Rae wakes up startled. Her heart pounding against her chest and a feeling runs through her body as if spiders were crawling all over her skin. She hasn't had that nightmare in weeks, and now it's come back with vengeance, so much worse than it ever was, because now, now she knows how true it all was. Her nightmare has been predicting the future without her realizing it. When the shadow took her brother, she didn't wake up. She was surrounded by utter darkness, just an empty void, floating aimlessly. She couldn't see, hear or feel anything; she was trapped, the darkness was enough to crush her.

She doesn't register that a voice has been chatting next to her ear, nor the arms around her until an abrupt, sharp snap pulls her out of it. Louis' voice is suddenly filling her mind, and she twists her head to the left to find him. His eyes, so incredibly blue like the spring flowers blooming outside, are gazing right back at her. Rae spots the relief seeping into Louis' expression, but the tightness around his eyes is still there and preventing the crinkles that usually grace the corners of his eyes. Louis carefully lifts his hand, gently wiping his thumb underneath Rae's eye.

His thumb comes away with a tear, and instead of repeating the action, he leans forward and softly pressing his lips to her cheekbone under her eye. He does the same to her left eye. Somewhere in the back of Raelyn's mind, the act that Louis is literally kissing away, and tasting tears that she hasn't been able to shed for years is rather poetic; in a twisted way, possibly.

Rae sags forward, leaning into Louis and pressing her face in his chest. She feels his arms circle around her, his fingers gliding over the bumps of her spine. She listens to his steady heartbeat to soothe her. She doesn't remember ending up on the floor, doesn't even know how long she's been sleeping for. She really can't even remember coming up to her room. There's a low rumbling that begins in Louis' chest, and Rae realizes he's signing.

His voice is soft and raspy, tender and delicate and it's everything she loves about it. It's those reasons she fell in love with his voice, the reason that caused her to fall more in love with Louis himself. Rae closes her eyes and wishes she could stay just like this. Curled up in Louis' arms, listening to him singing, and feeling his fingers play with her hair. She nearly falls asleep again when she remembers there are people downstairs. She slowly pulls back, blinking away a fresh wave of tears, then wiping at her eyes to make sure there gone. It's suddenly so easy for them to escape her eyes and land on her thighs.

"I'm thirsty." Is the first thing to come out of Rae's mouth.

Louis chuckles under his breath. "I bet. You were crying a ton. Which. Alright."

Rae just shrugs. She literally doesn't know how that even happened or what was the exact breaking point. "I don't know." She answers a question that wasn't asked. She presses her hand against her chest out of curiosity, wincing a little at the tender skin. "I remember my chest in so much pain and it...well, it feels different now. Not as tight, you know."

Louis furrows his eyebrows, contemplating. Then he nods. "Makes sense. Do you need anything?"

"How's my makeup?" Rae asks, because if she was crying as hard as he said, well...she hasn't invested in any waterproof mascara.

Louis licks both his thumbs, swiping serve times under her eyes. He ignores the wrinkles of disgust on her nose Rae's giving him. When he's finished, he hooks his fingers under her chin, lifts her head a fraction of an inch, and places his lips softly against her own. It's the simplest kiss she's ever received, but it takes her breath away. Louis keeps it short and sweet, and when he pulls away he takes part of her heart with him.

"All fixed. You're always beautiful, Rae. Even with mascara down your face." Louis smiles sweetly.

Rae can't even dish out a response to his light tease, because for the first time in days, a smile is spreading across her mouth. "How long have we've been up here?"

"Just under an hour."

"Guess I should go downstairs." Rae sighs, the smile slipping off her face as soon as it came.

Louis nods silently, and once he stands, he offers a hand to Raelyn to pull her up. That's when she notices her disaster of a room, clearly remembering everything. Pictures are scattered all over the place, things knocked off and on their sides, it's all a mess and it displays perfectly what she's feeling inside. She sighs, running her hand through her hair.

"Hey," Louis says from behind her, turning her around so she's facing him. "I love you."

There's a flutter in Rae's heart that reaches her stomach when he says that. It makes her smiles again, just a small tilt of her lips. She places her hand on the side of his face, her thumb running along his defined cheekbone. She may have a need to destroy things, to wreck painful memories until they can no longer haunt her, something she should possibly look into since that can't be very healthy. However, she can never find it in her to do the same to the most beautiful person that abruptly came into her life and colored her world again. Louis is so beautiful in every aspect she can thing of.

"I love you." Rae whispers back.

***

Louis watches Rae whirl around the sitting room and kitchen like a hawk. Watches her weave between her family members and friends, offering food for anyone who doesn't have a plate in their hand. He figures it's the only thing able to keep her going until she can retreat back to her room. Liam has been hovering by MaryAnn every time she's left alone and Rae shoots him a grateful smile every time she passes him. Angelique, Kari, Liz and Max have taken up a polite conversation with Harry and Zayn. Which leaves Niall to come up next to Louis, plastic red cup bending under the tense weight of his fingers. He's rather confused about the hostile vibe he's is giving off, because it's Niall and he's always the equivalent of the sun.

