MASTERMIND - H.S

Chapter 12

*• April 2013 •*
- Los Angeles, USA -
~< Teenage Love Is Sweet >~

THERE WAS A VERY UGLY BEAR/HAMSTER HYBRID PLUSHIE on display.

Harry and Addie stared at it after at least ten minutes of serious discussion of what animal it was. It was something between a bear and a hamster.

Addie frowned, arms crossed over her chest. "Look at the ears, that's not a hamster."

"But the face isn't a bear!"

"The paws are from a bear!"

Harry pulled his hands out of his pockets to gesture while he argued, "Look at these two paws, they're hamster paws!"

It was the same arguments they repeated again and again, unable to figure out what animal it was.

Addie rolled her lips into her mouth and sighed, relaxing her arms and grabbing the soft plushie. "Whatever animal it is, it's cute and I'm taking it home with me."

"I like your thinking, Heathers," Harry commented, peering down at her with a playful smile.

Addie smirked back, keeping her chin raised. "Thank you, Styles."

Harry turned from side to side, scanning the aisle of the toy store they were at. Once he'd determined that the coast was clear, he swooped down, surprising Addie with a swift kiss.

Addie made a little sound of surprise, but he'd already pulled away, and began walking as if nothing had happened. As if his cheeks weren't dusted with pink.

With a sense of satisfaction in her chest and a stupid smile she couldn't hide, Addie approached the counter. She muttered, "Afternoon," to the girl who was only a few years older than her ringing her up.

"That would be twenty-five fifty," the girl said. "Would you like a bag?"

"Yes please," Addie told the girl as she rifled through her bag, and found her wallet. By the time she looked up from her search, there was Harry, who had been standing silently behind her, paying with his credit card. Addie exclaimed, "Harry!"

Harry put his pin number in and whirled towards Addie, gasping dramatically, "Addie!"

Addie punched him in the arm, making him yelp and pout. "Why'd you pay my stuff?"

"'Cause I wanna," Harry answered simply, smiling cockily as he grabbed his credit card back and handed Addie her paper bag. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, steering her towards the exit. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, "I'm your boyfriend now. I can pay for your stuff."

Addie opened her mouth, ready to protest and chide him, and most importantly, remind him that she had double the money he did, and if anyone should be paying for someone, she should pay his things- and was then cut off by the immense joy and absolute giddiness on Harry's face.

Addie wouldn't kill Harry's joy. She was physically incapable of it. So she shut her mouth and looked forward.

As they stepped out onto the street, the chilly spring air refreshing and nice, Harry moved his arm from its spot around her shoulders. It was much harder to hide here in the streets of LA than inside of the toy store they'd randomly stumbled into.