Fame || Elounor || #WATTYS2014

Winner #1! - @starcrossedstyles

HE FOUND IT IN A CARDBOARD BOX that was shoved into a corner of the attic. Louis was finally cleaning out his memorabilia from his band days under the plea of his wife. The box itself was nondescript, buried underneath years of dust, like everything else in the attic. He had saved it for last, though, some instinctive part of him knowing what it held and wanting to savor it.

He reached inside the box, coughing as he pulled out frames wrapped in paper. They featured photos of Louis standing with various celebrities, ranging from Robbie Williams to Beyoncé to Meryl Streep. He smiled when he saw them, nostalgia stirred up in his stomach as he thought of the days when One Direction was big. Their decline in fame happened shortly after its climax, when Louis couldn't sing the songs he wrote for his girlfriend anymore, and the other boys started marrying and having kids.

Despite everything they had promised to their fans, the band grew up and wanted a life where they didn't have to act or pose for anyone. And secretly, Louis couldn't stomach singing to people who indirectly killed the love of his life. Deep down, he knew that only a few of them had been Twitter trolls, but it was hard to keep this in mind whenever he visited Eleanor's grave.

He pulled the photo album out last. The air seemed to rush out of his lungs as he gazed at the book, transfixed by its leather bound cover and the golden words engraved along the bottom: 'Happy Anniversary, Louis. Lots of love, Eleanor'. Louis ran a finger down the spine as years of emotion bubbled into his throat.

He flipped it open and stopped on the first page. There was one large photo, faded around the edges but still colorful. It was him. He was standing in front of a Ferris wheel, beaming with one arm full of stuffed animals. The other was tugging a hand into the frame, and he had managed to get Eleanor's chin, and a corner of her lips, into the picture as she snapped it with her cell phone.

He remembered the day she took that picture. He remembered it so well the memory seemed to swell inside of him like a balloon, blurring the attic and its dusty boxes and furniture. It popped inside of him, consuming the present as his mind zoomed to a place ten years ago.

✦ ✦ ✦

Louis eyed the pin, tongue poking between his teeth as he steadied his hand. "This," he said, blue eyes narrowed as he brought his arm back, "is the reason I was born."

Eleanor laughed. "It's a carnival game, Lou, not the Olympics." She rolled her eyes, but Louis knew she was just as competitive as he was.

After winning prizes from three booths in a row, Eleanor had challenged Louis to win her something. With his pride at stake and his arms bulging with teddy bears, he trudged to the nearest game. He'd slammed a ticket onto the counter and the girl had handed him a baseball, edging away, as if afraid of the determined glint in his eyes. Louis had thought the game would be easy: throw a ball at three pins to win.

But now, with a small crowd forming a line behind him, and his girlfriend giggling skeptically, he wasn't so certain it'd be as easy as it appeared.

"Just wait," Louis declared, using a confidence in his voice that he didn't feel inside.

He arched his arm, brought it forward in one lightning fast motion, and uncurled his fingers from the ball. It flew forward as onlookers stared at the whirring blur of white. To Louis' glee, it collided with the top pin, knocking it over with a satisfying clink.

"Yes!" Louis roared, fist raised in the air. He grabbed Eleanor by the waist and tugged her towards him, planting a victorious kiss on her cheek as she laughed and swatted him away.

The booth girl glanced up from her cell phone, gum snapping as she gestured behind her. "Pick your prize."

"That fine sea creature there," Louis decided, pointing to a stuffed purple octopus just above Eleanor's head. "A leg for every time the Tommo has struck today."