ᘏ𝚂𝚊𝚖ᘏ
I can't believe I'm back here again. There's something wrong with me. Or maybe it's this room. It's tainted with temptation. It's wrong. It's broken.
We're leaving tomorrow in the afternoon and I'm sitting alone in a hotel room with Elliot Fucking Hightower again. McKenna's busy spending her last moments with Asher, so I figured I'd wander about the hotel.
For some fucking reason, wandering about the hotel meant getting in the elevator and going down to Elliot's floor. He didn't ask me to come by. I came all by myself and asked to be let in when he opened the door. He looked just as confused as I feel and slowly moved aside to let me in.
So, here we are. My shoes are off and set neatly beside the bed and my jacket is on the back of the chair in the room while I sit on the edge of his bed with my legs over the side. Elliot stands in front of the bed, leaning against the dresser and eyeing me suspiciously. Neither of us really knows why I'm here.
I'm still pissed about what I heard, but strangely, I still want to just sit with him. I don't want to talk about it with him of all people though. Just want his company, I guess.
"Do you remember the first time you smiled at me?"
Elliot's eyebrows bunch up, but he nods. "I do."
I set the scene for him anyway. "I walked into the kitchen where you were eating lunch and I completely ignored you when I went to the fridge. When I looked at you, you smiled like how I've seen you smile to everyone else, and you said hi."
Elliot nods again, just once. "You rolled your eyes at me." He finishes.
"Yeah." I confirm. "I'm sorry for that."
Ah, so that's what I'm here for. Death bed confessions. Last minute apologies. We're leaving tomorrow and after that, I won't have a good moment to talk to him. Or anyone.
Elliot is still confused. "It's okay." He accepts my apology anyway. "Is that all you came here to say?" He smiles, chuckling quietly.
"No," I sigh. "Remember when you came into my office with a question, and I told you to google it then proceeded to email you the exact same question you'd just asked me twenty minutes later?"
"Vividly."
"Sorry about that too."
Elliot nods and looks down at the ground with an amused smile. "Mistakes happen." He reasons on a shrug. It wasn't intentional when I emailed him. I genuinely had the same question and only realized it was the exact same question the next day.
"Remember when you brought coffee for everyone in the office, including yourself, and you handed them out but then later turned around to discover your coffee was gone?"
Elliot quickly lifts his gaze back to me. "Don't tell me that was you." He says, jaw dropped.
I grimace. "I'm sorry."
"Samantha," Elliot gasps far too dramatically. "I was so tired that day." He scoffs, putting his hands on his hips. "And I got you one of your own!"
I nod. "Yeah..." I quietly confirm it like he was asking me a question. "But also...You took my yogurt so," I sheepishly shrug. At the time, it seemed fair.
Elliot sighs quietly and slips his hands into his pockets, leaning back and crossing one ankle over the other. "I forgive you." He decides, feigning annoyance. He smiles at me immediately after. "Why're you apologizing now?" He asks.
I only shrug at him, deciding to keep my plans to myself. I've only told McKenna and I'd like to keep it out of the office. I don't want to look like a quitter. I am not a quitter.
Elliot smiles still. "Why're you here right now, Samantha?" He asks, a teasing edge apparent in his voice. "You don't hate me." He points out. "You wouldn't apologize to me if you hated me."
"I don't hate you." I confirm.
He looks surprised, like he didn't just decide I didn't hate him a second ago. "You don't?" It comes out a question, but he clearly doesn't mean it to.
I answer him anyway. "Thought I did."
"Then what do you feel?"
I frown. "What?"
"If you don't hate me, then how do you feel about me?" Elliot questions. "Do you like me? Want to be friends with me? Just plain and simple coworkers?" He pushes for more before I can even make sense of it.
I swallow. "What is wrong with you?" I ask him. "Just because I said I don't hate you doesn't mean I'm starting to feel some sort of way about you." I reason. "You're being stupid. You're making it into something more than it is." I quickly add, killing any ideas he may have in an instant.
"I'm not saying you have feelings for me."
