Hollow - LS

3| Pain

3| Pain

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"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

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Pain

Noun

Physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury.

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"You finished?"

Louis closed the laptop, closing out his work session, when his mother walked in. Without knocking, she butted her head in. She probably expected to see something scandalous but she would be sadly disappointed when she saw her son finishing his online school work for the day. Although, her face expression never changed. She walked further in, taking a seat on his crisp made bed.

"Is there something you needed?" He asked timidly. Usually when she made an appearance in his room, and made an effort to take a seat, it was most often then not about something big.

She nodded her head, folding her arms into her lap. "We have an event were been invited to attend this weekend."

Louis frowned almost instantly. Going to an event meant being his mother's arm candy. And throughout the night, she would talk about nothing but good things about him. Even when most of those things were lies. And all Louis would do, is stand next to her and smile. 

Afterward, he would hear about everything bad he did that night and how to change it for the next event they would go to. Because there would always be more.

His mother leaned back, thinking. Louis silently watched as his mother was thinking.

"You need a new suit." She said, observing him.

"Why?" He asked.

"You have gained some weight lately, and I'm not sure your old suits will fit you anymore."

Louis' face fell as he self consciously looked down at his body. He clutched his shirt without a second thought.

He never noticed his mother leaving, but after a short time, he lifted his head to find his room empty. And during dinner that night, he made sure to take fewer bites and pretend he wasn't as hungry as he actually was.

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The building had bright lights strung up from every angle. In some places, streamer were hanging as well. People were together in their personal social circles, and people holding trays of food were slowly making their way out from the back doors.

It was all the same, Louis thought. The decorations, dresses, and fairness that radiated throughout the entire building.

His mother dragged him through the crowd, smiling at the people who greeted her. The smile was fake, like everything else she was wearing.

His mother generally went to these things to keep up her appearance. And making Louis go along with her whether he actually wanted to or not, just helped with the appearance.

As they were finding their way to their assigned table, Louis went to adjust his suit. His mother kept true to her word as just a couple of days ago, he went to be tailored for a new suit. But it seemed that they got the measurements wrong because it felt far too big, and he just knew he was going to end up readjusting it every half hour.