Chapter Forty-Nine
Louis continued to feel drained as the week dragged on, and the high he had been riding on vanished. The events of Monday night with his aunt, sadly, weren't the last, as the next two nights followed the same procedure. She would come home late at night, thinking she was talking to her sister. On Wednesday night, when it happened again, she collapsed on the floor, and Louis rushed over to help her up. He took her to her room, and on the way back Louis spotted a small pack of white powder on the floor. Not sure what to do, he discarded it down the toilet and barricaded himself in his room.
Isaac had still been coming over every day after he finished school, being very patient with Louis as he knew something was wrong. It didn't take long for Louis to tell Isaac what was happening and that he was scared. It was an odd thing to say aloud to someone, especially for Louis, but he trusted Isaac, and he felt safe with him.
As the weeks slowly passed by, Louis and Isaac became closer, though they hadn't gone on a second date, or even discussed one (apart from their "not-date") but neither of the boys minded too much.
After the first week with Louis' aunt, things had gone back to normal; well, as normal as they could. Louis wasn't able to bring himself to look at his aunt when she was home; not after what had happened. He barely even spoke to her anymore, mainly because he rarely saw her, and though guilt snaked its way around his body, he did his best to ignore it.
Isaac, of course, helped him, doing his best to reassure him that it would pass and that it would be okay. While Louis wouldn't usually believe it, he found himself trusting in Isaac's words, and as the first day of a new week crept closer to an end, Louis heard Isaac's sweet voice drip through his bedroom wall. It alone reassured him it was going to be alright.
"Hey, Lou-Lou, guess what?"
Louis wasn't too sure how Isaac always knew when he was in his room, but whenever the familiar voice slipped through the wall, Louis was there to answer.
"What, Zac?" Louis responded, deciding to try out a nickname.
"Zac?" A new, but familiar, voice came through the wall, and Louis sat up on his bed.
He had been lying quite comfortably on top of his covers, looking up at the ceiling, but the new voice made him perk up.
"Uh," was all Louis seemed to be able to get as he heard Isaac and the other familiar voice behind the wall laugh.
"Shawn is here!" Isaac suddenly called, and as if a switch clicked in Louis' head, the other voice became instantly recognisable.
"Yes, he is," Shawn stated, and Louis couldn't stop the smile from coming onto his face.
"Oh, hey, Shawn!" Louis called through the wall.
He hadn't talked to Shawn at all since his date with Isaac, so, for Louis, it was nice to hear another friendly voice.
"How have you been, Lou-Lou?" Shawn asked before Louis heard him faintly grunt. "Ow!"
"Only I'm allowed to call him that!" Isaac growled at Shawn, and Louis stifled his laughter.
"You do know that almost everybody calls me that, right?" Louis asked through the wall.
"Well, I'm gonna kick their asses."
"I have no doubt that you'd be able to." Louis chuckled. "Please don't, though."
"I guess so..."
"You're so gay," Shawn chimed in before grunting in pain again.
"Anyway!" Louis called after containing his laughter. "I've been okay, Shawn."
"Well then, that's moderately good," Shawn replied. "Seriously, though, Zac?"
"I don't know. I was just testing the waters." Louis let out an embarrassed chuckle, thankful there was a wall between him and the other two boys.
"I kind of like it," Isaac stated after a moment. "But put a 'Y' at the end and add two A's."
"Of course." Louis let out a laugh, and he could hear Shawn laughing, too. "How are you, Zaacy?" Louis asked, not being able to contain the smile that had become prominent on his face.
"I'm fantastic, Lou-Lou," Isaac responded before adding, "though I'd rather not have to hang out with this idiot."
"Whoa, harsh," Shawn said with a fake offended tone.
"Well, you're the dumbass who didn't turn in the damn English project."
"To be fair, I lost the USB stick."
"You both sound hopeless," Louis chimed in.
"We can't all be nerds, Louis." Isaac laughed, and Louis heard Shawn gasp.
"You can't speak to your future husband like that, Isaac!"
"Oh, my God. Shut up!" Isaac almost yelled, and Louis heard a bit of commotion behind the wall.
"Do you want me to come back later, or...?" Louis interrupted the two boys through the wall and Shawn let out a laugh.
"You have no idea what I have had to put up with from this... thing." Isaac sighed as he spoke, and Louis could still hear Shawn laughing.
"Shawn, what did you do?"
"I did nothing!" Shawn defended himself through the laughter, which came to an abrupt halt when he grunted in pain again.
"Ever since I told him that you and I were dating, he has been non-stop with this teasing!" Isaac explained, and Louis began laughing at the two boys again.
"I'm just excited for you!"
"God, you sound like Sam," Louis stated, grinning to himself.
"Who's Sam?" Shawn asked.
"One of my best friends," Louis responded.
"Don't get any ideas, Shawn," Isaac teased.
"Oh, shut up!" Shawn said, and Louis was almost positive he had started blushing at Isaac's words.
"He's straight anyway, Shawnie," Louis interjected, clarifying what Isaac had meant. "I also think he has a thing with my other best friend..." Louis pondered before adding, "Kara, not Sarah!"
"Oh, good." Isaac sighed, though he followed up with a small chuckle. "I'd have to kick Number Two's ass."
"Yeah." Louis laughed. "I'm pretty sure Sarah still wants to kick my ass."
"Damn right I do." Sarah's voice suddenly came through the wall, and Louis jumped slightly at the same time he heard Isaac and Shawn let out a scream.
"How manly." Louis snorted.
"Shut up, Louis." Shawn snarled through the wall before he grunted in pain. Yet again.
"Don't speak to my boyfriend like that."
"Oh, shut up," Shawn and Sarah said in unison, and Louis laughed again.
"Anyway, Isaac... it's time to go." Sarah's voice was quiet, barely audible, but Louis gathered that Isaac gave a silent response.
"Alright, Lou. I'll see you later!" Isaac called through the wall, much less energetic than he had been.
It sounded as if he had suddenly become sad, and he wished he could take that sadness away from Isaac.
"Oh, okay," was all Louis replied with.
"Come on, Shawn. We'll take you home first," Isaac's voice drifted through the wall.
"Bye, guys!" Louis called, disheartened he was going to be left alone.
"Bye!" He heard all three of them call back, noticing that it wasn't just Isaac's voice that changed in tone.
Trying his best to move his mind away from what could have caused that drastic change, Louis decided to use his spare time to perfect his monologue. It was almost ready, and though he didn't feel prepared to perform it for Mrs Carter, he thought he was as ready as he'll ever be.
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A/N: I'm kind of like, "aw, this is ending soon," but at the same time, I'm excited for it to end?
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