I blink at him. Then frown. "You're not?"
He shakes his head calmly. "No," He says on a hum. "I listed all the other possible ways you feel about me." He reminds me of the endless questions he just asked. Elliot laughs to himself. "I know for a fact you don't have those kinds of feelings for me."
My frown doesn't falter. "Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you know that for a fact?"
Elliot is surprised by my question. He frowns back at me. "I don't know." He admits. "There's just no way you like me that way." He shrugs me off. I decide against challenging the conclusion he's made.
I look away, down at my hands. We still aren't friends, and we won't even be coworkers for much longer. But for some reason, I can't tell him that. It's true, but I can't spit it out.
The horrifying truth is, I do like him. I actually like Elliot Fucking Hightower.
He bumped my seat up to first class. He shared his audiobook with me on the plane. He let me lean on him while I slept peacefully beside him. He helped bring the bags that weren't even mine into my room when no one else would. He helped me find my roommate. He argues with Ronald. He constantly reminds Ronald of my name. Hates it when Ronald's eyes land anywhere but my eyes. Wants me to have a better chance at this job just like him.
All he's ever wanted was to talk to me. Just like all I ever wanted was the smile he gave everyone but me.
I don't hate him.
"Sam?" Elliot quietly calls, noticing my smile has faded upon my traumatizing discovery.
I don't hate Elliot Fucking Hight—
"What's your middle name?"
Elliot blinks at my question. "Um..." He gives his head a little shake. "Arthur." He mumbles with a soft confused chuckle. "Why?"
I snort. "Arthur?"
Elliot shrugs softly. "Great Grandfather." He reasons. "Why do you ask?" He asks again. I shake my head and look down at my lap, still amused by his middle name. It's a bit funny.
I don't hate Elliot Arthur Hightower at all. No 'as much as I thought I did'. Nope. I don't hate him at all. He can be annoying and is a total happy-go-lucky, but I don't completely dislike him.
I've chosen to believe him. He really did freeze up when we first met. Maybe it's dumb of me to believe him. It could very well be a lie, I'm not sure. But I believe him for now. It's the only reason I've been given, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want it to be true. Elliot Hightower found me so pretty, he froze up when he first met me.
"Sam?"
I don't know exactly how I feel about him if I don't hate him at all, but I figure I should go one step at a time. It's a lot, realizing I don't hate someone that I've 'hated' for two years. I don't think I should figure it out now. Or at all, even. I'm leaving soon, after all. I won't even put my two weeks in. I'm just quitting.
"Sam."
I sigh deeply and look back at him. "What?"
He frowns. "Are you okay?"
I scoff. "No." I scowl. It's his fault. "You're an asshole." I blurt out, angry with him for no reason at all.
Elliot smiles at me. "Sorry." He apologizes. He doesn't even know what he's apologizing for. "I'll do better next time, Sam." He promises.
I purse my lips. "Sorry for that too." I decide. It's not his fault I don't hate him. He's merely existing.
Elliot hums quietly. "You didn't want to tell me anything when you came in here, did you?" He guesses. I slowly shake my head, silently ashamed. Elliot nods to himself and looks down. I turn my head away from him, staring down at my feet as I lightly kick the ground.
He's the only one in this hotel that I'm actually comfortable spending time with and who is also free. McKenna's gone, Mark hardly talks to me anymore, and I barely know anyone else. Besides, Elliot doesn't seem to mind me. He let me inside, after all.
I hate that Hightower is the only person who I'm comfortable being in a hotel room alone with besides my roommate.
Elliot sighs quietly, earning my attention again. I look over and watch him push off the dresser to start coming closer. "Hope you don't mind if I sit here." He hums, dropping down on the edge of the bed right beside me. "But this is my room so," He shrugs me off with a smile.
I rest my hands on my lap and stare down at them while he lounges beside me. "Kick me out when you want to." I carelessly order.
"If I wanted you out, I'd have asked you to leave by now." Elliot dismisses. I shrug softly, nodding in agreement.
I glance at him. "Why haven't you kicked me out?"
