Broken Bonds and Stolen Hearts (discontinued)

Chapter 17

"What kid? Can I take this off now?" ____ asked as she tried to pull off the blindfold, but Ryan quickly held her little hands back.

"No. If you try to take it off one more time, you won't be getting any cookies once we go back home," He threatened as he kept his gentle grip on his daughter's tiny hands.

"But whyyy?? I have been wearing it for AGES. I WANT IT OFF," She started thrashing around, and Louis could see the tears wetting the blindfold. Her thrashing was quickly stopped by her violent coughs.

"God damn it ____. Why won't you listen?? If you take the blindfold off, the surgery will be for naught. And we will have to do it all over again. Please baby, just this once. I promise we won't do it again okay?" Ryan pleaded before he looked at Tom for help. Tom rushed to where they were and placed the mask thing on her face. Her coughs started to become less and less violent and she started to cry instead.

"I... I wanna go home!" she sniffled as she started to get drowsy, her voice was starting to get weak.

"We will go home soon baby, You just hang in there for now okay?" Louis watched as Ryan held his daughter in his arms lovingly even after she had just done something bad. He was jealous of her, of their relationship. Back when he was there, they would beat him if he cried, and punish him if he complained.

Is this what family really is like? Do they love each other like this? Why was his so different then? Why did they hate him? Was he really that horrible? But what was wrong with him? What did he do so wrong?

His eyes went back to ____ as she sniffled again, her cheeks were red from crying and she had a runny nose too. It reminded him of Hugo, was he okay? Surely he was, their mother favoured him after all. She sacrificed Louis to keep Hugo by her side. He should be alright as long as she was alive. Unless she decides to change her mind later.

He was brought back to reality when Tom held out a sandwich for him to take, and Louis stared at him puzzled.

"W-what?" he stuttered defensively.

"When was the last time you ate kid? Come, sit down," Louis looked between the sandwich and Tom, unsure what to make of his gesture, he reluctantly took the sandwich and sat down on the floor next to Ryan, who was still talking to his daughter. The third guy was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, I know. There is someone here close to your age, maybe you will get along well?" Ryan looked at Louis before he looked at ____. Louis internally panicked when Ryan touched his hand, but he tried not to show it.

"Say hi to Louis, ____," Ryan said gently as he placed Louis's hand on top of ____'s hand, and Louis felt his whole body tense when they touched. She didn't say anything, her breath was steady and calm with the occasional sniffles. Her hand was gently squeezing Louis's hand. And for some reason, it made him feel like crying.

"...____?" Ryan looked at his daughter again to realize that she had fallen asleep somehow, so he tried to make her let go of Louis's hand, but her grip only tightened the more he tried.

"Really?" he sighed before he put her back in bed and tried again to make her let go. Louis just stood there awkwardly, he could just pry her hand off, but for some reason, he didn't want to do it yet.

"I don't mind holding her hand for a while, her grip will loosen up soon enough anyways," he whispered as he made eye contact with Ryan, who seemed to be getting worried. Maybe he was scared because he thought that Louis would hurt her? It would explain why he was trying too hard to pry her hand away even though he struggled to calm her down.

"Sorry about that kid, I thought it would be a good idea since you seemed tense... If you can pull your hand away, just do it. She probably won't wake up," Ryan scratched the back of his head before he looked at ____ again.

Louis kept his eyes on their hands, a million thoughts running through his head. He missed Rei. He missed Hugo... He even missed his mother when she used to love him. He missed being loved. He missed being cared for. What would it take for someone to love him too? Was he really that... Hideous? Scary? Unloveable? Pathetic? Ugly? What was wrong with him?

He felt a hand on his head, and he looked up to see Ryan smiling at him the same way he was smiling at his daughter. He ruffled his hair before he sat down with his back against the bed.

"So what's your story?" Ryan finally asked, and Louis was taken aback. How was he supposed to respond?

"I don't know," He responded in a barely audible tone, his eyes still on ____'s little hand.

"I don't know," He said again, louder this time as he looked at Ryan with pleading eyes.

"I don't know... Why am I like this? What did I do to deserve this? I don't know..." He could feel the inky tears pour from his black eyes. He finally broke down. He was sick of it all. He needed someone to answer him.

"I don't understand what's right or wrong.... It felt like I was always in the wrong, and no matter what I did to be right, I was punished." his voice was shaky and his body was trembling.

"I am like this now because of it. All I wanted was to get my brother and mother to safety. I wanted to be free. I swear I didn't want to hurt anyone, but... " he felt the words getting lighter in his chest but heavier in his throat.

"But...what was I supposed to do?... I'm so so jealous of you, of her..." he glanced at the sleeping girl before he looked at Ryan again.

"I-" he was cut off by Ryan giving him a tight hug as he patted his back.

"It must have been very hard... You did well, I'm proud of you for trying," he hugged him tighter, and Louis cried against his shoulder, letting go of ____'s hand to hug him back.