Collision

Two days before Christmas

My alarm clock jolts me awake at five in the morning. I sigh and roll over, wishing for five more minutes. But I pull myself out of bed and stomp into the bathroom to take a shower. I'm glad that Harry is taking me to meet his sister, but I wish she didn't live five hours away.

I step into the steaming hot water and let the water release some of the tension in my shoulders. Grabbing the washcloth, I pour a quarter sized droplet of soap onto the fabric and wash my skin. I quickly lather my hair, rinse it out, and wrap a towel around it so it can air dry while I dry off.

I pull the brush through my unruly hair once I've dried myself off and braid it down my back. I don't have enough time to try to fix it so this is an easy alternative.

I walk into the closet to try and find something to wear. I want to impress her with something nice but I don't want to show up in something too casual. I end up picking out a red sweater and a dark pair of tight jeans.

"Jess? Harry's here," Mom's voice calls through the door with a light knock. I pull down the white beanie my grandmother knitted for me last year and walk across the room to answer the door.

"Oh! You look great," she gushes at my outfit. I grab the hem of my sweater and roll the soft cloth between my fingers. I really do hope Gemma likes it. This is my first and last chance to make a great impression on her.

An impatient horn sounds downstairs, pulling us both from our admiration, and we hurry downstairs to meet Harry.

"Thanks for waking up early to help me," I hug Mom once we enter the kitchen. It's too early, but her being up helps a bit.

"You two have fun!" She squeezes my shoulders. "Take a bunch of pictures!" She guides me out of the door and down the steps to a waiting Harry who is leaning against his car door. He looks stunning in his black trench coat and black skinny jeans.

I give Harry a quick kiss for the sake of my mother and he follows me around the hood of the car to open my door for me. I wave goodbye to Mom as Harry shuts my car door and jogs around to start the car.

"Does she live alone?" I ask as the Range Rover pulls into the busy freeway.

"Yeah. My dad paid for her apartment just outside of the campus," Harry's jaw clenched at the mention of his father and I grab his empty hand to soothe him. I don't want him worrying about his father when we're supposed to be having a good day.

"You look beautiful, by the way," he brings my hand to his lip and kisses my knuckles gently. This simple action sends shivers down my spine, and Harry notices.

"I'm glad I make you feel this way," he smiles and his thumb traces over the outline of my knuckles. With Harry's hand still in mine, I lean my head against the cool glass and look at the passing cars.

Five hours later, Harry rouses me awake and I open my eyes to see that we're pulling into an expensive neighborhood. I sit up in my seat and watch the large apartment buildings pass by.

"Here we are," The car stops at the tall building with the letter k carved into it. I unbuckle my seatbelt and follow Harry out of the car toward the double doors.

"It's so big," I admire at the vastly modern setting as we enter the lobby. A large crystal chandelier hangs above the marble floors and plush white sofas and chairs.

We approach the front desk and greet a tall man dressed in a black suit. Everything in this place must be luxurious.

"May I help you?" The man asks with a warm smile.

Harry opens his mouth, probably to say something rude about the kind man, but I quickly cut him off.

"We're here to visit someone," I smile.

"May I ask their name?" He looks between the both of us.

"Gemma Styles," Harry speaks up. The man nods and pulls up her name on the computer.

"She is on floor eight, apartment 56." He informs us. I thank him for his help and drag Harry toward the elevator before he can hurt the nice man's feelings.

Harry punches the eighth button on the elevator and we zip upward. The doors open with a pleasant ding and drops us off at the floor. We count the numbers on the doors as we walk down the hallway. The number fifty six is painted on the solid black door.

"Gemma! Open up!" Harry yells and a series of locks click before the door swings open to reveal a short girl with dirty blonde hair.

"Harry!" She exclaims and throws her arms around his shoulders. Harry's usual smug expression wears down at the sight of his sister and he bends down to embrace her.

"You must be Jess!" Gemma turns to me and greets me with an equally tight hug. When she pulls back, I take a quick glance at her face. She looks much more like Anne than Harry, but they all share the same dazzling green eyes.

"Come in!" She grabs both of arms and pulls us into the large apartment. The front door leads directly into the living room, with a portion of the parallel wall made completely of glass.

"Sit down. I'll make you guys some hot chocolate," she pushes us toward the couch before disappearing into the kitchen. A few minutes later a warm mug is slid into my hands as Gemma sits down beside me.

"How was the drive? It must have been horrible since it's so close to Christmas," she sips on her drink and looks expectantly at the two of us. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that they're related. Gemma seems so nice and Harry is only nice if you force it out of him.

"It wasn't that bad. Very long though," I rub the tension out of my legs, remembering the long drive.

"Well, I'll let you two get settled in before we go out for lunch," she smiles and stands up. Her blonde hair swishes from side to side as she disappears into her bedroom.

"I really want to see Denver," I say. I've been around to more European countries than American cities. It would be nice to see what life would be like around here.

"I know. She promised me that she would give you the full tour," he jokes and lays his head on my shoulder.

Gemma joins us thirty minutes later, dressed in a different outfit and her hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail. She rouses the two of us awake, gushing when she notices the two of us tangled up with each other on the couch. I flush at her reaction and untangle myself from Harry's heavy body. He groans and throws a pillow at Gemma, complaining at her for waking us up.