He smiles. "Why haven't you bolted out of here yourself?"
My eyes narrow. "Touché." I grumble, looking away from him. Elliot laughs at that, but we both know each of us have a point. He hasn't told me to leave, and I haven't left on my own.
"So, what are we doing then?" Elliot sighs and leans back on the heels of his palms behind him. "Hanging out?" He raises a skeptical brow at me.
I shrug. "It's either this or taking McKenna's advice and let someone at the bar downstairs take me to their room."
Elliot frowns. "Why are those your only options?"
I groan quietly and drag my hands through my hair, pulling it back. "Because I don't want to be alone." I reason. "And McKenna says my sex life is nonexistent." I complain, inappropriately talking to a coworker.
Elliot straightens beside me. "Are you wanting me to fix that for you or something?" He mumbles, clearing his throat immediately after.
I quickly look over at him. "Oh. Shit, no." I scoff at myself. "Sorry. Came out wrong." I wave my hand in the air and huff. "That's why she wants me to go downstairs. Because my sex life is nonexistent. She never mentioned you." I assure.
"So, I'm your personal better option?" Elliot chuckles. I softly shrug. "I'm flattered." He smiles.
I shake my head at myself. "We shouldn't be talking about this." I remind myself. It's bad enough I popped up at his door, I don't need to be sharing the details of my sex life with him.
"I don't mind." Elliot offers on a short shrug. He grins at me, sarcastic. "Wanna know mine?"
"God, no."
"Well, I'm glad you asked." Elliot perks up, dramatic and overly cheery. I shake my head quickly. Elliot starts to laugh to himself before he even shares anything with me. "You couldn't handle it." He teases.
I roll my eyes at him. "You say that like you bring a girl home weekly." I scoff then pause and look at him. "Oh, wait. Do you?"
He shakes his head quickly. "No." He looks amused by the question. "I don't do random hookups." Elliot casually declares.
He lets himself fall onto his back, laying half on the mattress half off. I bend on of my legs onto the mattress to see him better. "Me neither." I admit. "Never feels right." I shrug the topic off and give my head a short shake. "Anyway," I whisper. "I had two options and now I'm here so," I pause and huff. "I guess we're...hanging out."
Elliot smiles and holds his hands behind his head. "Don't sound so excited." He sarcastically teases.
I roll my eyes. "Can't believe I'm here again." I scoff. It's annoying how I hardly even considered going downstairs. I thought about it in the elevator and while I was already walking down the hall to his room.
"It's not so bad." Elliot reasons. "You like it here." He grins smugly.
I don't answer him and glance away, not really looking at anything in particular. I'm not sure what else I can say, so I stay quiet and just sit with him until he decides to kick me out. Or maybe think of something more to say.
Elliot quietly chuckles to himself. I glance at him to see him looking up at the ceiling. "What?" I coax.
His eyes dart to me and his smile softens, fond of whatever he's thinking about. "Bee and I used to have this game we'd play when we were bored." He explains. "We'd sort of just blurt out whatever came to mind just to fill the silence." He smiles a little wider when a soft smile starts growing on my face. "It could be anything. Lyrics to a song, random words in our vocabulary, a phrase from a funny video, inside jokes," Elliot shakes his head at the possibilities. "The one goal of it was to get a reaction from Mom and Dad. Piss 'em off, make one laugh, even if they'd roll their eyes, we won."
"Did your parents ever catch on?"
He nods. "Yeah. Pretty quickly." Elliot still laughs to himself. "It was such a stupid game. Annoying too." He gives his head a little shake. "Not sure why we decided to do that to our parents but," He shrugs it off.
I lean over to rest on my hand, my other still sitting in my lap. "Who's idea was it?" I inquire. "Do you remember?" I immediately add.
"Bee's." Elliot hums. "She had a bunch of random games that didn't really make sense." He adds. He glances at me and smiles. "She could never sit still, you know? Had to be doing something. So, she came up with, like, thousands of these stupid games." My smile is growing the more he goes on, amused to hear about her. "I'm one hundred percent sure she had all these games in her head that she never shared." He quickly adds, nodding confidently.
