Pretty Bird

"It's nice to have you back." I whispered, his familiar, simple scent comforting me just like it used to. I had spent so many nights clutching his pillow, grasping desperately for anything that reminded me of him, that I had almost forgotten how wonderful the real thing was. His skin was smooth, emanating his body heat, keeping me warm all throughout the cold English night.

"I missed you too, you know." He was whispering softly, as if my comment had jarred him from sleep. His arms tightened against my waist, his legs curling up into my body. He let his arms and legs relax as he exhaled, his hair starting to stick to his neck and face. "Let's talk in the morning, love."

I didn't respond, just took a deep breath as his body tensed against mine and relaxed again, as if he wanted to pull me even closer into him. I smiled, imagining his sleeping face, picturing the way his mouth hung open just slightly and the way his fringe always revealed some of his forehead. Before closing my own eyes, I looked around the room, his old bedroom. The walls were painted some dark color indistinguishable without the lights on. Along the wall opposite of Oliver and I in the bed were the rows and rows of photographs, their white borders and bright colors offsetting the dark walls perfectly. This was definitely Oliver's space, complete with random sketches all over the place and the occasional Glassjaw poster on the walls. It felt good, having him around again. He was my familiar place, the simple comfort I could come to in any situation, whenever I needed him, or whenever he needed me. As I snuggled up into his body, his chest moving back and forth against my back as he took in labored breaths, I sighed, closing my eyes. Now one of my many problems was semi-dealt with; I was going to have my Oliver back. I was going to have my safe place to fall just in case the issues with Blake really blew up in my face.

I tried to relax and calm down, but my eyes couldn't help but flicker open no matter how many times I tried. Memories just kept on flying through my head, as if they were on hyper drive. I remembered the sound of smashing glass before the brick hit the asphalt near my car, I remembered Alena's sneering face as I regained composure to drive away after Blake screamed at me. Was I really so self centered, just worrying about him and checking up on him? He had told me the world didn't revolve around me, and I really didn't think it did. I was just trying to help. The image of Lee sitting across from me on his couch came next, the hood of his hoodie covering his hair as Aubrey wailed in the background. "There is nothing me or you can do. We cant tell either of them what to do."His voice resonated back and forth within my skull, making goose bumps pop up along my arms. Next, the scene of me and him, standing in front of his house as I unlocked my car door. "Just please don't do anything you'll regret."He pleaded with me, as if he knew this was going to happen. I knew Lee was perceptive, but did he honestly predict me making an ass out of myself to Blake? Did he expect me to ruin it?" I shifted in the bed, trying to get the ideas out of my head. The Blake and Alena situation was way too fresh for me to do anything now. Besides, Blake had told me that he would call me, basically telling me to leave him alone. There was nothing I could do.

Finally, the fresh images of Baby Sykes and his girlfriend flooded my mind. At first, I felt the same way Oliver seemed to; I was happy, and supportive, determined to be the best I could be for them. They were both 18, Tom barely 18, and just graduated secondary school. While Tom had been working for Oliver with Drop Dead for years, its not like he could really afford to take care of himself, Caroline and the baby. It just seemed way too emotionally and financially overwhelming, especially for someone as sweet and fragile as Tom. Ever since I met Caroline, I knew that her and Tom would never last, to be honest. I knew it was bad to think that, but he was just so genuine, sweet, and willing to bend over backwards for almost anyone. Of course, Caroline was always the first to take advantage of that. And, with this new baby on the way, Caroline took no time fitting herself comfortably in the role as 'expectant mother', already having her boyfriend and my boyfriend doing everything for her! I knew Tom was a sweetheart, but how long could he last like this? I couldn't help but think that just one day, he would snap, and it would be bad. I cringed, my thoughts immediately focusing on that baby, the one inside Caroline. Baby Sykes' Mini Sykes. I giggled to myself softly, realizing Tom would need a new nickname.

