"Are you gonna spend your break with Chloe again?" Harry asked Sarah when the usual Saturday morning rush died down.

"Yeah, she's expecting me at home with breakfast and all. She had a really tough shift yesterday" Sarah let him know casually while cleaning the counter.

"I don't get why Friday nights are always that much worse" he frowned at the thought of Sarah's girlfriend Chloe having to deal with rude, drunk and ignorant customers. He could never be a barkeeper. He was way too sensitive for rude people.

"It's the start of the weekend for the majority of people, so they stop caring and just wanna let loose. They don't take into account that not everyone ... It is what it is, I guess" Sarah tried to find an explanation apart from sheer ignorance but gave up along the way. "That's why I promised her a big late breakfast. I really need her to relax before she has to work again. Saturdays suck".

"Sadly true. I'm really happy that we're only open til the early afternoon. The later it gets, the ruder people become" Harry let out a heavy sigh just thinking about people's rudeness but then he perked up. "What if we visit her at the bar tonight? We're free tomorrow and we haven't done that in ages".

"We as in ...?".

"You, me, Niall, Maya and Àmbar, of course. I'm sure they'll all gonna come with us if we ask them" Harry replied as if she were stupid. "Maybe Am could even ask Belle to join us".

"You know, if Maribel joins us, Liron will probably come along as well" Sarah pointed out unsurely.

"That's fine. We're way past this. He's happy with Maribel and that's all that matters. So, what do you say? Should I ask Am?" Harry waved her worries off. He and Liron were fine. He might have hit on him once upon a time and Harry had rejected him but they were on good terms now. Liron was still a regular and was dating his best friend's friend now. All good. No drama.

"Okay, fine. Let's ask these idiots. It'll be nice for Chloe if we all show up. I don't think we've all probably hung out in ages" Sarah finally agreed to his suggestion. "Ima ask Niall".

"And he can ask Maya. I'm sure she's in" Harry was buzzing.

"Let's see" Sarah chuckled at his enthusiasm. "I'm out now".

"Have a nice break with Chloe" Harry watched her leave.

"Later, H".

Shortly after she had left, his two temps Holden and Emma came in to take over. They were both studying at the University of Domumley and had been working here for quite some time now. Emma has been his first temp this year and then Holden came along. He had a lot of faith in their abilities and could go and take his own break now without a problem. They could handle this.

Grabbing something to eat and some tea, Harry joined his best friend Àmbar at her usual table in the back. She had been sitting there for a few hours, drinking one hot chocolate after the other. Usually on Saturdays, Harry could get a little bit lonely in the bakery with Sarah mostly gone during her break and Niall having his day off but Àmbar always showed up to be there for him. And to work on her newest book here in peace and silence. Somehow she has always been able to work better on her writing here than at home. No one could explain it.

"Hey, Am" Harry sat down opposite of her, sliding a piece of chocolate cake over to her. "How's the book coming along?".

"I'm getting somewhere, I guess" Àmbar looked up from her laptop screen to send him a grateful smile, immediately starting to eat the cake as if she was starving. She probably was. When she was deep into her writing process, she tended to forget to eat or drink or even sleep. Or blink, actually. So, Harry made sure to look after her when she was here and sent her little magical messages when she was writing at home to remind her.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You know it won't help your process. Inspiration comes when you least expect it, right?" Harry tilted his head to the side, smiling at her.

"Right. I said that" Àmbar looked unconvinced.

"And aren't you always right, mh?" Harry knew how to get through to her after all these years.

"I am. I always am" Àmbar caught on to what he was doing. "I see what you're doing. Keep going".

Harry threw her an unimpressed look. "I was just trying to say that you can't force yourself to write. It wouldn't benefit the story and we both know that. Screw the expectations. You finish this when you finish it. They can wait".

"But people expect the final to be released this y ...".

"And what if you don't feel like it's ready by the end of the year, mh?" Harry cut her off softly. "Do you really wanna publish a book that doesn't feel good enough? That isn't ready yet to be published just because your readers are impatient?".

"They're not impatient" Àmbar's lips quirked up at his words.

"A tiny bit" Harry measured their impatience with his fingers.

"Whatever" Àmbar rolled her eyes at him with a grin.

"Take your time, Love. The book is finished when you deem it finished. Don't rush your process or the story will suffer from it and we don't want that" Harry squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Your readers can just reread your other books in the meantime".

"Thank you, H. I think I needed to hear that. You know I can get in all over my own head sometimes without noticing it" Àmbar squeezed his hand back in appreciation.

"I know. That's why you have me to get you back into the real world" Harry withdrew his hand to finally eat his own pastry.

"Isn't that pure irony?!" Àmbar remarked cheekily.

