You Belong To Me

We didn't speak for that entire week leading up to Christmas Eve.

He knew by that point that I had been in his room, but either his embarrasment or his pride got in the way of him saying anything to me about it.

He could barely look at me when he passed me in the hallway and he responded to all my questions with nods and grunts.

And as much as I was enjoying the silence and escape from the rudeness in exchange from silent politeness, the questions and accusations were burning in my lungs.

"No way!"

I was walking down the hallway when I heard Oliver's voice coming through the door.

I froze when I heard his voice until I realized he was talking to his mother.

"Come on, just invite her to go, be a good older brother," she said.

I knew I should have walked away, but I was glued to the door.

"She's not my sister!" he growled.

"Come on Oli, please?"

"She won't even want to go anyway."

"You'll never know until you try."

There was a sigh and a shuffle and I started walking briskly away.

"Oi! Adam."

I looked back over my shoulder.

He wasn't looking at me of course.

"My band's playing a show tonight, do you wanna come?" he asked the floor.

"Sure."

He glanced up quickly.

I heard Carol say, "I told you so."

"Um, be ready for 6 then," he said as he was shutting the door.

I exhaled heavily.

Truthfully, Curtis had already asked me to go and I told him I'd have to ask Oliver first, so I was pretty relieved.

I went back to my room and called up Curtis to tell him I'd be there.

He sounded really happy on the phone and it made me happy.

It was already 3, so I went and took a shower, then went back to my closet and tried to find something suitable to wear.

I managed to find a pair of skinny jeans and cowboy type boots, and I had just hooked my bra when a knock came at my door.

I went to it and peeked my head out at Oliver standing there, staring at the floor.

My heart gave one fierce, torrential jolt.

I cleared my throat.

"Yeah?" I asked, hoping he had come to talk about-.

"Here," he handed me a shirt, "Do me a favor and wear that tonight? For publicity reasons…"

"Sure Oliver," I sighed, practically furious.

He walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

I was starting to miss the old bickering and fighting.

At 6 on the dot the door bell rang.

Oliver was, of course, still doing his hair and I had finished my hair and make-up a long time ago, so I went down to get it.

I recognized Matt and Curtis, but there was another guy and a girl with them.

Oliver came running down the stairs, pulling on his shirt as he came down.

"We're gonna be late for sound check!" he said, urging them all to hurry.

None of them looked as enthused as Oliver and I wondered why.

"Oh, right, Adam, Lee," he said, pointing at the boy, "And Amanda, my best mate."

"Best mate means…girlfriend or…?" I asked, puzzled by his terminology.

"Oh, bloody hell. I forget you're not normal, she's just a friend, une amie."

He nodded at her and she smiled back weakly.

That was the most Oliver had said to me in a week.

Unfortunately, it didn't last.

I spent the entire car ride talking to Curtis and when we got there me and Amanda got our backstage pass slips and the boys went off to sound check.

I was just about to ask Amanda what we did next when she muttered something and swept away.

I saw a sign that said backstage area and I headed in that direction.

"Hey Red, I like your shirt."

I glanced at the speaker and noticed she was talking to me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, pardonnez-moi?" I asked.

"I said ace shirt," she repeated, "Where'd you get it?"

I found a pen and gave her the url.

I got stopped twice more before I got backstage.

I peeked out behind a doorway to the backstage area.

Someone was yelling at Oliver and he was just taking it all, with a bitter, sour look on his face.

The rest of his bandmates were busy setting up and Curtis walked by holding a bunch of cords

"Hey, Curtis!" I whispered, waving him over.

He smiled and jogged over.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, "Are you excited?"

"Oh, mais oui!" I smiled, "But, what's going on with Oliver?"

Curtis looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, that's the owner there, telling him off," he winced, "We're a bit late and he's mad over us wasting time is all."

The owner stomped away, Oliver huffed, flipped his hair and stalked away in the other direction.

"I guess that's my cue to go," he said.

I kissed his cheek.

"Have a good show," I smiled.

He grinned widely as he walked away.

I figured that it would be okay for me to move a little farther into the room so I stepped inside and stayed against the wall, going just to the left of the doorway.

I could see the boys on stage from my spot, getting ready to play, and just past the curtain I could see an jittery crowd, waiting for the show to begin.

When the lights finally did go down, the crowd started getting a little rowdier and I wondered how much worse it was going to get when Oliver's band actually started playing.

Eventually a few chords were played, just to fine tune the guitars, and everything looked ready to go.

"Are you fucking ready?" Oliver yelled into the microphone. About half the people in the crowd cheered, but that seemed enough for him.

Nothing seemed like it would be able to faze him tonight.

Tonight he was getting everything he wanted.

"We're Bring Me the Horizon," he yelled, over the sound of his band mates hacking away at the opening bars of one of their songs, "And this song is called 'Medusa'."

The guitar broke off in some slightly complicated riff, and the Oliver came in growling in a combination of what sounded like crunching gravel, and a pig squeal.

A pig laying on gravel being run over, perhaps.

Repeatedly.

The more I listened to it though, the less obnoxious it became, and eventually I could pick out intelligible words.

When they finished that song, a few people cheered and a few people booed.

The booing had no affect on Oliver, though I could see Lee and Matt wincing a little, he just kept trucking along, and I had to admire his character. The only thing I admired about his character.

I had thought there was nothing that I could possibly like about Oliver, but for the 45 minutes to 1 hour the show lasted, I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

He seemed invincible.

I slipped into the water closet just before the show ended to cool myself off a little.

It was incredibly hot in the stage area, even though I was hiding in the darkness for most of the show.

I stayed in their for a little while, fanning myself off and waiting for most of the people to clear out.

When the bathroom was completely empty, I walked out into the hall, and saw that it was completely also, and when I peeked backstage there was no one their either.

"Oh, zut, I've lost them," I cursed, starting down the hallway.

Just when I was about to pass the men's room the door banged open and Oliver walked out, his face dripping water.

I leaped back against the wall, breathing hard.

My heart gave a quick jolt.

"You scared la merde out of moi!" I said, inhaling deeply.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled, wiping his face with a new t-shirt that he was wearing, "Went to wash my face…"

"Yeah, it was a good show Oliver," I said, "You were…incredible."

"Thanks," he nodded. He started down the hallway heading towards the exit door.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" I asked quietly. He froze where he was standing, "What did I do?"

"You…nothing," he said, "You're fine."

"Then what?" I asked, my voice rising in anger, "You're the one who-… And still you aren't talking to me?"

"I thought you'd be angry," he said, his voice rising a little too as he spun around and started walking back, "You French people and your shirt tempers."

I ignored that.

"I'm not angry, I'm confused I don't understand why. Why would you have those pictures of me? You lied to me! You said you threw them away, you said they were ugly! So why-."

He gripped my face between his palms and kissed me, unexpectedly soft, just barely grazing his lips against mine.

"They weren't ugly," he muttered, his lips still against mine. I could hear his voice everywhere. I could feel his lips everywhere, "They were the most beautiful things I've ever taken. I couldn't-."

He stopped short, sensuous murmurings ceased, and his lips picked up where they left off, smothering my lips, taking over my whole mouth.

I stomach flipped around like I imagined it would if I were skydiving.

I felt like I was cooling down and heating up, and melting and exploding all at once.

I felt-.

"What the hell is this?"