Wednesday awoke on the 11th and followed her usual morning; after going for a quick run, she showered and changed into casual clothes, sitting down at her kitchen counter with a cup of tea and toast. Only today, she'd put off checking her socials immediately after waking up. As she took a bite from a slice of toast, she opened up Twitter, already sensing the pandemonium.

As predicted, her timeline was full of excitement, adoration and disbelief. Lights Up had finally dropped last night, along with the music video, after days of cryptic tweets, websites and billboards popping up around the world.

She scrolled through her timeline with a smile, seeing the overwhelming outpour of love and positive reviews. Laughing at the thirstier tweets, she went to watch the video herself again, having seen the final cut a few weeks prior. The shot of Harry in the crowd of people, shirtless and smiling, never failed to leave her breathless; it was beautiful. Her lips parted as she watched, enraptured by the visuals as if it were the first time. Clearing her throat as it came to an end, she checked Instagram, seeing the dozens of screenshots popping up from seemingly every account she followed.

Harry Styles had officially broken the internet once again.

Opening up her texts with Harry she began to type.

Eating the last piece of toast and finishing her tea, she stood up to wash the plate and mug, placing them down on the drying rack before going back to her phone.

She saw the text notification, unlocking to read Harry's response.

Shaking her head with a smirk she couldn't help, she set down her phone.

Despite the songs release, she had a few days off before work would commence, and she'd decided to spend them doing absolutely nothing other than relaxing, eating and maybe some reading and painting.

Stepping into her living room, she picked out a new book from her bookshelf, settling down on the sofa contentedly. She didn't even notice the hours pass as she read chapter after chapter, engrossed by the story, until there was a knock at her door.

"Gemma, hi" Wednesday blustered, not expecting her. "Come in."

"Well I was around this area for the market and thought I'd pop in for a cuppa and a catch up."

They walked to the kitchen, Wednesday sticking the kettle on as Gemma took off her coat and bobble hat.

"How are you?" Wednesday asked, noticing the clock on the wall and realising it was 1 in the afternoon.

"Oh, I'm fine. Work's all okay. I just realised I haven't seen you much these past few months. I wanted to check in, see how you're doing."

Wednesday smiled warmly. The Styles siblings could not be more different in almost every aspect of their personality's, but the one thing they did share was a strong sense of care for others.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, I'm getting on with everything I guess" Wednesday replied, knowing that she'd always found opening up to Gemma just that bit easier.

Gemma nodded, taking the cup of tea from Wednesday. "I think that's understandable after the year you've had. I know I've told you this before, but it's okay for you to not be okay."

Wednesday smiled sadly, her fingers tapping on the handle of the mug as she looked down to the floor.

"Sometimes," she began tentatively, her voice shaky as felt the usual rush of anxiety. "It feels like my life isn't my life anymore. It's hard to explain."

She looked up, seeing Gemma looking back at her with no judgement, no pity. Just listening to her words silently.

"So much has changed in the past year that nothing feels familiar anymore. It's like my whole world changed too fast for me to keep up with and now..."

"Now you feel lost" Gemma added, Wednesday nodding as she bit her lip.

Wednesday wasn't a talker; she never had been. She liked to keep her cards close to her chest, but every now and then when she did open up, it felt like a bit of weight was lifted from her shoulders. Gemma always found a way to make talking about her feelings accessible and easy. Still, Wednesday never wanted to trouble her with her problems. They were her problems to bear after all, no-one else's.

"I'm just taking a while to adjust I think, that's all."

"I think you're handling everything better than anyone else could. You need to give yourself credit."

Gemma smiled at her comfortingly. Sensing Wednesday's want to change topics, she cleared her throat.

"So, I don't suppose you know what my brother is doing today that means he's too busy to even answer my call?" Gemma asked, rolling her eyes as she took a sip from the mug.

Wednesday's eyebrows furrowed, thinking over his schedule.

"I don't think he had anything planned for today. Maybe some administrative stuff with Jeffrey but other than that, I'm sure he's free. Maybe try again later?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll ring me when he wants to talk. I'll leave him for now."

They talked about everything, from the upcoming weeks, to Gemma's cats and even Christmas. Long after their mugs were empty and Wednesday's stomach had started to rumble, Gemma said goodbye and left, the house returning to its usual quiet.

Wednesday spent the rest of the day and the day after that doing what she'd initially planned; eating, painting, reading and relaxing.

It wasn't until the third day, a few days before they would be back to performing, that she answered her phone to Harry.

"Wanna come rock climbing today?" he asked as soon as she accepted the call.

"Good morning to you too stranger. Where have you been the past few days?" she questioned dryly.

She'd not spoken to him for almost 3 days, the last bit of contact being the text she sent when Lights Up had dropped. It was almost as if he'd dropped off the face of the earth for a short period.

"Nowhere important. So?" he pressed, ignoring her question.

"So what?"

"Do you want to come rock climbing?"

"I've never even been rock climbing. And where has this newfound interest of yours even come from? I've never heard you mention it before."

