Chapter 2: Meeting the Neighbour
When Harry opens the door, he almost doesn't recognize the same lad that was just standing outside his kitchen window. It's probably because said lad is now smiling brightly, with his eyes crinkling at the corners as way of greeting. Harry is so confused.
"Um, hi?"
"Hi! I mean, hello," the other lad greets happily, sticking out one of his hands for a handshake without dropping the cake and vase in his hands.
Harry didn't even notice this stranger was holding those things. Yeah. I'm definitely so confused right now, he thinks before he forces a smile on his face that doesn't even come close to the other lad's, and shakes his hands. He has a nice, firm grip, Harry notes before he realizes how long they've actually been shaking hands and how the other lad is actually holding onto his hand.
"Right. So, uh, who are you? I mean, not to be rude, although you were just outside my kitchen window, and – "
"Sorry about that! I was just trying to get you here so I could properly welcome you to the neighbourhood; with these!" the brown-eyed lad declares as he holds out the cake and vase towards Harry. "I'm Liam, by the way. Liam Payne."
"Harry Styles."
"I know," Liam says softly with a smile.
"Pardon?" the green-eyed lad questions, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
Liam shakes his head and chuckles to himself before he replies, "Never mind. I'm glad I could finally meet you, though. I noticed the moving truck you have on your driveway and I would've helped you carry some things in, but I saw you already had some friends for that."
"Oh. You were, um, watching us?"
"Do you need help unpacking? I wouldn't mind giving up some of my time for you."
"Yeah, he won't be needing your help, Leeroy or whatever your name is," Louis interrupts from behind Harry, tugging him back into the house. “But thanks for offering! Bye!”
He closes the door in front of Liam’s face then, missing the eye twitch on Liam’s face caused by Louis butting in and ruining his plan of getting close to Harry. But there’ll be other opportunities, he thinks to calm himself, shaking his head before he walks off Harry’s front porch and back into his own house. He can think of other plans, anyway. So many things to do.
“That was rude, Louis. He was just offering – “
“To possibly kill you? Harry, you can’t be so trusting and naïve, especially with your creepy neighbour.”
“You don’t even know him yet. I’m not gonna judge him like you are, even though he was standing outside my kitchen window telling me to go there,” Harry says the last part under his breath as he places the vase Liam gave him on a small side table in the living room.
“Then you obviously missed the way he was practically devouring you with his eyes,” Louis retorts, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Stop being ridiculous. He wasn’t looking at me like that.”
“Ooh. Cake!” Niall exclaims, completely oblivious to what they were talking about. “Can we cut that up and eat it now? You know, to celebrate Harry moving in here and all that. Plus, I’m hungry, so… Let us have cake, lads!”
Zayn chuckles and takes the cake from Harry’s arms to bring it to the kitchen. Niall eagerly follows, telling Zayn to cut him a big piece to ‘satisfy his never-ending hunger’. Harry makes to follow after them, but Louis holds him back by grabbing his arm and gives him a stern look. The curly-haired lad blinks and silently asks Louis what else there is to say.
“Just be careful, okay? I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either; whether you know him or not.”
“What exactly do you think he’ll do to me? He gave me cake and a vase to welcome me to the neighbourhood. No one else did that. He’s nice, Lou. Stop overthinking and just eat the cake.”
“And what if that cake is poisoned?” Louis challenges.
“Then Niall would be dead by now, cuz I’m pretty sure he’s inhaling his piece,” Zayn answers instead, poking his head out from the kitchen. “You might wanna get your slice before he inhales that too. Wouldn’t be good for his stomach later, but we’ll avoid telling him that, okay?”
“Come on, Lou. Niall’s still alive. Nothing’s wrong with the cake. Just eat,” Harry prompts as he enters the kitchen.
~~~
THE NEXT DAY…
Harry wakes up around noon the next day, determined to unpack the rest of his stuff alone. After him and the lads ate the cake and went out last night to ‘drink their hearts out’, as Niall likes to say every time they go out, Harry pretty much passed out on his bed in his new bedroom.
Now, Harry puts on pajama bottoms and a loose shirt to feel comfortable for the busy day ahead. It’s mostly just unpacking the boxes and luggages full of clothes. It needs to be done, though. He needs his clothes, for sure.
As soon as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, the doorbell rings, startling him.
I’m definitely not expecting anyone, he thinks as he stares at the door, not really sure what to do. I mean, he knows he should probably check who it is, then decide whether he should open it or not, but this is too – How can he even describe this moment, anyway?
The doorbell goes off again, then again. Harry sighs and hesitantly goes to the door, looking through the peephole and seeing none other than Liam.
Of course. Who else should he have expected, since his mates are probably still sleeping even at this time and would stay at their own homes to deal with their hangovers? But why is Liam here right now? Did he know Harry has just woken up? How would he have known that? And at the exact moment that he just walked down the stairs?
Instead of continuing to overthink this, Harry lets out a nervous breath and opens the door with a small smile.
“Hi, Liam.”
“Good afternoon, Harry! How was last night?”
“Uh, good. Me and the lads went out for a drink, and we ended up drinking more than I hoped for. But, um, how did you know about last night?”
