Harry's POV

"I'm tired and we haven't even started the tour yet." Zayn groaned as we exited the conference room. I rolled my eyes in response but in fairness I did understand how he was feeling. We all did. The build up to a tour was almost as exhausting as the tour itself. And yet no where near as exhilarating. 

"Amen to that." Liam agreed, scratching the top of his head with one hand while he scrolled through his phone with the other. 

"I'm looking forward to performing on X Factor tonight though. It's been a while since we've seen Dermot." I couldn't help but laugh at the cheerful tone of Niall's voice. He simply just loved life. Apparently he was the only one unaffected by exhaustion...or anything at all for that matter. 

"Harry!" I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder, surprised to find Richard Griffiths poking his head out of the conference room we had spent the last two hours in. He had a serious expression on his face and my stomach did a single somersault. 

"Oh dear. Who have you been pictured with this time, Styles?" Liam snickered. The corners of my mouth twitched up into a smile but I waited for Richard to continue. 

"Can I have a word?" Well this didn't sound good. 

"Sure." I nodded quickly and broke away from the others.

"See you at the studio tonight, Harry!" Niall called after me. 

Richard disappeared back into the conference room and I followed; becoming even more concerned when he closed the door behind us. I stared at him as it clicked shut; confirming our complete privacy. 

"What's up?" I asked as calmly as I could muster. Richard coughed awkwardly before attempting to answer my question. 

"We were contacted by a young lady about five days or so ago. She said the pair of you met about two years ago in a bar in Soho. She said you had a one night stand." I'd been inclined to switch off the minute he'd started speaking. As a band, we were used to the management team receiving slightly delirious phone calls from hormonal females, but the moment he'd mentioned the bar in Soho specifically - I'd become alert. 

"Brown hair?" I asked quickly, trying to draw up a vague picture in my mind.

"Yes. Her name is Marnie Owens." Richard nodded and a deep groove formed between his eyes. I'd spilt a drink on her at bar. She'd been wearing a blue..no, black skirt. One thing had led to another. She'd been gone when I'd woken up...

"But anyway." Richard interrupted suddenly. "She has a daughter, Harry. A fifteen month old daughter and she said you're the father."

My heart dropped to my stomach and I had to grip the table for support. 

"We went to visit and ran the child's blood with yours from the other day's medical exam. It was a match." Richard swallowed uncomfortably. "You are the child's father." 

"What? I'm a father?" I echoed in a dull voice. I could hear my pulse in my ears as I tried to wrap my head around this statement. "You're absolutely one hundred percent sure?"

Richard stared at me momentarily before rifling through a folder on the desk. He produced a single envelope and slid it across the table until it bumped against my finger tips. 

PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIALc/o Harry Edward Styles

Modest Management

Matrix Complex

91 Peterborough Road

London 

SW6 3BU

I stared at my own name glaring at me from the crisp white paper before sliding my left index finger beneath the tab and ripping it open. My heart raced erratically under my rib cage as I plucked a folded piece of paper from the inside and brought it to eye level.  

I was a father and I had it in writing.

"We got the results within hours of submitting the samples, however I had the lab send that over. I thought you might like some hard evidence." Richard swallowed uncomfortably again as he watched me drink in the words on the page.

"Was she pleased that it was positive? Marnie, I mean." I raised my eyes from the letter and looked at Richard who was now staring at his polished brogues.

"We haven't actually had any further contact with Ms. Owens." He mumbled.

"Huh?" I placed the letter back on the table and frowned. "You mean she doesn't know it was a match?"

"That would be correct." Richard confirmed. "We didn't think you'd want this sort of interruption at this point of your career right now, Harry. You must understand how this could implicate the rest of the band and not only yourself. We thought that we'd wait for you to make a decision..."

I slammed my right hand down on the table top. "It sounds like you've been making the decisons for me! You have no right to  keep this information from her. She's probably been in bloody limbo waiting to hear back from you. I should have been told the minute she contacted and not a moment later." 

Richard sighed but didn't seem at all concerned for the welfare of Marnie Owens or her...our...daughter. "We had your best interests at heart, Harry."

"It's taken the poor girl two years just to let me know. Imagine how stupid she must be feeling right now. Honestly, Richard." 

My head was whirring with a mixture of thoughts and emotions, however I couldn't decide if I was more shocked at Richard's revelation or angry at the fact he'd kept Marnie Owens in the dark. I suddenly felt horribly embarrassed and as though I owed her about a million apologies. And what about the child? Was I going to get to meet this child or had Richard's selfish actions jeapordised that as well? 

"I'm going to need her phone number, Richard." I said calmly after taking a deep breath. 

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Harry. We should probably speak to her for you." His face paled as I made the request.

"I think you've done enough of that, thank you." I snapped. "So unless you don't want me to turn up to the X Factor tonight, I suggest you hand over that god damn number." 

