INTROSPECTIVE

Chapter 17

The burning embers of the fire reflected in his eyes as he sat before the bonfire.

He accepted another cold beer from Ryan and took a huge gulp,his insides welcoming the alcoholic warmth.

"Drink up,"Ryan said as he settled besides him and slapped him on the shoulder.

Louis winced internally.Ryan's version of a friendly pat in the back was more of a hard smack on the shoulder and he himself knew it.

"Look at you.You almost fell over,"he laughed.

"Thin as a toothpick,my sister has more muscle than you,"he tsked.

He smacked him again to prove his point causing Louis to spit his drink all over himself.
Louis cursed him out while still choking on his drink.

Ryan's huge mass shook as he laughed the insult away.The sound of his guttural laughs almost overpowering the music.

"I don't swing that way.Sadly for you."he said as he laughed through Louis' coughing and spluttering.

"So when are you gonna come back to the game?"he asked after settling down.His demeanour had changed now,a slight seriousness accompanying it.

Louis' answer was silence as he turned his attention back to the fire.
He hadn't played rugby in a long time and he didn't know how to explain things to Ryan.

Rugby was part of his carefree life.And after his dad's death,things just weren't the same anymore.He had to man up and take over things.And so rugby took a backseat.

Somehow he knew Ryan understood this,but even so he still continued,"The girls miss you and I need my wingman,"he said trying to lighten up the situation.

Louis snickered."Yeah cause you can't get some without me."

Ryan was about to retort when a pretty girl came up to them and settled on Ryan's lap wordlessly.

He gave Louis a smug look turning his eyes to the girl then back to Louis in triumph.

Louis just rolled his eyes and was about to stand up to leave the two to their own devices when Ryan's words stopped him.

"Live a little man,"Ryan said knowing Louis was about to head home early as usual.His words froze Louis momentarily as he got up to leave.

His words had the intended effect though, as Louis stopped to look around the place. He sighed. Ryan's version of a 'small gathering' would be completely different from his.This was more of a house party than a simple bonfire.He appreciated that his friend had organized this 'little gathering' for him.

Yet he envied him a little.Becuase he was always so lively.He thought about Ryan's words for a while.For the past months he'd been such a bore,always opting to stay home instead of meeting up with his friends.He wondered how they had managed to put up with him.

Maybe I should take Ryan's advice and live a little.

Life was so damn short and that was something he had realised in a terible way.

He thought of the one good thing that had happened in the past few weeks.It was about time he did something about it,he decided.

He wouldn't get any sleep until he finaly did it.

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The lazy Sunday afternoon was anything but slow and boring for Louis who was speeding down the road,overtaking a few cars on his lane while getting hooted at and cursed at several times.

Louis was feeling pressed for time.Whatever he had to do he had to do now.And that reasoning was what had him swerving to the right before parking his car and springing out of it.