Hartwin 12: "They were obviously hitting on you." Please and thank you :3
When he finally manages to make the bloke at the bar understands that he’s really not interested, he turns back with his and Harry’s drinks only to find that the other man is no longer at their booth.
He would think he’s gone to the toilet, but it’s not really Harry’s style to leave a table for any reason without letting whomever he’s with know.
Anyway, dressed in his blue suit, Harry’s not hard to miss as he makes his way out of the door.
He curses, knowing that their date just got ruined by what will surely be an urgent mission if Harry couldn’t even spare the time to get him since he’s not wearing his glasses. He sets the drinks back on the bar and quickly makes his way through the crowd.
There’s a high chance it’ll be a mission just for Harry, but he’ll be damned if he ever let Harry leave without a proper goodbye ever again.
For a moment, he thinks he’s missed him entirely, but he soon spots Harry leaning against a wall not that far away.
He frowns in confusion, because he’s seen Harry in “mission mode” before and that’s not it. That’s Harry lost in his thoughts and not in good ones.
“Harry? You okay?” He’s careful not to crowd him, knowing how sometimes Harry’s instincts are out of whack since he came back from the dead.
Harry startles, as if he hadn’t notice his presence, looking at him with genuine surprise. “Eggsy? What are you doing here?”
“Well, my date disappeared on me and it had me worried.” He waits a moment, but Harry doesn’t say anything, even he doesn’t quite succeed in suppressing a guilty wince. “The bar got too much?”
“What? Oh, no, nothing of the sort.”
Harry hesitates for a long time, until he sighs, resigned, when it becomes clear Eggsy won’t let it go until he’s got an answer he deems satisfying.
“You were taking for a long time for those drinks and when I looked over, you weren’t alone. And he was obviously hitting on you, so I didn’t want to get in the way.”
He smiles that smile that Eggsy has come to hate, the one that is all self-depreciating and a window into the self-loathing Harry has for himself. He has been getting better, but Eggsy should have known it wouldn’t been that easy.
His first instinct is to reassure him, but in his experience from the first few weeks after Harry returned to them, he knows it’s not the right approach.
“You’re being a right git again. I thought Roxy had debriefed you all about how you should and shouldn’t treat me if you were to take me out on a date.” Eggsy doesn’t know the particulars, but Roxy’s the best mate one could ask for. He’s sure she was thoroughly prepared when she gave Harry his pre-shovel talk.
“And what did she say about a situation where someone would be flirting with me?”
There is a brief pause before Harry answers hesitantly. “To tell them to fuck off unless you had expressly told me you liked that person better, after which she would hold you while Merlin hurt you?”
That shocks a laugh out of him, but really he shouldn’t have been surprised. Roxy is the kind of mate that will let you know if you are making a stupid mistake.
“And did I tell you anything about that bloke?”
“No?” He’s looking sheepish now and Eggsy will take it as a victory. A small one, but a victory nonetheless.
“So what should you have done?” He’s teasing now and there’s a glint in Harry’s eyes when he answers that tells him he finally got out of his funk.
“I should have gone to that bloke and tell him to fuck off.”
“There’s hope for you yet!” He presses a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, but steps back before Harry can turn it into a proper kiss.
However, before Harry can turn morose again, he grabs his hand and tugs on it until Harry starts following. “Come on, since you’ve ruined this date, we’re going for another one. We’ll get fish ‘n chips and this time, you’re paying!”