The Reinvention of Harry Styles

“So, is this our first date?” Harry asked as the show they were watching concluded. The two were still in pajamas on his couch, the alcohol slowly wearing off as they ate cupcakes.

“Sure,” Molly answered, not really sure. “I mean, we just started dating, so I guess so.”

“I feel like I should take you out on a normal date. Like, get dinner or go to the movies or something,” Harry suggested.

“Well, technically we did see a movie together. And I don’t feel like getting out of my pajamas, so dinner is going to have to wait.”

“When did we go to the cinema?” Harry cocked his head and looked at her.

“‘Dunkirk’, remember?” Molly said. “Though, your mom and sister were there, so I’m not sure it’s really a date.”

“Yeah, and then you slept with Tom that night,” Harry added with a huff.

“We’ve been over that, Harry, let’s not get into it again,” Molly shook her head, but he wouldn’t budge. “You really were jealous of him, weren’t you?”

“Of course,” Harry finally answered. “He slept with my girlfriend.”

“I wasn’t your girlfriend then, and you know that.”

Harry shrugged. “Still felt like it, though,” he added quietly.

They’d been over this before, but it felt different this time. “I’m sorry,” Molly said after a moment.

Harry looked up at her and smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s fine; it’s in the past, and things are different now.”

Molly nodded. “Of course.”

It was late, so they headed off to bed soon after. Harry paused in the doorway to his bedroom and looked back at Molly as she turned to walk into her room.

“Umm…” he stopped, not sure what he wanted to say.

“What?” Molly stuck her head out of the door to look at him.

“Nothing, I just…” he pointed toward his room. “I’m going to bed now.”

“Me too,” Molly popped back into her room and brushed her teeth without a thought of Harry’s odd statement. ‘He’s weird like that’ she thought, and slipped into bed.

At breakfast Molly looked through her social media accounts to see what the fans were saying about Harry, and as usual, she filled him in on the important parts. Except this time, she found herself censoring the negativity a bit more than before. ‘He doesn't really need to know that…’

Yet, when she came across one such topic, she giggled and nearly spit out her toast.

“What?” He looked up from his phone.

“It’s nothing really,” she shook her head and tried to wipe that smile off her face.

“Come on, you can tell me. If you’re laughing, I’m sure it’s not too bad,” he smiled encouragingly, yet he could already tell there was something different about her interaction with him. She usually would not hesitate to share something with him, especially if it was funny.

“Well, uh, some people are speculating what your tour will be like. Now that they know Daisy won’t be joining you, some are concerned that you’ll return to your former cardboard cut-out self that you were at previous performances. But, someone suggested you could try juggling to liven things up,” Molly giggled and glanced up at Harry to see his reaction before continuing. “Someone else commented that there would be 40 minutes of juggling once you’d finished your 10 songs.”

He bit his lips and forced a smile. “Maybe I will throw some juggling into the mix, who knows?”

“Nice pun there, Harry,” Molly grinned, but he looked confused. “I meant using ‘throw’ and ‘juggling’...”

“Oh, right.” He nodded. “I think I just need some more coffee.” He got up to pour himself another cup, before returning to the table.

“You seem a little tired, did you sleep okay?” Molly asked.

“Kind of, no, I was up thinking about...stuff.” Harry contemplated keeping this to himself. “It’s just, when we went to bed last night, I was kind of assuming you’d come with me. Now that we’re dating we don’t really need two bedrooms. But the more I thought about it, I realized we’d been dating less than 24 hours - even though it feels like much longer - and that was maybe kinda quick to ask a girl to sleep next to you every night. Right?”

‘So that’s what he meant last night…’ Molly nodded. “I agree, and I think it’s good we take it slow. This is certainly not an average relationship in many ways, so it’s probably best we keep things as normal as possible when we can. When we travel, we’ll have to stay together anyway, so it’s probably good we have some space while we’re at home - for now, at least.”

“That’s probably smart.” Harry smiled tiredly. “You think things through way more than I do.”

“I know,” Molly smirked. “If only I’d been around when you were planning your solo career; we could have avoided this whole mess.”

