TW: Swear words, Harley being painfully bisexual

Harley did end up checking out the shop when it opened a few weeks later. Simply because he was curious. What kind of person would be willing to open up a shop in a desolate town in the middle of the badlands?

"Only a crazy person would do that," "Liam said, once Harley got home and told him the news. "Or a spy. Ya' think the government is going to send a spy here? To see if this town needs to be shut-down?"

Harley felt the tell-tale signs of a headache approaching. "Liam, why would they do that, i've half the mind to believe they don't even know The Flats exist. No one pays attention to The Badlands."

"I dunno," Liam said shrugging. "Maybe, we got some crazy ore deposits we don't know about. Or maybe our town was built on a large oasis of water. Ha! Wouldn't that be funny?"

It would be more a miracle than funny, the flats were desperately in need of water. There was constantly a water shortage and they were always importing water from the North. "Doubtful," Harely said, his tone flat. "The only thing this town is built on is whiskey and an unreasonable love for hunting monsters."

"Hey," Liam said frowning playfully. "Take that back. There's nothing wrong with hunting monsters, we're keeping this country safe from being overrun by them."

Harley rolled his eyes at the blonde's response. It was half-true though. If nobody lived in the badlands, which boarded the gaping abyss where monsters tended to crawl out of, there was a chance the country would be overrun by monsters.

Still doesn't make it a decent place to set up shop though.

"Whatever, Liam," He said, brushing past the blonde. "Just thought I'd let you know. Now do you plan on showering first or can I go?"

Liam waved him off. "I need to finish writing this letter to Ella, the courier train takes off tomorrow."

Harley felt his heart clench, he looked away from the blonde who was animately scrawling sweet nothings across paper. "Sounds good, I'll go first."

He applauded himself for keeping his voice steady.

➽───────────────❥

Now here he was, standing in front of the general shop, staring blankly at the NOW OPEN sign tacked to the front door.

He'd been standing here for a few minutes now, just staring at the entrance. He wasn't sure why he didn't just push the door open and step inside. He was acting weird. First, he basically confessed to Lisa that he was in love with Logan (She already knew) and now he could;t even greet the town's newest resident.

Ugh, get a hold of yourself.

Harley took a deep breath, trying to shake off the heaviness in his chest. With a determined expression, he finally pushed open the creaky door and entered the shop. The bell above the entrance jingled softly, announcing his arrival.

"Hi," a soft, accented voice called from the back of the room. "Welcome in."

Harley glanced up to see a woman who looked to be about his age standing behind the till with a small smile. She had long, brown wavy hair and delicate features. A few rings adorned her hands and bangles hung off her wrist, clanking slightly as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Seriously, did all the women from the ports look like her? She looked nothing like women from the badlands.

Not that women from the badlands were unattractive, they just looked nothing like the literal goddess in front of him.

"Oh hi," Harley said, slightly disappointed. He wasn't sure why. "Is this your store? My friend told me we had a newcomer in town opening a general store." he paused awkwardly. "...So I thought I'd check it out."

The girl smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't own the store, my brother All–"

"Hi!" A deeper voice with the same accent called from another room. A man emerged holding a few boxes in his arms. "Welcome in! Our first customer of the day."

Harley watched as he set the boxes down on a nearby table before wiping his hands off on his apron. He turned toward Harley with a bright smile, he looked almost identical to the woman next to him. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Ah,  are you..." Harley trailed off, not sure how to continue. He swallowed nervously. The man in front of him was wicked handsome. Almost as much as Liam.

"Twins?" The Chestnut-haired man said, grinning at him. He had dimples like Lisa. In another world, they could probably pass as siblings. "Yeah, this is my twin, Alana." He gestured to the shorter, petite brunette beside him, who gave him a small smile. "I'm Allen." He held out his hand for Harley to shake.

Harley hesitated before reaching out to grasp his hand firmly. He wasn't one to make a bad impression and a nervous handshake would definitely do so. "I'm Harley. Welcome to The Flats."

"Strong grip you got there," the man, Allen said shaking his hand up and down. "Are you one of them monster hunters?"

Harley shook his head. "No, I'm a blacksmith, I make weapons for the town." He quickly let go of Allen's hand, which he didn't realize he was still gripping tightly. "My friend Liam is though."

Allen nodded, seemingly unfazed by Harley's odd behavior. "Nice. You know If you're ever looking to make a little extra money I'm trying to find someone to help me stock my shop." His gaze flitted toward a few empty shelves. "As you can see my stock is quite lacking."

