Impulse

Chapter Fourteen

*NARRATOR'S POV* 

Edward got out of bed when his thoughts morphed from scary to crippling. It didn't make adifference when he started descending the staircase and he had maintain that much more of hisbalance in order to keep stable. His demons that ruled the deepest fantasy of his imagination werealight and aloof, making him see double when there wasn't even anything there.He was least surprised to find two of his house-mates in the kitchen, carrying on as teenagers dowhen the awkwardness of their first date has past. Ah yes, the date Edward promised. 

"Is there a particular reason you and my brother are hidden in our kitchen?" He asked Louis whenhe got closer, near enough to the bemused boy to have the scent of his early morning sleepiness. 

"Harry cooked." Louis hadn't been able to finish his portion of the breakfast meal Harry prepared,and so offered some to Edward. "I can't finish it all." 

"I can help with that, petal." Edward speaks with an increasing huskiness to his voice.

 Louis feels the unwavering singe of eyes staring, open-ended and burning bright as it penetrated allthe walls Louis put up to keep safe behind. Edward swallows hard and turns his attention withrecord-breaking speed as soon as Louis looks at him. 

"Edwa-"Edward can't handle this right now, as early as it is in the morning. He abandons all chance ofhelping Louis with any eating.

 "I'm going outside."Harry catches Edward's line of sight in that moment, about to say what Louis soon will, and stopshimself. He doesn't understand the look in his brother's eye and he knows every look as oftheir birth. 

"It's freezing outside." Louis comments, eyes squinting but so appealing and soft as they peered upat Edward. 

The latter clenched his fists until he felt the sting of his nails digging into his palms, to keep fromreaching out and caressing some sacred part of his personal holy grail. He didn't know what todo when his petal looked at him this way, couldn't begin to comprehend the ordeal of whatemotions it rendered highlighted and festering within him.

 It was beautiful torture. 

Edward turns around and leaves before any more reason to not escape to their own yard - thinkingof this place as Louis' home too made him nauseous with glee. He unlocked the glass sliding doorand disappeared behind the curtains that whipped noisily in the new cool air. Edward shut it fromthe outside before the indoors got unbearable. 

 "It's okay, petal." Harry was suddenly in front of Louis, drawing the boy's priceless attention back tohim. "My brother is a man with many faces. He's just trying to protect you from them." 

Louis doesn't say anything and when his cheek comes to rest on Harry's sturdy shoulder, his eyesare trained on the exit Edward made.He loses his mind to his thoughts for a brief trek down his train of thought's path. Edward hadbecome so...hostile? Is that an inappropriate adjective? Why was he keeping his distance afterlast night when they hadn't even fought with a gruesome outcome. 

"We need to ice your ankle, I believe." Harry breaks up the reverie that Louis' concentration zeroedin on. 

Louis could only nod dumbly and hope it was act outside the duty of his vivid imagination. He letHarry help him off his perch on the maroon stool structure then be lifted entirely off the groundbefore laying down on a noisy couch. The fabric was remarkably smooth and turned a shade darkerin brown when he ran his hand over the shiny tendrils of synthetic fur.

 "Harry, please don't-" He started to get up when he realised what this man hoped to accomplished.Louis can take care of himself, even in this decrepit state.