My Crazy Housemate: What Makes You Happy

Louis knocked once and got Chloe's attention. She had been inside his car for a while with her eyes closed and her head resting on the headrest. She turned to look at him with dull eyes, he could tell she had cried a lot. Maybe she even dozed off in the middle of her sobs and had been awoken by his knock. 

She weakly reached for the lock and opened the door.

"Hey!" She said in a cracked voice while trying to hide her face from him.

"Time to go home." He said without asking or saying anything regarding how she looked.

She nodded and handed him his car keys before turning around to hop in the passenger's seat. 

"How did it go in there?" She asked, trying to make small talks as he drove out of the residence. 

"Tough." Came his answer immediately.

"It was really obvious the parents didn't like Leo's choice but Mia was really strong headed and took them head-on. Grandparents took her side, mom got angry first and walked out while dad naturally followed. I have no idea where they both are." He summarized briskly. 

"It's not like they have a choice anyway. Leo would stubbornly do what he wishes to do." 

"To you, is that a good thing or bad thing?" He asked, sparing her a quick glance. 

"It depends." She shrugged. 'I wish I can have my own apartment too and stop being monitored to even my bank account.' She said a silent wish. She envied Leo. 

"Oh.. did you know Leo was traveling out soon?" 

"Traveling out? No. Really?" She asked curiously. "To where?" 

"Guess you also didn't know. He dropped the bomb earlier. Told everyone he would be traveling for a long time, he has a big movie to shoot."

"Wow! That's big! And I guess mom and dad weren't too happy about it?"

"You can count on that. Especially dad. But they'll eventually come around. This isn't the first time Leo is dating who they didn't approve of, or traveling to another country." He said casually. 

"How do you feel?" Chloe suddenly asked out of the blue.  She wanted to keep the conversation going to stop her brother from asking her any personal questions.

"Feel? Fine. Why?" He gave her a confused look before looking ahead. 

"Seeing Leo and Mia together." She said before her lips formed a straight line. 

"Oh.." He laughed. "Mia is adorable. She told me to my face she doesn't like me." 

Chloe couldn't read him. There was still a smile on his face which left her confused. 

"I'm not sure I like her the way you are thinking. I just kind of like it when she is riled up and behaves the way she does. Plus she is pretty, no one would blame me for being attracted. Leo is. And we are like peas from the same pod... literally."

Chloe sighed. She didn't know what to say. She didn't even know why she was so passionate about fighting for Leo's love when she had too many problems to deal with. 

"I saw you with Maria earlier." Louis finally said. It seemed he was tired of pretending like everything was okay with Chloe. 

Chloe went silent and turned to face the window.

"She.. didn't harass you, right?"

"She didn't. We just... talked." 

"I hope all is fine with you?" 

"Yes... I guess..." Sadness once again enveloped her as she remembered Maria. Poor woman. It must have taken a lot for her to finally forgive her.

Before Louis could ask God knows what, Chloe's phone began to ring. The ringtone was so sharp that it startled Chloe back to reality. 

It was almost midnight and she wasn't in the mood to talk to whoever it was. She wanted to end it when she saw the caller's ID. It was the number she had saved as Ellie's. 

She couldn't end the call. Not after the last time. She remembered how scared she had been when she didn't see Jeremy inside the classroom and Mia had said he was at the hospital. It was as if history had been repeating itself again. Abandoning her friends when they needed her the most. 

Was he sick again? She wondered in alarm as she answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear, waiting for the news. 

"Hel–lo?" She asked with a cracked voice while Louis turned to look at her briefly, wondering why she sounded scared. 

"Why's your voice sounding this way? Have you been crying?" Ellie's worried voice asked. 

"I... I am fine.. is... something wrong with Jeremy?"

"You don't sound fine." Ellie noted. "I was calling to call you out for making my brother sad but it seems you're also in a bad mood. Are you crying because you both got into a fight?" She asked innocently.

Chloe was relieved that Jeremy was fine and was able to release a short, amused laugh. 

"No.. I just... *sighs* have a lot going on."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ellie asked softly. 

Wasn't this someone who was planning to yell at her for making her brother sad? Now, she was offering a listening ear? 

"How is he?" Chloe asked instead. She felt guilty for how she had left him this morning. He had looked so sad, so broken. 

"He is asleep. He skipped lunch and dinner no matter how much I begged him. He didn't tell me what was wrong but I guessed it had to do with you." She said, sounding a bit accusingly now. 

Chloe wished she knew what to say to this little guardian angel of his, but she didn't. 

"Jeremy is a strong guy. He's never dejected, at least, he doesn't let me see him that way. He is also a really good fighter.."

Chloe wondered why Ellie was telling her all this but she didn't interrupt her. 

"Since you showed up in his life, he's been really happy, but sad at the same time. It's sad." 

She heard Ellie sniff and really hoped Ellie wasn't crying. She couldn't deal with it. 

"I'm sorry." Chloe said seriously even though she knew the one who deserved it more was Jeremy. He had been nothing but good to her while she treated him like he was some insignificant thing. 

"Is there a chance, any chance that things would work out between you two in the future?" 

Chloe could hear the unspoken words in her voice. She was begging her to say a YES. 

The silence dragged for a while before Chloe gave her a answer, "I... don't know how to answer that."

But to her surprise, Ellie sighed in relief. 

"That's good then. I guess there is a chance." 

"I.. didn't say so." 

"If there was no chance and you didn't like Jeremy at all, you would have said a no. I don't believe you didn't say a no because you didn't want to hurt my feelings. You do not look like the type to care so much about people's feelings... no offence." 

Chloe was left tongue tied. How come a young girl like her could think very smartly and intelligently?

"Ask him to eat... please. He isn't too strong yet." Chloe said instead. 

"I'll let him know. Good night." Ellie said before she hung up abruptly while Chloe sighed as she put her phone down. 

"I have a feeling you are going to follow Leo's path soon." Louis said with his gaze still on the road. For a moment, Chloe had totally forgotten about him. 

"What.. do you mean by that?" She asked even though she could guess what he was talking about. 

"Being the family's rebel. I guess we're all destined to not follow the parents' path. Poor them." 

Chloe sat up and turned to look at him. 

"What advise can you give to me?" She asked desperately.