Stars and Stripes | { H.S}

Episode eighteen: i'm not so bad

It was true that Harry Styles was good at a lot of things, and charming the pants off a girl was on the top of that list.

Olivia had to give the Holmes Chapel native some credit. He acted like a true gentleman: opening doors, paying for lunch (no matter how relentless Olivia was in insisting she pay for herself), and not attempting any funny business.

He took her to a local park in New Jersey, their last stay on the tour before heading back to New York for a finale show. Then they would head back to London for a few weeks of much-needed rest until the new album was released and the world-wide tour lifted off.

"This is nice," Olivia almost didn't want to admit it.

Harry smiled cheekily, "Yeah? See, I'm not so bad once you give me a right chance."

"When you're not being a womanizing prick, you can be a real sweetheart." Olivia grinned, sipping on her iced coffee.

"That's sweet of you to say." He stirred his tea, leaning against a rail overlooking the green park. Some festival was going on and dozens of families covered the area. Gleeful screams lifted through the air from children running wild, having the time of their life.

"Don't get used to it." Olivia warned playfully, nudging him when he stared out into the park. "You some sort of pedophile?" She joked, eying the few kids giggling through a sprinkler.

Harry snorted, shaking his head. "Nah, I like a good woman to keep me warm at night."

"And the womanizing prick is back." Olivia stated. Harry laughed, tossing back his curls.

"Do you ever think about kids?"

"No," Olivia answered honestly. "Why? You got a few bastards I don't know about?"

"Darcy and Ben are not bastards." Harry joked, "Nah, one of our team has a baby girl—Lux." He smiled thoughtfully. "She's cutest thing you'll ever see. So sweet, so innocent. You just want her to stay that way forever, you know?" He pawed his hair, seriousness covering his pale face.

"Yeah, I know." Olivia answered distantly. She wasn't sure if he was simply talking about baby Lux, or about himself, or his corruption of others. It was one of those rare moments when Harry let you in to see his damaged soul, that there was an actual human being who cared for beautiful things and the well-being of others. It was breathtakingly perfect to Olivia.

The two stood in silence for a few moments, watching the children and sipping on their beverages, simply thinking. They didn't voice their thoughts, those were private. But, Olivia inched closer until their bare arms were touching and that felt personal enough.

"How's Charlie?" Harry asked suddenly. Olivia started.

"Having a secret love affair with Julia." She muttered monotonously.

"What?" Harry chortled, "You can't be serious, Olive."

"Well, they haven't flat out admitted it but whenever we talk they avoid the subject." Olivia pursed her lips, "Last week my dad called and Julia was with him."

"That doesn't seem like evidence of a passionate love affair." Harry reasoned.

"You don't know her like I do. You didn't hear the way she sounded." Olivia shook her head defiantly. "Something's going on but they're not telling me."