Stephanie's POV

It's been a couple of days since I last saw Harry. I'm finding it alot harder than I thought I would with us being apart. Part of me worries about him finding someone else in London, after all it would be convenient for him. But I only think this way due to him being easily tempted by Naomi. The other part of me just aches for him. There is only so much 'wallow in self pity' that I can take, I've chosen to move past it so that's what I shall do.

I head into the hair dressers and I let the receptionist know that I am here, she smiles politely and advises me to take a seat. Once I'm sat I can't help but look at her hair, it's short and dyed pink but flicks out on the ends. She's very pale, but attractive. She definitely pulls off the look.
I hate coming to the hair dressers, my recent hair dresser has gone on maternity leave so I was too worried going to anyone else. In the past I've not had many good experiences as my hair was always cut too short or sometimes really uneven. But my Mum has recommended coming here and has booked me in with her friend's son.

"Stephanie?" I look up to see an attractive guy smiling down at me. "Hi I'm Ethan." He adds as he holds out his hand. I stand up and shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you Ethan" I reply as I let go off his hand and I follow him, he guides me to my seat. As he takes my coat, I scan people around me, some are chatting away happily and some are very quiet as they watch their hair dresser. I'm sort of in the middle, I've never been one to shout over hair dryers, everyone can hear your conversation.

"So Stephanie, what may I do for you?" He asks and I look up into his deep chocolate eyes.

"I want to colour my hair and maybe get a trim?" I suggest and he smiles pleased. He starts to go on about highlights and how he can lift my hair with golden blondes running through with a mixture of ash blonde. I bite my lip waiting for him to finish. "I was thinking something different." I say and he looks at me tilting his head interested.

"What were you thinking?" He asks as he starts to lift my hair evaluating how much he has to deal with.

"I want to go brunette." I say as I look away and my eyes meet his in the mirror, a smile appears on his lips.

"Brunette it is." He says and I smile thankfully. I let out a sigh as I can't believe I've come here and I'm going to make a change. I've been blonde for most of my life.

---

Harry's POV

"Harry I need a favour." Mark says as he walks in exasperated. I look up at him leaving my current lyrics on the paper.

"Whats wrong?" I ask as Mark sits up on the desk and I turn to face him.

"I need you to help me find singers to form a band. For new years eve that is, I've been let down by the current band as they've broken up and with it only being three weeks away I'm desperate." Mark says and his face is full of panic.

"But I don't know any singers except for Liam." I say and Mark bites his lip frustratedly.

"I've asked so many people but they've already been booked at venues. Even if you can get people who aren't great singers, get Liam on board he can do most of the singing." Mark says. Jeez he must he desperate to say that they don't have to be very good. "I want you to do it too. You know you can sing and I don't want any fights on this Harry." He adds.

I can't sing in a band that he wants me to magically create. It's insane, I'm not confident enough to sing to public, how the hell do I get out of this one.

"Where is the venue?" I ask hoping it's going to be something small.

"Hyde park." He says calmly. Hyde fucking park? There's going to be loads of people there what is he thinking?

"Mark I'm not sure-" He quickly cuts me off.

"I'll pay every member a reasonable amount. I'm desperate Harry." He answers and I sigh as I close my eyes knowing I'm not going to get out of this.

"Fine." I sigh and I can't believe I have just agreed to it.

"You Harry Styles have saved me in many ways!" Mark grins as he stands up and pats my back. I nod without looking at him, I hear him leave the room and I let my head fall on to the desk. Why me?

---

Stephanie's POV

"Are you nervous?" Ethan asks as he sits me back down in the chair with my hair wrapped firmly in the towel. I nod as I am nervous, I don't know how this is going to look or if I can even pull it off. He smiles as he starts to unwrap thr towel but I look away. "It's lush Steph." He says to my suprisement.

I look up and my eyes widen at the girl staring back at me. She looks nothing like me, I know it will look better once dried but just to see such dark wet hair on me is weird.

"It's different." I say as Ethan starts to comb the annoyingly unwanted knots out. I'm fixed on my hair, I just can't seem to tear my eyes away.

"Shall be even better once I've finished." He grins proudly. I smile hoping that Harry of all people will like this change I am making. I watch as Ethan starts to cut off my split ends and adds a couple of layers into my hair. Layers are always good for me as my hair so annoyingly thick.

