Chapter Forty-Two

"The decision to live a dream or keep facing reality seems easy enough, but if you had that choice, what would you choose? The perfect paradise, or the trial of life? It seems easy enough. But dreams are often twisted and misconstrued; like a rumour; they could start out innocent but put it on repeat, and you'll start to notice the changes. Even if that weren't the case, and the dream world you decide to reside in was, in fact, perfect; would you truly be happy? If everything was just right, and you didn't have to work for anything or worry, could you safely say you wouldn't want more?"

Louis' voice echoed around his small room, as books, notepads, and wadded up balls of paper littered his bed and floor. Pencils and erasers lay carelessly about, and the usual cleanliness of the room seemed to be long forgotten, as Louis stood upright in front of his mirror, holding a quite crinkled piece of paper, with writing scribbled all over it. His eyes kept darting down to the paper in his hand before shooting back up to look at himself in the mirror. He looked tired; but when did he not?

The two weeks, as Louis had suspected, dragged on, and as every new day passed, it didn't seem like his date with Isaac was getting any closer. In fact, it seemed as though it was getting further and further away. That's not to say the days throughout the two weeks weren't eventful and, in fact, Louis was even glad the days were dragging on. The day after he had met Isaac for the first time and went on, what Louis and Isaac called, a 'pre-date', Louis had to face Sam and Sarah. Neither of them could wait for Monday, and Louis scolded Sarah for telling Sam.

They had decided to meet at the park near Sam's house, and Kara tagged along with Louis, not wanting to miss the chance to gossip with and about Louis. As soon as everyone had made it to the designated spot, awkwardness ensued, considering Sam may or may not have had a thing for Kara; them meeting for the first time was certainly something Louis wouldn't forget so easily.

"So, you're Kara?" Sam asked, shuffling clumsily on the spot as he watched Kara push her curly hair back, though it just came to sit in the same place.

"That would be me," she replied with a smile and a wink, and Louis could tell she was playing on what he had told her over one of their calls. "You must be Louis' gay friend, Sam?"

"Louis!" Sam ran over to Louis and almost knocked him down, as he was keeled over laughing at Kara's words. "I'm not gay!" Sam defended himself, turning red in the face, doing his best to hide it.

"That's not what you said to me in that past," Louis retorted, trying his best to recompose himself.

"You're such an ass," Sam mumbled under his breath before he turned back to Kara. "I'm Sam, and I'm not gay. It's a pleasure."

"Usually, he only says that last part to guys," Sarah chipped in, causing everyone but Sam to start laughing.

"I hate every one of you," Sam huffed, crossing his arms.

The rest of the day Louis spent fending off questions about Isaac and himself, mainly from Sarah, who was trying to find out Louis' intents with her brother. It had taken a few explanations of the situation before Sam caught on to what was happening, and he held the same shocked expression Louis had when he found out that Sarah was Louis' next-door neighbour.

As the day progressed, Louis noticed that Kara and Sam seemed to have gotten rather close, and he started mentally cursing. Although Sarah listened to his complaints, she often turned her nose up at Louis, due to the fact Isaac was her brother and Louis had some sort of intentions with him. Louis was sure it was a joke, but he made a mental note to ask Isaac about it.

A few days after they had hung out in the park, Kara was told by her father that they would be going back home on Wednesday, and Louis wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye again. When he wasn't at school, he was spending all of his time with Kara and her family, who were thrilled to have been able to see Louis again. After all, he was like a son to them.

He spent Monday and Tuesday night at the hotel they were staying at, helping Kara's father cook dinner both nights while Kara, her sister, and her mother watched and critiqued them. Because Louis had been so young the last time he had seen Kara's family, he hadn't had the chance to cook for them. He was thrilled about that prospect, even when Kara was jokingly judging him the whole time.

While Louis enjoyed spending all the time he did with Kara and her family, he hadn't been able to talk to Isaac for a few nights; which meant he wasn't sleeping the best. He wasn't sure what it was, but he noticed that he always slept better after talking to Isaac. So, not having that put a stick in his sleeping pattern.

The day of Kara heading back home, Louis took the day off school, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get through the day with her leaving. Sam had also taken the day off, and drove everyone to the airport, saying his own goodbyes to Kara in private, and Louis saw him wipe lipstick off his face when they came back. Having shaken that thought from his mind and telling Sam to give them some privacy, Louis said his goodbyes to the family that had taken him in all those years ago. It was full of tears on their part, as Louis, somehow, managed to keep himself together.

As it got closer to the family boarding their plane, they gave Kara and Louis some time alone, which they used to sit and embrace each other.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," Kara whispered into Louis' ear.

