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Campus is quiet as Harry walks through after his last lecture of the day – an afternoon class all about ancient Greek literature which was supposed to have ended an hour ago but his professor was so keen on discussing Plato that they ended up running over, and now he’s starving and still has about a fifteen minute walk back to his flat before he can have dinner. Fuck it he thinks I eat healthy every other day, I can have some fucking Cheetos. So he walks to where he thinks he’ll find the nearest vending machine. Unfortunately there are no Cheetos, but there are some spectacularly orange looking Goldfish crackers that will just have to do. He punches in all the numbers eager to get his hands on some kind of sustenance.
“Are you fucking kidding me,” he mutters kicking the machine that has imprisoned his beloved food within its metal coil. “This is just perfect, icing on the cake one might say,” he says to himself all the while kicking with increasing force at the vending machine. “OH MY GOD this is a joke,” he finally loses patience – and probably any shred of dignity he may have had before this experience. Bending down he reaches his hand into the machine hoping that his long arm and fingers will work to his advantage.
And it does – until he can’t get said arm out of the machine.
He struggles for a while, tries carefully maneuvering and wiggling his arm until he loses patience and just ends up worse off than he was when he started. He almost gives up hope on life, deciding that maybe this was the path he was set out to be on, he’ll forever be known as “that weird guy stuck in the vending machine” but hey, maybe someone will take pity and feed him so it’s not all bad. He’s in the middle of imagining what his life as Vending Machine Man will be like when he hears someone laughing.
“Mate are you alright?” they say with an Irish accent shaking with poorly suppressed laughter. It isn’t until Harry looks up that he sees him and even then he can’t really make out the guy’s face from his place on the floor. He can tell that the guy is blond and not that tall, but his other features are lost as he throws his head back and laughs again.
“Um, no … I’m kind of stuck?” Harry manages to say without sounding too pissed off. It just sets the guy off laughing even harder, “yeah mate I can see that,” he says. “You want some help getting out?” Duh you fucking idiot Harry thinks to himself hungry and pissed off that he doesn’t get to eat his goddamn Goldfish.
“Um yeah if you wouldn’t mind I tried getting out myself but I just made it worse,” he tells the guy while trying to gesture at his predicament using the hand that’s trapped. “’Course bro, it’s no problem,” the guy says right before he kneels down next to Harry and oh my god he’s hot. “My name’s Niall by the way,” he says suddenly sticking his left hand out for Harry to shake. “Oh, um, Harry, it’s nice to meet you,” honestly he’s just impressed he managed to say anything to Niall seeing as he’s got the most sinfully beautiful lips Harry’s ever seen in his life. Oh god I hope I don’t fuck this up anymore than I have. I hope he likes guys, though I mean, would he even like me? He’s fucking hot and– Harry is pulled from his train of thought when Niall turns to him and asks, “So how do you think we should get you out? I take it the ol’ kick and jab didn’t work for you before?” his voice shaking with laughter once again.
“Are you just gonna laugh at me or are you actually gonna help me?” Harry blurts out grumpily, eyes widening when he realizes what he’s just said. “Oh shit Niall, I’m sorry that was so rude, you’re just trying to help and I’m being rude and . . . and you’re laughing again. . . ?” He doesn’t get it; he was just rude to this guy who’s trying to help him out and yet Niall doesn’t seem to care, finds it funny even.
“You’re cute when you’re flustered y’know,” Niall murmurs, and oh Harry was not expecting that, he can feel the blush creep across his face; even more so when he feels Niall’s fingers on his arm helping to gently pull it from the vending machine. He’s got one hand pushing up the flap of the machine and the other helping to pull at Harry’s arm.
“Oh … um … oh yeah,” is all Harry can say once he realizes that this is not a one-way job and he actually has to put in effort as well. Together they help to shimmy Harry’s arm out of the vending machine, though Harry spends more time staring at Niall than he does actually helping him.
