Chapter Twenty-Five

"How'd the shopping go?" she asked, interrupting Louis' and Sam's conversation as they rested the grocery bags on the kitchen counter.

"Remind me never to take Louis shopping. Ever," Sam responded, beginning to put the things he had bought away.

"Oh, why's that?" Kate questioned, looking at the three of them.

"He's not very good at it," Sarah chipped it, gently nudging Louis, who let out a sigh.

"How can you not be good at shopping?" Sam's mum asked.

"I don't even know, Mum, but Louis is the worst." Sam ripped open the bag of hot and spicy chips, once he found them, and began shovelling them into his mouth.

"Did you buy anything, Louis? And, Sam, can you not do that in front of me?"

"Sorry," Sam said, mouth full of chips, before receiving a smack to the back of the head from his mother.

"I got a shirt," Louis replied, muffling his laughter.

"One shirt?" Kate questioned.

"Yeah, and that took up most of the trip." Sarah chortled.

"Oh... well, at least you got something—Samuel! Stop shoving them in your mouth like your life depends on it!" Kate went to grab the bag from Sam, but he moved out of the way, swallowing heavily.

"They're so good, though," he defended.

"Well, do it in your room. If you're going to choke, I'd rather it wasn't in my kitchen."

"Good idea!" Sam gestured to Louis and Sarah. "Let's go, queens!"

"God, I hate him," Louis muttered, following Sam out of the kitchen, making Kate laugh.

As the three friends were about to walk up the stairs towards Sam's room, they were stopped by the sound of little footsteps.

"Lou-Lou!" The small voice just reached Louis' ears in time for him to turn around and almost be tackled to the ground by a small child.

"Hey, Jay-Jay!" Louis gave Sam's little brother a hug before pulling back and looking at his beaming face.

"How was da shoppin'?" Jay asked, stepping back from Louis, completely ignoring his brother and Sarah.

"It was good, buddy," Louis replied, kneeling in front of the small boy. "Your brother's a horrible person, though."

"I know!" Jay laughed, and Louis joined him.

"I'm right here, guys..." Sam murmured.

"Do you wanna play, Lou?" Jay asked, still paying no attention to Sam.

"I'd love to, buddy, but, sadly, I need to hang out with your brother." Louis let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Dat's not fun," Jay said, pouting. "I hope it goes well." He gave Louis a larger-than-life smile before dashing off in the other direction.

"Oh, my God, that was adorable," Sarah cooed, staring at Louis. "Shawn would totally melt if he saw that."

"Oh, shut up." Louis shook his head, but a smile had made its way onto his face.

"I don't even know when my brother became so mean to me." Sam pouted. "You're a horrible influence, Louis."

"I do what I can." Louis laughed, walking into Sam's room and flinging himself onto the bed.

"You're turning my innocent brother against me."

"Ah, damn. You've foiled my plan. I was going to get him to stab you while you slept."

"That seems a bit harsh." Sarah chuckled.

"It will be payback for what he's done to me."

"Oh, please, Louis. You love me too much." Sam jumped on his bed beside Louis, pulling him in for a hug, causing Louis to fight him off.

"Gross, Sam! Don't touch me!" Louis yelled trying to push Sam off him. "I don't need whatever diseases you have!"

"I only have the purest diseases. Now love me!" Sam and Louis continued to struggle with each other, while Sarah looked at them, smiling at their stupidity.

"You two are such children." She laughed.

"You're just jealous." Sam winked at her.

"I doubt anyone would be jealous of the person you're hugging." Louis finally was able to push himself away from Sam, just after feeling something wet slide up the side of his face, and he jumped up off the bed. "You're disgusting."

"I love you, too, Louis." Sam smiled evilly at Louis.

"He licked me!" Louis stated turning to Sarah. "Right up the side of my face!"

"It was kinda prickly; you should shave, babe." Sam got up from his bed cackling, as Sarah stood watching the two of them, laughing along with Sam.