Before he could answer her, Harry felt something odd in his tummy that made him drop his pastry and sit up straight in his seat. The feeling intensified in seconds and he couldn't ignore it, even though he didn't understand it. Noticing his sudden frozen state, Àmbar eyed him in concern but he ignored her worried eyes for now. The odd sensation felt strangely warm and tingly but also as if something was alarming him of something. An arrival.

Suddenly he knew what this could mean and he jumped up, startling Àmbar in the process. "Sorry. I um ... I need to go outside for a second. I ... err ...".

Watching him closely for a second, Àmbar's eyes widened in sudden realisation, which only confused Harry more. With a smug smirk on her face, she leaned back in her seat. "Have fun with lover boy, H".

"Piss off" Harry grumbled while he headed for the exit, feeling absolutely exposed and still so confused. What was going on?

As soon as he stepped outside of his bakery, he saw Alexa running towards him excitedly, her tail wagging wildly. And of course, Louis was only a step behind her, looking as gorgeous as ever and not as breathless as the other two times. Probably because he knew she would run here again and he didn't need to worry about her getting hit by a random car or poisoned.

"Alexa, hi" Harry greeted the dog first, trying to calm his heart down and ignore that still present feeling in his tummy. When Louis' shadow appeared right next to them, Harry looked up at him and was blown away again by this stunning creature. "Louis".

"Hey, Harry" Louis smiled down at him and Alexa. "I guess, three time's a charm then, mh?".

"Looks like it" Harry stood up straight again, dusting off his knees. "Is she getting any better at walking without a leash?".

"Would she still come running to your bakery if she did?" Louis raised an eyebrow at him cheekily.

"I'd like to think she would, yes. After all, I give her all the doggy biscuits she could possibly desire" Harry replied surprisingly calm and confident, shocking himself and probably Louis too.

For a moment, Louis was simply looking at him with an odd look on his face before he reached down to pet his dog. "She definitely prefers your treats over the ones she gets from me normally".

"My ego loves to hear that" Harry chuckled at his words, having no idea what to talk to Louis about except for his dog.

"Don't be so full of yourself. I'm a shit baker and could never give her self-made doggy biscuits. That's why she's used to the shitty supermarket ones. She'd prefer everything over that" Louis teased him sassily, a twinkle appearing in his eyes.

'I could be full of you instead' Harry caught himself thinking and blushed at his own thoughts, feeling horrible for even thinking something as inappropriate as this about a literal stranger. What was happening to him?

Willing his thoughts away, he cleared his throat way too loudly and walked over to the door, completely avoiding Louis' eyes and focusing on Alexa. "Then I guess it's time for little Alexa to get something better today, mh? How about that?".

A bit delayed, Louis followed them inside and answered his very awkward question. "That would be great. She loves your doggy biscuits more than anything".

"Don't you think it's time to get her these regularly then? I mean, she seems like a little princess to me and little princesses should always get what they want" Harry couldn't stop talking utter shit but he couldn't help it. His brain was fried by Louis' beauty.

"You might be right with that and she made her point by running away thrice, so ..." Louis stopped at the counter.

"Does this mean you'll come here regularly now?" Harry knew he sounded way too happy about the possibility and tried to calm down but it was pointless. "Alexa is my favourite customer".

"Is she now?" Louis watched him closely, making him blush with that intense stare and these mesmerising blue eyes.

"Yes, no one else appreciates the work I put into my great doggy biscuits" Harry really needed to shut the fuckup.

"How unfair" Louis gasped exaggeratedly.

"It is" Harry felt himself smiling from ear to ear.

"Probably because you don't even officially sell them" Àmbar piped in now, appearing from behind the counter out of nowhere with a new cup of hot chocolate in her hand, looking way too smug but there was something else in her eyes that he couldn't place.

"Don't you have a book to write?" Harry hissed at her, highly embarrassed. There was no way Louis didn't hear that.

Holding her free hand up in mock surrender, she went back over to her table. Refusing to look directly at Louis, Harry went into the back to fetch the doggy biscuits he had prepared this morning for no specific reason at all. Definitely not for Àmbar's dog Lucky anymore and definitely not for Alexa. No. Definitely not.

When he stepped out of the back, Louis was inspecting the display case again. Wordlessly, Harry signalled Holden and Emma that he was taking over and went over to where Louis was standing. Bracing himself to face the upcoming embarrassment and humiliation, he took a deep breath and decided to get it over with. He couldn't run away anyway. Sadly. Unfortunately.

"Anything you wanna add to your order today?" Harry tried to ask in a steady voice, willing the redness of his cheeks away.

At hearing his voice, Louis looked up at him with a tiny smile, coming off a lot shyer than before instead of cold and dismissive or even angry or disgusted as he had expected. Why was he so shy now? Was he even shy or was that only in Harry's head?

