"Harry!" Chester shouts once he sees the lad enter through the shop door.
"Good morning, sir. You seem quite happy," Harry laughs.
It's not often that he sees Chester over the top cheerful. There's a different light glimmering in his eyes as crinkles of joy surround them. There's been a recent running joke between Harry and Liam that the owner is a grumpy old man except when he puts on a good mood around customers. They're pretty sure it has to do with his retirement approaching soon. As much as Chester hates the idea of leaving something he put his heart and soul into, his wife's feelings will always trump it. Retirement was inevitable, however.
"Say, do you think you could help me with something?" Chester questions.
"Sure, what is it?" Harry accepts quickly.
"Today Agnes' and I are celebrating our forty year anniversary. Can you see if Niall can come in after we close? I was thinking you guys could sing our favorite song for us," Chester explains.
Harry smiles, "Of course. I'll call Niall in a moment. Would you want me to decorate the shop to make it look special?"
Chester immediately agrees, thinking it's a wonderful idea. He notifies Harry that he's going to request that Liam come in early so it would allow Harry to go out to the shops and pick up decorations. Harry beams at Chester's adoration for his wife. Even after forty years together, he still wants to shower her with love and surprises. Agnes has come into the store quite a few times to see Chester and Harry thinks she's the sweetest lady out there, besides from his own mum. Occasionally she'll drop by just to surprise him with his favorite meal for lunch.
Clutching onto his phone, Harry excuses himself to call Niall as he steps into the back office. The store has been open for about half an hour now, but there's only been one customer to enter, which now leaves the shop temporarily vacant. He clicks on Niall's contact and holds his phone to his ear as he waits for Niall to answer. After the third ring, the Irish lad is connected to the call.
"Niall, please tell me you don't work today," Harry rushes out excitedly.
"No, I don't. Everything okay?" Niall questions, concerned.
Harry begins to explain the situation and asks if he would be alright with accompanying him to the shops to get decorations, as well as performing a song with him later tonight. Harry tries his best to describe Chester's marriage and how much it would mean to the owner if he agreed. And although Niall doesn't know the couple well, Harry has proven himself to be very reliable so it's easy to take his word for it. Not to mention, the lad was kind enough to provide him a much needed and appreciated second job so Niall felt like he owed it to him. Regardless, it didn't take much convincing in the first place so Niall quickly agrees.
In less than twenty minutes, Niall arrives at the music store and they decide to take his car to the shops. A couple minutes prior, Liam had clocked in early as not to leave Chester working alone.
Harry ducks down swiftly to enter the passenger side of Niall's car, shooting him a smile as they make eye contact. After he fastens his seat belt, Harry realizes he's still wearing his name tag attached to his lanyard so he slips it off and stuffs it in his front pocket.
"What's on our shopping list?" Niall asks after beginning to drive.
Harry runs a hand through his long hair as he ponders about it, "I was thinking string lights, candles, and flowers."
Niall hums softly, "So how long have you known Chester?"
"Since I was eighteen," Harry states. "He's been like a second father to me and he helped grow my passion for music."
He laughs as he continues, "Chester helped me score my first gig, but to be honest I was bloody horrible at the time. I messed up the first lyric that came out of my mouth, I was so nervous."
Niall laughs along with him, "My first gig was the same way, for some reason I decided to play So Sick by Ne-Yo. The drunk men at the pub had a good laugh, though."
While it's often said that opposites attract, Harry sure is glad that there are quite a few similarities between the two of them. Just when he thinks he's alone in something, Niall pops up and joins him. It makes Harry feel comforted knowing he's not by himself in certain aspects of life. He glances over to Niall, contently observing his smile and his eyes hidden behind a pair of black aviators.
Once he turns his vision back to the road in front of him, Harry realizes they've just pulled into a parking spot at a local home goods shop. The area they both live in has a multitude of stores and restaurants within a five mile radius which lends to swift convenience. On cue, the two of them unfasten their seatbelts and step out of the car simultaneously. Niall is about a few steps ahead causing Harry to quicken his pace to catch up. Harry curiously looks down at Niall's hand, feeling an urge to interlock theirs together. He resists since he's unsure if they have reached that stage yet.
"Should we grab a trolley?" Niall asks.
"Only if you push me around in it," Harry sarcastically counters.
"Hop in," Niall commands. That causes Harry to snap his head towards Niall in perplexity. He internally questions if he's actually being serious. Niall catches his hesitation and stares him down, as if saying you won't. Harry sighs, but nonetheless clambers in the large cart. He feels awkward with his knees up to his chest.
Niall smugly smiles as he places his hands on the handlebar, proceeding to push the trolley around as if he didn't have a lanky, six foot tall man inside. Harry's cheeks flush, trying to overcome the overwhelmingly large amount of humiliation he feels. He turns back slightly to gain sight of Niall, watching as he nods at the bystanders who stare in either disappointment or strange confusion. Harry's come to realize that Niall has no shame and appears seemingly unfazed during public acts of strange endeavors.
"Comfortable?" He questions, terribly trying to stifle a laugh.
Harry crosses his arms and rolls his eyes even though Niall is oblivious to it from his position. He decides to rotate his body around so he's now facing Niall, which helps to lessen his distress since Harry can now focus his gaze on him, shielding him from the judgemental eye contact of others.
"I can't believe I'm riding in a shopping trolley on company time," Harry remarks.
