The Reinvention of Harry Styles

“You’re going to have a special guest at your show tonight,” Molly smiled, but Harry got tense.

“What do you mean?” He asked. He was still a little on edge, despite his first show having gotten decent reviews. Most reviewers were pleasantly surprised by his change in wardrobe and general appearance, stating that it matched his music and his style. Yet, some felt he was still getting used to being on his own, but that was to be expected for his first show.

“An old friend of yours,” Molly smiled, hoping he’d guess, but he cocked his head in confusion. “Someone you could probably get back at by making him sing ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ with you…”

“Oh, Niall,” Harry chuckled. “Yeah, I know. There are actually going to be a lot of non-fans at this show since it’s LA, and I think Jeff’s invited some important people.”

“That makes sense.” Molly nodded, for once agreeing with Jeff. “Actually, there’s another surprise guest - someone I’m bringing - but you know her.”

“Your mom?” Harry bit his lips at the memory of meeting Deborah.

“No, god no,” Molly laughed. “No, a certain flower-named girl we both know.”

“Oh, Daisy?” Harry seemed thrown off by that, and was still a little upset that she seemed to have disappeared without a goodbye a few weeks ago.

“Yeah, that doesn’t bother you, does it? Your girlfriend and your former crush hanging out together?” Molly was joking, but something in Harry’s reaction made her think it was not far from the truth.

“I didn’t have a crush on her - I’m not 13,” Harry retorted and laughed.

“Okay, but you seemed quite….what was the word… besotted with her.” Molly teased, and Harry nearly rolled his eyes when he recognized what she was referring to.

“I don’t know how that became the ‘word of the day’ after that article was published, but that word is now used any time I’m linked to a new girl.” Harry shook his head. “And no, I wasn’t besotted with Daisy, and I certainly don’t have any kind of feelings for her now.”

“I’d hope not,” Molly smirked. “I’m going to sit in the audience with her, unless you’d prefer I stay backstage.”

“No that’s fine. You can get a different perspective sitting in the audience.” Harry liked knowing she was just off stage for that first show, but he thought it would also be nice for her to see him from the fans perspective. There were still a few things they wanted to work out with the performance, and this could be helpful.

“Awesome. I’m going to pick her up from the airport and then we’ll probably get dinner before coming here. Unless you wanted me around for moral support or something?”

“No, I should be fine,” Harry shrugged. “I have some stuff to go over with the band anyway.”

“Great, well I guess we’ll see you tonight!” Molly gave him a kiss goodbye and left for the airport, leaving Harry on his own.

As he got ready for the show that night he wondered if he should ask Niall up on stage with him like he had done to him back in London. It would only be fair, right? Harry thought so and laughed to himself as he pictured Niall’s reaction. Then, he got an even better idea and decided to practice one more song with his band as they warmed up.

Molly and Daisy talked over dinner, but avoided one main subject. Finally, when they were ordering dessert and Daisy got something she said she’d never tried before but had a sudden need to eat, Molly decided to bring up the elephant in the room.

“So that’s why you didn’t order a drink with dinner,” Molly said quietly.

“Well, I don’t drink, but...yeah.” Daisy cleared her throat. “It’s about four months now.”

“Hence the hoodie,” Molly acknowledged Daisy’s loose-fitting attire, thinking it was not something she’d ever seen the girl wear before.

“Yeah. I’m not exactly ready to show it off to the world yet,” she answered, and paused their conversation while their dessert was delivered.

“Do you mind me asking how your girlfriend took the news?” Molly asked.

“Well,” Daisy stopped eating just long enough to answer. “Let’s just say she’s my ex-girlfriend now.”

Molly gave her a sympathetic smile, but wasn’t surprised to hear that. “I’m sorry.”

“I made a mistake, and now I have to live with the consequences,” Daisy shrugged and dove back into her dessert.

Wanting to lighten the mood a bit, Molly smiled. “I can’t believe I thought it was Harry’s.”

