The Reinvention of Harry Styles

When he returned to his hotel room, alone, Harry was still trembling from his encounter with Jeff. He couldn’t believe he had just fired his manager - just like that! He poured himself a drink to calm his nerves and slowly slid down to the floor. He took a deep breath before pulling out his phone and calling Molly.

“Come on, please pick up!” He said to himself as the call reached the third or fourth ring. He hung up when he got her voicemail, and dropped his phone.

*Please call me, I need to talk to you

He texted, and tossed his phone on the bed before hopping in the shower. He tried to relax, but even the shower made him feel on edge. He knew Molly was likely out with her friends, and probably couldn’t hear her phone ringing. But of all nights for her to leave him to his own devices, he needed her now more than ever.

He eagerly checked his phone when he exited the shower, and pretended not to be disappointed when he didn’t see anything from Molly. He had many other new texts - from Jeff, and other members of his team asking him what the fuck was going on - but he ignored those. He needed to talk to Molly; he needed her reassurance that he’d done the right thing, and for her to tell him what to do next. She must have some idea of what to do, since she was the one who wanted him to fire Jeff.

Harry poured himself another drink and paced the room for a bit, before deciding to call his sister. Gemma and Molly were kind of like friends, right? He thought so, and hoped Molly had said something to Gemma.

As the phone rang, he realized not only how unlikely that was, but also how late (or early) it was in London. She probably had her phone in silent, and it went voicemail, just like Molly’s. He figured he’d give Molly another call just in case she didn’t see his texts or previous calls.

Shockingly, the ringing stopped, and someone picked up the phone. There was a bit of background noise, and Harry wondered if Molly had accidentally answered her phone in her pocket or something.

“It says ‘Harry’, who do you think that is?- oh shit, I think we accidentally answered it?” A girl said in a muffled, distance, voice.

“Maybe it’s that mysterious boyfriend she keeps ignoring each time we ask her about him?” A second muffled voice answered, and they both giggled. “Molly! We accidentally answered your phone!”

“Lilly, she can’t hear you,” the first voice replied. “Let’s talk to him,” she whispered to her friend, unaware Harry could hear her, and the friend eagerly agreed. “Who is this?” She said into the phone, and Harry froze. These were possibly Molly’s friends - the ones who had gone to his concert that night - and it’s likely they would recognize him on the phone.

“Is this Harry?” The other girl asked when he didn’t say anything.

Harry cleared his throat and put on his best American accent. “Yeah.”

The girls both giggled, and one of them said “he sounds hot.”

“Shut up, Alexa, this is Molly’s boyfriend,” Lilly reprimanded her friend. “You’re Molly’s boyfriend, right?”

Harry paused. “Last I checked, I was.”

The girls giggled again, and Lilly ‘whispered’ to Alexa, “yeah, no, you’re right: he does sound hot.”

“He also sounds American, or am I drunk? I thought Molly said he was British?” Lilly pondered, and Harry cursed to himself. So he was supposed to sound British, but not like Harry Styles?

“She said he lived in London, but maybe he’s not British?” Alexa added, and Harry’s heart rate slowed down. “And also, yes - you are drunk.” The girls both laughed at this, and seemed to forget Harry was on the phone until he spoke up.

“Can you tell Molly I called?” He asked - partially keeping the American accent up. “And tell her it’s important.”

“Oh, um, yeah,” Lilly sounded a bit more serious, and she whispered something to Alexa.

“Thank you. Nice, uh, chatting with you.” Harry shook his head and hung up before he heard their reply. ‘Chatting’ was not an American term, right? He dropped his phone and hoped Alexa and Lilly would tell Molly he’d called, but he had a feeling they might forget that conversation had ever happened.

While he waited for his phone to ring, he poured himself yet another drink and sat down to watch some Netflix. He had ‘Love Actually’ saved to his list, and was suddenly reminded of the time Molly had heard a fan joking that Harry was like Billy Mack. As he watched the movie, he slowly realized that maybe he was a bit like the fictional, washed up rock star, who seemed to be platonically in love with his manager.

Or at least he would have been if Molly hadn’t come along. ‘A washed-up rockstar at the prime age of 23’ Harry thought to himself. ‘That’s an achievement’ he added sarcastically.

“I need a new manager,” he said to himself, and jumped when his phone started buzzing on the table next to him. “Hello?” He grabbed it and answered before looking to see who was calling.

“Even my phone, misses your call,” she paused. “Hi Harry. I saw I missed your call.”

“Molly you don’t know how good it is to hear your voice.” He relaxed and leaned back against the pillows.

“My friends said you called?”

“Yes, I need to talk to you. I did it, just as you said, I’ve ended it.” Harry explained, his brain going faster than his mouth.

