My eyes scanned the entirety of the man standing in the doorway of the shed. Dark curls falling into his face, piercing green eyes staring back at me. He wore a white t-shirt that clung to the sweat on his stomach. Black ink littering his arms that were leaned against the door frame.

I opened my mouth to speak, glancing at Liam and then glancing back at the man before pressing my lips together.

"Anna. This is Harry Styles." Liam had a nervous tinge to his voice, waving his hand between the two of us.

"I know who it is, Liam." I didn't take my eyes off Harry as I crossed my arms, not knowing exactly what or how to feel.

Harry broke the tension by stepping backwards into the shed, his arms presenting the room behind him. "Come on in! Ask as many questions as you need. Are you thirsty? I have stuff to drink in here."

"I'm fine." I choked out, waiting for Liam to step into the shed before following right behind. I let the door fall closed behind me, the humidity making me instantly feel sticky.
I wandered around the shed, taking in the atmosphere. It was a lot bigger than I remember it being when I had to come and collect Liam's golf club bags he had stored here a few months ago.

There was piles of Liam's things thrown in corners of the room. An air mattress blown up in the center of the room with a duvet and pillows thrown on top. A guitar rested against the shed wall. I wondered if he was still any good at it after two years of being dead.

"I thought you were dead. I saw it on the news." I glanced over, watching Harry bounce down onto the makeshift bed.

"Isn't everyone here supposed to be dead?"

Liam laughed, his eyes going back and forth between me and Harry. "My dad had been hiding him in one of his houses in San Diego this entire time, I guess. Someone in my family wants to sell the property in San Diego and Harry caught wind of it and couldn't hide out anymore. He had my phone number from my dad. He spent all week road tripping up here."

I nodded, nervously picking at my nail polish and flicking it onto the floor. "So why did you do it?"

"I finished a world tour and had a lot of pressure from everyone. I got sick of everyone in the world knowing who I was. I wanted to live a normal life." His fingertip swirled around the cap of his water bottle. "It's complicated. I don't regret it."

I stayed quiet, nodding to myself as the sound of a battery operated fan filled the silence.

"We'll leave you to rest, Harry. Do you need anything? Still hungry after that meal I brought you earlier? It's supposed to get chilly tonight so hopefully if you keep the window cracked it'll kill some of this humidity." Liam clapped his hands together.

"I'm alright, Liam. Thank you so much." Harry sounded sincere, the corner of his lip curling up into a smile.

"Of course man. I'll check on you in the morning."

I awkwardly stepped towards the door, watching Harry push himself up from the mattress.
"Well it was nice to meet you finally, Anna. Make sure he sleeps tonight, yeah?" He smiled, gesturing towards Liam.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'll make sure." I stuttered out, pushing the door open and feeling relieved when the air was colder than inside the shed.

Liam and Harry said their last goodbyes and we walked back to my car in silence.
"Say something." Liam said once I put the key in the ignition.

"I don't know what to think. Why is he in a hot shed? Why isn't he on the farm? Why do you trust him?" I spat out, turning the air conditioning on high. "You think he's only hiding out because he was bored? What did he do, Liam?"

"I'll move him to the farm as soon as possible. This is temporary. I have to make sure everyone else is okay with it. He didn't exactly fake his death, ya know. He only faked his disappearance. They assumed he died. Plus he said he wants to hold off for now. He's nervous to see strangers."

"I don't know, Li. Are you sure we can trust him?" I drove through the field.

"My dad trusted him for two years, Anna. I trust him."

+

July 24th, 2018
7:42am

I didn't get much sleep.

Tossing and turning and thinking about the secret that I was holding. It proved one thing; Liam can really trust me.

My phone vibrated against the bedside table, Liam's face appearing on the screen.

"Morning!" I answered, my head still half smashed into my pillow.

"Are you still in bed?" He laughed, "I need a favor. Will you run and get Harry some breakfast. Are you okay with that? I was going to drop some off for him but I'm running late to my meeting."

Wow. So it wasn't a dream. Harry Styles is actually alive and hiding out in my boss's shed.

"Yeah. Yeah whatever that's fine." I rolled onto my back, the sun burning into my eyes from the open window.

"Thank you so much. You're amazing. Just take him a bagel or something. I gotta go, talk to you soon!"

Click.

The realization hit that I would be alone with Harry. What if he murdered me? Nobody would know. Would the rest of the farm even hear me from the field?

I decided to pass on showering, tossing my hair up into a bun and throwing on a sundress that was shoved on top of my dresser. I washed my face and put on some light makeup before sliding my feet into some sneakers and heading out the door.

It wasn't too hot today. The breeze smacking my face as I rolled the windows down in my car and began to drive towards the bakery.

+

I walked through the path of trees, the shed coming into view once I made a slight left turn.
To my surprise I could see Harry sitting on a bench outside of the shed. He wore a black hoodie and was strumming at the guitar I saw last night next to his mattress. The more steps I took, the more I could make out what chords he was strumming. He played without a purpose; it sounded beautiful.

One step of a branch on the grass and his eyes jerked up from the strings, jumping up and resting the guitar against the shed.

"Sorry I uh- I didn't mean to scare you." My palms began to get clammy against the paper bag I was clutching onto.

"Don't apologize. I just got scared it was someone else." He smiled, stepping towards me.
"Liam sent me to get you breakfast. He mentioned you like bagels. I wasn't sure if you prefer garden vegetable or plain cream cheese so I got you both." I held out the bag, feeling like my feet were glued to the ground.

He walked closer, grabbing the bag out of my hands and peering into it. "That's okay. I like both. Do you want the extra one?"

"Oh no. No I'm- I... I'm going to go eat at the farmhouse. Check up on everyone." I stuttered, my eyes wandering around the area to avoid eye contact with him.

"Is that your job then?" He took a seat back on the bench, pulling out one of the bagels as he began to unwrap the paper that surrounded it.

"Well I've been Liam's assistant for 5 years. He owns the farm now... I watch over the farm when he's at meetings and doing other work stuff." I spoke with ease.

There was a moment of silence while he nodded, taking a bite and wiping the cream cheese that oozed onto the side of his mouth.

"Well I'll see you later. Have a good day." I spun on my heels, starting to make my way back towards the car.

"Why do you dislike me? I can sense it."

I froze, my legs forgetting how to move as I faced the trees knowing his eyes were on my back. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I didn't know how to respond.

"Is it because I'm taking attention from Liam? I know you two have something going on." His voice wavered.

That was enough to get me to turn around, my eyebrows furrowing as I stepped closer to him.

"People were worried sick about you. Your fans were sobbing on TMZ and I actually had sympathy for them and wished for you to be okay when all along you were just bored? Hiding out in San Diego knowing all of that was all going on?" The words rolled off my tongue, the blood boiling beneath my chest. "What did you do? Why did you hide out?"

He stared blankly at me, his mouth opening to talk and then shutting closed.

"That's what I thought." I rolled my eyes, walking towards the car.

I wasn't going to trust him... not anytime soon at least.

Notes