When We Were Young

{[12]}

No words from me
I had a dream I met Calum Hood & was v v disappointed when I woke up
Enjoy !
Xoxoxoxoxo
------------------

   #Eli#

    "Wow," Louis said glumly, with a deep sigh and a shake of his head. "That was a sad story, Eli, it really was. Are you sure you're doing okay?"
    I pushed him over and he chuckled, gripping the nightstand before he fell off the bed. The story he's talking about is one of the sweet, little German Shepard I had as a child who died of cancer when I was thirteen. "Like you've never had a pet that you don't miss."
    Louis looked thoughtfully off into the distance, a pout forming on his face. He looked genuinely sad. "Kevin."
    "You named your pet Kevin?" I blurted out, forgetting to be sentimental.
    "He was One Directions pet, and a damn good one too," Louis wagged a finger at me as if I knew what he was talking about.
    "What kind of dog was he?"
    "A pigeon."
    "A-what?"
    "A pigeon," Louis repeated, looking at me. When he didn't clarify causing the look of confusion on my face to grow, he laughed. "We used to have a stuffed pigeon and we named him Kevin."
    This time, my look of confusion wast met by a matching one of his own. "And that was normal for you guys?" I asked, trying to hold back the judgement in my voice but failing.
    Louis shrugged and reached into the bag of chips in front of him. "It was funny. And it's nice thinking about it. It's been a while, and I feel so grown up since then."
    My look of judgement was replaced by one consisting of a small smile that lasted only for a minute. "As heartwarming as that was," I said, reaching over the pile of chips and other junk food we gathered into his hotel room and onto his bed. It rained heavily outside and it was extremely cozy to just talk with a pile of the worst foods possible for our bodies on his bed which I was always utterly jealous of.
    Moments later, I got a text from Darcy. Louis noticed my eyebrows furrowing and frown of confusion as I read it. "What's it say?"
    "'Can you come hone?'" I read out loud, emphasizing on the fact that it read hone instead of home.
    "What's so bad about that?" Louis asked.
    "The only other time she asked me to come home is when my mom died," I explained, jumping off the bed. My stomach twisted tightly as I slipped on my shoes and pulled my hoodie over my head. "I'll text you later," I told Louis on my way out but was stopped when he put a hand on the door I was about to open.
    "I'll come with you," he said, then proceeded to put on his own shoes and go to the closet in the bathroom to find a coat. I didn't have time to waste so I ran out into the hallway and almost reached the elevator when Louis came practically sprinting up next to me calling my name.
    "You don't have to," I said, not looking at him as the elevator doors closed behind us. Fear crept it's way up my throat and I tried to fight the urge to take a smoke.
    Louis looked at me but I couldn't meet his eyes. "You're my friend, Eli. If you or Darcy are in trouble, don't even doubt I'll be there to help you."
    "Thanks," I whispered, staring at the block numbers that kept lighting up each floor we went down.
    Louis' eyes stayed on me for a couple more floors before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. "It's probably nothing," he assured me.
    The hustle to get a cab in regular summer weather was bad enough, but getting one in the rain was like trying to ride a lion. Eventually though, Louis grabbed one and ushered me inside.
    The whole ride I stared out the window at the wet city. The closer we got to my apartment, the more worried I got, which Louis could obviously tell by the way I was squeezing the life out of his hand.
    The day my mom died was a severely tragic one. I'd been with a friend of mine having the time of my life when Darcy texted me. Then, I didn't think anything of it, just assuming my mom had gotten our favorite snack from the store and she couldn't wait to share with me. We promised neither of us could eat the specially bought dark chocolate bars without the other. They were a delicacy, and we gobbled it up right away as soon as we got it. Back then, those four words didn't mean anything. But now, it could mean anything from Darcy just falling and breaking an arm to someone dying.
    When we got there, I shot out the cab not waiting for Louis who was paying the driver. He called after me as I ran into the lobby. He quickly caught up though, and grabbed my shaking hand again.
    "Hi Sage," I called out. Sage's head lifted at the sound of my voice but darkened at the sight of Louis. Even more so, if that was even possible, at the sight of our hands. Worrying about Sage not liking Louis could wait for another time.
    Louis gripped my hand the whole time we were in the elevator. The ride took long enough and when we entered the apartment, my first sight was Darcy sitting at the kitchen table with her head bent.
    "Darcy," I called out, running over to her. Darcy lifted her head and my fear didn't subside when I saw her tear-stricken face. "What's wrong?" I asked as she fell into my arms. "Darce, what happened? Are you okay?"
    "I-it was..." She broke off, taking a deep breath. "H-he...he cheated," she whispered against my chest. It took a second to realize what she was talking about, but when I did, I stood Darcy up straight.
    "Averon cheated on you?" Darcy nodded, wiping her face. "That's it?!" I screamed at her. Darcy's face glowered a bit at my last two words.
    "What do you mean, that's it? I'm sorry, I thought the heart of your best friend was important to you," Darcy snapped. Was she really getting mad at me right now?
