Chapter Ten

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Chapter Ten

The voice slid through the wall again.

"Hello?" It was still soft and hesitant, but it felt much more present than before.

Louis didn't know if it was because he was closer to the wall now or if the speaker wanted to get a response this time.

Louis lay still on his bed as the same calm that came over him before, when the voice had spoken, washed over him again.

"I know this may be uncalled for, but I just wanted to make sure you're okay." The speaker didn't wait for a response this time but sounded unsure if he should have spoken at all.

Louis, however, found comfort in the words of the mystery person. He couldn't reach out to Kara and didn't want to pester Sam; so, it was somewhat calming to know someone else cared.

Louis wiped his face, no longer crying. Staring up at the ceiling, he realised his vision was no longer blurry, at least, no blurrier than it usually was, and, after a moment of thought, Louis decided to respond.

"I'm fine." His voice was low and cracked slightly. He was unsure if the person on the other side of the wall had heard, so Louis continued with a clearer voice. "Just a stupid fight."

Louis was never too fond of lying, but he didn't know what else to say. He rolled on his side and closed his eyes when a response didn't come, hoping he would drift off to sleep. Usually, that was the final stage. After the sadness had died down, Louis became tired, but he could never fall into a restful sleep after a fight. Truth be told, he never fell into a restful sleep, no matter what.

"Didn't sound like a stupid fight," the voice said.

Louis opened his eyes and wondered if he was meant to hear that or not. The speaker wasn't wrong though, and Louis knew it. None of the fights he and his aunt had were stupid. There was always a good reason behind them.

"It's nothin'," Louis mumbled back, not sure if it had been loud enough to travel through the wall, but he didn't care if it was heard or not.

"Alright, I'm sorry for intruding, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

The voice sounded so sincere, and every time it drifted through the wall, Louis felt calm and at peace. He had no idea why and didn't know if it was normal for a voice to be able to do that. But he didn't care. Whoever this mystery person was, they were helping him feel better, and that's all he needed—someone to care.

"It's okay," Louis said, surprised to find himself smiling. "Thank you." His last words seemed to falter.

"No problem; what are neighbours for?" A light chuckle came through the wall following the words, and it was like music to Louis' ears.

It sounded so sweet and innocent, and it caused a bigger smile to grace Louis' face. He didn't know where the smile was coming from or how this stranger was managing to do this to him. All he knew was that he was enjoying the company. Even if, for all he knew, it was a ninety-year-old man. But Louis doubted that, given how youthful the voice was.

Louis didn't respond to the speaker on the other side of the wall straight away. He didn't know how. So, he just lay there, staring at the ceiling, wondering how this stranger's voice could calm him down the way it did.

"Uh, hey?" Louis called shyly.

It was better to talk than to be lonely. He would much rather hear the calming voice slip through the wall than be faced with silence again

"What's on your mind?" Louis could almost hear the smile come through the wall with the words.

He knew it shouldn't have, considering he could be talking to an ancient-looking human who found sport in killing people, but he couldn't help it.

God, what the hell is happening? Louis thought to himself before responding through the wall.

"Would you mind just... talking to me for a bit?" Louis asked, feeling stupider as each word spilled from his mouth and added, "You don't have to; it's late. I totally get it if—"

The voice cut Louis off. "Not at all!" It was still so calm, yet it sounded excited at the same time, and Louis concluded that it most definitely was not an old man.

Either that or he was an extremely gay old man.

"You don't have to..." Louis started, but again was cut off.

"I want to. Don't worry about it." At those words, Louis' heart fluttered, though he did his best to ignore it.

"Thanks," Louis said, suddenly in a whisper.

He had only just noticed that whoever was on the other side of the wall was speaking in a whisper. Louis thought back to when his alarm was going off that morning, and the voice first drifted through the wall. There were other people in the apartment aside from the speaker. Louis gathered that the other tenants must be sleeping.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" The whisper sidled its way through the wall, leaving Louis to ponder for a second.

"How about an introduction first?" he suggested, still in a whisper as he wasn't sure how far his voice would carry into the apartment next door.

"Sounds like a good idea." Louis could almost hear the smile come through the wall with the voice again, as the mysterious person on the other side of the wall kept talking. "My name is Isaac; it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Louis heard a soft bang on the wall and tilted his head in confusion just as Isaac spoke once again.

"Since we can't shake hands, I thought we could just high-five the wall together."

Louis suppressed his laughter before lightly hitting the wall above his head.

"Hi, Isaac, I'm Louis. It's good to meet you, too!"

Louis brought his hand back down to his side and couldn't stop himself from smiling. Somehow, after what happened tonight, Isaac managed to not only calm Louis down but also make him laugh and smile. His heart was no longer beating fast because of anger. Instead, it was beating fast for another reason, and Louis couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at his own body.

"So, did you just move in?" Louis asked.

He already knew the answer to the question, but he didn't know what else to say. He wiped his face and felt where the tears had been falling not too long ago. He was still amazed at how Isaac had been able to replace Louis' tears with a smile, something Louis didn't think would be possible.