“Okay, well, I have to go now, but I’ll see you.”

“Wait - when? I need to talk to you, it’s very important.” Harry added quickly to keep her from hanging up.

Molly sighed. “I don’t know, I’m going to see my mom tomorrow, to see how she’s doing with her new job. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay,” he didn’t know what else to say.

“Goodnight, Harry,” she said, and he heard her friends in the background saying something like ‘oohhh is that him?’

“Goodnight, I miss you,” he replied, but the line was dead.

“Molly, come on let’s go!” Her friends dragged her out the door. “We’re going to meet up with a couple other people.”

Molly hung up abruptly as they jerked her arm, and she heard Harry start to say ‘goodnight’ but didn’t catch the rest. She wanted to talk to him longer, but she couldn’t really hear him because Alexa and Lilly dragged her into a club. She would call him in the morning when her head was more clear and things made a little more sense.

Yet, when morning rolled around, her head was still spinning and she dragged herself out of bed to get lunch with her mother without a second thought of last night. There wasn’t much on her mind between the alternating thoughts of ‘need coffee’ and ‘don’t vomit’.

After getting some coffee and eating something, she was finally able to focus on what her mom was telling her about her new career.

“I just sold the loveliest house to a couple just outside the city - you would have loved it. The kitchen was absolutely to die for. I bet Harry has a lovely house; or, houses, probably,” her mom paused to let Molly respond.

“Mm-hmm.” Molly answered affirmatively with minimal effort.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look that great,” Deborah leaned forward and placed a hand on Molly’s forehead to see if she was warm.

“I’m not feeling well,” Molly answered, and closed her eyes, but that only made the spinning worse. “Um, actually, I’m-” she stopped short, and ran off to the bathroom. She felt too sick to be embarrassed about throwing up in a public bathroom on a weekday morning. Once she’d gotten cleaned up and collected her thoughts, she returned to their table to find her mom eyeing her.

“Molly…” she said. “You’re not…” She didn’t have to say it - the look on her face said it all.

“No, mom,” Molly rolled her eyes. “I had a bit of a wild night with the girls, that’s all.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” Their food arrived, and Molly was glad that her mom dropped the subject for a moment.

“That’s good, because it would be awkward, considering the rumors going around about Harry and that girl, Daisy.” Deborah continued.

“They’re not true,” Molly said.

“Well, if it was, and you really were, you know, knocked up,” Deb added in a loud whispered, and Molly interrupted her.

“But I’m not, so let’s not worry about it,” Molly said exasperatedly. “I just had a bit too much to drink last night, and now I’m paying for it, that’s all.”

“Any particular reason why? I noticed you’re not wearing that ring he gave you,” Deb pointed out.

“I was just having a good time with the girls, that’s all.” Molly took another bite and hoped she’d change the subject, but her mom sat patiently waiting for the rest of it. “And, yeah, I guess I was a little upset about how the situation with Daisy was handled. They didn’t need to do that, and it’s probably hurt both of them more than it’s helped.”

“I was certainly surprised when I heard about it, and many people did seem to have a negative reaction to the news. But, I think people are changing their minds now that he’s fired that manager of his,” Deborah commented, and Molly dropped her fork.

“He did what?” She asked in a low tone.

“He fired his manager after the show last night. You didn’t know this?” Deb was surprised.

“I was busy…” Molly’s head was swarming, and she realized she might have heard Harry say something last night about having ‘ended it’ but she didn’t realize what he was talking about at the time. “I have to go,” she stood up suddenly.

“Are you not feeling well still?” Her mom asked. “The best trick for a hangover is-”

“No, I have to get to the airport he has a show tonight in Boston.” Molly interrupted and grabbed her phone to make travel arrangements. “Thank you so much for lunch, and...everything else.”

“Oh, okay?” Debora seemed confused, but didn’t question her daughter as she rushed to gather all her things and gave her a hug goodbye.

Molly quickly packed all her things and checked out of the hotel before rushing to the airport. There was a flight to Boston soon, and she might catch it if traffic was in her favor. As she waited, she caught up on all the news on Harry she’d missed in the last 12 hours or so. How had so much happened without her noticing? Mostly, she was shocked, but impressed, that he had gone through with it. He had stood up to Jeff on his own, and fired him.

As Molly boarded her plane, she wondered if Harry had a new manager lined up to replace him. She had a small heart attack when she feared Harry thought she could replace him, since she’d joked about it a few times, but it was just that - a joke. He would need someone experienced and tough enough to stand up to whatever the Azoffs threw at him now that Harry had cut ties with them.

Molly spent the plane ride worrying about this and was on her phone making calls as soon as they landed in Boston. Harry was not answering his phone, but his show as about to start, so it was possible he’d left it in his dressing room. She tried calling anyone else on his team, but she didn’t have many of their numbers.

