Pretty Bird

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you." The front door let in a gust of cold Sheffield wind as it closed, the familiar sound of vans squeaking against the hard wood soon following the wind.

"I had to get some things for work." His voice seemed distant and vacant, as if he had been awake all week.

"I finished some of the things you emailed me. I turned, showing him my laptop screen. "I don't know why you cant just talk to me, though. We do live together. Well, we used to anyways." I scoffed, watching him as he set his things down and turned to look at the screen.

"It looks good. Good job."

"Are you ever going to talk to me, Oliver?" I shifted my position on the couch, setting the laptop down next to me. "If there was ever a problem in the past, we would talk it out. I don't like not knowing what you're doing."

"Oh, so you're my mum now? Have to know where I am?"

"I'm your girlfriend, last time I checked. That girl you've been living with the past year. Maybe you forgot or something. Maybe you've been spending too much time at your parent's house."

He sighed, leaning against a wall. "Can we do this later?"

I rolled my eyes. "What? Too busy to break up with your girlfriend?"

"For fucks sake, Chris!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. "Here you go, jumping to fucking conclusions. Who said I was going to leave you?!"

I just stared at him for a second, his eyes locking onto mine as he breathed heavily. "Well, why else would you not want to be around me?"

He rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I do want to be around you. Can we just talk about this later? I just came to pick up some shirt designs."

"No, I want to know now. I've tried to be real patient, Oliver. Giving your space, sleeping alone, trying to be the good girlfriend for you in front of your friends. But I need to know what the hell is going on. You aren't even coming home anymore!"

He sighed, opening the door to the bedroom. "Fine. Get some clothes, alright."

"Why?" I stood up, following him into the bedroom.

"You're coming with me. You want to see what I've been doing, so I'll show you." He went into the closet and grabbed an overnight bag. "Use this." He threw it on the bed. "And please, just pack for one night, and tomorrow. We aren't running away or some shit like that." He let his show stopping smile flash for just a split second, before his cold demeanor came back.

I packed quickly, just throwing in the first clean clothes I could find, along with my hair brush and tooth brush. I knew that the next day, Oliver and I were supposed to meet with one of the stores that sold Drop Dead stuff, in order to show them the new designs. But, it was a meeting that didn't require nice clothes. Oliver knew these people from when he lived there, so it would be completely casual.

The car ride was silent. But, Oliver's hand was in mine, his eyes focused on the road in front of us. The rain was pouring down, visible through the beams of light coming from the headlights. Oliver turned the car down the familiar road, the urban area giving way to stretched out houses and rolling hills.

"...You've been at your parents?" I asked, looking out the windows at the picturesque suburban homes. "Tom wasn't lying?"

"'Angel Baby' never lies, love." Oliver laughed gently, squeezing my hand. "I've been here the entire time."

"Why?" I asked, as he pulled into the drive and shut the car off.

"You'll see..." He opened the car door, and got out. I followed him, shutting the door and walking up the front steps. He opened the door slowly, grabbing my hand and leading me inside the house.

"Ugh, Oli! Why is she here!"

Ugh....that high pitched, annoying voice was the first to greet us.

Oliver didn't say anything, just joined Caroline on the living room couch. "I can't continue to be here and have her not know."

Caroline rolled her eyes, grabbing a pillow off the couch and squeezing it. "Now everyone is going to know!"

"Know what?" I whispered, looking at Caroline like she was crazy. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, slumping down into the couch.

"Where's Tom?" Oliver asked, ignoring my question.

"Tesco."

"You ate all those pickles already!? He bought you like, 4 cans yesterday night!" Oliver laughed, taking a breath. "Tom must be on a first name basis with the people at Tesco now."

"Shut up!" Caroline spat, getting up from her slumped position and shifting to where she was laying down, propping her head up with her palm. "He should be back soon."

The front door opened, and Tom walked in, carrying two Tesco shopping bags. "Baby, I bought out all the pickles they had. I can't buy anymore until tomorrow. Do you want one now?" He looked incredibly tired, as if the shopping bags weighed 100 pounds each. "Oh, hey Chris." Tom smiled weakly at me. I returned the smile.

"Yes babe, 2 pickles please. In a bowl. Can you give me a napkin too?" She smiled sickeningly sweetly at him, before turning her attention back to Oliver and I.

