Break Down Your Walls

[50]

~𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚘𝚎𝚜~

After reaching the bottom of the iron railed stairs, my bare feet touch the cold marble floor and I make my way towards the large kitchen. I sit down on one of the cool metal stools, watching Tom take out the ingredients to make buffalo chicken dip. I was surprised at first when he asked me for the ingredients and directions for the recipe, seeing as his brother is in culinary school, but I guess Tom just wanted to make it exactly the way I like it.

"Hey, would you be able to turn on the stereo, love?" He asks, his eyes focused on the little paper I had written on. A ghost of a smile was on his thin lips as he traced his finger over my small writing, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"Yep!" I call after finding my breathing pattern again, getting up from the stool happily and basically hopping towards the bluetooth stereo that found its home in the den where we had watched several movies together. I fumble with the buttons a little bit, wishing silently that I wouldn't break it. Even just being near the expensive machine makes me nervous.

Finally, I push the right button and a little sound comes from the speakers, letting everyone know that it was paired to Tom's phone. Soft instrumental music begins to play and it still takes me by surprise with how much Tom loves that delicate sound.

Then, a ding comes from the elevator, no, next to the elevator. Next comes a clear voice that I automatically knew was Harrison. "Hey, can we come up?" Tom looks up from his messy cooking station with a frantic look in his eyes.

"I got it." I let out with a laugh and his face relaxes as his usual smirk places itself on his lips again. I make my way to the little square device with a singular button on it. I hold down the black, circular button and speak as clearly as I can, "Come on up, guys!" In the next few seconds, I hear the elevator beginning to change gears as it either goes down or up, I can't tell.

I begin to rock on my heels in anticipation to see my best friends again even though it hasn't been even twenty-four hours since I had seen them. The doors open wide and Charlie's bright blue eyes meet mine for a split second before looking at the penthouse. Her mouth gapes wide open and I can hear Haz laugh under his breath, a kind of laugh that I had never heard him let out before.

"Come in before those doors close on you." I tease, grabbing her wrist gently and pulling her inside, Haz casually walking in with a bright smile.

"Welcome to our humble abode." Tom calls from the kitchen about forty feet away. Again, the word "our" makes my stomach fill with frantic butterflies.

"You live here?" Charlie exclaims, her eyes still wide open along with her mouth. Both Tom and I break into laughter, the rest following suit and the sound of pure happiness makes me forget the potential danger I'm in. "Can I see your room, Y/n?" She asks frantically and Tom and I's eyes meet for a split second. In that split second I could see that Tom was okay with me showing her, wanted me to, even.

"While you're up there, maybe you could explain to Charlie what's going on." He suggests, obviously wanting to do the same with Haz, probably wanting to ask him about where Charlie should go, as well. I simply nod my head in reply and lead her upstairs.

"Here we are." I say with a wide, proud smile as I look at mine and Tom's room. I can tell that it isn't quite processing for Charlie because she doesn't gasp, she just gawks at the size of the room.