*Harry’s POV*
After the movie ended, Jason gave me some money to go to the store and get groceries. No one else wants to do it because they’re ‘too badass for grocery shopping’ and I’m sure that’s part of the reason Jason recruited me into the gang. I don’t really mind though, I really want to get out of the apartment. All the guys are praising me for my fight with Louis and I can’t take it anymore. I feel awful about beating him up but at the same time I know it was inevitable.
I wanted to leave anyway so I took the money from Jason and walked out the front door of the building. I turned right and headed to the grocery store on the corner. It’s really convenient and makes me a little angry that no one else can do the shopping; it’s not like it’s too far, it’s literally right there.
I grab a cart when I walk inside and look at the list the gang had made. Of course it’s all unhealthy junk and alcohol. I decide I’ll get half of what’s on the list and half of what I’d like to eat.
I make my way to the frozen aisle and look in the freezers. There are some frozen pizzas and I grab some, checking the item off the list.
I make my way around the store and pile a bunch of food in the cart. I end up getting more of the junk than I had wanted but I shrug it off.
As I make my way to the alcohol, someone turns out of an aisle and rams into my cart. It nearly tips over and it takes all of my strength to keep it upright.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going,” I say angrily.
“Sorry, I’m just in a bad mood,” a familiar voice says.
My head snaps up and I make eye contact with the one person I didn’t think I’d be seeing again today. Louis.
“Fucking perfect, of course I’d see you here,” he mutters.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed at the grocery store,” I snap. I came here to get him out of my mind for a while, just my luck I’d see him here anyway.
“You are, I’m sorry, I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” he says with a sigh. I’m taken aback by the calmness in his voice. I’m guessing he’s moody a lot like Jason. Maybe that’s why they’re enemies.
“Are you okay?” I ask. If he wants to talk about it, I’m all ears. And I have a feeling I know what this is about.
“Yeah, super,” he says, breaking eye contact. “I was just about to leave.”
He turns his cart around and heads for the check-out lanes. I watch him walk away and sigh. He’s figured it out for sure but he doesn’t want to talk about it yet. I’m totally okay with that, he has to have space to let it soak in, but I wish he would have told me. I would have been able to help him cope with it.
I grab a case of beer for the gang and walk to the check-out. After I pay I slide all the bags onto one arm and grab the case of beer with the other. There’s no sign of Louis anymore so I walk out the door and start to head back to the apartment.
I hear someone cussing under their breath and turn around to find none other than Louis. He’s standing next to his half-full cart and staring at his skateboard. I smile to myself when I realize he’s got no way to take everything home.
“Do you need some help?” I call.
He jumps at the sound of my voice and spins around.
“No, not from you,” he spits.
I walk towards him and lean against his cart.
“It looks to me like someone didn’t think this through,” I tease.
“You’re lucky we’re not in the park or else I’d beat you senseless,” he threatens.
“I think I’d beat you to that.”
“What?”
“I was getting in some pretty good hits on you earlier, I think I could easily win,” I say. I know he’s going to be pissed off about it but I don’t care. He’s cute when he’s mad.
“You caught me off guard, that’s all,” he defends.
“Yeah, okay. Do you want some help or not?” I ask again.
He sighs and shakes his head. It’s not a ‘no’ shake, it’s more of a ‘I really shouldn’t be doing this right now’ shake.
I drop my groceries onto the ground and start putting his smaller bags into bigger ones so there’s fewer bags to carry. When I’m finished with that, I put his skateboard into one of them so he doesn’t have to carry it separately. When I pick it up, he gives me a dirty look but doesn’t say anything. I can tell I’m getting under his skin and I can also tell he’s beginning to realize even more now that he’s gay. Watching me help him and be nice despite our being in rival gangs is touching a nerve inside of him that he didn’t even know existed and I love it.
“Hold your arms out,” I order. He looks confused but does as I say. I slip the bags onto his arms and push the cart back inside the door. When I get back, he’s still there.
“Aren’t you going to go home?” I ask, picking my things up again.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I just-“ he stammers.
“I’ll walk you,” I offer.
He looks shocked at my words and I swear I see a blush creep into his cheeks.
“Maybe we could have a makeup fight and you can try to beat me,” I say to make it a little less awkward for him.
“You’re on,” he says with a smile.
We take the long way around the park so my gang doesn’t see me walk past with the enemy. It takes a while longer than I’d expected but I don’t mind. It’s silent all the way there, neither of us knowing what to say. Some people outside stared at us as if we were some sort of aliens or something walking together. I guess it’s not every day that you see two guys with tattoos carrying grocery bags down the street.
We arrive at his house and he drops some of the bags so he can get his key out of his pocket. He shoves the door open and grabs his bags before leading me inside. I drop my things by the door so I can get them on my way out. It’s a good thing I never gave Jason my phone number, he definitely would have been calling me by now.
“Make yourself at home,” Louis calls from the kitchen. I hear a small smack and figure he hit himself for saying something like that.
I look around his living room. It’s pretty much bare except for a few pictures of an elderly woman. I figure it must be his mother or grandmother. There’s a TV in one corner and a couch on one of the walls but not much else besides that.
I take a seat on the couch and wait for Louis to put his groceries away. It’s pretty boring for a while, just sitting there by myself, but it gave me time to think. Time to replay what has happened today.
It’s nearly dark by the time Louis comes into the living room and takes a seat on the other end of the couch. He made a point of sitting as far away from me as possible but I don’t mind; I know it’s hard for him going through this by himself. I just wish he knew he could talk to me about it. After all, I am the reason he knows. We sit there in awkward silence for a while before I decide to say something.
“I know,” I say quietly.
Louis shifts uncomfortably on the other end of the couch.
“You know what? I didn’t say anything.”
“I know what you’ve just figured out.”
He hasn’t looked at me yet and I know he knows what I know.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lies.
“Louis, you’re gay,” I say.
He stops breathing for a second and his fist opens and closes a few times. Before I know it, he grabs me by the shirt and throws me on the floor.
“Don’t you dare say that,” he threatens.
“Why? You and I both know it’s the truth,” I say calmly.
He grabs my shirt again and holds me against the wall. There’s a small kind of fire in his eyes but it’s barely noticeable. It’s replaced by something much more powerful. Fear.
“You know nothing about me,” he says softly.
“I know that you’re gay.”
I see his walls fall down. He’s no longer angry at me, he’s angry at himself. Angry for being gay, most likely, and angry at himself for letting me find out. He’s confused as to how I could possibly know this when he didn’t tell me. He’s afraid that it’s going to change him or that people will find out. But more than anything he’s lost. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do now.
Within seconds, he swings his fist and it hits my cheek. It doesn’t hurt really at all. He knows it didn’t. He didn’t mean it to.
But he definitely meant what he did next.
Louis Tomlinson kissed me.