Pretty Bird

"Oli! You're here!"

I wish I could turn the clock back to 6 months ago, before Tom decided to date this girl and we could walk into the house without being screeched at.

"Hi Caroline." Oliver mumbled, taking his wet coat off and hanging it on the coat rack. Sheffield was being showered with rain again; Summer was basically over, and Fall before our very eyes.

"Oli, Tom isn't here. Can you get me a glass of water? With 3 Ice Cubes. And when you get back can you close the curtains over there? It's creating an awful glare on the telly."

Oliver didn't say anything, just went straight into the kitchen. I heard the freezer door open, and the sink turn on a few minutes later. I couldn't believe this.

"Oh, and Christian? Can you please go up into Tom's room for me? I think he left his laptop up there instead of giving it to me before he left. He can be so forgetful sometimes, I ask him to just do one little thing and-"

"No. I can't do that, actually."

"....What?" Her big, annoying eyes somehow became even larger. For a second I imagined them popping out of her face and rolling onto the carpet. I wondered if she would ask me to pick those up for her too. "Christian, don't be a bitch."

"I'm a bitch?! Excuse me, but you are the one who is putting my boyfriend to work! Last time I checked, he isn't the one who got you pregnant." I was trying to keep my voice down, even if I was mad. I didn't want Oliver to have to referee a screaming match.

"I can't help it!" She screeched, the pitch of her voice almost becoming too loud for human ears. There went the whole avoiding a screaming match thing.

"Yes you can! You can stop being such a bitch about everything and maybe you could even show a little bit of appreciation! I don't know about you, but I always thought that you should be thankful when people go out of their way to do shit for you! Both Tom and Oliver have been bending over backwards for you, Tom especially! I mean, we walk into the house and the first thing you do is try and put us to work, like we're your bitches! And Oliver doesn't even say shit, he just helps you! But you don't care, you just think of more tasks for us to do! It's fucking annoying, Caroline! You are annoying!"

"Woah, woah woah woah!" Oliver rushed into the room, without a water glass. He looked at Caroline first, her eyes quickly changing from glaring at me to being wide with hurt once she noticed he was staring at her. He then looked at me, his eyes wide as well, as I stood there, my weight resting on my back leg. "What the fuck happened?!"

"She called me annoying! She resents me for having this baby!"

"She called me a bitch. I refuse to go around being her little house slave. I am not Dobby."

"....Dobby? You did not just bring up Harry Potter." Oliver's angry/surprised stare quickly softened into a laugh, his light smile lines appearing once again.

I shrugged, smiling back. "Well, that's what she wants me to be."

"Oliver! Your girlfriend is so rude!" Caroline huffed, her arms crossing over her chest as her voice continued to reach higher and higher pitches. "Aren't you going to do something!"

"Caroline, love," Oliver was still laughing as he turned to her. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he just shook his head and walked away, taking my hand in his.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Other than the time in 3rd grade I made the 5th graders eat trash, this was the most fulfilling moment of my life.

"Chris, let's go." Oliver smiled at me, raising his eyebrows as he took my hand and led me through the hall and down the steps, into his basement bedroom.

"For fucks sake, Sykes! Tom is going to kill us!" I exclaimed, still laughing as I collapsed onto his bed. Oliver was laughing too, sitting at the chair pushed into his desk.

"It was so worth it. I can handle Tom anyways. What is he going to do? Punch me?"

"True. I can't imagine Baby Sykes doing anything mean." I still had a massive smile on my face, my hand reaching up and taking my hair out of a ponytail. It may be weird, but I loved the feeling of having my hair on my shoulders. It was soft, and wispy, instead of my thick down coat I seemed to wearing all the time in Sheffield Autumns and Winters.

"You look pretty with that ring on your finger." Oliver smiled at me, his eyes set on the hand pulling out my hair tie.

"Oh, you think? Some boy gave it to me, said he kinda loved me. I like it too."

"I think he loves you a lot. More than anything, actually. Even though you do make the most ridiculous references ever. I mean, honestly? Harry Potter?"

"This is England! I'm just fitting into your culture!" I grinned at him as he rolled his eyes, cracking his fingers and knuckles.

