Let's rewind a bit. To a simpler, slightly less drug abusive time.
A full moon shined through the windows of Cherryton Academy's infirmary. Louis' leg ached, and the morphine drip was hardly doing anything. He tossed and turned on his bed, unable to sleep. The pain was bearable to him, he had endured worse pain before. What wasn't bearable however, was the loud snoring right next to him. He sighed, turning towards the source of the noise. A bed next to him housed a big mass covered with a blanket, a hand was sticking out of the covers. Sharp claws, dark fur...
-"Hey." He spoke. No answer. "Hey!" He repeated, louder this time. The snoring mass stopped, and slowly shuffled the covers off itself.
"If I knew you snored this loud I'd have called campus security when you first showed up..."
Keanu grumbled.
-"I doubt they'd be better company than me." Keanu answered, half asleep.
-"At least they'd let me sleep." Louis cut back, rubbing his eyes. Keanu sat up in his bed, and turned towards Louis.
-"How's the leg?"
-"Hurts."
-"You want more morphine? I know where they keep it." Keanu suggested, starting to get up from the bed.
-"No." Louis interrupted. Keanu sat back down.
-"Fuck me for trying to be nice I guess." Keanu mumbled.
-"And why are you being so nice anyway? I'm not a child. I don't need a nanny to watch over me while I sleep." Louis replied, aggravated.
-"Cause I see right through you, and I like what I see." Keanu smiled.
-"Yeah? You sure you're not just seeing double? I can smell how many drinks you've had from here." Louis smirked.
-"Soft little heart, wrapped in barbed wire." Keanu chuckled.
-"Oh just stop it. You don't know anything about me."
-"I know you care about your status. Gotta cling on to something strong when you're so fragile I suppose"
-"So that's what this is about? Me being a fragile, weak herbivore. Whose bones break from a simple fall." Louis commented, sarcastically.
-"Fragile, sure. Not weak though. I've seen the way you dominate a room. You have...mojo"
-"Mojo? Really?" Louis spoke, giving Keanu an unimpressed look. Keanu giggled to himself, and he stood up, towering above Louis.
-"Don't believe me?"
"Even now. As we're all alone in this infirmary. Far from all eyes and ears." Keanu spoke, inching closer towards Louis.
"Injured and in the dark, facing a predator right in front of you." Keanu continued, grabbing a hold of Louis' hand and putting another hand on his chest
Louis pulled back ever so slightly. Remaining stone faced. Even though he did feel uneasy.
"Who could snap you like a fucking twig and rip your soul from your mortal flesh." Keanu growled, inching ever so closer. His face was uncomfortably close to Louis' staring him directly in the eyes.
Louis' heart was racing and his breath shook ever so slightly. He felt fear, but he would not dare show it. Time seemed to stop entirely.
"See? Nothing." Keanu broke the silence, pulling away from Louis and letting go of his hand. Louis exhaled suddenly, as if he had held his breath for ages.
"Just you staring back at me with those fucking Manson lamps of yours, got me tucking my tail between my legs for no logical reason. Who else could do that?" Keanu explained, sitting back on his bed. Louis was quiet, keeping his eyes on Keanu.
"You being a herbivore is not a negative trait. It's what makes you special. This world is terrifying. Half the time I don't want to get up and face another day. But you do. With unwavering confidence and unbreakable conviction. It's... It's nice to see. It makes me feel like I'm not..." Keanu stopped. The room was silent for a moment.
-"Go on." Louis encouraged, his gaze softening.
-"I don't want to." Keanu sighed, looking away. "I'm sorry I bothered you. You need rest." He softly spoke, getting up and making the bed he was sleeping in. He started walking towards the door.
-"Wait." Louis spoke. Keanu stopped in his tracks. "I... I want you to stay with me." Louis continued, looking down as if he was embarrassed by what he said. Keanu turned around and slowly approached Louis
"It's hard. I don't feel like I'm making a difference. It's like I'm destined to do something like that but I just don't know how..."
Keanu listened, sitting on the side of Louis' bed.
"All my life I've felt like I was put on a path that I'm supposed to follow. But now I'm questioning if I even want to do any of that. Everyone sees me as a superstar. I like the attention, sure but... I don't believe any of it is warranted." Louis sighed
"I can't let them down though. People need something to believe in."
Keanu gazed into Louis' eyes. He chuckled.
-"Your eyes... I think I like them more when they're not piercing through me."
Louis laughed, his dour expression turning into a soft smile.
"You're a lot more pleasant when you drop your guard you know?" Keanu smiled back, leaning back on the bed slightly. Louis suddenly winced in pain, causing Keanu to jump up.
"Fuck! Fuck, I'm so sorry I forgot!" Keanu apologized, putting his hands across his mouth.
-"It's fine, don't worry" Louis reassured. "God this fucking leg...it's like it hurts more and more"
-"Well, It's a broken ankle. You never broke something falling off a bike?" Keanu asked.
