Songbird [Harry Styles AU]

4

"Now, the first time Harry and I hung out we had dinner," I said to Hazel who was back here for the second time today.

***

"Come in," I smiled opening the door a bit wider. It had been four days since we first met and I wanted to get to know this Harry Styles more, I need to make this the best film I've ever worked on.

I invited him over for dinner, work purposes, of course. I opted for a simple baked chicken with mixed veggie rice and roasted potatoes and of course, red wine. Harry and I were both fond of privacy and with Harry that wasn't easy to achieve out in public so we opted for more intimate spaces.

"Dinner is almost ready, wine?" I asked taking his coat for him.

"Yeah, that'd be great," he smiled following me into the kitchen.

I poured us each a glass and then led him to the living room. "I just wanted to say how honored I am that you chose me for this project, I love your art and I'm excited to work with you," I gush taking a sip of my wine.

"Well I am very glad to have you working on this with me, I'm a fan of your art as well. You have a true gift for this." His words made me blush and smile as the timer went off for the chicken in the oven.

I served us each a plate and brought them to the dining room table where I refilled our wine glasses and we began dinner.

"So, tell me more about you."

"Well, I'm 23. Grew up in Holmes Chapel, was in One Direction," he began but I smiled softly and interrupted him.

"That's great Harry but I can learn all of that from a google search," he laughed and looked down briefly. "I want to know who you are, what makes you happy? What makes you sad? Who's your best friend? When you can't sleep at night what do you do? I just want to know who Harry is, not Harry Styles who is mega famous or known for his accomplishments."

"Oh," he paused with a slight blush. "Most interviews just want the basic surface level stuff I guess," he shrugs.

I don't know what it is but something makes me sad about this. People, celebrities, are so much more than fame or their accomplishments. I've seen it before where more high profile people end up losing themselves because all they do is rehearse the same lines for the same interviews and eventually that's all they become.

"Well, I'm more interested in you, who you are." I gave him an encouraging smile and he nodded before telling me more about what was going on in his life.

"Well, what makes me happy is my family and friends." He smiled showing his dimples. "I love the different relationships I have with people. Y'know, I can call Mitch, my bandmate, right now and I know we have a good conversation about absolutely anything or I can call my mate Nick and we can go grab a pint together. I like knowing that I have so many people on my side who genuinely are on my side and giving them the confidence that if they need me then they call me at anytime."

"Sounds like you have some pretty great people in your life," I smiled. I couldn't help but think of Frankie and Laurel and how much I missed them. I'm making a mental note to call them later. I also made a mental note to call Nick, we needed dinner now that I was in town.

"What about you?" He asked, now it was my turn to blush.

"Me?" Why would he want to know about me? I guess it is only fair to share things in return, I can't expect him to just pour his heart out and not share anything myself. "Well, I have three close friends back home and a very good friend here in the UK as well, we don't always talk much but we consider each other family. We kind of have that friendship where we won't talk for weeks or months even but when we see each other it's like no time has passed," I smiled thinking of my friendship with Nick Grimshaw. Grimmy was seriously someone I considered a ride or die person to me, we constantly chatted frequently and he always stayed with me when he visited New York. "But, back home I have two girlfriends, Laurel and Frankie. We have pretty different personalities but we balance each other out pretty well, and Laurel's husband Michael is absolutely amazing. I'm definitely closest to them."

I could feel my smile grow as I spoke about my friends and felt a sudden weight on my chest, thinking of how much I miss them.

"So, you talked about your family, I'd love to hear more about them."

"Well, my mum, Anne is absolutely amazing. We have a great relationship and I think with the whole transition from One Direction and into my solo stuff, experimenting with my music and other thing," he trails off with a blush to his cheeks. "She's just always accepted me, she's always pushed me and encouraged me to be who I want to be and I think I'm really lucky in that sense because I know a lot of people have parents who aren't as accepting as mine. Then there's Gemma, my sister. Gemma is absolutely brilliant. She does a lot of charity work and a bit of freelance journalism. She lives here in London and so it's nice having her so close. She's the same as my mum, very open with me but also very protective, when I introduce her to new friends she gives them the 3rd degree and practically does a background check," he chuckles making me laugh.

"I'm sure having someone look out for you like that is nice, maybe a bit suffocating at times?" I felt this way with Nicky. When Nick Grimshaw and I first became friends about 4 years ago we got super close super quick. I was spending a year in London studying and so Nick and I spent a lot of time together and I quickly noticed anytime we went to a pub or I met some of his mates he was quick to protect me and although I appreciated his care it could seem a bit much.

"Yeah it can be at times but I guess I prefer her being too invested than not at all."

"My friend who lives here, his name is Nick, I call him Nicky. Anyway, about 4 years ago I spent a year here to do some film studies and Nicky and I got super close super quick, he's kind of like your sister, giving people the 3rd degree. Well, one day I decided I was going to go on a date with a guy in my class because he kept asking me, Nicky literally followed us to Nando's, sat three tables away from us and eventually just sat down with us and talked to the guy the whole night about his intensions," I laughed causing Harry to laugh. "It was so embarrassing, the guy never talked to me again."

"That sounds like something Gemma would do," Harry said laughing and wiping a tear from his eye.

I don't know why but I loved that I made Harry laugh, I loved that I gave him joy in these moments, that he was happy right now because of me. We continued to share a few embarrassing stories of Gemma and Nick before I thought it'd be best to get back on track.

"So, do you find it hard to disconnect from work time and your personal life?"

"I think I can manage those pretty well. For me when I'm with my mum or my sister then I'm with them and I don't tend to talk about my music or work. When I'm with my friends I guess it just depends. So many of my friends are intertwined in my work and I'm close with them so sometimes it looks like just playing music together or writing together sometimes but I think we all have a pretty good feel for when we're like, okay we need to take a break from not trying to create and just see how we're doing. I think it gets difficult when I have to separate my music from my work. Making sure I always keep music as a fun outlet that allows me to process what I'm going through or listening to other music. Keeping the pressure of creating something great, from just creating."

I thought about his answer and how honest it was. Not a lot of people were as honest when you talked to them. They always wanted to portray themselves in the best light but Harry's words were just raw, they were what he was feeling, he had no shame.

"You're very honest." I commented.

"I think the more time you spend trying to make yourself seem like someone you're not, the more you start to lose who you actually are and I don't want to lose myself for the sake of my image. My words can be honest, too honest sometimes but I prefer to just be me. I'm confident in who I am."

His words struck me because I wasn't confident in who I was and I didn't even know where to begin on how to get to that place. I almost envied his confidence, it wasn't like he was arrogant, he was just proud of who he was. He knew the areas he wanted and needed to change and he would change them.

Harry Styles intrigued me.