"Your joyful cookies sound nice" Louis looked almost skittish out of the sudden, his cheeks the tiniest bit pink. "And ... um ... you really don't need to make the biscuits for Alexa if you don't ... We can get them somewhere else and ... I don't wanna be a bother".

Until now, Harry has thought of Louis as this perfectly stunning and beautiful man, untouchable. Right now, his nervous rambling made him even prettier and oh-so cute and adorable. Fuck.

"It's really not a bother, Louis" Harry had to cut him off or he would compost any second now. "I make them anyway for her dog Lucky, even though I'm seriously considering stepping back from that favour after today but ... I wanna do this, Louis".

Biting down on his tongue to swallow the for you, Harry ignored Àmbar's snickers in the back and dared to look at Louis' face. With big eyes, he was staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Was that wonder or shock?

"You wanna do this?" Louis brought out in a small voice, almost a whisper. "For me?".

Blushing hardcore now, Harry could feel Louis' almost fragile and insecure-sounding voice tugging on his heartstrings. So, he only swallowed dryly and nodded before croaking out. "Yes".

Somehow that seemed to drain Louis' face of any colour, sending Harry into another panic. "Um ...".

"Alexa deserves all the good treats, don't you think?" Harry rushed out to make Louis feel less uncomfortable but Louis only stared blankly at him. "Wouldn't she love that?".

After what felt like an eternity, Louis finally stopped staring at him with this unnerving look in his eyes and seemed to relax a little bit. "She would, yeah. Thank you, Harry".

"No biggie" Harry waved the matter off, turning away now to finally get Louis' order ready. Doggy biscuits and joyful cookies.

"Maybe for you but I really appreciate that" Louis told him as sincerely as never before, making Harry go weak in the knees.

Offering him another awkward smile, Harry put the order in a bag and handed it over to Louis, who handed him the money in exchange, definitely not taking an order for free ever again. "Well, have a nice day, Louis".

"You too, Harry" Louis smiled at him before making his way to the door. Before he stepped outside, he looked back at him and came off as shy as earlier. "See you on Monday".

And with that, he was gone. Completely frozen, embarrassed and breathless, Harry stared into thin air, trying to collect his thoughts. Louis would come back on Monday. Willingly. Even after this humiliating interaction. He couldn't believe it. He was in total and absolute shock. That's why Àmbar scared the shit out of him and made him scream embarrassingly when she jumped at him from behind, grabbing his shoulders to shake them.

"You bastard!".

"What did I do?" Harry wiggled out of her grip and walked over to his abandoned pastry at their table. He was starving.

"Don't act all innocent now. Why didn't you tell me your Louis was famous when you ranted about him yesterday?" Àmbar looked at him, fakely betrayed and normally he would laugh at her antics but her words made him falter.

"What are you talking about? Louis is famous?" Harry stared up at her with his pastry hanging out of his open mouth.

"You didn't know that?" Àmbar gaped at him in shock.

"He didn't tell me that over exchanging ...".

"How can you not know who he is?" Àmbar looked about ready to explode but then seemed to realise something. "Oh, I forgot. You are an imbecile when it comes to sports".

"Hey!" Harry huffed offended but then her words registered in his brain. "He plays sports?".

"Oh my god. Never say that again" Àmbar groaned loudly, sitting down in her seat to lecture him. "The guy you're simping over is none other than Louis Tomlinson, famous ex-football player".

At that new bit of information, Harry just looked blankly at her and let her words sink in fully. Stunningly beautiful dog owner Louis was a famous ex-football player and apparently famous enough that his German best friend knew about him. He knew it had been too good to be true. Never in a million years was a very famous footballer into men. Destiny was really mocking him by putting this mesmerising dream right in front of him, unable to ever have him. Not that he seriously wanted him. No, he didn't date anymore. No, this was hypothetically speaking. Yeah, definitely.

"Not ringing a bell" Harry replied way too late.

"Of course not. I could see that" Àmbar clicked with her tongue.

"So, he's a footie player" Harry repeated for himself.

"Ex" Àmbar corrected him.

"Yeah, whatever. So, I was right" Harry thought out loud.

"Right with what?" Àmbar knitted her forehead together in sheer confusion but he barely registered it.

"Even if you guys had somehow convinced me to give this a chance because it's apparently destiny, which you didn't, it would have been pointless anyway because I was right. He's straight" Harry remembered his theory from the day they had met.

"Because he's an ex-footie player?" Àmbar hooked weirdly.

"Exactly. You as a football fan should know that all ...".

"As a football fan, I know that not all football players are straight but the environment and the business are so homophobic that they can't come out" Àmbar interrupted him in a voice that made him feel like a teenager being scolded for being stupid again. "You can't just assume he's straight because of his ex-profession".

"I figured he was straight way before you told me ...".

"What did he say before he left?" Àmbar gave him no chance to finish his sentence.

"Why ...?".