-"No, I'm better at falling off a stage." Louis chuckled. Keanu smirked.
-"I'd have imagined daddy's money would've got you a better room at least. This infirmary is so depressing."
Louis rolled his eyes, he'd heard the rich daddy's boy stereotype a dozen times up to this point.
-"I might come from wealth but that doesn't make me a daddy's boy. I'm my own person, just wearing a nicer uniform than you." Louis rebutted.
-"Got me there."
-"What about you? Don't you spend your parents' money on all your proclivities? I could call *you* a daddy's boy."
-"Me? Nah. I was a momma's boy through and through. Running in her arms crying whenever I'd get beat up at school. Or at the playground." Keanu chuckled while reminiscing, a slight smile creeping up on his face, while his eyes burned with an overwhelming sense of sadness and regret.
-"You still run back to her nowadays? When a mean, crippled deer makes fun of your clothes?" Louis joked.
-"No... I wish." Keanu shook his head slightly, looking down. "She's uhh...gone." Louis' smile disappeared from his face in an instant, and his eyes widened with regret. "Both of them are."
-"Keanu I'm so sorry." Louis apologized, his voice trembling just the slightest bit.
-"It's fine. You couldn't have known." Keanu replied, sitting on the bed he was sleeping on before. The room was silent for a bit.
-"I never knew my mother." Louis spoke. Keanu turned towards him.
"Just my father, for as long as I've known. He... I know he loves me but. He doesn't show it through warm acts. He's more of a material parent. I feel like I'm always in his shadow, and eventually I'll have to step up to take his place in the Horns Conglomerate." Louis confessed.
-"You'll do fine. It's just like high school I imagine. Egos running wild, everyone manipulating the same system that they all abide by, and everyone wants to be on top. Nothing you haven't seen already." Keanu reassured.
-"I'm glad you think so."
Louis was silent for a moment, thinking if he should go through with saying what he wanted to say. He confessed a lot up until this point, something he was not used to doing. He decided to let out some more angst that he had been keeping inside for so long.
"I never really had anyone comfort me, y'know?"
-"You don't seem like the type to need it."
-"Everyone does, from time to time."
-"Yeah...wish we could all just be a bit nicer to eachother." Keanu sighed, crossing his arms. "I wish I was nicer sometimes."
-"You mean you don't usually play therapist to lonely herbivores?" Louis joked. Keanu, yet again, gave a smirk. You'd think all the oxygen in the infirmary would be gone by how recklessly it's being spent.
-"No, I uhh..." Keanu stopped.
"I hurt people."
Silence.
"It's just...part of me." Keanu confessed further. Louis was intrigued.
-"Do you like hurting other people?" Louis asked.
-"If they deserve it... But I end up just making a mess out of everything. I can't turn off my nature and uhh... It affects my personal relationships greatly." Keanu continued, thinking over every word he was saying as to not give away too much.
"I like having fun. I like seeing the people around me happy. But it never lasts. It's always a ticking clock until they see me for who I am."
-"We all hide our true selves from the world. I don't think any of us likes the person we actually are." Louis sighed.
-"I guess that's why we leave it up to others."
-"Hm?"
-"I like your confidence. It gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling inside whenever I see you."
-"Thanks?" Louis replied, unsure how to take this compliment. "I like your attitude. Your free spirit." Keanu chuckled.
-"Sure, free spirit. So free that I don't know why the fuck I wake up every morning." Keanu blurted out, angrily. Louis was taken aback a bit.
"I've got no goals, Louis. No motivation, nothing to chase, no obstacle to overcome... Every day is just going through the motions, as numb or manic as possible. It's like the regularness of life is too hard for me."
-"It's normal to be lost at our age. We're just about to become adults, yet we cling on to the last remaining bits of our childhood. You'll figure it out." Louis comforted.
Keanu chuckled, laying down on his bed.
-"Ah man, those late night talks eh? Now we just gotta get a good crying session going, and after we've calmed down we can start fondling eachother's privates."
Louis laughed. -"Is that how it usually goes for you?"
-"Well, no. They usually start crying after." Keanu joked. Louis gave another laugh, a smile forming on his face afterward.
-"Thank you for staying with me, Keanu."
Louis offered his hand towards Keanu. Keanu put his hand in Louis' and held it lightly. Louis' soft hand felt warm and comforting. Louis' felt the weight and roughness of Keanu's hand, and he squeezed it a bit. Keanu gazed into Louis' eyes. Gone were the Manson lamps, and replaced with the warmest, deepest pools of brown that your mind can imagine. Keanu's heart started beating faster, and he felt as if he had a lump in his throat.
-"It is pretty late though. I suggest we delay the crying and fondling for tomorrow." Keanu spoke, breaking eye contact and clearing his throat. Louis exhaled through his nose and let go of Keanu's hand.
-"Sure, why not?"
-"Goodnight, Louis."
-"Goodnight, Keanu."