To Fall So Deep

To say that the Styles residence was huge, was an understatement at best. 22194 Avalon Court was undoubtably massive. Black wrought-iron gates barricaded the home from the end of the drive way, and wrapped around the entire expanse of the house. Guards worked 24 hours to watch over the residence, only letting in certain people. Part of the mansion was made of stones, and had three floors. Expensive cars lined the outside of the house, and the backyard was no different in luxury than the front. A large pool, jacuzzi, bar, entertaining area, a small-sized football field, and tennis court furnished the back of the house.

A black Range Rover pulled towards the gate, and a guard stepped out of the booth. The guard was about mid-40's with dark brown hair. While he didn't exude intimidation, he was fast, and very skilled in martial arts. The driver window moved downward and Harry's head popped out. He gave a large, cutesy, dimpled smile to the guard.

"Mister Harry," the guard greeted.

"Joseph!" Harry stuck his hand out the window, and the two proceeded to do a 'secret' handshake.

"Running errands went okay?" Joseph asked.

"Yup," Harry gave a thumbs up. Joseph pressed a button from the inside of the booth and the gate began to open up.

"Good, good. Get any good movies?"

"We're the Millers, and some idiotic chick flick. I don't know, lady's request,"

Joseph chucked, "okay, well get a move on. I'll talk to you later."

Harry waved, and entered through the open pathway and up the long driveway. He parked his car among the others, and proceeded to walk up the front door. He entered his home, and like always, was greeted with a warm smell of something freshly baked. In the kitchen was Rosie McDermont, the head of the employees working for the Styles family.

"Mister Harry, let me get those for you" she said. Old, but still stronger than ever, the old woman began to take the bags out of Harry's hands.

"Rosie, something smells delicious," Harry observed, sniffing the air.

"Cookies," Rosie responded, pointing to a large plate stacked high with chocolate chip cookies. Harry's eyes widened. He licked his lips and rubbed his hands together.

Rosie unloaded the paper bag from the drugstore in front of a corner cabinet. She opened it, and inside were three shelves full of medication, all organized with color coordinated baskets. She placed the bottles of pills in their respective bins. Checking the clock on the wall for the time, Rosie pulled out five different bottles and retrieved pills from each, placing them into a small bowl.

"Take these to her," Rosie said, handing the bowl of medication to Harry. Placing a few cookies on a smaller plate, she gave it to Harry to hold in his other hand, "and of course, these."

Harry left the kitchen, and into a back corner of the house where the elevator was located. Pressing the button with his kneecap, the door opened and he entered. With the lift only going to the third floor, the door open, and Harry stepped out.

The entire third floor was essentially a very large loft. Soft wrap around couches, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a bed were a all part of it. But what made it different from most lofts, were the small beeping monitors, IV poles, and other hospital essentials.

"Sir Harry are those cookies?" a voice asked.

Harry walked towards the voice. Sitting on the couch was a gaunt girl in her pajamas. Breathing tubes were inserted into her nose, and next to her leg was an oxygen tank. She had big green eyes, identical to Harry's, and on her bald head was a cute cat beanie-- pointed ears and all. Harry placed the plate of cookies on the table in front of the girl,

"Lady Gemma, chocolate chip cookies… you're favorite."

"Yes!" she exclaimed and went towards the cookies. Harry slapped her hand, and Gemma looked at him with a death glare.

"These first sis," Harry handed her the bowl of pills. "It's almost 4. You have water?"

Gemma pulled out a pink water bottle and presented it to Harry. One by one, she took her medication, drinking water to help swallow. When she finished, she teased Harry with the empty bowl and went back to the plate of cookies. She took a big bite, savoring the sweetness.

"I haven't had cookies in so long… What else did you bring?" Gemma asked.

"I brought potato crisps," Harry said, pulling out three different varieties in bright bags. "And I brought chocolate," he pulled out a king-sized chocolate bar and threw it onto Gemma's lap. "As for movies, We're The Millers, aaaand your dumb chick flick," he threw a DVD of The Vow onto her lap as well.

"It's not dumb," Gemma stated, "and thank you."

"Anytime," Harry smiled.

The Styles siblings spent the rest of the afternoon watching the films, pigging out on junk food, and like all brother-sister duos, arguing about stupid things. At around 7PM, Rosie entered the loft from the elevator, bringing a tray of food.

"Dinner Miss Gemma," she said, placing the tray onto the table.

"Someone's coming over, huh?" Gemma insinuated with a frown, looking at the food, then to Rosie.

"I'm afraid so dear," Rosie confirmed.

"I'm gonna eat dinner up here too then," Harry said. Rosie shook her head,

"Unfortunately I can't let you do that Mister Harry. Your parents want you to eat dinner downstairs with their guests," Rosie informed.

"This is horse shit and unfair," Harry scowled, sinking back into the couch.

"Bro, calm down," Gemma whispered, rubbing Harry's shoulder with her boney hand, "you know the drill."

"Calm down? Gemma you fucking have cancer, and our parents won't let you eat dinner downstairs with us when stupid guests arrive?" Harry was heated in his words, punching the pillow with every other word. He turned to Rosie, "who's coming over this time?"