"I'm gonna miss you, too," Louis whispered back before he chuckled. "I feel like your sister doesn't like me anymore."

"No, she's just pissed that you're gay." Kara laughed. "You're super-hot, babe."

Louis grinned, and they fell into a silence, swallowed by the embrace until Kara and her family were called to board their flight. With one more goodbye to everyone, Louis watched them walk onto the runway, and onto the plane. Tears were now coming, few even running down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away, before meeting Sam in the airport's car park.

"If you hurt her, I swear to God, I will rip your eyes out and shove them up your ass," was the first thing Louis said to Sam and climbed into his best friend's car.

Sam didn't say anything and just got in the car, looking slightly shocked. Louis knew that there was obviously something between them, and while he was happy, he didn't know what he'd do if someone got hurt.

The few days after Kara and her family had left, Louis made sure to keep his head down at school. People were still being kind to him, and he knew that the moment he opened his mouth, it would change. So, he concluded it was best to keep a low profile, which, miraculously, worked.

On Friday, when he was meeting Mrs Carter for their daily lesson, she gave Louis a bit more information on the monologue he had to perform for her.

"I hope you've been studying the concept of monologues outside of these little meetings, Louis."

"I have... been preoccupied," Louis said, considering a lie; but after what Mrs Carter had done for him, standing up for him as she did, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Louis... I know you have a rough situation. But just ten minutes will do."

Louis hadn't said anything in reply and just nodded. Mrs Carter was one of the few people who knew about Louis' situation. She had been his mother's best friend all throughout high school and was a big family friend. She knew a lot more about Louis than he would've have liked, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Now," she continued, "with this monologue you're to perform, as you know, you have to write it. Now I don't want to see you copy any works—"

"I have to write it?!" Louis asked, cutting her off. "Shouldn't that have been the first thing you told me when I agreed to this?"

"Louis, I gave you an assignment sheet with this information on it, about four weeks ago. We've talked about this."

"Oh..." Louis had murmured, looking down at his feet, fairly embarrassed for not seeing that on the sheet Mrs Carter had given him.

Even more so at the fact he couldn't remember her telling him. It threw his mind into a bit of a panic, which brought him to the mess he stood in now.

From the moment he had got home from school on Friday, he had begun writing, trying to think of a monologue. Tuesday night came, and he finally thought he had it.

"You keep looking for excuses to be unhappy in the life you have. You keep looking for an escape, but how can you say with certainty that that escape will be worth it?"

Louis paused and looked at himself in the mirror. He couldn't say that he wasn't nervous about having to read it in front of someone, but a part of him was excited about it. But that excitement turned to pure horror when a familiar voice drifted through the wall.

"Holy crap. That was intense." There was no sarcasm in Isaac's voice, but that didn't take away from the fact that Louis was absolutely mortified.

"I didn't think you'd be home," Louis blurted about, spinning on the spot to look at the wall where Isaac's soothing voice had drifted through so often, a blush spreading rapidly on his face.

"I'm only here for a short bit. I'm heading to my science partner's place, to finish an assignment." Isaac said, eager to go back to the subject at hand. "Seriously, though. That was intense. Is that from a movie?"

Louis began scrambling to pick up all the discarded rubbish on the floor.

"Uh, no. It's for an assignment. I wrote it," he found himself saying as he cleaned. He always seemed to clean when he was nervous.

"You wrote that?" Isaac exclaimed. "That's so awesome! Top marks!"

"You're just saying that," he mumbled, not expecting Isaac to hear it, but he did.

"No, I'm serious. That was really good, Lou."

"Thanks." Louis was really glad that Isaac couldn't see him at this moment; his face was a mess, getting redder by the second.

"Is it... written from experience, or...?" Isaac hesitantly asked, and Louis paused for a second.

"Uh, I guess. Kind of." He wasn't too sure on what to say to Isaac.

In a way, the monologue he had written had been a reflection of himself and how he felt, but should he really tell Isaac that? Eventually, maybe. But right now, probably wasn't the best time.

"That's cool," Isaac responded almost instantly. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here," he added.

What is he doing to me? Louis thought as he shook his head and responded.

"Thanks, Isaac. That means a lot."

"Don't mention it!" Louis could almost see Isaac smile through the wall, and couldn't help but smile, too. "We still good for this week?"

"Of course," Louis replied, the smile on his face growing even bigger.

"Sweet! I gotta go now; my lab partner is harassing me."

"Try not to poison him."

"I won't poison him, Louis. I'm good at science."

"Mhm, sure you are," Louis said before saying a quick goodbye and was left alone in silence.

These last few days were going to be very long.

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A/N: Oh... Got real deep for a moment there...

Also... there is more to his little monologue... 

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