Tempest || l.s. ✓

Chapter 4

Harry entered the café, looking up as the bell chimed. He sat down on an empty table by the window, picking up the menu.

He shrunk back, hiding his face behind the menu as he began to scan through it. Eventually, he settled on a cheese and tomato panini along with some sort of smoothie. He walked up to the counter, lifting his head slightly to face the women behind the counter.

She smiled at him, the wrinkles upon her face deepening.

"Hi." Harry spoke quietly.

"My, aren't you a looker?" She chuckled, a deep red coating Harry's cheeks. "What can I get for you?"

Harry told her his order, handing over his money before resuming his place in the corner. He looked down at the table cloth, it was red and white and chequered, draped daintily over the wooden table. A single candle was placed in the centre, along with salt and pepper pots in the shapes of little bunnies.

Fairy lights were strung across the ceiling, much like in Louis's house, and plants were sat in almost every empty space.

Louis was right, this place was lovely. And Harry had a feeling that the food would be too.

"Here you go love." The old woman smiled kindly at him, and Harry secretly admired her floral apron.

"Thank you." Harry took the plate as she placed the glass down.

"I assume you're on holiday here?"

"Sort of. Yeah, yeah. I suppose."

"Thought so, we hadn't heard any rumours of a newcomer. Anyone looking to move to the village has to have an interview with the owner." She explained.

"Oh, that's odd." Harry tilted his head slightly.

"No, no. It's always been like this. It's in order to keep each house pristine and to avoid too much conflict. I'm not sure how Mr French got past." She said the last part more to herself and Harry stifled a smile. It seemed Mr French was a sore subject amongst the villagers. "So, where are you staying sweetheart?"

"The Golden Inn."

"Ah, with Louis? He's a lovely lad. Known him since he was a boy."

"Yeah he seems nice. Do you mind me asking your name?"

"Polite too." She nudged his arm teasingly, "I'm Barbara. I better get back to the counter, but say hello to Louis for me. I'll see you soon." She rested a hand on his shoulder before walking off.

Around half an hour later and Harry was walking back through the door of the pub.

"Hi." Louis looked up.

"Barbara says hello."

"Oh, you went! How did you find it?"

"It was really nice." Harry nodded, "very pretty."

"Thought you'd like it." Louis smiled before apologising to Harry and turning back to a customer

Harry made his way up to his bedroom, sitting on his bed and placing his head in his hands as he tried to shake the feeling within him.

He couldn't talk to people. He couldn't get close with them. It's something that never went well and would be even worse now.

It would be hard to avoid talking to Louis, and of course if someone talked to him he couldn't just avoid them. But that didn't stop the anxiety that was rising up.

He bit his lip, digging his palms into his eyes as he shook his head slightly. If only he could stop being so weak.

After a while he was pretty sure he wouldn't just burst out into tears so he decided to head down to the pub.

"Hi." Harry slid onto a stool.

"Hey." Louis grinned, "you want anything to drink?"

"Yes please. Um, do you have any wine?"

"Yeah, course."

"Do you have cherry wine?" He tilted his head.

"I can check."

"It's okay, don't worry. I'll just have whatever."

Louis made his way out back, rummaging through his stocks and letting out a small sound of happiness as he found the cherry wine.

He went back to the bar, pouring the cherry wine into a glass and handing it to Harry.

Harry slid across the fiver, taking his change before retreating the the corner and beginning to sip at the wine.

Louis watched in concern as a frown settled on Harry's face, his leg bouncing up and down and his free hand scratching at his thigh through his trousers.

A small meow suddenly brought Louis back to his surroundings and he looked down to see both cats hovering around his feet.

He pointed over in Harry's direction, huffing when neither cat followed his direction and instead stared up at him.

"Look, you see that bloke in the corner, go and see him." He told them, still getting no response. He decided the only way was to walk over to Harry and allow the cats to follow. Harry looked up as he heard approaching footsteps.

"Hi." Louis gestured down to the cats, "thought you might want to meet Caspian. Just scratch behind his ears and he'll love you."

Harry immediately looked a bit more relaxed as he shifted his focus to the furry creatures who had now resorted to rubbing against his legs.

Louis returned to his spot behind the bar, glad that Harry seemed at least a little bit less anxious.

//

"You feeling okay?" Louis asked as Harry slumped down in the chair outside.

"Yeah, sorry." Harry huffed, sitting up slightly.

"No, no, you're alright. You just seen a bit on edge."

"I'm fine." He sighed, "the pizza looks good." He immediately changed the subject.

"Thank you." Louis placed it in the middle of the table.

Harry tugged his jacket around himself, shivering slightly as the cold air nipped at his skin. He was sat in a beanie and a fluffy jacket, fleece trousers upon his legs.

"I won't lie, the weather this morning did make me forget it was still winter." Louis gritted his teeth.

"Me too."

"We can still go inside." Louis chuckled.

"No, only if you want to. I need some air."

"I'm plenty happy with staying out here."

Harry looked down as Cindy jumped onto his lap, one hand stroking her.

"God, she's really taken a liking to you." Louis laughed, "I think Caspian has too." He gestured to the other cat who was curled up on the floor next to Harry.

"Do you have a blanket for them?" Harry asked.

"Are you aware they have fur?" Louis teased.

"It's cold out." Harry protested. "I can keep Cindy warm but Caspian is all the way down there."

Louis shook his head in amusement, grabbing the blanket from Caspian's basket and handing it to Harry.

"Does your neighbour know you stole their cats?"

"Yeah." Louis laughed, "they've given up with trying to get them back. They just love me too much."

Harry leaned down, careful not to squash the cat on his lap, and placed the blanket over the other cat, who just looked up with his large, unblinking eyes before curling back up.

A smile pasted itself onto Louis's face as he watched. It was an incredibly sweet sight, and he loved that Harry seemed to care about the cats. Most people would just ignore them or push them away but Harry seemed to adore them already.