Closure

She knew he would be there, because she had fixed the guest list herself. She had typed his name out, every stupid letter. She knew he would be there, because it felt like he was always fucking there, and yet she tried to deny the fact until he was standing in front of her.

Or across the stage from her. He was on the opposite side, both of them watching the performance. For him, it was entertainment. For her, this was her job.

She couldn’t help scowling. It wasn’t like it was that big of a deal. She dealt with him before, she would do it again. But this was different. It was her fucking birthday. It was bad enough she was working and away from her family and friends--the fact that he was there with his stupid fucking smirk was honestly just the icing on top of the cake.

She had work to do, though. Danielle was the assistant tour manager for Ed Sheeran, all thanks to her father’s work at Atlantic Records. She had known Ed long before his signing to the record label, but after he signed, she eventually became one of his assistant tour managers. She wasn’t the main one, but she might as well have been for as much work as she did.

Ed was the reason she knew Harry. Ed was the reason Harry was standing opposite the stage from her now as well. She could have blamed Ed, who was soundchecking now, for being friends with such a twat, but she didn’t. It wasn’t his fault Danielle had gotten... involved with Harry. That was her own damn mistake.

She sighed before turning on her heel. She had a million things to do before the show that night, and not one of those things included Harry fucking Styles. That would just have to wait.

***

She was sitting in the production office when Ed made an appearance. It was shortly after soundcheck and they still had several hours before things would get crazy. She smiled at him. “How’d soundcheck go?”

He took a seat across from her. “There were a few kinks to be worked out, but it went well.”

Danielle nodded, looking back down at her laptop. She was putting the finishing touches on the guest listing for the show. It was the second night of a string of London shows, and it was absolutely insane. Completely sold out, but that was to be expected.

“Thanks for sorting the guest list,” he told her, and she looked up and smiled.

“That’s my job, yeah?”

He laughed. “Thanks for putting Harry and Niall on as well. Even though I know you didn’t want to.”

He was joking, teasing her, which he did often. She’d known Ed for years, and he was like her brother. He could be a twat, but most boys could be. “Don’t be a twat,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes at him.

He just laughed more. “Have you even seen him lately?”

She sat back in her chair. Obviously she wasn’t going to get any work done right this minute. “Oh, of course. I went to their show in London recently, sitting front row among the teeny boppers screaming like their lives depended on it.” She rolled her eyes. “No, I haven’t seen him.”

Ed stood up and shrugged. “Maybe you should try talking to him then, yeah? Wouldn’t hurt.”

She waved him off, having no intentions of doing any such thing. Why should she?

Ed left then so she could get work done, only after wishing her a happy birthday, yet again. She couldn’t help but let her mind wander once she was alone.

It wasn’t like she and Harry had anything incredibly serious. They dated for a little while, and then they broke up. It happened all the time. Yes, Harry had been a bit of a twat once they weren’t together anymore, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t handle it. And handle it she did.

She hadn’t spoken to him since.

Once she finalized the guest list, she brought it out to the box office. She had a million other things to do before the show, so she wasn’t really paying attention as she made her way back to backstage. She didn’t even see him standing there until she was practically on top of him.

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered, just barely side-stepping him. “Make some noise every once in awhile, yeah?”

He smirked. “Sorry. Too quiet for you? I’ll bring out my bedroom voice.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nice to know you’re still a twat.”

“Nice to know you’re still so uptight,” he fired back.

“Piss off,” she muttered, brushing by him.

She had work to do, and absolutely none of that work included Harry Styles.

***

Later that night, she was watching Ed perform with a smile on her face. He had publicly wished her a happy birthday on stage, in between Drunk and U.N.I., two of her favorite songs by him. She would have liked to stand side stage for longer to watch the rest of the show, to relax for just a few moments on her birthday, but duty called. She, as always, had work to do.

With a sigh, she turned to head back to the production office... and slammed right into Harry.

“Jesus Christ! Again? Seriously?” she yelled over the music. He had been on the other side of the stage, like earlier, and she hadn’t noticed when he left. Now he was... right in front of her. Again. She didn’t wait for him to respond before she brushed by him and headed to the office.

He followed. She sort of knew he would, but it wasn’t like she could stop him.

She sat down at the desk and he stood in the doorway. “You won’t even talk to me?” he asked her, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“I’d rather not,” she muttered, focusing on her computer screen. “Not like we have a lot to talk about.”

She heard him sigh before she heard his footsteps carried him across the room, sitting in the same spot Ed had sat in earlier. “Come on, Danielle.”

She sighed, closed her laptop, and looked at him. “What do you want, Harry? I haven’t spoken to you in months. You’ve had a string of new girlfriends. We both obviously moved on, so what could you possibly want?”

“If you moved on, you wouldn’t be so angry that I’m here.”

She didn’t have anything to say to that. Was he right? Why was she so angry? “I’m--I’m not angry.”

Harry barked out a laugh. “Really, Dan?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’m irritated. Not angry. It’s my birthday, okay? And I shouldn’t have to--”

“I know,” he cut in, stopping her short.

“What?”

He sighed. “I know it’s your birthday. Why do you think I’m here?”

Well. She didn’t have anything to say to that.

