Y'all it's long I'm sorry (no this ain't the climax but it's kinda a part of it)

2749 words

Chapter 41 - Elevators

I wake up, seeing nobody in the room as it's like 2 when I wake up. I groan and stare into nothing before standing up.

I go into the bathroom and start doing my makeup, just enough to make it look like I wasn't crying all night.

I put my hair down and brush it before changing. I don't have many options since I packed lightly and since my other stuff is in Kingston's room.

I slowly walk down the hall, my phone held in my hand as I pass Kingston's room, then the elevator, and finally make it to Reid's room.

I feel... empty.

I knock on the door and Reid opens up. When he sees me he immediately hugs me, his mouth going to my ear as he whispers quietly. "They're here."

River probably told him.

"Oh..." I say, my voice drifting into nothing as I nod, "thanks for telling me-" I say, turning to go back into my room but I hear Mel.

"Summer! Guess what!? Guess what?!" she repeats over excitedly as I begrudgingly step over the threshold.

Reid takes his spot back with Miah on the bed, River in a chair and Mel and Kingston on the couch.

Mel's head is on Kingston's lap as she looks at me excitedly. But I can't look at her as I walk over to Reid, sitting on his other side and placing my head on his chest, looking up at the ceiling.

Miah doesn't care, and I know because when I walked in she gave me a sympathetic glance. She knows what happened, and I just want to look at the skylights.

"What?" I ask, monotone as I look up at the skylights and she squeals. "I'm Kingston's girlfriend!" She says and I nod, emotionless as I feel Kingston's gaze on me. My stomach churns at the thought as I move trying to get it off of me but I can't.

It feels like the walls are closing in or there is slowly less air and every body is looking at me like I'm see through and I can't trust anybody I once did, who knows everything about me and over and over again hurts me.

And suddenly I'm back in my cold dark room before winter break, before my project, before friends and I'm staring at the ceiling again. I want to feel the pain. I want to feel the love I felt when there was none because that's the most I'll ever get.

Everything is ringing and my ears are overwhelmed as I feel like I'm stuck sleeping but I keep trying to scream that I'm awake. But everybody is thinking I'm saying things I'm not. They're looking at me and nodding and laughing and I feel like I'm in a costume or pretending I'm somebody else, just sitting in a chair as they interrogate me.

I'm chained to the chair and I can't get out no matter how hard I try as it shakes my whole body in the process.

I feel myself being jostled but my breathing gets faster which only makes the aggressive shaking more violent in my head. Every single word said over and over again, echoing through my stone cold, cavelike brain becomes a punch to the gut. Maybe a few punches to the heart to mix it up.

Maybe a few punches to the brain because screw mental health because all I do over and over again is make my way up the mountain of happiness and sit at the very point....

The top.

It's so small that I can't fit so I stand on one toe and look up, feeling the breeze through my hair but I forgot... that even the tip of a mountain like happiness mountain is sharp. Even if it makes you think that if you touch the tip of a knife you think is dull, so dull, it won't hurt you... but the knife suddenly thinks "oh no that was too much for you. You could believe in yourself when thinking that? It's wrong!"

And the tip of the knife gets sharper and sharper and longer and longer and more precise and more precise until it hits just the right point.

My time was up.

The tip cuts through my toe and I'm slowly pushed all the way down to the bottom of the mountain again. This time, now that all of my toes have been cut through—every time one less toe making it harder to climb—I can't get up again.

Maybe I'll try to do a hand stand on my finger but let's be real I can't do a handstand even if guys only like girls who can.

Girls who play sports and can show them tricks and show them how they can always stay at the tip of their happiness mountain.

But I can't.

I never could and never will...

And as I stare at the sky from the bottom of my mountain, where I'm back at my melancholy plain, I realize the sky is dark. It's sucks me in, farther and farther, and it doesn't make me feel like I'm floating it makes me feel like I'm falling, like it flipped my whole world upside down.

And suddenly I've touched that deep, dark, pitch black cloud and I open my eyes and boom...

I'm looking at skylights.

And suddenly as my ears stop ringing I hear the nothingness.. the emptiness.

