Follow Your Heart

Harry turned to Nicky, watching her as she drove. Her dark red hair tied up in a messy bun, wearing an old, faded ONE.org t-shirt, ripped jeans and white converse. She was humming along to the country song playing on the radio, beating out the time on the steering wheel. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was a stunning woman. Gemma had told him she was pretty, but he wasn't ready for how just how pretty she was. She was more gorgeous dressed in simple jeans and t-shirt than any woman he’d seen in their red carpet finest. It had been a long time since he’d been immediately taken with a woman like this. It was a bit off putting to say the least. And her accent was just as mesmerizing. The y’alls and darlins’ sounded like honey for his ears. He did everything he could to keep her talking for the entire trip, while Gemma slept in the backseat. He needed to get to know her, since she would be working for him. At least that’s the story he was telling himself. He was certain he could just listen to her speak all day. Before he could get too carried away though, her voice broke through his thoughts.

“Harry? You alright, hon?”

“Yeah, yeah…I’m fine.” He felt his face going red from being caught staring at her so he quickly distracted himself by grabbing his water bottle and taking a long drink from it. Nichole turned her attention back to the road before she spoke again.

“You know, it’s really kind of y’all, but you seriously didn't have to come with me for this. My family can be a bit much, Harry. I don’t know if you are ready for Jimmy and Carolyn Davies. And you are damn well not ready for Dylan, I promise you.” Her politeness and fear of putting anyone out on her behalf was adorable. And thinking his new Charity Consultant was adorable was probably not very professional.

“Just…well, if you have to explain why you are leaving the country, then I should at least be there to answer questions.” Nichole turned to him, her hand reaching out to land on his arm.

“You really are too sweet, Harry. Such a gentleman.”

~*~*~*~

Looking around at the old house and the landscape as Nichole pulled her car up in front of the home she grew up in, Harry could see why making the decision to accept his job offer and move away was hard for her. If he’d grown up in place like this, he was certain he wouldn’t be so ready to leave it either. And he also understood when Gemma had told him if she was away for too long her mood changed and had to make the six hour drive they just made to come home and recharge. They’d only been there for five minutes and he could feel the calmness coming from Nichole already.

As they piled out of the car, the front door opened and a woman who was the exact image of Nicky was coming out to greet them.

"Nicky Marie! Gemma! Oh girls I am so happy to see you both." And she wrapped Nichole and Gemma in a hug.

"Hi Momma," Nichole replied hugging her mother back.

"Hello Carolyn," my sister smiled back. "It's been too long."

"Yes, it has. You promised to come back for a visit a lot sooner, Miss Styles," she scolded. Then her eyes turned to Harry, "oh, and you must be...."

"Harry. Nice to meet you Mrs. Davies"

"Oh, aren't you the gentleman? Just call me Carolyn, darlin'. Nice to have you here." Then she turned to the girls and said, "Come on then...everyone inside. I have some food ready and the men will be in soon. Your daddy and Dylan are so curious about your news, Nicky Marie."

~*~*~*~

Gemma sat observing Harry as he was taking in a view of the Davies Ranch. The Bluebonnets were in bloom and covered the fields behind the house. So very different from the farms in Cheshire. Carolyn and Nichole had gone inside to get drinks and left Harry and Gemma alone for a few minutes. Gemma joined him, standing by the edge of the porch, leaning against the railing. Touching his shoulder, she turned his attention to her and away from the horses in the corral.

"This place is amazing."

"It is. I love coming here. I see why Nicky finds such peace here." His attention went back the fields of wildflowers. "What do you think of Nicky? Aside from the work she does." His face broke into a wide grin.

"She's stunning. That's what I think. Sis, are you playing matchmaker?"

"I would never..."

"You have and you would, Gemma Styles." He laughed, "Don't you even try to deny it."

"You could do worse, brother mine. You HAVE done...." She teased.

"Gem, my interest in Nichole is purely professional. I need her experience.” Gemma grinned, sure he was saying that more to convince himself of the fact instead of her. She watched and listened to the both of them most of the road trip. When she wasn’t sleeping anyway.

"You couldn't ask for anyone more loyal or dedicated, Harry. She believes in what she does has such passion for it." Harry wrapped his arms around his sister’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. And she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back as he spoke softly,
"Sis, you can stop selling her to me, I gave her the job already."

The four of them sat on the back porch chatting and waiting for Nichole’s father and brother to come in. Nichole was just enjoying being home, even if it was only for a couple of days. Gemma was going to head back to London when they made it back to San Antonio and Harry had business in Los Angeles before he headed back to London. Of course Nichole was back at work in a couple days herself, but she was going to enjoy her short visit home as best she could.

Nichole watched Harry with her mother. He was engaged in a conversation with her about the horses. He seemed quite fascinated with the ranch in general. She couldn’t help noticing when someone spoke to him; he gave them his full attention. Those green eyes never looked away. Could be quite distracting, to be honest.

"Maybe Nichole could take you for a ride tomorrow." Carolyn said, "She loves riding and she's damn good at it, too."

"I'd like that."

"Easy there, Harry" Gemma teased, "She took me out for a ride the first time I was here, and left me in her dust." Nichole just giggled, remembering how her horse, Buster, needed to run and she’d forgotten for a moment that Gemma was there, so when they got to open pasture she just took off, letting Buster go full tilt.

Gemma tried to duck before the pillow Nichole hurled hit her in the head.

"I said I was sorry! And I bought your drinks when we went to Outlaws that night to make up for it."

"Yes, you did...I forgot. You are forgiven."

About then, the sound of the ranch truck pulling up could be heard and a few minutes later the front door opened.

"Where's my girl?” Nichole’s father shouted.

"We're out back, Jimmy!" Carolyn shouted back, "and stop yelling like a redneck, we've got company!" Nichole just shook her head as Harry and Gemma laughed quietly.

Dylan stuck his head through the door and said, "Gemma is not company anymore. I'll shout if I want to." Then he grinned at his sister, "Hey sis."

"Hey Dipstick." Nichole stood up to hug him and her father, "missed ya'll."

"Missed you too, Princess." Jimmy said, kissing his daughter’s cheek. He noticed Harry sitting quietly next to Gemma. Harry stood up and extended his hand to him.

"Hello, I'm Harry."

"Nice to meet ya, Harry. Gemma's...?" Jimmy asked, not knowing a thing about One Direction. All he knew was that Gemma's brother was in a band. But since he only listened to country music, he didn't have a clue who Harry was.

"Brother."

"Oh well then, Nice to have you here. We love Gemma. Best thing to happen to my little girl meeting her."

"Daddy...", Nichole moaned.

"She is quite special. But I think Gemma was the lucky one, meeting Nichole."

He just laughed and said, "My girl does have a bit of a temper."

Gemma and Nichole both looked over at Dylan and he was just looking at Harry like he had a horn growing out of his head. Gemma snorted and said,

"Dylan, since your sister is so rude. This is my brother, Harry."

"Nice to meet you, Dylan. I've heard a lot about you."

"Funny, I've never heard anything about you, Harry." Dylan said, still eyeing Harry.

"Oh for crying out loud, Dylan. I only met him yesterday, goodness sake."

"Dylan Michael! I raised you better than that, young man. Where are your manners?" Carolyn scolded him. She was embarrassed that her son was so rude to a guest in her home and he knew it. He was going to be paying for that for a while.

Carolyn shooed them upstairs to shower and clean up for dinner and went to the kitchen to get things ready. Nichole stood there looking at Harry with her hands in her back pockets.

"I'm going to go see if I can help.” Gemma followed Carolyn inside. Nichole let out a nervous laugh and Harry exhaled sharply and grinned.

"So sorry about my brother. He's really a good guy. I swear. If Hannah was here she would’ve stepped on his toes or something to shut him up."

“Hannah?”

“His wife. She’s working late tonight at the hospital. She’s a nurse.”

"Ah. Well, it's okay. You both mentioned how protective he was."

“No, Harry, it’s not. But thank you for saying it is.”

Nichole was so embarrassed, and knowing the news they were about to drop on her family, this was not going to go smoothly with him.

~*~*~*~

Harry was noticeably taken aback by the amount of food Carolyn had cooked for her family. He’d never in his life eaten as much food as he saw Dylan pile on his plate. Everything did look amazing though. And he didn’t want to be rude, so he just made a point of trying some of everything. He noticed Gemma smiling at him, her eyes twinkling as she leaned over and whispered something in Nichole’s ear. They both started giggling like they were fourteen and he narrowed his eyes at them.

“Harry, momma is not going to be upset if you don’t eat like my brother, the pig. I promise.”

“Hey!” Dylan said looking up from his plate, “Shut up, Nick. I’ve been working outside all day!”

“Aw go on, Harry…I’ll call your trainer and let him work out new ways to torture you.” Gemma teased.

“Oh shut up.” Harry mumbled, dropping another biscuit on his plate.

Carolyn looked across the table at the four of them and shook her head.

“For goodness sakes, my table is full of ten year olds today.”

"So, what's the news you have for us, Nicky Marie?" Jimmy asked, obviously changing the subject before Carolyn started scolding them. Nichole looked at Harry and then at Gemma, who patted her leg and whispered,

"Go on, rip off the bandage."

She took a deep breath, pushed her hair behind her ears, "I've been offered a job. A great opportunity to really do some awesome things and I've decided to take it."

"Oh? What kind of job?" Nichole glanced at Harry and took another deep breath.

"Harry has asked me to help him with his charity commitments. I'll be his consultant. I'll be researching the different organizations that need his help and finding the best way to go about providing that help. I’ll be his liaison basically. And I will get to see a lot of the places that I have worked so hard for."

"Oh!" Carolyn smiled, "Baby girl, that's wonderful!" You could see the pride in her eyes and hear it in her voice. Jimmy put down his fork, looking between Harry and Nichole.

“Well, that's great, sweetheart. I know this is something you will be really good at. I’m proud of you." Dylan was just staring at Nichole. She looked him right in the eyes, waiting for his reaction. As if on cue, he asked,

"So, does this mean you are going to move?"

"Yes, I will be moving to London in a couple of months. I need to tie up loose ends here and we need time for a work Visa to process, we've already started that process though."

"London?"

"Yes, that's where Harry lives. And where we will be based." Dylan looked at Harry then back at Nichole, "Where are you going to live? Sis, I don't like this. When are we going to see you? London? I hate you living in San Antonio, and you want to move to another country?" Gemma spoke up before Nichole could say anything.

"Dylan, she's going to live with me. I have a house that is too big for just me anyway. I need a roommate. Your sister is a grown woman that can take care of herself. And she's traveled to third world countries before, I think she'll be okay in London."

"I didn't like her traveling to those places any more than I like this idea."

"Dylan, I'm not asking your permission. I'm doing it. I'd like you to be happy for me. This is my work, it's important to me. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to god damn supportive instead of treating me like I'm sixteen!"

"Nichole Marie..." Carolyn said softly, "we don't swear at the dinner table. Dylan, you apologize to your sister this minute, and her friends."

Dylan pushed himself away from the table and stormed out the back door, slamming it as he went. Nichole jumped up and stormed out of the house and following Dylan to the back yard.

"Dylan Michael! How dare you?!" He spun around quickly and shouted right back at her.

"How dare I what, Nichole? Worry about you? Not want you to leave? How dare I what?!"

"Momma and Daddy haven't told me what to do since I was eighteen years old, you damn well don't get to tell me what to do and you certainly don't get to speak to them like that! I am going to be working for him...do you understand that? You just made a jack ass of yourself, and me, IN FRONT OF MY BOSS!! And Gemma...oh my god, Dylan...she is your friend too. Why would you act like her home is not good enough for me? She has been the best friend I have had in my entire life and you were awful to her. You are unfucking believable, do you know that? Unfucking believable! It's an amazing opportunity for me and my career, why can't you just be supportive of it...of me?" Dylan sighed, and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Why do you have to move away, Nick? You've done this sort of work for years here, why do you have to leave?"

"I haven’t done consulting before, Dylan. I'll be working really close with Harry so I need to be where he is. And he’s touring now, based out of London. I know you understand there are international laws that govern this. Legally we can't base this here, it has to be there." At that moment she started to cry, "More than that though, I want to do this. I need to do it. This is what my heart is telling me I should be doing. And I need to know you will be behind me. I need my brother to support me. Please."

Dylan let out a defeated sigh. All he wanted was for Nichole to be happy. He’d never understand why she couldn’t be happy here, on the ranch with her family though.

