Louis POV:

I'm shy. I don't really like meeting new people because I warm up to them too quickly and then they ditch me. That's happened all my life. So I just don't get close to people so that they don't hurt me.

I had one good friend, Stan, but we're not friends anymore. He was toxic, it's a long story. We usually hung out with a group of 2 others, but since I'm not talking to Stan anymore, I don't really see them either.

So basically, I have no friends. I know a few people, but nobody ever asks me how I'm doing. They never text me unless Itext then first and even then they leave me on read, and nobody ever asks me to hang out.

I'm not trying to be that kind of edgy kids with no friends, I genuinely don't have any. I spend my days going to school and scrolling through my phone, it's an endless cycle of 'I just have to get through the week'

After school people go over to their friends houses to hang out, but nobody ever invites me. I tried making friends in the past but they just never made any effort to get to know me better.

After a while I just figured I wouldn't talk to anybody unless they talk to me first, trying to show an actual effort.

I really want a friend. A really good friend. I only need one, I don't want tons and tons of friends like other people. Just one that I can trust my life with.

I would do anything for someone to come up to me and ask how I'm doing. But they never do.

I get really jealous that people have best friends, they go over after school and I just go back home. It gets frustrating and boring after a while, which is why I applied for a retail job at a local apple farm for something to do.

Thankfully, about a week later they called back asking when I could start.

So that bring us to now. Tomorrow is my first day on the job. I'll be a cashier. Its different but it will give me something to do.

:

I woke up to heavy snoring and my alarm clock blaring

"Niall move" I groaned trying to move out of under my sleeping friend

"Hmph" he groaned back, clinging on tighter

"Why are you even here? When I fell asleep you weren't here" I said, finally prying Niall off of me

"I got cold so I came over, your mum let me in" he said back making grabby hands for me to lay down

"No cuddles Niall, we have to be at work soon" I said

Niall just pouted and batted his eyelashes

"Okay fine, just 5 minutes though" I said rolling his eyes

Niall smiled and pulled me back down onto the bed, climbing back ontop of me. We cuddled for a while until we both agreed that we needed to get up

Niall has been my best friend forever. We hadn't really been too close, but recently Niall moved in next door and we grew alot closer. Niall is very clingy and loves cuddles when hes sleepy or drunk. Its adorable really, and nothing gets awkward between us, that's just the quality of our friendship.

Niall is a real one, he knows I'm bi, but doesn't care. He doesn't get freaked out if were alone like everyone else did. Niall has a girlfriend named Layla, they've been together for about a year, but she recently moved across the country to attend university.

He misses her alot and they call every day. It's kind of disgusting, but honestly I wish I had that kind of relationship with someone

We grabbed some food and drove to work.

I parked my car and we got out, walking towards the office to clock in

"Hey! There's my favorite workers. You two are down in retail today, can you set up your cash registers?" Janet, our boss said

"Yeah, for sure" Niall replied with a smile

"Oh, before I forget. Theres a new employee in today. I need one of you to train him on cash. It shouldn't be too busy today so you can train him during his shift" Janet said, handing us our cash boxes

"Ok, cool" I responded

We walked down through the farm where we worked, to the exit where retail was.

We set up our cash registers beside eachother and started cleaning up before the people began to come in.

"Wheres the new guy?" Niall asked

"Dunno" I replied

Niall smiled and opened his arms up for a hug

"Why are you so clingy today hm?" I laughed, hugging him

"I'm cold and tired and I like your hugs" Niall mumbled into my shoulder

Harry smiled and patted him on the back before pulling away, leaving a pouting Niall

"We can hug later Ni, we have to put the stuff on the shelves"

Niall nodded and grabbed a few boxes to put on the shelf

I hopped over the counter and promptly fell on my side

"YOU FELL HAHAHAH" Niall laughed loudly

I just shook my head and layed there for a bit

"Your so clumsy, you get hurt every shift" Niall said helping me up

"I know, I'm just happy nobody saw that" I said laughing

"Um, hi. Harry and Niall? I'm Louis" a boy said walking around the corner

"Oh! Hey Louis. Yeah that's us. This is your first day yeah?" Niall said and Louis nodded

