The Admiration Project

Epilogue

The Admiration Project
by Louis Tomlinson
Subject: Harry Edward Styles

1. I saw Harry Styles' smile directed at me for the first time on September 7th. I was at Burger Girl Diner with my best friend Liam, and he and Niall stumbled in like the ridiculous loons they are. Harry and I made -- very brief -- eye contact while Liam and I were leaving the diner, and he smiled. I never really noticed his smile before; he has an undoubtedly perfect set of teeth, and his whole face seems to light up when he smiles.

2. There aren't many people I've met that are as selfless as Harry Styles. He tends to put everyone else before himself at all times. I noticed this for the first time at the first home game of the season. Harry scored more points than everyone on the team combined, yet he still credited all of them for his points. The same night, Harry found me drunk off my *** in Niall Horan's bathroom during their celebration party. Even though the party was practically celebrating him, he left in favor of bringing me home. He told me that they were celebrating the entire team that night.

3. It may be a little odd to say that I admire Harry's laugh, but it is nothing but the truth. Even though the first time I witnessed Harry's laugh it was aimed at me, it was still contagious. I found myself laughing with him. He was laughing hysterically at something extremely embarrassing I did a while back at a party, and he couldn't stop for a solid five minutes. People around us were staring, but for once in my life I didn't really mind. His laugh made me feel some weird sort of happiness. It's one of those laughs that draw you to the person. The one where their eyes are gleaming and they cover their mouth because they know they're being too loud but they have no remorse. The word captivating may be a bit dramatic.

4. I really never would have thought that Harry was confrontational. I also never would have thought that Harry would confront me. But, it turns out Harry is confrontational, and he confronted me. The reasoning behind me doing this project on Harry Styles is due to the fact that I am not very fond of him. However, it appears as though Harry had caught onto that fact. My car battery died while I was in school on November 18th. Mother Nature decided to bless us with a tropical storm, and I had no other choice but to walk home in the pouring rain. Halfway there, Harry pulled over and picked me up, the absolute hero he is. Harry asked me why I hated him that day. Not even a hint of irritation laced his voice. He had the confidence of a king, and I suddenly became a coward when I could not even come up with a single explanation. Long story short, I hate Harry Styles just a little less.

5. I probably sound like the biggest dweeb saying that Harry is endearing, but out of some miracle, he kind of is. There was a party. Harry's party, although he would never call it that. The team had just won the last game of the season, and everyone was partying for the sole purpose of getting totally trashed. Harry had lost himself somewhere along the way, and by the time he stumbled into me toward the end of the night, he was plastered. His eyes were all hazy and unfocused, and he could not stop giggling. Giggling. I brought him to his bedroom that night, gave him a piggy-back ride up the stairs because he was pouting, and he asked me to tuck him in. I'd be lying through my teeth if I were to say it wasn't at least a tiny bit precious. I tucked him in, joked around with him a bit. Just laying there, his curls all oily and splayed across his pillow, and the ghost of his dimple was enough to have my heart feel warm. He just has some special sort of quirk to him. Of course all the girls swoon over him. He is the textbook definition of enchanting.

6. Saying someone is shy may not necessarily be admirable, but somehow, Harry Styles and his utter bashfulness is a totally exemplary trait. Throughout my years of knowing who Harry was, I would have never used the term "shy" to describe him. I do not think anyone who has ever talked to him would use that word, either. Harry has an outstanding reputation for his sheer confidence and ability to make conversation with just about anyone. This includes myself, who, regardless of my opinion of him as a whole, was able to recognize the boy's outgoing and self-assured disposition. Perhaps I took his confidence as selfishness, which ended up being one of the things that had me detesting the poor kid. However, the lesser known Harry Styles is completely, unconditionally shy. One of the most considerable reasons as to why this is so admirable to me is because he was never reluctant to show his true self to me, regardless of the way I had treated him prior to our friendship. He doesn't build up walls and make you break them down. He is confident in the most vulnerable way, if that makes any sense. Confident in his vulnerability. Not to mention the boy blushes at the littlest things, like being called "babycakes."