Chapter 16: Getting home

What is that? Louis stirred on the couch. A faint sound was coming from the outside. He listened more closely. It sounded like something scratching… Coming from the front door! Still half asleep, the first thing that came to his mind was a robber. Someone's trying to get in! Should he call his dad? Maybe he should dial 911! Wait, what if he's got a gun? His heart was pounding fast. He stood up and noticed that he has been sleeping on the couch. What am I doing here in the first place? He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "How can I forget?" he mumbled to himself, slapping his forehead.

He quickly strode over to the door and opened it wide. Louis was quite surprised when Ruby came stumbling forward.

"Louis!" she hissed. "Don't ever scare me like that!" She was still holding the key.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, ignoring her comment. He noticed that she was white as sheet.

"I thought you were your parents." She put her hand on her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Me?! You almost gave me one! I thought there you were a robber, or something." He remembered his sister. "Hey by the way, where is Ren? Do you know what time it is? It's-" He stopped abruptly to glance on the wall clock. "Almost one in the morning!" He stepped outside and looked around. "Well, where is she?"

Ruby bit her lower lip. "Uh-Ren's in the backseat." She headed for the car, followed closely by Louis.

When they arrived, Monique was standing by the open car door. "Hey, Louis," she meekly greeted him.

"Okay, what is going on here?" He looked back and forth from Ruby to Monique, who exchanged nervous glances. Monique stepped aside.

In one swift step, he was standing in front of the open door. He slowly peered inside and saw his sister slumped on the car seat. "Hey Ren, wake up. You're home now." Louis lightly tapped her on the shoulder, but no response came. "Hey c'mon, let's go so you can sleep on your bed already." He leaned in closer and shook her gently. "Ren?" His face quickly contorted as he smelled her, reeking from alcohol. He stuck his head out. "Ruby, what the hell happened on that party?"

She backed a step as she saw Louis' furious glance. "Uh, well, Ren had a drink too many."

"WHAT?!"

Monique hushed her. "Louis, could you be any louder? You're going to wake the whole neighborhood up!" she hissed.

"What?!" he repeated, this time lowering his voice to a whisper. "Ruby, my sister is passed out on your car and you're telling me she's just had a drink too many?!"

"Shhhhh!"

"You know, last I remembered, she was perfectly okay when I left her at your house a few hours ago. She wasn't, oh I don't know, DEAD DRUNK!"

Ruby held out her hand. "Okay, before you start blaming me, would you please figure out first how we are going to get her to her bed before any of your parents sees us? Our butt is on the line too."

This seemed to have knocked some sense into him. "Right, right." Louis paced back and forth. He suddenly snapped his fingers. "Okay, this is how it's going to be: Monique, you're going to help me carry Ren. Ruby, you walk on ahead of us and make sure the path is clear. When you get upstairs, make sure her bed is ready so we won't have any problems. Got it?"

The two girls nodded in response.

"Oh, and you'll need to take your shoes off."

"Why?" They asked in unison.

"Are you crazy? We need to do this as quietly as possible. You're high-heeled shoes will definitely not be helping." He pointed out.

Ruby and Monique simultaneously took it off without further question and tossed it inside the car.

"Louis, what are we going to do if your parents suddenly wake up and spot us?" Monique suddenly asked. Ruby and Louis both turned to look at her. Well, someone had to ask the question.

Louis stopped and thought about it for a minute. "Don't worry, I got it all figured out." Louis looked seriously at Ruby. "Since you'll be the advance party, you need to listen carefully."

She nodded her head vigorously and turned her full attention to him.

"Check first if they are fast asleep, ok? But if they're not, I want you to run back here, grab your keys, and then dash to the car with us." A grave expression was plastered on his face. "We're all going to head to Mexico."

Monique and Ruby stared at him blankly. They obviously didn't get his point.

Louis gave the two of them a strange look. "What? The four of us are as good as dead if my parents spotted us."  

Ruby suddenly became a few shades paler. "That's not funny, Louis." Now's definitely not the time to tell jokes, especially the ones that are tasteless as that one.

"Who said I was kidding?" He deadpanned.

She gave him an apprehensive look before entering the house.

Louis turned back his attention to Ren. "Okay, on three. One, two, three." He hoisted her sister up, his arms supporting her torso. Monique, on the other hand, supported her legs.

They carefully entered the house, with Ruby waiting for them inside. "Okay Ruby, get her bed ready, quickly! Ren's not exactly very lightweight, you know." He whispered.

She did as instructed, quietly dashing upstairs.

"Okay, okay," he said as they made their way to the stairs. "Monique, you go first." He quickly changed his mind. "No wait, that'll be harder for me that way. I'll go first." He maneuvered around so that he could go up first, banging Ren's head on the banister, in the process. "Oops! Hey, I'm sorry Ren, but I'm really trying my best here." He looked at her sincerely.

Monique face broke into a grimace. "That's really going to hurt in the morning."

"Yeah, I'll get the ice packs ready." They continued their way up the stairs, still making little sound as possible. "Where's Donnie when you need him?" he muttered. Sweat was starting to trickle down on his back. He never knew that covering up for Ren would actually require a lot of physical work from him.

They finally reached her room. "Quick, set her down," Ruby motioned to the bed.

Louis grunted as he propped her on the bed. He breathed heavily as he watched Ruby tuck Ren in.

"I guess we better get going. My mom's definitely getting worried." Ruby stated.

Monique agreed. "Yeah, me too. Can you still drop me off?"

"Yeah sure. No problem," she answered with a nod. They were almost through the door when Louis suddenly called out.

"Wait, you need to change her! You can't just let her sleep wearing that. What if mom comes in this morning and sees that?"

They both turned around and gave him a funny look.

"What? I can't change her." He crossed his arms on his chest. "She's my sister, for crying out loud! I can't see her… like that." The thought sent shivers to his spine. "Uggh! No, nuh-uh." He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. "Of course, I'm not saying I don't want to see some in the future, hopefully I would but-"

"Okay Louis, we get your point." Monique hastily interrupted him.

Ruby sighed as she gestured him to go outside. Louis obediently did as he was told, closing the door behind him. A few minutes later, the two friends emerged.

"Here," Ruby said, handing him Ren's dress. "You better stash it before your mom sees it. That thing's reeking from alcohol."

Louis took the dress. "Thanks. I really appreciate your help."

She looked at her watch. "We really gotta get going now." 

"I'll walk you to the door." He said with a grateful smile.

Louis quietly closed the front door behind him, greatly relieved. He yawned as he trudged silently upstairs. All he wanted to do now was to fall asleep in his nice, old bed. He slipped quietly into Ren's room, and stared at her sleeping form. "This needs to stop, Ren." He whispered, shaking his head. "This definitely needs to stop. I'm sorry but I don't think I can do this thing any longer. Hate me all you want, but I'm not going to be part of these things any more." He gently closed the door behind him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

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