Used To Be • Harry Styles

Thirty One

"One more interview, then we're done for the day," Chris explained to me as we walked to the black SUV and past a bunch of fans I waved to and took some pictures with.

"Finally," I stop smiling and let out a grunt, exhausted from all the promo we've been doing for the past couple of weeks. "Did you let the band know that we're gonna have a session tomorrow?" I inquire.

"Yeah, they're all set," Chris replies.

"Do they know?" I ask and Chris looks at me quizzically. "About the baby and Annie? Do they know?"

"Oh," Chris fell silent for a second. "They know. I'm sorry, I mean, I wasn't going to tell them but since you disappeared for two months and just sent over 'Sign of the Times' they had some questions they wanted answered. Granted, I was going to ask you first but every time I called or sent a message I just never heard back."

"Alright," I let out a sigh and sit back thinking about all the condolences I'm gonna have to go through tomorrow.

"Hey, so," Chris calls my attention. "The last song's for tomorrow right?"

"Last song," I nod.

"What's the song called?"

"'Sweet creature,'" I let him know.

○○○

One by one the crew showed up the next day and I got all their condolences separately. It was sweet of all of them, everything they said, but I was dreading hearing it all just because I knew it wasn't something I wanted to think about.

"So," Chris gathered us all outside the booth. "The album debuts next week. We have this last minute song that Harry wants to work on with you guys today, and we're done. It's been quite a ride, but it's coming to its climax now. I think we can all agree it's been fucking magical, and Harry has truly been a blessing to us all," Chris pauses and I begin to pretend to get flustered and we all let out a laugh. "We wouldn't be where we are today without you man. Your talent and success has opened many doors for each and everyone of us, including yourself. Take a second to appreciate what you've become and how far you've come. You're one of the most famous people on the planet and it's only gonna take off from here. You've already been on the cover of a fucking Rolling Stone mag!"

"It fucking blows my mind, man," I say. "Alright," I get up and gesture for Chris to take my seat. "Chris has summed up a lot of what I was going to say today, on our last studio session. We've come a hell of a long way together and I love each and every single one of you so much. I am forever grateful and I owe all of my success to an amazing band and amazing producers and technicians and agents, all of you guys. I'm beyond proud of this album that we're putting out, we all know it's gonna be pretty life changing with this world tour we're gonna go on for a year and I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be by my side," they all begin to cheer. "This, today, is the last song. Every single song on this album is so special to me, even the ones from the EP, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that song about a blind date I had, or some devilish red head I grew a liking to for a week or so," I let out a laugh. "The later songs, we all know, carry a much more deep and special meaning to me," I clear my throat trying to stop some tears from forming. "And this last song has just as much meaning. 'Sweet Creature' is a love letter that I wrote, what now feels like, ages ago and all I'm asking is for your guys' help in topping off this grade A album with this very last cry for love. So, once again, thanks for sticking with me and being here on this journey with me, thanks for coming in today and helping me wrap things up, and thanks for promising to stick with me and leaving all your lives behind to travel the world with me and perform the same songs over and over again," we all chuckle. "To music, our passion. May we never forget who we are today, where we came from, and may our favorite form of expressing ourselves touch others who are gonna listen to this album. Thank you guys."

They all clap and cheer for me when I finish my long speech.

"Who's ready to finish this album?" Mitch stands up and the band cheers, making me smile.

They all get up and make their way to their instruments in the booth.

"You ready?" Chris pats me on the back and I turn to face him.

"I was born ready," I say.

"Come on," Alex gestured for me to go in.

"We wanna hear it already," Jeff offered me a smile.

I let out a deep breath before walking into the booth where everyone else was.

"Wanna go over the song?" Mitch suggests.

"Once," I nod. "I want it to be acoustic, so I may not need all you guys playing on it," I explain. "But I sure do need you all here."

"You got it," Sarah smiled at me. "Go on now."

I walk over to the microphone and take a seat on the stool right by it.

I pull out my black notebook from my back pocket and look down at it while I flip through the pages.

I start to sing the slow song I knew needed to be on the album. The missing piece that I needed to complete it, the reason I flew back to make sure the album wasn't going to be put out without the cherry on top.

"Ready?" I ask and look up at everyone in the studio.