    "Jesus, Darcy, I thought you were dying! Or someone was dying? Yes, that's fucking it because last time you sent me that text, someone died!" I screamed at her.
    Darcy scoffed and shook her head. "Good to know someone has to die for you to care! You know, I know you never liked Averon but I thought you'd at least be supportive."
    "Darce, I can be as goddamn supportive as you need me to be, but convincing me that someone died wasn't the way to do it," I breathed, calming down a bit.
    Darcy's face softened and her dad, big eyes bored into mine. "I'm sorry," I said softly, partly for the fight and partly for Averon. Darcy just nodded and looked down, her face becoming solemn again. "You wanna go egg his house?" I tried cheering her up but she just sighed and shook her head.
    "Well hey," Louis spoke up. I'd completely forgotten he was even there. "If it makes you feel better, Avery probably cheated with some skank and is alone now, but you got the two of us. And we're better than some skank, I think." We both chuckled as I wrapped my arms around Darcy, who slid hers around my waist. "Cmon, let's go watch a movie. I think it's one of the best ways to cheer anyone up? What do you like?"
    "Nicholas Sparks," she mumbled. I rolled my eyes at the obvious movie choice, but wasn't disagreeing.
    "Ok, Nicholas Sparks it is," Louis confirmed, clapping his hands. He followed the two of us as I dragged Darcy to the living room, plopping her down on the couch between Louis and I. She continued to cry for a bit while the two of us thought of every bad name we could think of or make up on the spot. Halfway into the movie, Darcy's head was resting on my shoulder.
    "Thank you," I whispered to Louis. It was the first chance I'd gotten since we came. Louis smiled at me with warm eyes.
    "It's no problem. Like I told you, I'll always be here," he whispered back. I smiled and nodded.
    "Can we turn this shit off?" I asked him a few minutes later. Louis shrugged and gave me a small half grin.
    "Honestly, I kind of like it. And the least you could do for your friend is finish the movie," Louis teased.
    "She's asleep," I pointed out but didn't take the discussion further. We watched the rest of the movie, trying to not wake Darcy up with our giggles. Louis agreed it was stupid.
    Afterward, Louis carried her to her bed and joined me on my bed, the only place we could talk without waking her up since it was on the other side of the apartment.
    "Thank you," I found myself saying again. Louis shrugged and laid himself down across the foot of the bed.
    We sat in silence for only a few seconds before I started scratching again. I'd cut back on smoking lately, not intentionally, I'd just never had a chance to have one anymore.
    Louis' eyes flickered between my arm and my face before he sat up in front of me. "Tell me about your mom," he tried in a bad attempt to distract me.
    "My mom?" I repeated. Louis nodded and traced a finger on my knee, the feeling tingling even through my jeans.
    "You said last time Darcy sent you that text, she, uh, died."
    I looked down and nodded. "Yeah, I was out that day. When I got home, they told me she had a heart attack from a disease that she'd apparently had for years but never told us about." I chuckled, feeling tears coming to my eyes. "For years, she'd been telling me how smoking would kill me, or I'd spend my time with a bad heart." My stomach twisted at the memory of her scolding me. "I swear, after her funeral,  I went up to my bedroom and didn't come out for three days. I smoked more cigarettes then than I have in the last month." Tears fell from my eyes as I continued to stare at Louis' unmoving hand on my knee. "A-and when I tried to sleep, all I could do was laugh. I fucking laughed at how hypocritical my mom was. She even locked me out of the house one time because I came home reeking of smoke, right after I promised her I'd stop. I slept in the treehouse to get away from the rapid dog that broke through the fence into our backyard." I didn't dare look up at Louis, who's eyes were trained on my face. "And after she died, I went up to the treehouse and-" I chuckled again. "I just kept smoking, thinking about how fucking hypocritical she was, especially on nights like those. I couldn't believe her, I was so angry."
    "Or at least I thought I was. In reality, it wasn't her being a hypocrite that made me angry, it was that she left me and my dad. And she thought she was protecting us!" More tears flowed out. "It wasn't till later that I found out my dad knew. They just didn't tell me. My dad found out a year earlier before it happened but he still knew when she died. But I couldn't stay mad at him for that long; I broke after a few months. He was mourning the same person I was and he did everything he could to make me feel better."
    The next few moments were quiet. It got darker in my room the more it rained and the later it got. I meet Louis' eyes, but instead stared out the window. The only visible thing was rain but it was better than meeting the pity in his eyes.
    After a while, I got sick of the silence and sniffled loudly and looked at him. "Okay, well that's me." When finally meeting Louis eyes, they were warmer than I'd expected. He had a small smile and his hand squeezed my knee.
    "Thank you for telling me," he whispered. Even in the dark, I could trace out his sharp features with my finger as if I've known him my whole life. The more I stared into the deep sea that were his eyes, the more uncomfortable I got. Something about this setting was wrong. Like the air had gotten sour at some point, or something was trying to tell me what was wrong, but I couldn't figure it out.

