*HARRY'S Point of View*

I was startled when my phone rang early Saturday morning. 

"Harry?" Ben's voice sounded from the other end. "Get dressed. We need to talk."

It sounded urgent; I wasn't in the mood to deal with any more urgency. Nevertheless, I got up and threw on some jogging shorts and a hoodie. Ben pulled up at my parents' house within fifteen minutes.

I climbed into the car and found Victoria and Ariana. "Good morning, ladies," I said, grinning at them. "Ben didn't tell me you'd be joining us." I shot Ben a scornful glance. 

"What difference does it make?" Ben asked. 

"I might have tried to look a little nicer," I said, shaking my head.

"Harry, you always look fantastic," Victoria said, and Ariana agreed.

"Thank you," I told them. "But it's a well-known gentleman's rule that we are supposed to inform each other when we're going to be in the presence of the fairer sex."

"Shut up, Harry," Ben laughed. "I have good news for you, so don't be crabby."

"Why can't you just tell us now?" I grumbled.

"Because I think we should talk about it and decide on the best approach."

Ben did his part to call this impromptu secret meeting at the crack of dawn, but he didn't think ahead for ideas about where we should meet and not be seen. 

"Any ideas, Harry?" He asked.

I sighed and directed him to a cafe where I happened to know the owners quite well. I asked the others to stay in the car while I went in to have a word with them. Bill and Sophie Morgan were a sweet old couple who had always treated me like the grandson they never had. I even spent the night with them once when I was much younger, when my mum and dad were out of town.

"'Mornin' Sophie," I said quietly so as not to startle her. 

"Harry! Look at you! You get more handsome every time I see you," she gushed. "What brings you here today?" 

"Some friends and I need a private place to have a meeting, probably for an hour or so. Would it be okay if we used that small room in the back?" They used to keep toys back there; I guessed it was supposed to be an office at one time, but it never served much of a purpose more than giving me a place to hang out if I felt like it.

"It's not very nice right now," Sophie said. "I'll just shut down for a while. How does that sound?" 

"No!" I insisted. "You don't want to turn away all your customers for us."

"Nonsense," she said, flipping the sign and addressing the two coffee-drinkers that the shop was closing for a special event.

"I owe you one, Soph," I said, kissing her cheek.

Sophie and her staff were quite gracious, waiting on us hand and foot. It turns out Bill was at home, sick in bed, but Sophie always had loyal employees, so there was no worry. She agreed to make them swear an oath to absolute secrecy about our visit.

Once we all had steaming cups of coffee and tea, and assorted goodies in front of us, Ben began. "I just did some research, talked to some of our legal team, both here and in the US, and Harry, you don't have to choose anyone tonight. They scoured the contract and apparently there's a loophole somewhere so you can actually get away with not choosing anyone - girlfriend or otherwise. 

"Why not just play along and make good for the cameras?" I asked, my words laced with sarcasm.

"If you choose one of these lovely ladies, then you'll have to keep making good for the cameras for several months. The show won't air until January - that's four months from now. They create twelve episodes out of our six weeks here. After they show the final episode, you and your girlfriend will have several appearances, speaking engagements, and talk show invites until the hype dies down. That's the better part of a year before you have your life back. And we all know, Harry, that you're not going to wait that long to find Harper."

"I have a flight booked for Monday morning," I said with a sheepish smile.

"See?" Ben said. "I think it will just make things easier all the way around if you turn both women down tonight." He turned to them and said, "I'm sorry that you're getting dragged through this. I know I sound pretty heartless right now, but I'm just trying to spare all of you the hassle of having to keep pretending for several months."

"I, for one, am very happy to stay and help. This is a bunch of bullshit and everyone knows it!" Victoria said sternly. "Harry doesn't deserve this at all. He's one of the most selfless men in the world, he's dedicated to his family, his fans. He literally makes the whole world smile. And some lowlife is ruining this for him. I just can't wait to see someone get their ass kicked."

She made me laugh so hard, but it felt good. "Thank you for all those lovely things you just said. You're very sweet." I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Ariana agreed. "I'm glad we were the ones to stay because we know how much Harry and Harper love each other. I honestly think that bitch Claudia is behind all of this."

I doubled over laughing because Ariana is such a kindhearted girl, but it was hilarious to hear her talk about Claudia that way.