“Oh. I just saw you guys heading out your house last night, then you came home around 2 in the morning. I’m glad you had fun, though. How are you feeling today? Still hungover, or did your long sleep help enough?” Liam asks politely.
Harry is just even more confused, because how could Liam know what time he came home and how long he slept ? This is really freaking me out now. Who is Liam Payne and how does he already know all these things happened after a day? Why is he here again?
“So, why exactly are you here?”
“Right. I was actually gonna ask you if you need help getting rid of that hangover,” Liam responds simply.
“No need. I’m fine, really. I was just gonna unpack all of my clothes today. Hopefully I get it all done today, then I can relax for the rest of the week before I start working.”
“Do you need help?”
“I – I think I’m fine doing it on my own, actually. I was gonna have a quick lunch, since I missed breakfast earlier, then I was gonna unpack all day. I can manage on my own, Liam. But thanks for the offer.”
Liam’s smile dropped visibly for about a second, but then it returned as he leaned closer to Harry slightly. “I’m sure you’ll need help unpacking with how much clothes you have. I really wouldn’t mind helping you, Harry. It would be time spent very well, if you ask me.”
“Then, um, since you’re so eager, why don’t you come in and help me? After I eat lunch, that is.”
“Of course. You’re gonna need to energy,” Liam comments as he enters Harry’s house with a triumphant smile, looking around entrance hallway. “For unpacking I mean.”
“Yeah… So, I’m gonna make myself lunch now. You can just sit and watch TV in the living room,” Harry informs him awkwardly, leading the way and turning on the television before handing the remote to Liam.
The brown-eyed lad smiles back after taking the remote, and Harry swears he notices Liam’s eyes linger on the vase he had given yesterday. Liam may also be smiling at seeing it placed there, but Harry can’t be sure. He shrugs and goes to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich or two. Maybe even three, because he’s actually very hungry, now that he thinks about it. He grabs the bread and other ingredients to make the sandwiches, calling out to Liam if he wants a drink while he’s waiting.
“Water’s fine!”
“Right. Water,” Harry mumbles to himself as he takes a water bottle out of the fridge and straightens up as it closes.
He lets out a shout when he sees Liam standing at the entrance of the kitchen, looking confused at the sound Harry made. “You okay?”
“Yeah. You just – You scared me. I didn’t know you were there. I didn’t even hear you walk in here. I was about to give you a water bottle, but you’re here, so… Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
“Something else you need?”
“More like someone,” Liam mumbles, shaking his head at Harry’s confused look. “Just couldn’t find anything good to watch on TV. Besides, I thought I could help you make lunch. What are you having? Sandwiches? Sounds good.”
“Oh, you really don’t have to help. I can make my own sandwiches,” Harry protests when Liam grabs slices of bread.
When Liam still doesn’t listen, Harry gives up and lets the other lad help him. It’s actually quite fun, especially with Liam trying to lighten the mood and stop things from being so awkward since the beginning. He even laughs at Harry’s very lame jokes, which only brightens Harry’s mood and makes himself glad that he allowed Liam to help him out.
“So, did you always want to move to London?” Liam asks once they are sat at the table as Harry eats.
“Yeah. I mean, my friends moved down here a few years ago, and they’ve managed to convince me to move here as well. I don’t regret it either. It’s nice to be on my own.”
“Not for long, I hope.”
“What do you mean?” Harry asks, catching what Liam said.
The older lad clears his throat before responding. “It’s nice to be on your own, true, but it’s even better to have company, isn’t it?”
“Mhm. It was nice to have the lads over here yesterday to help me move in. Reminded me of when we all used to live near each other and hang out all the time.”
“But it’s also nice to have new company too, right?”
“Of course. You’re here, and it’s better than I expected. No offense,” Harry adds the last part when he noticed Liam frown slightly. But he could’ve just imagined that, because Liam is smiling again and leaning closer to him a bit. “Um, how long have you lived here?”
Liam blinks at that question, as if he just thought about some memory Harry’s unaware of. “Just two years. But I must say, I’ve never had a neighbour quite like you before.”
“Who used to live in this house?”
“No one. Well, I guess that’s not true, since I used to own this house last year.”
“Really? You used to live here ?” Harry asks in disbelief.
“Not exactly. I used to own this house and the one next door where I’m living now. I bought both of them when I first moved here so I had more space and more… privacy, I guess you could say. But I decided to sell this house, since I preferred staying at my house and lucky me that you moved in.”
To say Harry is shocked to know that is an understatement. He can’t seem to believe it either. “Wow. So you must be rich then. Why live in that house instead of a mansion or something bigger?”
“My house has character, and I don’t have the heart to leave it.”
“How are the neighbours in this neighbourhood?”
“To be honest with you,” Liam starts, looking down at the table as he clenches his hand. “They don’t really like me. Couldn’t tell you why, really. I just don’t think they ‘approve’ of what I do.”
“Which is?”
Instead of responding, Liam looks over at Harry’s empty plate. “Looks like you’re finished eating. I don’t want to bore you with stories about me anymore. Besides, you need to unpack your clothes, right? Might as well start now, in case it takes much longer than I thought.”
But I wanna know more about you, Harry thinks, then shakes his head to get rid of that thought. He smiles softly at Liam, then gets up to put his plate away.
Maybe another time.