“I mean, really Danielle. Out of five shows, all in London, and I chose tonight specifically. Did you think it was a coincidence?”

She shrugged. She hadn’t really thought about it. She’d been too busy being angry that he was there at all to really think of a reasoning. She stood up and started pacing in front of the desk, in front of Harry. She didn’t want to sit still anymore. “I hadn’t thought of it, really. I was just pissed you were here at all. You were a twat, Harry. You know that, right?”

He nodded.

“So why? I mean, I know we weren’t dating long or anything, but Jesus!” She stopped then, throwing her hands up in frustration. “It was like you were trying to get under my skin, towards the end there.”

She watched as he got out of the chair and took a step so he was closer to her. “Think about it, love. Just take a moment and think about it.”

She quirked her eyebrows, confused. “What?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. His curls fell into his face, but he brushed them away. “I was getting under your skin, completely on purpose. Maybe I was a wanker, but it was fun to watch you get so worked up.”

He took another step, and now he was much closer. Her personal bubble had vanished. His hand trailed up her arm, goosebumps rising in its wake. She could feel his breath on her neck, he was so close.

“Why?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. She wasn’t about to be effected by this. He was just playing a stupid game.

“Because that was how we worked. I’d tease you, you’d get worked up, and eventually we’d have sex.”

Now she wanted to punch him. “You twat!” she exclaimed, punching his arm.

He yelped and jumped back, rubbing the spot her fist had connected with. “Jesus, Danielle! What was that for?”

“You’re a prick, that’s why! Jesus Harry.”

“Oh come off it, Dan. You’re telling me you weren’t thinking about it?”

Of course she was. She usually did when he was involved. She couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like that was all they did--their relationship hadn’t been solely built on sex. But, well... it was a lot.

“Exactly,” he muttered, and before she could even comprehend what was happening, he was right in front of her again, his lips on hers.

She so badly wanted to shove him away, kick him in the balls, and demand he leave immediately. But she couldn’t. She wanted to blame him, blame the fact that she was distracted by his stupid mouth, but she also knew she couldn’t (and wouldn’t) push him away.

Within seconds, she was brought back to when they were dating. All of the times he had stopped an argument by kissing her, which was annoying and nice all in once. It annoyed her because it didn’t solve anything, but it was nice because sometimes she just got tired of fighting.

She fell back against the desk, sitting on it while her legs wrapped around his waist. She heard some things clatter tot he ground, but didn’t particularly care.

She bit down on his lip, roughly, before her fingernails dragged down his back. He was only wearing a t-shirt, so she was sure she was leaving marks. That was the point. Kissing him was nice, but she was angry, irritated, and she wanted him to know it. “You’re a twat,” she muttered when he lifted his lips from her own and brought them down her jaw, across her neck, over her collarbone.

He was reciprocating, though. He didn’t have anything to be angry for, but he dragged his teeth over her collarbone, making her arch her back into him and hiss, “Fuck, Haz.”

She could feel the smirk on his lips against her skin.

This lasted for a little while longer. Danielle was irritated, but she was still going to enjoy every moment of it. Eventually they stopped, Danielle pushed him away and she took several large steps away from him as well. “Fuck!” she exclaimed, stomping her feet. “You can’t just fucking do that, Harry!”

He smirked, rubbing the back of his neck. “You seemed to be enjoying it, love.”

“I hope I fucking left marks on your back, you twat.”

“I hope you did too,” he smirked.

“Fuck!” she yelled, stomping her foot again before she left the office.

She only got as far as the hall before Harry stopped her. “Danielle, come on. Don’t do that. It’s--”

“Just shut up, please,” she muttered, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead in frustration. “You can’t just do that, okay? Because then I give in, and I hate myself for it, and it’s a vicious cycle.”

Harry nodded. “Fine. Did you hate it though? Is it bad that it happened? Because I don’t think it is.”

She sighed. “No. That’s also the problem.”

“Come on, Dan. Why’d we break up?”

“Because you’re--”

“A twat, yeah, you’ve said that,” he smirked. “But really. That was a year ago. I was young and stupid. Maybe you were too, yeah? A lot can change in a year, but obviously not how we feel about each other.”

She rolled her eyes. “How long have you been working on that one?”

He barked out another laugh. “See? You call me out on my bullshit, and while you can certainly be a pain in the ass as well, we somehow work. If we didn’t, that kiss wouldn’t have went as well as it did.”

She couldn’t deny that. In some ways, she knew he was right. He was a twat, and he got under her skin, and she wanted to scream at him 95% of the time. But she knew she wasn’t a picnic, either. So... maybe he was right. “Dating you wasn’t exactly easy, Harry. That was a year ago, can you imagine how it’d be now?”

He shrugged. “We’d figure it out.”

That was his answer. They’d figure it out. No big elaborate answer, no huge romantic gesture, nothing ridiculously romantic... and she loved that. Harry wasn’t complicated in a lot of ways, and this was one of them. If he wanted to date her, then that was that.

She didn’t know what else to say, so instead she took another step and kissed him. When she pulled back, he was smirking. “I’ll be honest and say I don’t know if this is a good idea, and in a week I might hate you again. But right now, for some reason, I’m agreeing with you.”

He grinned, his dimples coming out, and leaned in to kiss her again. “That’s all I can ask for.”