Chapter Four

Louis knew that he would have to make himself dinner if he wanted to eat. He could only imagine what state his aunt was going to be in when she woke from her alcoholic coma, but he decided not to worry about that right now. It was still early, and he had some other things he had to do first. He sat up on his mattress and reached for his bag, unzipping it and pulling out his homework. While he didn't actively listen in class or do the work during the class, Louis always did his homework, as he saw it as another way to self-teach.

Louis laid his math and English homework out on the bed in front of him. Two easy subjects for Louis. Before he got started, he decided to pull out his old laptop from underneath his bed and put some music on while he worked. He had to wait some ten minutes before it started. He always found it easier to concentrate with music on in the background, even if it was from a fossil of a laptop.

It didn't take long before Louis lost track of time. His homework, now finished, was back in his school bag, which was hanging on at the end of his bed. Louis sprawled out on his bed, his arms and legs swinging carelessly over the edges. He was definitely too big for it. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed, letting the music wash over him, serenading him. Some people would say that the music he listened to was depressing; which, in all fairness, it was. But Louis loved it. To him, the songs weren't always sad. They were just stories being told in a certain way, and they didn't have to be sad if you didn't want them to be. They could just be music. Something to connect with.

Sadly, Louis' relaxed state was suddenly interrupted by ringing from his laptop, cutting his music off. Slightly disgruntled, he opened his eyes and slowly sat up, looking down at the screen. A small image was flashing at him; a picture of a pretty girl. Her hair was dark brown and filled with tight curls. Her calm brown eyes looked back at him, crinkled, and perfectly complementing her bright smile, showing off her perfect teeth.

"Kara," Louis said to himself, and his mood shifted from disgruntled to elated as he smiled and sat upright with his legs crossed.

"Lou-Lou!" Kara's excitable voice exploded through Louis' laptop speakers almost instantly. It was a warm and welcome sound.

"Hey, Kara!" Louis offered a small wave. "How's it hanging?"

"A little to the left, as per usual, you know?" Kara replied, after returning Louis' wave. "What about you?"

"It's alright. The usual, I suppose," Louis responded before they sat in a comfortable silence.

One of the things Louis loved most about talking with Kara was that there was never an awkward moment between them. The quiet that fell always seemed to fit perfectly, and for a few moments, they bathed in each other's company before Kara eventually broke the silence.

"So, how's your aunt?"

"She's... alive," Louis replied cautiously.

He was always hesitant to talk about his aunt with people, and while Kara knew more about Louis and his family than anyone else, he still found himself being cautious, as though he was walking through a minefield.

"At least I think she is. She's still drinking more alcohol than there is blood in her body, but that's out of my hands at this point."

"I'm sorry, Lou," Kara responded with sympathy coating her voice.

She never tried to understand how Louis was feeling or tried to pretend she knew. But she was never bare of sympathy, and right now, that was what Louis needed.

"I'm sure she'll get better," Kara muttered, and Louis sighed.

"Who knows... I've tried helping but... I don't know. I've just got to live with it for the time being."

Kara nodded before changing the subject. "Have you had dinner yet? It is dinner time over there, yeah?"

She averted her attention down, no doubt, looking at her computer's clock. Louis did the same.

"Oh, crap. Yeah, it is!" Louis exclaimed. "Time kinda got away from me there."

"Please eat something proper, Louis. Don't order any take-out." Kara's voice was a bit sterner than usual, and Louis had to try his best not to roll his eyes.

"Of course, of course," he replied, and though he succeeded at not rolling his eyes, he couldn't stop the smile that shaped on his face.

He wouldn't outright admit it, but it was comforting having someone to care about him so much. While he knew that Sam did, he rarely showed it. Not as much as Kara, anyway.

"I'm a great cook, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll whip up something real good." Louis chuckled.

"Oh, yes. You're a great cook. Like that time you almost burnt my parent's kitchen down when we were making cupcakes?" Kara laughed.

"We were, like, seven!" Louis defended himself. "And let's be honest, that was your fault."

"How was that my fault?" Looking offended, Kara raised her eyebrows.

"Let's see," Louis started, "we were making a caramel sauce to put on the cupcakes, and you decided to throw salt in the frying pan! Almost scorched my eyebrows off!"

"I thought it was sugar! Shut up!" Kara couldn't help herself and laughed with Louis. "To be fair, I would have done you a favour by getting rid of those eyebrows."

"Rude."

"I miss those days," Kara said, suddenly stopping her laughter.

