Used To Be • Harry Styles

Twelve

"Cheers," Harry put his glass up in the center of the table. "To music, good friends, good times, Columbia records, and love."

"Cheers," we all repeated as we clinked glasses.

"I still can't believe this!" Ryan started after taking a sip of his drink. "I gotta call my mom," we all laughed.

"You all gotta let me know when you head over to the offices to sign your contracts," Chris began. "I gotta go with you."

"Yeah," I nodded and looked at the band members. "And if he's busy, I'll be available too."

"We want the very best for you guys," Chris spoke sincerely. "Just like we managed to do for Harry!"

We all started cheering again as our waiter appeared and placed some plates on the table.

"I still can't believe this," Harry whispered over to me as a plate got placed in front of him.

"Well believe it," I said back. "I told you so," I smirked and he smiled.

"You did," he put his hand on my thigh.

"Harry," Jeff called out and he removed it, making me chuckle. "Any album titles in mind?"

"Oh God," Harry pushed his hair back. "I haven't thought that far into it."

"You would look amazing in a pink suit on the cover," Sarah chimed in. "Pink is the only true rock and roll color."

"Paul Simonon," Harry smiled and tipped his glass at her. "You're both right."

"So a pink cover," I leaned in. "I'm feeling it."

"Do I really wanna put my face on it?" Harry questioned himself.

"If you wanna sell it without making people turn it over, yeah," Alex joked.

"We'll see," he laughed. "And I don't know about calling it rock."

"All your songs have been rock so far," Mitch said. "Are you gonna throw some rap into it?"

"I might slow it down," Harry laughed. "I haven't done that yet."

"Well, regardless of the sound," Tyler began. "I think we can all agree this album is gonna be beyond amazing."

○○○

"I'm gonna go change," I declare as Harry shuts the door to my apartment. "Get out of this dress already."

"Alright," he says before sitting down on the couch.

"I had a great time tonight," I raise my voice when I enter the bathroom.

"God, I love every single person in that crew," he replies.

"They really are the best," I agree.

I take a deep breath as I try to think through my next move. Harry and I haven't kissed yet and that's all I wanna do tonight.

"Wanna watch a movie or something?" I call out and get no response.

I simply walk out of the bathroom after that and see a focused Harry sat on the couch. I walk over to the back of the sofa and lean over as I wrap my arms around him and put my face on the left side of his.

I leave a kiss near his lips, expecting him to turn around, but instead he says something.

"Hi, mom," he turns around smiling revealing the phone he had to his ear.

"Oh my God," I whisper and cover my face before heading back to the bathroom embarrassed as Harry chuckles.

"No nothing," he says. "I miss you. I'm sorry for not calling sooner."

○○○

"Sorry," Harry whispered when he woke me up from being half asleep.

"Hi," I smile at him when he gets in bed next to me. "What time is it?"

"Two," he said.

"You were on the phone for two whole hours," I smile. "How's your mom and sister?"

"They're great," he spoke. "I'm so glad I called them. It's been so long," we both turned to face each other in bed. "I woke her up, though," he chuckled. "I just couldn't wait to call."

"Was it what Ryan said?" I began to rub his arm.

"Exactly that," he agreed. "She's super happy for me."

"Who wouldn't be? Did you talk to your sister?"

"I'm gonna text her when we wake up in the morning," he said. "She was sleeping and my mom didn't want to wake her."

"I get it," I pushed some of his hair back.

"So, back to what happened when I was calling," he started to laugh and I swatted his arm. "Were you trying to kiss me?"

"Keyword trying," I laughed and covered my face. "I don't wanna talk about that-"

"We don't have to talk at all," he put his hand on my jaw and started to lean in.

"Absolutely not," I started laughing and pushed him off.

"Why not?" He asked as he leaned in and started kissing my neck.

"Stop that," I tried resisting. "You were just making fun of me, I'm not gonna let you kiss me now."

"Fine," he get off of me and let out a grunt. "You're impossible."

"Get some sleep," I told him. "We got a big day tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"We're dropping your single."

○○○

"What do you want the cover art to be?" Alex looked up from the computer screen.

"Less is more," Harry leaned over. "Just the title. I don't wanna be on it," he added.

"Any colors you wanted to use?" Jeff asked.

"Let's just keep it plain and simple, black font over white background," Harry seemed anxious and Chris and I chuckled at the novice.

"The cover isn't anything to stress about," I put my hand on Harry's back and saw him relax instantly. "Worry about the cover for your album."

"No one cares about single covers if the song's gonna be on the album," Chris chimed in. "'Carolina' is gonna be on the album, right?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "For sure."

"So the black font on the white background is just perfect," I reassured him.

"This good?" Jeff brought our attention over to the screen and the sample cover art.

"That's great," Harry nodded and patted Jeff's back. "Is that all?"

"Yep," Alex replied. "All that's left is putting the song on all platforms."

"Which you can have the honor of doing," Jeff got up from his seat to let Harry sit down.

"All I gotta do is press enter?" Harry wanted to make sure.

"That's all," Jeff spoke.

There was a moment of silence in the room right before Harry pressed enter on the keyboard. Once the page on the screen reloaded to reveal the song was up and ready to stream, everyone stopped holding their breaths.

"Well," Chris was the first to speak. "The direct deposit is about to hit hard," he joked and we all chuckled. "Congrats, man."

"Congrats," Jeff and Alex spoke.

"You did it," I smiled before hugging Harry. "Thank you guys," I hugged Alex and Jeff right after. "Chris," I smiled and high-fived my partner in crime.

"We did that," he pointed at Harry jokingly before hugging me tightly and leaving a kiss on the cheek.

"One more stop," I spoke before saying bye to Alex and Jeff.