Harry's POV
I lay in my bed, just staring up at the ceiling, knowing I have to drag myself out eventually. We have a production meeting all day with Simon and the other managers to discuss our upcoming tour and album release and pretty much plan out our entire year. Yet, there's still only one thing on my mind.
Olivia's my girlfriend.
Although this is all fake, it feels so real. She's definitely not my first girlfriend, but I can honestly say that the feeling deep in my gut is an entirely new one. Perhaps it's because I've never had so much depending on our relationship? Yeah, I bet that's it.
Last night as the lads and I were walking back to our car - which we had to park a while away so that the paparazzi wouldn't find out where Olivia lived - I couldn't stop talking about it. How perfectly that night had went, even with her parents coming home. I couldn't have asked for a better evening.
But Niall kept flashing that smug little smile of his at me. He still insists that I have actual feelings for Olivia. I'll let him believe what he wants if that means he'll stop crying about me hurting Olivia's feelings. I just can't wait to rub it in his face after I split with Olivia and everything's back to normal.
The thought of splitting up with Olivia has become more and more foggy. I used to be able to think about it without an inch of doubt. But now it's not so easy. I continue to picture her bastard of an ex-boyfriend, then I recall how much it broke my heart to see her in tears on her living room couch. If I knew I was the cause of those tears, I couldn't live with myself.
But what's more important? My entire career or some American girl I only just met?
"Hazza, are you awake?" My door opens and Lou whispers, cautiously. I merely let out a grunt, letting him know that I'm awake, but not functioning just yet.
Lou flips on my bedroom light and plops down on the bed beside me, already fully dressed and wide awake. I cover my eyes, unable to even open them with my light blinding me.
"We're leaving in fifteen," He breaks the news to me, which earns him another grunt, "Are you okay?" He asks, turning to face me.
Confused, I uncover my eyes to peer over at him. It's not very often that you see Louis wearing a serious expression, but there isn't an inch of humor on his face.
"Yeah, I'm great actually, why?" I ask, starting to adjust to the lights finally.
"Well, last night you were talking in your sleep and I could hear you tossing and turning all morning." He explains, a wrinkle of worry appearing on his forehead.
I couldn't deny the tossing and turning, that's for sure. I've been awake for awhile, mentally arguing with myself. But I was talking in my sleep?
"What was I saying?" I ask, just as curious as Louis was worried.
My phone rings on my nightstand - probably Liam making sure that I'm awake - but I ignore it, my curiosity getting the best of me. Louis looks up at my ceiling, avoiding my eyes, deep in thought.
"You kept talking about Olivia - which was no surprise," He starts with a shrug of his shoulders, "But then you kept shouting 'I'm not Tate!' and apologizing over and over again." He continues, making my stomach churn.
He turns to look at me once more, but now it's my time to stare at the ceiling to avoid his eyes. He watches me carefully, trying to read me like a book.
Not only were my thoughts obsessed with this whole 'Olivia-Inspiration' deal when I was awake, but she managed to wriggle her way into my unconscious thoughts. I can't help but to feel a bit of anger towards myself for letting her do that to me.
I'm Harry Styles. Girls don't mess with my mind, it's the other way around.
"Weird," I snort, trying my best to be convinced.
"Who's Ta-" Louis tries to keep the conversation, but my anger gets the best of me - as it often does.
"Nobody," I snap, sitting up and rolling out of bed.
Louis watches me carefully as I rummage around my messy closet for clean clothes. He doesn't speak a word and I nearly don't hear him as he exits my bedroom.
Without Louis' watchful eye, I pick up my phone and plop back down on my bed. I read an unread message I was too lazy to read before.
Olivia Watson: Good morning<3
I read the words over and over again before throwing my phone on my bed, my stubbornness not allowing me to respond despite my strong urge to reply.
* * * *
"Harry!" Simon snaps, nearly sending me a foot in the air. I direct my attention back to the long table full of familiar faces. Tyler's giving me an extremely annoyed face from across the table, "Are you with us?" Simon asks, his voice full of authority.
"Yes, sorry," I mutter, sitting up straight again.
Louis glances at me with the same worried expression he's wore on his face since this morning. The other boys don't seem too worried. I do my best to make it look as if I was paying attention.
"As I was saying, we need to have a few more singles ready to release before the CD drops, so I want you guys in the studio the rest of the week." Simon tells us his voice so full of power with no room for argument.
The guys all sneak a glance at each other. We know what that means... We'll literally be in the studio all week, not being able to even talk to anyone else. Studio weeks are always extremely stressful. But the fact that we'll be releasing a single soon brings me a bit of excitement to my damper mood.
"Harry wrote a new song, actually, with the help of Niall," Tyler speaks up, scribbling something on his clipboard. Everyone brings their attention to me. Simon raises his eyebrows - He must have noticed my writing funk. I haven't contributed anything as of lately.
He nods and jots something down on his clipboard as well. Niall flashes me a happy smile and a thumbs up. My mood still extremely soggy, I send him back a wimpy half-smile.
"Speaking of Harry, let's move on to our next topic of discussion," Simon transitions, causing my palms to start to get sweaty. Uh-oh... What have I done to anger Simon now? My mind races with endless of possibilities that he'd be upset. "In the last 24 hours we've been bombarded with questions regarding a Miss Olivia Watson," Simon reads the name off of his clipboard.
My heart flutters slightly just with the mention of her name. My attention has peaked a new high.
"Are you or aren't you two dating?" He bluntly asks.
The other lads all smile at me, obviously recalling last night as well. A small faint smile appears at the edge of my lips, as much as I try to fight it.
"We are," I nod, proudly.
Surprise appears on nearly everyone in management's face - even Tyler. I don't think he was expecting me to take 'Operation Inspiration' this far. I see a skeptic look appear on his face - nearly identical to the one that Liam wears.
"And is this relationship to be public or private?" Simon questions me.
"Doesn't matter to me," I shrug, as if it were no deal to me. I mean, it is no deal to me...
"So we have your permission to confirm this brand new relationship to the media?" Simon asks, narrowing his eyes at me.
I can nearly picture the craziness of our fan-base once Olivia and I are officially confirmed. Olivia and I had received so much hate just for being seen together, the amount of hate will surely double.
"Yep," I nod, giving him another shrug.
I regret agreeing to that almost immediately after realizing I haven't even discussed this matter with Olivia. Does she want to keep this a secret? I just assumed she'd be thrilled to be known as Harry Style's girlfriend, but then I remember that she doesn't even see me as a celebrity. The status has no meaning to her.
My mind whirls with the feeling of uncharted territory.
"You don't think you'll have your plate too full?" Simon asks me, doubt obvious in his voice.
I refrain from arguing with him. The lads all have girlfriends and manage to juggle both their love life and their career. Does he think I'm incapable of that? Zayn, who's seated beside me at the table, kicks my shin to try and keep me from getting myself fired. He knows my mouth gets me in trouble majority of the time.
"I don't think my plate will be too full, sir," I spit out, unable to hide the curl of my lip.
Obviously amused, Simon folds his arms and stares me deep in the eyes, trying to intimidate me. I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn't absolutely terrified, but I made sure not to show it. I simply stare back at him.
"I wouldn't mind meeting this Olivia," He settles, "Then I'll be able to tell if she'll be too much of a distraction," He explains.
Anger continues to radiate through my every pore. I hate that he has this power over us and can make us do literally everything. So, he's saying that if he doesn't like Olivia he's going to forbid us to date, just because he can.
"How about we have a celebratory dinner in a few nights where I can meet Olivia and hear what you boys manage to whip up in the studio this week?" Simon suggests as if he were challenging us.
"Sounds wonderful," I snap before I can even stop myself.
The boys all look at me as if I were mad, speaking to Simon like this. It's the entire group that'll be in trouble if I piss Simon off. I angrily fold my arms and flop back into my seat, a frown painted on my face.
"Let's take a break and regroup in five minutes," Tyler suggests, obviously uncomfortable in this tense room.