#Louis#

   The way Eli stared at me made the zoo in me come alive. I pictured us laying in the middle of her bed, her being the little spoon, and me breathing in her smoky smell while kissing the side of her head or her cheek. Her eyes were blank as they bore into mine, so I couldn't tell what she was feeling, but I hoped it was what I was feeling.
    She'd just shared a big, personal part of herself with me, and I felt much closer with her than before. I felt almost bad, since I had such great feelings on the day Darcy's were shattered.
    Out of nowhere, she whispered, "I want to show you something." Her face stayed blank as it scanned mine. I nodded, and so did she. With hesitation, she lifted herself off the bed and crawled under the bed.
    I got up and went to the light switch near the curtain but she stopped me. "No," she whispered. "Keep them off," she told me and I obeyed. When I sat back down she had set a large leather bound rectangle in front of me. I glanced up at her and she nodded.
    With permission, I opened the rectangle to reveal a strayed supply of photos. Her portfolio. All the photos she chose to print out. I was speechless.
    All in black and white, I finally saw the world through Eli's eyes. It was so much more than snapping photos at something she found beautiful, even if others didn't. I always knew she had an eye for art but I never knew it like this.
    The photos ranged from happy to downright depressing. My eyes lingered on the ones where she held the camera to her right and blew smoke out forward. You couldn't see her face; just her lips, the ones I'd kiss enough times, I could recognize them in pitch black. You could tell even from this one freeze frame how the smoke rolled off her lips. I slowly ran a finger over the cracks in her lips, something I'd never had the chance to do to her in person. They were smooth when felt on the photo, and I bet they were smooth on the real thing.
    I may be biased, but my favorite is one of me. It took me by surprise, seeing it at first, but the memory made me smile. I was driving that night we drove out into the desert. It was right before the sunset; you could tell by the way the glimmer from the sun was just a white blob on the paper. It was right behind me, who was laughing deeply, obviously looking at Eli like she was the real sunset.
    The rest were from adventures she's taken before I met her and when we were together. Every one amazed me over and over again. Neither of us said anything as I examined. Eli stood by the bed, either staring at me or at my reaction with each photo.
    I stand corrected; my favorite was the last one, one I felt she wouldn't share with anyone but still kept. It was the two of us kissing after a night of being together. The sun cast shadows on the wall and headboard in my hotel room. I'd taken Eli's camera and pulled her against me, so you can't see our faces. My mop of hair covered hers, and her back looked as smooth as it felt. The tattoos on my right arm were just visible enough at the bottom, where I was holding her waist. Eli's arms were folded up, her right hand cupping my face, and the left holding onto my neck. I remembered this so vividly because it was the only time I had actual proof of how much I loved Eli. This photo gave me skyrocketing hope that she felt the same.
    When I was done, I placed the photos back neatly and closed the portfolio. Eli was looking down at the book when I glanced up at her. She looked adorable and childish, like a kid that just got in trouble for doing something bad. Except she hadn't done anything bad, she did something extraordinary.
    I stood up and walked to stand in front of her. Eli didn't look or turn to me when I approached her. Instead of saying anything, I grabbed her chin and tilted her head toward mine, connecting our lips. It was a soft kiss, sweet, but still made my heart jump. When it was over, Eli looked up at me with surprised eyes. I loved those eyes.
    "It was beautiful," I whispered. It didn't feel necessary to say anything else. But I wanted to say so much more. I wanted to show her how much more, but I couldn't.
    "Really?" She asked, her voice barely audible. I nodded and smiled down at her. If I felt closer to her than before when she told me about her mom, I felt as if I was inside her now.
-------------------------------
Awe how coot Eli and Louis
Anyone like the reference to Kevin ?? cx
Bye lovelies
Xoxoxoxoxo