Daisy stared at her for a moment before she burst out laughing. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know, he was being really weird about you, almost like he had a crush on you?” Molly laughed, because looking back on it now, it was just silly and she had clearly jumped to conclusions with no evidence.

“We got along alright, but I never got that vibe from him. I thought he was excited to work together, but nothing more.” Daisy contemplated this for a moment before finishing up her dessert, and then asking if Molly was going to finish hers.

After dinner, the two headed to the Greek Theater and were shown to their seats in a VIP area. They ended up sitting right next to none other than Niall Horan, who was surprisingly not the only member of One Direction in the audience that night.

“Oh my god that’s Louis Tomlinson,” Molly whispered to Daisy when she spotted him talking with Niall.

“What?” Daisy asked and looked toward the two men Molly had pointed out.

“That’s Niall and Louis, of 1D,” Molly explained, and Daisy nodded.

“Is that the Irish one?” Daisy added.

“Niall is, yes.” Molly said quietly as they approached the two guys. She wasn’t sure if she should talk to them, or if that wouldn’t be appropriate, but before she could make up her mind Niall saw her and smiled.

“There’s our favorite One Direction fan!” He said loudly as he greeted them. “And you must be miss Daisy?”

“Yes, nice to meet you,” Daisy smiled and shook hands with him.

“Louis, this here, is Harry’s girl I was telling you about,” Niall explained quietly and gestured to Molly.

Louis’ eyes got huge and he broke out into a huge grin. “No fucking way! This is the fan he’s dating? It is lovely to meet you, Molly. And you, as well,” he added and shook hands with Daisy. “I thought you and Harry sounded really nice together, you really meshed with him.” Louis added, and Niall agreed.

“Thank you,” Daisy nodded.

“I hate to ask this, but this is killing me...how did you and Harry end up together?” Louis asked Molly with a cheeky but interested smile, and quietly added, “he didn’t knock you up, did he?”

The guys laughed, and Molly knew he was joking, but she and Daisy both blushed and felt a bit awkward. “No, nothing like that…” she wasn’t sure what to say to him. Should she stick with the official story they were telling everyone else? Or was he considered an ‘insider’ and could know the truth?

“I’ve been wondering that too - how you got together, I mean, not the knocked up part,” Niall clarified. “Though, he’s Harry,” he looked at Louis and they both laughed.

“Meaning he’s the kind of guy who would stick around if he did accidentally get a girl pregnant,” Louis clarified, and Molly felt even more awkward now, since that was something Louis personally had experience with. Yet, they both sounded like they were confident they knew what Harry would do in that situation - like, oddly confident.

“Umm,” she finally said, remembering their original question. “We met a while ago, when he was doing SNL.”

“Oh!” They both seemed surprised. “So this has been going on for a while now, almost six months,” Louis pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Molly added and instinctively grabbed her phone when it buzzed in her purse. She answered the text, and decided to send Harry a ‘good luck ‘ text before realizing she should also tell him Louis was here - in case he really was going to ask Niall up on stage for a song. It would be a bit awkward if he left Louis out of it, yet at the same time, with the three of them together, that’s 75% of a One Direction reunion.

She didn’t get a response from Harry, and realized he probably didn’t have his phone with him as the show was about to start. ‘Well, this is going to be interesting’ she thought and settled into her seat as MUNA was about to start.

Molly could hardly pay attention because she was so aware of Niall and Louis on one side, and Daisy on the other. She had a feeling something interesting was going to happen tonight - whether that was a ‘good’ interesting or a ‘bad’ interesting they would soon find out as the stage was reset for Harry and his band. The audience had that same nervous energy Molly had felt at the first show, except this time she was in the middle of it and it was ten times stronger as she waited for something bad to happen.

Harry got through ‘Only Angel’ and the first couple of songs without a hitch, and Molly was just starting to relax when Harry decided to change things up a bit.

“I’ve heard we have a special guest here tonight…” Harry smiled and the audience screamed - not even sure who he was referring to, but excited nonetheless.

On either side of Molly she heard someone whisper “Oh shit…” and Molly’s anxiety suddenly shot through the roof when she realized Harry might be talking about Daisy.

