A Slide Into First ➵ narry

Chapter 3

“No, no! I just need to pick up some stuff and I’m tired of asking my teammates for rides and I hate the bus with a passion. I’m pretty sure you have a car?”

“Actually, I’m sorry to say that my mom and sister both have cars, but both are unfortunately at work right now-“

“No I’m not,” said Gemma as she walked out of her room.

Harry saw Niall’s eyes follow Gemma into the kitchen as she got herself a glass of water.

“Great,” Harry thought, “Another of my friends to have a crush on my sister. At least it’s not my mom this time,”

“What? Why aren’t you at work?”

“Have the day off! The Jeep’s yours, little bro, if you want it!” she said as she threw her keys at him, which he dropped.

Harry looked at Niall and he was nodding his head excitedly with his mouth wide open, looking closer to a child than an adult.

“Yeah, okay then,”

“Yeah, buddy!” Niall yelled in a voice that sounded vaguely drunken Irish.

“Oh, and thanks, Blondie, for waking me up with that horrendous laugh,” Gemma yelled out.

Harry could have killed Gemma, but Niall just did the same laugh and tipped his hat at her.

**

“Bieber?” Nialled yelled from the passenger seat as Harry keeled out of the parking space, “Are you seriously playing Bieber?”

Harry stopped the car in the middle of the road.

“I’m just gonna make myself clear on this right here. I’m not friends with people who think themselves above pop music. If you can’t appreciate the pop beauty behind ‘As Long as You Love Me’ then get out,”

“Are you fucking joking, man? Me, not appreciate Justin Drew Bieber hailing from London, Canada, winner of seven American Music Awards, recipient of the Diamond Jubilee Medal? Dude, I once paid $300 for shitty-ass seats to see him in concert. It was the best night of my life,”

Harry laughed. His friends at home tolerated his music choices, but it was nice to have someone to obsess over Justin with.

“Thank you! I tried to get tickets for his last tour but I just couldn’t afford them,”

“Man, you missed out! What a legend,”

The drive to Wal-Mart consisted of a lot of Niall talking. He could probably take Louis on in a talking competition, if that was actually really a thing, but surprisingly enough, nothing Niall talked about related to baseball. He talked about his brother, and how he was getting married soon, and he talked about gummy bears and Justin Bieber’s new acoustic album and this place called Nando’s that he ate at once when he visited D.C. on a school trip. Niall seemed to have a million things to talk about, but each individual story only lasted maybe 30 seconds. By the time they reached the megastore a few miles away, Harry thought he had seen small snapshots of Niall’s entire life.

In Wal-Mart Niall headed straight for the snack food aisle in a move that would shock literally no one. He immediately put a pack of Chips Ahoy in his cart, followed closely by a few Snickers bars, a case of cupcakes, and a carton of Ben and Jerry’s. Harry followed Niall behind, staring at his purchases with a mixture of wonder and judgment.

“Niall, no offense, but how do you eat all this junk and stay as thin as you are?” he asked.

“None taken! I have the metabolism of some alien creature not yet known to man, I think. I can eat and eat and eat and not put on any weight, actually. It’s quite a challenge when you’re in a sport that requires muscle mass. I probably eat enough protein a day to kill a small child to make up for it,”