife.

"That's how I do it but it's too slippery." Harry muttered, struggling to cut a slice without the tomato sliding out of his grip.

"Here, try holding the knife a little different." Charlie said, placing his hand on top of Harry's.

"Pickles." Nicole immediately spoke up, looking back at her lettuce when Charlie frowned at her.

"Um, thanks I'll try that." Harry said, standing there rather stiffly until Charlie left him alone.

"I guess you're confident a lot of people are gonna want this. I mean you wouldn't have us do this for no reason, right?" Nicole asked after they all worked without talking for about half an hour.

"It's the special, so yes a lot of people will order it." Charlie said. "I want us to have more than we need. That's always better than not having enough."

"Okay but my wrist is gonna fall off." Nicole complained.

"Wanna switch?" Harry asked, giving her a cold look.

She had the easier job and was still complaining.

"No, no I'll manage." She sighed.

Harry rolled his eyes, sort of understanding where she was coming from.

After an easy day like yesterday having to do even the slightest amount of work seemed like hell.

x
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x

"Why'd you pick this place?" Zayn asked, out with Liam for lunch.

Liam shrugged. "No reason, just wanted to try it."

Zayn stared at him. "We drove for like twenty minutes to get here and it's a vegetarian restaurant."

Liam eventually looked at him. "So?"

"Liam." Zayn said sharply.

"Okay look I just wanted to do some watching." Liam admitted.

"Watching who?" Zayn frowned.

"The tree." Liam mumbled, looking towards the front of the restaurant.

"Seriously? Liam this is ridiculous. I'm not eating a plate of lettuce while you glare at this guy for an hour." Zayn complained.

"Look at him though. What does Louis see in him?" Liam asked. "He's like a walking pole."

Zayn sighed softly, deciding to look over the menu.

Maybe he could find something he'd like.

"I've been here before and he goes on break in about five minutes. I say we follow him outside. We can totally take him, don't you think?" Liam asked, looking at Zayn again.

"Take him- what?" Zayn frowned.

"Beat the shit out of him." Liam clarified.

"Liam...no. Not only is that a crazy idea, but I'm certainly not going to be a part of it. I'm not a fighter." Zayn said.

"Please. You were in fights every week back in high school." Liam scoffed.

"Actually isn't that why you came to my school in the first place? Because you were kicked out of your last one for fighting?" Liam asked.

"Yeah but that was then." Zayn argued quietly.

"I'm not fighting some random guy twice my size just because you're jealous of him." Zayn added.

"I'm not jealous of him I just don't like him." Liam said. "Louis shouldn't be with someone like him, he's weird."

Zayn stared at him, shaking his head. "I've already told you what to do. Apologize to Louis, be genuine with it. I'm not saying break them up but being friends again with Louis will at least be a step in the direction you want."

Liam appeared to be in thought.

"How will I apologize? Like how am I going to...I can't do it after class because he always meets up with that guy. I can't do it in class either. I don't see him anywhere else really."

"How about all of us hang out again? Maybe tomorrow night? We could have a big dinner or something over at Harry's." Zayn shrugged.

"Last time we all ate together it was a disaster." Liam said.

"Well, I'm just trying to help."

"No, I know. I guess we can try again. How do you know Louis won't call that guy over though?" Liam asked, genuinely looking worried.

Zayn sighed. "I'll talk to Harry and make sure, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Liam smiled.

"No problem. But this is your chance, you better make it count." Zayn told him.

"Believe me, I will."

"Good. Can we ditch this place now?" Zayn asked.

Liam chuckled. "Yeah. Let's go back home and order something. I bought a new game yesterday too, just came out. Wanna play it?"

"Only if it's not us against each other. Because I'm not in the mood for your little victory dance and all the yelling." Zayn said.

"It isn't." Liam said flatly, giving him a look.

"Alright then, I'll play."