“I think some of you may know this person, and I’m hoping they might come up here and sing this next song,” Harry cryptically stated and picked up a guitar, but just held onto it instead of slipping the strap around his shoulder. Both Daisy and Niall play the guitar, so that didn’t clear things up for Molly.

As she tried to remember what the next song was, Harry continued speaking. “This special friend is none other than miss Daisy Rutherford, who I’ve heard has flown in just to see us tonight.”

“That’s not entirely true…” Daisy said quietly.

“Maybe if we ask nicely, she’ll come up here and sing ‘Two Ghosts’ with me?” Harry smiled in their general direction, and the house lights in the theater came up enough for them to be seen. However, when Harry saw who Molly and Daisy were sitting with, his smile faltered for a second. The audience didn’t seem to notice this and began chanting a mix between ‘Daisy’ and ‘Haisy’ it sounded like, and finally Daisy sighed.

“I might as well,” she shrugged and looked over at Molly, Niall, and Louis.

“Go for it!” Niall shouted, knowing well enough his turn was probably coming up soon.

“You don’t have to,” Molly added. “If you don’t feel comfortable, you don’t have to do it.”

“When else am I going to get a chance to sing here?” She said and stood up. Daisy was shown up to the stage and slipped Harry’s guitar on quickly - glad to have something covering her stomach in case the hoodie didn’t do its job. Harry gave her a hug and thanked her, before adjusting the microphone stand for her. Once the audience calmed down a bit, she started playing, and the two were illuminated in a bluish light at the center of the stage. Harry’s band was quiet as the two sang, and the audience seemed to be caught in the moment.

“They really do sound so perfect together,” Molly commented to no one in particular, but Niall on her left responded.

“It’s too bad she didn’t want to tour with him,” he started, but was interrupted by applause when the song ended.

Daisy gave Harry a hug, and he took the guitar from her. “Isn’t she lovely?” He asked while he adjusted the microphone stand and Daisy returned to her seat. The audience laughed, reminding Harry that’s the song he sang when he tried out for X-Factor over seven years ago. “Very funny, that’s not what I meant though,” he smiled and blushed a little. “I mean she was kind enough to come up here and play a song with me, just like old times.”

It was dark now that the house lights had gone down, but Molly was sure Harry was looking directly at Niall and Louis. The two guys shifted in their seats and cleared their throats, realizing it might be their turn now.

“Let’s give a warm thank you to Daisy!” Harry said, and after the audience quieted down again, moved onto the next song. “Anyway, this is ‘Woman’.”

“That fucker,” Louis laughed under his breath, but Niall agreed. The pair had just started to relax after a few songs, when Harry stopped again.

“Sorry, there’s going to be one last interruption to tonight’s show. I know it’s getting near the end, but I have to do this.” He tried to sound serious, but couldn’t keep the edges of his mouth from curling up into a slight smile. “I believe I have a couple of very old friends in the audience, one of which owes me…” His smile grew to a grin, and Molly could hear Niall and Louis spewing every kind of curse word under their breath next to her.

“It’s your own fault, really,” Molly teased Niall, and he shook his head with a resigned smile.

“I have to, don’t I,” he laughed.

“I don’t owe him shit,” Louis defended. “I’m not the one who made him sing ‘Fool’s Gold’ with me!”

“If I’m doing it, you’re doing it,” Niall said, they both smiled but shook their heads when they realized there was no getting out of this.

“Come on...I can’t sing ‘Fool’s Gold’ on my own…” Harry grinned on stage in their direction and the audience cheered at the mention of the song.

“He’s doing ‘Fool’s Gold’?” Molly, Niall, and Louis all seemed surprised, but only Molly voiced her shock. Niall and Louis seemed to change their demeanor when hearing this, and exchanged glances. “Wait, are you guys actually going to do it?” Molly couldn’t help but smile.

“I think we have to,” Louis shrugged.

“Come on, I did it…” Daisy teased.

Niall sighed loudly, and stood up. “I’m doing it. I owe him, I think I have to.”