"She sounds smart." I decide. I don't have any of my own games.
Elliot nods. "She was." He hums. "Her safety school was Yale." He smiles. I blow out a raspberry at that, he quickly nods at me. "She set very high standards for me." Elliot's smile goes down just a little. "My parents were beyond disappointed when I didn't go to Yale." He murmurs, going a little quiet. "Didn't even try."
I frown. "Why not?"
"Eh," He shrugs. "It was her school." He mumbles. "Didn't want to take it from her." Elliot reasons on a soft laugh. "Besides, I doubt I was smart enough for it anyway." He dismisses the idea entirely. I decide against arguing with him, figuring he wouldn't want to hear it anyway. It was her school, he already decided on it.
I settle on: "You're pretty smart." Instead of full on arguing with him.
Elliot's eyes dart to mine. "Wow," He murmurs. "First you call me handsome and now you say I'm smart?" He grins. "Trying to flatter me, Langley?"
I roll my eyes. "Well, you froze the first time we met because of how pretty I am so," I shrug him off, uncaring.
Elliot laughs at that. "I knew I shouldn't have told you." He shakes his head at me and starts pushing himself back up so he isn't laying down anymore. "You took it better than I thought you would." He quietly adds.
I raise a brow. "How so?"
He smiles and shrugs. "Thought you'd for sure at least slap me."
I scoff. "You sound disappointed."
"Not in the slightest." Elliot hums. "You don't believe me, but at least you didn't run immediately." He reasons.
I frown. "I'm not that flighty."
He laughs at me. "You're pretty flighty." Elliot teases me, but there's some truth behind it. Possibly too much truth.
"Am not." I still try to argue. But I'm literally quitting my job when we get home so...Yeah. Maybe I'm a bit flightily.
Elliot hums quietly to let it go. "I think there's something in the air." He decides on a hum. "Maybe it's the altitude." He smiles. I tilt my head, so he chuckles to himself. "Something's happened to you." Elliot points out. "You've changed a bunch."
"I haven't." I argue.
"You trust me." Elliot laughs. "Like enough to sit in a room alone with me."
"I haven't changed." I insist on a shrug. "I trusted you before."
Elliot isn't convinced. "No, you didn't. " He argues. "You grabbed a pen as your weapon when we came in here the first time." He reminds.
I nod. "You scared me for a moment there." I offer him that. I was scared. "But I wouldn't have stuck around if I trusted you at least a little." I reason. "When you moved to the wall, I could've easily sprinted out and knocked on as many doors as possible, getting help." I shrug.
Elliot pauses to think. "But you hated me."
"Just because I hated you doesn't mean I thought you'd be capable of hurting me." I scoff. "Elliot, I've seen you feed peanuts to the squirrels outside the office." I dryly remind. "You do not scare me."
Elliot frowns. "You trust me because I feed the squirrels?"
I shake my head. "No, but it's one of the reasons." I decide. "It's just the way you do it. You're so very clearly scared of scaring them away, you sit on the disgusting ground just so you don't scare them."
Elliot presses his lips together. "I think they're scared of my height." He admits. They more than likely are.
I wave him off. "Nothing has changed." I dismiss.
"You don't hate me anymore." Elliot still argues.
"That's not huge though."
"It is for me."
I glance at him. "Why would you want to be my friend so bad?" I ask him, shaking my head. "Is it just a score you want to settle? Because I'm the only one in the office you're not friends with?"
Elliot frowns. "You really think I have a score?"
I shrug.
Elliot stares at me for a few extra seconds, still frowning. "You're the only person in the office I'm genuinely interested in being real friends with." He admits.
I tilt my head. "You're not actually friends with everyone?"
"Well, I am." Elliot mumbles. "Work friends." He reasons. "I don't want to be just work friends with you." He admits on a quiet sigh.
I raise a brow. "Well, don't go off thinking I'm going to give you a ride to the airport or anything." I grumble.
Elliot chuckles at that. "Don't worry, I won't." He assures. "I know where you stand." He quietly adds. "I get it."