Ben replied, "I think we all have our fingers pointed at her, but we don't have any hard evidence. Yet. Harry, do you still have the note?" I nodded. "Okay, hang onto it. We might need it to figure everything out. Now, I'd like all of you to do your best to play along today and please, don't talk to any of the producers from the show. If they ask questions, just answer in the shortest way possible. All right?" 

"So they don't know," I stated, feeling uneasy about that realization.

"Not exactly. But believe me, they'll get what they want in the end."

"I don't know what you're on about," I replied.

"They want drama. We're going to give them drama."

Shit. This felt underhanded, and yes the WMEB producers had it coming, but I was normally an honest and upright person. This made me feel a little sleazy.

I was sure Ben could read my thoughts because he said, "Harry, please trust me. This is the best way to do it. I promise you that it will work out." He moved in closer, making sure he had my full attention. "I promise," he repeated solemnly. 

* * *

The day went by as planned; basically, it was an agonizing wait until the Candle Ceremony. When it was finally time to get ready, I stood in my own bedroom in my childhood home, looking at myself in the mirror, stripped down to my pants. Sometimes I still couldn't believe the way the world looked at me, as some kind of hero. An idol. A superstar. 

I didn't see myself that way. I was still just Harry, the goofy, awkward kid who went to the Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School. 

The woman I had fallen in love with was the real superstar. She discovered me. The real me, just Harry. And she loved me for me, not for my fame or money. 

I rubbed my hands up and down my face, willing the tears to stop. I had to keep my composure for tonight. Get out there, smile for the fans, give my best performance. This was no different than what I'd been doing for the past several years.

I dressed in a tuxedo with a silk stripe down the trousers and a silk lapel on the coat. I did the bottom four buttons of my dress shirt, leaving the rest undone. I draped a silky black scarf around my neck. My signature look; I liked it that way. It was the one thing I kept for myself, and no one was allowed to change it. 

On the drive to Liverpool, I actually started to feel excited. I wasn't sure why, but this was it. This was the big moment we had all been working for during the past six weeks. If I had to pretend, there's no one else I'd rather have by my side than Victoria and Ariana. 

It was also a huge comfort that Mum and Gemma were coming along for the filming. They wanted to support me in any way possible, and it would be fun for them anyway, as long as the drama was kept to a minimum.

The ceremony was to be held at Sefton Park in Liverpool. Two areas of the park would be staged for our two final scenes. It's a good thing the weather was cooperating. Not a cloud in the sky, so even though the temperature had dipped a little, we had no fear of being rained out. 

Ben walked with me to a path that led to the grotto. I would be meeting with Victoria first. I already knew exactly what I was going to say. As long as they liked the way it was filmed, I didn't think it would take too long. I was eager to get this all over with so I could focus on my efforts to find to find Harper. I had finally gotten in touch with Mr. Blackwood's law firm, but he wasn't in the office. They said he might be gone for a week or two on personal business. It was frustrating, but at least I was getting somewhere.

Various producers approached me and tugged at this, adjusted that. 

"Don't touch my clothes, please," I asked politely. God, I wish Lou were here. She knew the exact look I wanted to achieve, and she always nailed it. I did all right on my own, and like I said, I owned it. I didn't need someone else tweaking it.

Then it was last minute advice, as if I hadn't been performing for over five years or having every minute of my life filmed for the past six weeks.

"Don't forget to smile, but look sincere."

"Straighten your collar." 

"Speak loudly and clearly." 

I tuned all of them out when I saw Victoria. She was stunning. A little part of me felt sad that I hadn't fallen for her, but I knew she would make someone very happy some day. I reached her and swallowed her in a hug. 

"You look fantastic," I hummed.

"You're looking pretty amazing yourself, Mr. Styles," she grinned back at me.

"Victoria," I began. "I can't believe how incredible these past six weeks have been. I've grown closer to you than almost any other, and I'm thankful that we'll always have this friendship. But it's for that reason that I can't ask you to stay - you're my dear friend, but we both know the flame isn't really there for us. So all I can say is Thank you. Thank you for being here and becoming a part of my life."

Victoria's voice quivered a little as she spoke. "Thank you so much, Harry. I couldn't be happier that things turned out the way they did. I do love you, Harry, but not the way you need to be loved. I hope you find what you're looking for. Actually, I know you will." She gave me a little wink before we hugged again. 

"Thank you so much for everything," I said quietly, just for her, while we hugged. 