"What the hell is with all these pickles?!" I asked, my voice raising. "I'm sick of being the only person not to know what's going on! Why the hell is Tom spending so much money on pickles? Why cant Caroline go and get the pickles herself? Why the hell are you here Oliver?!" I cried, furrowing my brow as my voice got increasingly louder. "Why are you ignoring me because Caroline has some new found pickle obsession?!"

Oliver just stared blankly at me, before bursting into a fit of hysteric laughter.

"What!" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and laughing. "What are you laughing at!?"

"You...." He tried to start, before falling into another fit of laughter. "You think I am ignoring you over...pickles!?"

I shrugged, and looked at Caroline, whose face showed something I hadn't seen in a long time: a smile.

"Love," She sighed, her eyes still set on mine. "Oliver's brother knocked me up. I'm having a baby."

"Uhh.......what?!" I stared blankly, Oliver and Caroline both watching me intently. "Tom......Tom had sex!?" I cried, just as Tom walked into the room with a bowl full of pickles.

"Here are your pickles, babe." Tom sighed, bending down to give his reclining girlfriend the food before looking at me. He stopped and blinked when he saw the probably insane look on my face. "Christian?"

"Tom!" I burst out, standing up and pointing at him, and then at Caroline. "You had sex!"

Oliver burst out laughing once more as Tom just stared blankly at me, his hands now stuffed into the front pockets of his jeans. "Uh...I'm 18, Christian. Not 12."

"No! But you got her pregnant! That's not good!" I explained, as if he probably didn't already know this. "Oliver is....an uncle!"

"Uncle Oli!" Oliver gasped between laughs, grabbing his sides and leaning against the couch, trying to catch his breath.

I turned to Caroline, who had already devoured half of one of the pickles. "What the fuck is with the pickles?"

She shrugged, swallowing her bite. "Craving, I guess. They're common during the 1st trimester."

My eyes scanned the room, focusing on Tom, Caroline, and then Oliver. "You're not messing with me?"

Tom sighed, sitting on the couch, taking Caroline's feet in his lap. "No, she's 12 weeks."

"Wait....12?" I bit my lip, counting backwards on my fingers. "So, it was in Sweden, then? For that festival?"

Tom and Caroline nodded, Tom growing a little red around the cheeks and ears.

"Damnit Oliver!" I slapped his arm, his grin still huge as he regained his composure. "I knew you shouldn't have let them get their own hotel room!"

"Yeah, well," Caroline started, clearly exasperated. "Its all said and done now. And I am not getting an abortion. It is too late anyways, the cut off is 12 weeks."

"Yeah..." Tom added, taking a big, heavy breath. "I'm going to be a daddy. Like Lee."

I didn't realize I wasn't breathing until that moment, when I felt a huge amount of air rush out of my lungs. "This is like, twilight zone shit..."

Oliver sighed too, pulled me into his side, his arm draped across my shoulder.

"And you, Sykes!" I turned to him, giving him a pouting look. "What does this have anything to do with you?!"

He sighed again, and looked at Tom.

"Wait...what? I looked at Tom too, whose blush still hadn't gone away. "Does this twilight zone shit get even worse?" I hit Oliver in the arm gently. "Don't tell me you're the father or something."

"I'm on bed rest." Caroline said, both of the pickles gone.

"Okay..." I said, looking at all three of them.

"And Oliver has just been helping out. Especially at night, so Tom can sleep."

I took in a huge breath of relief, a small smile coming up on my lips. "I thought you were going to tell me you're having quintuplets or something."

Oliver laughed, taking my hand and kissing my forehead. "No, just being a good uncle. You should be proud!"

I rolled my eyes, happy to be able to have him kissing me again. "So does this mean you are going to be here, helping, for like, nine months?"

Tom spoke up, glancing down at Caroline. "We plan on telling mum and dad soon, then hopefully they can help."

"How can they not know already? I asked, looking at Caroline. How could someone not notice someone permanently laying on their living room couch?

"Tom carries me up to his bedroom every afternoon when they're home." Caroline smiled at Tom, wiggling her toes. "He's been really good."

Tom blushed again, giving a loving glance at Caroline before turning back to Oliver and I. "See, I was worried you'd thought he was cheating or something."

"I was." I admitted, snuggling up into Oliver's side. "I was honestly scared."

"Well, now you're in on the secret." Oliver said to me. "You can't let anyone know. They haven't told anyone, except me and you."

I nodded, bringing a finger to my lips. "I'm good at secrets."