"Does this mean I can send you on some train and expect you to end up at a random castle in the middle of nowhere? I'll even provide you with an owl."

"Shut up!" I tried to imitate Caroline as best as I could, huffing and crossing my arms across my chest.

Just as Oliver opened his mouth to respond, angry footsteps bounded down the stairs, and the most awkward looking Tom appeared in the room.

"How could you be so mean to Caroline!" He yelled, rolling his huge blue eyes at both of us. Oliver and I just stared confusedly, until Tom hopped up the stairs silently again and closed the door. "Sorry about that."

"Uh..." Oliver's mouth hung slightly agape, his brow furrowed. "What?"

"I promised Caroline I'd yell at you." Tom shrugged, rolling his eyes once again as he sat down on the floor, his hands in his lap.

"We actually thought you'd be mad." I said, looking at Oliver, who now had a more surprised look on his face. "We came down here to hide."

"You came to Oli's room to hide?" Tom laughed softly, pausing to make sure Caroline didn't hear. "Where else would Oli be than his own room?"

Oliver and I both looked at each other and smiled before shrugging. "Well you found us." Oliver said.

"I'm sorry, Tom. But Caroline's turned into a bitch." I decided it would be best to make it sound like I thought her bitchiness was a new development, not something I've thought from the beginning.

"I know..." Tom whispered, staring at his hands. "Trust me, I know. At least you can go home and get a break. I don't even mind going to Tesco anymore. I can just drive away, choose whatever I want to listen to, and get a few minutes of peace."

"I feel bad for you." I whispered back, Tom looking up at the door again.

"SHUT UP TOM!" Oliver screamed, smiling the entire time. "This is fun." He whispered after, cracking his fingers for the second time and spinning back and forth in his desk chair.

"Have you told Ian and Carol?" I chose to ignore Oliver, his spinning chair creaking under his weight.

"Yeah. They went mental. Told me I disappointed them and all."

"I guess you're no longer Angel Baby then..." Oliver said as he grinned at Tom.

"Shut up, you fucking sod." Tom yelled, this time for real. Oliver just smiled some more and stopped spinning in his chair. He instead decided to drum his fingers against his desk. "Why are you in such a good mood?"

Oliver laughed, flashing a huge smile at me. "Well, looks like I'm going to be the good Sykes boy for once, here. I'm not doing things backwards."

"What?" Tom titled his head to the side, looking at me and then Oliver. "What are you on about?"

"I asked Christian to marry me, baby brother."

"And I said yes." I added to the end, smiling big as I showed Tom my left hand. "It's your mom's ring, actually. I'll get my own soon though."

"Wow....seriously?" Tom just stared at the ring on my hand for a while, before turning to Oliver. "You're not messing around?"

"Im serious! You should have more faith in me!" Oliver faked being hurt, but his smile overtook his face within seconds.

"And you're not pregnant or something, are you?" Tom asked me, his eyes narrowing at me as if he was trying to determine if I was lying.

"No! God Tom, I'm not having a baby! He just asked me cause he wanted to!"

"Oh..." Tom smiled sheepishly, his cheeks tinged pink. "I feel like an ass now. Congratulations."

I just smiled reassuringly at Tom, thanking him. "I think I should go apologize to her," I sighed, getting off of Oliver's bed. "Just to make it seem like you yelled some sense into us." We all three shared a muted laugh as I trudged up the stairs, and what felt like a fiery hit into hell.

The door creaked open slowly, and unsurprisingly, Caroline was laying there in the same exact place she had been when Oliver and I first walked through the front door.

"Oh, its you?" She rolled her eyes, cleaning some dirt from underneath one of her fingernails. "Did Tom send you up here to say sorry?"

I took a deep breath, trying my best to not let my emotions get the best of me. "I wanted to say sorry, for calling you annoying. And a bitch. I'm just stressed out, that's all."

"Why are you stressed?" Caroline flipped some of her long hair over her shoulder, looking completely bored with talking to me. I almost wanted to slap that arrogant look off of her face. From under her tanktop, a little baby bump was just beginning to form. The sight made me sick to my stomach.