His eyes were looking up at the ceiling, and he was trying to imagine what Isaac looked like. The way he spoke, the tone of his voice, the words he chose gave Louis an indication that he was under twenty-five at least. But he had no idea and didn't want to ask. He just wanted to enjoy Isaac's company and forget.

"I did, yeah. I didn't really want to, but my dad kind of made it impossible for me to say no." Isaac chuckled lightly after his words drifted through the wall.

"How so?" Louis' voice was no longer croaky and cracking, though it remained in a whisper, thinking of Isaac's family asleep next door.

Louis thought about Isaac's words, and it gave him a better idea of who he was talking to. Obviously, he was not old enough to go out on his own; hence, the forced move with his family.

"He got a pretty big promotion at his job," Isaac answered. "But his new job was in another city. This city." Isaac snickered again. "So, the whole family decided to follow him."

"A pretty big promotion?" Louis asked curiously, and he heard a small hum in reply. "And... your family chose this building to move into?"

A loud laugh rippled through the wall before abruptly coming to a halt.

"Crap," Isaac whispered, trying to contain himself. "I hope that didn't wake anyone up."

"Sorry." Louis grinned. "It's just; this building is an absolute pile of garbage."

"You're not wrong," Isaac replied, still letting small laughs escape his mouth. "I don't even know why my dad chose this place. He's always trying to save money, but, I mean, this is a bit ridiculous. I guess the medical clinic is pretty good."

The final words Isaac spoke seemed to become even quieter, making his voice almost inaudible to Louis. Assuming he wasn't meant to hear the last part of what Isaac said, Louis chose to ignore it.

"Do you have a small family?" Louis wondered aloud, trying to push the last words Isaac spoke out of his mind.

"I wish," Isaac said before hastily adding, "I don't mean it like that, but this apartment is super small, and I have a big family. It's just hard, you know?"

Louis let out a small laugh. "I get it. So, how big is your family?"

"Well, there's my mum and dad, me, and then I have three sisters."

"Oh, holy crap," Louis muttered, earning him a chuckle from Isaac. "If my apartment is any indication of your apartment's size..."

"Oh, yeah. It's not easy fitting us all into here, let me tell you. I'm lucky. I get this room all to myself because I'm a growing teenage boy and whatnot, I don't even know. But my three sisters all have to share a room, and then my mum and dad have one of their own. And to top it all off, we only have one bathroom. So, no doubt, it's going to get a bit... hectic." Isaac finished with a quiet sigh that Louis barely heard.

"That does sound a bit squished," Louis whispered, but he wasn't too focused on that part. He was more so interested in the fact that Isaac was a teenager.

Maybe he's my age, Louis thought to himself, finding himself silently hoping he was before mentally slapping himself.

"Yeah. Well, it's pretty much only two sisters sharing a room at the moment though," Isaac muttered before quickly changing the subject. "Are you in school or university?"

"I'm in my last year of high school," Louis replied. Now's my chance, Louis' mind raced before he asked, "What about you?"

"I'm in my final year of high school, too!" Isaac's voice had grown slightly louder, filled with excitement.

"That's cool." Louis tried to reply normally, and he thought he had done a pretty good job, but he couldn't deny he was excited himself.

"Yeah, so, maybe we'll run into each other at school?" Isaac's voice sounded hopeful.

"Maybe," Louis replied, his voice neutral as he tried to think back to his day at school. He didn't recall hearing the name Isaac once. None of his teachers had said it, and he was positive no one else said it. "What school do you go to?" Louis found himself asking before he could stop himself.

"One in the city. I haven't started there yet; I start tomorrow."

Louis squinted in the darkness. The city was at least a forty-minute drive. Louis continued to lay still, wondering why Isaac would travel such a long distance to go to school.

"Isn't the only school in the city an all-boys private school?" Louis asked, his voice unsure.

Surely his parents, who moved into a dump of a building, wouldn't be able to send their child to such a school. Would they? Louis had no idea.

"Yeah," Isaac replied shyly.

"That's pretty cool," Louis muttered, trying not to sound shocked.

Then again, Isaac's dad did get a big promotion. Maybe, while he tried to save money, his son's education was worth forking out a lump of money for.

"Yeah... anyway, I'm sorry, I really want to keep talking, but I do start there tomorrow and should get some sleep." Isaac's sweet voice dripped through the wall.

"Of course, I should probably sleep as well," Louis responded. "Thanks... for... you know..."

"Anytime!" Isaac exclaimed, and Louis couldn't help but feel relieved for the interruption.

As Isaac had spoken, once again, Louis could practically hear the smile that came with it, but then it fell silent. Louis quickly and quietly got up and changed his clothes, finally taking his shoes off before slipping into bed. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. And though his thoughts were on Isaac and his heart was elevated, he once again wasn't greeted by sleep until the early hours of the morning.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed Chapter Ten! It is a little longer than the others, but I hope you don't mind!

A bit more Isaac for you. Hopefully, you liked him...

If you did, you should vote on this chapter and tell me why you like him!

But, moving on, here's a question:

Do you think Isaac did the right thing by seeing if Louis was okay?


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