Everything's Changed. Harry Styles.

02

2010
Holmes Chapel

Harper

"You have to do it!"

"No, I can't"

"You can!"

"No."

"Harry."

"Harper."

"I swear to god, I will fill it out for you and drag you there." I stomped my foot for emphasis. Slightly childish? Maybe, but it worked because he huffed and sat back down. He gave me one last glare before turning his body back to the sign up sheet on the computer.

"This is so ridiculous..." He muttered under his breath, pushing the keys harder than necessary. I rolled my eyes at him, crouching behind him so I could look over his shoulder at the screen.

"You've been talking about this forever, it's time. What's the worst that can happen?" I smiled and turned to look at him, my face only a couple inches from his. He looked at me without turning his head and scoffed.

"Uhm, a lot! The main concern is I actually suck and make a total fool of myself in front of a million people."

"It's not a million people."

"It's televised Harper." He fully turned his body to look at me head on now.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that part." He gave me a look and scoffed while throwing his hands up. "Oh, my god. You'll be fine. They're gonna love you." I put my hands on his shoulders and gave him my sweetest smile.

"I'm going to blame you if this goes wrong."

"Well good thing it won't." I pushed his shoulders so he was facing the screen again and he begrudgingly continued filling in all his information. I watched, making sure he filled in all the boxes and put everything correctly. When he was done he hit the submit button before releasing a heavy sigh.

I put my arms around his shoulders and clasped my hands in front of his chest, hugging him from behind. My cheek leaned against his temple. I could feel him exhale slowly and his hands came up to hold onto my arms. "You're gonna be great, sunshine."

"I hope so."

"I know so." He leaned into my head and we just stood there for a moment. Me hugging him from behind and him holding onto my arms like I was going to slip away if he didn't.

I knew he was nervous to do this, but he had been talking about it for the longest time. And all of us believed in him. Anne, Gem, and I have been slightly pushing him over time. We knew he wanted it, but we also knew he needed a little help getting there.

He may not think he's good enough for it now, but he is. I always knew he would be the one to make it out of here.

Several Months Later

"Do I look stupid."

"No, you look fine, now let's go. We don't want to be late." I pulled him away from the mirror and pushed him out of the room before he could change again or try to fix his hair. There's literally one style he can do with his hair.  I kept pushing him until he was finally out of the house and into the car where Anne and Gem were waiting for us.

Everybody was bouncing with energy today. We were on our way to Manchester so Harry could audition for the X-Factor. He's been practicing for months to the point where I'm sick of him singing.

Not really, though. I love hearing him sing.

Once we were all settled into the car Anne started driving us to our final destination.

"Here, drink this." I handed Harry a travel mug with hot tea in it. He looked at me gratefully before taking a small sip. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his hands cradling the mug. He started bouncing his leg and I placed my hand on his knee for comfort. Without looking he let go of the mug with one hand and laced his fingers through mine. I squeezed his hand but didn't say anything. I looked out my side of the window, softly humming along to the music playing in the car.

The hour long care ride there was silent, us girls just enjoying the drive and Harry lost in his thoughts. We all silently decided to let him have a moment in the car to work through his nerves, if he needed us he would let us know. We did hold hands throughout the whole ride though, a silent gesture of reassurance and support.

Once we arrived we found a parking space and all got out. Harry ran his hands through his hair and shook out his arms, a deep breath falling from his lips.

"Ready?" Anne placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked to her and nodded his head,

"Ready."

We all walked to get in the check in line. We all knew this line would be long so I brought a couple snacks and bottles of water in my bag. We quietly talked as we moved through the line until we got to check in. At one point Harry got approached to tell the camera a little bit about himself. I could tell he was nervous but he held himself well when in front of the camera.

He received his number sticker and I helped him put it on, making sure it was in a good spot to be seen. He gave me a smile and I smiled back and soon enough we were in the building waiting for him to be called to the stage. It was probably a while before it was his turn but it felt like seconds went by until we were side stage and Harry was walking out. Gemma and I held hands while Anne hugged onto my arm. All of us were silent, watching him take his place on the mark.

After a brief introduction he started singing. I held my breath and felt my heart plummet when he was told to stop. I don't think any of us were breathing in that moment.

I couldn't believe it. I thought he was going to make it, I thought the judges would love him. Especially with his charm. And here he was, being cut off mid song. I could see him shaking, I could see his whole demeanor change in that moment.

I was seconds away from crying before I heard the judges talking, telling him to sing a different song. Gem squeezed my hand and I looked to her to make sure I was hearing things right.

"They're letting him try again?"

"I think so." Gem whispered back to me and before we knew it, he started singing again. I felt myself fill with hope again. My eyes never left his figure while he sang. I was squeezing Gemmas hand so tight, but I don't think she minded. I think we both needed the grounding of it.

He stopped singing and I closed my eyes. I squeezed them so tight when everyone started clapping. And then the judges started talking and I couldn't hear a word. All I heard were voices, no actual words. That is until I heard it.

No

My heart sank, but then I heard another word.

Yes

And then another

Yes

My eyes flew open, seeing a big grin on Harry's face. He did it, he made it. My hand let go of Gemma's and I started clapping. I hugged Anne as Harry made his way over to us. I was jumping up and down, waiting for him to hug Anne and Gemma. He finally got to me and I jumped into his arms.

"I told you!" I heard him laugh, his arms going around my waist and picking me up off the ground.

That was the day our lives changed forever.