Hot Chocolate

eighth - wish

WHEN URIAH OPENS the door, he doesn't expect a certain brunette to be standing on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

But that's the least of his worries.

What worries him the most at this moment is the fact that Louise Santiago looks absolutely devastating, and not in a romanticized pretty way. Because of the worst combination of all types of weather, which is freezing air and pouring rain, she's shaking while her teeth are chattering. He stares at her, befuddled, as she stares back at him under her lashes, and he notices how swollen and red they are. Without even wasting another second, he wraps an arm around her shoulders and brings her in.

When he does, he hears her heavy breathing more clearly. She's concentrated on the ground, not bothering to make eye contact with him, and is extremely unfocused. It's almost as if she doesn't even know where she is at the moment.

"Louise?" he says, but it comes out as a soft whisper, because he's terribly worried. She doesn't answer. Maybe she can't even hear him. "Lou?" He gently places his hands on her shoulders, and bends down to her height to look into her eyes. "Talk to me. Are you okay?"

She opens her mouth, but emits nothing. Slowly, she raises her head to look back at him. Then, he sees fear and vulnerability in her big, glassy eyes; something he doesn't witness very often. He has the biggest urge to pull her into his arms, and kiss her until she's okay, but he knows that it's not right.

Not this time anymore.

Whimpering, she slowly leans into his body and warmth while still maintaining eye contact, "I—I know."

Furrowing his eyebrows, he shakes his head and asks, "What are you—?"

"Uriah?"

He sighs, and shuts his eyes. Great timing, mom. He twists his back, and glances at Grace who's on top of the staircase and has a sleepy look etched across her face. "Yeah, mom?"

"Who was—oh," she says, widening her eyes as she latches her gaze on the shaking girl in his arms. "Is that you, Louise?"

Uriah tenses up. His mother has no idea what happened to Louise. What if she says something that confuses the hell out of her? What if she brings something back from the past and Louise finds out that he's been lying to her all this time? Yeah, she's probably going to do that. He can't have her ruin all his efforts he's been doing to protect her. It can't end like this. It's too risky.

He's about to open his mouth to interject and take Louise away from starting a conversation, but she beats him to it, and replies with a polite and wavering tone, "Yeah. Hi, Mrs. Walter."

"I—uh." Grace Walter's eyebrows knits together, and she tilts her head to the side cluelessly for a second.

Uriah understands her confusion, because he remembers telling her about his bad break up with Louise, and mentioning that they're probably never going to go back together again. It must be odd seeing them together again after three years.

"I apologize for the trouble—"

Grace immediately shakes her head, and interrupts, "It's no problem at all, trust me." She trots down the stairs, a look of concern etches on her face as she takes in Louise's appearance. "It's just been a long time since we've seen each other and . . . you don't look fine."

"Mom," Uriah chimes in, raising his eyebrows. Great, she ruined it. He's sure Louise is bewildered as hell right now, probably wondering how she even met her before. Then, he glances at her, expecting a sign of confusion. However, he notices her lips twitch into a small smile. She looks . . . calm.