"Shut up," she says to him, a smile covering her face. She bends down to pick up the throw pillow and places it neatly back in it's original position.

Standing up, I readjust all of my misplaced hairs and place my beanie back on my head. I look in the mirror on Gemma's wall to make sure that I look decent before going out with her and Harry. Gemma grabs her car keys and ushers us out of the apartment and down to the lobby. I give a short wave to the nice man who helped us earlier before I'm pushed out of the door.

"The parking garage is just a few blocks away," Gemma informs us but Harry grabs her arm.

"We can walk. Not much to look at when we're passing it by in a car," he tells her and smiles down at me. My heart warms at his sympathetic gesture and I nod eagerly at Gemma to tell her that I'm fine with walking. I lace my fingers through Harry's as Gemma stuffs her car keys back into her pocket book and begins walking down the crowded street.

We walk around for about thirty minutes before hunger wins out over curiousity. I find myself a small Mexican styled catina a few blocks away from the parking lot. We're seated in the back of the restaurant at a corner booth with a large window right beside us. The view is overlooking downtown, and it's stunning.

Gemma asks us a lot of questions about how we met, how long we have been together, and basically any question you could ask couples. It's hard not telling her all of the negative things about our relationship but I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to hear how rude her brother was, or, well, is.

The waitress brings our orders ten minutes after we order it and disappears without another word. We eat in silence, Gemma occasionally asking Harry things about Anne. As we're finishing our meal, Gemma mentions their father.

"When is the last time you saw him?" She asks Harry as we stand up to pay. Harry's shoulders tense and he turns around slowly to respond.

"Three years," he sharply responds. I don't know what's the deal with Harry and his father, but he obviously has a problem with him. I want to ask him what's wrong, but he doesn't look like he wants to talk right now.

"He asked me about you," she speaks quietly, treading lightly. I want to tell her that she's just making things worse, but she looks like she has something important to say.

"Well if he really cared, he would drag his ass to me and ask me," Harry harshly responds.

"Harry-" Gemma rolls her eyes at her stubborn brother.

"Gemma." Harry mocks her tone.

"You need to get over whatever happened and make up with him," she tells him.

"Don't fucking tell me what I need to do. He's the asshole who ruined our family. The least he can do is apologize to me," Harry snarls and I smack his arm lightly. Gemma is just trying to help and even though he's angry at his father, he shouldn't snap at her.

"You know what," Gemma spins around on Harry and the two siblings look like they're about to fight.

"Gemma, don't fucking-" Harry starts but I step in between them.

"Harry, stop. She's just trying to help," I plead with him.

"Don't get involved. This is none of your business," Harry growls at me. I look around at our surroundings and see that we have gathered a crowd. People are staring and pointing, some even have cameras ready, waiting for a brawl to start.

"Go back to the apartment," I tell Harry sternly, and my tone confuses him. He soon regains himself and sulks back in the direction of the apartment.

Once he's out of earshot, I turn to Gemma in hopes that some of this day can be saved.

"I'm sorry about him. We can leave if you want us to," I tell her. I don't want to upset her anymore, she probably already thinks I'm a train wreck.

"No, it's fine. Harry's just a dick. Don't apologize for his behavior," she says and smiles, some of the earlier anger dissolving. I breathe a sigh of relief at her forgetting about Harry and tell myself that maybe this day isn't completely ruined.

After a few minutes, Gemma finally decides that we shouldn't waste our time together sulking over Harry. For the next two hours we walk around the busy streets of Denver. I love seeing everything but I can't fully enjoy it without Harry at my side.

Sensing my discomfort, Gemma stops her tour and looks me directly in the eyes.

"How about we get something to eat and then we can head home?" She asks and I nod eagerly, motioning for her to lead the way. We walk a few blocks down before stepping inside the warm building of an Italian café.

Our orders are taken quickly and soon the two orders of cheese ravioli is placed in front of us. I dig in, shoveling spoonful after spoonful of the creamy sauce.

"This is so good," I moan at the taste of the sauce, and take a napkin to wipe the silky substance off of my lip.

I end up ordering another meal to take home with me, and also get something from Harry. I feel guilty for leaving Harry at the apartment, maybe ravioli can cheer him up.

Gemma and I head toward the apartment after she graciously pays for the four meals. When we arrive at her flat, Harry is sprawled out on the couch, a blanket draped over him as he watches TV. He hears the door click shut behind us and stands up, stalking into one of the bedroom without a word.

Gemma takes the two take out containers from my hand. "I'll keep his warm in case he feels like eating." she winks at me, and heads into the kitchen.

I take a deep breath and follow Harry into the bedroom, all of the confidence draining out of me when I see his face.

Notes

It's been so long and I am so sorry for not updating! I know it was only about a week but it feels like I haven't updated in a week! Anyways, here is an extra long chapter as an apology for not updating. I'm sorry to say that I will not be updating as often next week because of the holidays! I will try to write when I can, but I haven't seen my family in a while and I want to spend time with them as much as possible!

Please comment and vote if you haven't already! It only takes a few seconds and it would mean so much to me!