mute » tomlinson ON HOLD

four; meeting

Once inside the car, snow started to land lightly on the windshield, the flakes dissolving at immediate contact. Rainy sat beside me, her head leaning against the window lightly; she had agreed to let me drive her home again. I assumed she waited in the cold for someone picked her up everyday, so I thought it would be easiest if I just took her home.

The roads were incredibly icy with only a thin sheet of slush covering it. 

After adjusting the heat, turning the radio to a decent volume, and switching to four-wheel-drive, I leaned back into my seat and began to drive. The drive itself was relaxing; everything was silent besides the low hum of the music. The delicate sound of snowflakes hitting against the windshield was enough to put me to sleep.

I vaguely remembered the way to Rainy's house, so when I got there I was surprised to find a car that wasn't sitting there the last time I took her home.

"Rain–," I looked over, and her eyes were lightly shut, her breaths even. It took everything in me to reach across and gently shake her shoulder. When she didn't respond, I sighed and reluctantly did it again, "Rainy, love, wake up."

Her eyes shot open, flinching back from my touch. Once she realized it was only me, she relaxed, spreading her arms to stretch. Her eyes were slightly blood-shot from her short sleep, but that only made the blue green color stand out more.

I pointed at the house, "We're here."

She nodded her head and went for the handle of the door, opening it slowly. She visibly sucked in a breath when the cold air hit her, then made a dash for the front door.

But before she could reach the porch, the door swung open, revealing a boy in his early twenties with brown hair, much like Rainy's. He had slight stubble dotting around his chin and messy hair. He wore a plain white tee shirt, despite the cold, with torn-up jeans. 

He jogged over to her and began talking to her in a hush. I couldn't hear because I was still sat in the car, but my ears were itching to know what he was saying; out of pure curiosity, of course.

I knew I should have started to drive away already, or at least back out of the drive way, but I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the two. I watched as the boy's eyes flicked over to me multiple times, then focused back on Rainy.

When he jabbed a finger back towards the house, Rainy nodded and walked through the front door. My eyes widened slightly when I noticed him walking over to my car. I was quick to roll down my window and give him a nervous smile.

He didn't return the smile. "I'm Eli," he, then, reached his hand out for me to shake. After I looked at it quizzically, I accepted the gesture and fit my hand into his. "Lorraine's brother."

"I'm Louis," I introduced myself with a nod.

He looked around awkwardly for a moment before turning back to me, "Thanks for bringing her home, you know. Sometimes, it's just a hassle to pick her and Owen up." Once he saw my confused expression, he spoke again, "Owen is our little brother."

"Oh," is all I said.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence, he spoke up again, "Listen, would you like to come inside? Rainy doesn't bring home many friends, so I'd like to take the chance to get to know any that actually do come here," he asked, his hand coming up to rest on the door.

I nodded my head cooly, "Yeah, yeah, that'd be great."

When he moved, I opened my door and stepped out into the cold air. Once my feet were firmly planted onto the ground, I noticed just how tall he was – maybe two inches taller than me. 

However, I was relieved that he wasn't some over-protective brother that rips off any boy's head that gets seen with his sister. He seems like a nice enough guy, and for that, I'm very grateful.

When I walked into the house, it was very warm and welcoming. Lamps were dotted around the room, nicely decorated pillows sat comfortably on couches, and a fairly large TV hung in the corner of what I assumed was the family room.

The kitchen had checkered tile with faded yellow walls. The refrigerator sat open; a boy – about ten – poked through different foods, one hand holding the fridge door and the other holding a Nintendo DS.

"Owen," Eli said sternly from behind me.

At the sound of his brother's voice, the little boy's head popped out from around the door. He had what looked like chocolate pudding surrounding his mouth, and when he gave us a toothy grin I could see the brown smeared on his teeth as well.

I let out a deep chuckle when Eli groaned, tearing off a paper towel and throwing it to the boy. "Clean yourself up, kid."

Unlike Eli and Rainy, Owen had blond hair with brown eyes. I took notice of the small freckles that dotted his cheeks and smiled when the image of Rainy's shy smile flashed in my mind.

As he walked out of the kitchen, paper towel in hand, he grinned up at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. He reminded me somewhat of myself when I was his age, and that spread a warm feeling throughout my body.

I heard the shower turn on upstairs and I assumed Rainy was the one getting in. I frowned, thinking she wasn't going to be coming back down anytime soon.

"Trouble, that boy," Eli's laugh broke up my thoughts as he let water pour into his cup from the faucet.

When he turned back around, he slid the glass over to me. Nodding at him, I took a drink and chuckled along with him.

"Just last week he took a piss in the bathroom sink!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. I laughed loudly at that and thought of how he would get along great with the twins back in Springfield.

I could hear the Mario Kart music that played loudly over Owen's hystericallly laughing, causing my smile to grow wider.

"Kids these days," I shook my head.

aw aw louis met the fam - well some of it anyway. 
but don't you just love owen omfg
sorry this chapter is short ugh ::((

please vote/comment ! it is much appreciated c:

-kay