Solace

Chapter Four

Louis stirred in his sleep. It was about three in the morning when the sound of a lightning bolt woke him up, his body flinching and shaking in terror.

To be quite honest, he couldn't remember when he last had a good night's sleep. Probably when he was a kid.

But why was it that when his body flinched forward and his eyes opened, he could see that figure at the back of his mind? Those curly curls and his hurt face when Louis stormed off without letting the young boy know anything. There was something about him that annoyed Louis; he didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

So at three in the morning Louis was awake, his body sticky from the sweat caused by his horrendous nightmare. No form of light entered his small institute room but the brightness of the dark scared him.

His feet touched the cold carpet once the covers weren't over his body anymore, and Louis made his way up to the small desk and switched the bed lamp on. The room brightened up in a matter of seconds and Louis could see everything clearly.

Everything in his view was clear, much unlike his mind which was full of corners in need of tidying.

There was a hoodie placed on the back of the chair which stood right beside the desk and Louis put it on, despite the fact that he was covered in sweat and was indeed very hot.

He was still angry, for whatever reason. For Harry judging him? But then again, Louis really should be used to it; everyone always judged him, whether it were the teachers, school pupils, that lady in the supermarket. Even his sisters judged him at times.

He quickly fumbled his hands around in his suitcase, messing the content and pulled out his actual phone. Not the BlackBerry; he couldn't bare to use that.

To: Lottie

I miss you all.

Louis pressed 'Send' once he chose Lottie from his contact list. It might've been late but it was like he needed to tell her that.

He walked outside his room, the key to the door in his hoodie pocket. Quietly, he closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway. There was a small light lit up, probably for the people who wanted/needed to use the toilet at night which caused Louis to sigh from relief.

His feet carried him from one corridor to another and he was hoping for one thing; that he would be able to find his way back to his room when he felt like going back there.

He didn't know why he was walking around but it felt better than sweating in that bed, his face right in front of his eyes for no apparent reason.

"Excuse me!" A sudden noise almost gave Louis a heart attack.

He spun around to where the noise was coming from, and if not the fact that the light was shining, making it possible for him to see, he would've gone back to the conclusion that the institute was haunted.

Louis' eyes widened as he remembered who that person was. He silently groaned, because hey, he couldn't do it out loud either way.

"What are you doing, wondering around the corridors at such an ungodly hour?" Janet, that annoying woman, whom Louis wanted to lock in a room full of spiders with, asked.

I could ask you the same question. Louis thought and invisibly rolled his blue eyes.

She edged closer to Louis, to the point where he could smell her disgusting and cheap perfume. Her cardigan was a muffled yellow colour and it made Louis gag. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice (or maybe to care).

"Lewis, is that right?"

Louis wanted to tell her, no, but her IQ seemed to be off limits to Louis and so he just nodded. After all, she wouldn't understand sign language anyway.