Kai was laying on his bed, hands folded behind his head as he stared at the white ceiling in front of him. His mother was lightly snoring in the room next to his, unaware of the slight insomnia that was going on with her son.
He didn't want to move, fearing he would wake his mother from the sleep he knew she needed. So he stayed there, unmoving and restless trying to force himself to sleep.
Kai lied when he told Louis that he didn't remember any of what happened months ago. He told him that he only remembered hearing their conversation and nothing else. That was a lie. He knew what he did. What he was capable of doing to them.
He knew how he hurt Eloise, and how she saved all of them. He was happy she did that. He was happy she was there with him. He was happy she was his friend.
A smile spread across his face as he remembered the first time they met.
It was a warm day in April, and Kai just turned seven years old a month before. He was walking by himself in the park. Throwing rocks as far as he could, looking at the birds flying around him, and playing with the fish in the pond.
No one was in the park because it was the working hours of the day. The only reason he was out was because he didn't want to go to school that day. So, being alone in the park like that was nothing less than peaceful.
So walking around with a stick in hand, the boy hummed to himself with a tune he'd heard when he was younger.
"Who goes there!" A voice shouted from behind some bushes. "Answer to the great god of leaves or you shall be beheaded by my branches!"
Kai looked curiously into the bush, only to see a whisp of blonde hair and a sparkle of bue eyes from behind. "Hi," he said cautiously. At this point, Kai would've taken off in fear of talking to someone other than Louis or Aadila. But this was different. This felt different. This person, whoever she was, felt...normal. Like the people who Kai lived with. His mother, Louis, Aadila. This person felt like how they did. She felt safe.
Stepping closer, he introduced himself. "I'm Kai Thompson. Who are you?"
The girl grunted and shook her head from behind the bush. "I told you I'm the god of leaves!"
"No you're not. You're only a little girl."
"I'm not little! Anyway, aren't you supposed to be at school?"
Kai zipped to the bushes and was immediately in front of the girl. She screamed and fell back onto the ground. "You should be in school too."
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How did you get here so fast? You were over there a second ago, and then you just magically appeared right here. How'd you do that? Are you magic?"
Kai shook his head and stepped closer into the bushes. She backed away a little, but then stopped, staring at him curiously. "I'm just different. That's all. What's your name?"
"Eloise Smith. Can you teach me how to do that?"
Kai shook his head again. "Only I can do it."
"Oh," Eloise said, clearly disappointed. "Can you show me what else you can do?"
"Okay. But you have to promise not to be scared like my mom. Promise?"
Kai stuck his hand out, and she grabbed it, a lot firmer than he expected. She smirked and nodded. "Promise."
Eloise had been his first and only friend to date. He knew that it was mainly his fault that he didn't have a lot of friends. All of the girls seemed to like him, they all said that he was a good person to be around.
They all gathered around him, giggling and trying to hold his hand, but he'd just brush them off and run to Eloise.
All of the boys were mad at him for taking all of the girls, and all of the girls were mad at Eloise for taking Kai from them. And even though a lot of them were pretty, and they made him laugh sometimes, they weren't Eloise. To him, no girl could ever be like Eloise.
She was smart, witty, and she even saved his life. She understood him, and she still liked him even though he was a little bit different. Who could ask for a better friend than that?
She even hugged him whenever he would think about his life without his dad. His life wasn't as good as it was with Louis. It was still nice, he has nothing to complain about, it was just different.
All of the times he wished he could sneak over to his father's house and just spend time with him were endless. He didn't have any cool things to play with anymore. He didn't have a guy he could play with. He wished he could ask Louis any kind of questions, because Louis always had the answer.
He missed making fun of Bradley with Louis, and wrestling with him. Kai would always beat Louis. He'd pick him up and slam him down on the couch and start roaring in victory. He missed the way Louis would tackle him and tickle him until his gut seemed to burst. He missed how after they played around, they'd eat some food and play with these cards that had numbers and queens and kings on them. He missed that.
He missed all of the bright lights and all of the music that played at Louis' flat. Neither one of them knew what the people were saying in the songs, but he liked the tunes in them. He liked how different all of them were.
Some were really slow, and some were really fast. Some people would talk over the music, and others would sing really beautifully. He liked how Louis would try to sing along with the people on the music, and he always laughed when he would mess up.
Kai's life was boring without his dad there to play with. But there was something else that was good about it now. His mother.
He could see that she was closer to him now. She wouldn't hide from him in her room or ignore him whenever he said something. She wouldn't yell at him, or back away whenever he did something that wasn't normal. He didn't hear her talking in her sleep anymore. He didn't hear her say "He's a mistake" or "I shouldn't have done it."
She hugged him. She kissed him. She told him she loved him. She ate dinner with him every night, and they watched Bradley's speech together. She'd read to him at night, and even teach him a few words in English. And sometimes, she'd let him sleep in the same bed with her. Whenever he had nightmares, she'd let him crawl in her bed and they curl up together and fall asleep.
Kai couldn't say that his mother didn't love him anymore. Because she did. And he was glad that she did. Because he could easily say that he loved her back.
There was a knock on his door that made him jump. He sat up and watched as the door slowly opened.
"Kai," his mother whispered. "Are you awake?"
"Yes."
She smiled under the dim lighting and walked over to his bed. "I had a bad dream."
"You have bad dreams too mom?" She nodded and sat next to him. "About what?"
She sighed and tossed her curly brown hair back. "About your father. About me. About you and Eloise. I have a lot of bad dreams about a lot of things."
"You have dreams about dad too?" She nodded again and held his hand in hers. "Did you love him?"
"Yes," she whispered. Her grip tightened on his hand and she nodded. "I loved him very much. I still do, Kai." She paused and looked at him. "Can I sleep you sweetie? Like how you sleep with me when you have a bad dream?"
Kai nodded, and moved over in his small bed. His mother climbed under his covers and pulled him close to her. They hugged each other and got as comfortable as they could in his bed.
There was a long silence between them. They were both awake, with both eyes wide open, and yet they had nothing to say. Until Clara took a deep breath and let it out. "You know dad's okay, right?"
"Yes mom. I know."
"Okay," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I just wanted you to know, Kai. That's all."
But he knew that wasn't all. He knew she wasn't asking that question to comfort him. She was asking it for herself. She needed to know that Louis was okay. Because not having her love around was eating her up inside. And Kai could see it.
He kissed her cheek, and making sure he was sleep, he whispered, "Mom. It's going to be okay. Dad's going to come home soon, and everything will be normal again. I promise."