"Just go to sleep, Christian..." Oliver muttered into the pillow, making me jump. "You are thinking so much I can almost hear it."

Once again, I didn't respond. I just cuddled myself even closer to him, his arms gripping my middle tight. I needed to sleep, somehow. The problems could wait until tomorrow.

______________________________________

"I told you they'd like it." I rolled my eyes and smiled at Oliver, whose hand was in mine. Our footsteps were slow and relaxed as we walked up the stairs to reach our flat, the day surprisingly clear and bright for all the rain we had gotten that week.

"I know, I know. Its just hard showing someone your work like that." Oliver said, spinning the keys around his finger. "People can be so fucking judgmental."

"Well they know you're amazing, and you know you are amazing, so it shouldn't have been an issue." I smiled up at him as we made it to the door and he put the key in the lock.

"You're so supportive." He scoffed, opening the door and walking in, me following behind him. "It's almost like you want something. You buttering me up, love?"

"No, gosh. Can't I just be nice!?" I watched him collapse on the couch, kicking his shoes off of his feet and grabbing the remote to the television.

"I'm just playing." He smiled at me, my legs feeling a little weak as I leaned onto the wall for support. "Oh, right. Holly called."

"Oh, did she?" I walked into the kitchen, removing the phone off its base. I dialed her number quickly, having to refer to the list of numbers Oliver posted on the wall by the phone base. It rung a few times, before the sound of video games quickly flooded through the phone.

"Uh...hello?" I asked, obviously confused. "Holly?"

"It's Curtis, actually." A voice responded, the video game noises quickly dying down. "Holly's here though. I can hand her the phone."

"Thanks, Curtis." I paused, taking a deep breath. "Hey, though, before you do that. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Are you mad at me? I didn't mean to offend you, asking you about Blake like that."

I heard him sigh, and the sound of him getting up from the couch, his shoes slapping against the tile floor as he stepped into some carpeted room. "No, of course I'm not mad at you. I was just playing Call Of Duty." He laughed under his breath, taking another breath. "I just don't want you to worry Holly, please. She worries about me enough, you know? With my ears...." He trailed off, obviously uncomfortable. "I just want her to be happy. And I don't think she can be happy worrying about her weirdo boyfriend all the time."

"Curtis..." I smiled into the phone, leaning against a kitchen counter. "She is happy, and she does love you, you know. I think she shows her love by worrying...wanting the best for you and all."

"Alright." He laughed uncomfortably, obviously not wanting to dump his relationship issues to me over the phone. "I'll give Holly the phone."

"Thank you."

A few minutes passed, before Holly's light, gentle voice came out of the phone. "Hey Chris."

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, lifting myself up and sitting on the counter top, the sound of the show Oliver was watching on the television coming into the kitchen as background noise. "Oliver said you called earlier."

"Oh, yeah." Holly laughed. "I just wanted to ask you about what happened at Blake's."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, trying to remember if I ever told her about the brick incident.

"Curtis told me, when he went over there last that there was some huge hole in their window, and Alena blamed you for doing it." She giggled under her breath. "Please tell me you tried to knock her out with a rock or something."

"I wish," I said, trying to laugh along with her. It didn't work though; I just sounded forced and awkward. "Actually, Blake threw a brick."

"What!? No way!" She let her voice raise, but then dropped back to her normal tone, Curtis probably giving her a strange look. "What did you do?!"

"I was just trying to help, actually..." I started slowly, trying to give myself time to think of a tactful way to word it. "After the party, Oliver went home with Tom and Caroline, so I was alone. And I was worried, you know? About Blake. And I knew Curtis wasn't going to tell me anything, especially after what he said about me minding my own business, you know?"

"Yeah?" Holly pressed me forward, clearly not pleased with my awkward stalling.

"And, so I went over there. I just wanted to check on him, make sure they were home and all. It was completely innocent....And, well, I guess he thought I was someone else, and threw that brick at me, trying to hit my car. I guess since Oliver's car is black and so was that scary car when Curtis and I left for the party, maybe he thought I was them. I don't know. But yeah, he freaked out on me, basically just told me to go away and not come back. And Alena was horrible, as always."

