Elevator Buttons

~melancholy~

mel·an·chol·y

ˈmelənˌkälē/

noun

a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.

When Louis was little, his family used to visit the park everyday. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and Louis loved to dip his toes in the shoreline of the lake. He would scrunch up his nose and giggle to his mother at how cold the water felt on his feet. His mother would laugh along and agree with him, adoring his free spirit. His never-ending happiness seemed to come to a halt in Louis's teenage years. His mother never got down to the problem merely because she didn't have the right words to say to him. She found it difficult to speak to him so she never did.

Louis clamped his hands together thinking about what happened in high school; the turning point of his life.

Harry on the opposite side of the elevator was growing impatient and frankly, bored. He pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows together as he twiddled his thumbs. Then his face brightened up and a small smile grew on his face.

"How bout we play a game," Harry said thoughtfully, "because frankly, I'm extremely bored of sitting in silence."

Louis grumbled in response. He didn't know why the younger lad couldn't get the idea that Louis wanted to stay away from him as soon as possible. But he didn't want to be the one to crush Harry's hopes so he went along with it.

"Alright then, what've you got in mind?" Louis pressed his lips together raising his eyebrows.

"Never have I ever?" Harry asked and the older lad nodded in response. The two boys were already used to the darkness of the elevator and were endlessly hoping at least the lights turned on.

"Alright, so, basically, we'll hold up five fingers and then when you've done something you put a finger down. Person with all their fingers down fir-"

"Yes, Harry, I know how to play," Louis said rolling his eyes.

"Well, alright then, you start." Harry said slightly offended that Louis had interrupted him.

"Okay, never have I ever...hmm..." Louis pondered looking up at the ceiling.

"Never have I ever done something illegal." Louis knew he hadn't done anything bad so far. The most criminal thing he's done is probably go into a few clubs when he was underage but he never considered it to be illegal.

Louis' eyes traveled to Harry's fingers and saw one finger go down. Harry tried his best at a poker face, but his heart was pumping and he felt the need to explain himself to Louis.

"Ok, ok before you say anything, I was like 8 and I accidentally stole a candy bar from a store." Harry said chuckling to himself trying to keep composure. Louis was already mocking Harry and laughing quite loudly with him.

"What! Are you serious? How in the world do you accidentally steal something?" Louis covered his mouth to contain his giggles. Harry admired how Louis' eyes crinkled when he laughed and how his eyes got immensely brighter when he smiled. Harry burst out into laughter with both hands cupped around his face in embarrassment.

"I grabbed it, because my mum wouldn't buy it for me, and I put it in my pocket and ate it when I got home and she was like where did you get that candy? And I was like I took it and she made me write an apology letter." Harry bowed his head in embarrassment while Louis burst out laughing.

"That is the best thing I've heard all day, mate."

"Well, alright let's carry on, it's my turn. Never have I ever kissed someone on the first date," Harry said smugly. Louis bit his lip thinking back to high school and with foggy thoughts, he had trouble remembering any dates he even went on in high school. Harry's eyes looked down at Louis chewing on his bottom lip before traveling to meet Louis' eyes.

"Well? C'mon then," Harry was growing impatient.

"I don't think I went on any dates actually..." Louis replied sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

"Really? What happened? Never got around to it?" Harry was becoming more curious by the second.

"Erm, something like that, it's not something I like to talk about." Louis pressed his lips together, furrowing his eyebrows.

"What? Dating?" Harry asked even though deep down he knows he should've dropped the topic.

"Because Louis, it's not the end of the world that you didn't go-"

"No, it's not that," Louis shook his head not sure why he's even talking about this with Harry, "never mind, it's nothing important really, just a bunch of shit." Harry crawled to the other side of the elevator and sat next to Louis whose head was hung low as he hugged his knees.

Louis felt a large hand rubbing his back in comfort and knowing that it was Harry, he felt a sort of weight lift off his shoulder and felt as if he can tell him anything. And he wanted to tell Harry everything in that moment.

"Hey, it's alright, you can tell me anything, Lou," Harry consoled massaging circles into his back. Then Louis took him by surprise and shrugged off his arm, his face as hard as stone and his voice shaky.

"I just don't like talking about high school. It wasn't the best times of my life." Louis chuckled to himself before frowning and turning to Harry.

"It's nothing, really. Just drop it." Louis said with a fake smile to Harry. He sniffled before hanging his head down once more.

"No, it's alright to talk to me, Louis, I don't bite." Harry reassured the older lad with sincerity and kindness in his heart. Even though they didn't seem to get along, he doesn't want Louis to feel terrible.

"Alright, then. What the hell, right? Might as well say it since were stuck here." Louis gave in and took a deep breath.

~

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading :)