Mini Mart » Harry Styles

epilogue - alternate

epilogue – alternate

"Here's your Arizona tea. Have a great day." Harry smiled at the customer but on the inside, he was actually crying.

It had been exactly two months since Fire had gone, and while Harry hoped it would get better, it got worse each day. He missed her. Almost everything reminded him of her, from the checkout lane he was working at to the tea that the customer had just bought. It was even the same flavor Fire had always gotten: iced tea with raspberry flavor. He felt a pang in his chest as he handed the customer her drink.

Once the customer had gone, Harry rested his elbows on the small counter made for customers to count their money on. His fingers pressed over his eyes, almost to a point where it was painful. Already, he wanted his shift to be over, and he wasn't even an hour in. He heard the muted whoosh of the automatic doors opening but paid no attention.

Harry removed his fingers from his eyes and curled them into fists instead. He rested his forehead on his fists, eyes still closed. He focused on breathing, in, out, in, out, steadily. If he focused on a single thing, he couldn't focus on the girl, his girl.

He stayed in his still position until the sound of aluminum slamming against the counter reached his ears. He looked up, startled, before his eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

"Fire?" he asked incredulously. There was no way she was here, in front of him. She had said she would be away from Los Angeles as long as it took her to get over her brother's death. There was no way it had only taken her two months. He had seen the way she cried, screamed, yelled, cursed at her brother after he died. She had been broken, her spirits crushed.

But it really was Fire. Harry had no doubts after he took in the Arizona tea, the dyed blue hair, and the green eyes he had come to fall in love with, with their brown flecks. He was sure that it was her because of the way she smiled at him and walked around the checkout lane to hug him.

Her hair still smelled like honey. Despite all the hair-killing dye, it was the one thing about her hair that stayed the same. "You're back," he breathed, smiling into her hair.

"You really think you'd get rid of me that easily?" she teased and pressed her face into his chest, smiling too. They stood with their arms wrapped around each other for a few moments before she drew away, a serious look on her face.

"I'm not staying though. I came to ask you something."

Harry's face fell now that Fire wasn't smiling anymore. "What is it?"

Fire lifted herself onto the counter, an action Harry was familiar with seeing her perform. Even if he hadn't seen it in a couple of months, it still felt as familiar to him as if it had happened just yesterday. Fire took a deep breath before beginning, "I want you to come to New York with me."

Harry gaped at her. "New York? Fire, that's all the way across the country! I'd have no family, no place to stay, no school to go to. I can't just pick myself up and go all the way to New York."

Fire grabbed Harry's hand, squeezing it. "I already have a place and it's enough for the two of us. You'd have me, and guess who I met while I was in New York?"

"Who?" Harry asked warily.

"Gemma. Your sister. She said she wants to see you. We're friends. If you moved to New York, you'd get to see her everyday. And I'm sure you could apply to go to a music college. It doesn't even have to be a university. You could start small and work your way up. It's the road to what you've always wanted, Harry: becoming known for your singing!"

"Gemma? She's in New York?" Harry marveled, shocked. Fire nodded at him, a smile on her face.

"She's there and she's waiting for you."