"The Nixons," Rosie stated. Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. "There's nothing I can do about this. They will be here at any moment sweetie."

Rosie left the loft, and Harry was still angry, "I don't understand why we have to keep all of this a secret. I'm tired of lying to people, tired of not seeing you at the dinner table for days at a time, and saying that you sent us a stupid postcard from Uni, and that you're doing well."

"That's just the way it is. Having a dying--"

"Recovering," Harry corrected with a stern tone.

"Having a sick child," Gemma continued, "will make dad look bad during the election. Having a healthy one in Uni, overseas in America, will give him a greater advantage."

"He's trying to create this picture perfect family, and it doesn't exist in us," Harry grumbled. Gemma rested her head on Harry's shoulder, who wrapped his arms around her frail body.

"You should go downstairs now, I think I hear Jezabelle's sass from the driveway," Gemma said. Harry laughed,

"Ugh, she's hot but... I don't know. She's such a princess. I'm getting a little tired of her."

"Don't tell mom that. Not with the big debutante ball coming. You are sassypants' escort,"

"I didn't know Louis was in the ball?"

Harry and Gemma bursted into loud laughter, happiness filling Harry as he stood up. With everything going on in his life, Harry knew he could count on his big sister to make him feel better. He refused to think about the possibility that she may actually die prematurely. She entered remission a year ago, but after six months, the cancer came back-- and stronger than the first time. But Gemma's smile, and her positivity was enough to give her brother some hope.

Dinner with the Nixons was anything but fun. The only thing tolerable about it, was the food. Harry, his father, his mother, Jezabelle and her parents all sat together in the formal dining room. Their home staff of six came in and out, placing food on the table, and refiling their glasses with water, and expensive wine.

"Harry, last year of secondary school. How do you feel? Have you decided what Uni you're going to?" Mister Nixon asked. Desmond looked at his son with a raised brow.

"I'm actually thinking of opening my own bakery. Sell bread, and stuff. Or maybe apply for X-Factor," Harry replied seriously. The table was silent, and Harry's mother Anne gave him a look of disapproval.

In an attempt to save the conversation, Desmond gave a burly laugh, "Harry that's a good one. You're such a great joker. He's kidding."

The table erupted in laughter as Desmond continued, "Harry will be going into law like his old man."

"Really?" Mrs. Nixon started, "Harry that's wonderful. And how's Gemma? I thought she was coming home for the summer holidays?"

"She did come home. For only 2 weeks. She decided to take a summer program helping kids, and flew right back to the U.S." Desmond lied.

"It was a quick visit. We mainly stayed at the house catching up. Playing tennis," Anne added.

"It must've been nice Harry, having your sister back?" Mister Nixon asked.

"Yea," Harry nodded. He turned to face his dad, looking him straight in the eye, "it was like she never left."

Jezabelle smiled. She looked at Harry, and rubbed his knee with her hand. Mrs. Nixon leaned into Anne, "we're going to have a power couple in our hands soon. Jezabelle is thinking about business."

"Oh wow, that's great. I can really see that. Your daughter definitely has the confidence and intelligence for business," Anne beamed. She greatly approved of Jezablle, and a relationship with her son was essential in good press for the election. "Jezablle, have you found your debutante dress yet?"

"Yes I have Mrs. Styles. It's perfect with scalloped trimming, pearls, and of course glitter," she turned to Harry, "it's perfect."

Harry was getting real tired of the fake and boring conversation at the table. His mind kept drifting to Gemma, who was upstairs alone.

"I'm sorry, I'm starting to feel a little nauseous," Harry claimed, pushing his chair back.

"Are you getting sick, honey?" Anne asked.

"Maybe it was all the junk food I ate earlier. I'm sorry, but I'm going to excuse myself," Harry said. "Thank you for coming this evening Mister and Mrs Nixon. I'll see you tomorrow Jezabelle."

Harry stood up, left dinner and started for the back hall. A hand grabbed his shoulder and he turned around. It was Jezabelle, "baby, do you want me to get you anything?"

"Uhh, no it's okay. I'm just going to shower, then go to bed. It's been a long day," Harry breathed.

"Alright," Jezabelle said. She pulled Harry in for a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. Standing on the tip of her toes, she locked her lips with his, giving him a passionate kiss.

"Night, love," Harry said as they pulled apart.

Harry was back on the third floor. He ran to Gemma who was lying on her bed reading a book. She looked up, "that was a quick dinner."

"I excused myself for not feeling good…. let's go get ice cream,"

"There's some in the icebox," Gemma mentioned. Harry shook his head,

"No, I want real ice cream. As in ice cream from Button's."

"I haven't had Button's ice cream in such a long time!" Gemma reminisced on the freshly, slow churned goodness. "Are you going? Can you bring me back mint chip?"

"I'm not going… We're going!"

Notes

Hey Guysss!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was one of my favorites to write, along with Chapter 12 which I will be posting sometime tomorrow. I hope you like this little piece into the Styles household. Feedback is very much appreciated, so please don't forget to comment, rate, subscribe, and recommend to all your friends!

Thanks,

-Erica Jaine <3