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"But he works in a comic book store," Louis cries.
"You haven't seen him" Harry says confidently. Louis looks unconvinced so, the next day Harry forces Louis to take a walk in front of a certain comic book store. “See?” Harry says. His pace slowing to prolong the moment.
“Yeah, I see.” Louis says almost reverently, and after that he's on Harry's side.
"But he works in a comic book store!" Niall says. An incredulous look on his face.
"You haven't seen him" Harry says, and this time Louis nods along with him.
***
Even though the temperatures have reached an almost unbearable level of chill, Harry finds himself taking the long way home. It's all in an attempt to catch a glimpse at the beauty on the other side of the comic book shop window. The boy inside is sat behind a counter with his head bowed. He’s writing something? Or maybe drawing? Harry can’t quite be sure, but the looks amazing doing it.
Harry sighs a bit unconsciously and continues on his way. Eventually he slides through the door of his shared flat attempting to unbutton the buttons on his jacket, but failing rather miserably because his hands are still frozen. Louis strolls in, Niall just behind him, and takes one look at Harry’s reddened cheeks and nose. He gives Harry a knowing smirk. “Took the scenic route today then Harry?”
Harry rolls his eyes, but doesn’t deny it causing Louis and Niall to share a laugh at his expense. He crosses his arms over his chest and furrows his brow at them. “It’s not funny Lou!”
“Yeah, actually you’re right mate. It’s not funny! It’s gone past that now. At this point its honestly just pathetic. You’ve never even spoken to the bloke.”
Harry turns a bit pink at this. Hopefully he can pass it off as continued effects from the cold weather.
“In all seriousness though you should just go in and say something. You’re such a charmer. I really don’t know what you’re so worried about.”
“Louis. Did you SEE him? What am I supposed to say to him?”
“I don’t know go in and pretend to be looking for a comic. Find out his name at least.”
Harry thinks on this for a second, and then nods his head. He figures even if he gets too tongue tied he might get lucky and the boy will be wearing a nametag. For some reason the prospect of finding out his name is completely enthralling to Harry. Maybe Louis’s right and he really is pathetic.
***
The next day Harry stands a few feet away from the comic book shop. He takes in a deep steeling breath and forces himself to walk forward and grab the handle of the door pushing it open. A bell sounds bright and clear, and so there’s no turning back now. The boy looks up at the sound. He’s got a big pair glasses on his face and he’s thumbing through the pages of a comic (Harry briefly wonders how the boy is managing to make this look like he’s a model in a photoshoot) . He’s even prettier without the glass separating them. “Can I help you?” he asks standing up.
Harry’s brain is frantic. His thoughts are completely erratic and he can’t seem to hold onto a coherent one. It’s just that the boy is moving closer to him now, and he could barely handle it when they had the desk and several yards between them. The cheekbones. The quiff. The lean frame and narrow waist. The dark eyes. It’s all a little too much. “Uhhh, no, uh... I... I... mean y...yeah.”
The boy raises a single neat eyebrow at him. (Harry thinks for sure he’s doing this all on purpose) “Alright, what are you looking for?”
Now Harry realizes he should have spent at least part of all that time he spent picking out his jeans and trying to tame his wild curls on researching something, so he didn’t end up sounding like a complete dolt when he knew absolutely nothing about comics. He casts about wildly for something and comes up with “Superman. I’m looking for Superman.” He cringes about that a bit.
Harry’s pretty sure that’s the most cliche thing he could’ve come up with, but the boy just says, “Sure” waving his hand a bit as he leads Harry over to massive display that Harry definitely should have noticed upon walking in.
He must still look a bit overwhelmed, because the boy smiles kindly at him (Harry’s knees are feeling a bit wobbly at this point), and asks if he wants some help picking a starting point. Harry nods gratefully, and soon the boy whose name turns out to be Zayn (Zayn) is launching into plots, spin-offs, and back issues that Harry has never even thought about. His eyes have a sort of light behind them that shines extra bright as he talks. Harry is completely swept away (it could be argued that he’d been swept away before he even set foot in the store, but he feels even more swept now).
Half an hour later and Harry and Zayn are still talking. They’ve moved on from superman and branched off into other comics. Zayn shakes his head sadly at Harry when he admits he’s only ever seen the movies, and insists he come back again so Zayn can compile him a starter kit. Harry promises and makes his way home completely incapable of having anything but a smile on his face. Louis will definitely be insufferable. He’ll be feeling quite smug that his advice worked. Harry‘s pretty sure he won’t even mind.
***
Harry continues to show up at the comic book shop so Zayn can ‘educate’ him. They’re conversations have branched out now, and are no longer completely dominated by superheros. They talk about school, dreams, the weather, their friends, anything, everything, and nothing all at once. Zayn laughs at Harry’s disjointed collection of tattoos on his arm, says he’s itching to fill it in and make it a proper sleeve. Harry pokes fun at Zayn’s tendency to quit talking mid-sentence to grab a sheet of paper and jot down a thought or some doodle that’s popped into his head.
They spend hours likes this, and Harry knows it’s time to make a move (maybe even past time), but he’s uncharacteristically nervous. Now that Zayn isn’t just a pretty face that he sees from the other side of a slightly dingy window, but someone who is a bit shy, but a bit crazy once you get to know him, and who laughs with his head thrown back and his nose all scrunched up, and has an accent that completely transforms Harry’s name when it falls from his lips. Now It feels like he has something to lose. Something he doesn’t want to lose.
“Harry you’re headed straight back to pathetic again.” Louis tells him.
Harry is pretty sure he's right.
***
It’s a Thursday. Harry decides that it’s also THE day. It sort of feels like deja vu as he walks up to the comic book shop door with his hand shaking, pausing to take a few deep breaths. The bell sounds extra loud in his ears, causing him to cringe a bit. Zayn waves a hand in greeting, and clears the seat next to him so Harry can sit. Harry is trying to count his inhales and exhales to make sure he’s still managing to breathe. It seems to take a lot of concentration to walk over to the spot Zayn has cleared for him (His legs are a bit gelatinous).
He finally manages to make it to his seat, sitting right on the edge, unable to relax. His foot is making a rather annoying tapping sound on the tile, but he can’t seem to keep it still. His hands are all sweaty and they are a twisting mess on his lap. He opens up his mouth to talk, but it suddenly feels dry. He tries a few more times, but can’t seem to get anything out.
His efforts are cut short by Zayn suddenly standing up. The next thing Harry knows Zayn is impossibly close. He sort of feels like he might hyperventilate. Zayn places both hands on either side of Harry’s face and pecks him on the lips. It’s a quick kiss, but Harry is still momentarily stunned. He looks up at Zayn with wide eyes and his mouth forming an 'o'.
“I’m sorry! It’s only you seemed like you were going to have a heart attack just now and so I thought maybe I should save you,” Zayn says shifting his weight from foot to foot a bit nervously.
Harry laughs just a little bit too loudly (He’s still a little shell shocked). “My Hero,” he says.
Zayn’s face breaks into a smile, and he puts in his hands on his hips and puffs out his chest in an effort to mimic the Superman stand-up behind him.
“So does this mean you wear capes in your spare time, and come from an alien planet?”
“Maybe...” Zayn says with a wink.
“I should’ve known!" Harry laughed "You’re far too pretty to be anything normal.”
Zayn shakes his head reaching out to poke one of Harry’s dimples, “Honestly, Harry. Superheroes aren’t supposed to be ‘pretty’.” But he’s smiling that wide crinkly eyed smile and leaning in for another kiss so Harry knows he doesn’t really mind.
***