Agent Kelly Tomlinson

Twenty Three

Harry gave me a ten minute head start before he started driving to the house. My head was spinning at a hundred miles per hour. I haven't seen Lottie since she was 11 and I visited home for the first and last time since going into the agency. Nor have I talked to her. I prayed that she didn't project word vomit in front of anyone other than Louis.

My car skidded to a stop in front of the house. I sprinted through the front door but halted to a stop when I saw Zayn and Niall hanging out in the kitchen eating left over pizza and drinking beer. Their heads snapped in my direction when they heard the door slam.

"Where's Louis?" I asked frantically.

"Having a screaming match with his sister upstairs." Zayn pointed at the ceiling.

As if on cue I heard the vibrations of Louis's shouts through the ceiling. My feet ran up the stairs, taking every other to get up there faster. I ran down the hall and bursted into the room.

Louis and Lottie turned around to look at me, both red in the face from screaming at each other.

I lost my breath as I looked at my sister. She was so much older than I pictured her to be. She was 16, with long bleach blonde hair, darker blonde at the roots. Her makeup was done beautifully as if she was ready to go to a red carpet event. She was no longer the skinny little sister who used to bother me and Louis all the time to play barbies with her. She grew out and had perfect curves that made me jealous.

"Oh my god." She said as if she was stunned to see me standing in front of her right now.

"Oh my god." I said because I couldn't believe how much she's grown and matured over the years. Of course I was happy to her see, but given the circumstances, now wasn't a great time for a family reunion.

"Oh my god." Louis sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hand. I could see that he was frustrated and annoyed. This situation had obviously taken a toll on him.

"Long time no see. Right big sis?" Lottie's voice was laced in with sarcasm and venom. And her eyes were narrowed in anger.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I think the bigger question is what are you doing here?" She stepped forward and pointed at me accusingly. I bit my lip and looked away, feeling like I was being drowned in a pool of endless guilt. "What? Now that Louis has a lot of money and cute friends, you all of a sudden want to be back in his life?"

"Lottie -"

"It's not like that." I cut Louis off. I took a deep breath to try and keep myself calm. "You wouldn't understand."

"Understand what?" Lottie yelled. "You ditched the family when you were 12, I watched Mom cry on your birthdays when you weren't home, I've heard Louis and Dad have screaming matches in the middle of the night when they thought we were asleep. Every time, your name was brought up."

"Lottie stop." I said quietly. This felt like my first conversation with Louis. Her anger matched that of Louis's that day. Her words were just as harsh as his were, respectfully so. I knew I deserved all of this, all the words thrown at me. Hell, I deserved worse. But right now, I felt like I was under water, choking for breath.

"And not a fucking phone call?" Lottie yelled. The front door slammed shut, indicating Harry had just gotten in. "I'm not the ten year old girl you left behind, Kelly! You left, Louis left! Mom is working, Dad is never home so guess who had to run the house and take care of the girls? Me!"

"And you blame me for that."

Great, another thing to be guilty about - not fulfilling my older sisterly duties and leaving Lottie to handle it all at the age of 16.