So sorry that I didn't post this earlier and that it's not fully edited since I'm on my phone. Hope you like it anyway <3
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// past //
It was a normal day at work for Azalea. She had opened the store at nine a.m., the sun was shining and people were walking in the streets enjoying a warm day in London. Most people would've been upset to be stuck at work on such a beautiful day, but not Azalea. She loved her job more than anything, even if her tasks were simply to place books, to make sure that everything was clean and to answer the customers' questions. She had been working there for a little bit over a year now and she still woke up motivated to go to work. Her favourite part about the job was that when all of her tasks were completed, she was allowed to sit at the counter and read.
It was Saturday, which meant that there were no books to be placed since they never received new books during the weekends. She had cleaned everything up in less than thirty minutes and there weren't any customers. So Azalea grabbed a random book and sat at the counter. Another good thing was that the counter was right next to a big window, which allowed Azalea to look in the streets and enjoy the warm feeling of the sun from where she sat.
She put down the book on the counter and rested her chin on her hand. She didn't feel like reading right now.
It had been two weeks she came back from Ireland with her friends. It had truly been the trip of a lifetime. Niall and Harry had ended up joining them a second time after they visited Mullingar. They had all met up to go and see the Cliffs of Moher. That time again, Azalea ended up spending most of the day with Harry, although they didn't talk much. The beauty of the place had blown Azalea away and they simply sat in the grass and enjoyed the view.
The silence between them had been comfortable. Even if part of them would've liked to get to know the other better, it was still a perfect moment.
But they hadn't been in contact since then. It had been two weeks and Azalea hadn't heard from Harry. She still held on to the hope that Harry would come by the bookshop like he had promised.
However she had hoped it would've been sooner. After all this time, part of her started to think that he had forgotten about her. That feeling was amplified once she learned that Harry was supposed to be in London because he was having a concert here in a couple of days.
After they met, she couldn't help but look him up a little more. She knew about One Direction, but again who didn't know about them in the UK. She had learned that Harry was going on a world tour, starting with their first show in London. Although she was glad for Harry, knowing all this saddened her and only made her realize how she was probably not meant to be in Harry's life. After all, he was part of a famous band and she was a simple student working in a book shop. They were from two completely different worlds and he had much better things to do but to read a book to please some girl he saw a couple of times.
Of course she was disappointed, she had had an amazing time in Harry's company and she thought he had too, but maybe she was wrong.
But she wasn't wrong, because that day at 11:30, the bell at the entrance of the shop rang and a curly haired boy walked through the door. Azalea lifted her eyes from her book to greet the customer and her smile immediately widen once she saw who it was. He returned her smile, relieved that she was happy to see him.
Harry had been sitting in his car, in front of the store, for more then thirty minutes, rehearsing what he would say to her. Again, he had been struck with insecurities that held him back.
Will she remember me? Will she be happy to see me? Should I have come sooner?
He didn't want to seem desperate to see her, although that's what he was. Two weeks was too long to him but he didn't want to come across as annoying. He had given her some time, hoping that she would eventually miss him too.
Once he saw her face again he regretted not seeing her sooner. Her smile struck him like lightning. He had forgotten how her eyes lit up when she smiled. He had forgotten how beautiful her smile was. He knew that he had missed her, but just now, he realized just how much he did.
He silently waved at her while walking towards the counter. Azalea's eyes darted over to the book Harry was holding in his hand and she almost screamed from excitement. He was holding The Great Gatsby; he had held his promise!
"Hi Harry." She said, unable to hide the excitement she felt and Harry heard it. He laughed softly, relieved by her reaction.
"Hi Azalea."
She pursed her lips at the name but said nothing while Harry looked at her with mischief in his eyes. He had made it clear that he liked calling her Azalea so she knew she had to get used to it around him.
"I just finished it." Harry said as he put the book down on the counter.
"Yeah?" she smiled. "What did you think?"
"Well," he dragged the first word. "I don't have much to compare it to, but I thought it was quite good."
She lightly jumped on her seat, clapping her hands in delight. She was so happy that Harry liked it and couldn't contain it. The book meant so much to her and she had hoped that Harry would like it too.
"I'm so happy you enjoyed it!"
Harry laughed at Azalea's reaction. He really loved seeing her so animated; it was a side of her that only books seemed to bring out. He liked that she had such a strong passion for books, it made her seem smart to Harry.
He, on the other end, wasn't a big reader. When he was in high school the only books he would read were the ones he had to, but again, he wouldn't really read them, but just skim through the pages the night before the test. And more recently, with One Direction, he barely had time to read at all. But in hopes of impressing Azalea, he had read his first complete book in years and he surprisingly loved it.
"You should be proud," Harry smiled shyly at her. "It's the first book I've read in years."
"It is?" she didn't hide her surprise. "Well, I am very proud then."
She lightly laughed and Harry joined her before looking around the shop. Although he lived quite close to this place, he had never been here before. It was really calm, the store almost empty, with only a middle age woman walking through the alleys and looking at books. With Azalea here, this could easily become his favourite place to be.
"I'm not bothering you, am I?" Harry asked as he returned his look on Azalea. She raised a brow and looked around.
"Obviously not," she replied
"Perfect then."
He leaned on the counter and Azalea did the same, curious about Harry's intentions. He tried acting confident so that Azalea wouldn't see that he was nervous. He wanted to talk about the book with her, he wanted to see her excited.
"So," he started, giving her a small smile before continuing. "The whole story was amazing, but I didn't like the ending."
"Tell me why." She asked, curiosity shining in her eyes.
"I don't like the fact that Daisy and Gatsby didn't end up together." Azalea stayed silent so Harry continued. "I felt as if their love was true and it's unfair that she goes back to her husband and he dies."
"Tragic, isn't it?"
