The Lucky One (Larry Stylinson)

III

The light sneaking through the window is what brought him out of his slumber. He looked around and realized he was back in his bed, and he had the worst taste in his mouth. It had been months since he had had any kind of alcohol, and now his body was itching again for at least a drop of it. He searched for the bottle of whiskey but couldn't find it anywhere. He started getting annoyed when his head started pounding, or maybe it had been like that for a while and he had just noticed.

He sat up and looked around the gray room, then at the clock that told him it was already four in the afternoon. There was a water bottle and some pills on his bedside table, which he was quick to take when even opening his eyes was too painful. When that was done, he laid down again on his side and closed his eyes to try and go back to sleep. He felt like death, and probably looked like death. He was halfway there when there was a knock on the door and he pretended to be asleep.

"Lou?"

It was his mother. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping for her to go away when he couldn't face her. She was probably there to kick him out after he had gone out to buy alcohol. There was zero tolerance in her home, so he braced for the worst. He only felt her warm hand on his cheek then her fingers running through his messy tangled up hair. He really needed a shower.

"Baby. Lou, you need to wake up and eat something." Jay spoke, her voice shaking at the sight and her nose wrinkling due to the bitter smell in the room. She needed to open a window.

"I know you're awake, darling." She softly said. "You can't fool your mom."

Her heart ached when she saw a tear rolling down towards his nose. She wiped it away and continued running her fingers through Louis' hair. She looked out the window, wishing she could take all his pain away. She wished she could make him happy again. Go back to that time where her boy was home and he was happy. But she couldn't do that, all she could do was to be there for him, give him all her love.

"M'not hungry." Louis said, clearing his throat when his voice cracked.

"You haven't eaten anything since you came home. Baby, I don't want you to get sick." Jay's voice trembled.

That was enough for Louis to fully wake up and at least sit up on the bed. His mother shouldn't cry at all, much less for someone like him, someone who deserved what had happened to him. He rested his head against his mother's middle and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." Louis said, tightening his hold on her.

"We're going to get help, darling. And you're going to be okay." Jay kissed Louis' head.

"I saw him, mom. I saw him." Louis started crying. "I saw his baby. She's so beautiful, mom."

Jay didn't know what to say, so she wrapped her arms around him and let him cry until Louis didn't have anymore tears to shed.

"Come on, up you go. You're gonna take a shower and then you're gonna come down and eat dinner with us. The kids have been wanting to see you. They missed their brother so much." Jay said, letting go of Louis when he did.

She already had clean clothes for him in the bathroom when he walked into the room. It was different now. The Finding Nemo shower curtain was long gone, having being replaced by a white one after his mom had redecorated the bathroom. He took his time in the shower, feeling somehow better after he had taken the pills. When he was done, he brushed his teeth and his hair then went back into his bedroom to put away his dirty clothes and grab a pair of shoes.

He made his way downstairs where he could smell the lasagna and could make out his mom and Dan talking in hushed voices. Dan was grabbing plates from one of the cabinets and his mother was taking the food out of the oven.