"So I've just tidied it up for you." Ethan says as he quickly runs his hands through my hair making sure it's alleven. He cuts a little more and looks at me in the mirror. "Is that enough?" He asks and I nod after turning my head both ways to check I am happy. He then holds a mirror at the back proving he hasn't cut much off the length.

My family, friends and Harry are going to be so shocked when they see me as Mum only thinks I'm getting my highlights done.
I suddenly realise I haven't text him back. As Ethan plugs the hair dryer in I quickly get my phone from my bag and I see one text from Harry:

Can you call me when you can? You won't believe what Mark wants me to do :( xx

I feel nervous at his words, it must be bad as he's put an unhappy face in the text. I hope he's not being pressured into anything. I

I start to rewind in my mind to Harry when I first saw him enter my living room. The look on his face was quite funny when you look back, he was so displeased having to stay with us. I had no idea what my parents were letting themselves in for. But as much as I was against him staying, something inside me knew he needed someone to be there for him. It's quite sad thinking we grew up apart from each other as we had a tight friendship, but that's the way life goes; sometimes it's out of your control.

Alot happened during his stay, with Jed moving out and Amy making a really stupid move; it's sad when I look back. Obviously I was happy for Jed, he's doing something he loves and he has quite a nice flat. But being home without him was just odd, over time I've got used to it but I think I handled well as I was distracted by Harry.

Then with all the drama with Amy, I was gutted she made that stupid choice and threw our friendship away. As much as I love Chloe and Lucy, I do miss the company of a best friend and Amy was pretty good for me until what happened. Again, it was all out of my control.

"How's that?" Ethan beams as he fixes my hair in place. I snap my attention back to him and a little gasp escapes my lips. With my hair dried and styled I feel and look like a different person. Luckily the colour doesn't make me look washed out, I'm quite proud I've done it.

"Thank you Ethan." I say as I run my fingers through the dark strands, the softness surprises me. "It feels amazing." I add and Ethan nods.

"It will do, bleach is always quite hard to maintain softness as it's such a harsh chemical compared to hair dye like you've got as it contains serums. So it will help keep your hair soft to the touch." Ethan says as he removes the cape from me and holds my coat up.

"Thank you again." I say as I put my coat on and I pick my bag up. I follow Ethan to the desk and I pay him the full seventy five pounds.

"Well thanks Stephanie, it looks great and you look lovely." Ethan smiles and I walk to the door. I turn and wave goodbye before walking out.

It's funny how you can change your hair and all of a sudden you feel exposed to everyone in the street. That's how I feel anyway, whether I'm alone or not. It's like every glance I get I think they know I've dyed it and I suddenly feel quite exposed. But I'm not going to let my imagination run wild, I am a confident girl who has made a bit of a mad decision to help feel fresh. So from this day on I am a new Stephanie and this is the key to my new start.

---

Harry's POV

I lock my car and head toward the door but I stop as my phone begins to ring. I take it from my pocket to see Stephanie's name flashing on the screen. I swipe to answer,
"Hey." I say as I sit on the front wall.
"Hey, sorry I took ages to call. Is everything okay?" Steph asks a little concerned.
"I'm not sure really, basically Mark needs a band and I've got to find some guys to form a band for him. It's because the current band that were booked for new years eve have split up and now Mark is panicking." I sigh as I take a breath.
"Oh right, so it's all a bit last minute then. Hmm let me see if I can help think of anyone." Steph suggests, I know she's trying to be nice.
"I appreciate you saying that but I need people as soon as possible" I say and I hear her sighing. "The worst part is he's practically made me agree to taking part." I add.
"Harry that's brilliant, you're a wonderful singer." She says enthusiastically.
"I wish I was as happy as you. Anyway I better go, I'll call you later." I say as I open the door.
"Okay, I'm still seeing saturday aren't I?" She asks and I smile.
"Yeah, I'm still coming over." I answer and then we say goodbye.

I walk into the flat to meet Louis in the living room, great Liam's still at work. He's the one I need to speak to. I quickly tell Louis I'm going for a shower and I leave the room.


My phone goes just as I step out of the shower, I dry my hands and I look to see Naomi's name. I sigh as I open her text,

Can we talk? Xxx

I don't bother saying anything back, I have to stick to my promise and cut her out of my life. I leave my phone on the side for now and head to my room to get dressed.