He nodded. "And he ends up alone. Everyone attends his parties, everyone worships him, but when he dies, no one goes to his funeral. That sucks."
Harry looked down at his hand frowning and Azalea looked at him. She felt as if he somehow related to Gatsby, or at least she compared him to him, mostly because of the last part.
Isn't that every famous person's fear? To be loved only because you are rich and famous. They always have to watch their back and they can rarely trust people. She wondered if Harry saw her that way, if he thought that she was nice to him only because he was Harry Styles from One Direction. She certainly hoped not, because it wasn't the case.
"It does suck," she agreed.
He lifted his gaze and sadly smiled at her and she smiled back. Without saying a word to her, he was opening up to Azalea. She knew it, because in that moment, he was like an open book. She could see the emotions behind his eyes, all of them. He trusted her enough to even let her see some of his fears and she was grateful for it.
She felt bad for him, she really did. It was hard to imagine all of the things that Harry was going through but she wanted to make him feel that she was there for him if he needed her. She simply didn't know how to say it out loud without sounding like a fool. After all, they didn't know each other that much.
"Nick Carraway attended the funeral. Gatsby could always count on him."
"Yeah, he could."
They looked at each other and both knew what that meant. Azalea smiled while biting her lips nervously and Harry chuckled lightly. The moment was awkward, yet relieving. Awkward because they didn't know what to say next, but relieving because they somehow knew that they were friends now.
"So." Harry's voice was raspy from not talking. He quickly cleared his throat before continuing. "I-uh, we have a concert in London, and I was wondering if you'd like to come?"
Harry scratched the back of his neck nervously. He didn't know if Azalea enjoyed One Direction's music but he wanted to see her again. He knew that his days in London were numbered and he wanted to make sure he would spend time with her at least once before he left.
Azalea looked at Harry in confusion. His question had come from nowhere and had caught her off guard. But once she realized what he had asked, she smiled widely at him.
"That'd be great!"
"I just figured, you showed me a little bit of your world with this book, I'll show you a little bit of mine."
"I've never been to one of your show. You know, with them always being sold out and all," she teased him.
He rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. She leaned back on her chair, unsure of what to say next. Harry looked at the alleys again. The woman that was there previously had left and they were alone in the store.
"Do you mind if I take a look around?" Harry suddenly asked. "I want to read another book."
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."
Harry grabbed his copy of The Great Gatsby on the counter and walked through the alleys. He tried concentrating on the multiple books that stood in front of him, but he found it hard as he felt Azalea's gaze on him. He would, from time to time lift his eyes and give her a quick smile before returning to his search.
She could see that he was confused and had no idea what to pick, so she got up from her seat and walked towards him. He didn't look up, too nervous to meet her gaze. He wanted to look like he knew what he was looking for, like he had some knowledge, even if he had admitted to her only minutes ago that he didn't read. He wanted to impress her, or at least look smart, because he somehow felt dumb when he was with her. There was no doubt in his mind that she was smarter than him. It didn't really bother him because he liked the fact that she was smart, but he didn't want her to think that he was stupid.
Azalea saw right through his act, but pretended she didn't. She didn't think Harry was stupid, quite the opposite. She felt as if his life made him live different experiences that made him knowledgeable on things she wasn't. Sure she was book smart, but she had never seen the world outside of the UK. She had just this year, at the age of 19, moved out of her parent's house, but still, her parents were paying for most of her things. She didn't feel like she knew much about life, but she felt as if Harry did.
"Do you want me to recommend something?" she sweetly asked.
"Well-uh, yeah... sure." Harry replied, disappointed that he hadn't found a book on his own.
"What do you want to read?"
"I don't know... another classic, maybe?"
"Something different? A little sci-fi, yeah?"
"Sure," Harry casually shrugged.
Azalea scratched her chin and bit her bottom lip, trying to think of a book that Harry could enjoy.
"Have you heard of 1984?"
"Yeah! Something with always being watched by the government, right?" He hoped he was right.
"Yes, exactly!" she smiled at him. "It's a little hard to read as it can get boring from time to time but it has a great message. You interested?"
"Yeah."
She walked to a different alley and Harry followed. On their way, Harry noticed some chairs gathered in the middle of the store.
"Can people come and read here?" Harry asked as Azalea stopped in front of a series of books. He motioned to the chairs.
"Yup."
He nodded and she grabbed the book. Harry took it, quickly scanning it before looking back at Azalea.
"This looks interesting. I'll take it."
"Awesome!"
Harry could feel Azalea's pride, as if she liked when people would read something she recommended.
"You're a great bookseller." He complimented her.
She laughed and kindly shoved him with his shoulder. He laughed along with her, unable to contain the happiness that he felt. He love that they were acting like friends now. There was still a little bit of discomfort but nothing abnormal after seeing each other only four times.
Even if there was always this feeling of nervousness in his stomach, Harry enjoyed being in Azalea's company. He also found himself liking Azalea more and more and realized that his excitement about the world tour was starting to fade.
That feeling was odd to Harry. He would usually be so excited to go back on tour with the lads, but right now, something was holding him back. It had never happened before, sure there was his family, but they were always so supportive that he never felt bad for leaving. But now, with Azalea, it was different. Not because he felt bad for leaving her, but because he felt as if he was missing his chance by leaving.
He had 10 days before he would leave London and continue his world tour, but he promised himself he would make these 10 days count. This way He would at least be able to say that he had tried.
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I loooove writing cute moments between these two and I hope you love reading them :) if you want anything to happen, write it in the comments, I'll try to make it happen ;)
Again I apologize for posting this late, I couldn't find the time to post it earlier.
OH. By the way, I want to thank you all for 1k reads :) it makes me really really happy <3
As always, please vote and comment.
Hugs & Kisses,
Karry xx.