The Reinvention of Harry Styles

Molly and Harry did not have their romantic ‘Love, Actually’ reunion in the airport like Molly had dreamed about - since that would be impractical and defeat the purpose of them remaining appart. Instead, Molly took a cab to Gemma’s and planned to stay in her guest bedroom for the duration of her visit.

“How was your flight?” Gemma asked and helped Molly carry her suitcase inside.

“Ugh, someone behind me snored loudly, and these two kids watched ‘Frozen’ on repeat without headphones, so I didn’t get a wink of sleep.” Molly complained and stormed into Gemma’s living room, ready to fall onto her couch.

“Oh come on Molly, just...Let it go, let it go-” A familiar voice sang, and Molly froze.

“Harry!” She whipped around and nearly jumped into his arms. “I didn’t know you’d be here!”

“I wanted to see you as soon as you arrived,” he said between kisses. “Well, I’ve wanted to see you for the past ten days.”

“Has it really only been ten days? It seems like so much longer.” Molly leaned back in his arms to see his face. “I think it’s because you left so suddenly; after being together every day for several months, then suddenly nothing…”

“I thought it would be like taking off a bandaid -just rip it off and get it over with- but I think that made it worse.” Harry admitted, and pulled her back in closer to rest his chin on her head. “It won’t be like that this time.”

“Let’s not talk about that.” Molly replied. “We have a whole week together before your tour returns to Europe, and we’ll deal with that when it comes.” Molly tried to smile confidently and happily, for Harry, but it was clear they were both putting up a strong front for the other.

“Gemma has gone out for the evening...” Harry started and tilted his head suggestively.

“How kind of her to give us some privacy. But, you wouldn’t feel weird fucking your girlfriend in your sister’s house?” Molly asked, not that she objected to the idea.

“There’s really nothing else on my mind,” Harry answered huskily. “You didn’t perhaps, bring those stockings?”

Molly laughed, and blushed. “God no, but if you like them, I’m sure we can get more.” She bit her lip looked up into his dark eyes.

“That can wait,” he said, and grabbed her hand. “This, can’t.”


***


Harry turned in front of the mirror as Lou touched up his hair. “It’s getting rather long, Harry, are you sure you don’t want a trim?” She asked.

“No, I’m growing it out again; I like it longer, Molly said she likes it longer, and I think it looks better-” Harry started to explain, but was interrupted by Lou’s laughter.

“Molly likes it?” She teased and smiled back at Harry in the mirror.

“She says it fits the image, that’s all,” he explained, and blushed a little.

“So, should we maybe get back into the head scarfs to keep this mess in place, or do you not mind your hair flopping all over while you’re trying to perform?” Lou asked, again running her hands through his locks.

“Umm,” Harry thought for a moment. “Yeah, let’s try that again.”

Lou left to find a headscarf that would match Harry’s outfit -standard black jeans, a Queen t-shirt (the band, not the Queen), and sparkly boots with the pattern of the union jack across them. Molly and Gemma joined Harry after Lou departed, and they commented on his outfit as any sister and her friend would.

“You planning to blind them all with those boots?” Gemma teased, and Molly giggled.

“Or maybe reaffirm your British citizenship, since you seem to spend so much time in America?” Molly added jokingly.

“Really, miss Winthrope?” Harry smirked and turned to look at her. “Gemma, you have some opinionated friends.” He teased, and shot Molly an apologetic look.

“That’s exactly why I like her,” Gemma retorted, and linked arms with Molly.

“Actually, Molly, I have someone I’d like you to meet.” Harry leaned in and nearly whispered. He knew he could trust his team, but he wasn’t sure who else might be listening backstage, so they still needed to be discreet.

“Oh? Who’s that?” Molly asked.

“Another member of One Direction,” Harry answered.

“Liam?” Molly smiled, than quietly added, “or, Zayn?” She wasn’t sure if he and Harry were still friendly, or whatever.
“Yeah, Liam.” Harry nodded. “I spoke with him recently and he said he’d like to meet you, and I’m sure you would want to meet the remaining member of 1D -since you’re such a fan.” Harry added teasingly and Molly laughed.

“He wants to meet me?” Molly blushed and nearly squealed with excitement, but tried to contain herself. “Why?”

“I told him about you, and he said he’d like to meet the fan who stole my heart,” Harry smiled slyly.

“Stolen your heart, really?” Molly tried to sound like she was joking, but really it made her heart swell to hear him say these words.

“He’ll be sitting with you and Gemma. And, you guys should probably take your seats soon, before the opening act starts,” He pulled back again, and put on the pretense that he was just talking to his sister and her friend.

“Of course. Shall we?” Gemma asked Molly and she nodded, and the two girls left Harry’s dressing room to find their seats.

As Harry said, Liam was sitting in the VIP area next to Gemma and Molly’s reserved seats. He waived when he saw Gemma, and nodded to Molly.

“Hi, you must be Molly?” He said and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you; Harry’s told me a bit about you.”

“Oh no!” Molly blushed. “Did he say I was a fan?”

“He did, but, it’s okay. If Harry approves, then you’re fine by me.” Liam smiled, and Molly relaxed a little.