“If you’re doing it, I have to.” Louis stood up too, and muttering something about ‘peer pressure’ followed Niall up to the stage amidst the screaming fans they were both more than used to.

“There they come!” Harry shouted. “Ladies and gentlemen, give a huge round of applause for my mates Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson!”

Even Molly found herself getting directioner-giddy despite having just sat next to the pair a moment ago. The three boys spoke for a moment on stage while things were sorted out, and Harry even gave Niall his guitar to play for this song. As Niall started playing those first few notes, the entire theater seemed to erupt in some kind of 1D frenzy. As the song started, Molly was suddenly just a directioner watching three of her favorite guys play one of her favorite songs; that wasn’t her boyfriend and his two former co-workers, they were 75% of her favorite band.

Niall and Louis were escorted back to their seats by several guards after the song, and ended up leaving early so they wouldn’t get mobbed by fans. When Harry finally left the stage after the end of ‘Sign of the Times’ Molly and Daisy headed backstage to see him.

“So, that was unexpected,” Molly smirked. “You couldn’t have given us a heads up?”

“I think Niall should have expected it, and I didn’t know Louis was here until later, but I couldn’t leave him out,” Harry explained, still grinning.

“No, I meant with Daisy?” Molly corrected.

“Oh,” Harry’s smile melted a bit. “Well, I actually owe that to Jeff.” His eyes flicked over to Daisy and back to Molly.

“What do you mean?” Molly asked, realizing she was out of the loop on something.

“The reason I was here in LA, is to meet with Jeff about maybe hiring him as my manager.” Daisy explained, and Molly gave her a questioning look. “Sometime next year, well over five months from now.”

Molly nodded, understanding the time-frame Daisy was referencing. “That’s exciting!”

“Why wait, though?” Harry asked. He sound a little annoyed, and was probably still disappointed she didn’t want to tour with him - especially if she was going to start a career of her own soon.

“I have some things I need to finish up back home, you know, tie up loose ends…” Daisy smiled nervously.

“That makes sense,” Molly agreed, but Harry still seemed confused. “Why don’t we meet up with Niall and Louis? I feel like you owe them a drink after that.”:

Harry nodded. “That would be nice to catch up with them.”

Once Harry changed back into his normal clothes, the three of them arranged to meet Niall and Louis for a drink to catch up. It was nice for the three guys to talk, but it was a little awkward at times. After an hour or so, they all went their separate ways - except Harry and Molly, of course, who went home together.

“That was probably one of the most exciting concerts I’ve been too,” Molly smiled at Harry.

“Yeah?” He smirked.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “It was really weird seeing the three of you on stage together without Liam, you’ll have to invite him to one of your shows so he can have his turn.”

“I think he now knows better than to come to one of my concerts - or Niall’s for that matter,” Harry joked.

Molly went to sleep that night wondering how or if she could trick the four of them into getting on stage again together. They’d gotten three of them, so that’s close. Maybe they would do it for charity? Maybe something for Christmas? It was a long shot, but Molly thought it would be good for not only Harry’s image (and probably the other’s, too), but would keep the 1D fandom alive for whenever they decided to reunite.

Notes

I wrote most of this chapter with the last one, but I didn’t have time to finish it up until now (and it was longer than I expected!)

On a side note, I just want to remind everyone that fanfiction is meant to be entertaining. I write for fun (not to make fun of anyone, just for fun) and I hope it’s been fun for you to read. If it isn’t, maybe don’t read it? Though, if you’ve made it this far in the story I’d guess you don’t have a problem with it : p In the last 10 years or so that I’ve been writing fanfiction, in all the fandoms I have been in I have never come across a fandom that takes fanfiction so seriously. This goes for any story, not just my own - if you don’t like a story, don’t read it. I’m not going to tell anyone what to read/not read, but I want my readers to have the best reading experience they can - yet it ultimately comes down to the reader to decide what they read.

Thank you to everyone who has read this story and enjoyed it, that’s all I really want from my readers. :)