The Maiden in Winter // Harry Styles Series #4

SIXTY FOUR

~H~

She didn't freak out. She did what the guys asked, and stayed completely calm. No fuss about Bean going in the other car. She understood. They need to move out here and stay. I hate to take her away from the house in town entirely, but it's too exposed. I think she'll understand that, too. After the Fourth of July. We need to focus on Wednesday night at the Fluke right now. It's going to be tricky, after Joe posts whatever he's got, but we'll manage. 

We have to make this work, because I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't...

***

~A~

It took longer than we expected for the story to drop. Much like the woman who took pictures of us at the toy store on Bean's birthday, the locals who posted snaps of us at the game didn't seem eager for attention, and none of them really took off online overnight. Evidently Joe had timed his release for maximum exposure both in the UK and the US. He had also taken a little time to dig for details. But only a little. And he hadn't gone farther than the Fluke to get them.

***

'HARRY STYLES – FAMILY MAN?'

(image: panoramic photo of the baseball field, Bean at bat, with a blurry inset zoomed in on Harry and I, standing in the bleachers and cheering)

Exclusive by Joe Daniel

The pieces of the puzzle are coming together, as Harry Styles was spotted in public last night, for the first time in nearly a year, at a little league baseball game in Janesboro, Massachusetts. Only five miles away is Janesport, summer home to many of America's social and celebrity elite.

(image: an aerial view of Janesport)

The 30 year old A-Lister had been almost completely off the radar since the final show of the epic Love on Tour, in Reggio Emilia, Italy, last July. Rumors have flown ever since concerning his whereabouts. Hospitalized for addiction, eloped with one of his former flames, dead?

A single photo posted by Harry and his immediate family on Christmas Day dispelled some concerns and raised more questions. Where was he? What had he been doing for the past five months? Who was the blurry blond-haired boy on the beach behind the family?

(image: Harry's Christmas post)

A brief video and several photos were again shared on the former One Direction member's 30th birthday in February, taken at his mother Anne Twist's home near Holmes Chapel, England. This time they included the same child and a mystery woman who strongly resembled him, along with Harry's family as well as his manager and friend, Jeff Azoff and his wife, Glynne.

(image: a grainy still from Harry's birthday video)

In April, video surfaced of Harry singing Happy Birthday to the blond boy, along with the mystery woman.

(image: a grainy still from Bean's birthday video)

And then nothing... until now.

Sources in Janesport, a village notorious for keeping its elite residents' secrets, have told me that Harry's mystery 'family' are local shopkeeper Alexandra Griffin and her young brother. Orphaned three years ago in a tragic motor vehicle accident, Alex, as she's known to her friends, took over her parents' store and became her brother's legal guardian.

(image: the headline from an article about Dad and Suzi's accident)

"Alex, she's a good girl," said my source, who asked to be called Chuck. He is a native of Janesport and a regular at the Fluke, the village's only bar and restaurant. "She's raising up (her brother) right, and the General's doing just fine."