Louis looked down at his hands. "Me, too."

They sat in silence again, and Louis heard some movement behind the wall his back sat up against, but ignored it, bringing his attention back to Kara.

"So, Sam gushed over you again today," Louis said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Again? Really?"

"Yeah, it's really annoying actually."

"He hasn't even met me! I don't understand how he can keep gushing over me."

"Well, he's seen a picture of you and heard you speak. I guess that's enough for him." Louis laughed with Kara before she became quiet.

"He is quite attractive," she said quietly, her face flushing.

"Don't you start too, Kara. I can't handle both of you gushing over each other," Louis shook his head.

"I'm not gushing, you spoilsport. I'm just stating a fact."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Are you gonna tell me what he said?" Kara looked hopeful.

"Well... to be fair, he didn't actually say anything. I did..." Louis said, failing at explaining what happened.

"What does that even mean?" Kara let out a bark-like laugh.

"Well, we were talking, and the topic fell on you, and his face kind of lit up, and he was about to start, and I stopped him." Louis paused and saw Kara was waiting for more, so he let out a small sigh and continued. "And I recited what he always says about you." Louis chuckled.

"Which is...?" Kara smiled and winked at Louis.

"Ugh, fine." Louis let out a sigh before putting on the same voice he used when talking to Sam, "'Oh, my God, Kara! Her hair is so pretty, and her eyes are so beautiful, windows to the soul. And her smile. Her smile is everything!'" Louis dragged out the last word before smiling at a flustered Kara. "He's such a dork, honestly."

"Oh, shut up, Louis."

"Kara!" A faint voice came from Louis' laptop speakers, causing Kara to turn away from the screen.

"Yeah?!" she yelled back into her house.

Louis heard the voice respond but didn't quite catch what it said, but it made Kara turn back to Louis looking slightly sad.

"Sorry, babes, but, sadly, I gotta go. We're going out tomorrow night, so talk to you Wednesday?"

"Yeah, of course." Louis gave a half-hearted smile. "Bye."

"Bye, Lou-Lou!" And with that, Kara ended the call and Louis was left alone again, sitting in silence.

Letting out what seemed like his one-hundredth sigh that day, Louis shut off his laptop and put it back on charge under his bed before getting up and heading out of his room. Walking into the apartment's living area, he took in the sight properly for the first time since he got home. It was a mess, which he already knew, but it was worse than he had thought.

It may have been because it was so small, also combined with the kitchen, but Louis didn't see that as an excuse for it to get as bad as it had. Clothes were littered all over the floor and slung over the one sofa they had. Dirty plates and cups were spread over the kitchen and living area, no doubt on the verge of attracting wildlife, and Louis could only bear the smell that floated carelessly around the room. Slowly, Louis moved further into the room and looked over the back cushions of the sofa and saw his aunt sprawled on it, still passed out, but still breathing. Thankfully.

Your room is right there, Louis thought to himself as he looked at the open door on the other side of the room, next to the small television hanging on the wall.

Usually, she did most of her drinking in her room, as not to show Louis how bad she got. But sometimes, she fell too hard and too quickly, and Louis came home to this. Shaking his head, he decided to start cleaning up. He hated how dirty everything was, and he knew his aunt wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. She'll probably sleep through anything at this point.

It took most of two hours for Louis to finish cleaning up, but he eventually got it done, and sure enough, his aunt was still asleep on the sofa. Louis looked at the clock that hung in the kitchen. It was already ten. He tried his best to tell himself that he wasn't hungry, despite the protests his stomach was making against that claim.

Taking another look at the clean living area and kitchen, Louis thought it'd be best to cover his aunt in a blanket before heading back to his room. So, he did, and in no time, he was back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, relieved that he had finally discarded his contact lenses; which he had done while taking a small break from cleaning. His long legs were hanging off the end of the mattress, and Louis thought that if he tried hard enough, he could probably get his toes to touch the ground from his current position. But he didn't try.

Louis hadn't bothered to shower, or clean his teeth, or even get out of the clothes he wore to school. Instead, he stayed lying on his bed and closed his eyes, hoping for sleep to sweep over him. It didn't. Louis stayed awake until the early hours of the morning before he finally drifted off.

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A/N: A surprise Chapter Four!

A.K.A. Meet Kara! I hope you enjoyed! If you did, make sure to vote on it!

Or, anything else that shows me you're loving this book, and you could win that physical copy of this book!

Here's the question for this Chapter:

Have you ever had a cooking mishap?