Chapter Forty-Eight
As the afternoon turned into night, Louis was leaning up against the wall behind his bed, with Isaac lying beside him, resting his head on Louis' chest. His arms were hanging loosely over Isaac's back, while Isaac's arms lay over Louis' stomach. It wasn't long after they had become an official couple that they had arranged themselves in that position, enjoying it, unmoving. A peaceful silence engulfed the room, and Louis couldn't think of a place he would rather be, but he knew that it would have to end at some point.
"Your heartbeat is calming," Isaac said, and Louis felt a gentle vibration ripple through his chest.
"I don't know how to respond to that," Louis stated, chuckling.
"That just felt really weird." Isaac laughed and shifted his position, bringing his head up to rest on Louis' shoulder; Louis rested his head on top of Isaac's, his arms still wrapped around him.
"I don't want you to go home." Louis sighed as he looked over at the small clock on his bookshelf.
"I don't want to go home, but school is a thing," Isaac mumbled, and Louis felt him let out a sigh. "I can come back around tomorrow if you want."
"I mean, I don't mind," Louis said hastily, and he heard Isaac chuckle. "Sarah's gonna hit me again, though." Now it was Louis' turn to chuckle again.
"I'll deal with her for you," Isaac stated, pushing himself up from Louis' shoulder. "She won't even know what hit her."
"It's not going to be a chair, is it?" Louis asked with a smile, and Isaac let out a laugh.
"I was thinking a baseball bat."
"Metal or wooden?"
"Metal, of course." Isaac laughed again before he went quiet and looked into Louis eyes, who started right back. "Nah, I could never. Maybe a light shove or a poke."
"That sounds much more civil," Louis muttered, his eyes flickering down to Isaac's lips.
"Can I kiss you?" Isaac asked suddenly, and Louis couldn't find any words to say, so he just nodded.
His eyes fluttered shut as Isaac leant in, pressing their lips together. Just like the first time they kissed, a shock wave jolted through Louis as soon as their lips connected, and everything dissolved around them. There was just him and Isaac. There was no bedroom, no building; nothing. It was as if they were in another place, in another time; somewhere where time stood still. It was perfect. Louis thought they fit perfectly together, but just as quickly as the feeling had washed over him, it vanished; Isaac pulled away from Louis with a smile on his face.
"Even better than the first," he whispered as Louis opened his eyes.
"That's because I haven't been crying, so it wasn't as sloppy," Louis grinned, as did Isaac, shaking his head.
"You ruined it. It was a good kiss, though. As was the first."
"Well, I must have a natural talent." Louis smirked, and Isaac gave him a questioning look before realisation dawned on him.
"I was your first kiss?" he asked, looking shocked as Louis nodded. "Well, you're not wrong about the natural talent."
"What can I say? You inspire me." Louis winked, and Isaac rolled his eyes.
"That was super cheesy."
"You're just jealous you didn't think of it." Louis laughed and pushed Isaac all the way off of him, sitting up.
"That must be it." Isaac joined Louis in laughter before they fell back into silence.
It was nice, but Louis, once again, knew that it had to end. It was getting late, and Isaac would have to go home soon, and while they could still talk through the wall, it just wouldn't be the same.
"I wanna take you out at some point," Louis said suddenly, surprising even himself, and Isaac raised his eyebrows at him. "Not as a date, but just as a new couple... doing something."
"That sounds like a date to me." Isaac laughed but nodded. "But I'd like that."
"It's a not-date then," Louis smiled.
"That it is."
The two boys cuddled up once again, quietly playing with each other's hair and sharing small kisses. But all too soon, Isaac's mum was calling, asking him to come home.
Louis lay on his bed after Isaac left, staring at the ceiling, wondering if Isaac was going to go straight to his room or not, but the rumbling in his stomach interrupted him.
Getting up from his bed, ignoring the loud groan the springs made, Louis made his way out of his room and into the kitchen, where he started pulling ingredients out of the fridge and the cupboards, getting everything ready to make dinner.