I groan quietly and let myself fall backwards onto the mattress. Elliot follows my movement with his eyes, watching me go down. "You know what, Elliot?" I sigh, staring up at the ceiling.
Elliot falls down right beside me, laying on his back and resting his hands on his stomach. "What's up?" He coaxes.
"I hate it here." I admit on a grumble. "My office is always cold, the door's squeaky, my boss won't stop looking at my boobs, HR does nothing about sexual harassment, and someone stole my yogurt."
"I said I was sorry." Elliot huffs. "And you stole my coffee."
I turn my head to look back at him, pressing my lips together when I realize how close we are. "I guess." I grumble. "But still." I look away from him just so I don't have to acknowledge the tiny distance between us. "I hate it."
"It's not so bad." Elliot reasons.
"It is."
Elliot sighs quietly. "Well," He mumbles. "Maybe you'll feel better once we're separated." He jokes, laughing quietly and weakly.
"I don't know." I admit. I'll miss a lot of things about the office. I think he might actually be one of those things.
"What, don't tell me you're actually going to miss me." Elliot snorts. "Trust me. You're going to be ecstatic." He decides, like he knows how I feel. I don't even know. "It doesn't matter which one of us gets the job, we're both going to have our own offices. Our own spaces."
I shake my head at the ceiling and sigh heavily. "Congrats, Hightower." I hum.
Elliot huffs quietly. "Come on. You said you wouldn't go easy on me." He tries. "You can still—"
"Elliot, come on." I turn my head to look at him. For some reason, I force a smile for him. It's soft and a little part of me hopes it makes him feel better. "Congratulations. Seriously, I'm happy for you." I insist, genuine as I nod at him. " Val's office is, like, super warm, and there's a cool couch too."
Elliot frowns still. "There's something we can do." He insists. "I'll try to talk to Dick and, hey, maybe we can bring it to someone higher up." He offers, even while I'm shaking my head and looking away from him.
"Elliot," I warn on a groan, pushing myself back up so I don't have to look at him. "Stop it." I pinch my nose bridge.
Elliot scoffs and sits up beside me, I still turn my head away from him. "Sam, come on." He reasons. "You're acting like we're in a corner. We're not!"
I quickly look back at him. "And you're acting like there's a we in the first place!"
"There is!" Elliot huffs. I pull back slightly at the glare set on his face. I don't know if it's directed at me or not. "There is a we. There has always been a we." He declares. "We are a team. We are still co-managers right now." He reminds. "And we are going to figure it out so you get a genuine chance at this stupid goddamn job."
I huff out a quiet laugh, slowly shaking my head at him. "Elliot," I reason quietly. "You are the only one upset about this." My smile turns soft as I point it out.
Elliot's shoulders sink at that. "So, what? You're just going to let it go? You're not mad?"
I shrug softly and look away. "Not particularly." I murmur. I got over my anger a little while ago.
"Why?"
I frown at him. "Elliot, you're smart." I point out. "You know how unfair everything around us is. Even if we did go to someone higher than Ronald, there's no guarantee they'll listen to us. Ronald can easily say you have a better attitude around the office and...that'll be that." I shrug him off. "It's not your fault, all right? Let it go."
Elliot huffs sharply and looks away, clenching his jaw tightly. "It's not..." He pauses. "fair." He eventually finishes.
"It's not." I agree. "But realistically, this is what's happening." I reason. "But your job is fine." I assure, shrugging at him. "You're getting a promotion. Be happy about it."
"I don't want to be." Elliot pouts, glaring at the ground. "It's not fair."
"It's fine, Elliot." I dismiss him and pat his knee briefly as I get up off the bed.
"It's not." Elliot insists.
I sigh deeply and bend down at his mini fridge that sits on the table beside the dresser. "It is." I argue as I reach in to grab a couple of these mini bottles. "Come on." I glance back at him and smile briefly as I grab two disposable cups. "It's fine to celebrate it." I shrug him off and pour some of this inside both cups.