"Are you serious? He threw a brick through his own window?" She sounded surprisingly calm. It kind of threw me for a loop.

"Yeah...yelling about how he didn't have 'the money'...but I don't know what that's all about."

"Come on, Christian. That scary black car was obviously a drug dealer. And Blake obviously doesn't have the money to pay him back for whatever he took of his."

I scoffed at first, but then let it sink in, my insides feeling cold and hard, sinking down through my body. "You're probably right."

"Blake needs help...like an intervention or something." She said matter of factly, as if it was really going to be that easy.

"He needs the grace of God." I sighed, resting my head against one of the top cabinets above the counter I was sitting on. "He is completely devoted to that crackhead."

"Oh God, Alena..." Holly sighed, taking a few breaths. "Curtis is even beginning to say she's a bit much."

"Well, she is! Holly, this girl is like, I don't even know. She's dangerous...and she's ruining Blake, or whatever is left of him at this point."

"I know...Trust me, I know. When Curtis does open up, it is rare and fleeting. But, at least he does."

"Typical boy." I laughed, Oliver flooding my train of thought. "Oliver did the same thing, actually."

"Oh, so you're back to good again?" Holly asked, her voice perking up. "I could use a cute love story right now."

"Well, we are back to normal...mushy and all cute as always," I laughed, picturing Oliver half asleep on the couch, his eyes fluttering open and closed in a desperate attempt to stay awake. "But I can't really talk about why he was being so weird."

"Ooh, a secret?"

"Yeah, one I promised I wouldn't tell." I smiled to myself, happy I didn't let myself give it away. Caroline would have probably bitten my head off. "Just, be careful, okay? With Curtis. He is going to really need you...things are not going to be very smooth for a while."

______________________________________

"You know what I just realized, Sykes?" My voice broke the comfortable silence between Oliver and I. A few days had passed since the phone call with Holly. Unsurprisingly, Blake had yet to try to talk to me. I wasn't too concerned though, honestly. I had my boy back. And, that boy was currently sitting across from me at some outdoor dining table in the heart of Sheffield. He said it had been awhile since he had taken his bird out to lunch, and since Drop Dead was really going to get time consuming soon, we decided now would be the best time to catch up.

"What's on your mind, Serra?" Oliver took a sip of his lemonade. "You aren't one to hold anything back!" The sarcasm dripped off his words as he smiled playfully at me as I rolled my eyes.

"You haven't partied in a really long time. Did you even have a beer at Lee's?"

He just shrugged, brushing his fringe out of his eyes and looking at me. "It just hasn't been a big deal, I guess. Haven't though much of it, honestly."

"I bet you Nicholls is depressed, wallowing around without his wingman."

Oliver laughed, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sure he's getting on just fine. He's happy for me."

"Why?" I asked, cracking my fingers under the table.

He shrugged again, his fingers drumming against the side of the table, his foot shaking under his chair. "He just is."

"Did something happen where I should be excited too?"

"Can I ask you a question?" He stopped all of his ADHD habits, sitting straight up in his chair and flipping his hair out of his eyes, only to have it fall back in his vision.

"Uhh...sure." I couldn't help but think of how awkward this question was probably going to be.

"You want to be with me, right?"

"Oliver, I wouldn't have picked up everything and flown across the world if I didn't want to be with you. In fact, I am so happy you're back, now. Even though you weren’t technically gone, but still. You know."

"No, I mean like, for a long time." He smiled sheepishly, his knuckles cracking under his palms.

"I'm not really a fortune teller, Sykes. I can't predict the future." I smiled back, turning to sarcasm and teasing, since I had no idea what he was on about.

He looked down, laughing uncomfortably under his breath.

"Sorry, Oliver, I didn't mean to make fu-"

"I think I want to be with you forever, Christian."