Chapter 18 - Ups and Downs
“How are we meant to do this Harry we’ve broken up according to the public” I said as Harry tried to convince me to go out with him to go for a walk to the park because he thought I needed some fresh air.
“Ah, I forgot about that” Harry said scratching the back of his head in thought. The other boys had gone home not long ago to change and meet their families because they had a day off, Harry was meeting his family later and said he wanted to spend the morning with me, I didn’t mind one bit. I still felt pretty bad although not as bad as I did yesterday, I had a killer headache and I’d hardly eaten anything but apart from that I was fine.
“Yeah, forgot about that did you?!” I said teasing him, to be honest I had until I logged onto twitter this morning to see the tweets of some of the One Direction fans then everything came back to me, it was because Harry and I were still together secretly that made me forget we were supposedly not together.
“Sorry, how about we go out but wear a disguise? I’m sure Joey and Matilda could make another appearance” Harry asked hopefully raising an eyebrow, he gave me a puppy dog look so there was no way I could refuse.
“Okay fine, let’s get changed” I said walking to my room while Harry went back to his and Louis flat to put on his disguise, as much as I hated Matilda I knew it would let me and Harry have the chance to be together in public without anything drastic happening.
Twenty minutes later and Harry had returned as Joey and was waiting for me, I put my finishing touch on before walking out to see Harry with long hair, glasses and a brace, it would take a while to get used to seeing him like this although he probably felt the same way seeing me as Matilda.
“Let’s go my geeky girlfriend” Harry said holding out his hand which I gratefully took, I grabbed my bag which contained my phone, money and tablets for my tumour in case I started to feel any pain, and we walked out of the complex and slowly made our way to the park. It was great not having to worry about Harry being spotted then mobbed by screaming girls, and it was even better strolling to the park holding hands with my amazing boyfriend.
“Did you ever think anything like this could happen to you?” I asked referring to him being in a band that millions of people worldwide loved.
“No, I mean I always loved to sing and I always hoped that maybe one day I’d be successful, then going on the Xfactor and being put with the other boys changed my life, they became like brothers to me and I don’t think I would have ever be able to do this without them. I love the fans they’re incredible, when we went to the US for a few months quite a lot of them felt like we were drifting away from our roots because of everything that we’d done over there, but I don’t think we would have had this success without our UK fans they’re the ones who started our fan base, the ones that pushed us forward and voted for us, without them none of this would have happened in the first place” Harry said, you could really tell how much this meant to him, this dream, the fans the boys, he was so appreciative of everything that has happened to him.
“And if none of this had happened I wouldn’t of met you, I would probably still be in Holmes Chapel working in the little bakery “ He said grinning now looking into the distance before turning to look at me.
“Well I’m very grateful for them too then” I said smiling as our hands swung in-between us. We made it to the park which wasn’t very busy. A man stood selling newspapers in a stand which I didn’t pay much attention too until we walked directly passed it, then something made me stop and look at an article on the front cover
‘One Direction Ex causes feud between fans’ the headline immediately caught my attention and I froze on the spot, it couldn’t be about me could it? How could I start a feud? Harry also saw the headline and pulled some change out of his pocket buying a newspaper from the man. He took my hand and led me to the closet bench before opening the paper to the article which we both began to read.
‘Harry Styles and Ex-girlfriend Daisy were the hottest couple a few days ago, but things have quickly changed. Yesterday Harry tweeted that they had broken up due to a mutual agreement, all this came about after they were spotted leaving a hospital, where rumours speculated that Daisy was a patient undergoing treatment for a brain tumour.
Since the breakup fans have been divided, some sad to see them end their relationship while others claim Daisy was only dating Harry to raise awareness of brain tumours and was going to end the relationship soon.
One fan of the band One Direction, Harry is from tweeted: ‘Daisy only dated Harry to get something in the public eye before she broke his heart, how can we stand for this?’ while another on the other side of the argument tweeted: ‘Harry’s and Daisy’s relationship was as real as it could get, I’m so sad to see them broken up and all this about Daisy using Harry is rubbish, she’s one of the kindest people around’.
Neither of the couple have yet to say anything about the latest rumours, and many people have got involved including doctors who say it’s a good thing that awareness for brain tumours is being raised. But what will happen yet is unknown and we will only find out the truth over time’ I read the article and re-read it, how could fans think that? It was bad enough suffering from the thing without being accused of using someone for their power. It hurt, I wasn’t going to lie, I would have never thought something like this would ever happen but now it has and there is nothing I can do about it.
“How can my own fans say this?! It’s ridiculous, it’s bad enough when they send you hate because we’re a couple but this is just going too far!” Harry said standing up angrily, it was weird seeing him like this, one minute he was declaring his love for his fans the next he was angry, although he wasn’t annoyed at all of them, it was only the ones claiming I’d used him.