A little over forty minutes later, Louis sat down to eat when his aunt barged through the door, making him jump. He was sitting on the stool at the kitchen counter when she came in, and he swivelled around in his seat to look at her. Her hair was a mess, and dark circles sat under her eyes. She stood just over the threshold of the apartment as the door closed behind her, and Louis could see that she was having trouble standing.
"Monica?" Louis cautiously got up from his seat, leaving his food on the counter, and took a step towards her.
Even when she looked like hell, Louis could still see his mother's face in his aunt's. It was hard for him to see her like this, especially when all he saw was his mother. It tore him apart.
"Are you okay?" Louis asked quietly.
"What do you care?" Louis heard her say quietly, before staggering over to the couch, using it as a support to keep herself standing. "You've never cared."
"I've always cared," Louis replied, hurt by the words she spoke. "I've always tried to help. Recently, I-I just haven't been the best at showing it," he admitted, feeling ashamed of himself as he took another step towards his aunt.
"You were always so happy with your new family, and that precious boy of yours." Louis froze at his aunt's words.
She didn't know whom she was talking to. She thought she was talking to her sister, Louis' mother. Louis felt a few tears start to form in his eyes, but he managed to blink them away.
"Monica?" Louis repeated, his voice had become much shakier after realising what was happening.
He was unsure of how to handle the situation, and he could smell the alcohol coming from his aunt, but he was certain that wasn't the only thing in her system.
"You were always so happy," Louis' aunt continued to speak, her words were slurred, but Louis still understood them perfectly. "So giving and caring. Then just gone. Poor Lou deserves better."
Louis couldn't stop the tears this time as they rolled down his face. He had never seen his aunt like this or heard those words before. Louis wasn't aware how much she cared about him until this moment; the night he lost his mother and father, his aunt also lost a sister.
"I promised I'd care for him." Louis' aunt pushed off the lounge as she spoke. She started walking very shakily to her room while Louis stood frozen, watching her as she went. "I promised. He's such a good boy. So much like you. I let you down."
Louis stood silently as she wandered into her room and closed the door with a loud bang, and her voice cut out. He could no longer hear her, and he just let the tears roll effortlessly down his face.
He didn't know how long he stood in the living room, staring at the place his aunt had just been, but, eventually, Louis moved. No longer hungry, he shuffled into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot and red; tear stains trailed down his face. He picked up the hand towel next to the sink and wiped his face and eyes before pulling out his contact lenses. How could someone go from being so happy to distraught so fast? The image of his aunt was ingrained in his mind, along with the thought of his mother.
Pushing himself off the bathroom counter he was leaning on, Louis moved out of the bathroom and back into his room, leaving his dinner sitting on the counter to go cold. As he walked into his room, he went straight to his bed and fell on top of it, not bothering to change clothes or get underneath the covers.
After a few moments of silence, Louis heard Isaac's voice drift through the wall. He didn't hear what he was saying, but he didn't care. He didn't feel like talking anymore. He didn't feel like doing anything. He wanted the night to wash away, to fade away into the darkness.
Louis continued to lie still on his bed with his eyes closed, hoping sleep would come over him. He kept hearing the mumbles of Isaac's voice through the wall, catching snippets of what he was saying. Asking if he was okay, and he was sorry if he'd done anything wrong. Louis wanted to tell him he hadn't done anything, and that he'd been perfect, but he couldn't find the strength to do it.
His interaction with his aunt had left him mentally drained, and though he felt horrible about it, he continued to ignore Isaac. As the morning sun made its way through Louis' window, he heard Isaac knock on his wall.
The guilt of ignoring him the night before washed over him again as Isaac told Louis that he should be getting up for school right before Louis' alarm went off. He quickly turned the loud ringing off and was met with silence once again. Having gotten no sleep, Louis sighed at the thought of the long day ahead of him and rolled out of bed, wishing things could be different.
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A/N: Oh, no...
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