"How would I help?" Harley asked, a bit puzzled. Sure, he could make weapons, but he didn't think a general store would need to be stocked with swords and daggers all the time.

"Hmm," Allen mused, gazing at something on Harley's neck. Oh.

"Did you make that yourself?" The taller man said, eyeing the necklace dangling around Harley's neck appreciatively.

"Yeah," he fingered the pendant at the bottom. "I made it with a few pieces of quartz I found in the desert."

It was true. A few years back, while he and Liam were out monster hunting, they came across a giant broken mineral deposit. There were a few pieces of quartz lying around and Harley couldn't just let them go to waste.

"What are ya' gonna do with those?" Liam asked, unmounting his horse. "Get em' infused into some weapons?"

"Nah," Harley said, eying the gems appreciatively. "Might make a necklace with them."

He'd been experimenting with smelting jewels and gems together for a while now, For Lisa's birthday he made her a ruby bracelet. It took him nearly a whole week of nonstop ore mining to find enough rubies to even make one.

She loved it though, so it paid off.

"Ah," Liam said distractedly, his gaze settling onto the horizon. Probably spotted a monster up ahead. "Think you could make one for me too?"

"Sure," Harley felt his heart skip a beat. "What kind?"

"Hmm," Liam pondered for a moment. "Think you could find some sapphires?

Harley felt his stomach churn. "Sure," He said forcing a smile on his face. "I'll have that done in no time."

Sapphire was Ella's birthstone.

"Harley?" Allen said, snapping him back to reality. The chestnut-haired man had stepped closer, examining his features carefully. "Are you alright?

"Yeah, sorry," Harley said, releasing the pendant from his grasp. "I was just lost in thought."

Allen nodded.  "Well," He glanced over to his twin, who sent him a bemused look. "If you ever want to make a little money, I wouldn't mind stocking your jewelry on my shelves." He smiled at Harley again. His stomach somersaulted in response to the gesture. His smile was gorgeous. Everything about him was gorgeous. If only...

"I'll think about it," Harley said, willing away his intruding thoughts. "I'll see what I can come up with, and if it will be enough for your store."

"Great," Allen said clapping his hands together. "Now, did you come here to buy anything specific?"

"Um," Harley glanced over at one of the filled shelves. There were a few pistol bullets across the top one. Liam had been saying he needed new bullets for his pistol. He ran out a few days ago and he can't go monster hunting without them. He pointed at the bullets. "I'll take two boxes of those."

Allen followed his gaze, before turning back to him with a cheeky grin. "Thought you weren't a monster hunter?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, I'm not. My friend Liam is though, and he needed some new bullets."

The brunette man reached for the bullets, pulling two packs down. "Well, it's mighty nice of you to buy your friend some bullets for his pistol. These aren't cheap, so make sure he pays you back."

Harley resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Liam, pay him back? Never gonna happen.

He sat in silence as Allen rang up the total for the bullets, passing him over some cash when he read the total out loud.

"Thanks," Harley said, reaching for the paper bag Allen stuck the products into. "Hopefully you have a few more people stop by today."

"I hope so," Allen said, excitedly. "It's been my dream to move to The Badlands."

Harley shook his head in disbelief. Who would want to come to The Badlands? Most people wanted to get out while they could, like Ella. He almost voiced his thoughts out loud but decided against it. To each their own their own he supposed.

"It was nice meeting you Allen," He turned his gaze to his twin, who almost forgot was still standing in the room with them "You too Alana."

They waved him goodbye and Harley made his way back to the Lawson residence.

As he reached the door, Liam yanked it open abruptly, startling him half to death.

"Geez," Harley said, clutching the paper bag against his chest. "Warn someone next time."

"My bad, Harls," Liam said, in the midst of throwing on a t-shirt. His hair was still damp from the shower. Droplets of water clung to the lines of his well-defined torso, glistening in the soft light filtering from outside. "I gotta get to the courier train. Tryna' see if Ella sent me a letter back."

Harley nodded, doing his best to focus on Liam's words and not the distracting image in front of him. "Yeah, makes sense. Hope you get good news."

Liam grinned, his eyes sparkling with hope. "Yeah, me too. Hey, you coming to the saloon later? We can drown our sorrows or celebrate, depending on what Ella's letter says."

"Ah," Harley clutched the bag tighter. "Sure, I'll see you there."

"Great." And with that, Logan disappeared around the corner.

Harley stepped into the dark house, glancing down at the bag still in his hands.

What the fuck was wrong with him?