“Oh my god thank you so much Niall, I would have been stuck for ages before I got myself out, thank you,” Harry says as he works the pins and needles out of his arm. Niall is standing before Harry and, though it may seem ridiculous because they’ve only had the bare necessity of conversation, Harry doesn’t want him to go. He stalls on the floor for a while until he realizes that Niall is actually waiting for him, hand outstretched to help him stand up. Once he’s up, however, it takes a while for Niall to drop his hand. They spend a while standing there both of them looking down at where their hands are locked together, Harry’s big slender hand and Niall’s smaller but more manly hand together. Niall’s got callouses on his fingers Harry notices and he wonders where he got them. He moves to feel more of Niall’s hand, to actually hold it, but as soon as he does Niall removes his hand, running it through his hair quickly before dropping it to his side. Oh. Harry thinks, never mind then. He had thought maybe Niall felt the same way as he does, but instead he probably thinks Harry’s a weirdo who grabs onto people’s hands all the time.
“So where’re you headed now that you’ve got your Goldfish?” Niall asks interrupting his reverie.
Oh, I’m just walking back home,” he’s kind of confused. He can’t tell what the blond boy wants, he isn’t sure if the attraction is mutual or if Niall is just a friendly guy.
“All by yourself? It’s getting dark out though, I should go with you,” it’s a flimsy excuse at best, it’s summer now so even though it’s nearing seven the sun is still up. Then again, Harry thinks, he could just be worried about the idiot that got stuck in a vending machine. He probably just thinks he needs to keep an eye on me.
“If you want to walk with me, then yeah but don’t feel like you have to,” Harry says as he opens his bag of Goldfish holding it out to Niall, “you want some? I’m gonna make dinner when I get back home anyway so take however much you like.”
“Really bro? Thanks! I’m starving! I was actually gonna get something from that vending machine before I saw you stuck, now I think it’d be better to just find somewhere else to get food.” He’s got the most beautiful smile Harry realizes. It’s almost blinding as Niall looks up at him from the packet of Goldfish, his blue eyes sparkling. He’s lost in the beauty of his face even as Niall starts shoveling it full of Goldfish crackers.
“Well, if you want you could come over for dinner? I’m not sure what we have at the flat – my roommate Liam and I, I mean – but I’m sure I’ll find something to make.”
“Are you serious bro? That would be so amazing you have no idea,” Niall replies giving his blingingly beautiful smile to Harry.
“Well, you know, it’s the least I could do after you gave me a hand earlier.” He’s a bit put off when he gets no response from Niall, but he keeps smiling. “Get it? Gave me a hand it’s a pun!”
“Oh no, I got it. It’s just that it was the dumbest joke I’ve ever heard,” Niall responds dead pan, but Harry can hear the smile in his voice and when he turns to look him in the eye they both start laughing. It’s as if once they start they can’t stop, laughing over the dumb pun as well as the entire situation they’ve found themselves in. The whole thing is ridiculous and Harry can’t get over the fact that he’s met this guy – this gorgeous, kind, sweet, cute, wonderful guy – because his hand was trapped in a vending machine. He looks down where Niall is clutching his shoulder in an effort to keep standing and his heart wells up in his chest, butterflies fluttering madly in his stomach. He feels so comfortable with Niall, whether that’s just the other boy’s easy going personality or a connection they’ve made together in the short amount of time they’ve known each other is still unclear to Harry, though he really hopes it’s the latter. When they finally calm down, Niall hiccupping slightly (not that Harry’s noticed and thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world, of course not), Niall straightens up and takes his hand off of Harry’s shoulder.
“So, how do we get to your flat, Harry?” His name has never sounded better than it does when Niall says it, Harry’s palms tingle in an effort not to pull Niall close and kiss the name from his mouth again. But it’s at this moment that Harry also realizes that they are going in the opposite direction, though they haven’t even gotten off campus yet.
“Oh,” he says awkwardly. “We’re going the wrong way. Sorry I wasn’t paying much attention to where we were going.” He had been paying more attention to what Niall was saying, the way his shirt clings to his back, the way his ass looks in his jeans, so peachy and lovely. He expects Niall to be frustrated that they have to backtrack but he just starts laughing again.
“Mate don’t worry about it, happens all the time,” Niall smiles at him kindly, reassuring him that he’s not upset in the slightest. Yeah I bet it does, ass like that I bet no one pays attention to where they’re going, Harry thinks to himself.
“Well don’t worry it’s only a few blocks and then we’ll have an amazing dinner courtesy of yours truly,” he gives Niall his most charming smile.