"Okay cool, so it's not gonna be too busy today so we'll train you on cash" Harry said brushing off his jacket

"You okay? I saw you fall" Louis said trying to hide a smile

"He's accident prone, you can laugh mate" Niall laughed clapping Louis on the shoulder

"Niall you do the shelves" I said

Niall smiled and walked away

"Okay so you just scan the barcodes and then click this button and type the amount onto the Menaris machine. 2 receipts print out, so you give one to the customer and we keep one" I explained pressing the buttons

"Okay" Louis said

"Okay, so pretend I'm gonna buy a bag of apples and a pie, cash me out" I said jumping onto the opposite side of the counter

"Okay" Louis laughed. He scanned both items and did what I told him to do perfectly.

"Awesome, you've got it down already, good job" I smiled

"GUYS" Niall screamed from the shelves

"WHAT" I screamed back

"IT'S AN EMERGENCY"

"ARE YOU BLEEDING"

"NO?"

"THEN IT'S NOT AN EMERGENCY"

"JUST COME HERE HARRY"

They laughed and walked over to where Niall was

"What?" I ask annoyed

"M'cold" Niall replied

"I told you to bring a jacket" I sighed

"I know you just want me to hug you, I'm not gonna Niall we're at work" I laughed

The rest of the shift went on as normal. Niall kept trying to hug me and Louis was always very quiet.

This is okay. Obviously I got my hopes up into thinking my coworkers would be my friends but they very obviously didn't want to. It looks like they're already friends and they they don't want me to intrude. I understand. Niall kept trying to hug Harry but he never wanted to. He never tried to hug me. I mean, why would he? They don't even know me.

If either one of them tried to hug me I would gladly hug back. In fact, that would probably be the highlight of my week.

No, I cant think like that. They're my coworkers not my friends. If I get too attached they'll just break my heart.

Late at night after my first shift I got a call. It was my manager asking me to cover a midnight shift in place of Niall because he got the flu. I said yes and immediately went to sleep. I geuss I did okay today if she wants me to cover his shift.

The next day I went to school and then put my work uniform on and hopped in the car.

I cranked the music up and started driving. It was 11:30pm and my shift ended at 8am.

I walked into the office and sas my boss sleeping. I laughed and clocked in.

It was really dark and cold. I had to walk through the whole farm just to get to retail.

I pulled my hood up and my sleeves over the palms of my hands trying to keep warm

"Hey Louis, wait up" Harry shouted from a few feet back

I flinched and spun around, startled by the sudden noise

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I scare you? I'm sorry" Harry said walking beside me

"Oh haha, no. It's okay" I replied, surprised he was actually talking to me

He smiled and looked at me, quickly looking away

"Erm...so...is Niall okay?" I asked

"Oh yeah he's fine. He's come down with the flu, that explains why he was so damn cuddly yesterday" Harry explained

I nodded as we neared the cash registers.

"Okay, so obviously theres not gonna be any customers for a few hours, so we just have to sweep and stock the shelves" Harry said

They walked over to the shelves and began putting the jars and bottles in rows silently

"So" Harry said, breaking the awkward silence

"So" I replied

"Tell me about yourself" he said

"I'm not very exciting" I replied

"I'm sure you are. What are your hobbies?" He said

I was shook. Somebody was actually interested in talking to me

"I like footie, how about you?" I replied, leaving out alot of things

I wanted to rant to him about how much I liked singing, but I didn't want him to make fun of me for it. People always make fun of me for singing, they say it's too feminine. I never sing in public either, no way I'm too insecure for that.

"Oh that sounds fun. Yeah I like footie too, I also sing" Harry said

"Wait. You sing?" I replied

"Yeah"

"I- I sing too" I said quietly

"No way! I bet your voice is amazing, we should sing for eachother sometime" He laughed

I just laughed along.

