Chapter 11: Little white lies

Louis mentally kicked himself as he trudged grudgingly beside his sister. It was a cool night and they were walking their way towards Ruby's house. He hugged his jacket tighter. He cannot believe he was actually accompanying Ren to Ruby's house so that they could attend Will Coulson's party.

********Flashback**********

"What's the rush, Ren?" Eileen asked her daughter. The four of them were and having dinner. "You seem to be in a hurry." She observed.

"You going somewhere?" her father prodded.

Louis kept his eyes on his plate. He was concentrating hard on his string beans. Well, he was trying to, anyway.

"Well-uh, actually, I am," Ren answered. "Ruby called a while ago and asked if I can come over tonight and start working on that physics project we were going to do together."

Eileen frowned at her. "Tonight? Why can't you do it tomorrow?"

Ren was surprised by the question, but she recovered in time. "It's complicated mom, and we need all the head start we could get. I don't think we could finish it if we start tomorrow."  

Louis looked up at her sister, who avoided his gaze. She was really determined to go to that party.

"Well, okay," Steve agreed. "But it's getting kind of late. Maybe one of us could drop you off and pick you up later."

Ren answered a little too quickly. "No, it's really okay, dad." She smiled at them.  Good thing they hadn't noticed it, except maybe for Louis. He quickly glanced her way. "Uh-maybe Louis could walk me there later." She quickly suggested. "I mean, it's just a few blocks away." 

Both his parents turned to him and looked expectedly. He stole another quick glance at Ren. She gave him a meaningful look, pleading silently. He sighed. Saying 'no' is not really one of his stronger suits, especially when coupled with those pleading looks. "Sure, whatever," he finally conceded. There, he said it. The die is cast. He can't take it back now.

"Well, okay then. Just don't stay up late, honey," Eileen told her daughter.

"Give us a call if you need us to pick you up." Her father said.

Ren could barely contain her huge grin. "That's not really necessary dad. I'm sure Ruby can drop me off later."

*********End of Flashback*********

Louis chastised himself silently. Why he agreed to this in the first place, he wasn't sure himself. Now he's totally regretting it.

"Louis, did you hear what I said?" Ren's voice suddenly spoke up, shattering his thoughts.

"Hmm?" he turned to her, confused. "Wh-what was that?"

Ren rolled her eyes at her younger brother. "I said I appreciate your help." She repeated, hugging her long coat.

"Yeah, whatever," he dismissed it. An awkward silence passed as they continued on walking.

It was Louis who finally broke the silence. "When did you start going to parties, anyway? Especially these kinds." he asked. "As far as I recall, you were not too keen on these things." He pondered for a moment. "Do you actually like Will? Since when did you start to prefer jocks?" he probed her.

"What is this, twenty questions?" she shot back. It took a moment before she answered. "So, what if I like him? I don't think there's anything wrong with that." She continued on walking.

"Well, for one thing – he's a jerk." He said as a matter of fact.

Ren shook her head. "You don't know him, Louis."

"Yeah, well just because he's the captain of the soccer team doesn't mean that he could bully everyone else into doing his bidding." He glanced at her. "He thinks he's the king of the school or something. He's dated almost half the female population of the school."

Ren was still not buying it. "Now you're exaggerating."

He grunted in response. "Okay, for another – he throws these wild parties. That's wild as in scary wild," he clarified. "At least trust me on that."

She stopped and turned to his brother. "Louis, what is wrong with you?" she asked, irritated.   

"No Ren, what is wrong with you?" Louis countered. "I don't get it, why are you acting all… weird?" he said, frustrated. He just couldn't find the exact word to describe his sister's behavior these past days.

"Ha!" Ren laughed sarcastically. "You should talk! You're the one who's been acting weird." She started walking and hastened her pace as they crossed the street.

Louis had to jog to catch up with her. 'Wait, Ren."

"You should be happy, Louis. For once in my life I'm actually following your advice." She took a quick glance behind her. Louis fell into a step behind her.

He thought for a second. "And what advice would that be?" He doesn't remember giving her any advice.

"To have fun!" she exclaimed, voice rising. "And I'm following just that. From now on I want to have fun!"

"No, I never told you that," he refuted. He never told his sister to act like this. 

Ren gave a snort. "What's living if you never pull your shorts down and slide on the ice? Does that line ring a bell?" she smirked at him. "Isn't that your life's maxim or something? You've been proclaiming it like a priest, in fact better than a priest! You should be happy someone has actually listened to you – me!"

He quickened his pace. "Wait, you don't understand. That's not really what it meant." Louis objected as he caught up with her. Ruby's house was only five doors down.

"Oh, but I do, Louis. In fact I understand it quite perfectly." Ren answered with a nod, still not slowing down. "People only get to live once, Lou. And what would life be without having fun?" They were almost at Ruby's driveway. "That's what it meant; think about it."

Louis stopped dead at his tracks behind Ren. For once in his life, he didn't have a comeback for that. Actually, he's not really sure how to respond.

Ren turned her head slightly and glanced at Louis. She paused for a moment before speaking. "Thanks for walking me here. I hope you won't tell them." She took a step towards the front door. "I'll see you later," she quietly said, her back still turned towards him. Without another word, she strode towards the door and rang the bell.

*********************

Louis lumbered quietly past their driveway. Ren's words were still ringing in his ears. He thought about it the whole time he was on his way back home. Did he really tell her that? Well thinking back, yeah, he did say that. But back then he thought it seemed fun. Now that he thought about it a while ago, it sounded really stupid.

He sighed as he silently opened the door and let himself in. Louis never really thought that Ren would take him seriously that time. As he thought about it, he actually felt worse. He couldn't help but blame himself. Great, him and his stupid big mouth.

He made his way to the stairs. His head was aching from all the thinking and he needed his bed. He was midway up the stairs when his mother appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Hey Lou, calling it a night?" Eileen asked.

He hesitated. "Um, I don't know mom. I might work on some of those assignments first." He continued on ascending the stairs.

"Alright, but don't work too hard, okay?" she said. "You still have plenty of time to o it tomorrow." She looked at him, concern etched on her face. "I noticed you've been working pretty hard these past few weeks."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he reached her. "Don't worry mom, I won't." He answered.

Eileen started for the stairs but stopped as she reached the first step down. "Oh by the way, Lou," Eileen called out.

He paused just as he was about to reach for the door of his room. "Yes?" he asked, turning around to face his mother.

"Did Ren tell you what time they are going to finish that project?"

It took a moment before Louis could answer her. He felt as if something huge was stuck in his throat. "Uh, about that, mom," he started. "I-uh, I really think she'll be home late tonight. I mean, I heard what they were going to do, and I think that the project is really going to take some time." He cleared his throat. "Maybe you shouldn't wait for her. I'm sure Ruby's mom could drop her off, and she could let herself in. She did bring her keys." He nodded at her reassuringly.

Eileen thought for a moment. "Well, alright," she finally agreed. "Goodnight, Louis," she said as she finally continued down the stairs.

"Goodnight, mom," Louis answered quietly.

He gave out a sigh. Ren was right. This was definitely not the first time he lied to his parents. He did it countless times. But now, something was definitely wrong, and every inch of his body knew it. His heart was hammering twenty times faster in his chest. A knot started to form in his gut.

Louis swallowed hard and tried to shake the terrible feeling away. He never felt that way before. He knew he was helping Ren this way, she even said so herself. He was sure of that. So then why does he keep having the impression that he's leading his sister to the lion's den?

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