"You both suck," Louis muttered, wiping the side of his face. "That felt so wrong, on so many levels."

"It's okay if you're turned on right now, Louis."

"Gross!" Louis and Sarah yelled in unison before laughing.

"I feel hurt," Sam said, joining in on the laughter.

The rest of the night continued with the three friends joking and playing games, and it seemed like too soon that they started falling asleep. Sarah had fallen asleep first on Sam's bed as a movie played on the television.

Sam and Louis quietly set up some room on the floor so that they could go to sleep, too, and, in a matter of minutes, Louis could hear Sam's low snores fill the room. The day had been one of the better ones. In fact, the last few days had been so good, Louis could have thought he was dreaming. Maybe he was. The thought crossed Louis mind, and he quickly pinched himself.

Nope, still awake, he thought, as pain filled the nerves he'd pinched. Louis looked up at Sam's ceiling. It was higher than his own, though that could have been because he was laying on the floor instead of on a bed, either way, he found comfort in it.

Louis had spent so many nights at Sam's house, looking at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Sometimes it was because he'd had a fight with his aunt and ran to Sam's house, other times he just needed a friend to comfort him after school. No matter the situation, when Louis came to Sam's house, he always seemed to look at the ceiling, just like at his own.

Louis looked over at his sleeping friends and sighed. He was lucky to have them, and even though Sarah was a new addition to their small group, it felt as though she'd been a part of it for a long time. Louis smiled, thinking about the first day they met.

It was the same morning that Isaac had first spoken to him. It hadn't been the best start to their wall relationship, due to Louis' alarm, but it had certainly become something. Louis didn't know if he could call Isaac a friend or not. He knew that he'd like to. Isaac has done a lot for him in the few talks they had. For some reason, he was able to calm Louis down when nothing else could. He'd been so sweet and caring, and Louis couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach whenever he heard Isaac's voice float through the wall.

God, what is happening to me? Louis thought.

The truth was, this was a new feeling to him. Just like he had never been on a date, he'd never had feelings like this before. He didn't even know what the feelings he had were. All he knew was that they made him feel very weird. Louis usually hated when people talked about their crushes or their partners gushing over them. But was this how they felt? Did they get this feeling?

No. It couldn't be.

Isaac was nothing more than a mystery boy on the other side of a wall. Did he even classify as a friend? He certainly wasn't anything more. He couldn't have feelings for him. He never even met him. Isaac was just someone who helped him calm down. Someone he could talk to. Nothing more.

Louis shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to take his mind away from Isaac, but all that did was make his mind drift to Shawn, and the thought of their date began to loom over him. Louis started to feel nervous again, still not sure what to expect.

Of course, I have to pay for the drinks or whatever, right? Louis wondered.

He decided that he wasn't making Shawn pay for everything. But Louis didn't know where he was going to get the money from. He had bills to pay for his apartment as well as food to buy, and he wasn't going to let Sam pay for anything else. The shirt he had bought Louis wasn't even that expensive, but it had cost enough for Louis to regret allowing him to buy it.

Louis tried to move his thoughts away from Shawn, but he failed, and instead, started thinking about Shawn and Isaac. What if the feelings Louis was getting in his gut for Isaac meant something? Would it be wrong to go on a date with Shawn?

I don't feel anything for Isaac, Louis told himself, but he wasn't sure if he believed it.

He continually tried to take his mind of the two boys that had come out of nowhere and into his life, but his mind wouldn't let him, and Louis laid there, on the floor, in his makeshift bed, unable to sleep. And, as the morning sun started to peak its way through Sam's curtains, Louis groaned and silently cursed at himself.

As the morning began to make itself more present, Louis quietly walked down the stairs of Sam's house, trying to remember which ones creaked and which ones did not. Since he hadn't been able to fall asleep, tossing and turning all night with all kinds of thoughts rushing through his mind, he didn't see the point in trying anymore. He knew that Sarah and Sam wouldn't be up for at least another hour, and that's if they didn't sleep in, so Louis made his way down to the kitchen.