The Reinvention of Harry Styles

Harry, Louis, and Niall met up at Louis’ for a drink a few days later to catch up. It was nice to just talk about non-work related things. Freddie even came out to see them for a bit before he had to be put down for a nap.

“That’s just so weird,” Niall said to Harry as they waited or Louis to return.

“What?” Harry turned to him.

“Seeing Tommo with Freddie like...I don’t know, like it just comes naturally,” Niall shrugged.

“Oh, yeah I guess.” Harry had in fact noticed, but his head was elsewhere at the moment.

“And now Payno and Bear...shit Harry, we’re the only ones left,” Niall laughed, and Harry nodded, but he was still deep in thought. “You and Molly ever think about that? Settling down? Having kids?”

“Yeah,” Harry absently nodded, until he saw Niall’s shocked expression. “I mean, no - we’ve only been dating like-” Harry stopped. They’d been dating a month, almost, but how long were they supposed to have been together? “Like, uh...a few months. It’s way too soon for that.”

“She seems like a nice girl. I can’t believe she’s a fan.” Niall snickered, and Harry hit his arm just as Louis returned.

“I leave you two for five minutes and you start fighting?” He joked as he joined them. “What are we teasing Harold about this time?”

“He’s dating a fan!” Niall laughed loudly.

“Ah yes that’s right,” Louis grinned at Harry’s blushing cheeks. “Tell me, was she one of those fans who finds out where you’re staying and tries to follow you up to your room? And you thought, ‘yeah, why not’?’”

“No, nothing like that,” Harry shook his head and his cheeks reddened even more.

“He’s blushing, I think I might be right,” Louis teased, and Niall snickered.

“No, that’s not how it happened,” Harry defended again and hid his face in his hands.

“I asked her if you’d knocked her up, and she denied it, but really, you can tell us the truth, mate,” Louis continued, and Harry had to look up to see if he was joking or not.

“Why do people keep asking that?” Harry didn’t mean to sound mad, but this was the third or fourth time someone jumped to that conclusion. “She’s not skinny, but she certainly doesn’t look pregnant.”

“I was just teasing!” Louis defended. “But really, mate, you’re next.”

“I was just saying that!” Niall piped up, pulling himself out of his drink. “But why not me?”

“You’d have to have a girl to get pregnant,” Louis teased, and Harry snickered.

“I could get a girlfriend!” Niall defended. “Maybe I’ll adopt.”

Harry and Louis burst out laughing as Niall tried to defend his statement with a straight face.

“I could just see the headlines now: ‘Niall Horan adopts baby’.” Harry shook his head.

“Maybe I’ll adopt a teenager! Throw everyone off!” Niall laughed.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink for tonight,” Louis snatched Niall’s drink before he could stop him.

“I think we all might have had enough,” Harry agreed it was time to stop before someone had ‘one too many’ turned the light-hearted mood they had tried to maintain dark. There were certain subjects none of them wanted to bring up, and perhaps it was time to call it a night before anyone said anything they’d regret.

They parted ways and promised to keep in touch, wishing each other good luck with their upcoming albums/tours. As Harry rode home (electing not to drive) his head started to clear a bit, and there was only one thing on his mind: Molly.

When he arrived home, she was sitting on the couch watching a movie and knitting, so he slumped on the couch next to her.

“How was it?” She asked, and Harry briefly recounted the last few hours with his former bandmates.

“You even came up at one point,” he said slyly.

“Oh really?” She put her knitting down to give him her full attention.

“Yeah, they just teased me about dating a fan, but it got me thinking….” Harry cocked his head and looked like he was going to continue, but didn’t.

“About what?” Molly prompted.

“You said you wrote fanfiction about me. But, was it just about me?” He raised his eyebrow questioningly. The way Molly’s cheeks pinkened answered his question. “Oh, I see.” His lips curled into a slight smile.

“It’s nothing like that! No slash fiction! No Larry or anything like that,” Molly quickly explained, and Harry laughed.

“I’m not mad, I just want to know….who else?”