"Sam," Elliot still uselessly tries. I hear him get off the bed and begin moving closer to me. I keep my back to him, tossing in a couple of cubes of ice into the cups from his little ice container.
"Here, want a drink?" I slide one of the cups to the side, keeping my back to him.
"Sam, look at me."
"Just take it, Elliot." I nudge the cup then grab my own, tipping it back to down the little bit of alcohol inside. I set it back down on the desk when I'm finished and contemplate drinking his since he makes no moves to grab it.
Elliot scoffs from behind me. "Look at me." He demands again, but this time he does something about it. He grabs my hips to spin me around.
I blink up at him then slowly glance to his untouched cup. "Just..." I trial off and reach over to grab it and hand it to him.
Elliot rolls his eyes and takes it from me. He wastes no time taking it and tipping it back to drink all of it. He balls the paper cup up in his hand then tosses it onto the desk. "Happy?" He questions, frustrated.
I nod slowly. "Mhm," I decide. At least he drank it. He didn't have to destroy the cup, but whatever. "Aren't you?" I ask.
"No." Elliot admits, still frustrated. I drop my chin and look down at his hands that still lazily rest on my hips. "Sorry." He mutters, slowly pulling them away. He didn't seem to notice they were there still. "I just don't understand why you're just...giving up on it." He frowns, softer now.
"Some battles aren't really worth fighting, Elliot." I shrug softly. "I'm okay with it. You should be too."
Elliot groans and raises his hands to his face, rubbing his eyes and hiding there. "I'm not." He decides.
I slowly reach up to wrap my hands around his wrists, moving his hands away so I can talk to him. "Why're you having such a hard time with this?" I mutter, genuinely confused. "Do you not want that job?"
"I do." He immediately answers. He's confident, so I believe him. "It's just...you deserve it more than I do and..."
"It's fine." I insist, dropping his wrists when I realize I'm still holding them. "Seriously. I'll be fine." I assure on a sigh. Perfectly fine.
"Hey, can I touch you?"
I raise a brow at him. "You already did a second ago." I remind, uncaring for the most part. Elliot glances away for half a second. "Go ahead." I sigh deeply, just letting it go.
Elliot lifts his hand to gently swipe it against my cheekbone. "Eyelash." He explains, showing me his thumb.
I scoff at it. "That's stupid." I grumble. Elliot shrugs and keeps his thump up. I roll my eyes but make a brief wish and blow it off. "So stupid." I mutter.
"What, you don't believe in wish making, Ice Queen?"
My eyes dart up to his. "I wished for a horse every chance I got until I was twelve." I dryly tell him. His smile grows at that. "No. I do not believe in wish making." I pout. Not anymore, anyway.
Elliot's eyes drop to his thump. He lowers his hand to his side then look at me. "I used to write letters to Santa Clause." He admits.
I furrow my eyebrows. "Wish lists?"
"Thank you letters."
My smile slowly grows on my face. "You wrote thank you letters to Santa Clause." I whisper, trying not to laugh at him.
Elliot narrows his eyes at me. "You actually wished for a pony at the age of twelve?"
I frown. "A horse."
"Forgive me."
"No."
Elliot huffs out a quiet laugh and turns his eyes away from me briefly. "I've been curious," He begins. "How long did you believe in things like that? You know, the wishes, Santa, tooth fairy, all of that." He questions.
I pause to think. "I was about eight when I decided Santa wasn't real." I announce. "Same age for the tooth fairy and Easter bunny." I absently add, thinking about it. "I was twelve when I finally decided I didn't want to wish for anything on my birthday."
Elliot nods to myself, smiling softly. "I've always wondered when that whimsical side of you would've come up." He admits.
I tilt my head at him. "Always wondered?" I repeat. "Is this one of the many things you just 'think about'?" I question, doing air quotes.
Elliot shrugs softly. "Yeah."
For some reason, I start smiling with amusement. "And what other things do you think about?" I curiously ask. "More about me?"
"A lot about you." Elliot confirms. "Like I said, you're the most interesting person in the office for me."
