Just A Nice Moment.
Louis starts to feel weird about a certain ginger girl...But does she feels the same ? (Drabble challenge by @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale, Day 3 : ‘You Make Me Laugh’)
Louis liked giving joy to the others.
It wasn’t new, he always did that since the apocalypse happened.
After everything went shit over the years (the adults abandoning them the first days, Ms.Martin’s death, and other kids’ deaths…) It was just unbearable. The general ambience was sinister, sad, depressing...It just felt wrong for the other kids to be happy while some of their camarades/friends passed away.
But Louis knew it wasn’t exactly true. What’s the point of always fearing an unguaranteed future ? The only moment we have for sure, is the present, the actual day. Enjoy the present as much as we can. It wasn’t about forgetting the dead, but living as much as we could, for them, was more faitful to their memory than just grieving until death arrives…
Of course, while he sure managed to light up the mood sometimes...His belief was mocked. In general, he didn’t get recognition for his acts. Instead…
« I wish your mouth would cease. »
« You get more and more stupid every day. »
« Shut. up. »
« Can you use your brain for once, instead of joking around ? »
He was insulted. Even by Marlon, in his back. But...They were his friends (Marlon was like a brother)...They don’t insult him for nothing... At some point, he thought : Maybe I deserve it.
I deserve to be insulted.
So, as much as it hurt him to listen to those insults, he never talked back with spite, he just...took it.
Out of the Ericson kids, 4 of them weren’t as much annoyed by him as were the others.
Shaun, the sheepish blonde autist. Louis was his best friend, sometimes he had troubles to dissociate a joke from a quote, sure, but he was supportive of his effort to light up the mood.
Idryssa. The co-leader with Marlon. If Marlon was like a brother for Louis, Idryssa was an elder sister. She was a music fan herself, not to the point of playing an instrument, but still. Idryssa always took care of the kids, whatever their age, whatever where they came from. She always liked some Louis’ jokes as she rested from her ‘job’.
And finally, the twins. Minerva Elenore and Sophie Marie Evergreen. The gingers from Dublin, with their adopted brother Tennessee. (well, not exactly from Dublin, they came from NYC, but their family was originally from Dublin.)
Minerva was an excellent singer, with a voice made for blues. Eventually she composed some songs with Louis (inclunding ‘Don’t Be Afraid’, when the others couldn’t sleep after the adults left.). She was nice, beautiful, and she like some Louis’ jokes. She was one of most popular girls in school, but at the end Violet, out of everyone, seemed to have won her heart (Louis was surprised by that, but not in a bad way. Minerva seemed to make Violet happy. And Louis cared a lot about Violet, so if Minerva gave Violet the happiness she always deserved, Louis would always support their couple.)
And there was Sophie.
Sophie, at first, wasn’t as popular as Minnie was. She was perceived as a ‘goody-two-shoes’, always ranting about the others’ slurs, intervening in their arguments to try and stop them...
« Can’t you just fuck off, Esther ? »
« Only when you’ll give me my stuff back ! »
Louis feared the following of this argument, since everytime Mitch and Esther get into one…
« For fuck’s sake, for the last time IT’S NOT ME !! I’m not into stealing girls’ stuff... »
Mitch smirked. « Or boys stuff, I don’t know with you... »
THIS element is mentioned.
« If I were you, I’d take back immediatly BEFORE I CRUSH YOUR SK-- » Esther dashed to Mitch.
But suddenly Sophie intervened and put herself between them, pushing Esther back.
« Can you both just STOP fighting for a day ?! You don’t think we have enough...»
Sophie retained herself from swearing.
« Mess to deal with already ? The food, the walkers...And such ? »
Esther and Mitch looked at each other, seeming to calm down. But sadly it was an impression.
« We didn’t call for you, Goody-shoes ! »
« Mind your fucking business Soph ! »
It pained Louis to see Sophie get insulted like that, she didn’t deserve it…
Louis looked beyond her supposed ‘goody-shoes’ personality. And he discovered an artist, an excellent painter, drawer (she liked to draw portraits of some kids, including him, Shaun, Minnie and Violet...They were so living!) Her entire dorm was covered of drawings she made, when he walked into it he felt like he was transported into an other dimension, full of colors, of dreams, where he could go anywhere he wanted...It made him forget about how dark and sinister it was outside.
And he admired Sophie for that.
Sophie had the same sense of humor as him, the same taste of music, that same will of preserving the arts (well, as much as two teenagers can do in a boarding school cut out of the rest of the world by an apocalypse…) So it surprised nobody when they cracked some jokes together and giggled while dinners or card games, or when they passed days in the music room, composing and drawing together (Louis was terrible at drawing, but Sophie never minded, ‘Drawing is a matter of learning and doing’ after all).
But, as months passed, and as Louis got closer and closer with Sophie, the admiration, the friendly feelings he had for her turned into something...Different.
He sometimes surprised himself at doing nothing, just admiring her drawing some new countrylands, noticing her red freckles on her charming face, her blue-sky eyes, her long ginger hair that went to her waist…
As he tchatted with her, he had a weird feeling in his stomach, he felt more...free, happy, calm.
When she smiled, he smiled too. He liked how bright she was when she smiled. He wanted to make her happy, more than the others…
« Louis ? »
« Yes, Idryssa ? »
« I think...You have a crush on Sophie. A big one. »
Love.