“Um….all of you, really. Mainly you, some Niall, but I did all of you.” Molly bit her lips.

“You ‘did’ all of us? I know what you meant by that,” Harry explained when he noticed Molly realized her poor word choice. “But I have to ask: did you ever want to sleep with them?”

Molly stared at him wide eyed. He was still smiling a bit, and had an impish look in his eyes, so she thought he was just curious. “I think a lot of girls did.”

“Fair enough,” Harry shrugged.

"But..."

"I should have known there was a but." Harry smirked and pulled Molly onto his lap so she was facing him, straddling his legs - all of this so he could grab her butt as he said the word ‘but’. He moved his hands up and clasped them behind her back.

Molly laughed, but was a little dazed by his actions. "Umm what was I saying...?"

"But." Harry reminded her, still smirking a bit.

"Before the 'but'."

"Before the butt? I'd say that's the lower back." Harry lowered his hands to the aforementioned area.

"Oh Harry," Molly couldn't help but laugh at his pun, and slipped off his lap to sit beside him, where she could think more clearly. "I mean, I was saying something before that..."

"You were about to say that you wanted to sleep with all of One Direction." Harry lost his joking tone a bit, even though he knew he had no real reason to be jealous.

"Right. I obviously wouldn't now because we’re dating, but….” Molly paused and waited for another attack from Harry. “Perhaps, (we’ll say 18, to keep it legal), 18-year-old Molly would not have passed up the opportunity to sleep with any member of One Direction - and I’m pretty sure I’m alone in that sentiment.”

“Really?” Harry asked, though he wasn’t that surprised.

“Well, I think if it came down to it - like, if we were going up to your room or whatever after a concert, I probably would have chickened out.” Molly conceded, and Harry seemed happier to hear that.

Harry was quiet for a moment, so Molly returned to her knitting.

“What’re you making?” He turned to look at it.

“A blanket,” she smiled and held it up for him to see.

“It’s pretty small,” he teased.

“Well it’s not done yet,” Molly stuck her tongue out.

“I can’t wait to see it when you’re finished,” he stood up. “I”m going to grab something to eat, want anything?”

“No thanks.”

Harry headed off to the kitchen and opened the fridge, hoping to find something he could grab quickly, when his eyes settled on the container Molly usually stored her cupcakes in. ‘That’s perfect,’ he thought as he pulled the container out and started to remove the cover.

Harry nearly dropped them all and quickly set the cupcakes down on the counter before leaning back against the fridge. Written in yellow icing, the cupcakes were arranged to spell out ‘it’s a boy!’ across the top with little flowers decorating the empty cupcakes. Harry felt his heart leap up to his throat and tried to remember how to breath.

‘Oh god, the little blanket it’s...a baby blanket!!!’ He shut his eyes tight and wondered why Molly would tell him this way? Why not just say that she’s pregnant? And how far along was she that she already knew it was a boy?

“Harry?” His thoughts were interrupted by Molly’s voice and he heard her soft footsteps coming toward the kitchen.

Molly saw the container of cupcakes on the counter, with Harry sitting on the floor in front of the fridge looking distraught. “What is going on here?”

“Molly,” he looked pleadingly up at her and sounded like he was trying to catch his breath. “Are you…?” He couldn’t even finish his sentence, but intensely looked up at her from the ground.

“...going to a gender reveal party?” She finished his sentence. “Yes. That’s what the blanket is for. These are not for you, so keep your hands off them.” She put the lid back on the cupcakes.

“A gender reveal party?” He stood up and leaned against the counter, not 100% stable yet after that shock.

“Yeah, it’s like a party for a pregnant woman where you reveal the gender of the baby,” Molly shrugged. “I haven’t actually been to one, so I’m not really sure what to expect.”

“Who is it for?” He asked, and Molly’s cheeks flushed.

“Just a friend,” she answered quickly and surprised him. “What? I have lots of friends who are getting married or having babies.”