I squint at him. Then huff out a quiet laugh. "Explain." I demand. "What else do you think about?" I ask again. "What, do you want to know how old I was when I, like, got my first crush?" I offer, just teasing him.
"Yeah."
"Oh," I blink. I shrug him off. "I think I was ten when I decided the boy who sits in front of me in class was kind of cute." I announce, shameless. I was a kid.
"Ten." He nods to himself. It's sort of a weird thing to be curious about, but I let it go. I think it's a part of him figuring out my personality.
I laugh at this. "So, what?" I ask. "What more is there?"
Elliot takes a short step away from me, finally realizing how close we are. "Uh," He glances away and shrugs. "I don't know. A bunch of random things."
"Like?" I coax, raising my brows at him. "Come on. I'm open to a little Q and A. It'll pass the time." I encourage.
Elliot huffs at me. "I don't know." He backs up further away. "I—There's, um," He looks away from me still. "You've already answered some." Elliot reasons, glancing at me briefly.
He's flustered and I can't imagine why. I'm not making fun of him and I'm being genuine.
"Elliot, come on." I laugh and lean my back against the desk behind me. "It's fine. I'm curious to hear what you've come up with." I shrug him off and try to show I don't mind it.
Elliot frowns at me and moves to the opposite end of the room, towards the nightstand beside the bed. "I've always wondered," He takes a deep breath. "Where a girl like you would've grown up." He offers on a short shrug. "What kind of girl you would've been in school." He looks down at his feet. "I don't know. Things like that." He mumbles.
"I grew up in a cute house in a cul-de-sac." I answer his first question. "I was kind of nerdy in school." I scrunch my nose up at him, not all that proud of it. "I wasn't really popular, but I did have my own group of friends."
Elliot nods to himself and tucks his hands away in his pockets. "I thought you'd have been popular." He admits. "You don't seem like you would've enjoyed cheerleading, but I thought you would've done...I don't know. Volleyball? Maybe. I don't.." He trials off.
"Soccer." I correct on a hum. "I used to be super good." I add on a smile. "Like, college scholarship good."
His eyebrows raise. "Seriously?"
I nod, proud of myself. "Oh, yeah."
"You said 'used to be'." He points out. "You don't play anymore?"
I hum quietly and shake my head. "Nah," I sigh. "I lost interest in it the moment I got to college. So, at that point I was just playing so I could stay in school. It got tiring." I reason. He nods slowly at that. "Got any more?" I coax.
Elliot presses his lips together. "I, uh, wondered what it would be like to..." He trails off. "Ah, fuck. No." He dismisses it quickly.
I groan. "Hightower, come on." I urge. "I'm giving you the green light here. Go on." I demand.
"No, this one is way too weird." Elliot starts to laugh and dismiss it. "No—Uh...What about a childhood pet? I wondered if you had a pet and what you would've named it."
My eyes narrow. "Finish the last question first." I demand.
Elliot frowns. "Sam, let's just move on." He suggests. "It's super weird and you're going to get pissed so let's just," He makes a gesture with his hands.
"Hightower."
"Langley."
"Let's go, Hightower." I snap my fingers once. "Hit me." I order. "What did you wonder? What it'd be like to...?"
Elliot frowns at me, more flustered and panicked than before. "Sam," He weakly tries. I cross my arms over my chest and raise a brow. He drops his shoulders and looks away with a heavy sigh. "All right." He relents. "But you have to promise you can't be mad because I tried to stop you."
I nod once. "Fair enough. I promise I won't be mad at you."
He still hesitates, but he eventually takes a deep breath and nods to himself. "I wondered...what it'd be like to..." He begins, speaking so slowly I almost don't follow him. "To...ki—ahh..Shit." Elliot shakes his head before he can even say it.
My expression turns dry. "Hightower." I reason. It cannot be that hard. It's a simple question and I told him I wouldn't be mad.
"Ah—Okay. I wondered what it be like to kiss you." Elliot blurts, his words close together and rushed.
I blink at him. He avoids my gaze, staring at the wall to his right instead of at me.
"What it'd be like to what?"