The Reinvention of Harry Styles

“I don’t want to be seen with you,” Molly said with a low voice, and froze just as she and Harry were about to leave their hotel room.

“It’s okay, we’re going out the back door, as usual.” Harry gently placed his hand on her elbow to guide her out the door.

“No, I’ll wait and leave another way,” she shook her head and looked up at him with big eyes.

Harry felt a pang in his heart when he saw the fear in her eyes and simply nodded. “I’ll let the driver know to come back and pick you up.”

“I’ll take a cab, and fly back to LA on my own, or maybe back to New York to stay with my mom for a while until this blows over.” Molly replied with a shaky voice.

“Molls, that’s really not necessary. We’ll be careful; there’s really nothing to worry about.” Harry tried to sound reassuring.

“We’ve been careful, Harry, but that won’t be enough now. Your fans are on high alert since Daisy accidentally let it slip you had a girlfriend - and I know none of them believe her explanation trying to retract that statement.” Molly sighed. “As we speak, they are probably going back through months of picture trying to find a glimpse of who this mystery girl might be. We have been seen together, but tried to plant the idea that I was just Gemma’s friend. However, I know they’re going to see right through that now that they’re on a witch hunt for your girlfriend.”

Harry contemplated this for a moment, and finally managed a laugh. “A witch hunt? Well, I don’t think they’ll find any witches here,” he drew her into a half hug and smiled teasingly, but Molly couldn’t return his smile. “Okay, I do see your point. I’ll do the last show in Phoenix tonight and meet you in New York; we have a bit of a break before the European leg of the tour, so we can figure something out then okay?”

Molly nodded and lifted her head to face him. “I will try to think of something in the meantime. Until then,” she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Have a nice show tonight, and don’t mention the girlfriend rumors - don’t even try to make a joke about it!”

“Yes ma’am,” Harry joked, and kissed her goodbye.

Harry pondered what kind of a plan Molly might come up with. He had a few ideas himself, but he knew she understood his fan’s minds far better than he did. Harry’s first instinct when he saw the headlines were to play into them and go along with it. He knew Jeff would have set him up with someone to be seen with that morning, since Jeff strongly believed the philosophy that ‘any press is good press.’ Harry knew Molly would have advised against that course of action, and thought she would have suggested they ignore it. By not addressing the rumors, they would be taking the high road and not encouraging it further.

Harry tried to keep these thoughts out of his mind that night during his show, but it was hard considering the screaming fans asking who his mystery woman was. He tried to ignore them and carry on, but the audience was particularly belligerent tonight. Harry thought perhaps a joke would lighten the mood, something like ‘the only woman in my life right now is my mother’. But Molly had advised him against that, and he trusted her judgment, so he stuck to his usual repertoire of jokes.

As Harry left the stage that night he was met with the stern eyes of his manager, and he felt like he was in trouble for some reason.

“I thought I asked that girlfriend of yours to keep an eye on you,” Jocelyn started without any kind of greeting.

“Well, she’s a bit scared, I think, of people finding out the rumors are true,” Harry explained to his manager as he walked to his dressing room.

“Yes, I was just joking,” Jocelyn answered, and Harry nodded - not realizing his new manager had known how to ‘joke.’ “I don’t blame her for wanting to lay low - your fans seem quite avid to find out who this ‘girlfriend’ is.”

“Yes, they can be a little...over enthusiastic at times.” Harry paused now that they had reached his dressing room.

“We need to figure out the best way to deal with this, and soon,” Jocelyn instructed, and opened the door to his dressing room for him, and followed him in so they could discuss in private.

Molly woke up to the smell of pancakes, and wondered if her mother had remembered how to cook after all these years. Yet when she entered the kitchen she found a man standing in front of the stove wearing what must have been her mother’s robe.

“Hi?” She stopped, and he turned to look at her.

“Hey, I didn’t realize Debbie had a roommate,” he nodded, and returned to the pancakes.

“Umm,” Molly turned and shouted down the hallway. “Mom, who’s this weird guy in the kitchen?”

She heard the man drop his spatula and mutter something under his breath before rushing back to the room to get dressed. “You didn’t tell me you had kids!”

“You didn’t ask!” Deb answered, and suddenly appeared wearing the robe he had just been wearing. “Hey, honey.” She kissed Molly on the cheek. “I hope we didn’t keep you up last night.”

“No, you must have gotten in pretty late; I was already asleep.” Molly shrugged and flipped over a few pancakes on the stove before they started to burn.

The mystery pancake man rushed out the door, but not before Deb yelled “Call me!”

