Pretty Bird

See Fernando; Jenny Lewis

I wasn't surprised when Oliver left with Tom and Caroline that night after the get together at Lee's. He just kissed me on the lips, a quick peck, before removing his arms from around me and telling me he would be sleeping over there. He didn't offer to let me go with him, he didn't ask me how I was, he just left. The only thing I was surprised of was just how much Oliver took to Aubrey. She absolutely loved him. She would squeal with happiness whenever he entered her line of vision, drooled happily all over her hands as she admired his tattoos, and coo softly when he rocked her to sleep around 10pm. Everyone joked about it, saying things like 'Who knew Oliver would be good with kids?' and the like. Of course, like any girl, I was completely smitten, watching him smile and laugh along with the baby, genuinely enjoying himself. And, since Aubrey was mostly in Oliver's arms the whole time, I got to see the baby as well, making silly faces and sounds as she stared up at both of our faces.

The car ride alone was quiet and boring, Curtis obviously going home with Holly. Just to make sure everything was alright, I had turned off of the main road we normally used to get back home, taking smaller streets. Part of me wanting to mix it up and see something different, while the other part of me wanted to check up on Blake's apartment. That black car with the blasting music really rubbed me the wrong way, my intuition screaming at me that this wasn't a good neighbor passing by. I had never seen Blake act the way he did, either. He was normally so carefree and happy, quoting his literary heroes and offering all kinds of drugs whenever I was there, just being the normal friendly guy he was. But, as soon as that car came up, it was like he pushed us out of his home, the sound of the lock clicking behind us resonating in my mind. Something was definitely wrong. And, if Lee was right in his perceptions of what happened with Alena and the meth on the coffee table, Blake and Alena were definitely getting themselves into a world that was out of control. I mean, before England, Blake was a happy go lucky stoner kid who dropped out of college and worked at an ancient little bookshop. He knew nothing of hard drugs and street life. Alena on the other hand, seemed like she may know a thing or two about that lifestyle, but it just seemed incredibly unlike Blake to want to do something like that. This girl was definitely getting way into his head. Unfortunately, like Lee said, there was nothing anyone could really do about it. Blake is an adult, and there was nothing I could do about his relationship with Alena. I would just have to ride it out, and try and help as best as I could while I still could.

I turned off the headlights as I turned into Blake's parking lot, not wanting to disturb them. Blake's flat faced the street, and I knew he would be able to see the bright lights of my car through the windows. I just wanted to make sure he was okay, not let him know I was here. I had to make sure he didn't know that I knew what was happening.

Slowly, I drove past Blake's house. The lights were on inside, but only in the living room. The other rooms facing the parking lot were dark, including the kitchen and the bathroom, which was definitely odd. Normally, Blake always had people over, and lots of people meant lots of lights on and lots of laughter and voices. The house was completely silent, except for the telephone ringing. No one answered it though; it went to the voice mail or something. I sighed heavily, letting myself accept the fact that Blake and Alena were okay as I pulled into a parking spot in order to put the car in reverse and go on my way home.

All of a sudden, I heard a shattering crash, and something fly into the street, only a few feet from my car.

"I don't have your fucking money, stop fucking stalking me!" I heard a man scream out of Blake's window, sticking his face through the now gaping hole in the glass.

I stayed silent, unsure of what to do. I turned off the car slowly, my hands shaking.

"Get the fuck off of my property!" Blake screamed again, his voice hoarse. "I'm not who you should be talking to!"

I heard the front door slam open, and the voice of a screaming woman. "We don't have it, alright!" Her voice was on the verge of raggedy, drawing its last breaths as she screamed repeatedly.

I heard Blake slam the front door closed. "Stay inside." He told the woman, who was clearly Alena. "I'll handle this."

He picked up whatever he threw through his window, and came at my car, his footsteps heavy and angry. "I'll fucking smash your windows out, you bastard!" He said through gritted teeth, coming closer and closer to my car. I shrunk back into the seat, my entire body still shaking nervously and my mind completely shut down.

"Get the fuck out of the car and stop being a pussy!" Blake screamed, until he was nearly right next to me. "Get your people to stop-Christian?"

He dropped the object on the ground, making a large heavy noise against the asphalt. "What are you doing here?"

I opened the car door, and stared out at Blake, who was breathing heavy and seething, his teeth still gritted at me.

"Are you not going to answer?" He asked again, stepped back from the car. "I was about to throw a brick at you, do you understand that?"