“Okay…” Harry bit his lip and wondered why Molly suddenly seemed anxious. ‘Was she jealous?’ He didn’t dare ask her that, since it was far too soon in their relationship to bring up topics like that.

"Can I come with you?" Harry asked shyly. He wanted to be more involved in Molly's life outside of him, and he didn't know any of her friends.

Molly laughed. "No, that's- it's a girls only thing, I think. Besides I've already RSVPed with no plus one; I said I'd bring cupcakes instead."

"Okay," Harry sighed and stared longingly at the cupcakes on the counter.

"Fine, if it makes you feel better, you can have a cupcake," she laughed, and Harry grinned before popping the top off the container. "Wait, let me pick one for you...here, I messed up the flowers a bit on this one." Molly handed him a cupcake, and Harry inspected the flowers.

"It doesn't look too bad...these look a bit like daisies, actually." Harry commented before taking a bite.

"What? No, daisies are white, and these are yellow? That's..." Molly laughed nervously again and put the cupcakes away. "That's just silly."

“This is delicious, by the way,” he added and took another bite.

“Thank you, and Harry, did you really think that if I was pregnant, that’s how I would tell you?” Molly laughed. “I think we both know how I would choose to inform you.” She grinned a cheeky smile.

“What?” Harry couldn’t quite keep up with her wit as his brain fought off unnecessary images of bassinets and pacifiers (and Freddie’s cute pajamas), and put the cupcake down.

“Come on… I’m pretty sure I’d have to say ‘I’m having your baby, and it’s none of your business’.” Molly held up her hands, as if to say it was obvious.

“Oh god,” Harry slowly relaxed and laughed.

“I mean, it’s your own fault, really.” Molly joked. “I do hope that some day, when you impregnate a girl, she decides to inform you via ‘Kiwi’. Or maybe she’ll just throw a kiwi at you, or have a box of kiwi’s delivered to your house. Or maybe she’ll dress up as one-”

“I get it,” Harry laughed.

“What’s gotten into you?” She asked when she realized how tense he’d been.

“Nothing,” Harry took another bite of his cupcake. “Just something that came up when I was visiting the guys.”

“I saw Niall’s instagram picture - you guys seemed like you had fun.” Molly smirked at the picture Niall had posted of the three of them laughing and drinking. “You should repost that on your insta, too.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, and continued with the cupcake.

“So, did Louis ask you if you’d gotten me pregnant?” Molly asked, and Harry nearly choked. “Because he asked me that when we met.”

“Why do people keep saying that?” Harry asked rhetorically, but Molly still answered.

“I’m not as thin as some of the models you’ve dated, but I wouldn’t say I look preggers,” Molly joked, but Harry didn’t seem to find it funny.

“Molly,” he put his hand on hers. “Don’t compare yourself to any girl I’ve supposedly ‘dated’ or been seen with. You are beautiful, and you don’t need to compare yourself to anyone for me to see that.”

Molly smiled shyly and leaned closer to him. He hardly ever complimented her like that, nothing beyond ‘you look nice today’ or ‘that skirt makes your ass look nice’. He seemed to be a more ‘it’s what’s on the inside that counts’ kind of guy - and Molly appreciated that a lot - but every girl loves to hear that she’s beautiful every once in awhile.

“Thank you,” she blushed, and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“Thank you for the cupcake,” he paused to kiss her back, “cupcake.”

They headed up to bed shortly after, and while Molly fell right asleep, Harry was kept up with thoughts of what Louis and Niall had suggested that evening. Perhaps it was the alcohol still muddling his head, but Harry could not get that subject out of his mind as he drifted to sleep:

‘Do people really think I’d only date a girl like Molly if I’d accidentally gotten her pregnant?’

Notes

This chapter was brought to you buy Louis’ new song ‘Miss You’. It has nothing to do with the chapter, I just listened to it on repeat while writing it :p

And by ‘a girl like Molly’ he means someone average, and not another celebrity. I haven’t really discussed her physical appearance much, so it’s up to the reader to fill that in however they want her to look : )

Thank you for reading, commenting, and voting!