Harry Styles-Wilson: Hockey Husband [Sequel to Harry Who?] (Completed)

Harry and Ellie were out for their usual morning run one cold winter morning when they were unexpectedly ambushed by paparazzi.

“Okay, I guess we’ll go home a little early today,” he quietly said to Ellie, but the paps started yelling questions at them. Usually, they were just directed at Harry, and Ellie was written off as his ‘personal trainer’ or even his bodyguard. While she didn’t necessarily like being called his bodyguard, she’d take that any day over what they were call her now: his wife.

“What?” she turned to Harry and saw he had the same shocked expression she did.

“Don’t acknowledge it, just keep going,” he answered quickly, and they continued jogging, perhaps a bit faster than before.

They made it home shortly after and Harry was already on the phone with his manager.

“Jeff...they know.” He said, his jaw set and eyes alert.

Elli watched him as he listened to his manager, eagerly wondering what was going on. How much did they know? Who was ‘they’ exactly? Maybe these particular paparazzi just thought they’d joke and call Ellie Harry’s wife, just to see what he’d do?

“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” Harry hung up and slumped onto the couch next to Ellie. “He’s looking into it,” he answered her unasked question, and she nodded. Neither of them really knew what to say, so they hopped in the shower to get cleaned up before Jeff arrived.

Ellie took her time washing up. She didn’t want to get out of the shower and face whatever storm was coming now that it was out that Harry Styles was married. She didn’t know if her name had been attached to this news yet, but she figured someone (whether the media or an avid fan) would dig that up soon enough. When she was finally dressed, she joined Harry and Jeff downstairs.

“I just don’t get it...why now?” Harry asked, and Jeff shrugged.

“I don’t know; we’re trying to track down the leak, but can you think of anyone who knew about it, who you might have pissed off recently?” Jeff asked, and Harry snorted a laugh.

“I hope not, I mean, it was just our close family and friends at the wedding.” He looked up to see Ellie standing in the doorway, and motioned for her to sit next to him. “What about you, love - piss off any relatives lately?”

“My aunt Celia still thinks I should have gone to beauty school, like her, instead of playing hockey,” Ellie smiled, but she really wasn’t in the joking mood.

“I was thinking, perhaps, people who weren’t guests…” Jeff clarified, and there was a noticeable mood change.

“Oh.” Harry stared for a moment. “Like, an employee?”

“Or, former employee,” Ellie added, and suddenly Jeff and Harry seemed to realize what might have happened.

“He wouldn’t have….” Harry said in disbelief.

“He signed an NDA, they all did, so if it was him we could take legal action.” Jeff explained.

“Who are you talking about?” Ellie asked, and looked between Jeff and Harry for an explanation.

Jeff was already on his phone making calls, so Harry filled in the details. “Someone who worked in PR, we had to let go recently - we were just downsizing a bit, it was nothing personal. I can’t imagine why he’d do something like this.”

Ellie could feel her cheeks turning crimson. She knew they couldn’t keep their marriage a secret forever, but never imagined someone from their (his) own team would betray them like this.

“They’re looking into Howard now, but I guess word around the office was that he needed money.” Jeff returned and was already dialing another number before he finished his explanation. “I’m going to check our sources to see how much they know. Then we can decide if we should work on damage control, or try to take it into our own hands and release the information ourselves.”

Ellie and Harry both froze at that last statement, and slowly turned to look at each other. “Like, we should come out, and publicly announced that we’ve secretly been married for six months?” Ellie swallowed hard and couldn’t slow her racing heart.

“It would be better than denying it, and later getting caught in a lie,” Harry shrugged, and tried to seem calm for her, but he was just as ill at ease as she was. Harry reached over and put his hand on his wife’s, feeling her wedding band beneath his fingers. “Perhaps it’s time we share this with the world.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready,” Ellie answered quietly.

“Will we ever be?” Harry replied. “We’ve had six months to ourselves, and we knew this kind of privacy would never last - now’s as good a time as any.”

Ellie was deep in thought and didn’t respond. She wasn’t ready to give up the freedom of being able to hop into the grocery store whenever she wanted - even though Harry claimed he went to the store all the time - and she couldn’t imagine the reactions of her friends back home, or her teammates. ”Oh!” Ellie turned to Harry. “Do you think it’ll get out that you own the Riveters?”

“I should hope not, why?” He cocked his head.

“Because, it would look like nepotism - like I’d only made the team because I was your wife.” Ellie frantically explained.

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself quite enough credit, dear. I think it’ll be clear to them you’ve made the team all on your own.” Harry tried to reassure her. “We’ll worry about that when we come to it. For now, I’ll just be the supportive husband, watching his wife play hockey from the sidelines.”

Ellie smiled at the thought of Harry sitting in the stands cheering her on, instead of hiding in the upper levels of the arena in a darkened room to keep his anonymity safe. Ellie looked at her phone, and so far she had not received any surprised friends who’d heard she was married to Harry Styles of One Direction. “I guess that’s a good sign,” she said after explaining this to Harry. “I can only imagine the team’s reaction!” She was already blushing at the teasing she knew she would get from her teammates once word got out - friendly teasing, of course.

