Remember When ↠ l.p.

The plan

"We're home!" I call out as Louis and I enter the apartment. Caitlyn runs out to great us each with a hug. Antonio follows behind her, his mussed hair would suggest she had him playing tea party too.

"How did it go?" he asks.

"I, for one, thought it went very well. I was pleased with the results. Eh what'd you think Isabella...?" Louis motions towards me as he carries Cailyn over to the couch. He settles down, nudging off his shoes and setting her on his knee.

"I was quite impressed with how much work you put into the whole production, to be honest. if I hadn't known better I would have thought it was actually an audition."

"Then I did my job superbly!" he preens a little. "Luckily, I was able to feed Colin, our man," he says for the benefit of Antonio, "all the sorts of answers he might need. Luckily Liam's tactics in hiring people haven't changed since he's had a personality switch. He's the weirdest about it, but I knew just what sort of random things he'll ask and think are important." he rolls his eyes and proceeds to run his hands over Cailyn's ribs and spine, tickling her until she's howling with laughter.

I smile at the scene. Thinking back over things, it's incredibly that Louis was able to prepare Colin so well. "You must know him really well. Er did, I guess."

"I think I still know him pretty well actually. That could be me being cocky, but to-" he glances at Cailyn "to heck with it. I'm pretty sure if we can get this evaluation and a man inside, we'll be able to keep an eye on everything and get on the legal side of things."

"That's all I want. For everything to be safe and controlled. That sounds bad, I know, but I can't help it." I shrug and prop my head up on my hand. "Did you really mean it when you said you could get me custody of Tessie?"

"Yes," Louis sobers a little, rubbing Cailyn's back to calm her down a little as she bounces on his lap "I've consulted my lawyer and I've spoken with Liam's parents. They're fine with it so long as they can take over for you if needed. In fact, there may be some way that they can help us get Tessie. After all they've fixed Liam up with these medications and are talking to his doctors. In some ways they have authority over him and can dictate some of his actions." he pauses and frowns, thinking things over. "Of course it's definitely going to be harder when they're overseas."

"That would be wonderful. I'd feel much better about it having them onboard. It's so weird to stand there, watching him. It feels like I'm betraying him, I keep imagining how hurt he would look. It's so hard to associate his face and expressions to this new personality." I admit this with relief and finally saying it. I feel like Louis will understand what I've been feeling. Everyone knows how close they got before Louis was free to hang out with whomever he wanted to hang with. Chat with. Laugh with. Freaking look or glance at. In addition, he and Liam wrote so much on all of the albums following Take Me Home. No doubt they became very close.

He reaches over and pats my knee, the other hand behind Cailyn so she won't fall of his lap as he's tilted over to me. "I know what you're feeling. Just remind yourself that it's not actually him Isabella, yes it's his body and his voice. But on the inside he's trapped inside whatever cage he's built up and that the medicine has reinforced. We need to put both him and Tessie in a safe environment so we can try to help him. There's nothing to feel bad about."

"Thank you," I smile at him, maybe a little tearily. I brush the edges of my eyes. I'm so grateful to have here. I'm so grateful for all that he's doing. It's given me hope.