The Royal Series | H.S [Instagram]

THROWBACK ANGST

The twins are 17 here, Iris is 15. This is about Falling from Fine Line, and I missed you.
Italics are flashbacks.

—

It was another lazy weekend for the Styles household. The Princess was watering her plants, Harry replying to emails on the sofa as Eva watched the telly, Tommy editing a few pictures on his laptop as he sat beside them while Iris was looking for her rollerblades for God knows why.

Iris was in the storage room, where the family kept their old, precious belongings and memories and also known as one of Iris' favourite rooms in the flat because she always found out interesting stuff.

She huffed as she failed to find what she went to the room for, shoulders slumping before her eyes travelled to the vinyls stacked neatly, one after the other. Not having anything better to do, she walked towards them, playing a game of her own as she let her fingers graze them, humming when she chose a random one and picked it up.

Surprised was to say the least. In her hands, was a vinyl with her dad on it, in white trousers and pink blouse, striking a pose with 'FINE LINE' written at the bottom.

Curiosity filled the 15-year-old girl, making her almost stagger to where the record player was in the corner of the room, putting the vinyl in.
Placing the lever randomly on the vinyl, soft drums began playing.

Sitting on the floor, Iris was awestruck as she heard her dad begin to sing.

"Golden, golden, golden as I open my eyes."

Iris was grinning, moving in rhythm with the beat as she grasped the lyrics and Harry's voice.
The song coming to an end was the same moment her older siblings, the twins, walked in, closing the door behind them.

"Is that Dad?" Eva asked curiously, watching her young sister nod excitedly.

Iris raised the empty vinyl record, showing them, "It's an album. Called Fine Line."

They both sat beside her, gazing at the photograph of their father in amusement as Iris stood up, placing the lever somewhere else on the vinyl.

The second a piano note sounded, they all looked at the record player, eyes widening.

"That's Mum." Tommy whispered gently, pointing at the record player, "That's Mum."

"I'm in my bed, and you're not here. And there's no one to blame but the drink and my wandering hands."

They sat in silence as they listened to, what they almost knew, their mum play the piano, their dad painfully singing.

"I'm falling again, I'm falling again, I'm fallin'."

"Jesus." Eva breathed out, feeling her eyes water, making her rub them before grabbing the empty vinyl holder again, flipping it. It was almost as if her eyes knew where to go, they fell on their mum's name. Written in a very small size, almost as if they didn't want people to find out was 'Princess Y/N'.

"It really is Mum." Eva said gently, looking up at her siblings.

"And I get the feeling that you'll never need me again."

Tommy let out a breath, raising a hand to brush back his hair. "Do you think he wrote that about Mum?"

Iris looked up at her brother, frowning. "It's-" She paused, "It's so sad."

"I'm going to ask them." Eva said suddenly, standing up and taking the vinyl holder with her. Iris quickly paused the record as her and Tommy followed Evangeline out of the room and towards the sitting room where their mum and dad sat, Harry reading a book while the Princess ticked things off in her to-do list.