Too Young

6:) Abide by the Rules

Louis could finally put his thoughts forward and say now that he was officially living the good life. As he sat in front of the television now with a small bag of Cheetos and a juice box. 

It had been so long since he had any junk food and to say the least, he missed it. He changed the channels again and again the only things on were the weather and sports stations. Sure, Louis did enjoy a good footie game here and there but honestly, they played it too much.

His favorite show for the moment anyway was Unsolved Mysteries or Family Guy, and since he couldn't find either one he started getting annoyed.

It was near five pm and Robin was soon to get off work, he was also expecting a phonecall from Des who was currently on a vacation to Disneyland with Harry and Anne.

He assumed the three were having too much fun when he didn't receive the phone call so he decided to close everything down and head for the house where he would happily greet his little Lou. 

His journey home seemed rather long, even though it only took about thirty minutes.  The caution lights along with the constant traffic made this night a literal living hell.

He sighs as he can see the view of his home an achingly forty-five minutes later.  His legs were stove up and he was hungry due to the fact of not eating dinner at the restaurant. He would rather sit down and have a nice meal with Louis

Robin turned the knob, soon walking into the house which was eerie and quiet. No cartoons, no rustling, not even the pitter-patter of Lou's feet against the hardwood floor.

    "Little one?" He called out hoping that Louis was just playing a rousing game of hide n' seek that was usually a child's go-to type of activity. Normalcy, kept them sane in a way if you were to ever ask Robin. Nobody ever did.

  "Little one are you hiding from me?" Robin called just a little louder. Soon the pitter-patter of feet came from outside. Louis knew how unsafe it was to play outside, alone. But he saw a butterfly and then his attention was on the insect. 

  "Louis, why did you go outside while I was at work?" Robin asked in a calm tone, but he had worry displayed on his face. "Do you know how dangerous that is? I told you to lock the door and watch cartoons, you have to abide by the rules."

Louis didn't think he was going to get into trouble, okay maybe he did. But he really wanted to see the butterfly, it was on one of Robin's carnations, and to be fair Louis had been watching cartoons all day. The adult shows came on and he really didn't feel like watching them. 

He looked at Robin with teary eyes, he was going to get a spanking, wasn't he? Just like his father had given him. Sometimes they were so bad he had to stay in bed the whole day, just to avoid the pain in his bum and legs.

 "Hey don't cry, please don't." Robin hugged the young boy rubbing his back in circles trying to comfort him the best way he could. "I just don't want anything to happen to you, do you understand?"

Louis barely nodded his head as he rested it against the middle of Robin's belly. He should've known that Robin was going to be easy with him but after the six years of pure loathing from his father, he honestly didn't know how to react. He felt out of place instead of at home. 

He felt nervous and awry. For some reason, even though everything was falling into place at the same time there was a missing piece.  The thought hit Louis like a collision on the highway, except it was only in his mind. His mummy was the precious piece of the puzzle that he so badly needed.

"Why are you crying, I told you that I'm not upset with you." Robin tried to understand, his heartening feelings towards the boy were very genuine yet it wasn't really working. 

"I can just leave you to your thoughts, but I really prefer to help if I can."

Louis knew that Robin was more of the helper, and he was willing to let him. He had to cry first, as much as he didn't want to show his feelings after holding back for so long he knew it was finally okay to let it all go.

Robin led Louis over to the sofa before patting his leg so Louis could sit down for cuddles.

It was nearing seven thirty when they decided to call it quits on watching tv, Robin knew there wasn't really any kid-oriented shows on at the time, so instead, he decided to turn on the DVD player sliding  Toy Story in for Louis to be entertained for the evening. He didn't know it but he would end up growing fond of the movie as well.

Louis woke up in bed warmth enveloped him like a warm summer's day.  How did things as simple as this remind him of his mother? He constantly wondered that, and even now laying in bed at almost five a.m it felt incredible.

For some odd reason, Louis enjoys the memories he looked back on. Everything in his childhood had to happen for a reason and as smart as he was for a twelve-year-old he couldn't help but reminisce.

As his thoughts drifted to the sleepovers at Harry's the smile faded away, these were happy memories yes. But they were also coated with remorse. Louis couldn't seem to understand, even though he was young, and he and Harry were happy they didn't remain the same. The bond they had was no longer there. Why did he have to be taken away from such a wonderful life?

Tears well in his eyes and he can feel his shoulder slump. He wouldn't consider himself depressed, but the number of times he had caught himself crying you would think he was.

He was even used to drying his own tears funny enough he wasn't expecting Robin to be there for him. As he sat next to Louis he rubbed his shoulder and gave him the comfort that was needed. Even though it was so early in the morning, Robin really did care for this boy.

Swaddling Louis in blankets with the Disney channel playing was the easiest fix to his problems, some he didn't even recollect anymore because they were so far from his mind.

Des helped Louis to get comfortable on the sofa drinking hot cocoa and watching some of his favorite shows like Boy Meets World and Lilo and Stitch. 

Louis really didn't remember falling asleep nor did he remember Robin putting him to bed, but he was glad for it. He knew he had someone looking out for him, even though his mind hadn't fully become accustomed to it and he hadn't had time to adapt he still felt grateful for it all. Robin was his miracle he had been waiting for this entire time.