“It’s not that bad, is it?” He grimaced.

“Well….We have certainly improved it over the past month or so.” Molly tried to sound positive, but Harry saw right through her.

“Why don’t you come with me today and help us organize the set list. We’re going to run through the whole show, and I think you could help give us some feedback.”

Molly’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t realize you were already at that stage, wow, is your tour coming up that soon? But yes, I’d love to help out. I’m no expert on how concerts work, but I can give my feedback from a fan’s perspective.”

Harry finally smiled in a somewhat convincing way the first time that morning. “Splendid.”


Molly settled into her seat in the auditorium Harry and his band were using to practice. Once they’d figured out where they would stand on stage they got started. Molly took out her notepad and began taking notes immediately. It appeared that in her absence the last few days, Jeff had manage to revert Harry back to some of their original ideas. Considering the majority of his concert attendees were most likely going to be 1D fans like Molly, she knew whatever they were trying to pull off was not going to go over well with that crowd.

“Okay, I hate to interrupt, but Harry…” Molly stood up between songs to offer some input. “Are you actually playing that guitar?”

“What?” He looked a little offended.

“I just mean, is it necessary? Because, on songs that you don’t have it, you seem much more comfortable and are more able to engage with the audience.” Molly explained, and his expression softened.

“Um, we might be able to cut back the number of songs I play on,” Harry glanced over at Mitch, and his guitarist shrugged. “We can try to figure that out for tomorrow’s rehearsal.”

“Okay, sorry to interrupt,” Molly held her hands up and sat down to let them continue.

Jeff was sitting near Molly and moved a few seats closer so he could talk to her. “I liked that piece you wrote about Daisy. Is everything okay between you and Harry? You weren’t around for a few days, and now there’s a bit of tension...did you have a fight or something?”

Molly sighed and tried to think of something that would make Jeff leave her alone. “We just, umm...I read about this new sex position in Cosmo, and I really wanted to try it, but Harry said no.” Molly bit her lips to keep from laughing at her lie, and at Jeff’s reaction.

“Right, well, um, I’m going to….” He moved back to his original seat, and then a few seats further, and avoided looking at Molly the rest of the day.

When they concluded their first run through the concert, Molly read through her list of complaints. Some of which were met with nods, some were completely ignored (which she understood), and by the end she could tell everyone was a bit tense, so she threw in one last idea, just for fun.

“Since ‘Sign of the Times’ is your last song, I think you should just ascend up into the rafters above the stage as the song ends - like in your music video, you know?” She smiled, and hoped they knew she was joking.

“I’d have to wear a harness,” Harry finally spoke up after his team exchanged glances.

“And that would be hard to hide under those tight fitting Gucci suits,” Harry’s stylist added.

Molly looked back at Harry, and he quickly averted his eyes. “I thought you weren’t going to wear those on tour.”

“I have to, we’ve signed a contract,” he said quietly.

“Do you want people to talk about you, or what you’re wearing?” Molly responded, not hiding her annoyance with his team. “Is that what all the extra theatrics are for? The curtain in the beginning with your silhouette projected onto it, the pretty suits, the unnecessary guitar, the stolen moves from Mick Jagger in Kiwi?”

Molly heard someone whisper ‘Moves like Jagger’ and a giggle spread through the small audience. Even Harry smiled, so Molly conceded and allowed herself to relax a bit before continuing. “I know you’re worried that Harry, on his own, without 1D or even Daisy, isn’t going to be enough, but you have to have a little faith in him. He’s been doing this for five years, he performed in front of thousands without an issue. You just have to let Harry be Harry, instead of trying to push him into a mold and paint him as a rock star. If you do, you get, this,” Molly held up her notepad containing pages of issues she had with their run-through. “It looks fake, it looks forced, and honestly, I don’t like it.”

Molly sat down and couldn’t look up at Harry. This was so much easier before they started dating; even though nothing had really changed between the two of them, somehow, everything was different now.


The next morning, when things had cooled off a bit, Molly approached Harry with something she’d been meaning to ask him for a while.

“Harry, Harry, Harry, Harrrrry!” Molly smiled her biggest smile at her new boyfriend.

