The next day as Harry planned, he stopped at his most frequented place. More times than none, he found himself in the grocery store that his newfound favorite cashier works at. He was in urgent need of his favorite crunchy nut cereal (more like in need of another excuse to stop by) and decided to swing by after getting off work.
He just finished a lengthy nine hour shift and he felt like it dragged by with how excited he was to see Niall again. There were always the regular customers that came in, newcomers that wanted to buy their first musical instrument, and people that came in for the classes that were offered weekly. Business was steady as usual, but of course his mind seemed to drift else where lately. When the shop was quiet, he could swear he audibly heard the seconds tick by slowly.
When the time came when he was able to clock out, he was more than happy to be walking out the doors. Although his conversations with the cashier were always short lived with the time restraints they faced with him having to work and all, those small moments were what Harry eagerly awaited for. At first he worried he might be bothering Niall with how much he comes in, but he figures since he hasn't said anything negative that he doesn't seem to mind so much. That, or he was too nice to mention it.
After he walked from the car park into the store, he looked around to see if he could spot Niall upfront like usual. This time, however, he didn't see his blonde head of hair. He felt a frown start to take over his face as he contemplated whether he should just turn around and leave. Nowadays, his visits to the store were mainly fueled by his desire to see Niall rather than actually needing to buy something.
Huffing quietly, Harry decides to turn on his heel to leave, but just as he does, he hears his name called.
"Harry!" An Irish accent calls, "Leaving so soon?"
He turns back around and sees Niall appear from the restrooms. He's not sporting his usual store-given vest with his name tag on so Harry feels almost out of place seeing him anywhere other than behind a till.
"Hi, Niall," Harry greets, "I was just going to run back to the car, I think I left my phone behind."
Niall shakes his head and laughs, ignoring the fact that he sees the lad pull down his shirt as if to cover his phone in his back pocket.
"I'm on break for another ten minutes," He explains. "I took off my vest since I don't like customers asking for help."
"Well maybe you can make an exception, I seem to have forgotten where the cereal is located." Harry says, pretending to be oblivious.
Niall throws his head back in laughter, "Very forgetful, you are. I guess I'll let it slide this one time."
Harry grins as he begins to follow Niall through the store. They both knew he didn't actually need help finding the cereal, but Harry was just glad Niall went along with it.
With both of them closer to each other than usual, Harry could tell that the blonde was a few inches shorter than him. This is actually the closest the two of them have been to one another and in another fantasy, Harry would like to believe they're doing grocery shopping together.
"Has it been very busy today?" Harry asks.
Niall shakes his head as he tries to weave them through other customers, "Steady as usual, but it seems like the self-checkout has been more popular."
Harry is struggling to keep up with the swift pace Niall has assumed. He almost lost him a few times with other pesky bystanders getting in between. He should be able to keep up, Harry thinks, he does have longer legs than him.
"Why are you walking so fast?" Harry questions, letting out an airy laugh.
"Oh?" Niall stops for a second to let him catch up. "Forgot that you're not a customer I'm trying to get rid of. Usually when customers talk to me on the floor, it's when I'm trying to leave."
That made Harry smile. At least he knows the off-duty cashier doesn't want to get rid of him. At this point, Harry may be a usual customer now, but he's not really usual per say. No, Harry's frequently in the store to try and score a dinner with Niall and that's unlike all the other customers the cashier has to deal with.
"That's comforting," Harry chuckles.
"Well here we are," Niall comments as they stare upon the various cereals. "Which one did you need?"
"I planned on getting crunchy nut, but why don't you give me a recommendation." He suggests.
Niall doesn't hesitate, "Safe bet? Honey Nut Cheerios. Guilty pleasure? Lucky Charms."
Harry picks up a box of Lucky Charms and smiles. He hasn't had that cereal in ages and he thinks it's cute that it would be the blonde's guilty pleasure. Now he just had to buy it.
"Think I might go with this one," He concludes.
"Good choice," Niall comments.
"Would it be a good choice for our dinner?" Harry cheekily asks.
The blonde laughs, "No, if you make me dinner it has to live up to your self-imposed great cook title. I expect nothing less than a five star course."
Harry grins widely, "I accept the challenge."
"So is there anything else you need?" Niall questions.
"Nope. Just needed cereal." Harry replies. "How much time you have left of your break?"
Niall looks down at his watch, "Only a few minutes."
"Well I guess I better browse around before you get back." He says.
The cashier laughs, "I wouldn't expect anything less."
Harry watches as Niall heads off to what he can only presume to be the store's break room. With the routine he set for himself while at the store, It would only be right to have Niall as his cashier. Anyone else and the whole visit would be fruitless. Well unless he was in dire need of something and Niall wasn't working, but he doesn't see that happening any time soon. Had his break been longer, he still would have waited.
He begins to aimlessly wander the front of the store, making sure to keep an eye on the tills for when his favorite cashier returns. Harry feels weird browsing products that he has no need of purchasing, he just had time to kill for a few more minutes.
In no time at all, he sees Niall approach an available till and the lane number flash on. Harry could not believe that it had even been more than a minute since he last saw him. Regardless, he wasted no time as he proceeds toward his till.
"You're lucky, I clocked in early," Niall greets. "Just for you."
Harry dramatically places a hand on his heart, "Aren't I so lucky."
He places his box of cereal on the conveyor belt and watches as Niall shamelessly smirks in response.
"Can I test my luck and find out some facts about you?" Harry asks. "You do seem to know more about me than I do of you."
Niall rings up his one item purchase, "I'm 24, I play guitar, and between me and you, I think I might have an obsessed fan on my hands."
He whispers the last part with a hand cupped around his mouth as if he was revealing top-secret information. Harry gasps, pretending to be offended. Niall's sarcasm was pretty evident so Harry wasn't actually bothered by it. He did clock in early for him anyway, so if he was actually bothered by it, his actions would prove to be contradicting.
Harry quickly moves on to the fact he was most interested by, "So you play guitar? That's quite convenient considering I work at a music shop."
Niall nods as he waits for Harry to pay, "Out of pure curiosity, do you work at the one around the block?"
"Yup," Harry pulls his card out and returns it to his wallet. "That would be the one."
"Great, now I can stalk you," Niall jokes, passing him his receipt and bag.
"Wouldn't bother me a bit," Harry says cheekily. "Bye, Niall."
And with that, Harry is on his way. He feels pretty cool about his exit as he left the cashier slightly dumbfounded, yet at the same time not all that surprised. As he leaves, he can't help but to smile at the headway he's made. Sure, his invitation is still in the air, but he's fairly certain Niall will agree soon enough.
On his drive back home, Harry turns to the passenger seat to look at where he jokingly secured the Lucky Charms box with the seatbelt. He decides to take a picture of it once he's arrived back at his apartment and hopes to one day be able to send it to Niall to make him laugh. He would do it now, but unfortunately he has yet to receive the lad's number. He'll probably secure that once Niall finally agrees to their dinner date.
The idea of finally getting to have dinner with Niall is what places a smile on Harry's face the rest of the night.