espionage [h.s.]

FORTY

By the time we get back to the house after dinner, it's quite late, so the trainees decide to go to bed. Klaudia doesn't seem happy about it, wanting to stay up to hang out with Louis and I, but it's clear that Connie is having none of it and she ends up practically dragging Klaudia upstairs. I feel a little amused by it, wondering if it has anything to do with Rochelle. I know that she hasn't told Connie anything about us, but Connie must suspect something seeing as she's practically been blocking any contact between Klaudia and I throughout the time we've been here. Whether she knows or not, she's definitely a loyal friend.

Seeing as we don't really have anything else to do, Louis and I both take a couch each in the living room, Louis flicking through the channels on the TV. The signal is quite patchy though, so most of the channels flicker or just don't work at all. I don't pay much attention to it, instead fiddling with my phone in an attempt to get back into contact with the EEI, but nothing seems to work, so I end up just throwing the phone back down in frustration.

"What's up?" Louis asks from across the room, clearly hearing my annoyed huff.

"Stupid phone's still not working," I tell him, tossing it even further away from me just because it's pissing me off so much. "Everyone at the institute probably thinks we've been blown to pieces. And Rochelle doesn't even know if her instructions to disarm the bomb were right, or if she killed us."

Not surprisingly, Louis doesn't look too concerned. "They'll find out we're alive when we go back there," he says, slamming his hands against the back of the remote as if that'll get it to work properly.

"So you don't care that they're probably all worried about us and could think we're dead?" I ask him. "Even Anton doesn't know whether we disarmed the bomb or not."

"Like I said, they'll find out when we go back," Louis shrugs.

I glance over at him, shooting him a perplexed look. "Why don't you seem to care about this?"

"There's not much we can do if we can't get into contact with the institute," he says, eyeing me suspiciously. "Why do you care so much? What are you rushing back to the institute for?"

Just by the expression on his face, I know what he wants me to say. He wants me to admit that I'm desperate to go back to the institute to see Rochelle, because she's been the only thing on my mind while we've been away on this mission. But I'm not going to give him the satisfaction. "Nothing," I reply smoothly, leaning back against the couch.

"Yeah right," Louis scoffs. "It's because of Rochelle, isn't it?"

"No. Why would it be because of her?"

"Because you two are.....close," he says with a slightly disapproving edge to his voice.

"And why would you say that?"

He just laughs, shooting me an incredulous look, like he's wondering if I think he's an idiot. "When we were on that video call, you called her Roch," he points out, raising an eyebrow. "So was that just a slip of the tongue or your little nickname for her?"

I shake my head in disbelief, not a fan of the tone he's using, or the fact that he's even questioning me like this. "I don't know why I said that. It just came out," I reply, although it's pretty obvious that Louis' not buying it. I can't say I blame him, especially because he's caught Rochelle and I looking rather close several times now. But even still, I refuse to tell him anything. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

"I don't," he says with a careless shrug. "I was just wondering."

"No, you're interrogating."

Louis rolls his eyes, placing the remote control down beside him. "I'm just trying to make sure you know what you're doing," he affirms. "I'm not an idiot, and I know you're close with her, but being close with a trainee is dangerous...."