Chapter Sixteen

Was it possible for a voice to ease pain? Louis had no idea about the science behind it, but he knew Isaac's voice seemed to ease his. The caring voice floated so effortlessly through the wall, calming Louis instantly.

"Maybe you're just in early," Louis muttered into his pillow.

He knew that comeback was terrible, but he was too tired and sore to think of anything better to say.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Isaac asked. "I didn't quite catch that, due to..." Isaac went quiet, and to Louis, it sounded as if he had stopped himself from saying something.

Louis raised his head, so his mouth wasn't smothered by his pillow.

"I said, maybe you're just in early." Louis silently cursed himself for not thinking of something smarter to say, especially due to his second chance.

"I'd say due to the fact I get up at four-thirty in the morning, eleven-thirty isn't early at all. In fact, I think it's not early enough." Louis could hear the smugness in Isaac's voice and could almost see a smile plastered on his mysterious face through the wall.

"Wait, why do you get up at four-thirty?" Louis suddenly thought aloud.

"I go to school in the city, remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

A blush of embarrassment rushed to Louis' face, and he was thankful there was a wall in between them. He should have remembered that, considering his memory was something he usually relished in. But it had been a long day.

"It's alright. I don't expect you to remember everything from our first conversation," Isaac commented, smugness still laced in his voice. "At least you remember my name, right?"

"Of course, I remember your name, Stanley. How could I forget?" Louis smirked.

"I'm hurt, Lewis."

"How dare you."

Louis couldn't help himself, and he let out a laugh. It was only a small laugh, but it brought a huge amount of pain to his face. Even so, when he stopped laughing, his face still had a smile on it. He had no idea how it happened, considering the day he had been having, but, somehow, Isaac had managed to bring some happiness to Louis, even if it was just a little bit.

"Wait, Louis, how do you spell your name?" Isaac asked suddenly.

Raising his eyebrows, Louis responded, "Why?"

"Well, it's pronounced 'loo-ee', but I doubt you'd spell it how it sounds, and... I've never met anyone with that name before," Isaac replied shyly.

"L-O-U-I-S," Louis answered, still smiling. "But surely you've heard of someone with my name. There are tons of famous people with it."

"Honestly, I don't pay much attention to things." Isaac chuckled.

"I can tell."

Louis pushed himself up and rearranged himself on his bed. The pain in his head and jaw had dulled down a bit, thanks to Isaac, but it still made him wince. He was now sitting facing the plain wall that sat behind his bed, with his legs crossed. He was still tired, but once again, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so he thought talking to Isaac would help take his mind off things.

"That makes next to no sense, though," Isaac's voice came through the wall. "I mean, it does make more sense than the name Lois. But still..." Isaac let out a laugh.

"Oh, yeah? I'm guessing your name has two 'a's in it," Louis retorted. "That's just greedy; you don't need that many."

"Well, I'm sorry my parents like that letter. It reminds them of the bee's ancestors."

"I was almost going to laugh at that joke. Too bad it was horrible."

"Solid come back." Isaac laughed.

"Shut up; I'm tired."

"Why are you even back so late?" Isaac suddenly asked. "On a school night, no less."

"I was at a friend's house," Louis answered quickly, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"Why didn't you just stay there? Could you not stay away from me any longer?"

"Don't get too cocky," Louis responded. "And I couldn't stay because I needed to come home."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. And while Louis didn't want to bring up the events of the day or the other night, there was a part of him that wanted Isaac to ask. There was a part of him that wanted to tell Isaac everything. He didn't know why.

Maybe it was because Isaac seemed so caring and sweet. Or maybe it was because Louis didn't know him and couldn't see him, and he felt that he could tell him without the fear of being judged. What Louis wanted was for everything just to stop, but the only way for that to happen was for him to die, and he didn't want to that either.

Louis pulled himself from his train of thought and sighed just as Isaac spoke.

"That makes sense. But if you're tired, you should get some sleep."

"Really? I hadn't thought of that," Louis replied quite coolly and bluntly, regretting it instantly and biting his lower lip.

Usually, he wouldn't worry about what he said in these situations, but that was only because he was usually never worried about the other person's feelings. Even in Sam and Kara's case, he knew that they could take it and that he meant nothing by it. But this was different.

He barely knew Isaac. He had no idea what the limit was on what he could say, and he was scared. The other night when Isaac spoke to him was the happiest he had felt in a while.

Isaac was able to cheer him up after he almost fell apart. The only other person, ever, able to do that was Kara. And again, right now, Louis had been running the day's event over and over in his head, thinking of all the damage he has caused, and all the worry his friends were feeling. He had felt horrible. But as soon as Isaac's voice drifted through the wall, all his problems melted away. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't want to lose it.

"Don't take that tone with me, young man," Isaac's voice suddenly came through the wall, unaffected by Louis' bluntness.

"Sorry, Mum." Louis smiled as he relieved the pressure from his lip.

"On a serious note, do you have trouble sleeping or something?"

Louis sighed at Isaac's words. Yes, he had trouble sleeping. Ever since he moved in with his aunt, he had found it difficult to sleep. Sometimes it was nightmares that kept him awake. Other times he couldn't seem to drift off. By now though, he was used to it. He dealt with being tired. He had to. Sure, on days like this, it was much worse, and he struggled to get through. But most of the time, he managed.

"Yeah, it's like insomnia or something," Louis replied, shifting his position once again, laying back down on his bed.

"One of my sisters had that really bad a few years ago. It sucks. She was constantly tired, and I just hated seeing her like that." Isaac paused for a second, causing silence to plague Louis' room.

"I mean, you wouldn't be able to tell, but she's still constantly tired. At least she sleeps now... sometimes...I mean, the doctors say she's getting better..." Isaac went quiet for a few more seconds before adding, "I'm sorry you can't sleep."

Louis felt his heart fall slightly at Isaac's words. Part of him wanted to ask about his sister and if she was okay, but he didn't want to pry. After all, when it came to his own personal information, he wasn't too fond of sharing it. He thought the same would be true for Isaac.

"Don't worry about it," Louis said, deciding to move the conversation on. "I'm sure I'll get over it."

-------------------------------------------

A/N: Here is the next part! How exciting!

Again, it ends in a weird spot, but gotta keep the word count down for readability, aye?

The good news is... you get to have some more Isaac, which, well, I think is good.

I hope you enjoyed! If you did, I really hope you have the time to vote and leave a comment. It makes me get the tingles in my tummy!

Now, here is a question for you:

Why do you think Isaac keeps talking to Louis?