Richard's eyes bulged in their sockets before he began frantically rifling through this folder again. Moments later another, much smaller, piece of paper was slid across the table top towards me. Upon closer inspection I noticed it was barely a scrap with a number carelessly scribbled across it. Almost like an after thought. I felt my lip curl.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Richard asked warily. He was in the wrong and he knew it. 

"Well I'll probably start with apologising for your shitty mistakes." I grumbled, before wrenching the door open and fleeing the room. Richard didn't come after me and I was relieved. The moment I was in my car with the door closed and my seat belt on I swore as loudly as humanly possible. 

"What a fucking mess." I said to myself. 

The scrap of paper with Marnie's number on felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket. I knew I had to call it but I just couldn't right now. Not while it was still sinking in like this. The reminder that I was also going to be live on stage in a small number of hours made my stomach churn and I was hard-pressed not to vomit in my lap. Why hadn't Modest just told me sooner? This whole mess could have been somewhat lessened. Not that it was a particularly easy situation anyway. 

I pulled up on my drive and flew into the house. My beanie and jacket were instantly thrown on the stairs as I made a beeline for the downstairs bathroom where I threw up noisly into the toilet. 

This was ridiculous. Pathetic even.

Marnie Owens had raised our daughter entirely alone and yet I was the one having a nervous breakdown. 

I brushed my teeth to rid of the acidic taste and smell before venturing in the kitchen for a glass of water. Marnie's number niggled again in my back pocket and so I removed it; stuffing it into the biscuit jar by the sink where the guilt couldn't singe my skin. The guilt was still with me though and somehow I knew it wasn't going to go away until I dialed the scribbled digits. 

I spent the remainder of the day under my duvet with my head buried under three pillows. My family were going to be so confused and disappointed. I wasn't even sure where I was going to begin telling them. For a fleeting moment I wondered if the little girl looked anything like me. Had she inherited my hair or my eyes? Maybe she looked like my mother or my sister, Gemma? 

I stayed that way until my phone began buzzing insistently on my bedside table. It was Niall. 

"Hey man." He said cheerfully. Richard clearly hadn't spread the word to the others. Good. It was my news just as it should have been from the very beginning. 

"Hi." I groaned into my mobile. 

"Wow, what's up with you? What happened with Richard?" Oh, Niall, where to begin?

"Headache." I lied. "And I'll tell you later."

"Ok, man." There was a brief silence. "The car will be round in half an hour just so you know. I just wanted to make sure you were back from Modest in time."

"Cool, cool. Thanks, buddy. See you later." I forced out before hanging up the phone. 

It was going to be a long night.

When the car came around to collect me I was a bundle of nerves. I had no idea how I was going to break the new to the guys, or keep it together during the performance. I was riding with Niall who was basically bouncing off the walls like a child high on sugar. 

"What is up with you tonight?" He moaned at me.

"Drop it, Niall." I warned, resulting in silence for the remainder of the journey. 

The buzzing and excitement at the studio made me feel even worse. I couldn't enjoy the evening like everyone else because I was so preoccupied with other, more important and more terrifying life events. I usually loved being here because this was where it had all begun for us. This was where One Direction had made its name. 

When we were called on stage I somehow managed to force out my best smile during the entire performance of You and I. I even managed to fool myself that I was having the time of my life. That was until Dermot came over wielding a microphone. 

"Congrats on the new single, lads!" He cooed, before pulling us all in for one of his famous embraces. "A new single this week, a new tour next week. You're busy boys!"

"It's definitely busy." I said bluntly, without even meaning to. Niall thew me a confused look as Dermot's eyes widened in response to my rudeness.

"Um, yeah. So how does it feel to be back in front of the judges?" Dermot thrust the microphone under Zayn's nose instead.

"We'll always have a special place in our hearts for this stage, this competition and that judging panel," he laughed "But even after everything we've achieved it's still scary being up here!"

I zoned out as Zayn gave the answer that Dermot had been looking for. Thankfully, moments later we were being directed off of the stage and back to the dressing room where I slammed the door the moment the five of us only were inside.

"What the hell?" Liam snapped.

"What is your problem, Harry?" Louis threw his arms in the air. "Since Richard called you back today you've been in a foul mood." 

"What did he talk to you about anyway?" Niall pressed.

"I'm a father." The words tumbled from my mouth so quickly I wasn't even sure anyone had understood. Louis and Zayn exchanged a bemused expression.  

"Right..." Louis rolled his eyes and walked towards his bag. 

"I'm being serious." My voice caught as I spoke. "I slept with a girl two years ago. She contacted Richard and told him I have a daughter. They ran a paternity test during our medical exam and I've got the letter to prove it." 

Louis ceased what he was doing and the room fell eerily silent. 

Eventually Niall's jaw dropped. "What. The. Fuck." 

"I know." I breathed and my eyes began to prick up with tears. I was suddenly engulfed in a five-way hug; barely able to breathe in the centre of it all. 

However in that moment of limited oxygen and the overpowering stench of body odour - I knew that things were going to work out alright. I just had to call Marnie first.

a/n: aw and it all begins