56. The Ones Who Care

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Rae wakes up startled. Her heart pounding against her chest and a feeling runs through her body as if spiders were crawling all over her skin. She hasn't had that nightmare in weeks, and now it's come back with vengeance, so much worse than it ever was, because now, now she knows how true it all was. Her nightmare has been predicting the future without her realizing it. When the shadow took her brother, she didn't wake up. She was surrounded by utter darkness, just an empty void, floating aimlessly. She couldn't see, hear or feel anything; she was trapped, the darkness was enough to crush her.

She doesn't register that a voice has been chatting next to her ear, nor the arms around her until an abrupt, sharp snap pulls her out of it. Louis' voice is suddenly filling her mind, and she twists her head to the left to find him. His eyes, so incredibly blue like the spring flowers blooming outside, are gazing right back at her. Rae spots the relief seeping into Louis' expression, but the tightness around his eyes is still there and preventing the crinkles that usually grace the corners of his eyes. Louis carefully lifts his hand, gently wiping his thumb underneath Rae's eye. 

His thumb comes away with a tear, and instead of repeating the action, he leans forward and softly pressing his lips to her cheekbone under her eye. He does the same to her left eye. Somewhere in the back of Raelyn's mind, the act that Louis is literally kissing away, and tasting tears that she hasn't been able to shed for years is rather poetic; in a twisted way, possibly.

Rae sags forward, leaning into Louis and pressing her face in his chest. She feels his arms circle around her, his fingers gliding over the bumps of her spine. She listens to his steady heartbeat to soothe her. She doesn't remember ending up on the floor, doesn't even know how long she's been sleeping for. She really can't even remember coming up to her room. There's a low rumbling that begins in Louis' chest, and Rae realizes he's signing.

His voice is soft and raspy, tender and delicate and it's everything she loves about it. It's those reasons she fell in love with his voice, the reason that caused her to fall more in love with Louis himself. Rae closes her eyes and wishes she could stay just like this. Curled up in Louis' arms, listening to him singing, and feeling his fingers play with her hair. She nearly falls asleep again when she remembers there are people downstairs. She slowly pulls back, blinking away a fresh wave of tears, then wiping at her eyes to make sure there gone. It's suddenly so easy for them to escape her eyes and land on her thighs.

"I'm thirsty." Is the first thing to come out of Rae's mouth.

Louis chuckles under his breath. "I bet. You were crying a ton. Which. Alright."

Rae just shrugs. She literally doesn't know how that even happened or what was the exact breaking point. "I don't know." She answers a question that wasn't asked. She presses her hand against her chest out of curiosity, wincing a little at the tender skin. "I remember my chest in so much pain and it...well, it feels different now. Not as tight, you know."

Louis furrows his eyebrows, contemplating. Then he nods. "Makes sense. Do you need anything?"

"How's my makeup?" Rae asks, because if she was crying as hard as he said, well...she hasn't invested in any waterproof mascara.

Louis licks both his thumbs, swiping serve times under her eyes. He ignores the wrinkles of disgust on her nose Rae's giving him. When he's finished, he hooks his fingers under her chin, lifts her head a fraction of an inch, and places his lips softly against her own. It's the simplest kiss she's ever received, but it takes her breath away. Louis keeps it short and sweet, and when he pulls away he takes part of her heart with him.

"All fixed. You're always beautiful, Rae. Even with mascara down your face." Louis smiles sweetly.

Rae can't even dish out a response to his light tease, because for the first time in days, a smile is spreading across her mouth. "How long have we've been up here?"

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