“I literally cannot wait mate, all I’ve had to eat for the past month is ramen, coffee, bagels, and more ramen, studying for finals is a bitch.”
“Shit, what classes are you taking that are giving finals this early? We still have six weeks left!”
“It’s for my Cognitive and Development Psychology and Clinical Psychology classes, I’m a psych major so it’s all been piled up this year as well as research projects, though it’s nice because it means that those classes end earlier than others so I’ll have more time to study later for my other classes. It’s a win-win kind of.”
“It sounds intense. Do you want to become a psychologist or psychiatrist after graduation?”
“No, actually I wanna go to law school, I just thought a basis in psychology would be useful so I would be able to better get in the minds of the people I persecute. What’s your major?”
“Oh, well I’m only a sophomore so I haven’t officially declared yet but I’m an English literature major with a minor in philosophy.”
“Ah, that explains the Goldfish situation” Niall replies giggling again.
“Well I would ask you, Niall, what truly is an explanation? How can we explain anything when we do not fully understand what anything is? As Descartes discussed in his meditations, life could very well be a dream and one day we will wake up to reality,” Harry quips in an exaggeratedly serious voice, ruined slightly by the quiver of his lips turning up into a smile.
“He may be right, this sure feels like a dream. Unless,” Niall replies making sweeping gestures to create a sense of drama, “this is the reality and I have just woken up?” He gasps loudly and opens his eyes, “pinch me Harry! I must know what is real!!” Throwing one arm over his eyes, Niall flings his other in front of Harry in a dramatic display forcing Harry to double over in laughter.
“Are you sure you’re not a theater major? Because that was some stellar acting,” he says once he’s finally caught his breath.
“Oh why thank you, thank you. Oh no, please, it’s too much,” he gives a few bows as Harry applauds and cries bravo. Niall’s grinning from ear to ear when he stands back up and Harry’s breath hitches in his throat at the sight. They start walking again, Harry directing them each time they have to turn. It’s a quieter walk now, but they’re walking closer together and Harry takes that as a good sign. Maybe Niall’s just as nervous as I am, he thinks hopefully. And then all of a sudden they’re at his building. “Oh um, this is me,” he has to grab onto Niall’s hand and pull him back a bit – well ok, maybe it wasn’t strictly necessary to grab his hand again, but he’ll never admit to it; either way Niall doesn’t let go so for the four flights of stairs they have to climb they go hand in hand. He has to let go of Niall in order to grab his keys and unlock the door, but his heart is still pounding and his hand tingling from the thrill of it. “Welcome to my humble abode,” he says to Niall, gesturing around. “This is the living room slash dining room kind of area, that’s Liam’s bedroom. Actually, speaking of Liam, LIAM,” he calls through the door, when he doesn’t get an answer he opens and peeks into the room, it’s dark and empty. “Huh, I thought he was gonna be here tonight I guess he went to his girlfriend’s house.” To be honest, he’s a bit confused that Liam didn’t say anything to him before he came home, then again he hasn’t checked his phone since he got caught in the vending machine, sure enough when he pulls his phone out of his pocket he’s got a text from Liam saying that he won’t be home all night. “Well,” he says turning back to Niall, “looks like it’s just you and I for dinner tonight. I hope you don’t think I was just pretending my roommate was here so you’d come in and have dinner with me! oh my god no don’t think that, I really thought he’d be here! And Sophia! Not that I don’t want to have dinner with you because I do, but oh my god, I’m rambling and making a fool of myself, I’m gonna shut up now.” He runs a hand over his face in embarrassment, horrified that he just blurted all those things out to Niall. But then he feels warm calloused hands against his, pulling them away from his face.
“Hey,” Niall says gently, “don’t worry. I was really hoping it could be just the two of us for dinner, whether tonight or like Friday night? We could even call it a date?” Harry peeks through his fingers, “really? You want to go out with me??”
“Yeah I do, I really really do Harry. You’re cute and nice and funny, even if you do make bad puns and –“ but Harry doesn’t let him finish until he’s pulling him in for a kiss; a blinding, heart pounding, head rushing kiss.
Harry doesn’t get around to making dinner that night, they order takeout and eat it on the couch while learning everything they can about each other. They don’t make it to Friday either, Niall takes him out the next day after they’re both done with class and they sit in the restaurant for hours just talking.