Used To Be • Harry Styles

Twenty Five

"Come out already!" I exclaim through the bathroom door. "The limo's outside waiting."

The door finally opened and Annie in a white dress stepped out looking stunning.

"Oh my," I couldn't believe my eyes.

I fell to my knees and pretended to praise her.

"Stop," she laughed. "Get up."

I stayed on my knees as I embraced her lower half and began speaking to her stomach.

"Your mum looks ravishing tonight, as always, but just know you're gonna have the most beautiful mum on the planet."

"Harry," she laughed and started pulling at my arms.

"Your dad's pretty hot too," I joked before finally getting up. "Alright, let's go," I clapped my hands.

○○○

"Sarah!" Annie exclaimed and got in between her and her boyfriend.

"They all know not to tell you anything!" I cup my hands around my mouth and shout at her as Mitch approaches me.

"This whole suit and tie thing is not for me," he loosens his tie up a bit as we all walk towards the elevator to the party.

"You look quite handsome, though," I put my arm around him. "If I wasn't with Annie, you and me-"

"I'm supposed to be second choice," Ryan rolled his eyes as he joined in on the joke.

"Guys!" Alex called for us to hurry up as he held the elevator for us.

The three of us quickly jumped in and I pressed the button for the thirtieth floor.

"What's the set list?" Tyler asked from the back of the elevator.

"Well, we only have three songs," Ryan quipped and we all chuckled.

"'Carolina,' then 'Woman,' then 'Only Angel?'" I ask and they all agree.

"Welcome," Chris greets us at the elevator bank. "Put your game faces on guys, everyone who's anyone is here."

We all flood out the elevator and Annie and I stand by Chris waiting for anything else he had to say.

"People are dying to meet you," he says.

"Do I gotta sign autographs?" I inquired.

"I meant Annie," Chris looked over at me and Annie started to laugh at the two of us.

"Do I gotta sign autographs?" She mocked me.

○○○

Everyone in the room clapped and cheered after we finished performing 'Carolina.'

Once I got off stage, Chris directed Annie and I towards more important people who wanted to meet me.

I had spent about an hour meeting people when we first arrived, then we finally got to playing our first song.

"That was wonderful!" Another man in a suit began as he shook my hand.

"Thank you," I smiled before shaking his wife's hand.

"Is this your girlfriend?" He looked over at a smiling Annie.

"Yes," I nodded. "This is Annie."

"Annie Maher!" He cheered instantly. "I have a ton of stories to tell you about your dad. We actually went to college together! We were friends before we got into the industry. I hear you've been doing extremely well!"

A waiter passed by and I took another glass of champagne off his tray, this felt like the hundredth time that someone was gonna drone on about Annie and then move onto me.

When the conversation was over and it was just Annie and I again, I was searching for another waiter.

"Wanna slow it down a bit before your next performance?"

"You're right," I nod. "This just isn't very fun."

"All these old men?" Annie scoffs. "I feel you."

"How's it going?" Chris joins us.

"How much longer?" I ask him. "This crowd isn't my favorite."

"I'm introducing you to the older ones first, save the best for last," Chris pats my back.

○○○

Two performances later and I had only a handful of other people to meet, I went along with some band members instead of Annie who decided to greet and talk to other people by herself instead of having me have to bear it with her.

I had drank a couple of more drinks and was feeling a bit more than tipsy, but I was having fun and keeping everyone entertained.

"Are you done with the album?" Some younger executive was asking.

"Almost," I clap my hands together. "The songs from the EP are all going on it, we have seven songs done in total, I need one more to complete the minimum and we'll see if I'll add some more after that."

"Seven, wow so you have another four already done?"

"Yes sir," I can't help but smile. "In fact our latest song, 'Kiwi,' is so good. You gotta hear it."

"Are you gonna perform it?" He asked wide eyed and Mitch and Tyler looked at me a tad worried.

"Are you lads up to it?" I smiled and they were still not so sure about what I was getting at. "I'll take that as a yes."

I put my arms around them before I headed over and directed us to the stage. When the three of us were on there, I gestured for Sarah and Ryan to get on as well.

"Hello, everybody," I spoke into the mic as I adjusted it. "How's everybody doing tonight?"

The crowd cheered and clapped.

"Alright," I smiled. "Now, I know that I had said that we were done performing for the night, but we, uh, we finished recording our seventh song in the studio just a couple of days ago and I just noticed how close we actually are to finishing the album. The last song we recorded, it's called 'Kiwi' by the way, it was exciting and fun to record since the other three songs before that one were slow. It got us out of our slow rhythm, not that I'm opposed to doing more soft songs, but we got back to the first rhythm we had with 'Carolina' and 'Only Angel' so I wanted to share the song with you, a special crowd, on a special night... anyway sorry for rambling, here's 'Kiwi.'"

I turned back around to the band.

"Harry," Sarah whispered. "Are you sure you wanna play this?"

"I'm sure," I chuckle. "I'm not drunk guys," I told them. "You can stop looking at me like I am. I'm sticking with this decision. It'll be fun guys!"

"He's right," Ryan backed me up.

I turned back around to the mic before shouting.

"One, two, one, two, three!"