Louis pushes open the door of his favourite record shop. He hears the bell ring as he enters and he waves hello to the cashier.
“Hey Louis!” the cashier says.
“Hey Mark, how’s it going?” Louis replies.
“Things are going pretty good for me. How about you?” Mark answers.
“Same here,” Louis says with a smile.
“Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for today?” Mark asks.
“Nope, just checking out the new releases!” Louis responds.
“Alright! I hope you find something you like,” Mark says.
“You know I will,” Louis responds as Mark turns to help a customer who just walked up to the counter.
Louis walks towards the new release section and starts flipping through the records. He spots a few names that he’s heard of and a few that he hasn’t. Some of the records are albums and some others are just singles.Out of the corner of his eye, Louis notices a figure come around the shelf and move close to him. The stranger stands next to him and starts looking through the newly released records as well. Louis turns his head towards them and sees a beautiful man standing there. He’s tall with short, dark hair and bright green eyes. He notices Louis’ gaze and turns to face him.
“Looking for some new music, I assume?” the man asks.
“Yep. Not sure what I’m going to get yet” Louis responds.
“Same here,” the man says.
“What type of music do you typically listen to?” Louis asks.
“A bit of everything. Did you hear that Zayn Malik is supposed to be releasing something soon?” the man replies.
“No I hadn’t! I’ll have to check it out. I did hear about Taylor Swift’s new album though. That comes out pretty soon, I believe,” Louis answers.
“Yeah, it does! I’m looking forward to it,” the man says.
They both go back to their browsing. Finally, Louis sees something that really catches his eye. He pulls a 45 RPM record off of the shelf and excitedly looks it over.
“Holy shit, I forgot that this was coming out this week!” Louis exclaims.
“What’s that?” the man asks.
“Liam Payne’s new song. It’s called ‘Teardrops,’” Louis says, excitedly.
“I’ve never heard of him,” the man says.
“You’ve never heard of Liam Payne?” Louis asks, sounding shocked.
“No, I haven’t. Is that an issue?” the man asks, chuckling.
“Of course it’s an issue, Mr…” Louis says, feigning offence.
“Styles. Harry Styles,” the man finishes with a soft smile.
“Well, Mr. Styles, I’m Louis, and I must educate you on the true meaning of good music,” Louis states.
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Harry asks.
“By introducing you to Liam’s music,” Louis says before absentmindedly grabbing Harry’s hand and pulling him through the store to the boxes of records marked “P.”
When he realises that he was holding Harry’s hand he blushes and quickly lets go before flipping through the records. Finally he finds a copy of LP1 and picks it up. He hands it to Harry who looks it over.
“Damn, he’s hot,” Harry says.
“Isn’t he? And he has a great voice. I love his music,” Louis says with a grin.
Harry nods and says, “Alright, I’ll buy this, but on one condition.”
“What’s that?” Louis asks.
“I get to pick something out for you,” Harry says. He grins and Louis notices his dimples.
Louis pretends to think about it, putting on a show of scratching his chin and humming before saying, “Alright, but it better be good!”
“It will be, I promise!” Harry says with a laugh.
“What’s it gonna be?” Louis asks.
“Have you ever heard of Niall Horan?” Harry questions.
“Yes! I love Flicker but Heartbreak Weather is in my Spotify Wrapped every year!” Louis replies.
“Have you heard his latest album, The Show?” Harry asks.
“WHAT? No- I didn’t realise it had been released yet! Is it good?” Louis responds, surprised.
“It’s Niall, of course it’s good!” Harry chuckles as he leads Louis over to the “H” boxes.
“I would’ve started you out at the beginning with Flicker if you hadn’t heard it already. I love listening to albums in the order of release,” Harry comments.
“Me too,” Louis says, “It really shows you the growth over the artist’s career.”
“Exactly!” Harry agrees, as he finds a copy of The Show and hands it to Louis.
The two men chat while looking around the store together. Once they’re content with what they’ve found, they go up to the register together. There’s a short line to check out so they stand together to wait.
“Let’s exchange numbers. I want to know if you end up liking the album,” Harry says.
“That sounds great,” Louis says, smiling.
They exchange contact information and Louis adds, “Maybe we could meet up this weekend to talk about the records? We could give each other more recommendations and just get to know each other better.”
“I think that’s a great idea! What do you think about that coffee shop just down the road from here?” Harry suggests.
“I love that coffee shop! That sounds perfect,” Louis replies.
They get to the front of the line and Mark says, “Are you two going on a date? I couldn’t help but overhear.”
Both Louis and Harry look at each other, eyes wide, before looking back at Mark.
“It’s not a date! Well, unless-” Louis stammers.
“I mean, it could be a date,” Harry replies, blushing.
Mark looks between the two, a small smirk appearing on the edge of his lips.
“Well, I suppose if you want to-” Louis stutters.
“Only if you want to-” Harry answers.
Mark laughs and says, “Well, if it is a date, the two of you would make a cute pair.”
Harry and Louis blush and quickly take turns checking out. They wave goodbye to Mark and leave the shop.
Once they’re outside of the shop, away from Mark’s eavesdropping, Louis looks at Harry and asks, “So, is it a date?”
“Well, would you like it to be one?” Harry asks.
“I would, but only if you’d like it to be one. If not, it can just be a friendly get-together,” Louis responds.
“I guess it’s a date then,” Harry says, smiling.
“I guess so,” Louis says, grinning.
They say their goodbyes and as they turn to leave, Louis looks over his shoulder. He makes eye contact with Mark, who is watching through the window. Mark winks and Louis mouths “Thank you.”
