Right Place, Right Time

She's Not Afraid

"The thing that scares me most is..." he paused and licked his lips. He looked away, across the stage to the rows of empty seats in the stadium and I could tell that he was about to tell me something that was important to him. Yes, I hardly knew him, but somehow I knew that he wasn't playing with me now.

"The thing that scares me most," he continued, "is that I will never find true love." His eyes turned back to mine, and I could see the truth in them.

"I'm scared that people will only be interested in me because I'm Harry Styles from One Direction. They won't love me for me, but because I'm famous."

"Oh Harry," I murmured. He did look really concerned, and for about the 10th time that day I wanted to throw my arms around him and comfort him. I didn't.

"I know, it seems pathetic, but it really does scare me that I'll never get to find someone who truly loves me because all they see is the pop star, but that's not really who I am. Well, it is a bit, but it's not all I am."

He took a deep breath and I resisted the temptation to butt in and try to console him. I let him go on.

"I worry that I will fall head over heels in love with someone who says she loves me too, but it won't be me she actually loves, it's the lifestyle I lead, and the attention I get and the famous friends I have and the money in my bank account. I would be heartbroken, and that scares me more than anything. I'm scared to fall in love, and I'm scared that I won't be loved back, not truly loved for me."

He was rubbing his hand across his chin, and the look on his face was heartbreaking. "I mean, I'm not ready to rush into anything, obviously - I'm still very young. But one day, I would love to find the sort of love we write songs about."

I considered what he'd just said before I spoke. It would be easy to come out with the usual words of comfort - "Oh Harry, don't be silly, of course someone will love you for you, you're so lovable."

And he was lovable. A couple of hours in his company and all pre-conceptions I had of him aside, I could see how easy it would be to genuinely, truly love Harry Styles. From the little had seen of him, he was a lovely guy, and I was pretty sure I could truly fall for him, famous pop star or not.

But I could understand his fears. They weren't irrational.

"That is scary," I began. "I get it. And I'm sure you are enough of a realist to know that there will be a lot of girls attracted to you because you are Harry Styles, pop star. And unfortunately there will be those who have ulterior motives - all they want is to get close to someone famous. That's unavoidable, you can't do much about that."

I took a deep breath, and continued, saying what I really thought.

"But the thing is Harry, there are also those who will be attracted to you because you are Harry from Cheshire who has nice eyes and gorgeous dimples and lovely curly hair that smells good enough to eat, and you're funny and you're sweet and you're thoughtful and you're kind. And you can twerk in a squirrel suit and still be cool.

"That's what people will fall in love with, and the fact that you're Harry Styles pop star will just be an added bonus, or to some people, it will be a downside that they'll put up with, because once they get to know the real you, that's who they will love, regardless of everything else."

I looked at him, sitting next to me, and instead of seeing a world famous singer, I saw a young guy who, despite all his outward confidence, shared the same vulnerability and insecurities as everyone else.

I thought about some of the short-lived relationships he'd had and something occured to me. "Do you stop yourself falling in love because you don't want to get hurt?" I asked.