We finished up with the shelves and went back behind the counter

"Well we wont have any customers for another hour or so. We can just chill until then" Harry said

"Do you want an apple cider?" He asked

"Sure, thank you" I replied

He smiled and we walked to the food area. He hopped over the counter and grabbed 2 cups, pouring us some hot apple cider

I couldn't help but laugh as he slipped off the counter

"Hey, I saw that mister" he smirked

I just laughed harder

We walked back to retail and pulled up 2 chairs

"So Louis. Wait, can I call you Lou? It's just that for as long as I can remember I always gave my friends nicknames" He ranted

A flutter in my stomach erupted when I heard the word 'friend'

He must have seen me smiling when I didn't answer

"Lou? Can I call you that?" He asked quieter

"Mhm, yeah" I said, snapping out of my daze

Suddenly his phone started ringing and my smile dropped when he squealed and answered it

"Hi Ni. Yeah I'm here. Yeah? Okay. No oh my god. Fine yeah. I hope you feel better. No I will not, I'm kinda busy right now. Okay, see you tomorrow. Love you too" he said smiling

"Niall ugh" he groaned and I just smiled down at my lap

"Why aren't you drinking your cider?" He asked in a small voice

"Oh, uh it's just a bit hot. I'm letting it cool down a bit" I replied

Harry pouted and took the drink out of my hand. He took off the lid and lightly blea on the brown liquid.

He took a small sip and smiled.

"Here ya go, it's not too hot now" he said handing it back to me with a big grin

"Thank you Harry" I blushed.

Nobody in my life has cared for me enough to do that. I felt so....loved?

We both sipped on our drinks for a while before Harry asked a specific question

"So tell me about your friends"

"Oh um, I don't really have any" I said. I shouldn't have told him. Now he's going to pitty me. I don't want his pitty

"What do you mean? I'm your friend" he said, dramatically putting his hand over his heart

"I mean other than you" I laughed

"You must have at least one" Harry said

I shook my head and let out a sad laugh

"Well, I used to have one but..." I trailed off. I wanted to tell him about Stan, but I don't want him to judge me the same way Stan did

"But what Lou, what happened" Harry said

"I don't know" I replied, taking a long sip

"If I tell you I don't think you'll want to be friends anymore" I said in a shaky laugh

"What? No, I'd never not want to be friends with you" he replied

"Do you promise not to judge me?" I ask, not making eye contact

"Of course I won't judge you darling" Harry said

My heart fluttered at the pet name

"Well, I used to be best friends with this one guy named Stan...and um...I started to um...I kind of started to uh" I stuttered

"Its okay Lou, just one thought at a time, yeah?" Harry said softly, leaning forward slightly, our knees bumping

"Um, I started to like him. And I told him, but he was um.....like, homophobic and like he just didn't want to be friends with me anymore" I said twiddling with my thumbs

I gulped and looked up

"I'm so sorry, that must have really hurt" Harry said

"Yeah. And it's not just because he didn't like me back, I would have been okay with that. It's the fact that he treated me like shit afterwards. He just completely stopped talking to me. He was my only friend so I didn't really have anyone to talk to yknow. Sorry, I'm probably boring you" I ranted, putting my head in my hands

"Hey Lou. Look up at me okay" he said, moving my hands from my face

"Stan is an asshole. Don't waste your precious brain power worrying about him, he's not worth your time. And you could never bore me" He said

I just sniffled and smiled, reaching for my drink again

At the same time, Harry also reached for my drink to hand it to me, our hands brushed and I quickly pulled back.

He gave me a sympathetic smile and handed me the cup. I took a long sip and layed my head back on the wall, closing my eyes

He was very quiet so I opened my eyes again to see him leaning forward with his forearms propped against his knees. He was looking at me and smiling. I couldn't help but return it

"Hm?" I asked

"Nothin'' he smiled

I shook my head and smiled

A gust of wind swept through the air, making me shiver

I reached down to my bag to get my sweater and laughed when I didn't see it

"What's wrong?" Harry asked

"Ah nothing. I'm just dumb" I replied

"What do you mean?" Harry said with a mischievous look on his face

"I just forgot my sweater at home" I laughed

"Oh, do you want mine?" Harry asked

"No no, that's okay" I replied

"No really, take it. Are you cold?" Harry asked

"I'm a bit cold but it's alright, thanks though" I said

"Shut up and take my sweater" Harry laughed taking his sweater out of his bag and tossing it to me

"Are you sure?" I said tentatively

"Yeah Lou, I'm sure" he said smiling fondly. He quickly looked away and started fiddling with his fingers

After a while they went to stack the shelves again. They had to move pies from one shelf, across the store to another

"Just hand me 6 at a time and I'll walk them over" Harry said

I picked up 2 and placed them in his arms. I did this 2 more times until Harry had 6 pies stacked on his arms

We did this over and over until the shelf was stacked high with pies.

