The Reinvention of Harry Styles

Harry awoke feeling nervous; that was not a good way to start the day - especially not this day. Yesterday, he and Nick had been all over Manchester filming for his BBC special, but today they were going to film the rest: the interview and his performance in front of a live audience. He tapped his fingers nervously at breakfast and tried to get his mind off of it.

“What’s wrong, hon?” Anne asked.

“Just a bit nervous, that’s all,” he answered and continued eating.

“You have nothing to worry about. You know Gemma and I will be in the audience watching, and it’s just Nick, after all.” She reassured him and sat down to eat.

“I know, and we’ve been over the questions together, so I know what to say, but I’m still anxious. This special is meant to reach a new audience, hopefully, so it has to be good. And, it’s my first time playing live since Daisy left, and I know I’m not really alone on that stage, but it sure feels like it sometimes. At least, compared to what I’m used to.” He shrugged, and Anne put her hand on his.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Is Molly going?” She asked.

“Probably, though I don’t think I’ll have her sit with you - so it doesn’t raise suspicion.”

“I guess that’s a good idea,” Anne added and Gemma joined them for breakfast, followed soon after by Molly. Harry didn’t say much else during breakfast, but he was deep in thought. After his mom and sister got up to clear the dishes, he turned to Molly.

“I have a request; I’d like you to do something for me,” he started.

“Okay…” Molly raised her eyebrow.

“I’m going to put you in the audience, maybe you can talk to some fans, get some feedback,” Harry suggested, and bit his lip.

“Oh, like a spy? Okay, that’ll be fun. I wanted to see it anyway, so this is nice.” Molly smiled. “Though, I’ve been seen out and about with Gemma lately, don’t you think people might recognize me?”

Harry thought for a minute. “Maybe, you could wear a hat? Or we could get Lou to do your hair and makeup differently, and my stylist can-”
“I’m not letting Harry Lambert pick out my outfit. I don’t want to look like a Gucci puppet, sorry,” Molly cringed. “I’m all for a Gucci purse, or accessory, but not the whole outfit.”

“Actually, I have a new stylist now. I guess I should have mentioned that. I realized you were right, and the outfits were the main talking point of some of my previous shows.”

“I thought you had a contract with Gucci?” Molly asked.

“Well, Lambert had the Gucci contract, at least regarding the suits I was going to wear on tour. Gucci happens to make perfectly normal looking clothes, too, so we’re still working with them.” Harry explained.

Molly nodded as she processed this. “Okay, this is definitely good. I can’t wait to see how your new stylist dresses you! And, um,” she reached up to run a finger through his locks. “You never did get that haircut, did you?”

Harry bit his lips and felt this cheeks redden with embarrassment at the memory of ‘the day he almost got a haircut’ - a day he wasn’t likely to forget. “No, I got distracted that day, I think you know that. Then, I just kept putting it off, and, uh...”

“Is this because I said I liked you with long hair? Because I didn’t mean I liked you better with long hair, I just...really liked that look on you. I like your hair this way, too,” Molly added.

“Well, that was kinda it, but I’m not necessarily growing it out just for you - unless you’d find that romantic, in which case, of course I am!” Harry grinned, and Molly laughed at him.

“Shut up, we both know you need to put whatever benefits your career before your girlfriend’s sexual desires.”

“S-sexual?” Harry’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t realize you liked it quite that much. If you want, I can put on a wig sometime when we’re-”

“Shut up, no,” Molly laughed, and shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. Not today, at least; you have bigger things on your plate.”

“Yes, and speaking of which,” he checked his phone. “I have to go. I’ll see you there, in the audience.” He leaned over to kiss her goodbye before leaving to meet his ride waiting outside. He tried to clear his head on the ride there, but Jeff had some things to go over with him in the car, and when he arrived he was needed on stage for sound check with his band.

After rehearsal, he was rushed into a makeup chair, where he chatted with Lou about giving Molly a makeover, before he headed off to wardrobe. His new stylist, Rupert, was a younger, laidback kind of guy, who looked like he had never heard a One Direction song in his life. Rupe put Harry in his signature black skinny jeans and his favorite Chelsea boots, and matched it with a Gucci v-neck graphic tee and a simple black blazer with the sleeves rolled up a bit. He paired this outfit with a necklace, which had a string made out of a leather-like material and decorated with a small feather, and a few topaz beads that looked Native American.

Harry viewed himself in front of the mirror, turning to see the whole outfit. “Okay, I like this. I see you’re going for a bit of the hipster look, with a dash of the modern rock star. That’s kind of what I was originally going for.” Harry smiled at Rupe and his stylist looked relieved.

“Pleased to hear that. I listened to your album a few times without having seen you perform it, and this was the image I had in my head. I looked into your style in the last few years of One Direction, and I decided to draw from that a bit too.” Rupert explained.