Whew! That was easy. At least I hoped it would be easy. I was shocked when I found that Tyler actually showed up to the filming of this last, very important ceremony. He instructed us to do a few things differently, wanting there to be more emotion, more drama. We worked through the "scene" a few more times, but I refused to give him the heartbreaking image he wanted.

I finally turned to him and snapped, "I'm not going to pretend to break her heart! And she's not going to cry on command for your damn cameras. You wanted real. This is real!" 

He shut up after that, but he didn't look happy about it. 

Next, I met Ariana in a secluded area overlooking the river. She, too, was ravishing. Such a beautiful girl. And I did have feelings for her, so this might be more difficult than it was with Victoria. I swept her into a hug and lifted her off her feet, which wasn't hard to do. 

It crossed my mind briefly that, on the actual show, they made it look like the couple were the only two people in this romantic setting, but here we were, with many people watching the scene and all the subsequent takes. It wasn't quite the romantic scene you might expect. Still, it would have been perfect if Harper were here. But I had to force my thoughts of her away and finish what I had to do.

"You are stunning," I whispered after I set Ariana back down. 

"Thank you," she said, closing her eyes momentarily.

"Ariana," I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I fell in love with you almost right away. You and I, we just have so much in common. You're so sweet and generous, and I just felt like we connected. Unfortunately, I felt that with someone else, too, and I know that what I have with her is real. You will always be a real friend, a true friend, and I'm so thankful you came into my life." I leaned in and hugged her tightly. When I stepped back, I said, "You and I both know that the flame between us has gone out, but I will always be here for you, whenever you need me." 

Ariana nodded in understanding, and her eyes were tearing up. "I love you, Harry, but I know I'm not the one you need. You and Harper give me hope that one day, I'll find a love like yours. Because of you two, I believe in true love."

I hugged her tightly and thanked her for everything.

I could sense the rumbling and grumbling in the background, someone griping about having to do a re-take without Harper's name in it. They weren't happy. I looked at Ben and he just nodded slightly, mouthing out, "It's fine." 

Tyler stormed up to me and said, "What did I tell you about this? You can either do this the right way, or you'll be hearing from our lawyers."

"I'm not playing a role for you, Tyler. I'm doing what's in my heart. And I refuse to make it look like I love someone else when you know who I really want." 

Tyler's face was turning red with fury and I thought he might actually explode, but Ben interrupted loudly. "Harry, there's someone here to see you." 

The whole crowd gasped, wondering what was going on. Including me. I couldn't believe my eyes when Louis appeared at the end of the path. I rushed over to him and grabbed him in a fierce hug. "What are you doing here?" I asked with a joyful laugh. It felt so good to see him in the midst of all this drama.

"Well, Harry, I heard you could use some support, so here I am," Louis smirked, patting my shoulder.

"Harry!" Tyler interrupted. "We really need to go over this again."

Louis looked at me and said, "Excuse me for a moment." Then he walked over to Tyler, had a few words with him that I didn't hear, but Tyler backed down. Then Louis walked back to me and said, "I brought something for you." 

I was thoroughly confused as Louis led me across the park to the Palm House, a giant greenhouse that was used for wedding receptions and other events. The sun had set, and the Palm House was lit softly in purplish light, mainly from outside. The inside was completely dark.

"What is going on?" I murmured to Louis as we approached the building. "What did you tell Tyler?" 

"Harry, just be patient," he said, laughing. "We're almost there."

The whole entourage followed us, cameras and all. I wasn't sure what they thought they were going to see or film, but whatever. We stopped in front of the entrance and Louis said, "It's inside."

I gave him a confused look, but I pulled open the door and stepped inside. At my feet, there was a red carpet that extended into the darkness towards the center of the room. "Hello?" I called.

The lights gradually became brighter, revealing my surprise. 

I gasped in shock and then broke into joyful sobs, barely able to say her name.

"Harper?" 

_____

Okay, guys the next chapter will be the last, and then an epilogue! 

And all your devotion to the story boosted me up to #58 in fanfiction and 68K reads!!! <3

Are you absolutely in love with the pictures from Another Man??? The one I used at the top of the chapter is one of my favorites. The photographer said Harry had hay fever, so he just took a random shot and the picture was perfect! I can just imagine Harry's eyes tearing up while he's laughing with joy at seeing Harper again.