The Reinvention of Harry Styles (Completed)

Chapter 27

Harry sat in his dressing room tapping his foot nervously. The pomegranate scented candles he always brought with him were not as calming as he'd hoped. He heard his opening act, MUNA, finishing up, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he would be on that stage, facing his fans in concert for the first time as solo artist Harry Styles.

A quiet knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said without taking his eyes off the spot he was staring intently at for no particular reason.

"15 minutes, Harry," someone said, before leaving. Molly slipped in behind them and came to stand next to Harry.

"You look nice," she said softly, and his eyes darted up to the mirror in front of them to meet hers. Molly studied the outfit Rupert had put him in: black skinny jeans (as usual), a v-neck Pink Floyd shirt -with the 'Dark Side of the Moon' prism splayed across the front- and a black jacket which had small flowers embroidered on the lapel. "I like the rainbow on your shirt."

"That's 'Dark Side of the Moon', you know, Pink Floyd," Harry explained with a smirk.

"Oh, well I think it suits you." Molly smiled.

"Thank you," he turned to face her. "Do you think these are too much?"

"The glitter boots!" Molly squealed and bent down to touch them. "No, I think they're perfect!"

Harry cracked a smile at her enthusiasm, but it didn't last long. Jeff opened the door while knocking, and saw Molly kneeling in front of Harry.

"Oh, um, I can come back," Jeff started, and backed out of the doorway.

"It's fine," Harry stood up to talk to him and Molly realized what Jeff thought he'd seen. She smiled to herself as she stood up.

"They're setting up the stage now if you'd like to come out, maybe say a few words to the band," Jeff suggested.

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything. He followed Jeff down the hall, with Molly right behind him, to the musician's dressing rooms. They were casually chatting, not looking nearly as nervous and on edge as Harry felt.

"Hey!" Sarah smiled and hugged him. "You ready for the big night?"

Harry nodded, and they all turned a bit to face him. "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say, but let's give them a good show. We've rehearsed enough, and I feel confident in all of you, so I think this should go well." Harry swallowed hard and wished he felt as confident in himself as he did his band. He didn't know what else to say, so Molly stepped up.

"We get to show off the 'new' Harry Styles tonight, and I think it'll be well received. Good luck guys!" She smiled at the band and squeezed Harry's hand, leaving them to warm up together.

As she and Jeff walked toward the stage, where they would be watching the concert from the side of the stage in the wings, she could tell he wanted to say something to her.

"This is when we see if all your work paid off or not," he finally said, sounding a bit ominous.

"I'm confident in Harry and the decisions we've made to correct his image." Molly answered, standing her ground and giving Jeff a stern glance. "But they're his die-hard fans, they'll love him no matter what. What really matters is if the reviewers like him, and what they write in the papers tomorrow."

Jeff nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything. After a moment, Harry and his band joined them, all joking and chatting about the upcoming show. Harry seemed more at ease now, but there was a palpable nervous energy thickening the air and making it difficult to breath. Molly leaned into Harry to give him a hug, and he brought his hands up to the sides of her face.