number 12. (l.s.)

Chapter 22.

T W E N T Y T W O
-rock paper scissors-

It was 8 o'clock in the evening when Scarlett, Dan and Louis drank a cup of tea in the living room. After their talk upstairs, they'd left Louis alone, since it was a big emotional roller coaster. He was a little scared that dinner would be incredibly awkward, but luckily Scarlett and Dan weren't really awkward people.

"I just want to say, erm, that I'm sorry about what I said, I was just scared I guess,' Louis silently confessed with his cup of tea in his hands covered by his sleeves.

Scarlett smiled at him with her lips pressed together. "It's okay, I understand that it's hard." Louis softly nodded, even though she could never understand.

"Ow, and another thing,' he started, 'I told this Dan before, but... I just find it hard to open up, and I can't force myself to do so." He just wanted to make that clear, scared that she'd think that suddenly he could tell them anything.

"That's okay, we don't want to force you either, just take your time. We'll be here. Always,' Dan and Scarlett both smiled at him, happy with the next step they took in growing their bond.

Louis looked at his sleeves. "You seem quite tired, did you even sleep last night?" Scarlett asked.

"Not really, since the incident actually,' he confessed silently.

Scarlett's eyes widened. "Aren't you tired?"

"Only a bit." But he actually was a lot.

"Then go to bed, you have school tomorrow. Go,' she said with an encouraging smile.

Louis nodded softly, blinking with his eyes as he did so. "Okay." He walked up the stairs, leaving Dan and Scarlett on the couch downstairs. They smiled at each other. "I'm so glad we made this choice,' Dan said, rubbing her upper leg, smiling at her.

"I really think we chose the right one."

"It's going to be tough."

"I don't understand how eleven families just kicked him out." Scarlett said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Unbelievable right, he seems really sweet, but we just have to get to him."

"It may be really tough. We've just seen this side of him. He fights, don't forget that. I mean, I don't want you to keep having to save him. We need to talk to him about this."

"I know we do, but not now. We just came through this phase,' Dan said with a sigh, since it was tough for them as well. Scarlett smiled softly at that. "Okay."

Louis was in kind of a good mood that Monday. Only, he knew he couldn't start an entire life. Yes, Scarlett and Dan made it seem like this could really be a place for Louis, maybe for longer than a year or so, but Louis could never know for sure. Not only that, Louis would not always be there on earth.

Not as long as usual teenagers.

However, he didn't worry about that. He walked into the school. His jaw was still bruised, as well as a part of his cheek. He figured it would be remarkable, since Zayn probably also was a bit bruised. When he thought about it, he didn't even know how bad Zayn was wounded.

He was at school in the fourth period. He actually started the first period, but when he woke up, just when his alarm went, Scarlett was by his side. "You didn't sleep for two days, get some hours of sleep, okay? When you wake up, you'll go to school. I'll cover for you,' she had smiled. Louis softly nodded, closing his eyes again. He woke up at 11.