Focus

Chapter 17: Paralyzed

(Unless I say otherwise, it will always be from Andy's POV)

My world was falling apart at the seams. The sun had fallen out of the now gray sky. All of the grass had shriveled up into brown nothingness and all of the water had evaporated in a mere exchange of words over the phone. I was falling to pieces right in front of Louis.

I had been holding in my tears for the past twenty minutes since the phone call. But now that it was just Louis and I in the car, they finally escaped with a wail. My body shook with sadness and fear of what life was going to be like without him. I didn't want to live in a world without him.

Louis did his best to comfort me. He tried hugging me and rubbing my back, but no amount of doting was going to help lift this heavy pain off my heart.

Just as I was about to pull away, he leaned in. I thought he was going to kiss me then, but he rubbed his thumb over my cheek gently and whispered, "Cry," When I asked him what for, my mind went blank. What kind of request was that? 'cry'. "If you need to cry, I'm here to wipe your eyes." I let some tears fall down my cheeks into his shirt, but he wiped the last few away with his warm thumb and my lips were greeted with his.

They were warm, like my tears. I suddenly felt self-conscious at the fact that I had been crying. He could probably taste the salty tears on his tongue. Speaking of tongues, Louis slipped his through my teeth. I had never... French kissed before, so this was all new territory to me. I wasn't quite sure if I liked it or not, so I let him taste my mouth for a few seconds before he pulled out. I though he was going to pull away altogether, but instead he bit my bottom lip. He was gentle at first, gradually getting rougher and rougher as the kiss went on. I had to pull away to get some air.

My breathing was quicker than I had anticipated. He had literally taken my breath away.

"Stay with me." I whispered against his cheek. Where had that come from?

"Anything that you need, I'm here for you," he assured me.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel the need to cry. I knew that I was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.

If there was one major thing that Uncle had ever told me, it was that "adventure awaits."

I wanted to go on that adventure with Louis.

Louis tugged me out of my thoughts by rubbing my upper arm.

"You alright?"

"I think so,"

"Let's go inside. I'll make you some hot tea."

Hot tea. That was Uncle's tea.

He wouldn't want me to linger on the fact that he was gone. Right? Right.

I nodded and opened the door.

~

The tea was boiling hot as we sat down on a sofa in the living room. Louis sat down first, but I felt the need to have another human being next to me. I felt alone in the world. Having Louis there next to me was helping my heart heal, even if it was just a tiny stitch at a time. When I sat down, he threw a tanned arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to his chest. We didn't speak for a long time, we just sipped away at our tea in the silence. I guess he thought I needed some time to settle down and I guess I did. If I were to speak a word right now, I would have probably shattered to a million pieces like a broken mirror.

The windows darkened after a while, signaling that it was already nighttime. An owl was perched out in a nearby tree hooting its head off and you could hear all of the crickets and beetles creating their late night music.