"Alright there, mate?" Louis questions curiously, concern for the plastic cracking and spilling whatever liquid is inside.

"I'm not sure what everyone really knows of Rae's father, but he's spewing shit." Niall answers, a bitterness to his voice that doesn't belong. "Saying that his job is what really pulled him away from the family and was unfortunately out of the country while Ronan was sick."

"Instead of just telling people he fucking bailed on his family." Louis supplies, a sick feeling twisting in his gut.

Niall nods, eyes dropping to his cup, and finally puts it on the table in front of them. "He's been trying to talk to her alone. Every time she goes into the kitchen."

Louis can feel the muscles in his jaw clench. "She wants nothing to do with him!" He hisses through his teeth.

Both of them watch as Raelyn passes by again, her elbow caught by one of her cousins who pulls her into a tight hug. It seems as if her cousin's whispers in her ear advise her to take a break, for Rae finally sits down on one of the extra chairs. Her shoulder slump in exhaustion while her cousin flits away into the kitchen.

"I hope she's bringing her food." Niall pipes up. "I don't think she's eaten anything. Not with her cunt of a father trying to corner her. I know it's not my place, but I really don't want him near her. She doesn't need it."

Louis bites the inside of his cheek when he sees David come out of the kitchen. He spots his daughter, who makes split eye contact with him in passing. Louis blinks and suddenly Rae is out of her seat, weaving between people again. He loses sight of her, but her father's gaze is now on him and Niall, eyes narrowed like he's annoyed at their presence.

"Need anything to eat, Niall?"

Both him and Louis startle at the voice. Rae is standing right next to them, her back turned toward her father. There's horribly fake smile on her lips and Louis wants to kiss her to wipe it off. Niall shakes his head, shocked for a moment, before his expression sets into determination.

"I'm good thanks." Niall begins. "You however, need to take a break. Your feet'll fall off. Sit, eat, drink. Breathe."

"He always finds me when I do." Rae frowns, plastic smile finally leaving her mouth. "I don't want to handle that right now. I can't. Mum can't either."

"I'll ask him to leave. I will." Louis states. The sickening twist hasn't let up. Reminds him too much of the time his biological father showed up that one time when he was eleven.

It looks like she considers it for a moment, turns her head just over her shoulder to see behind her. Her father is gone now. Turning back, Rae shakes her head. "Thanks, but it's alright for now. Don't want to start anything."

"Right." Niall says, hooking his arm with Rae's elbow. "Then hows about we go met your lovely cousin, Kelly is it, who's probably getting you food. She's quite lovely."

Rae slaps the back of his hand. "No. She's sixteen, you tosser."

Both Niall and Louis laugh, and it pulls a small chuckle out of Rae herself.

***

Evening has come, and most of the people have left, but the ones still lingering grab hold of paper lanterns. Earlier, when Rae had sat down and ate the food her cousin gave her, she explained the meaning. They did the same thing after Vinny's funeral, writing little messages to send up to the sky as a last goodbye. It's sweet, sad and lovely all at the same time. It's a pretty sight, all the lanterns being light up at once, like that scene in Tangled, minus the boat and the singing.

Louis is holding onto one with Zayn, admiring the doodles he'd drew on them. He smiles at him, because the drawing of Iron Man is the same one Zayn gave Ronan a few months back to frame. Louis looks around for Rae, to point out their lantern, but he doesn't see her. She's not by her mother, nor her friends. Not with Liam and Niall either. He can't find her, but he also doesn't see Harry so he hopes they're getting a lantern of their own. That is, until Harry pops up next to them, unlit and deflated lantern in hand.

He looks a little pale, green eyes hard around the edges. "He found her. She politely kicked me out of the kitchen."

"Fuck." Louis cruses, carefully giving his portion of the lantern over to Zayn. "I'll go-"

"Lou," Harry interrupts gently, "I think it's something she has to do herself. She wouldn't have told me to leave if she wanted someone there."

"But what if he does something? What if-"

"I'm more concerned about her doing something to him. Like throw the kettle at his head."

"Exactly! He could say something that just...he doesn't really deserve a chance to explain anything."

Harry bites his lips for a moment, contemplating his next response. Which usually means it won't be something Louis would like to hear. It's not.

"Is that really your call though?" Harry begins. "I understand, Louis! Of course I do, you know I do. Our fathers fucked off when we were babies. We know what it feels like to feel a little unwanted by someone who's suppose to love us unconditionally. I'm not trying to justify what he did, it's just. Now we're on good terms with our fathers, well, Mark in your case. That's amazing, yeah? Rae's father literally abandoned them. He left behind an incredibly sick child, a sixteen year old and a wife who struggled because of it. We got lucky. Raelyn..."

"Not so lucky." Louis nods. He was correct. He didn't want to hear it, but Harry is right. It isn't worse and it isn't better, but it's different.