When someone from Harry’s team finally tracked down Howard, he’d admitted to leaking the information for money to settle some debts. Harry did not like the sound of this, and didn’t hesitate to tell his legal team to go after him for breaking the NDA.

“Seriously, this is beyond just being malicious - it’s illegal,” he vented, and Ellie felt the same way.

“I’m going to kick his ass,” she said between her teeth, and Harry’s jaw suddenly unclenched, and a smirk started to form on his lips.

“I like you when you’re feisty,” he said in a low voice.

Ellie’s anger broke for a moment and she laughed. “That’s what you think of in a moment like this?”

Harry shrugged, and continued to smirk. “Sorry, I’m easily distractable,” he leaned closer and surprised her by kissing her neck.

“So, did we at least find out if he leaked my name to the press?” Ellie tried to keep Harry on track.

“I don’t think he did,” Harry answered, trying to steal another kiss.

“Actually,” Jeff entered from the other room and turned on the tv. “It seems to have gotten out.”

“It was recently discovered through an inside source that former One Direction star Harry Styles married in secret last summer to hockey player Ellie Wilson. The couple had been seen together a few times over the past few years, and many speculated they were together, but nothing was confirmed until recently…” A well dressed news presenter spoke, next to a picture of Harry and Ellie years ago at the airport together.

“Shit…” Ellie swore, and felt like the floor had just disappeared under her feet. She heard Jeff and Harry talking, but did not comprehend a word they said.

“We were going to go out tonight anyway, maybe we should just go public? Just go in the front door like everyone else, let them see us together?” Harry suggested.

“What?” Ellie finally focused and realized they were both looking at her.

“We were going to go out to dinner, for my birthday? It’s today, you know.” Harry eyed her curiously and worried some of her concussion symptoms had returned.

“Of course this would happen on your birthday,” Ellie sighed.

“It would be the perfect time for us to go public, really,” Harry replied.

“It’s true, you were going out anyway, so it doesn’t look like you’re responding to the leak, instead just continuing on with your normal lives.” Jeff agreed, and Ellie realized she was outnumbered.

“I guess...I just think I need more time to prepare. What if they want to talk to me?” She asked.

“Who? The paparazzi? They always ask questions, but they’re just there to take picture. Just let Harry do the talking,” Jeff glanced at Harry, and he nodded. He knew what to say in this situation from years of media training, and more specifically, from months of practicing how he’d respond to the question ‘how does it feel to settle down and be a married man?’ He was ready for it, and almost couldn’t wait to brag about how awesome his wife was, and how happy they were together.

With an almost smug smile on his lips, Harry sat in the back seat next to his wife as the two rode to the restaurant together that nigh. They had security, as usual, but as precaution they brought more than normal. They weren’t as worried about the paparazzi as much as the fans, perhaps an angry fan not wanting to accept Harry was married and now unavailable. So far the fan support online had been very positive, and this calmed Ellie a little.

As expected, there were cameras waiting for them as they pulled up to the restaurant. Their bodyguard opened the door and Harry stepped out first, smiling brightly as the paparazzi threw questions at them - ranging from wishing him a happy birthday, to asking about their secret wedding. He moved out of the way and helped Ellie out of the car, showing off his wife publicly for the first time.

It was an odd moment for Harry. He felt proud to finally show her off to the world, yet at the same time, he knew she was losing her anonymity. She was becoming ‘someone’ whether she wanted to or not - but that was one of the risks of marrying Harry Styles.

“Ellie!” They shouted, and she tried to smile and look confident. “Show us the ring!”

Her left hand was entwined with Harry’s, and he held up her hand to show off the beautiful engagement ring he’d given her in Jamaica, with the wedding band right beneath it. He couldn’t help but feel happy, and saw her smiling back at him. The pair walked hand in hand into the restaurant, where they were escorted to a private room so they could dine in private. It was only then that Ellie remembered to breath.

“That was…” she sat, blinking away the camera flashes. “Bright.”

Harry laughed and sat across from her. He pulled out his phone, and someone had sent them a picture taken just moments earlier. “It’s already online.” He smiled at the picture of he and Ellie showing off the ring and passed his phone to Ellie.

“At least you look good. I look like I’ve had stroke or something,” she laughed. “I guess I need to practice smiling in the mirror.”

“Nonsense, love, you look beautiful, as always,” Harry smiled and reached over to hold her hand.

“Thank you,” she slid his phone back to him. “I feel awful this had to happen on your birthday.”

“I think it turned out quite well,” he smiled.

“Well, happy 24th birthday Harry,” Ellie leaned across the table to kiss him. “I love you.”

Notes

I think we can start to get into some more fun chapters now that they're "out" as a couple : )
Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting! : D