“Not likely,” he shouted back, and Deb just laughed.

“Sorry?” Molly apologized, but felt very awkward about the entire situation.

“Don’t worry about it, he’s just….one of many,” Deb answered slyly.

“Okay, we can leave it at that.” Molly turned back to the stove and flipped the remaining pancakes onto a plate.

“So, tell me,” Deb started once they sat at the table. “What’s going on with Harry? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“There’s nothing wrong, really,” Molly took a bite, and was surprised how good the pancakes were. “These are delicious; I hope you have that guy’s number.”

“So, about Harry?” Deb asked again.

“You haven’t heard? Daisy accidentally said something about him having a girlfriend. She tired to fix it, but now the fandom is going crazy trying to figure out who it is.”

“I see, so you’re hiding out until this blows over.”

“Yeah, or until we can find a way to fix this. I’m not sure it’ll ever blow over - not completely. Some of the more...persistent fans don’t know how to give up. They will be on the lookout, scoping out every girl he’s been seen with to determine if she’s this mystery woman. Who knows how many people have actually seen us together - hotel and airport employees, someone at one of his shows - one of them could have a picture of us, or might let it slip who he’s dating. I don’t, I can’t,” Molly paused and shook her head. “I don’t want that.”

“Well, looks like you may not have to worry about that anymore.” Deb had looked up Daisy’s interview on her phone, but found something much more interesting, and slid her phone across the table for Molly to look at.

‘Harry Styles Seen Entering His Dressing Room With Manager’

‘Is Harry Styles’ Mystery Woman His New Manager?’

At first Molly was shocked, but she had to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “This is preposterous!” She scrolled down to see a blurry picture taken backstage of the two as Jocelyn held the door open for him to his dressing room. She could easily recognize Jocelyn, and some fan or whomever had correctly identified her as Harry’s new manager. “How did they even get this picture?” Molly knew that anything behind the scenes was usually considered ‘safe’ since most people who had access to these areas had signed some kind of NDA.

“An employee of the theater, maybe?” Deb suggested.

“Must of been, since no one on Harry’s team would have done that.” Molly paused, as she thought over this statement again. The only change to his team was Jocelyn, and surely she wouldn’t have done, right? Throw herself under the bus, to save Molly the scrutiny of his fans? That’s absurd, right?

“She’s certainly attractive,” Deb commented once Molly returned her phone.

Molly snorted a laugh. “Really?” She asked sarcastically.

After breakfast Molly made plans to meet up with Harry when he arrived in New York. She hoped Jocelyn, or someone on his team had a plan, because Molly was baffled by this new turn of events.

“So, you and your manager were seen entering your dressing room after the show last night, eh?” Molly asked, and couldn’t help but smirk.

“We were just talking,” Harry defended.

“I know! Oh, I wasn’t trying to insinuate anything.” She smiled and sat down next to him. “I just think it’s funny.”

“Well, that makes one of us.” Harry answered grimmly. “She is furious, and I think she’s realizing how aggressive this fandom is.”

“I don’t blame her, but I admit I’m a little grateful, because now they’ll stop searching for your secret girlfriend.”

“Yeah, about that actually…” Harry shifted uncomfortably and turned to face her.

“What?” Molly tried to look him in the eye, but he wouldn’t meet her stare. “Oh, no no no no….she doesn’t want me to-” Molly stopped short as the air was sucked out of her lungs.

“Molly,” Harry said softly.

“No I can’t, I can’t Harry; I’d rather-” again she stopped short, but this time because she couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence.

“Molly, it’s okay,” Harry placed his hand comfortingly on hers. “You don’t have to...whatever it was you were going to say.” He lowered his gaze and looked away, and Molly knew he realized what she’d been about to say.

She didn’t know what to say to that - how could she explain that she’d rather break up with him than face his fans and publicly acknowledge that she was dating him. “Harry, I…” She choked.

“It’s okay, I told Jocelyn I wouldn’t do that.” Harry finally looked up at her, and she looked away again. “I could never do that to you; you mean too much to me. I want to keep this between us, not between us and the entire world.” His eyes looked sad, but were laced with understanding. He certainly understood more than anyone (even a fan like Molly) the hidden costs that came with being his girlfriend.

Molly nodded and quietly said “thank you” before falling into his arms. She knew she’d hurt his feelings - even though she didn’t actually say it (not completely) but it was still there - and had to make it up to him somehow. They had nearly ten days before his show in Paris, and Molly hoped to come up with something by then, while trying to figure out a solution to the issue of Harry’s ‘secret girlfriend’ - because ignoring it was not an option any more.

Notes

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