“I’m sure you’re aware that Harry dragged Niall and Louis up on stage with him and made them sing ‘Fools Gold’ with him, and I can imagine he’ll do the same with you tonight.” Molly warned Liam.

“I’d be a little disappointed if he didn’t!” Liam laughed. “I just wish he’d told me which song he planned on singing.”

“He has been singing ‘If I Could Fly’, but…” Molly paused. She kind of thought that was ‘their’ song, so maybe he wouldn’t want someone else singing it with him. She realized Liam was waiting for her to finish her sentence, so she put on a smile and shrugged. “But you know Harry -he’s so spontaneous!”

“And to think I actually sang ‘Fool’s Gold’ in the shower this morning -just in case,” he chuckled to himself. The show started before Molly had a chance to come up with a response, so she, Gemma, and Liam waited in suspense.

The crowd was particularly rambunctious that night, and Harry threw this raucous energy right back at them in an electric and energetic performance. Molly got so caught up in it that she almost forgot she was sitting next to Liam, until Harry stopped for yet another one of his impromptu setlist changes.

“Boys and girls, I have yet another good friend in the audience tonight.” Harry grinned as the audience squealed in delight. “I think you probably know him, and if we ask nicely enough, he might come up here and help me sing the next song. What do you say Liam?”

Liam chuckled beside Molly, resigned to his fate as fans screamed his name. “Oh Harry,” he shook his head, but stood up to trudge toward the stage.

“Poor Liam,” Gemma commented. “My brother can be such a pain sometimes.”

“Yeah,” Molly laughed. “But that’s why we love him.” Molly blushed as she realized she had just told Gemma she loved Harry, but hoped she didn’t think she’d meant it that way.

Yet Gemma caught onto Molly’s sudden change in demeanor and tilted her head. “Molly...do you mean to say that you-”

Luckily, she was cut off by her brother on stage welcoming his former bandmate. “You’re such a sport, Liam.” He gave him a hug, and they huddled for a moment - probably discussing the song Harry wanted them to sing together. Liam nodded and stepped up to the microphone a stagehand had set out for him. Without saying anything further, Harry nodded to his band and the song started.

Harry opened with the lyrics traditionally sung by Zayn, and Molly and the rest of the audience recognized the song. “My hands, your hands, tied up like two ships,” he sang, and Liam continued with the part of the verse he normally sang, so they could sing the chorus together.

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

If Gemma had not been sitting next to her, Molly probably would have broken down in tears. She remembered the last time Harry had sung this song, and his explanation behind how he had chosen it. He had told her ‘not to look into the words so closely’, but this time it felt different. Not because of the addition of Liam, but the way Harry seemed to say the lines directly to her, as if it were just the two of them alone here in the Apollo theater.

At the quieter part of the song, normally sung by Niall, Harry looked directly at Molly -even though it was dark and she wasn’t near the stage- and paused when he got to the line ‘I’m not afraid of love’ and spoke the words instead of singing them. Liam glanced at him, and Harry continued with the song as normal. He kept glancing back at Molly, as if trying to see her reaction, but it was too dark for him to properly see her from the stage.

If he had, he might have seen the tears streaming down her face, or her quivering bottom lip -which she bit trying to (unsuccessfully) stop the trembling- or the pleading look in her eyes willing him to explain what he meant by that. ‘Why do you have to be so cryptic, Harry?’ She thought and quickly wiped her eyes before the song ended.

“Need a tissue, dear?” Gemma offered. “And, is your lip bleeding?”

“What?” Molly instinctively licked her lips. “Oh, um, they must be dry or something.” She took the tissue Gemma offered and wiped her eyes, then tried to clean up her lip a bit. ‘I guess I was biting my lip a little harder than I thought’ She looked up when Liam returned, and saw Harry on stage beyond him, looking at her with an unreadable mask on his face.Molly stared back at him and wondered if maybe she was overthinking this and reading into it too much. As much as she wanted to tell him how she felt, she was scared he wouldn’t return the same feelings, leaving things awkward between the two of them. With Harry away on tour, and the tension caused by the girlfriend and Daisy rumors, things were already precarious, and Molly didn’t want to make that worse.

As the show came to a conclusion, Liam gave Molly a quick hug goodbye. “You seem like a nice girl, and Harry sure seems taken with you. I hope to see you around!” He said before slipping out a back entrance to avoid getting mobbed by fans. Gemma and Molly also took off a little early, opting to wait for Harry backstage.

When Harry came off stage he had one thing on his mind, and when he saw her standing off stage with his sister, he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her like he never had before. Instead he settled for a hug. Molly had a bright look in her eyes and he wondered if she had realized what he was trying to say through that song. Harry put that thought aside, since this wasn’t the place to get into that. Instead, he and Molly headed back to his house and made up for lost time.

The pair spent all night and the next morning together, not really exchanging many words, instead remembering the way they fit into each other’s arms. They lay in bed together as late as they could before Harry had to leave to get ready for his second show that evening. This time, Molly hung out backstage -careful not to be seen by any fans- and watched Harry just off stage where she used to stand. It felt right, like she belonged there in that spot, like this was where she was meant to be.

Notes

Liam finally had his turn on stage with Harry!! XD

I’ve written some kind of outline for the next few chapters up until the end (chapter 50) so now all I have to do is write it! (easier said than done, lol)