I take that opportunity immediately, getting out of my seat and heading out the doors with record time. I hear a pair of feet running after me, following me to the front door.
As soon as I get outside, I take a deep breath, needing the fresh air. Louis stands next to me, not saying a single word. He lets me have my moment, but stands beside me, letting me know he's there.
I stare out into the big, blue sky wondering how I manage to get myself in such messy situations. I thought this whole 'Inspiration' thing was going to be easy. But it's turning out to be one of the biggest messes I've ever got myself in.
It wouldn't be so hard if Olivia wasn't such a complex girl. I mean, she's actually got a personality. What was I thinking going for someone like her? I should have stuck with the superficial, materialistic girls that I tend to gravitate towards. Not a funny, witty, playful, intelligent, confident, beautiful girl like Olivia. I should have known better the minute she made me laugh.
I let out a groan as I realize I'm pinning this all on Olivia when it should be the total opposite. She hardly is one to blame. It's all my fault.
"Mate, what's the matter?" Louis finally asks, breaking the silence.
I open my mouth to vent to Lou, but I stop myself. Sure, Louis is my best mate - we're practically brothers - but he's been supporting 'Operation Inspiration' from the beginning. It was partially his idea. If I told him that this whole ordeal is going to be much more difficult than I was anticipating, he'll laugh in my face.
Or even worse, he'll act like Niall and act as if this was a big deal.
"I've just been stressed lately," I lie, "It's nothing that important," I try to shrug it off, doing my best to convince him.
But of course, he doesn't buy into it. He knows me far too well.
"Is it Olivia? Is something going wrong?" He asks, starting to puzzle the pieces of my poor mood together.
Yeah, something is going terribly wrong. This whole operation has gone worse than I could have ever imagined...
Niall's POV
We all watch as Harry storms out of the meeting room, Louis trailing merely feet behind him. The management give each other worried looks, hoping that they won't have to deal with too much drama.
The lads all get up and stretch their legs, pulling out water bottles and their cell-phones. Zayn has a smile plastered on his face, probably due to something Summer had said. Liam sits on top of that table beside me, wearing a look of worry as well.
"I'm a bit worried about Harry," I speak quietly to Liam so that Tyler or Simon doesn't hear us.
Liam nods his head and lets out a sigh. Out of all of us, he's the one that hates drama the most. Whenever we start to argue, he's always the first one to try and settle it. I'm not surprised that he noticed the same thing that I have.
"Looks like Olivia is more than Harry was anticipating, just as we thought," He nods.
'I told you so' are words that are in the back of both of our minds, but neither of us would dare and say it. Harry's obviously not happy about it either, so the only thing we can do about it is be supportive of whatever happens.
"Do you think he'll give in and just admit his feelings?" I ask, knowing that as soon as that happens, things will start to actually work out for the better.
"This is Harry we're talking about here. He's the most stubborn person I've ever met. I highly doubt he'll let one girl change his entire world." Liam points out, "I bet that he'll break her heart like he intended just because he's too embarrassed and stubborn to admit that we're right." He adds with a sad expression on his face.
"You guys are mad," Zayn inserts himself into the conversation without us realizing he had been listening, "I don't think Olivia's got Harry tamed whatsoever. I bet there's something else that's bothering him." He disagrees.
Liam and I both shrug, knowing that very well could be a possibility, but Harry's only been acting this way since he's been getting to know Olivia. That seems suspicious to me.
But knowing Harry, we'll never actually know how he's really feeling. We'll just have to wait and see how this pans out.
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AN: HEEY!
I just have to thank you all so much for your wonderful comments and such! They really keep me going! So, keep them coming! No joke!
But, sorry this chapter is kinda boring. It's neccesary, I thought! It looks like Harry's struggling a bit! :p
If you have any suggestions for the story, feel free to drop a comment. I have most of the story planned out, but I'm open to alter it a bit! (Like, do you want more drama with Tate, more drama with Juliet, more Tea/Olivia scenes, more songwriting, etc.) Please, please, please let me know! :)
As always, you all are awesome!
<3 Me!