ME! ➵ t. holland || ✔️

050. ME!

ｒｅａｌ ｌｉｆｅ :

"Wait," Tom began as Elijah skidded to a halt in front of a luxurious building, forcing him to stop too as the two had locked their hands together for the last half hour, "Salem's family lives here?"

Elijah whipped his head around to face him, tilting his head back slightly for a moment, "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

Elijah averted his gaze to the entrance of the building, looking for a familiar face, before looking back at Tom, a knowing and rather mischievous look laced through his features, "You'll see."

The Brit rolled his eyes, "Why can't you ever give a straight-on answer?"

In reply, Elijah just shrugged and started making his way towards the entrance, still holding onto Tom's hand, again forcing him to go with him.

Once inside, the Brit's confusion about the matter grew in tenfold at the highly decorated lobby they now found themselves in. The tall ceilings, complimented by marble and gold, made the space feel majestic and definitely not something for the ordinary person. Even when he had experienced his fair amount of luxury in the span of his acting career, this still seemed to intimidate him a bit, feeling unworthy of the place he was in, even if he wore a suit and probably blended in perfectly.

He wasn't given much time to let his eyes wander however, as Elijah steadily marched forward, seemingly knowing the place from the top of his head. He even greeted a bodyguard that was standing beside the elevators, who nodded her head in return of the gesture.

"What the hell is going on here?" He eventually asked as the doors of the elevators shut close, unlacing his fingers from Elijah's and crossing his arms around his chest instead, "Why- How do you know everybody here?- Why are we going to the top floor?"

The brunet let out a small laugh, "You're so impatient, -and clueless. What name does it say under the button?"

As Elijah pointed at the little panel beside the elevator door, which also was made out of marble, a small frown grew present on Tom's face.

"Purcell?"

Elijah didn't say anything at his questioning tone, letting him figure it out on his own.

And just like he expected, Tom's eyes grew twice their normal size in realisation, "The Purcells. Salem Purcell.. Wait you're really saying here that Salem, the hyperactive – and slightly aggressive – blond, is the son of the David and Eleanor Purcell?!"

The American hummed in reply, like it was no big deal at all – which, to be fair, wouldn't be to him as he had told him that he knew Salem since middle school.

To the Brit, this was a pretty big deal. David Purcell had been one of his childhood heroes. His role as James Bond had been a huge inspiration for him to continue his acting career. It was a small, well big dream of his to portray the iconic role further down in his career, so only now finding out his boyfriend's best friend was his son, was quite surreal.

"Salem. A Purcell. Why didn't I know this?" Tom asked curiously after a moment of silence. The word confusion was still practically written on his forehead.

"Because he doesn't want you to," Elijah replied curtly, leaning back against the wall of the luxurious elevator, "He and his parents aren't on good terms. They probably don't even know he's gonna be here. But it's tradition for us to come to his parents' big ass new year's party."

"Why are they on bad terms?"

Elijah shook his head slightly, "It's a long story. Just know that most of what you see on TV is not as genuine as it looks. I mean, you should know."