“Looks very nice.” He patted Rupe on the back. “Do you think you could help me out a bit, and pick out an outfit for my girlfriend? I’m going to dress her up as a fan and stick her in the audience so she can watch.”

“Oh,” Rupe seemed surprised. “That’s very sweet of you to do that for her. I’m not sure I’m prepared for that, though.”

“It’s fine, she can probably tell you what a ‘typical fan’ would wear anyway - considering she is one,” Harry added with a smirk. “Thanks!” He called back to him before being ushered toward the stage for one last run through of the show.

‘He’s dating a fan??’ Rupert pondered in bewilderment, but was interrupted by the aforementioned ‘fan’.

“Hi! You must be Harry’s new stylist! I’m Molly, his girlfriend,” she added quietly, and introduced herself.

“Rupert, but please, call me Rupe,” he shook her hand. “I don’t really know what Harry expects me to do, since I only brought clothes for him…”

“Not an issue. I’ve come prepared,” Molly dumped the clothes she’d brought with her in a pile. “We can pick an outfit together!”

Half an hour later, they had dressed her up as the stereotypical 1D/Harry Styles fan, and Molly was ready to get her hair and makeup done.

Luckily Harry had given Lou a bit more time to prepare, and she had some accessories for Molly, including some floral hair pins, and some fake hipster-looking glasses. Lou did Molly’s eyes a little differently than Molly normally would to make their shape look a little different, and opted for a softer pink shade of lipstick instead of Molly’s usual red.

“Wow, meet sixteen-year-old Molly Winthrope, going to her first 1D concert with her mom,” Molly joked as she looked at herself in the mirror. “It’s perfect, thanks Lou!” She hugged Harry’s hair stylist, before leaving to wait in line like the rest of the audience.

The energy from the waiting fans was contagious, and soon Molly was just as excited as the rest of them to see Harry. Of course, she’d seen him a couple hours ago, so it was different, but her inner fan was coming out and she couldn’t help but fangirl with a few people waiting with her in line.

“I wonder what his suit will look like this time!” One girl said, and Molly’s smile faltered.

“I don’t know, I can’t wait to see,” Molly replied. She really didn’t know, but if this new stylist was different from the last one, he probably wasn’t wearing a floral/sparkly suit. “I don’t care, I’m excited to see him no matter what he’s wearing.”

“Oh my god, me too! I think I’m going to pass out!” The girl fanned herself.

They were shown to their seats soon after, and Molly had a new group of fans to chat with while they waited. After the initial ‘omg I can’t wait to see him!’ the other girls settled down a bit and Molly decided to get to work.

“I’m kind of disappointed Daisy won’t be touring with him,” she commented, and watched their reactions.

“Same, I loved her! She was like a mini Taylor! Maybe that’s why Harry liked her so much,” the fan added with a smirk.

“I don’t know; it looked like she was just using him,” another fan added.

“I think they sounded very nice together,” Molly steered the conversation back in a positive direction.

“Oh, sure she definitely has a nice voice, but I think she just wanted his dick,” the same fan added.

Molly blushed a little. “Well, maybe you missed the interview where she said she was gay, so I doubt that.”

The fan scoffed. “She just said that so people would leave her alone.”

“Okay, well, um,” Molly swallowed hard and wondered when the program would start. “I’m excited to see him on tour, are any of you guys going?”

That trick worked, and they chatted about which shows they were going to until it was time to start filming. When Harry appeared on stage, even Molly was surprised to see what he was wearing, but at least it was a good kind of surprised.

“That’s different,” the girl next to her whispered, and Molly agreed. “But I like it.”

Once they started filming, they had to be quiet, but Molly could tell there was a buzzing energy in the room. Harry sang ‘Sweet Creature’ first, and then Nick Grimshaw came out and they walked to the other end of the stage for the interview. Molly was not as close to this part of the stage, so she couldn’t see him as well. They had seated her in the middle of a group, so she wouldn’t stand out. As far as she could tell, Harry had not noticed her yet, but she supposed that meant Lou and Rupe had done their job of making her blend in.

‘He’s nervous,’ Molly thought, and wished she could give him a hug, and tried to send positive vibes his way. As he returned to the other end of the stage to play ‘Two Ghosts’ she hoped to catch his eye, but didn’t dare wave to him, or anything else to draw attention. He seemed pretty focused, so she didn’t blame him for not looking for her in the audience.

By the end of filming, he seemed to relax a little and engaged with the audience a bit more, but he had yet to notice Molly. She didn’t necessarily care, but it would have been nice to to catch his eye at least once. When Nick announced the next song was a cover, Molly was surprised. She didn’t know he would be covering another song besides ‘The Chain’, and was shocked.

