Chapter 2- Afterglow

"Life is but a dream."

Sorry this one took me so long -_-

The way Kallen was carrying Lelouch she would surely break one of his legs, for when one of his feet got caught in the banister, and she fixed the problem by giving it a sharp yank. Maybe it was just anger at how he had been drooling on her the whole taxi ride home, but Rolo protested the rough treatment anyway.

"Be easy on him!" He followed closely behind her in case she dropped Lelouch, which seemed likely. The thick carpet muffled their steps, hopefully keeping their presence a secret from the sleeping household staff. After the ordeal of the staricase was over they both took one arm and dragged him where Kallen directed; a small guest room.

Dumping him on the floor, she self-consciencely brushed off her hands. "That's all I'm doing... you can sleep in the room across from-"

"No! No...I want be close so I can check on him. You said something like afteraffects? Will he be in a lot of pain?"

"He'll be fine, Rolo. Just let him sleep it off."

When Rolo made to argue she just gave him more more empty assurances, and exhausted after dragging Lelouch around went to her room down the hall. The older boy still lay on the floor, and with much difficulty Rolo finally got him in a comfortable position on the bed, taking extra care to smooth the raven hair flat over his sweaty forehead. He swiped the second pillow off of the bed and made himself comfortable on the floor; fancying himself his brother's protector.

A crown of flowers rested on Lelouch's brow, the fresh wind tugging at his clothes. Hearing a gurgle of voices he opened his eyes to see Euphemia standing over him, a barely lit room behind her.

"Euphie." The voice he heard himself speak in was childlike, soft without its usual tones of aggression. When he called for her, the red-haired girl looked sad and moved away. A trickle of water trailed down his cheek to make dark patches on the pillowcase. Wait...don't leave me on this hillside alone! Maybe things...will be ok now... O-K. Such a strange word. Can you pronounce it 'ock'? The slight burn was absorbed as he drifted in a gray mist; awake but not awake, unmoving except for the occasional twitch...and not caring at all. In that mist people he didn't know said things he couldn't understand, the euphonious melody of the unknown gently washed away as Rolo's face came into focus. The boy's clothes were as rumpled as his hair, and after quickly glance down at himself Lelouch realized he looked much worse. A bright red stained his one knee, which hurt when he tried to move it.

Smiling with genuine warmth, Rolo almost raced over to the door and stuck his head out in the hall. He had woke up a few hours ago, watching the older boy for any sign of awareness.

"Kallen! He's awake!"

"…What….Rolo…" Lelouch croaked, a sour taste permeating his mouth. He fought waves of nausea and sat up, surprised to find blood where his face had been lying. Almost disbelieving, he groggily poked the sticky patch and put the finger in his mouth to taste it, missing his mouth and leaving an embarrassing smear of saliva across his cheek.

"Don't do that Lelouch." Rolo rushed to his side, wiping his cheek with a tissue. "She scratched you…Kallen did. We better get a bandage…" his voice raised to a yell. "HEY KALLEN, GET A BANDAGE!"
Hearing Rolo bellow all the way across the hall to her room wasn't the first thing Kallen wanted to hear in the morning, and after missing the bathroom lights a few times she opened the medicine cabinet and found the most embarrassing bandage she could, making sure it was garishly decorated with smiling cartoon characters.

Entering the room she had appointed to Lelouch, Kallen flicked the piece of paper at him. Rolo shot her a look of disbelief but quickly averted his eyes as she snarled. "What? I'm not going to put it on for him and give it a kiss."

Having recovered enough sense to not try and drink his own blood, Lelouch quickly realized why Rolo was looking so uncomfortable. Apparently too exhausted to bother with it she'd slept in little more than her underwear, what she was wearing as she stood before them now. Lelouch was trying his best to also avert his eyes when Kallen took the hint, and seeing the mortifying outfit herself scrabbled for a blanket or anything that would provide some coverage.

Apparently hearing the commotion, Kallen's stepmother chose that exact moment to see why she heard a strange boy yelling around her house. "What's the shouting abou-" and seeing Lelouch and Rolo her bewilderment quickly turned to fury.

"WHO ARE THESE BOYS...they slept here? Why are you dress-, well, hardly dressed like that? Is he bleeding? All over the pillows!"

Though she wanted to yell back Kallen responded coldly, adjusting the duvet she had found like a towel. "Mother, these are my friends. As you've probably been too 'busy' to notice, most of Ashford is on vacation, so I said they could stay here for the night. No, I'm not asking for your permission, just stating a fact."

The woman looked like she had been slapped. "Well. Don't complain about the company I keep when you hang out with this trash. Isn't the brown-haired one underage?"

"It's not like that!" was all Rolo could interject. "My brother was hurt and she helped us. I'm Rolo Lamperouge, pleased to..." after seeing the woman's withering stare he retracted his hand and retreated to his brother's side. "Lelouch aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Despite his head feeling like it was full of stew, the older boy made an effort to sit up.

"Kallen I want them gone by noon. No exceptions." Pulling out her cellphone and flipping it on as she left, her stepmother slammed the door behind her.

This kept deleting my progress...so this is Version 5. =_=. Don't know when the next update is, busy with I.t.E. Have a few more chappys planned though, i know its kind of an awkward ending -_-