Sorcery (Louis Tomlinson)

xli. Homecoming

Louis had slept through the night peacefully with help from the sleeping syrup, but I couldn't even shut my eyes for one minute.

I ended up staying awake the whole night, my mind too occupied with memories I saw, nightmares, and confusion. If I got any sleep at all, it wasn't much. It was one of those terrible nights where I couldn't tell if I was asleep or not, my consciousness drifting between the two. At one point, I tried digging through the box Dad had gotten out to look for another vial of sleeping syrup, but it seemed to be charmed with a lock, rendering anyone else but Dad unable to open it.

Needless to say, I had been awake when the sun finally rose. I had made myself a cup of coffee to keep me awake after I had given up on sleep, yawns escaping me as Dad came into the kitchen from bed. He was already dressed, seeming well rested as he prepared his own cup of coffee. He froze when he saw me half-asleep at the kitchen table, his brows raising.

"Mira, are you okay? You look like a zombie." He asked in concern, making me take a long sip of my caffeinated drink before nodding. Dad didn't seem to believe me at first, but he just went with it.

A soft sound was heard from the living room just then, making me get up and head to the couch. I saw a still sleepy Louis rubbing his eyes and looking at me as I walked over to him, one of his eyebrows raising as I accidentally ran into the corner of the sofa. A tiny bit of my coffee spilled out and onto the couch cushion, making me grumble and huff.

"Good morning to you too." Louis softly mumbled, my eyes rolling as I kissed his forehead. He was still a bit tired, humming lightly as I gave him another kiss on the cheek. Bright blue eyes stared up at me, Louis' expression changing once he saw my tired face. Louis seemed a bit concerned, his thumb tracing the under-eye circles I knew must be forming. I moved his hand away, offering him a small smile to wash away his worry.

"You two need to get ready, we're heading to the Rift today." Dad told us, his eyes trained on me. I had set my coffee cup on the table and held my hand out, my mind commanding the desired objects to fly into my grasp from my packed suitcase. Soon enough, a t-shirt and jeans were in my hand, the suitcase zipping itself back up.

"Show off." Dad teased as he walked over and picked up his medicine box, packing it with his things. I went upstairs to change, hesitating when I was about to open my bedroom door.

This was it. I would never call this my room again, never come home to this bed. I sighed before opening the old wooden door, seeing a bare skeleton of what used to be my bedroom inside.

It was so sad how it was so empty. My photography things had been taken from the bookshelf and packed away, all my clothes stuffed into the luggage downstairs. The walls were bare, my bed messy and undone, everything cleared out and making it seem like no one ever lived here before.

Well, almost everything.

The only thing left I had forgotten to pack was the framed picture of Louis and I resting on my nightstand. I'm not sure why I left it there at first, just resting there in its golden frame. Maybe as a taunt for Nox? 'Haha, we were here, look how happy we were, now you'll never find us.' Maybe as a threat for Allister? 'Just try and break us apart, you never will.' Maybe just to leave a piece of us behind, for the next person to stumble across and discover, Terran or Luxien.

My fingers lightly gripped the frame, holding it up. Without hesitation, I quickly removed the back of the frame, taking the photo out. It would be the one meaningful thing to move to a new home with me.

I had gotten changed quickly, the photo safely tucked in my jean pocket. I went downstairs to see my father with a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at Louis getting dressed. I watched in awe as Louis somehow easily maneuvered his way into a t-shirt, his hurt shoulder apparently not bothering him anymore. His sling had been discarded to the floor, his hurt shoulder somehow fine now.