AN: I am not Catholic, I've never been in a Catholic Church. So, thank you to all who provided information for me and sorry in advance.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Tuesday, November Twenty-Sixth
The plane lands in Paloma. At seven am Louis already has sunglasses on. He's dressed in a button down shirt with a vest over it. He's wearing khakis instead of jeans and his hair is combed perfectly. Louis doesn't dress conservatively often, but he knows that Maria does. Case in point, her outfit today.
Marie wears a pink, paisley patterned dress with short sleeves that goes down just below her knee. She's wearing brown flats and the friendship bracelets her, Madi, and Navi made before the elite.
Louis and Marie hold hands towards their car and inside of it. He isn't as close to Marie as he is Madi, but Louis does like her and that's got to count for something. He yawns, turbulence didn't help him sleep in the plane.
"Do you want to go to the hotel room to sleep first?" Marie asks, fiddling with the car's seat belt.
Louis pushes the sunglasses onto his head and out from in front of his eyes. He replies, "I want to meet your family. They had such an amazing daughter, I'm curious who raised her."
"Alright." Marie looks out of the window, her head turned away from Louis. He puts his hand on her shoulder and asks, "Hey, what's wrong."
Marie recrosses her ankles. She turns her head towards him, "My mother一my whole family really, didn't want me to come here."
"Well, they must be proud of you." Louis replies, "For going to the elite."
"They believe that a daughter should only listen to what her brothers and fathers want her to do. They wanted me to do whatever they said I should do." Marie replies, "Being in the selection has helped me tremendously. Even if I'm not picked to be Queen, I want to do more than garden, I want to help people. I can't go back and be docile like they wanted me to be. Thank you Louis."
Marie leans over to hug him. Louis returns it.
"I didn't do anything to help you." Louis leaves the awkward hugging position, "In fact, I didn't know that happened in Illéa."
"You got me out. You showed me the world." Marie explains, "and I'm eternally grateful."
"I want to help you further." Louis replies, "If you don't win, I'll personally change your caste to whatever you want it to be."
"Do you know how expensive that is?"
"Extremely." Louis replies, "and I'll set you up a place in Angeles."
"Thank you." Tears water in Marie's eyes and she smiles, "Can we skip heading to my place. Nothing I own is there nor do I want to go back."
"Where do you want to go?"
"To my church." Marie wipes her eyes, the smile permanently plastered on her face, "I want to say goodbye before starting my new life."
"Then to church it is."
Louis does go to church often, he's actually never been, but this isn't what he was expecting.
He sits in a pew while Marie is in a confessional. He looks out at the crowd. There aren't many people here. An older lady sits there praying. A young couple sits at the front. Louis is the last person there, looking at a stained glass mosaic.
Louis has seen beautiful art and this is up there. He goes out to touch it, it's smooth but not even. It goes up to the ceiling, depicting a young woman who looks a lot like Marie.
Marie is the only thing on Louis mind. She's fantastic certainly, but Louis doesn't know how he feels about her, especially when you bring Madison in the equation.
He sighs. Louis knew that Briar didn't want to win and that was fine. He didn't feel anything but platonic love for her. Though, with Marie, the lines blur. He can't pinpoint his feelings for her. On one hand, he wants a good life for her and is in a church for her. Marie has opened his eyes on multiple occasions and is wise beyond her years. On the other hand, Louis knows that whatever feelings he has for her, aren't as strong as the feelings he has for Madi.
Louis groans. Maria and Madison are best friends. It's something Louis' never had, unless you count Charlie, but he doesn't. He hasn't spent much time with the duo, but he knows that they're close. He doesn't want to be the one to break that up.
"Young man," an older guy, older than his father walks up to him, "You seem to be in distress. What is wrong?"
"I have two very important options and I need to make a decision quickly so I can focus on a bigger issue." Louis admits.
"Have you tried praying?"
Louis turns back to the mosaic, "I'm not actually religious."
"Then what are you doing in a church?"
"A girl I care about is in there." Louis answers, "in the box thing."
"You really aren't catholic are you?" He laughs, "anyways, well sonny, what is your gut saying. If you can't trust the Lord, you can trust yourself."
"One option is much clearer than the other." Louis replies, "I'm certain about the feelings behind one choice, but not the other."
He places his hand on Louis' shoulder, "Choose the one that's clearer. It's the one that's being illuminated for you."
"Thank you." Louis turns around, "I really appreciate it."
Louis turns towards the exit, seeing Marie waiting on him. He walks towards her, the choice between Madison and Maria being a bit clearer.
