concealing ➸ tomlinson

xxiii

kris's dream started in a young boy's bedroom.

that much was rather obvious with the graphic novels and superhero posters coating the walls. this time, kris could walk around freely, but her voice was still gone and she was unable to leave the room. a boy was sitting on the foot of the bed- the same she'd seen in the storm. the bruise still claimed a large portion of his face, but the blood had been wiped away.

then the door opened, and the second small boy walked in. with all the heavy winter clothes now gone, his face was now clearly visible. he had soft hazel eyes, scruffy dark hair that was horribly out of place, and cheeks flushed red from the cold.

"my mum said she was going to call someone." he said, closing the door behind him with his foot. "here, have this."

the first boy glanced up. the other boy was holding a cup of steaming something- tea, maybe, from the smell of it- towards him.

"thanks." he mumbled, taking it.

the second boy grabbed a chair from his desk, put it down a few feet in front of the boy, and sat down.

"i'm zayn." the second boy said, swinging his legs back and forth, far above the ground.

kris, who hadn't been as much attention as she probably should have been, instantly snapped to attention. she felt idiotic. and that meant that-

"louis." the first boy said. "l-o-u-i-s, but the 's' is silent."

the two children were awkwardly silent for a while, unsure of what to say to the other. zayn rubbed his eyes, glanced around his room once, then looked back at louis.

"you got any sisters or brothers?"

louis shook his head.

"i have three little sisters." he wrinkled his nose. "girls are weird."

that made louis smile just slightly.

then, zayn thought of something and perked up. "hey, do you like drawing?"

"i would if i were any good at it."

"i want to draw for comic books when i get older." he jumped off the chair and began digging through the mess of papers on his desk. "but i don't think im going to be able to."

"why not?"

zayn hesitated. he checked the closed door, then the window, and ran and pulled the curtains shut tight.

"you have to promise you won't tell nobody. okay?"

louis nodded, putting the untouched drink down.

zayn grabbed a notebook and pencil and sat back in the chair. "okay, what should i draw?"

"um," louis scanned the walls for ideas. "i dunno, captain america's shield?"

zayn grinned and instantly began working. for a little kid, he drew really well and really fast. in five minutes or even a little less, he wiped away the eraser shavings and held up the paper for louis.

"how would you not get a job doing that?" louis stared in wonder.

once again, zayn checked the windows and doors. "watch this."

he spelled out his name in the top corner of the page "z-a-y-n m-a-l-i-k" and then put the paper on the floor drawing-side down. louis watched him silently count to ten on his fingers, and then bent down to pick it up. kris knew what was going to happen.

zayn picked up the paper, and the most realistic captain america shield tumbled out onto the floor. louis's mouth dropped open, which, for the record, was adorable.

"cool, huh?" zayn picked it up and grinned,

louis smiled as well. "that is so cool."

"oh, here!" the boy reached around under his bed, tossing aside a few sneakers and mcdonalds toys, and emerged with a glove to a spiderman costume. he put it on and an honest-to-god web shot out. kris managed a laugh, although the boys didn't seem to hear  her, and she watched the two boys scramble around and mess with the toys.

"oh, watch this!" louis ran over to the wall closest to the door, took a deep breath, and pressed both hands against the wall. ice began to climb up onto the ceiling. zayn's mouth dropped.

"wow." he gaped.

then, the door opened. louis jumped back from the wall and put his hands behind his back. zayn did the same, attempting to hide the giant shield in his hands, which didn't exactly work.

"zayn, i need to take your new friend downstairs for a few minutes, okay?" the woman smiled kindly at the children. "and clean up your room some, he might be staying with us for a few days."

the little boy nodded, maybe just a little too quickly. all the ice louis had created was blocked from view by the door. thankfully, she didn't bother to check as she led louis out of the room.

kris wanted desperately to follow, but she became aware of a hand on her shoulder. in the blink of an eye, she was back in her seat on the plane. the sky outside was a dark blue and pink. louis, still blinking the sleep from his eyes, smiled at her.

"i think we're about to land." he said.

kris realized her head was still on his shoulder and abruptly sat up. the plane shook, and with a bump, they began to slow down.

what happened to you? she wanted to ask him. but there was no way to know if what she'd seen was real. and even if it was, would louis even want to talk about it? she wasn't supposed to have seen what she had.

still, kris stuck with louis as everyone on the plane loaded out. ashton, calum and luke tensed at the number of people around. it either didn't bother michael and ashlyn as much, or they were just better at hiding it.

either way, they were home.

 --

my love for marvel sort of came out in zayn you feel. also this might be my last update for a few weeks bc im going to california until the end of july and idk if i'll have time to update?????

stats;

words-1011
reads-825
votes-18
comments-11