“Rupert!” She said as Harry’s stylist answered his phone. “This is Molly, how are you?”

“I’m fine, yourself?” He asked.

“I’m okay. Is Harry around?”

“He’s just walked on stage, sorry.”

“Okay, I figured as much. I’m running late to the show, but I’ll be there. Can you let me in when I get there, so I can watch from backstage?” Molly asked, and Rupert agreed. She hung up and tried to fix her hair and makeup, but the cab ride was a bit bumpy. She hoped she’d given the driver the correct theater, but at this point she knew Harry’s tour by heart.

“This is it, miss; Wang Theatre.” The driver announced when they stopped, and Molly paid her fare.

“Thank you,” she quickly left and texted Rupert. He met her around the back of the theater and led her back stage.

“I’m glad you could make it before the show ended,” he said quietly.

“Me too. Did you get a chance to tell him I was here?” She asked.

“No, he’s a bit busy,” he shrugged and smiled. “But I think he’ll be happy to see you standing just off stage again.Things have been a little crazy since last night.”

“Oh, I bet it has been!” Molly took her spot on the side of the stage and stood just out of sight from the audience - where she and Jeff usually watched from.

Except now, it was just her. It was odd, and she felt very alone all of a sudden. Harry was over halfway through his show, he was almost finished, actually, and Molly thought there were only a few songs left on his setlist.

Harry completed ‘Just a Little Bit of Your Heart’ and turned around to put his guitar down, when he saw Molly just off stage. His eyes lit up when they met with hers, and she waved to him. He discreetly smiled back and stood staring for probably a moment too long. He turned to his band and said something. They all nodded, and got ready for the next song.

He glanced back at her quickly before he started playing, and he looked nervous. Molly wondered if he was going to play ‘If I Could Fly’ again like he did at the last show, or if he was going back to playing ‘Stockholm Syndrome’. But as they played the intro to the song, Molly didn’t recognize it - until he sang the first few lines.

“My hands, your hands, tied up, like two ships,” he started, and Molly instantly realized he was singing ‘Strong’. The audience went wild when they made this realization, but Molly barely noticed them. Even though he wasn’t facing her, it felt like Harry was singing this song directly to her, just the two of them.

When it got to the quieter part of the song, the verse Niall typically sang, Harry tilted his head and glanced off stage for a second before he sang the next lines:

“I’m sorry if I said I need you, but I don’t care, I’m not scared of love. Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker, is that so wrong, is it so wrong, that you make me strong?”

His voice quivered a bit, and he glanced back at Molly one last time as he finished up the verse. The last few songs seemed to fly by as Molly waited for him to come off stage. She knew what he was trying to tell her with that song, and was impatient to give him her response.

Harry finally finished ‘Sign of the Times’ and waved to the audience before exiting the stage, right into Molly’s waiting arms off stage. She hugged him tightly and gave him a quick kiss before pulling away and looking him in the eye.

“Harry I need to talk to you about Jeff.” She said quickly.

“Yes, I missed you too,” he joked as they walked hand in hand to his dressing room.

“It’s been about a day, Harry, let’s be realistic.” Molly response before continuing. “But I need to know: Did you actually fire Jeff because of what I told you at the airport?” Molly shut the door behind them so they wouldn’t be overheard or disturbed.

“You mean when you handed me this ring,” Harry pulled her rose ring out of his pocket and held it up. “And said, ‘the only way to fix it, is to end it’?”

Molly looked up at him with big, curious, eyes, and for a second Harry thought she looked...scared?

“Yes,” she said softly.

“I thought about that line over and over, trying to figure out what you meant. Because at first, I thought you were breaking up with me.” Harry paused for a moment. “But I couldn’t see how that would fix this issue with Daisy and the rumors that I’d gotten her pregnant.” He stopped again, but Molly waited for him to finish collecting his thoughts. “I realized you were giving me space to do it on my own, allowing me to make that decision.”

Molly nodded. He was mostly right, but she also just needed that space to think and look at this objectively. In the end it had worked out better than she’d hoped, though there was still the issue of Jeff’s replacement, but they could worry about that later.

‘One thing at a time’ Molly thought as she again enveloped herself in Harry’s arms, and let him slide that rose ring back onto her right hand.

Notes

I finally got around to writing this chapter! I’ve kind of been working up to this point for a bit now, and it felt a little anticlimactic to write, so hopefully it doesn’t come off that way when reading it. I feel like it ends abruptly, but it was getting long and I couldn’t think of anything else.

My copy of ‘Dunkirk’ arrived today (in the middle of a blizzard, yay) so I finally get to watch that!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season, and have a happy new year! : )

Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting! : D