PRIDE » Zarry ✅

22: Be True to Yourself

"My name is Harry Edward Styles. I am the son of the CEO of Manly.

"I have known something about me was different ever since I was in high school. I just tried to ignore it because I didn't want to be different. I loved my circle of friends and I didn't want them to hate me. So I hid who I was, not just from them, but from the entire world. And I did it so much that I believed in that more than my own happiness.

"But not anymore. I want to be happy. And that's why I'm here to tell the world... I'm gay. Those of you who know me personally, know that recently I was in a relationship with a young woman. But what you don't know is that relationship ended before we could take it further when she discovered the truth. As much as I hated that she did at the time, I thank her every day that she let me come out on my own terms. Because being in the closet is scary enough without being forced out of it against your will.

"I'm not telling you this because I hope you'll sympathize with me. After everything that has happened to me lately, I've reached a point in my life where I don't care what people think of me. Whether they love me or don't love me. Because I love me. For the first time in my entire life, I am proud to be gay.

"I've learned from a friend- a real friend- that sometimes it takes finding someone you really care about to finally be true to yourself. I've also learned from my own mistakes that sometimes it takes losing them.

"I know it's too late for me. I've already lost the man I care about. But if he ever does come across this video, I want him to know he's the driving force behind this confession. Seeing the pride he has in himself to be who he is was scary. I wanted no parts of it. But now that I know what I know about the people in my life that I thought cared about me and didn't, I wish that I'd been apart of it a long time ago.

"I hope that with me sharing this longtime secret, you don't see it as some type of betrayal or deceit on my part. Instead, I hope you'll see it as truth. That now you finally understand the people behind the product and come to the conclusion that by me telling you this, it only speaks to the honesty and transparency of this company and how much we value your loyalty and trust in us. Because we do.

"Well... that's everything I wanted to say. And I'm not sure how to end this so I'll just stop here and leave you to stew. Thanks for listening."

When it ended, I ejected the drive from the computer and stood up. I didn't stop to say anything to anyone. I didn't want to come in contact with anything that could stop me or make me change my mind before I reached my destination. Because if anyone did stop me, that's just what I might have done.

I got on the elevator alone and rode it down to the floor where our media team worked. I was familiar with the head of the media department from my time with Zayn when we were working on the campaign. So that's how I noticed she was already in the hallway talking to someone. I stopped her immediately.

"Jenny."

"Oh. Hi, Harry. Fran, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay."

"What can I do for you, Mr. Styles?"

I held out the drive to her.

"I would like this posted on all of our social media sites as well as on our website in the media section."

"Is this something for the campaign?"

"No. The campaign is finished. This is personal. That's why I'm putting it directly in your hands and giving you the responsibility of uploading it."

"How long do I have to get back to you on the errors and suggestions?"

"I reviewed it myself. There are no errors and no suggestions needed. I want it scheduled for posting at exactly two fifteen on all platforms simultaneously. Raw feed. No editing. If it requires more than one video to post the entire thing, do so. But I do not want any part of it left out."