louis and cora continued to see each other again on campus and they always sat together in literature composition every monday. they had become quite the pair, the two of them. for the next three weeks, they were inseperable. they had exchanged numbers two days after louis admitted his reason for being a musician, and don't even try to take away their phones because they'll bite your thumb off. it seemed that if they weren't talking face-to-face they'd be talking on the phone all night or texting through classes. they often questioned themselves if they would ever get tired of each other and the answer for both was no, i don't think they will.
"no, i wouldn't go back home." louis answered, staring at his white ceiling as he talked through the phone with - get this - cora.
"but, why not? don't you miss your family?" cora asked innocently as she walked bare-feet on her kitchen. they were both talking about what the would do for summer vacation, as cora had planned to visit some family in conneticut. she chewed on a chocolate chip cookie as she awaited his answer. cora was always one to midnight-snack. it was one of her self-proclaimed quirks.
"i wouldn't go home because frankly, i don't have one," the boy replied. he tried to remain unfaced by the fact that he was family-less, but louis was never good at masking his emotions and cora quickly catches on to the aggravated tone behind his words.
"oh, louis," were the only words that cora could muster out. she had stopped chewing for a moment before quickly swallowing and walking away from the kitchen. "i'm sorry. i shouldn't have asked so bluntly. it wasn't nice." she apologized, having not much too say or do but that.
"you don't need to apologize. it's not your fault i don't have a family to go back to." louis chuckled.
"yeah, but i'm still sorry. you don't deserve that. everyone should have a family," she explained, wrapping herself in her covers after climbing into her bed and turning off the lamp. the action felt almost like a routine now - get a really late night snack (it was already 2 am), get into bed and under the covers, and talk to louis until she was so sleepy, she could no longer hear what he was saying.
"it's okay. i've done quite well for myself without them for a while. it doesn't bother me as much as it did 3 years ago." he said openly. louis was never one to hide his true self from anyone. he was very open to people whom he thought were trustworthy enough and didn't really mind sharing facts about himself. of course, it made him uncomfortable and maybe he wouldn't share the deep, deep details, but he wouldn't mind giving you a brief explanation.
cora yawned before saying,"friends and pets can be family, too." it had come to louis' recognition that once cora started drifting off into dreamland, she would start speaking incoherences. sometimes deep and meaningful, but alltogether odd. louis found that cute.
"i don't have pets," he replied, reaching for his bed-side lamp and turning it off before proceding to cover his body with his blanket, letting his now warm phone pressed against his ear firmly.
"okay, but you do have friends, right?" cora said, a yawn escaping her lips and she closed her eyes and smiled, loving the way she now fell asleep to his voice.
"i guess, but i'm not that close to any of them. i mean, i'd gladly loan zayn a couple of bucks if he ever needed it and i'd maybe let eric borrow my guitar, but i don't think we're so close that we'd like - go to extremes for each other, you know? we haven't been friends for that long to be in that sort of level," he ranted, sighing afterwards and shuffling his hand in his hair before closing his eyes and listening intentally to the soft music cora always put lowly so she would fall asleep faster in the background - something louis had caught up a few weeks ago.
"well, i wouldn't mind being your family, lou," cora answered half-conscience, half-not-controling-anything-that-left-her-mouth.
louis felt his lips twitch up in a smile as he whispered lowly,"i wouldn't mind that either," he said.
"then it's settled. i'm now you're family. don't expect me to be content with you calling me mom or any of that sort, though," and, yeah, louis knew she would most likely fall asleep in a couple of seconds.
louis smiled and laughed a bit more before saying,"i think i would go for extremes for you," honesty wrapped around every single word as he let them out. it was true what they said - after midnight, truths would spill. the night was truly only made for saying things that you don't dare say on the day. louis thought cora had already drifted to sleep before he heard her soft voice say:
"and, i, you, lou." and oh god, louis knew that such simple words shouldn't have impacted them so deeply, but they had, and he found himself feeling at home. he smiled.
"goodnight, cora."
