The Bachelor (Narry AU)

Prologue-

Author's Note: Hello lovelies! I'm back with another new story that I will finish within a two month span. I don't know if you've heard of the Bachelor (do they have it in other parts of the world?) but it's an American dating game show basically and I haven't watched it in like 6 years but I had this amazing idea to do a Narry fic loosely based on season 19. Chris Soules is this season's Bachelor and he's the sweetest person to ever walk this earth. I'll be updating twice a week, breaking one episode into two parts where there will be one-on-one dates as well as group dates. I'll be following the main outline of the show and it will be mostly in Harry's P.O.V. since he is the Bachelor. Horrible at summaries but I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the idea of the show itself, I don't own any of the boys (sadly), and the other contestants are my own characters. In no way am I trying copying season 19 either I will be following my own storylines.

Harry's P.O.V.

Having your life on full display for others to see wasn't always the easiest thing. If you tried going to the grocery store paparazzi followed you around. Couldn't even go for a walk in the park with your family without having someone approach you or snapping a quick picture. But the best thing you could do was avoid them at all costs and not give in to what they were looking for. Being bombarded with questions was annoying, but the rumors were what really got to me. None of it was true in most cases and it was mind boggling to me that no one seemed to know the meaning of space or privacy anymore. But what could you do? It came with the territory of being one of the former contestants and winners of the Bachelorette. It's not like I regretted going on the show, but sometimes I wished things had turned out differently.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have found my now, ex-wife Laura. Even if we weren't together anymore we still talked on a daily basis. Our lives revolved around our ball of sunshine, Grace; or as I preferred to call her, Gracie. She was the one thing keeping us tied together even after all those years we were broken up. They say that everyone has that special someone and I still believe he's out there. Yes, you read that right. I said he. After 1 year of being married Laura and I finally decided we wanted to have kids. It was one of those experiences that I would do over and over again if I had the chance. We split almost immediately after Gracie was born, upon discovering that I was gay. In a way I had always known. When Laura found out she was very understanding and insisted that there were no hard feelings, and to follow my own heart.

That was one of the main reasons why I had fallen for her. She was just one of the most amazing people I'd ever met in my life. We had agreed that we would still live in the same home and raise our daughter together. The divorce was still painful to go through but we somehow overcame it. Three years later we were still living in the same home with our now, 3 year old daughter. I was content raising her all these years and it wasn't until a few months ago that I realized how lonely I was. Looking at Laura and her boyfriend of 2 years and just seeing how happy they were made me want that spark back, to share my life with someone again. Of course rumors of our separation often spiraled around, mainly focusing on our current living arrangement. People seemed to find it suspicious that we still lived together and believed that we may be back together, that we couldn't be close friends.

The public did not seem to believe me when I came out 4 months ago. They liked to think that Harry Styles was in fact straight and could never be into men. How could he when he had been married for 2 years and had a child? No man could just magically turn gay like that. Yet, some people were supporting once they got over the shock of course. I was happy with who I was and didn't really care what the rest of the world thought. In that time I had managed to go on a few dates but it never seemed to work out. There was one relationship that I thought was going somewhere but the guy backed out as soon as he heard the words 'I have a daughter'. The story made the headlines but only some people believed it as the others were in denial either over my failing marriage or my supposed sexuality. My life was a mess in the eyes of the media, nonetheless and it wasn't until I got a very interesting phone call that things came more clearly into perspective.

Chris Harrison had called me over the summer to see if I was interested in being the next Bachelor. At first I declined his offer because why would I try finding another woman as my soul mate if I was gay? It wasn't until he further explained that they were trying something new this season that I became curious. What did he mean? Apparently he wanted to try filming a season with him as the Bachelor and the contestants all being men. It had never been tried before but he said that after the last season of the Bachelor, where Juan Pablo had miserably failed at picking a wife, and ruining the ratings, he thought it might be something worth trying. It would definitely get people talking, that was for sure, and this gave me the opportunity I was looking for.

I still had to think about it. Was I ready to expose that part of my life again for the sake of love? Putting my daughter out there as well at such a young age? She had been in the eye of the public for her whole life but this was something new. To all of them. Would Laura be okay with it? Everything went back to my family. What would my parents and friends think? After much speculation I decided that it was worth taking the risk. The worst that could happen was getting humiliated in front of millions of people or leaving the show heartbroken. I had seen it enough times to know that it could go either way and it might not even last. That last part having come from my own experience. It was another two weeks before I gave Chris my final decision and he was thrilled to no end saying that he would be in touch with me once he went over the details with the head producer. It was late July when I got the call confirming that we would start filming October 1st and that I should have all my things packed, and everything in order.

Was I really doing this? The few people I chose to discuss the idea with were overall encouraging and giving me hope that this could in fact work. Laura had been beyond happy that I had this chance that she once had. The next 2 1/2 months were spent preparing for the show and spending as much time with Gracie as I could. She was still too young to understand everything and I was partly thankful for that. I didn't want her watching this on tv and thinking differently of me. It was a struggle making the decision and sacrificing two months without seeing her. But it was all in the name of love and we would Skype each other and talk on the phone every day. I was ready to embark on this journey that was about to change the rest of my life, for the better I hope.

Author's Note: This was basically a back story of Harry's life in a nutshell. He has a daughter and his former ex-wife was on the Bachelorette, where she chose him. The storyline is my own and I plan on writing it in Niall's perspective every few chapters. I've had this idea since the last season of the Bachelor where Juan Pablo (was an asshole) but didn't want to write it until the next season started so I'd have a timeline to go by, somewhat. I've done some research on the basis of the show it won't follow EVERYTHING thus, a fanfiction, but I'll try my best. And for those of you who do watch it if I make any mistakes let me now. I will proofread and edit as best as I can. Enjoy. Updating chapter 1 today as well. Snow days are amazing.