"I know it's shitty. I'd love to punch him if I could." Harry chuckles darkly. It's funny, because he wouldn't hurt a fly. "But if she wants to give him a second chance, then that's her decision alone to make. MaryAnn isn't helping in that either. Rae's plenty old enough to make her own choices. She's smart, and strong. She'll be fine no matter what she decides."

The sickening knot is back, but Louis ignores it in favor of everything Harry just said. He sighs, defeated. "You're right, Haz. It's fucked up, but you're right."

At one point during his little speech, Harry placed a hand on Louis' shoulder, which he gives a comforting squeeze. Louis squeezes his elbow in return as Harry's eyes slide over his shoulder. He frowns, looks around for a moment, then back at Louis. "Where's Zayn?"

Louis whips around. Zayn no longer behind him, and the Ironman lantern floating several feet above their heads. Turning back to Harry, they make eye contact for a second before both moving towards the sliding glass door of the kitchen. There, they find Zayn, who's standing just out of sight from anyone inside. He's watching carefully, brown eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest. They can hear the voices inside, though thoroughly muffled, but Louis can tell which one is Rae's for her voice is slightly louder.

The fondness in Louis' heart grows for a moment, as he stands there watching while Zayn intimidatingly stares down the man in the kitchen unknowingly. Knows that Zayn's surge of protectiveness comes from that night a few days ago; witnessing Rae's attacks is never a fun experience. It felt some sort of brotherly protection he knows only comes from being the only brother in a family of sisters. He's filled with admiration that all four of his bandmates, his best mates in the world, all have come to care and love Raelyn just as much as he has; minus the fact that Louis is in love with her.

And yeah, she's a big girl. She can fully take care of herself, of her mother, of bills and payments and responsibly, learned that from an age where she didn't need to yet. However, that doesn't mean Rae can't have people who care for her look out for her. To always be there if she needs someone to step in, to step up and defend her; even to defend her own choices, like Harry just did. She didn't need to be defended and protective from the media like Liam's been doing secretively.

Able to keep her name out of most of the shitty tabloids by begging their management. He knows she can handle that, can handle anything thrown her way, especially after recent events. At the same time, it's alright if Louis wants that for her, isn't it. Either way, they will always be there for her until the day she tells them to fuck off.

Which is what Rae might have just done to her father, for Zayn straightens his posture just as the door slides open. Louis is at an angle where he can't actually see into the kitchen, so he cant see how heated the glare Zayn shoots over her shoulder is, or if her father got the full affect of Zayn Malik hate. (Louis is still half convinced that if you piss off Zayn, a god of some sort will strike lightning on that poor soul). Rae matches his stance, arms crossed, expression set the same way. They stare at each other for several long, tense moments, then Rae deflates, muttering a cruse under her breath and literally falling into Zayn.

He reacts quickly, arms wrapping around her waist as she buries her face into her shoulder. She's squeezing her arms around his chest so tight it looks like Zayn's having difficulty breathing. Louis just watches as he brings one hand up to the back of her head, stroking his fingers through her hair that's been falling out of its braid for hours. His lips are moving over her ear, but they're just far enough away that the hushed words aren't carried over.

"What's happened?" Comes Liam's alarmed voice from behind Louis and Harry. "Everything alright?"

Louis shrugs, but Harry answers for him. "I think so? Possibly."

"Possibly." Liam echos, more than likely rolling his eyes. "People are looking for her. Want to say goodbye before they leave."

"Go on then." Louis tells hims quietly. He doesn't want to be the one to disturb their hug.

He feels Liam pat him on the back, then squeezes past them. He gently lays his hands on both Rae and Zayn, who finally break apart. There's a small smile gracing Raelyn's lips, only wiped away when she leans in to kiss Zayn's cheek. When she passes by Louis, following behind Liam, she gives his hand a small squeeze, letting her fingers trail along his until she's too far away to keep contact. The minute they're out of earshot, he turns to Zayn.

"Relax, Lou." He says instantly. "I'm pretty sure he left. Not sure how long they were talking for, but he left and that's all that matter, yeah? She's fine."

In the grand scheme of things, Rae isn't fine. The situation with her father however, Zayn might be right. Maybe Rae had gotten the majority of her anger out the other night, yelling at her father and breaking every memory she had of him. Maybe that's her outlet for letting her anger go when it reaches boiling point. Maybe Louis should convince her to sign up for kickboxing classes, or train with their tour fitness trainer. So then maybe she did just calmly tell him to leave, had gotten anything else she wanted to say to him, wiped her hands clean and sent him home.

"I'm gonna," Harry begins quietly, "see if she still wants to light this." He wiggles the lantern as if they forgotten about it.

"Think she'd love that." Zayn smiles.

"Louis?"

Louis shakes himself from his thoughts. If she wants to tell him anything, she will. He just has to wait. "Yeah. Yeah sounds good."

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Notes