The Entertainer: A Harry Styles Mini Fic

Track 08 - I Don't Wanna Be Alone

Songs mentioned in this chapter:
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Anything That's Rock N' Roll

Jennifer Warnes - Right Time of the Night

Ricky Nelson - Hello, Mary Lou

After the show in Sacramento, Halo and I drove back home while the band headed north. When we reached our neighborhood, I stopped at the drug store to drop off my film. I was anxious to see the pictures I'd taken of Harry, but more importantly the ones he had taken.

Two days later, I picked up my photos on the way home from work. Unlocking my door, I was relieved to find that Halo wasn't home yet. I wanted some privacy as I opened the envelope.

The first roll of film had some pictures I'd taken at another band's show that I'd completely forgotten about, before I'd ever seen Wildfire. I smiled when I reached the first picture of Harry. It was their second or third show I'd seen. He looked amazing, so tall and larger than life up on the stage. The next few photos were more of him until I got to a couple that were blurry. I laughed, remembering Halo grabbing my camera from me to get a few shots of Mitch. I think she had been too excited to get a clear picture.

I got to a handful of photos next that I'd taken outside one day just for fun. Then I stopped when I reached something familiar, yet I knew I hadn't taken. It was a view of my kitchen table, most likely taken from the living room. Mitch and Halo were sitting there, their heads together, not quite kissing. But I could tell they were not the focal point. I was standing in the background, in my tiny kitchen, the refrigerator door open, the light casting a glow on my face. I was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of cut-off shorts, my hair long and falling past my shoulders. If anyone had asked me at that moment, I would not have said I was pretty. But somehow in this photo, it seemed in the eyes of the photographer, I was.

I felt a flutter in my chest as I recalled that day I'd taken those photos outside before Mitch and Harry had come over for the evening. I had set my camera down on my dresser next to the photo of Comet. Harry must have gone into my room and spotted it, snapping the photo from my bedroom doorway.

Setting the picture aside, I then came to more photos not taken by me. It was a series of pictures in a green-tinted room. The Holiday Inn. I giggled at the arbitrary concept - the television, the curtains, the lamp on the bedside table, Harry's foot sticking out from beneath the sheets.

The next two photos, however, were different. One was taken in the mirror, a reflection of Harry with the camera to his eye. I liked that one a lot, and set it aside with the other one I'd already separated. The last photo was of me. I wasn't exactly sure how he'd taken it without my noticing. But it appeared I had just returned from the bathroom and I suppose I had paused to look in the mirror. My back was to Harry, but the mirror showed his reflection behind me. I was naked, my rear bare though my hair covered my breasts. I couldn't believe I had been too focused on myself to notice he had my camera in his hands. I wondered what I would have said if I had. Nevertheless, I actually liked the picture. It was a bit taboo, yet romantic, very intimate.

Leaving the remaining photos in the envelope, I gathered up the three personal ones as well as the four others that Harry had taken in the motel room and took them to my room. Not sure yet what exactly I wanted to do with them, I placed them in the drawer of my nightstand for safe keeping.

I tried my best to slide back into my normal schedule, working my job at a local boutique and spending my free time practicing guitar and learning new songs.

But my mind always drifted to Harry. I wondered how he was and if the crowds were getting bigger, if they appreciated him like they should. I thought of his smile a lot and his laugh. I thought of his soft lips and the way his body felt against mine. Sometimes I would play Wildfire's album and just lie in bed staring at the ceiling or at the pictures Harry had taken. It was the only way I knew to feel connected to him with him being so far away.