Midnight Shades

Chapter 5

It seems like air was knocked out of me. The words of my mother telling me to never speak to him is ringing through my ears, paining me and aching my heart, though a voice at the back of my mind keeps telling me that they are just words, that I don't have to tell her anything again, that she will not know that I will definitely see Louis again.

I feel my eyes burning with tears, though I refuse to let them roll down my cheeks. I will not cry. Not with her here, and definitely not in front of my father. However, I feel a hot tear rolling down my cheek but I quickly wipe it away. Even though I will not listen to my mother, and I will probably fall even more for Louis and cause myself so many troubles, it feels like my heart is breaking tortuously, piece by piece, just to make me feel how painful it is.

Do you ever get that feeling, when you feel like your heart is slowly breaking, and then the rest of it just falls down to the floor so fast? So fast that you don't even get the chance to blink? I felt that when the words left my mother's mouth. And standing right here, watching as my mother kisses my father's cheek and grins at him, watching their little happy moment and Cronan running up to them, I feel like my world is crashing over me, I feel like I don't belong to this perfect and happy picture, even if it is about such a little thing.

But it is not a little thing. That is Louis, the man who stole my heart in the blink of an eye, and my mother, who just demanded me not to see him again. How can something like that be little? If anything, I'm the one who is feeling so small and little right now. I try to gather myself and put on my widest grin as I walk right up to my father and greet him.

"How was work?" I ask him as my mother places the food that I made on the dinner table.

He takes a seat at the head of the table and I sit down, too. "It was good; eventful, but good."

I nod with a small smile before I feel Cronan sitting down on the chair next to me; I look down at him in confusion. He only sits next to me when he wants something from me. As if on cue, he sneakily tries to gain my attention by tapping on my leg under the table. I lean down and ask him, "What do you want?"

"Are you going to the city tonight?" He asks in a hushed tone and I look at my father and mother – who look like they are having a serious conversation – before looking back at my little brother.

"Why are you asking?" My voice is just as hushed as his. No one knows what will happen if my parents knew about me going to the city almost every night.

"I want that orange thing you brought me last time." He says, nervously biting his nails.

I smile a little, "Do you mean the Cheetos?"

His eyes immediately lights up and he begins moving his head up and down repeatedly in excitement, "Yes, that's its name."

I chuckle quietly and ruffle his hair before nodding, "Alright, I'll bring you one tonight."

The rest of the day goes by rather quickly and I'm thankful, I feel even luckier when I notice that midnight is just three hour away. Just three more hours and I will see Louis. He always stays in the shop until two in the morning or something, which I'm also thankful for. Earlier, I have changed into my black jeans and put on a light blue shirt, and warmed myself with the black leather jacket, since that it is a little cold outside.

Even though we live in our small and secret village, and we don't have any type of connection with the people outside, and we certainly aren't provided with the things that people in the city are provided with, we are fully aware of everything happening around us. We know how science is now at its finest, and how people are crazy about technology and all the weird phones they are having.