A PLACE CALLED HOME
1081 Words
The conversation and laughter continued all the way home.
By the time they reached the house, their feet were tired, but somehow nobody seemed ready to sleep.
As soon as they stepped into the sitting room, they found Louis and the other boys gathered together, chatting and laughing loudly.
"There they are!" Louis exclaimed dramatically.
"The people that abandoned me."
David immediately laughed.
"Abandoned you? You're the one that disappeared from the program before it could even last an hour."
The room erupted with laughter.
Ethan dropped onto a couch.
"Seriously, dude. One minute you were there, the next minute you vanished."
Louis pointed at them defensively.
"I left with dignity."
"You left with fear," one of the boys replied.
The laughter only grew louder.
For the next few minutes, Louis became the center of everyone's jokes as they exaggerated his great escape from the church program.
Meanwhile, Isabella sat quietly enjoying the banter before finally standing.
"I'm going to take a shower."
"Best decision anyone has made tonight," David replied.
She rolled her eyes and headed upstairs.
A while later, Isabella returned.
The moment she stepped into the living room, David nearly jumped from his seat- Absolutely not."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What?" Isabella asked innocently.
David pointed at her.
"You're wearing my shirt."
The room burst into laughter.
Then his eyes traveled downward.
"Wait... those are my shorts too!"
The laughter immediately doubled.
Louis almost fell off his seat.
"No way." Louis said in between laughter
"Yes way," David complained. "She's wearing my entire outfit."
Isabella looked down at herself and shrugged.
"They were comfortable."
"They are mine."
"They are ours now."
The boys howled with laughter.
David stared at her in disbelief.
"You have your own clothes."
"I like yours better."
"You are impossible."
Ignoring him completely, Isabella walked over and dropped onto the couch beside him.
"Move." She yelled dramatically
"No." David refused
"Move." She yelled again
David sighed dramatically and shifted over anyway.
The moment she sat down, she leaned comfortably against him.
Still complaining under his breath, David automatically wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
The action was so natural neither of them thought twice about it.
Louis immediately pointed.
"See that? Five seconds ago you were fighting."
"He's always fighting me," Isabella replied.
"And yet he's holding you like you'll disappear if he lets go," Ethan added with amusement.
David rolled his eyes.
"She's annoying."
"But?" Louis pressed.
David glanced at Isabella before shaking his head.
"She's my sister."
The words were simple.
But everyone in the room knew what they meant.
For all his complaints, Isabella was his entire world.
His greatest headache.
And the person he would protect without hesitation.
Isabella smiled triumphantly and leaned even closer just to annoy him.
David groaned.
"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about."
The room erupted into laughter once again.
Then somehow, as always, the topic shifted toward Ethan.
Louis grinned mischievously.
"So... let's talk about Rose."
Ethan immediately covered his face.
"Oh no."
"Oh yes," David replied.
The boys burst out laughing.
"That girl likes you." David spoke directly to Ethan "Everybody can see it."
"You people are imagining things." Ethan refused to agree with them
"We are definitely not." Louis teased him "Do you like her too?"
The teasing continued.
"Yeah... That girl really loves you?" Isabella added grinning
"Oh no, You too?" Ethan asked
Isabella laughed along with everyone else.
She even added a joke here and there whenever she had the chance.
On the outside, she looked completely relaxed- Completely normal.
Just another friend enjoying the conversation.
But beneath her smile, her heart felt heavy.
Because every joke about Rose liking Ethan reminded her of something she never said aloud.
While Rose openly showed interest in Ethan, Isabella couldn't.
While everyone noticed Rose's feelings, nobody noticed hers.
And perhaps that was for the best.
So she laughed with the others.
Pretended nothing bothered her.
And across the room, Ethan laughed too.
Completely unaware that while everyone was talking about Rose, the person occupying most of Isabella's thoughts was him.
And the person occupying most of his thoughts was quietly sitting beside her brother.
Writing
A few moments later, one of the boys suddenly looked over at David and Isabella.
The two siblings were still occupying the same couch.
Well...
David was occupying the couch.
Isabella was practically occupying David.
She was curled up beside him, comfortably leaning against his shoulder while his arm remained around her.
The boy stared dramatically.
Then pointed.
"David."
David looked up.
"What?"
The boy shook his head in disbelief.
"Won't you allow this your sister to marry?"
The room exploded with laughter.
David immediately frowned.
"What kind of question is that?"
"I'm serious." he persisted
"No, you're not."
The boy pointed again.
"Look at the way you're holding her."
Everyone burst into laughter once more.
Ethan shook his head, already knowing where the conversation was headed.
"He's got a point." Ethan agreed
"Thank you!" the boy exclaimed.
David looked betrayed.
"Not you too."
Louis laughed.
"Honestly, if a stranger entered this room, he'd think you're preparing to lock her inside the house forever."
"Maybe I am." David accepted
The room immediately erupted again.
"You see?" Louis pointed.
"That's exactly the problem."
David rolled his eyes.
"She's my little sister."
"Today little sister." the boy continued "Tomorrow somebody's wife."
David looked horrified.
"Can we not discuss this?" he pleaded
"No."
"Absolutely not."
The boys refused to let it go.
For the next several minutes, they kept teasing him.
Talking about how protective he was.
How no future boyfriend would survive his questioning.
And how he would probably investigate any man that came close to Isabella.
Even Isabella found herself laughing.
The teasing continued for another five minutes before gradually dying down.
By then, the room had become much quieter.
The late hour was finally beginning to catch up with everyone.
One of the boys suddenly glanced toward Isabella.
She was struggling to keep her eyes open.
"David."
"What?" David looked up again
"Tell your sister to go to bed."
David looked down.
Sure enough, Isabella looked half asleep.
"Hey."
She blinked.
"Hmm?"
"Go to your room."
"I'm awake."
"No, you're not."
"I am."
David gently nudged her shoulder.
"Go and sleep."
This time she didn't argue.
With a sleepy sigh, she slowly sat up.
"Goodnight, everyone."
"Goodnight," they replied.
She stretched briefly before turning toward the staircase.
Ethan found himself watching her as she walked away.
- Writer