"Harry".

"Fine. He said he'll see me on Monday" Harry gave in now.

"After you made it crystal clear that you're desperate for him, so I guess that speaks against him being straight, H" Àmbar added smugly, wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively.

"I'm not desperate for him!" Harry huffed embarrassed but Àmbar only laughed at him. "I hate you".

"All the love" Àmbar flashed him the peace sign.

"Shouldn't you know if he's straight or not? You're the fan" he tried to talk about more important matters. Not his desperation.

"I'm not that deep into British football yet, H" Àmbar flicked his chin and stole a piece of his pastry.

"But you immediately recognised him though" Harry pointed out matter-of-factly. "You must know something".

"Well ..." Àmbar trailed off suddenly squirmy.

"What is it? Is he a player or a bad person?" Harry got worried at her hesitation. What did she know about Louis?

"I don't know all the details but he was involved in quite a scandal before he got injured and ended his career years ago" Àmbar revealed to him. "There have also been tons of rumours".

"What kind of rumours?" Harry needed to know urgently.

"All sorts really but also gay rumours, H" Àmbar let him know vaguely, only unsettling his thoughts even more.

"What does that mean?" Harry was so confused now.

"I don't know. Maybe look it up later for yourself. As I said, I'm not deep enough into this to know anything for certain. I'm sorry" she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Nothing to be sorry for. I know gossip isn't your thing but thanks anyway" Harry smiled weakly at her but his mind was racing now and he knew that Àmbar knew that.

For the rest of his shift, he tried to focus on his work but his mind was elsewhere. Everything in him wanted to go back home and google Louis, even if he wasn't sure that was a good idea. It might be his worst idea ever but he was way too curious. On his own, he would've never guessed that Louis was famous, especially not as a footballer. He came off as so kind and normal and kinda shy at times and that contradicted everything he had associated with famous people. He didn't have a bad picture of celebrities on his mind but also not someone as sweet as Louis. But then again, he didn't know him at all. Louis could be very different.

Thankfully, he was free to go upstairs into his flat three hours later when Macy took fully over. She was a co-worker he barely saw longer than a few hours around midday. They always had opposing shifts. Harry always opened up and Macy always closed the bakery. Harry did that together with Sarah and Macy worked always in a team with his latest employee Leona. It was a system that just simply worked for everyone and right now, it gave him the perfect opportunity to curl up on his sofa after a long day, take out his phone and google Louis Tomlinson.

What he found online was quite ... bizarre actually. According to Google and Wikipedia, Louis had started playing football as a little kid and had always dreamed of becoming a professional footie player. He had played on his school team and then signed his first club deal with eighteen. He had played for a club that Harry had never heard of but apparently had won dozens of important stuff that he didn't understand either. Around the age of twenty-five, Louis had gotten injured during an important match, which had resulted in the end of his career. Since then, he had fallen off the face of the world. He wasn't one of these other ex-football players, who tried way too hard to stay in the spotlight. No, he had dipped and no one knew what he was up to nowadays.

Well, Harry knew more than the internet. He knew that Louis had rescued an adorable dog, who loved fresh doggy biscuits. Anyway, he shook that thought off and clicked a bit through some older headlines from around the year of his injury. According to the media, he has been a bit of a ladies' man during his career and had even gotten a woman pregnant during a one-night-stand.

Letting that information sink in, Harry locked his phone and stared up at his ceiling. This has been a flood of information and he wasn't sure if googling this guy had been a good idea. Now he knew basically his entire life story but through the internet and not from Louis himself. That seemed a bit unfair to Harry. If Louis didn't tell him about any of this himself, then he shouldn't know. So, he decided to not mention it when Louis showed up the next time. On Monday. Oh, god. He would see him again on Monday after he had googled him behind his back out of sheer curiosity.

"Shit" Harry cursed under his breath.

Right at this moment, Harry had to admit that he felt really bad for what he had done. He shouldn't have googled him. Now he'd have to act as if he still didn't know who he was because he had the feeling that Louis preferred being unknown, going under the radar. Hopefully, his acting skills had gotten better over the years. He wasn't keen on destroying what they had. Which technically was nothing but anyway. He didn't want there to be any weird tension between them in the future.

Admittedly, he was intrigued by Louis. Not because he was famous but because he had a certain aura, a certain light around him. There just was something about him that made Harry wanna see him again, as much as he tried to deny it. He'd never admit that out loud though. No, that would be mental. Niall would never let him live this one down and Àmbar and Sarah would purposely embarrass him in front of Louis every time he came around, which would be the worst because he was straight and Harry didn't want him to feel uncomfortable around him. He didn't need Louis to know how attracted he was to him.

And maybe all of this overthinking was completely pointless and the entire situation was totally hopeless but Harry could still admire Louis for who he was. It didn't have to mean anything.