I opened my mouth to speak, to explain to him that I was just incredibly worried and concerned, that all I wanted was to drop by, have him not notice me, just so I could make sure he was alright. I wanted to tell him I was just worried for my best friend and that I wanted him to be alright. I wanted to tell him I knew about the meth, about Alena, and I was so scared both for him and for Curtis.

Of course, I just stared at him like an idiot, the connection between my head and my mouth completely stopped.

"Just go, Christian. And I'll call you, okay? Stop showing up so unexpectedly. It's rude. My life doesn't revolve around you. Why don't you go hang out with Oliver?"

He shut the door to the car for me, picking up the brick on the ground. I waited for him to walk inside again, Alena peering out at my car from the new hole in their window. i saw Blake walk inside and speak to her briefly before she turned to me and sneered, closing the curtains shut. Very slowly, I turned the car back on, and backed out of the space, my hands still shaking with adrenaline and with guilt. All I could think about was how I potentially fucked everything up. And with Oliver being more and more missing, it seemed as though everything was spinning out of control at a truly terrifying rate.

______________________________________

To my surprise, the flat was not empty when I walked in. I was used to it being completely dark, Drop Dead stuff strewn all over the living room along with both Oliver and my laptops creating the only light in the entire place. This time though, the bedroom door was open, and I could see a shadow moving around slowly, tiredly.

"Oliver?" I called, putting the keys in a little basket by the front door and setting my purse on the couch. "I thought you were staying at your parent's."

A figure came to the bedroom door to face me, a figure with bright blue eyes.

"....Tom?" My head didn't cock to the side, even though calling me just confused would have been a complete understatement. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." He shifted uncomfortably in his place, his shoes quietly squeaking against the hard wood floors. "Oliver asked me to drop by."

"Why couldn't he come himself? Does he need something?"

"Clothes...he needs clothes. And his laptop. I was just going to grab some and then head right back. Well, I have to go to Tesco also, to pick up some pickles, but then head right back."

"You're rambling. You're nervous." I walked closer to him, his eyes moving down to the floor, as if he was ashamed to look at me up close. "Is something wrong, Tom?"

He shook his head, running his hands through his hair. "No, everything's fine. He just asked me to do a favor for him."

"Why is he avoiding me?" I asked Tom point blank. I really just needed answers. Something was obviously wrong when Oliver sent Baby Sykes to get stuff for him, instead of coming home and possibly facing me himself.

Tom shrugged, before stepping past me and grabbing Oliver's lap top. "Why don't you ask him, Christian? I don't want to get in the middle of anything."

"He isn't talking." I sighed, leaning against the door frame, watching him unplug the laptop and walk towards the door. "I'm sick of sleeping alone."

Tom's eyes connected to mine again, his bright blues illuminating the darkness, showing me lots of pain and regret. "I'm sorry, Christian. Just talk to him, okay? It wont be for much longer."

And with that, he slipped out through the front door, laptop and bag full of Oliver's clothes in tow.

And for that night, I clung to Oliver's pillow in bed, his scent flooding my senses as I tried to tell myself everything was going to be alright.

______________________________________

I decided a girl could only take so much. If Oliver was growing distant and not even wanting to sleep in the same bed with me, then why should I spend all my time worrying about him? I had a life here too, we may have the same friends, but they were my friends all the same. And, even though he gave me the job, I still had one, that I had been neglecting over the past few weeks. Oliver was not my life, and if he wanted to focus on his life without me, I could do the same.

With the new burst of confidence I had found with my new outlook, I dressed, and put on my same old smile. I was going to hang out with friends today, and then work on Drop Dead stuff that night. And I wasn't going to miss Oliver. Oliver was going to miss me.

I knocked on the door carefully, knowing that not all people may not be as chipper as I was at 11 in the morning. I only had to wait a few minutes however, before Holly answered the door, her smile making me feel 10 times better instantly.

"Christian! What's up?!" She smiled, ushering me in. "No Oli?"

"No, he's busy, doing who knows what." I smiled back, walking into the living room. "Who's winning?" No one answered though, both boys that were lying on the floor too engrossed in the video game on the television. "Uh...Curtis? Vegan?"

"You aren't going to get a response, I've been trying for a few hours." Holly laughed, walking past me into the kitchen. "Follow me, I need some help with this chicken."

I followed her, rolling my eyes at Curtis and Matt. "So, I just wanted to catch up. I haven't seen you much at all. Well, except at Lee's yesterday, but, you know..." I trailed off, sitting at the kitchen table as she opened the refrigerator, looking for something.