Oh did you think there would be somebody calling out for my answer? Nope.

Because at the bottom of happiness mountain you really realize who cares enough to search for what your answer is.

"Im gonna be sick..." I mumble and Reid runs his fingers through my hair. He leans in and whispers, "Go throw up on Melanie's shoes."

I chuckle, and that makes me know a little bit more how to do a handstand.

"I'll try." I mumble and he nods as I sit up, still feeling Kingston's painful gaze on me but I must have forgotten to tell you.

The clouds are my I-don't-give-a-shit area.

That's why the tip do happiness mountain is above it.

I jump off the bed and smirk at River, Reid, and Miah.

"Let's leave the new couple alone, you wanna go to the arcade?" I ask them and they cheer, all of them getting up as River puts a jacket on and Reid puts a jacket on Miah.

Stop being such a fucking perfect couple.

They slowly filter out of the room as I turn around and flip off, Mel. "Classy." She mumbles as I walk out, "Oh em gee! I totes know right!?" I mock and Kingston let out a laugh as I leave.

——-

We get back from the arcade, realization setting in that I have to either ignore Kingston and Mel or deal with them in the future.

Fuck nah.

Miah, Reid, and River went to go get drinks and food while I could go and get some sleep.

I walk over to the elevator, pressing the up button and it opening immediately as I walk in, tapping my toe and yawning. Yes, I've only been up for five hours  and I'm already already exhausted but what can I say?

Dealing with a heartbreak makes you tired. Especially emotionally.

Even if I try to act tough still deep inside questions are floating around like, why am I not good enough?

Or too good or some bullshit crap.

The doors start closing but just as they close a hand slips through, the doors opening again and in walks the devil himself.

Kingston.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

His eyes go wide as he looks at me, standing in the opposite corner as he closes his phone and puts it in his pocket.

But then the elevator decides to make a band.

Boom. Pop. Bang. Crash.

And then the numbers stop going up.

Kingston sighs, pressing the maintenance button as a girl answers with an overly cheery voice.

"Hello! My name is Avery Masters I will be helping you with your needs today. Please state your difficulty." She demands and he coughs, and I hear his rough, deep voice again but god it's more rough now.

His voice gives away what he wouldn't tell.

It sounded like he hadn't slept in ages. His throat sounded sore from screaming.

"Hey, Avery. This is Kingston Brag and the elevator has shut down."

"Has it stopped moving up?"

"Yes I think that's what I said, Avery."

"I'm so sorry Mr. Brag I'm just.. a little flustered."

"Yea I'm a little fucking flustered too." He mumbles, his voice raw as his leg shakes up and down.

"I'm sorry, could you just give me an estimate of how long it'll take to get fixed?" He restated and she coughs.

"Of course sir, about an hour and a half to forty-five minutes away. Just press the call button if you need me again." She says cheerily as the elevator goes into complete silence.

I skip down the wall and fall onto the ground, keeping my legs curled up as I tuck myself into a ball.

I just wanna sleep. I'm so.. so tired.

"Summer get off the ground it's fucking disgusting." Kingston mumbles and I shake my head. "I'm exhausted." I say and he growls, grabbing my arms and trying to pull my up but I throw him off, sitting up and moving into the corner of the room.

"Don't touch me."

"Summer-"

"No, don't even try, Kingston. I just wanna ask one thing... and answer honestly because I don't know how much more downhill it can go..."

"What?" He asks sweetly, slipping down his corner of the elevator and leaning his head back against the wall.

Fuck why is he still hot.

"Why were you okay with hurting me but not hurting her?" I ask, messing with my shoes.

"I wasn't." He says bluntly and I shake my head, "Give me more of an answer, Kingston. I promise, this is the last you'll hear of me-"

"That's not what I want!" He screams, banging his head against the wall and running his fingers through his hair.

"Do you know how tired I am, Summer? To watch your life fall apart and you know it? To watch somebody you love in that much pain?" He asks and I roll my eyes.

"Wow I'm so sorry for you." I say sarcastically and he fake chuckles, "Woah so funny!" He says, giving me a reaction I didn't want as he kicks one leg out, leaving one leg up but bent against the wall, his legs spread.