"I'm trying to broaden my horizons" he mellowly replied. "I'm going at 2 today and I think you'd really enjoy it."

She looked at the clock as she sat at the kitchen counter, sighing as she looked down at her pink nail polish with red stars dotted over it. "But I've just painted my nails."

"So have I, so you have no excuse."

Fuck—she'd forgotten that he liked nail polish even more than her these days.

Breathing out in defeat, she replied. "Fine, I'll come. But I'm warning you, I have the upper body strength of a noodle."

Harry laughed, sounding happier now she'd accepted. "Well, the strength behind your punches says different."

Wednesday rolled her eyes, letting out a laugh as she ended the call. Sulkily going up to her bedroom, she pulled out a pair of gym leggings and a sports bra, finding a top to go over it.

Harry text her the address of the place and after a quick tube ride and 10-minute walk, she was outside.

Walking in, she looked around to see Harry towards the end of the room, taking a photo with someone. Smiling dryly as she walked over to him, she chucked her bag onto the floor and sighed.

"Well, I'm here."

"And you look so thrilled about it" he replied, grinning.

Looking up the climbing wall and seeing how high it was, she felt her hands start to become clammy.

"You know I don't like heights" she swallowed, rubbing her hands on her legs.

"You can go as high as you're comfortable with" he reassured her. "You'll have fun, promise."

He went to the chalk bowl, powdering his hands as he waved her over to do the same too.

Clapping their hands, he walked to a section of the wall that seemed to be smaller and easier, for beginners. He grabbed onto the first stone, pulling himself up and stepping onto one of the lower stones. Looking down to her, he nodded encouragingly.

"Come on, you can do it."

She stepped to the side of him, biting her lip as she reached out for stone and followed his movements, bringing herself up to step on another. She looked back to him for reassurance and he smiled down at her.

"That's it, now follow my movements" he stated, reaching up to grab another stone and bringing himself up further.

She mirrored his actions—for each new step he reached for and stood on, she did the same. Not looking down for her own sanity, a few minutes later they'd reached halfway up the wall and though she clung on for dear life, Wednesday couldn't help the accomplished smile she shot Harry.

"I did it!" she stated excitedly, looking back around her to how far she'd made it.

"I knew you could" Harry replied. "Want to try all the way to the top?"

Wednesday swallowed, looking up. It wasn't too far, but once she made it up there, what would happen if she forgot how to make it down? Or couldn't move from fear?

Harry must have seen the flash of fear in her eyes.

"We don't have to if you don't feel comfortable."

"I-I don't think I can, sorry" Wednesday mumbled, the thought alone making her feel panicked.

"It's okay. We can work our way down now."

They slowly made their way back down, Harry helping to guide her in the right direction. When her feet touched the mat once again, she felt slightly light-headed at the rush of it all, sitting down near the window and grabbing her water bottle from her bag.

"So, are you enjoying it then?" he asked, sitting beside her.

She nodded as she took a gulp from the water. "I am actually. I didn't think I would, but it's fun. Just wish I was a bit more fearless and could make it to the top without freaking out."

In other situations where she'd visited places of extreme height, she'd quickly frozen, unable to move forward or backwards due to the paralyzing fear. She'd feel the tears spring to her eyes and the hyperawareness of everyone around her watching the meltdown—it wasn't worth it, especially not at the top of a climbing wall where she couldn't escape.

Harry's eyebrows pulled together at her words.

"You're the most fearless person I know—but everyone has their limits. Doesn't make you weak" he shrugged, taking the bottle from her and having a sip, making sure to clean the bottle top with his sleeve after.

"Well, it would be nice if my brain could see it that way" she mumbled, before sitting up straighter and turning to look at him. "Anyway, you dodged my question earlier. Where have you been the past few days?"

Harry turned away, rubbing his hands together to shake off the remaining chalk.

"If you must know, I took some time away from my phone and decided to relax at mine alone for a few days."

Wednesday squinted her eyes at his face.

"You're lying. You hate being alone."

"What?! I'm not and I do not!" Harry replied defensively, turning to her with an incredulous expression.

"Do you think after all these years I can't tell when you're lying?" she quipped with a smirk, taking a drink.

"Clearly you don't know me as well as you thought because I'm not lying" he replied back, emphasising the last three words as he snatched the water back from her, shooting her a wry grin.

Wednesday pulled a face of disbelief, smiling at him. "I'm not one to pry, so whatever you were up to and want to keep secret is fine by me."

Harry scowled at her, shaking his head. "Annoying" he muttered.

After their short break, they started all over again, attempting different parts of the wall and scaling it successfully. Once they'd finished two hours later, they left exhausted but fulfilled and grabbed a coffee on their joint walk back.

"So, are you feeling ready to get back to performing again?" Wednesday asked as they walked, blowing on her steaming latte.

"I'm more than ready now. Just want to get back out there and perform the new songs already" he replied, kicking a stone with his foot. "What about you? Are you ready for it?"

