𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑| 𝐋.𝐂.

3: Late night talks

"Hey, guys. Don't stay up too late. Louis's famous opening challenge is tomorrow." I hear Leo announce as I open my Louie, sending a text to Carter.

I wait a few seconds to see if he responds and I get nothing.

I let out a sigh as I take off my headphones, leaving them around my neck.

"I need some air." I state.

"But there's air in here. Actually there's about all the oxygen we need in here to last a long time and-"

"Shut up." Jackie says, cutting Max off.

"You okay, Ramirez?" Leo asks.

"Fine." I mutter and I walk toward the door, slamming it behind me.

I then dial Meredith's number and put the Louie behind my ear.

"What do you mean you joined the Greenhouse?" She says.

"Well, hello to you too." I scoff.

"Sorry, hi. How are you?" She asks.

"I'm fine. And yeah, I did." I huff, starting to walk.

"Are you joking?" She says.

"What could I do? I couldn't leave Carter here alone." I say.

"Okay." She slurs and I chuckle.

"Tell Owen I won't let them brainwash me. I'll fight them from the inside." I say, hanging up.

I then knock on the Eagles's door, waiting for a response.

"Did you lose something?" Brooke says, holding the door with her arm.

"Hey, Brooke. Great to see you. Is my brother here?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"What if he is?" She says, blocking me from looking inside.

"Can I come in?"

"No Ravens allowed." Brooke states and I take a step closer to her.

"Seriously? What is this, the fourth grade or something?" I scoff at her as she gives me a glare.

"Hmm." She responds as she shuts the door with a fake smile.

"Damn, what do they put in their food here?" I mutter.

"Hi, Valerie." Louis says and I look up at him.

"Hi." I nod at him.

"Oh, having trouble sleeping on the first night?" He asks me.

"No, I'm fine." I grimace at him.

"Good, good. I always find I get energized on the first night of the year." He says, making a fist in the air.

He then knocks on the door, probably to check on his bitch of a daughter.

"Careful, they're a tough crowd." I comment and before Louis can reply, the door opens.

"What now? Oh, hey dad." Brooks says, her tone of voice changing immediately.

"Hi, sweetheart. Just checking on you." He says, giving Brooke a hug and I turn on my heels, walking back to the clubhouse as I roll my eyes.

I quietly open the door to see the rom is pitch black, except for the little light that's shown from the crack of the curtains on the window.

"Guys?" I softly call out and I get no response.

I sigh in relief and I shut the door. I then turn back around, bumping into someone.

"Hey." A voice says and I gasp, looking up at Leo.

"Don't do that again! Asshole!" I exclaim in a whisper as I brush past him.

"Then you shouldn't of went out in the first place." Leo shrugs at me.

"It's my business, not yours." I state, setting my headphones on the table.

"Went to go look for your brother?" He says and I freeze for a second, the turning to him. 

"What?" I say.

"You went to go look for your brother." He says again.

"How did you-

"I saw you texting him when I was tuning my guitar. He didn't respond, right?" He says.

"Yeah, so?" I say, crossing my arms.

"Look, you should just give him some space to figure things out and then he'll contact to you." He suggests.

"What are you, my mother?" I say and face softens.

"Ramirez, I didn't mean it like that." He says.

"I know what you meant, Cruz. I'm just a little on edge, okay?" I huff, taking the Louie out from behind my ear.

"I get it." He says and I scoff, taking a seat at the table.

"Sure, if you say so. You don't even know what I'm talking about." I brush him off as I take a maker off of a notebook and start to doodle on my hand as Leo turns on a dim lamp.

"I do. My dad died in a helicopter crash. He was a pilot. He was flying this family and all of sudden, the engine broke down and it crashed down a hill." He says, taking a seat next to me.

"I'm sorry. But I never said this was about family, Leo." I say, continuing to draw on back of my hand.

"You didn't have to, Valerie." He says and I look up at him.

"That's the first time you ever called me by my name." I say.

"Damn, I ruined my streak." He says and I scoff as I lightly shove him.

"But seriously, I'm sorry about your dad, Leo." I tell him.

"And I'm sorry about your mom. But we can't bring them back, Ramirez." He shrugs.

"I know. But you can still wish that things could've been different." I say, putting the cap back on the sharpie.

"You don't just wish, you kinda just get the feeling." He says.

"Guess you're right." I say, scratching my head.

"I know." He says and I chuckle, rolling my eyes at him.

"Wow, no one told me our captain would be so full of himself." I say.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He says.

"Like what?" I ask.

"I can do this thing where I assign my other Ravens an order. Like you for example, get some sleep." He says and I chuckle.

"I can do this thing where I ignore you and drown everything out with Billie Eilish." I say, attempting to put my headphones back on.

"I mean it, Valerie. Louis's big opening challenge is tomorrow. You need sleep." He says, putting my headphones back on the table.

"Ugh, you're such a buzz kill." I groan, getting up from my seat.

"Yep, that's me. You take the couch, I'll take the floor." He says.

"Oh, Leo, it's fine. You don't have to do that." I tell him.

"I wasn't asking, Ramirez." He says, handing me a pillow and a blanket.

I then stick my tongue out at him as he scoffs as I get settled on the couch.

"Night, Leo." I say, looking up at the ceiling.

"Night, Ramirez." He says as he shuts off the lamp.

I let out a breath as I close my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Maybe Leo's right about giving Carter space to figure things out. I don't wanna smother him.