Chapter 4: Decisions

When I woke up I found myself in a pitch black room. "I thought Kuchi Kopi was on why is it so dark?" I say to myself "Am I asleep?" I get up out of bed and walk to my door, there's no light coming from under the door. When I open my door I can just barely make out the staircase it's so dark but why? "Mom! Dad!" I stand waiting for a response. I get it in the form of a loud thud.

"Louise, what is it?" Mom says frantic "Why is it so dark? What happened to the hall light?"

"Lin, Louise," Dad calls from the living room. "Looks like we lost power and it's raining which will explain the lack of outside light."

I find a candle and light it so that we have some light to find flashlights. I take the candle back to my room and set it on my side table and grab Kuchi Kopi off my shelf. Batteries died and I'm all out of batteries. Candlelight it is for bed but I find myself unable to sleep at all. I roll over on my side and stare at the little pink bunny. The candlelight flickering makes the bunny sparkle with an array of colors. I pick up the scrap of paper that fell from the bag and read the address on it, when I flip over the paper there's a note that reads 'I'm not staying at my parents house. If you wanted to see me I'll be at this address.' Does he want me to see him? I put the address next to the bunny and watch the colors dance as the flame flickers.

"Louise!" Mom's voice calls from the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready!"

I open my eyes and sit up in my bed. I look over and see that the candle burnt itself out but the bunny and address are still where I left them. I slip on a hoodie and a pair of jeans before grabbing the address off my table. I go to the kitchen and eat in silence, not out of character for me to do. My parents are discussing rent and the usual restaurant things and they talk about Tina and Gene. I slip out before they have a chance to try and ask me about the party. I head to see my friends down at the Wharf but when I feel the paper in my pocket I decide to walk down to where ever this place is.

The voice of the navigation on my phone rings though my headphones. "Take the next left. Your destination is on your right." I follow the voice and turn down the street. "You have arrived." The voice echos in my head as I stair at the building before me. I can't be here. I need to leave now! As I turn around I'm met by his face. I drop my head and pray he didn't see me as I try to scurry away from this place.

"Louise?" His shaky voice says my name.

Shit! "Hey." I breath out trying to compose myself.

"You opened your gift." He says with a calm voice. It's not like I remember of him. I remember his voice being harsh and filled with angst. "Do you wanna come in for a few?" He asks pointing to the building he's staying in.

We get inside and I pull my headphones out and push my hood back. I look around the dull, lifeless apartment trying to figure out why I decided to come here and why I decided to come inside with him. He goes to the fridge and pulls out two bottles of water, handing one over to me. I half smile taking the water from him. Louise you can still run from here. You don't have to stay here. I walk the big nearly empty room before I take a seat on the sofa that appears to have come with the lifeless room. I open the water and a small sip in the hopes of calming my nerves, it was worth a shot. My hearts pounding nearly out of my chest and I can tell he is just as uncomfortable as I am in this holo silence.

"Why," I say quickly but before I can finish my thought he's laughing. "Are you on something freak-a-zoid?" I snap.

"I'm not on shit." He says relaxing. "It's just it's so awkward in here and when you spoke it caught me off I wasn't sure how to react."

"It is rather weird." I agree with him. "Why did you come back?" Why did you give me a vague letter and a pink bunny?

"I wasn't happy where I was." He answers "My whole life is here. I grew up in this town I didn't think I could stay away any longer, so I packed up and shipped out. Now I'm back and after the fall out with my parents I had to find my own place."

"Dull, lifeless, and holo." I say with a chuckle "Perfect place."

"Hey it's a start." He laughs "Are you hungry? I'm starving!"

"Yeah, I could eat." I sigh and force a smile. Louise just ask him already! "Why did you give me the gift? Why a bunny? Why the letter? Why all this, Logan?"

"Did you not like the bunny?" Logan says from behind me.

Way to go stupid brain and mouth! "I didn't say that." I say pulling my hood over my head trying to hide.

"I made a decision after seeing you yesterday to go for a walk which I don't usually do. While I was walking I found myself in front of a Swarovski crystal store and in the window was this little pink bunny." I can't see his face but I'm hanging on his every word. "I decided what the fuck I'll see how much it is for shits and giggles. Well an unspoken dollar amount later and I was walking out with this little pink bunny. I started walking back to the Wharf with this box in my jacket and I flashed back to the day we met. I replayed everything that ever happened between us, the ears, the closet, the melon, working for your father." He stops. I can feel my face become hot and the burn of tears starting to roll. "I ran home and wrote the first thing that came to mind on the card and then wrote the letter. When I was done I bagged it all up and went to leave. I got to the restaurant and slipped in with the crowd of people then sat at the booth. I wrote the address and last note just before giving you the bag. I saw you come in and was riddled with fear and just felt like I had to leave." I'm trying to relax myself. "I finally got the strength to stand and face you but I still ran."

"You're an idiot!" I say breathing hard. "You could walk into a store buy a stupid glass rabbit, write not one but three pointless notes, but you decided just to abandon all that for what?!"

"For fear that you'd just reject me and my apology, Louise." His voice is sturn.

"You eight years older than I am." I spit out my words like venom "What did you expect to happen?! Logan, I've hated you for years. All you did was torment me as a child and all you remember of it is a 'Cute little pink bunny'?!"

"Louise, it's so not like that!"

"How is it not?!" I stand up to face him tears falling from my eyes and rolling down my face. "What do you see a kid? A bunny?" I can't help myself from yelling at him "Well!? Which is it? Kid or bunny?"

"You know what I see, Louise?" He yells back at me. This should be rich! "I see the most beautiful person I've ever seen before." His voice softens again "Louise, I saw you as a bratty little kid and nothing but a thorn in my side. I never went a single day without looking back and thinking about you. I knew I'd been a jerk and you have every right to be pissed off with me but when I saw you yesterday I just couldn't shake you and when I saw the bunny I though about the ears and how they were the reason we even became close even though it was why we hated each other if I hadn't taken your ears we wouldn't have had any reason to have talked, no One Eyed Snakes, no working at the restaurant, no closet" He pauses "Maybe closet, no wanting to chase you down after the melon hit me and you wouldn't be standing here today because I would have never had a reason to know you."

The tears streaming from my eyes burn like fire down my face but I stand there frozen. He walks around the couch and reaches out to me but I hit his chest and push him away. My attempts do nothing he pulls my shoulder and wraps his arms around me, my knees buckle and we both fall to the floor. I let out a weak sobbing scream into his chest. He just holds me there rocking back and forth whispering that everything's going to be okay. Why are you crying you idiot!? How can he be like this? Does he actually care about me? Does he see me as a sister because of the age gap, a friend, or more? I start to relax and he finally lets me go and asks again about food. I laugh and whip away the remaining tears from my face. I take his hand to help me off the ground and I decide that maybe I should just stay a while longer.

"Yeah," I say softly "Food sounds good right about now."