Wednesday was excited, but anxious—more so than during the first album era. She didn't know why. Everything about the first album and tour had been so new and exciting—Harry out on his own, her beside him. It had been everything they'd ever dreamed of when they were younger. But this time around, everything felt different. Like there was a cloud looming over her and though she hadn't admitted it to anyone, especially Harry, she was scared for the madness to begin again. Scared for how she would cope.

"Yeah" she nodded, forcing a smile before feeling her phone buzz in her back pocket.

She pulled it out, seeing the notification come to light.

She slowed down as she looked at the message, feeling a rush of anxiety swirl in her stomach. As she bit her lip, she started to sense Harry looming next to her, silent. Clearing her throat, she locked the phone and put it back in her pocket, picking up the pace again and drinking her coffee.

"Anything interesting?" Harry asked, not looking to her.

She shook her head, forcing a tired smile. "Nope. Just an Instagram notification."

Technically she wasn't lying.

They walked side by side in silence, Wednesday's head swirling with thoughts. Never ending thoughts and feelings and emotions. She wished she could go back in time to when life was happy and drama free.

"If you're not doing anything tonight, you're welcome to come round to mine. I can cook us dinner and we can watch shitty romcoms on Netflix" Wednesday said when the silence became a bit too loud, gently bumping Harry with her elbow.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm uh—I'm busy tonight" he replied, taking a last swig of the coffee and not managing to catch Wednesday's eye.

"Oh" she replied, trying to not let her face match her inner confusion. "Anything fun?"

"Nothing big, just dinner with some friends" he explained, clearing his throat and looking at her for the first time.

"Oh right" Wednesday said, stopping as they reached their parting point. "Well, have fun tonight."

"Thanks" he replied. "I guess I'll see you the day after tomorrow then at work?"

She forced a smile, nodding. "Feels weird to hear that again."

He mirrored her grin. "I know."

"Right well, I'll see you then."

They said their goodbyes, walking off in different directions.

She spent some time thinking over what Harry would be doing tonight, wondering if he was meeting a girl. She never cared to think about that for too long, with it being none of her business, and so she settled that maybe he really was just meeting friends. Pushing the sadness out of her brain, her mind went back to Patrick's message, fishing her phone out of her pocket and this time unlocking her phone.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, trying to come up with what to respond. After typing and deleting for a few minutes, she sighed and settled on something straightforward and simple.

She got home, exhausted and slightly smelly from the exercise, taking a quick shower before planting herself on her bed, making no effort to move.

Before she knew it, it was her first official day back at work.

They were filming for the Jools Holland show today, so she needed to make an actual effort with her appearance for once. Her clothes for the show were already with Harry the stylist, so she didn't need to worry about choosing anything to wear. She combed through her naturally straight hair, leaving it in its usual middle parting before applying some makeup. Packing her signature drumsticks into her bag, she took one last look in the mirror in her hallway before leaving, content with the end look.

After a long car ride, they arrived at the studios in Kent where the show was filmed. Once they'd got inside, got dressed and got the instruments sorted and adjusted, they had one final practice run of all the songs they were doing.

When the time came for the performance, they got into their positions. Wednesday swallowed down the nerves in her chest, starting off the songs as Harry performed Lights Up, Adore You and Watermelon Sugar.

They finished to applause from all the crew and crowd, Wednesday seeing that Harry was back in his element. After the set was finished and they were back into the car, ready to go home, Harry turned to them all.

"Anyone want to go for some food when we get back to London?" he asked, looking around the group.

"I'll go" Daisy smiled at him, the others mirroring her agreement.

Wednesday didn't want to. She knew that she shouldn't be lazy and make an effort to go—these were her workmates after all and she'd said no to the last few offers. But she felt exhausted and had no energy to communicate or be funny or smile. She wanted to be back in the comfort of her home, ordering a pizza in her pyjamas.

"Sorry guys but I'm gonna have to miss this one. I'm really tired, so I'm just gonna head home."

Mitch and Sarah both forced sad faces at her once she'd spoken and Harry's brows furrowed.

"You alright?" he asked, picking his lips with his finger as he looked down at her.

She nodded, smiling tiredly at him and sensing that he was overthinking her decision. He always did that; overthink.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired today, that's all. You all go and have fun though" she pushed, forcing a smile to prove she was okay.

As they said goodbye and walked off in different directions, Wednesday noted the instant relief of getting out of it, before furrowing her brows at how unlike her that was. Usually she was the one begging people to go out and do stuff with her. Now, just the thought of leaving her house made her feel tired and uneasy.

Turning the corner to her street, she didn't look up to notice the person sat outside her front door step with bags upon bags of items, until she heard a familiar voice call out to her as she fished in her bags for her keys. Looking up, she saw that familiar curly brown hair and red lipstick.

"Surprise!" Zara grinned as she stood up, holding out her long arms.

With a squeal, Wednesday bounded into her, forgetting her own 'no hugging' rule and locking her in a tight embrace. She could feel the tears prickle in her eyes at seeing Zara for the first time in over half a year, though she wasn't sure whether that was out of joy or something deeper.

"God I've missed you" Wednesday said, muffled by the abundance of Zara's hair in her face as she hugged her even tighter.