"Don't worry, I know." She laughed. "I was way into Curtis. He has been spending a lot of time at Blake's. I try and give him his space, but that doesn't mean I can't miss him." She pulled out a few peppers. "You understand, don't you, Christian?"

I nodded. "Oliver has been almost completely missing in action since we got back from London."

She sighed, taking out a knife and setting the peppers on the cutting board. "C'est la vie, right?" She laughed softly, the sound of chopping vegetables now filling the room. "This is what we signed up for, I guess."

I laughed, standing up and walking over to her. "Here, let me help." I grabbed a pepper and a knife and began cutting next to her, setting all of the chopped up pieces in a pile along with hers.

"Thanks, darling." She smiled at me, chopping another pepper in half. "The boys just think food magically appears in front of them. I wish it was that easy."

We both shared a small laugh, the sound of Curtis screaming, proclaiming his victory filling the house. Holly rolled her eyes, and smiled.

"I'm worried about Curtis, Hol." I said as soon as the screaming died down and the sounds of the video game came back.

"I know...his hearing is getting worse and worse."

"No, not about that. About Blake and him. You should be keeping an eye on it. I know you're devoted to Curtis and all already."

"Why? What is going on?" She turned to me, the sounds of cutting stopping.

"Well, that night, when Lee and Curtis and I went to Blake's, well..." I stopped cutting too, leaning into her and whispering. "Lee found meth on their coffee table. It was weird, cause when we walked in, I saw Alena brush something off the coffee table. I guess it was that."

"What?! Meth?! She exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the counter.

I nodded, staring down at my hands and then back at her face. "And I talked to Lee about it, and he thinks that its not just all Alena bringing more than pot into their house. He says that since Blake was in the room when Alena was brushing the stuff off the table, he had to know about it. Blake answered the door for us. You know their house opens up right into the living room. And, before the party when I picked up Curtis, a black car pulled into the parking lot just blasting music, stopping right in front of Blake's place. It was really scary."

Holly took a deep breath, and set her knife down on the cutting board. "Well, I can't keep him away from Blake. Curtis needs a friend outside of the band."

I nodded, leaning against the counter. "I just don't want him to get caught up in anything bad. Curtis is too sweet for that."

"I know..." She trailed off, losing herself in her own thoughts for a second. "Thanks for letting me know."

Curtis and Matt then barged into the kitchen loudly, joking and laughing loudly, exactly the opposite of Holly and I. Curtis walked over to Holly, hugging her waist from behind and planting a kiss right below her ear. "Your boyfriend is a Mario champion." He said excitedly.

"He cheated." Matt Kean stated plainly, leaning on the kitchen table. "He put in some cheat and just ran on through, killing all those mushroom guys. I actually played the level."

"You're full of shit, Vegan!" Curtis said, pulling Holly tight. "Is the food going to ready soon?"

Holly giggled, turning around in his arms so she was facing him. "In about ten minutes, if you can let me go and let me finish for that long." She kissed him quickly on the lips and removed herself from his arms, turning back to the peppers. "Chris, there is an onion in the refrigerator as well. Do you mind chopping some of it up?"

I nodded, grabbing the onion out of the fridge and grabbing my knife again. "Curtis, is Blake alright?"

Curtis sat down at the kitchen table before answering me. "Uh, yeah, he's fine. Why?"

I shrugged. "I'm just a little bit worried, I guess. Alena really rubs me the wrong way. He's changed."

"You just gotta give her a chance, you know. She's not used to people like us. She is nice though."

"You see the good in everyone." Holly laughed half heartedly under her breath, focused on the peppers.

"Well, she's nice. And he likes her. Nothing wrong with that."

"Alright..." I said, the onion beginning to make me tear up just a little. "I just don't want you or Blake to get caught up in anything you cant handle, you know?"

"Trust me, love. Blake is perfectly fine. He knows what he's doing. Why haven't we seen you with Oliver around much these days?"

I shrugged. I definitely didn't want the conversation to turn this way.

"Well, I don't want to be rude, love. But maybe you should be focusing on that instead."
♠ ♠ ♠
all of you should give thanks to holly for practically forcing me to write this haha.
go read her story, Words Words Words. It is excellent (:

Aaaand, if you are into Lee Malia, check out Sabrina's new story, called Lets Make Better Mistakes Tommorow. Although it just started, it looks good already (:

Comment, Subscribe!
It keeps me going, guys!
Help me continue to give you crazy fast updates hahaha

love,
mackenziee (: