Prince and the Pauper

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Devonne, get in here you little brat!"  I winced at the sound of Mia screeching my name from in the kitchen. I casted a glance at my baby brother, reluctant to leave him unattended, but knew it would be better than subjecting him to exposure of his drunken mother.
"I'll be right back, Geordie." I whispered, before tucking in the blanket to his cot, and slowly trudged out of our shared room.
"Care to explain what this is?" Mia demanded, thrusting a bottle of milk in my face. I blinked in confusion on how a mother of two couldn't recognize a baby bottle. Then again I knew it had been my father that bottle fed me as a baby, given Mia was too consumed by the bottom of her own bottle.
"It's a baby bottle with milk. For Geordie." I whispered faintly, afraid the slightest hint of indignation in my tone could result in her lashing out again.
"I know that you smartass!" Mia hissed, causing me to flinch and take a step back from her swaying yet looming figure. "I meant what the hell was it doing in the microwave! You can't even clean correctly and put things in the right place." She cackled a mocking laugh, and I took a deep breath, knowing it was best in everybody's interest for me to remain composed.
"I wasn't cleaning. I was heating up the milk for him. That's what you're supposed to do for babies." I left out the remark about how she should be breast feeding him, but thought better of it. I had bruises and scars to prove that challenging Mia was asking for trouble.
"Are you suggesting you know more about parenting than I do?"  She growled viciously. Yes, I do. But I didn't dare say that.
"No. Dad told me that." My voice trembled, and Mia laughed darkly, the sound  resembling a brewing thunder storm.
"Sam knows nothing besides how to spin a few slots down at the pokies."  For once I didn't want to argue with what she said, and I nodded once, hoping feigning passive agreement would result in her sending me to my room without her using her fists.
"Go on then!" I flinched as she threw the bottle at me, not giving me time to attempt to catch it. I heard to bounce, and then opened my eyes to see the milk spilling onto the floor.
"Worthless little skank!" She cussed at the mess, and I blinked away the oncoming tears. My eyes burned with tears but the didn't fall. I was getting better at bottling up my emotions now, getting better at acting like her words didn't hurt as much as her hands.
"Clean this up now! I'm going to the bar with Sharon, and I expect this is cleaned up by the time I get back." I meekly nodded  thinking I had escaped a brutal beating. I breathed too soon, because the minute I turned my back a force slammed into my back, sending me into the rickety kitchen table and crashing down onto the floor, the table rocking from the force of the shove and then collapsing onto me. I cried out and hissed in a sharp breath from the pain shooting up my back, and shoved the table off my body. I blinked through my tears to see Mia was gone, and I let my tears fall freely, sobbing as I hobbled onto my knees. I knelt in the mess of the milk, and rubbed my palms into my eyes to fight the onslaught of tears. Shrieking sounded from in the room down the hall, and I knew Geordie must have been startled by the ruckus. I slowly staggered to my feet and tried to find something to clean the mess, when the door opened and Sam walked in. His dark eyes roamed from me to the collapsed table, the spilt milk, and then down the hall where Geordie was crying.
"What happened?" His voice gruff, like he was ready to blame me for all the commotion.
"I-mom-it was an accident." I stammered, not wanting to test his temper. His brown eyes landed on my tear streaked face and he let out a heavy sigh, like my existence was a huge inconvenience.
"Go tend to your brother. I'll sort this." He flicked his head at the mess, and I quickly nodded, heading down the hall to Geordie.
"Devonne." I froze as Sam called my name, surprised he even remembered it.
"Yes?" My voice squeaked and my shoulders tensed in anticipation.
"I got lucky today, won some cash. When your brother is done crying, go and get some groceries."  I nodded again, the chore of doing the shopping not new to me despite my young age. I entered my room and picked Geordie up out of the cradle. I rocked him back and forth gently, and eventually he fell asleep in my arms. I smiled down at him, and kissed the top of his head before lowering him down into the cradle again, tucking him in. With a weary backward glance I shut the bedroom door and headed out to the kitchen, where Sam had cleaned up, and some cash sat on the table. I nearly headed out the door when my eyes landed on an empty vodka bottle, and I glanced around. Nobody was around, and I carefully picked up the bottle, before exiting the house and stumbled down the muddy slope to the side of the driveway that led to a small river in some dense bush. The familiarity of the shrubbery made me smile, and  as I reached the familiar oak tree I stopped and breathed in the fresh air. The smell of pine trees filled my senses, and I let the scent relax me. I reached into the hole in the trunk of the oak tree, and retrieved the notepad and pen I stored in there. I quickly scribbled down the silent prayer of help onto the note, and rolled it up, shoving it inside the empty vodka bottle. The concept wasn't new to me, and it had always proved a good form of release. One day I would take the collection of vodka bottle with all my prayers written inside, and I would release them into the ocean. It would be my way of letting go, and being free. I took one last glance to check I truly was alone, and then shoved the bottle into the bushes, where it rattled as it pressed against all the other bottles of unsent prayers.