“Yes?” He raised his eyebrows, not used to this kind of attention from her.

“Can we pleasssseeee see Niall next week! I’ve been dying to hear his new album, and he’ll be in London at the O2 theater on the 31st.” Molly smiled and held up her hands as she pretended to beg.

“It’s kind of short notice, don’t you think?” Harry sounded doubtful. “It’s probably sold out.”

“You expect me to believe that you can’t call up your old pal Nialler and say ‘Mate, can I score a couple tickets to your show for me girl and I?’ and that he’d say no?” Molly teased, mocking Harry with the worst British accent he’d ever heard.

“Wait,” he laughed. “Was that supposed to be me? Is that what you think I sound like?”

He and Molly both laughed, until she sarcastically responded, “yes Harry, it is.”

“I guess I can try. Why do you want to see him so bad?”

“Really? You know you’re not the only member of 1D I like.” Molly bit her lips and smiled at his reaction.

“What? How many other members of 1D are you dating?” He teased, and she rolled her eyes.

“Come on, you know what I mean. Please? It would mean a lot to me. It can be like, a date,” Molly smiled and bit her lip.

Harry sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’ll see what I can do. You ask for so little, I suppose I can try to get you this one thing. However, we’ll be up in Manchester around then filming my BBC special. I think we’ll be done in time for his show, but I’m not sure.”

“Your what now?” Molly’s jaw dropped.

“It’s something we’ve had planned for ages, sorry, I guess it never came up,” Harry ran a hand through his hair.

“Is this like Adele’s thing? Because if so….you know you’re not Adele? Sorry, but, I just don’t understand…” Molly was trying hard not to seem rude, but she was just plain confused.

“I don’t know, but there’ll be an interview with Nick Grimshaw-”

“Oh, I should have known it was either going to be him or James Corden,” Molly interrupted him and sighed.

Harry shrugged. “Well, I’ve already spent a week on Corden, so I guess it’s Nick’s turn.”

Molly snickered, and Harry cocked his head. “Sorry, but your wording, there...it’s just begging for a ‘that’s what she said’ but honestly, it fits just fine the way you said it.”

“Molly Winthrope, you have a dirty mind,” Harry smirked.

“Admit it, that’s why you like me,” she laughed.

“One of many reasons,” he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek - technically their first kiss as a couple. It was short and sweet, and neither of them really noticed it was their ‘first’ official kiss. “There’s nothing we can really do about the BBC special, since it’s out of our hands at this point. But we’ll be up in Manchester and Holmes Chapel, so I can show you around my hometown a bit.”

Molly grinned and clapped excitedly. “Just like my fanfiction! I can’t wait to see it!!!”

Harry smiled and shook his head. “You’ve got to stop mentioning the fanfiction. Or else, I might just read it someday.”

Molly bit both her lips and her cheeks turned pink. “Please don’t.”

He ruffled her hair as he got up. “We’re leaving to head up north the day after tomorrow, so make sure you have everything you need packed.”

Molly was glowing at the idea of seeing Harry’s hometown. Maybe he’d show her the bakery? She had been dying to see it in person, and had even one day considered taking a pilgrimage up there just to check it out.

‘That’s not creepy, right?’ She thought, and shook her head. ‘It’s not creepy if he’s your boyfriend’.

Notes

I’d completely forgotten about Harry’s BBC special until I saw a preview for it! I think it’s next week, or maybe even sooner? I’m interested in seeing it, I just don’t think it’s entirely necessary at this point in his career.

Also, the complaints Molly listed about his show are things I’ve heard. I personally feel the guitar is hindering his performance, because he seems to do better without it. I’ve seen all of his concerts on youtube so far, and I haven’t seen any juggling yet! (PS shout out to the person who actually made that comment on tumblr! I don’t remember who it was, but credit goes to them)

Lastly, does anyone have any fic recommendations? There’s so much fanfiction, I don’t even know where to start! Also, I started beta reading for a few people this summer, and I love it! I’m quite the grammar enthusiast, so if you want any help with editing let me know.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and voting!