"Alright, one more trip" Harry laughed

As I gave Harry the last pie, our hands brushed slightly

"Sorry" I said

"What, why?" Harry said confused

"Oh, um nothing" I replied

"But why did you say sorry?" He said

"It was nothing" I said quieter

We walked back to the counter and sat in our chairs again

I pulled my hood over my head and tried to warm up

"Cold Lou?" Harry asked

"Mhm" I said back

"Stand up" he said

I gave him a confused look but stood up anyways. He smiled and hugged me, rubbing my back

"This okay?" He asked, his voice right beside my ear

I smiled and rested my head in the crook of his neck. We stood there for a while until I was warm

"Niall wouldn't be happy if he saw us like this" I laughed

"What, why not?" Harry laughed. I tried to pull away because I thought he didn't want to hug me anymore, but instead he just pulled me back into a tighter hug

"Well you guys are dating, are you not?" I asked

"What? No, no, no. He's just my best friend" Harry laughed

"O-oh, I'm so sorry for thinking that. It's just that you guys looked really close, you know?" I said blushing

"We are really close yeah, we've been friends for a long time. He's my only real friend, besides you of course" he smiled

"Good morning boys, do you know what kind of apples are in these pies" a customer said, startling both of us

"Oh, I'm sorry, did u scare you? Am I interrupting something?" The old lady asked

"No, no it's okay. Um, the apples are northern spy. Is there anything else I can help you with" Harry replied nicely

"No that's okay thank you" she replied walking away

We looked at eachother and bursted out laughing

"Holy shit she scared me" I laughed holding my stomach

"Me too" Harry laughed

It was about 3am now and both of us were super tired. I yawned and rested my head in my arms on the table

"Sleepy?" He asked

I mumbled in response

"Well that must not be very comfy. Come up here, you can sleep on my shoulder" Harry suggested, his voice suddenly alot quieter

I stood up and he opened his arms, pulling me close to his chest. He opened up his jacket and wrapped it around my sides, making me giggle.

I nuzzled into the crook of his neck and closed my eyes. His hands slowly rubbing circles on my sides, making my skin warm from the friction.

He leaned back against a wall and I layed more horizontally on his chest. I felt myself drift asleep. We both stood there hugging in the dark, the cool wind whipping through our hair, and our soft even breaths warming up eachothers skin.

About a half hour later I woke up. I felt safe and secure and- no. I can't do this, I can't get this close with him. I prayed myself from his death grip and he pouted pulling me back

"Comfy" he mumbled

I just collapsed back into his arms. I'm touch deprived what can I say?

Attraction is like a drug. You get attached to someone and you try to forget about them, but you can't. Any you eventually give up. That's why breakups are so hard. Because you love the person but you can't forget about them.

"Tell me something" Harry said

"What do you want to know?" I ask back

"Anything"

I ponder for a moment before opening my mouth

"It drives me crazy how humans are just meant to hold eachother. How come, when you hold someone's hand, your fingers just interlock perfectly with theirs? How is it that when you hug someone, your face fits just right in the crook of their neck? How can your hands cup someones face like that's their only primary function? It cannot be a coincidence that people's body's are fully capable of holding eachother....people were designed to lov-" I ranted, but was cut off by a pair of warm plump lips

Harry moved forward and collided our lips sweetly. I was surprised at first, but quickly started kissing back with just as much passion.

The kiss was absolutely perfect. Harry pulled back, our lips making a satisfying popping noise. He left one more peck on my lips before he rested our foreheads together

"That story was beautiful Lou" he whispered

I didn't respond, instead I tilted my head slightly and leaned in hesitantly to him again. He cupped my cheeks and connected our lips once again for a brief second.