That causes Niall to burst out laughing. Harry can't help to smile as Niall leans his head back in laughter, feeling slightly proud that he was the one to cause that reaction. Through his hysterics, Niall continues to steer them to the aisle he presumes contains the lighting. Harry begins to noticeably relax because of how comfortable Niall makes him feel.
"Oiy," Harry calls. "You've passed the string lights." Sure enough, Niall turns around to see that he indeed did pass the lights. As he steps backwards, Niall begins to make beeping sounds as if he's mimicking a car in reverse.
"Alright, I've had enough," Harry chuckles, climbing out of their cart.
Niall nudges him with his shoulder playfully as they stare at the assortment of boxes. Harry sneaks a glance and begins to sway his hips back and forth against Niall's, contemplating for way too long over which lights to choose.
"How 'bout these?" Niall asks, picking up a box and showing it to Harry.
"That'll do," He nods, causing Niall to toss the box carelessly in the trolley. Harry quickly takes over command of the cart and begins pushing it to the next aisle over for candles.
Niall hums along to whatever overplayed song is being broadcasted through the store as Harry grabs a mass amount of unscented candles at various heights. Niall ultimately let Harry pick everything out since it was his event to plan. He did, however, want to complain during several points when Harry was taking an unnecessarily long amount of time choosing the damn candles. He resisted, though. Just when Niall thought they were done, Harry got distracted by the party supplies and added a banner and some balloons to their cart. Much to his relief, Harry finally leads them to the checkout.
After Harry pays, they walk to the car park and load Niall's car with their recent purchase. They had one more stop to make and that was to a flower shop.
"You're letting me pick the flowers," Niall states.
Harry schoffs sarcastically, "And what's wrong with my decision making?"
"As if you don't know," Niall laughs. "You're very indecisive."
"Since when is it a crime to make sure I'm completely content with a purchase?" Harry huffs.
As Niall keeps his eyes trained to the road, he places his hand on Harry's shoulder, "You know you're cute when you're grumpy? I promise I'll pick the best flowers you'll ever see."
Harry eventually surrenders. The drive was very short considering it was across the street from the plaza they were just at. As they enter the flower store, Niall immediately eyes a big bouquet of red and white roses in a clear vase and directs them over to it. He grins at Harry when he picks the vase of flowers up, seeing him shake his head, trying to contain a smile since he knew Niall was right. He ushers them to the till to pay and soon enough, they were out the door.
"It's annoying when you're right," Harry admits, staring out the side window as Niall drives them back.
Niall extends his arm out towards Harry, placing his hand on Harry's thigh with his palm facing upwards. Harry turns his head at the touch and looks down, shyly smiling. He brings his own hand on top of Niall's and interlocks them together.
"I'll try to be wrong next time," Niall playfully replies.
"Thank you," Harry mumbles.
The rest of the short drive back, they remained silent. Harry was trying to contain his giddiness as they held hands and Niall was reveling in the touch of Harry's smooth skin, swiping his thumb continuously on the backside of Harry's hand. To both of their dismay, they arrived back to the music store sooner than they wanted. Just as Harry steps out of the car with the vase of flowers in hand, his phone begins to ring. He sees that it's Chester and answers.
"Harry, lad, I hope it's not too late. I forgot to ask if you could pick up some flowers for me," Chester states with urgency.
As Harry answers the call, Niall grabs all the shopping bags with one hand and his guitar in the other and the two of them walk up to the entrance. Harry simply chuckles in response to Chester as he makes eye contact with him after entering through the door. Chester lets out a sigh of relief when he spots the flowers and ends the call.
"You two are lifesavers," Chester says lightheartedly.
"What about me?" Liam interjects, causing the three of them to stare in his direction.
Chester laughs, "Yes, you too, Liam."
Harry leads Niall to the couches, where they set the bags down and begin to set everything up. Chester walks over to look at the decorations they purchased and grins in appreciation. He pats Harry on the back and thanks the two of them. Before Liam is able to say anything else again, he turns back to the lad and thanks him for coming into work early. That causes Liam to smile happily.
Chester is quick to tell the pair what song he wants them to perform so it will give them time to rehearse and allow Chester to help Liam tend to the customers that come in.
"Do you know Songbird? It's by Fleetwood Mac," Chester questions.
They both nod.
[x]
Two hours have passed along with countless bickering as they perfect their performance. Harry learned the keys on the piano after an hour and Niall effortlessly picked up the right chords on the guitar. They also settled on who would sing which part and when to bring in harmonies. Customers would often dwell nearby to watch their process and complimented when they heard them sing.
It isn't until a little after seven that Chester's wife Agnes finally arrives. She was unaware of the upcoming situation, only that her husband had a surprise for her. When the store closed, they shut off the main lights and turned on the string lights and lit the candles. Liam decided to stick around to watch the performance as well. When Agnes walks in, she immediately brings a hand up to her mouth in shock as she walks towards her husband.
With that as their cue, Harry starts playing the piano as Niall begins to strum his guitar. Chester brings an arm around his wife as they watch the pair perform.
"To you, I would give the world
To you, I'd never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's all right, I know it's right
And the songbirds keep singing like they
Know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before, like never before"
Agnes cries after Harry and Niall finish singing and embraces her husband. Liam applauds enthusiastically, interrupting the silence.
Chester mouths to the two of them as he continues to hug his wife, "thank you."