I woke up with a start, the dream, or memory rather, raw in my mind. I ran my hands down my face to collect my frazzled state, and glanced around the room I was in. A smile spread to my lips as I saw the silk curtains framing the bed to our new room. I turned on my side to look at Harry, only to see his side of the bed empty. I frowned slightly, but I paused to listen carefully and I could hear soft music floating up the stairs, and the occasional clatter in the kitchen. I peeked my head out the curtains and saw the digital clock reading it was just gone six pm. Harry and I must have fallen asleep some time after we came down off the roof, and he'd gone to prepare dinner without waking me. With time alone with my thoughts I let my mind wander back to the dream. The bottles were gone now, released out into the ocean in hopes of letting go of my childhood and ghosts. All of them were gone except for one. One that I hadn't been able to let go off, one that that had scarred me the most in life, and the thought of just releasing it and moving on seemed so impossible. I nibbled on my lower lip as my eyes darted to the duffel bag in the corner of the room, and I knew I had to do it. For closure for me, and for proof to Harry that I held no resentment towards him and I trusted him completely, I had to set this last bottle free. I rose from the bed and rummaged through the duffel bag, scooping out my clothes and picked up the old vodka bottle. My eyes glared at it, the contents that once filled this bottle now washed down by my mother, the repercussions swallowing me up and drowning me in the darkness of my past. With my eyes squeezed shut I inhaled and exhaled loudly, and exited the room, descending the stairs cautiously.  When I reached the kitchen I saw  Harry had his back to me, facing the stove as he stirred something around, and I heard him singing along to Adele. I smiled softly at the sound, and I must have let out a faint laugh, because he spun startled, but when his eyes landed on me a smirk graced his lips, his dimples deepening.
"Hello beautiful." He greeted, and his smile was infectious.
"Hey." I grinned back, walking up to him with my hands behind my back, hiding the bottle. Harry eyed me suspiciously, but a dangerous spark ignited his green eyes, showing he was more curious than wary.
"What have you got behind your back, Angel?" Harry asked slowly. I bit my lip slightly and forced a smile.
"A gift." I responded, making him make a deep sound of skeptism.
"A gift I would like, or a gift I should run from?"
"A gift that was a burden to me, but I'm hoping you'll see it as positive." I worded carefully, and his forehead creased in confusion. He must have seen the determination in my eyes because he turned off the element and leaned back against the counter with his arms folded across his chest.
"You have my full attention." He replied earnestly, and I smiled in appreciation.
"When I was little I started this weird habit. I had to handle the disaster of my parents alone, and carry the burden of raising a baby when I was still a kid." Harry nodded sympathetically, not daring to interrupt. "I had nobody to turn to, and I wasn't very religious, but I had to vent it all out somehow.  So I collected all the empty bottles from my mother and I wrote little prayers of help, or just rants, and put them inside."
"Like a wishing bottle?" Harry confirmed.
"Yes. Only I didn't throw them out to sea until I turned into an adult. Until I was sure I could say that it was all in my past, and I had truly let it all go. And I did let them go, Harry. All except one." I took the bottle from behind my back and held it in front of us. Harry looked at it intently, and I knew he was taking this seriously.
"I couldn't let this one go. I tried but I was so bitter about it and so angry, I felt like I didn't need to let it go. Like I was entitled to my hatred. So I kept it. I told myself I would never be able to let it go." I took a deep breath.
"And then I met you." Our eyes connected, and Harry flashed a beautiful smile, snaking his arms around my waist and pulling me in until the bottle was pressed against both of our stomachs.
"You changed everything for me Harry. You changed my opinion of you, your mother. You saved me from drowning in debt and more importantly you saved my brother. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be with him now. You kept my family together and you help keep me together.
"But I don't want to let this one go away as if it never existed. I want it as a reminder of how something so horrific bought me something so beautiful and priceless." I braved a look up at him. 
"It bought me you. It bought me love. So I want to give this to you. You have given me so much, and all I seem to do is take. I want to return the favour. I may not be rich in money or power, but I can give you all I have. I am all I have, Harry. And this," I placed the bottle in his hands, and he grasped it tightly. 
"this is all of me. It's the one thing in my life I haven't been able to let go of, and I want to give it to you. I want you to see this prayer inside the bottle, not as a reminder of what happened, but of how you answered it." Harry smiled up at me and pressed his lips to mine gently. I kissed him back softly, and when we pulled back I watched as he unscrewed the bottle and shook out the note. Butterflies danced in my stomach as he unfolded it. I nearly fainted when he read it out loud.
"This prayer is for Harry Styles. I know he isn't Dante, and I know I can't hold him responsible for what happened to Geordie. I saw him in court. I saw the guilt in his eyes. He's not a lost soul, and for that I pray for him. I pray he finds love and that light can flood out the darkness that his brother plagued him with. I pray that he gets everything he wishes for no matter what the riches, but out of it all that love will be his greatest gain, and it will be his most priceless possession. I pray that out of all the gems, love will be his diamond in the rough, as I believe that's what he is, a diamond, in the rough of his family."