Jammed (Louis Tomlinson au)

Chapter 18

I woke up early the next morning, knowing that we'd have a lot of work to get done. Of course Louis had slept soundly all night, snoring for a good majority, while I tossed and turned every few hours. So, I figured I'd get one victory in sharing a room with him and take all the hot water in the shower.

It was barely seven and the hot water was definitely a wake-up call. I also had the chance to really stop and think about being in Moscow, since last night I was pretty much occupied with arguing with Louis over who would take the couch. Of course I ended up doing that, since his little, royal British ass could only touch a sleep number mattress. He was a fucking princess when it came to living in luxury.

But, my back aches from the barely comfortable couch were not of concern anymore. My real worry was being back in the country where I had technically done most of my growing up in. When my parents were killed here, I knew it would never feel anything like a home after. That was a reason for why I ran off, and why I didn't entirely mind being dragged to New York by Witness Protection. Having American heritage on my father's side did have it's benefits. I couldn't say that for my Ukrainian mother, though. She was a stark believer in democracy, which did bring her to falling in love with my father, but also brought both of them to death.

I didn't think about my parents very much anymore. From the time I left Russia when I was sixteen, I tried to keep every part of my childhood out of my mind. Of course, it was best that I did anyway: "for my protection" they called it. It upset me for a while, as I found it quite disrespectful to act just as if they didn't exist. I mean, Marlee and Niall didn't even know what had happened to my parents, and I was going to be the Maid of Honor at their wedding.

Slowly, I did voluntarily begin to stop thinking about them. In fact, a lot of the memories I had of them were already gone. I remembered the easy things: my dad had bright green eyes and my mother had jet-black straight hair. But I didn't remember the way that my mother would laugh when my father told a joke, or when my father would come home and embrace me in a big hug after a long business trip. All I had left were images; sadly, one of them being that of my parents lying on the floor of our living room with bullets in their head.
I stepped out of the shower feeling remorseful, but also refreshed. I had long gotten passed my parents death, even though I had never fufilled my wish of avenging it. Working on this case, coming home, and protecting millions of people just like my parents was good enough in motivating me. I couldn't protect them, but I could at least protect other people now.

When I opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the bedroom, fully clothed I mind you, I was surprised to see Louis awake. He looked completely satisfied with himself, smiling as he stretched across the queen size bed. It was like his sole purpose, from sunrise to sunset, was to mock me.
I had figured that today being a new day I would be a little less agrivated with him. I woke up believing that, and I still figured I could try and make the effort. But if Louis was going to act so immature and stupid all day, there'd be a good chance that I wouldn't last long. My main goal today was getting work done.

"Hey, Marlee and Niall are going to be here in a couple minutes to talk over the plan for today. I'm going to take a quick shower, so let them in when they get here." Louis' voice was raspy and his hair was all askew, evidence of a good sleep. I was only jealous for a moment until realizing that he'd have a cold shower waiting for him if I had timed my own just right.

The room became silent after Louis went to the bathroom, and I almost wanted to fall back on the bed and fall asleep, even if just for a moment. I knew that Marlee and Niall would be over soon, however, and so instead I straightened up the room a bit and waited patiently. The bright light was shining through the window beside me; looking out I could see the city glistening in the morning light. The tops of the Kremlin building were barely in view, sparkling warmly to touch every end of the city. The most impressive building to represent the power, influence, and strength of the country and it's people. It was hard to believe myself and Joseph Stalin came from that same place.