"Promise you will come home?"

"Dylan...of course...this ranch is in my blood, I'll never leave it. Not permanently. I will be home so much you will get sick of me." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head,

"I'm gonna miss you, Nick."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Dipstick." He chuckled a bit and said,

"That boss of yours, Mr. Boy Band...he better keep things professional with you, or so help me..." Nichole elbowed him in the stomach and said, "You mind your own damn business, Dylan Michael. And his name is Harry. Besides, he's got models falling at his feet, what would he want with a country girl like me?"

~*~*~*~

"Harry, Gemma," Jimmy said as he stood up, "Come in the living room and let's talk about this job you have for Nicky. Carolyn, leave the dishes for Nicky Marie and Dylan. You come sit with us. I know you have questions, too."

Jimmy Davies was definitely the "man of the house." What he said was law. You could see it in the way Carolyn stopped clearing the table and left the mess for Nicky and Dylan. Harry could hear Nicky and Dylan shouting at each other but their parents didn't seem to be bothered, nor did Gemma. He was convinced it wasn't the first time his sister had witnessed the two of them have a row. It was a bit disconcerting for him though. He and Gemma never fought like that. They'd disagreed, of course. But neither of them could imagine shouting at each other like that. Not as adults anyway. Harry was really bothered by it though. He saw that everyone was ok to leave them to it, so he had to just let it go. It wasn't long before the sound of the back door opening was heard and Nichole came into the room. Her face and eyes were red, it was obvious she’d been crying. Harry suddenly felt very protective of her and wanted to go find her brother and find out what his problem was, and why he'd make his sister cry. It turned out to be unnecessary though, because Dylan wasn’t far behind her. His face was quite red as well, but he seemed a bit defeated and complacent. Looking over at Harry he cleared his throat and said,

"Harry, Gemma, I'm sorry I lost my temper. It's no excuse, but Gemma you know how I worry about Nicky. But, she's pretty smart...smarter than I am, that's for sure...so if she feels good doing this, then I am behind ya'll one hundred percent." Harry stood up and extended his hand to him and said,

"S'ok, mate. I know what it's like to have a sister a lot cleverer than I am. It doesn't change the need to want to look after them though." Dylan shook my hand, "I promise to look after her, ok?"

"It's all I ask, man."

Gemma rolled her eyes and said, "You men, like we can't take care of ourselves." Everyone in the room laughed and we turned back to the conversation. Gemma moved over so Dylan could sit next to her. She tilted her head towards Nicky, who had perched herself on the arm of the chair Harry was sitting in. He looked up at her and she smiled softly, her brown eyes still red and shimmering from crying. She mouthed the words "Thank You" to him. His felt that familiar tightening in his chest for a moment and he had to close his eyes, bringing himself back to reality and he turned back to the conversation.

The entire house had a comfortable, lived in feel. It was old, but well taken care of. Nichole explained on the drive that the home had been in her family since the 1940's. Her grandfather grew up in this house, so did her father and her Aunt, and now Nichole and Dylan. Most likely, Dylan’s family will grow up there as well. There had been plenty of renovations over the years, but the house never lost that "ancestral home" feeling. There were pictures of family hanging on the walls and displayed across the mantle. They were mostly all of Dylan and Nicky at all different stages of childhood. Dylan and Hannah’s wedding pictures were on display, and Harry couldn’t help but smile at Nichole’s picture. Dressed in her bride’s maid dress, with dressy cowboy boots on next to the rest of the bride’s maids dressed the same. He’d never understand how she ended up befriending his sister but he was so thankful she did.

This was the kind of home he could see younger versions of Nichole and Dylan running through, Carolyn scolding them for running in the house. Large family gatherings were held here. Love and family could be felt coming from every part of this house. It was definitely a place that was meant to be a family home. Nothing like the houses Harry lived in while in LA, or even his home in London. He was never in either place long enough to even really consider them homes. They were more like "bases of operation." He and Gemma both only really felt home, when they were back at home with their mother and step-father, or with their dad. He easily understood why this place brought such peace to Nichole’s life. Like him, her touch stone was family and her home.

Notes

Not much to say...hope you are enjoying it :)

Feedback is love, ya'll