As he started playing the first chords, Harry looked out into the audience, and finally made eye contact with the girl with flower clips in her hair and fake hipster glasses, and she smiled back. He had been nervous about playing this song for the first time, and her smile was exactly what he needed to get over those nerves.

Molly blinked a few times and couldn’t believe how much this song was affecting her. It felt like he was singing it directly at her, and Molly couldn’t help but wonder if the ‘Girl Crush’ he was singing about was maybe how she’d felt about Daisy. The line about wanting her ‘long blond hair’ particularly stood out, even though Daisy was strawberry-blond. Molly knew Harry and Daisy had never actually kissed or slept together outside of her own jealous mind, but this song conveyed exactly how she’d felt during those few weeks Daisy and Harry were together.

As the song concluded, Harry looked back over toward Molly and discreetly winked at her, which confirmed her suspicion that he had chosen that song for her. So far their relationship seemed to involve a lot of Harry singing to Molly to say things he couldn’t quite put into words (even if they weren’t his own songs).

Harry concluded the show with ‘Sign of the Times’ and did not ascend into the rafters above the stage as Molly had suggested. It’s probably safer that way. Harry left the stage in a very normal way, and Molly left with the audience, not sure how she was supposed to get backstage to see Harry, so she climbed in the car waiting for her, and it took her home. Harry said he’d be home in about an hour, so she chatted with Gemma and Anne about the special while she waited. Neither of them had known about his cover of ‘Girl Crush’ either, so she made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“There’s my number one fan!” Harry announced when he got home and engulfed Molly in a hug. He seemed to be in a good mood; perhaps now that the stress of filming the special had been lifted, he could finally relax. “This outfit is really something,” he looked over Molly.

“Rupe has good taste, I like him!” Molly smiled. “Yet, I can’t wait to get out of these skinny jeans. And I think Lou put a gallon of hairspray in my hair, so I’m going to wash it out.” Molly left to take a shower, and was more than happy to wear her comfy pajamas and climb into bed with Harry afterwards.

“So,” he started, once she was settled in next to him. “What’d you think?”

Molly gave a recap of her thoughts of the special, as well as her conversations with some of his fans. “There is one thing I had a question on,” Molly turned to look at him, and Harry raised his eyebrow. “‘Girl Crush’ by Little Big Town? Since when did you get so good at singing country?”

Harry smiled and bit his lip. “So you liked that?”

Molly nodded. “I’m not sure why, but it felt like you were singing it to me, specifically.”

“That’s because I was.” Their eyes met and conveyed some unspoken communication.

“How did you know I felt like that?” Molly asked quietly. “I didn’t even realize it myself, was it that obvious?”

“I guess I realized it was a bit like how I’d felt when you slept with Tom. Except, Daisy and I were right in front of you, so I can only imagine how that felt. I know we weren’t dating at the time, but you still had plenty of reasons to be jealous.” Harry paused. “And, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Molly smiled. “You did nothing wrong.”

“Yeah, but the intention was there. I can’t guarantee what would have happened if she had been single, and not a lesbian, of course,” Harry added, and Molly decided not to correct him and say Daisy was bisexual.

“We don’t need to worry about that now, right? Since we’re dating, for real, now.” Molly tried to sound reassuring, and Harry nodded. “So, how much longer are we going to stay here? I like it, of course, and I love seeing your mom, but…”

“But, what?”

“There are just things you can’t do when visiting your boyfriend’s mom, you know,” Molly raised her eyebrows, and could tell he got the hint when his cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat before answering.

“Well, um, we’re going back to London tomorrow morning because I’m appearing on the ‘Jonathan Ross Show’ this weekend. And, because I have a surprise for you tomorrow night.” Harry grinned a cheeky smile, and Molly’s eyes shot open.

“Are we going to see Niall!!!!” She clapped her hands excitedly.

“Okay, so it’s not a surprise any more…”

“That’s okay, I’m still excited. Thank you!” She gave him a kiss goodnight, and they soon fell asleep, both exhausted after a long day.

Notes

I don’t know if you can tell, but I know nothing of men’s fashion (or women’s fashion) so just use your imagination :p If you have suggestions, or know of any resources I can check out, please let me know! I’m trying to describe a sort of ‘evolved’ 2015 Harry, if that makes sense.

Also, I don’t know why I picked the name Rupert. It just sounded very British. Yet, now all I can picture is Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) (and that’s not at all how I pictured my Rupert!)

Did anyone see his BBC special? I thought it was okay, but it was exactly what I was expecting. I found a review that kind of explains what I’m feeling about his special: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/harry-styles-suit-most-lively-11458034

Harry’s cover of girl crush at the BBC special (I listened to it about 10 times while writing this chapter, I love i!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rroc2y9if_Q