The Reinvention of Harry Styles (Completed)

Chapter 38

Molly and Harry awoke on the couch in her mother's apartment late the next morning feeling groggy and sore from sleeping on the couch entangled in each other's arms. The sun cast short shadows as it neared midday, and the city outside was buzzing with the early lunch crowd. Molly tried to stretch and sit up, but Harry tightened his grip.

"Harry, wake up," Molly shook him, and tried to get out of his grasp.

"I am awake," he answered without opening his eyes.

"Then let go of me." She tried to wiggle out of his arms and laughed at his stubbornness as he held on tight.

"I just want to lay here with you for awhile longer," he finally sat up and looked at her. Harry leaned closer and trailed kisses up her neck and across her jaw before finally reaching her mouth. "Just let me love you goodbye."

Molly laughed at Harry's use of a One Direction song, but stopped. "Wait, goodbye?"

"The European leg of the tour starts soon, and I have to leave this afternoon." He answered hesitantly, and paused for such a long time that Molly wondered if he had reached the end of his sentence.

"Right, we're going to London for a few days to acclimate to the time change, before the show in Paris on the 25th..." Molly cocked her head and watched him closely, as Harry nearly flinched at the word 'we'.

"Actually," he finally said. "I'm going on my own."

"What?" Molly instinctively leaned back, feeling a little hurt by his words, though it was clear Harry was having a difficult time saying them.

"Jocelyn...she's brought in some new people to help my PR team. She hated that she had somehow been dragged into this 'girlfriend rumor' and wanted it taken care of as quickly as possible." Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "So, since neither of us want to go public, the PR team has strongly advised we take extra precautions not to be seen together."

"We can do that. I'll just stay in the hotel, and we can even travel separately if that's what it takes."

"It's a bit more than that, unfortunately. The thing is, if I won't acknowledge that yes, I have a girlfriend -which probably wouldn't stop the rumors, anyway- then the next option is to appear single." Harry couldn't meet Molly's eyes as he said these final words. He didn't want it to be this way, but it was the safest way to keep Molly anonymous.

"Oh," Molly tried to respond calmly. "I see." She didn't entirely understand, nor want to know what exactly that meant, or how they would execute that plan, but it was clear she would not be a part of it. "I understand, really. When I was just a fan, I saw how jealous your fans got whenever you were rumored to have a girlfriend. There's just something about knowing that your celebrity crush is single that makes you like them even more, even though there is a 0% chance of there ever being a possibility of actually dating them."

"0%, uh?" Harry cracked a smile and Molly's mood lifted for a moment.

"Okay, I'm clearly the exception, though," she conceded and eventually smiled. "But I see how acknowledging you have a girlfriend might steer away some fans who feel that way, and considering how fragile your fanbase is right now, you don't need to upset them any more."

"Fragile?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you're still winning over their trust again, if that's the right word. It's going to take a while to fix the image issue, so I guess this is probably the best plan for now." Molly didn't like it, but she knew she only disliked it for selfish reasons. She knew Harry wasn't choosing his career over her, because that wasn't the case at all. Besides, she wanted what was best for his career more than he did, it seemed at times. "I just wish it didn't suck so much," she added quietly.