If he had expected that…
Apart from supporting Violet on her crush on Minnie, the last time he dealt with love (in a way) was when...He caused his parents’ divorce.
He didn’t want to ruin his relationship with Sophie. And...If he has a crush on her...Does she return his feelings ? Does she loves him back ?
Everything in his head said no, she just sees you as a friend.
One night…
They were in the music room, Louis writing a music of his own on the music sheets.
Sophie was sat on the piano stool, close to him. She had concern in her gaze.
Usually, they tchat a lot, about anything, when they are together.
But it wasn’t the case today, Louis barely talked.
« Louis ? »
He didn’t seem to listen, still focused on his music sheets, but he looked lost, sad…
« Is...Are you allright ? »
« Yeah... » Louis finally said, with an unsure tone.
Sophie grew more and more worried.
« Louis, I’m...You can tell me everything, you know that ? »
Louis finally stopped his writing and turned his head to her, meeting her concerned gaze.
« I...I know. »
« So...What’s wrong ? »
Louis turned his head. « I... »
Sophie was definitely worried. Louis was her best friend, she cared for him, like, A LOT. Everytime he wasn’t his ‘Happy goofy jokester’ self (God, this nickname was just ridiculously funny), she didn’t felt okay, at all. When he was happy, she was, but the opposite was also true...It felt weird.
« What do you...think about me ? »
What ?
Louis must have seen her shocked face, as he stuttered, trying to change of subject « N-Nevermind, that’s not imp-- »
« I t-think you are... a good friend, Louis. »
Louis turned his head back to her. Did he hear it right ?
« Do you -- »
« Mean it ? Yes, I mean it Louis. You are a good friend. You always care about the others, you have such a big heart, whatever Mitch... » Sophie spited as she looked at the tag Mitch carved on the piano ‘You suk at playing’ (God she wanted to punch him sometimes...Mitch might be a big brother for Willy, but he was still a douchebag when he wanted) « or Marlon, or Esther….or Vi...Or anyone says about you. You’re not careless, nor stupid, even if you joke around, even if you play piano all the time...You just, try to light up the mood and make the others smile for once, and they should be grateful to you for that ! »
Louis had his eyes wide open. Never, in all his life, someone respected, heck, COMPLIMENTED him for his efforts. He expected no one would.
« A-And... » Sophie felt her cheeks heat up for the first time, as she shyly scratched her neck « Your jokes themselves are funny. You make me laugh. »
Louis was freezed. He knew she made Sophie laugh, that wasn’t the surprise. The surprise was that she admitted it, like it wasn’t a problem. Sure, Violet, when she didn’t do her usual eyes roll (he liked making her do it) laughed, but it was kinda rare, Louis assumed his humor annoyed her and the others more than anything…
But to hear Sophie liked his jokes…
« Louis ? » Louis went back to reality as Sophie called her. She looked concerned, scared, like she feared that she said something wrong.
« Sophie... »
Sophie felt her breathing changing, growing more and more itched, stressed.
« I’m serious Louis, I mean every word I just said. »
Another unbearable silence.
Louis turned his head back to the music sheets, then to Sophie.
« Honnestly, your humor might be lame for the others, but...It makes me laugh, genuinely. »
Louis took an heavy breath.
« Sophie...Thank you. For everything. » He finally said.
« You’re welcome, Louis. »
« I mean » Louis cut her, trying to find his words « Thank you for...your kind words. I mean...Not everyone is mean at me, b-but...Sometimes, it’s just... » Louis suddenly felt Sophie’s hand on his.
He looked down, and noticed how close Sophie was to her, her hand on his and her beautiful blue sky eyes laid on him.
fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckdon’tpanicnow
« Hey, it’s okay.. » Sophie felt her cheeks heat more « Calm down, you don’t have to panic about that. »
« I don’t panic because of that... » Louis shyly said « It’s just...I’m not used to it. Everyone hears the jokes, the piano...and after that, they stop listening. » Louis smiled at Sophie « You didn’t . »
Sophie smiled back.
« I’ll never stop listening to you, Lou. I-I... » Sophie blushed so much, she prayed that Louis wouldn’t see it.
« I love you. »
Louis went mute again, his eyes wide open. He turned his head back to the piano.
He couldn’t believe it. She returned his feelings. She loved him back !
He laughed out of relief, she loved him ! Him, out of every boy (and girl, he doesn’t mind) in the school !
« I love you too, Sophie ! » The ginger girl gasped. « I love you since a long time, but...I-I was scared of being...I was scared that you’d only see me as a friend... » Louis confessed.
« Of course I see you as more than a friend, you dork ! » She lightly punched him in the arm.
« I care a lot about you, Lou. I love you, since the beginning. »
They looked at each other, deeply into each other’s eyes, Sophie into chocolate browns Louis’s eyes, him into her blue sky eyes, matching her backwards cap and her denim vest.
Eventually, she put her hand on his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. As their lips met, both felt that weird twist in their stomach finally disappearing, replaced by a nice, warm feeling. As Sophie read into a book, that feeling is called ‘butterflies in stomach’ and the nice feeling is the ‘butterflies’ flying out.
She liked that poetic metaphor.
As they ended the kiss, they looked lovely at each other. Deep in themselves, they sweared they’d stay together as long as they could, to do everything to make the other smile. Because it was worth it.