"A few reasons, actually. It's a hectic time right now."

"Like what?" She pressed, staring at me as I sat on the couch adjacent from her, cracking my knuckles in order to keep my hands busy.

"Well, Drop Dead is dropping new designs in a few weeks, you're pregnant and require a lot of attention, my best friend is getting caught up in some trashy drug dealer crazy girl and Oliver just proposed to me a week ago."

"He what!?" She screeched again, sitting up from the couch and leaning towards me. "Oliver Sykes proposed?!"

"Yeah..." I slowly held out my left hand for her, the ring shining in the sunlight.

"This is....Carol's?" Caroline scoffed and looked at me, as if I was making some huge joke. "I recognize it."

"Oliver ordered my ring custom made, so I'm wearing his mum's until mine comes in." I told her matter of factly, grinning in her face, rubbing it in just a little bit more.

"So..." Caroline laid back down, her glare even worse now. "So, if Tom was to propose to me, I wouldn't get that ring?"

My face instantly twisted into a facial expression wavering between confusion and anger. "What? I don't know, it's Carol's ring."

"Yeah, but, its pretty, isn't it? And now you're Oli's, forever."

"I didn't need a ring to know that. It's more or less just a formality. We want to do everything the right way."

She sighed, taking a section of her long hair and twirling it between her fingers. "I wanted that at one point, too. But we gotta do what we gotta do, right?"

"What are you talking about, Caroline?" I asked, quickly feeling a little uncomfortable as this conversation took a strange downward turn.

"Oh, nothing." She rolled her eyes and smiled at me. It was that same sickeningly sweet smile she gave to Tom when she asked him to do things for her. "It's alright, Christian. I know why you yelled at me, you can't stand to have the attention not on you." She giggled, flipping the newly curled section of hair back over her shoulder. "I mean, you'll only be newly engaged for a little while, but I'll have this baby forever. That bothers you, doesn't it?"

I could feel my face get incredibly hot, my newly cracked knuckles making fists. "I'm gonna go..." I mumbled through my gritted teeth. "I said I'm sorry, alright?"

"Its okay, Christian!" She called as I walked away to the front door. I called Oliver's name as I took my coat off the coat rack. "I know how it is!" Caroline laughed obnoxiously as Oliver appeared from the door leading to his stairs, looking completely confused. I put my coat on, rolling my eyes. He quickly got the message, grabbing his coat as Caroline screeched for Tom.

______________________________________

"You should tell him, you know." Holly gave me a sympathetic smile, sitting next to me on her couch. Curtis was out, so Holly invited me over for 'girl time', which basically meant a good gossip session accompanied by an endless amount of chocolate chip ice cream and romantic comedies.

I took a bowl of ice cream out of her hands, taking a bite. "I do, but I don't at the same time. He told me not to call him, and it has been over a month, Hol. He really doesn't want to talk to me."

"Chris, it's your engagement. You have to tell the boy who followed you here to England just because you're friends."

"He's my best friend..." I sighed, finally relenting, picking up the phone next to me. "I really hope Alena doesn't pick up."

"Call his cell phone?" Holly suggested, taking a bit bite of ice cream before cringing. "Oh God, brain freeze!"

I laughed, putting the phone to my ear. "His cell phone got turned off, so I hope he still has his house phone."

It rung once, twice, three times, before Holly finally recovered from the brain freeze.

'Hi, you've reached Alena and Blake. Leave a message, love."

"Uh...Blake? It's Christian...Listen, I know we haven't been talking and all. I've been trying to give you space, and let you call me, like you said. But I'm just calling to give you news, I guess. If you care and all...Well, Oliver proposed to me on Sunday. We're really excited about it. We are thinking of getting married next year, after my birthday. Sometime in April. Well, just please give me a call, Blake. I miss you. You're my best friend, you know. We shouldn't be going so long without talking. Alright...bye."

I hung up the phone, and slumped back into the couch. "That was fucking stupid." I sighed.

Holly gave me another sympathetic glance. "Blake will come around. Don't worry about it, alright?"

"Alright." I slanted my lips, taking a small bite of ice cream. "I hope you're right."