“Harry calm down I know this is stupid but you can’t do this in public” I said standing up too, no-one had looked our way which I was thankful for because they might of recognized Harry or something.
“I’m sorry; I just don’t get how they can say something about you. They don’t even know you to make that judgement” Harry said looking down then back at me again.
“That’s why they make the judgement, because they don’t know anything about me or my life and they want to have that connection with you that I have” I said, I’m not too sure why I was defending them when they had caused me more trouble, I guess it was because I didn’t want to see anything come between Harry and his fans, because I knew how much they really meant to him.
“We’re going to have to do something about it, I’m sorry this has come about. I thought once we pretended to end our relationship they would leave you alone but I guess they haven’t so far” Harry said so his forehead creased. We had begun to walk through the park again holding hands; Harry gripped the newspaper with his free hand.
“It’s not your fault; you can’t control everything that happens. I’m sure it will go away we just need to give it a bit more time” I said truthfully, in a week or so it should stop and Harry and I can go back to properly dating secretly.
“Your right, they don’t know we’re still dating so what else can happen?” Harry said as he began to return to his happier self although I could see it still bothered him.
“This is one of the things I hate about having this public attention, everything you do, everyone you see is scrutinized” Harry continued
“But they can’t see this” I said referring to us still being together secretively.
“You’re right, and I’m going to enjoy every moment of it!” Harry said now grinning so his dimples showed making him look cute once again even with his wig, glasses and fake braces. We stayed in the park for another hour just soaking up everything and enjoying spending time together, we made our way back and Harry walked me to my door.
“This was a great morning apart from the newspaper article… How would you like to meet my mum later, I mean I’ve met yours and my mum had been dying to meet you too” Harry asked smirking slightly looking hopeful. I didn’t really know what to think, I wouldn’t mind meeting her, and I mean I would be great but just thinking about it made me nervous.
“Yeah sure, I mean it will be great to meet her” I said honestly trying to hide my nerves, Harry leaned in and pressed his lips to my cheek before pulling away and replying.
“Great, I’ll pick you up in an hour. My mum will be so happy, and by the way, you don’t need to be nervous” Harry said as he began to walk backwards to his own flat. I grinned and opened the door, I was going to have to keep on the disguise because I couldn’t just show up with Harry otherwise things would go crazy again then Matilda would be in the public eye.
“My neighbours said we could pretend to be going into theirs before jumping over the hedge to my mum’s house” Harry said as we pulled up to his street. We were still both in our disguises so it would all work out, he had told me he had given his mum a heads up so she was expecting us like this.
“Let’s rock and roll” I said and we climbed out the car and made our way to Harry’s neighbour who happily let us in and led us through their house to the back garden where Harry helped me climb over the hedge, it was a good job it wasn’t high!
“Harry! It’s great to see you!” A female voice said behind me making me turn around, Harry grinned and ran up to the lady giving her a hug.
“Mum! Great to see you too” Harry said as they embraced. They pulled away and Harry turned to look at me, he walked over and grabbed my hand before leading him back to where his mum was standing.
“Mum, this is Matilda, also known as my girlfriend Daisy” Harry said grinning, she smiled and to my surprize pulled me into a hug.
“Well it’s great to finally meet you; I’m Anne by the way. Harry hasn’t stopped talking about you!” She said making Harry blush and look away, I giggled and told her the pleasure was all mine.
“Now why don’t we go inside so you can change to your normal selves, I’m sure Harry’s sister Gemma will happily led you some clothes” Anne said and I grinned thanking her, we went inside where I was greeted by Harry’s sister and a few of his old friends from school. We chatted getting to know each other before Gemma led me upstairs to get a change of clothes.
“I’m so happy Harry has finally met someone like you!” Gemma said as she handed me some clothes, I didn’t really know what to say so I just thanked her and smiled. She let me change before I walked back down the stairs and found Harry and the others all talking in the lounge, there was a gap next to Harry so I went to sit next to him and he wrapped his arm around me.
Two hours later and we were back in our disguises about to leave Harry’s house, I had got to know his mum, sister and friends really well and they were all so nice, they already began to feel like really good friends to me, especially Gemma, we had really got on well. We swapped numbers and she told me we should go shopping together sometime which I happily agreed to.
“It was great meeting you Daisy, your welcome to come round anytime” Harry’s mum Anne said and I thanked her for having me around. Harry gave them one last hug before he helped me climb over the hedge again and thanked his neighbours as they let us out. It was a good job we had the disguises because there were a few girls giggling at front of Harry’s gate.
Once in the car on the way back we talked about his family and Harry just grinned happy that he had got a chance to be with his family and I think he was happy I’d got along with them so well. I looked out the window on the drive back from Holmes Chapel to London and my eyes became heavy as I looked at the world passing through the window. I closed my eyes, today had its ups and downs but I got to spend it with Harry and that’s all that really mattered.