"Harry?" Liam knocks on my door automatically confirming that he is home. I shout to him that I won't he long as I hurrily put my hoodie on.

I walk into the living room where Liam is now sat with Louis. I sit on the edge of the sofa as I look at them.

"I was trying to ask what you wanted from the Chinese menu.." Liam says as he leans forward and passes me the menu. I tell him what I want and then hand the menu back.

"I need to ask you two something." I say as I remember Louis isn't half bad at all when we've heard him singing along to songs. They both look at me so I continue, "Mark needs me to get a group of singers." I start.

As I explain Liam smiles and I knew he'd be up for it but Louis doesn't look so convinced. He shakes his head and frowns as he looks at me sternly.

"You want me to be in a boyband?" Louis asks and half laughs in surprise. I nod and continue to explain how much Mark needs help and how he's willing to pay us. "I'm not a singer though."

"I have to do it too." I sigh as I look away frustratedly.

"See I told you before that you two should sing with me." Liam beams, Louis and I both look at him and raise our eyebrows.

"Look Payne, this might be good for you but this really isn't me." Louis snaps and Liam rolls his eyes.

"Louis I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate." I say and Louis shakes his head.

"This isn't glee, you can't just make people join a bloody boyband." Louis snaps. I'm not even sure if it had to be just guys or how many people I need.

"Come on Lou, with being a football player you should know how to be a team player, right?" Liam asks and Louis looks at him.

"Are you trying to pressure me?" Louis asks and I let my head fall as I should have known Louis was never going to agree to this. My phone rings so I leave Louis and Liam and answer Stephanie's call,

"Hey" I say as I walk into the kitchen.
"Harry, I've got you a member for the band. His name is Zayn and he's really good. He lives in London." Stephanie says proudly. I frown as I've no idea who he is.
"How do you know him?" I ask.
"Well to cut a long story short, he's dating Chloe and I'm with her now. I mentioned you needed people and she said she has heard how Zayn is so amazingly good." Steph has a lot of enthusiasm.
"Right, okay. How can I meet him? Do you have his number?" I ask as this is quite a shock.
"Well, Chloe is coming to London on Saturday and I thought maybe I can come to you and we can meet up with them? " I wait as I think about her suggestion. I guess it doesn't sound so bad, especially if I can get him I'm on this.
"Yeah okay." I have to smile as she tells Chloe the good news.
"Okay, I'll speak to you later." We both say goodbye and hang up. I walk back into the living room to tell them we have another member.

---

Stephanie's POV

I sit on Chloe's bed and smile as we've managed to help Harry. I'm actually quite excited that Harry has to take part, I'm hoping he will be fine with me watching him as I love hearing him sing. We both look up as a knock on the door distracts us.

"Come in" Chloe says and the door opens. My heart nearly stops as Niall smiles. "Oh my god! What are you doing here?" She gasps as she jumps up and wraps her arms around him.
I look away as I wasn't expecting to see him for a while.

"My family decided to spend christmas with you guys, it was all last minute but basically Dad's got the next few weeks off so we're staying in a rented apartment. It's not far from here at all." Niall grins as they pull apart. He looks to me and his eyes widen. "Steph?" He asks.

"Hey" I smile as I stand up and I give him a friendly hug.

"You've gone dark.." He says as he pulls away and looks at my hair. "It looks great." He adds politely. I thank him as I let go of him, Chloe starts to say how much she likes my hair and now she's tempted to go red. I laugh at her as I sit back on the bed.

"Oh my god Steph." Chloe randomly says ad she turns to me with the biggest grin on her face. "I think I've found another member." She adds and my heart nearly stops. Niall looks at us puzzled and asks what she is on about.

As Chloe starts to explain I pray Niall will turn it down, but with Niall being so carefree he happily agrees. How am I supposed to tell Harry that Chloe's got someone else and it happens to be Niall? I'm not sure how this is going to go down.

Notes

Hi everyone!
So poor Harry has to try and get a band for the New Year's Eve gig, Do you think Louis should stand his ground and not do it? Or should he help his mate out, after all, Harry needs to know ASAP as they'd have to learn the lyrics and to practise with the band that's supposed to be playing with the previous band. What a mess?
Plus, how do you think Harry will react when Stephanie tells him Niall's going to be taking part? And finally, Harry gets to meet Zayn :)
Please let me know what you think!
xx