Harry didn’t know if he should be embarrassed or angry. He sat on his side of the booth, dread uncoiling inside his stomach, and continued to wait. People were starting to notice, too. He controlled his face as best as he could, but he felt the tips of his ears grow warmer by the minute. The kind waiter came by to refill his water for the second time.
“Traffic’s pretty bad by High Street, if that’s where you said he was coming from, sir.” Harry nodded and lowered his head, the waiter hesitating on whether or not to offer comfort, before moving on without doing anything. Harry checked his phone for any new messages, and reread, for probably the millionth time, the message history:
Is this harry?
yeah, who is this?
Mikey
From last night
oh, you alright mate? good to hear from you.
I really feel like we hit it off last night, wanna meet up today?
Harry never thought a hot snog with a fit American bloke and an exchange of numbers was considered as “hitting it off,” but who was he to say no? He was still pretty new to this whole bisexual thing and Mione had practically threatened his life if he stayed a recluse.
uh sure
where to?
I have this awesome restaurant in mind
I’ll send u the link
right then
see you there
And that was supposed to be it. He was charming, and Harry was excited, but not so much anymore. It had been thirty minutes.
hey i’m here, where are u?
A pause.
Hey man, sorry. I forgot. Some stuff came up.
Guess we weren’t meant to be.
Harry sat there in kind of a stunned silence. Weren’t meant to be? That’s all he had to say? He couldn’t believe he’d been such an idiot. He came out less than half a year ago and people were already standing him up. What the hell was wrong with him?
Right before he could think to stand up, he heard the door open and saw a gorgeous man walk through. He was slender, yet fit, and exuded confidence. He was wearing a black, tight-fitting button up tucked into black fitted trousers and he wore a long, beige trench coat with leather boots. His pale hair neatly gelled up and away from his face. He was holding a handbag that looked pretty expensive, too. Fuck. The man began walking towards him. Double fuck. With a shy smile, he sat down opposite Harry, folding his purse beside him. From the corner of his eye, Harry could see a few waiters look relieved and happy at the “date” arriving. Harry was just confused.
“Um-”
“Hi, I’m Draco. I was sitting outside at a cafe across the street for the past half hour and, erm, I don’t know, you just kinda looked a little lonely. I’m sorry if I’m intruding on something or if you're straight. I can totally leave,” the man said quickly in a low voice. He grabbed his purse as if ready to go.
“No!” He noticed he spoke a bit too loudly before readjusting his voice. “I mean, no. Don’t go. I, uh.. I just got stood up, so thank you for saving me.” Draco smiled shyly and put his purse back down next to him.
“Stood up? What bitch would do that to you?” Harry scratched the back of his neck with a nervous laugh.
“Um, it was more of an arsehole than a bitch...”
“His loss. He must be insane to skip out on someone as handsome as you.” Draco dragged the last words low and soft like a snake’s hiss, making the tips of Harry’s ears go bright red.
“Erm, thanks,” he managed to reply. He grabbed his water and took a deep drink to calm his nerves.
“No problem, daddy.” Draco smiled innocently as Harry almost choked on his water, offering his napkin with a raised brow.
How was he so confident? He just walked in and saved him from an embarrassing moment all suave and sexy, and Harry was sitting there like an awkward potato.
“Well you’re in luck, daddy. I happen to love potatoes.” Another innocent smile which made Harry put his head down in utter embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, I think out loud sometimes.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s cute.” Harry could feel the heat from his cheeks. “Aww, now you’re an adorable little tomato,” Draco cooed.
The kind waiter came by to get their orders, and Harry was glad to hide behind his menu, if only for a brief moment. They both ordered, Draco slyly adding chips as a side to his burger, making Harry laugh in his embarrassment. The waiter smiled, assessing Harry to be happy, and moved on.
Their quiet banter continued, and Draco’s subtle efforts to make him blush continued to take effect. Harry couldn’t help it, though. Draco was hilarious. They both laughed at everything, not even noticing they had finished their food. Subconsciously drifting closer to one another, they continued to talk. They had so much in common, it was almost scary.
“... and my two best friends are dating and have taken it upon themselves to thrust me on anyone who’s willing just so I can share a fraction of their joy.”
“That struggle is all too real, Harry. My best friend, Pansy, has been dying for me to meet someone especially now that she’s held a man for longer than six months.”
And they would burst into laughter, breaking away from each other.
“God, it’s like we’ve led parallel lives and now we’ve crossed paths.”
“I feel the same way, Draco. It’s really nice to find a friend in London.”
“You mean you’re not from here?”
“I am, but I went to a boarding school out in Scotland for most of my life. I only graduated a few years ago. My two friends I mentioned live outside the city in domestic bliss”
“Oh now that’s a little creepy. I also was shipped off to boarding school at a young age.”
“Oh dear, as long as it wasn’t Scotland?” Draco laughed.
“No, fortunately. It was in France, actually. Apparently the best in Europe or something.”
“Does this mean you can speak French?” Draco nodded, and Harry grabbed his hand. “Then this was definitely meant to be.” Draco’s quiet laughter was music to his ears.
After paying their check, Harry insisting on paying for them both since Draco saved him and all, they walked outside, only for it to suddenly start raining.
“My car’s parked a bit down the street. I can drop you off at home, if you’d like?” Harry said, not able to conceal his hopeful tone. Draco nodded and they both walked quickly to the car. After getting in, Draco looked over at Harry.
“You know, I usually get a guy’s number after the first date. Especially if he’s a fit one like you.” Harry looked back at him with wide eyes.
“Erm, this was a date?” Draco immediately backtracked at Harry’s reaction.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep or anything, I-”
“No, it’s okay! I know you did drop several hints, but I was just really nervous to get my hopes up and make this official,” Harry quickly cut in. Draco looked over at him with a soft smile.
“Of course I consider you my date, Harry. You’re an amazing person, and I’m so happy I met you today.”
Harry smiled at Draco and leaned over to kiss his cheek. Draco was surprised at the sweet gesture, but quickly smiled at how special that simple contact made him feel.
“Now who’s the adorable little tomato, Dray?”
“That one’s off the table Harry, just drive.” But any bite Draco had meant to use was washed away by Harry throwing his whole head back in a laugh as he pulled out onto the street.