"I fucking knew that if I looked you straight in the eyes and asked you to be my girlfriend, to love me, that I knew I wanted you to be my wife, that you would think it was all a lie after you knew what I did. I was saving that for after you realized you hated me. I told you it was because I couldn't do that to Melanie because I thought you would understand but god I fucked up there didn't I? Then you left and Melanie came in her bathing suit and thought she caused my boner and that she was the one for me. But god all I could think about was how you were with River and I didn't know what the fuck you were doing. For all I knew you could've been getting fucked and that thought drove me fucking wild knowing that your lips could've been in somebody else's. Melanie looked at me and told me she knew she was the one and said all these bad things about you, but god I was to wrapped up in my own thought bubble to care. She basically took the ring I got you out of my bag and said, I'm your girlfriend now! I thought ooh maybe that would make you jealous but you came in and it didn't make you jealous it made you give me that look that you gave me before you cut your ribs again. That fucking broke me even more. I took my ring from Melanie and told her How I felt and she kicked me out of my own room. I'm trying to get rid of her, Summer. I promise. That girls is a major bitch. After that, I just have to find a way to make you really truly know and believe with all of your heart that I love you. So that then when I tell you the truth you'll know what I was thinking the entire time." He says as I zone my eyes in on his shoes.

The pure emotion in his voice and his eyes were back.

"You got me a ring..?" I ask and he nods, swallowing. "I got you a ring immediately after you came in my room and told me that you were scared of thunder. I don't know if I knew then what I would use it for but I know now. You're meant to be mine, Summer and I'll travel everywhere to make you see that."

He grabs my hand and slowly pushes it on my middle finger of my right hand.

"Why did you do all of this?"

"Because I'm an asshole." He says and I chuckle, "Finally you agree with me."

"Finally I get to hear that laugh again." He says and I look up at him and into his eyes.

"Tell me who you love Kingston." I demand and he bites his lip.

"Are you ready?" He asks and I nod, "I was born ready." I say, mocking our conversation when I told him.

"Guess. I'll give you three hints."

"First hint?"

"Their first name starts with an S." He says and I groan, "oh god I wonder. Shauna Lando?" I ask, slowly getting closer to him every time we ask another question.

"No!"

"Good! She told em in the locker room once she likes watching her rabbit have sex with another rabbit or something gross!" I say and he grabs onto me, pulling my body on top of his as he mumbles.

"Okay I'm done with this let me kiss you-" he says, leaning in but I put my finger over his mouth. "Tell me who you love." I demand and he jumps up and pins me to the wall.

"I don't know, who do you love?" He asks and I shrug. "You.." I say, sweetly looking up at him through my eyelashes as he scratches the back of his neck.

"Dang I love You too... Looks like we'll have to fight-"

"Shut up!" I say, pressing my lips to his as the elevator makes noises from the repair.

He kisses down my neck and back up my jaw, kissing the tip of my nose and with every single kiss I learn how to do a handstand.

I moan as he kisses my spot under my jaw and his grip gets tighter on me. "Kingston..." I moan and he mumbles against my skin, "Fuck I missed that."

I smile as he kisses my lips one more time before smirking.

"You're tired, fa-"

"Excuse me, Mr. Brag? Repair has gone faster than expected so you'll be out in around thrifty minutes."

"Okay, Avery that was a very rude interruption if you could no-"

"It's fine! It's fine! Thank you, Avery." I butt in and Kingston growls as the call ends.

"Fine..." he starts, laying us down and putting me in between his legs, his arms wrapped around me. "As I was saying, go to sleep. I'll wake you up when the doors open."

Then I'm asleep.

I hear voices taking between the doors as I open my eyes and groan. I lean up and peck Kingston's lips, but he's hesitant.

"Kingston?" I ask slowly, and then the doors open.

I jump up, wanting to run out The doors but then I see Melanie.

"Kingston!" She screams, running into the elevator and pushing me out of the way. I stumble, walking out of the elevator, turning around and seeing Melanie kissing Kingston.

I look down at the ring he gave me and sigh.

Forgot about that part...