Protected

Chapter 23

"...can't come to the phone right now, but leave me a message after the beep and I'll try my best to call you back as soon as possible... BEEP"

I wasn't surprised when the voicemail kicked in, it was ridiculously early where he was, still trying to clear the tears from falling down my cheeks I left him a quick message

"Hey, its only me, I saw your interview and performance, which... well... to say I am in shock is an understatement... I... I don't even really know what to say. Call me when you're up. I miss you... bye."

It was then I remembered that I was meant call Dan back and that was about 40 minutes ago given the amount of times I rewatched the video.

I still couldn't quite believe that Harry had actually acknowledged, on live TV, that this new unreleased song was written for his girlfriend, and the fact that he even had a girlfriend, he'd never discussed his relationships so publicly or candidly, maybe ever.  In fact he had actively avoided it, and this declaration was completely unsolicited.

The fact that Harry hadn't given any detail as to who I actually was made things easier, as the only people that knew about us were our closest friends and family, people Harry worked with, and Steve at the record shop, none of whom would spill any details.  It wasn't like the press even knew where to look.

I kept scrolling through instagram as I called Dan back from my landline.

"Did you see it?" Dan asked the second he picked up the phone

"Yep, I've watched it about 8 times! I can't believe it Dan" the tears finally stopped spilling down my cheeks.

"Which bit Lois? The fact that he wrote a song for you, which is beautiful by the way, the fact that he publicly confirmed that the song was written for his girlfriend, oh and that he has a girlfriend, or the fact that he's in love with her! He's literally never admitted so much in 10 years let alone in one interview" Daniel said excitedly

"I know, I just tried to call him to speak to him, but it's the middle of the night so just went to voicemail, the press must be going mad trying to get more details from him, I'm just glad he didn't give them my name or anything, I don't think I'm ready for that yet, especially when he's not here" I said thoughtfully, distracted by the thought of how much the media would be trying to find out who I was

"Are you still there?" Daniel said with a concerned tone as he woke me out of my thoughts, I hadn't even realised the line had gone quiet between us.

"Sorry, yeah I'm here. Dan... everything's changed now hasn't it?" I started to feel those tears prickling the edges of my eyes again

"The media will eventually find out who I am, because as I've discovered when it comes to Harry they never give up.  Then I'm always going to be known as that girl that Harry Styles wrote a song about, what if the pressure is too much and it changes what's happening between us? I love him but we are still so new and have so much to figure out, what if its too much? I'm going to become that random girl Harry Styles dumped aren't i? Or worse I'll be painted as the evil cougar who broke his heart! Dan why didn't I see this coming? I knew we couldn't stay in our bubble forever and I..."

Dan cut me off

"Lois stop! You need to calm down. Breathe"

Dan always knew when I was loosing myself into panic. I closed my eyes and tried to take a deep breath, by the third inhale I was able to fully fill my lungs and I could feel my heart rate come back to normal

"You need to speak to Harry, he would never have been so open if he hadn't of considered the repercussions of what he said, this is his job and he's a professional and as much as the performance was about him speaking to you and showing you how he feels, he wouldn't have done so in a public setting unless he felt you were ready.  Plus, you seem to be assuming that your relationship is going to fail, you need to have a little more faith, from what I've seen and from what Jenna tells me, this is one of those relationships that just works, from day one its just right, like you finally have that piece of you that was always missing"