We've Learned to Run from Anything Uncomfortable

I had both of my hands rested on Oli’s shoulders as I guided him into his bedroom.

“Oi Matt!” He hiccuped, “Did yeh see that bird I was with tonigh'? She was so hot. If yeh wouldn't have made meh come back, I mighta gotten screwed tonigh' yeh arse."

I rolled my eyes and pushed his bedroom door open with my foot, "Olleh, yeh don' need teh be bangin' anyone tonigh'. Yeh've gotten more ass in the last week than I 'ave meh whole life. I think yeh need teh give it a rest."

He chuckled, "I don' need teh give anythin' a rest. I'm jus' gettin' started!"

"Shhhh!" I said loudly as his voice had begun to rise, due to the fact that he'd drank more tonight than most people consume in their lifetime.

I watched as he threw himself on his bed, laughing loudly. He clutched his stomach and his eyes scrunched together, his mouth wide open and the light coming from the blinds glinting off his teeth, giving his drunk face an even more sick and sallow facial expression. He sat up quickly and looked up at me. He let his long legs touch the ground and he pushed himself off the bed, running towards the bathroom.

I turned around and watched as the bathroom light illuminated off the wall in the hallway and I listened as Oli's shoes scraped against the floor and the toilet lid was thrown up quickly, the two pieces clanking against each other.

"Oi, 'ave mercy." He pleaded before his stomach fell from his mouth and met the water in the toilet.

I laughed in spite of the situation, and proceeded to throw back the sheets to Oli's bed so he could climb in. I pulled one pillow off his bed and tossed it across the room and grabbed a blanket from the end of his bed, tossing it in the direction of the pillow. Usually, I passed out on the side of Oli's bed, but I didn't really feel like getting yacked on tonight. So, I took my precautions.

I heard the toilet flush and I listened as Oli stood up. I could imagine him gripping the edge of the counter and reaching for his tooth brush. The water came on and I heard him scrub his teeth, spitting out the unneeded paste. He walked back into his bedroom.

I laid out my blanket so I didn't have to sleep on his bare floor and reached for another blanket when Oli plopped himself on the side of his bed. He unlaced his very dirty converse and pulled them off, dropping them on the ground.

I pulled off my t shirt and it hit the floor and unzipped my pants, dropping them. I then laid down on my blanket and unfolded the other one on top of me. I settled down and rolled over, listening as Oli climbed into his bed and shifted around, getting comfortable.

In front of me, a piece of paper lay. It looked like it had been crumpled up and uncrumpled quite a few times. I reached over and pulled it closer to me, reading what I could in the light shimmering through the room.

Here we are. I’m in America and you’re all the way in England, left me all alone and I still can’t stop myself from trusting you. Does that tell you a damn thing?

Hopefully, because if not, you might just be as stupid as I thought you were ;)

Just don’t forget me, alright?

Love,

Sam.

Oi, I really wanted to know who this Sam bird was. I remember Tom mentioning something about her before Oli came home. He told me that Oli was trying to convince him he wasn't just hanging out with her to get laid.

"Yeh righ'." Tom laughed, "That's all Olleh thinks abou'. What's 'e think? 'M stupid?"

That's one thing about Oli, is he never fucking lies. I've never seen him tell anyone a lie. He's always completely, brutally honest. And if Oli was telling Tom that he wasn't with Sam, just to bonk her, he wasn't lying.

What I can't understand for the life of me is who Sam was and why Oli spent his first week and a half back home moping about her, and has now spent the last two weeks getting pissed and fucked every night just so he can forget about her.

I set the piece of paper back on the floor and rolled over so I was facing Oli's bed again. I knew if I didn't ask now, I wouldn't get a straight answer. The thing about most people when they're drunk is they can hardly speak, much less tell you a story. The thing about Oli when he's drunk is he speaks perfectly, and he could recite Shakespeare if you asked him too.

"Olleh." I said softly.

"What?" He groaned, rolling over, "Why don' yeh go teh sleep yeh freak?"

"I need teh ask yeh somethin'."

"Wha'?"

"Who's Sam?"

I could see Oli's shadow tense up and I waited a good few minutes before he found an excuse good enough to tell me, "She's some bird in America. Ask Tom." He mumbled, rolling over again.

"I want yeh teh tell meh."

"Well, I don' wanna tell yeh."

"Why not?" I mumbled, "Who the fuck 'm I gonna tell?"

He sighed loudly and rolled back over to face me, propping his head up on his shoulder and started talking, "Sam was this girl I met at school. The first day in school, we did some name assignment where we 'ad teh match up the first letters of our names with words that described us. 'Er's was so fuckin' closed off. I tried talkin' teh 'er. She didn't want a thing teh do wiff meh. She told meh she was a foster kid.

All week I tried gettin' 'er teh go on a date with meh. She jus' kept givin' me excuses or ignorin' meh. Finally one day, we had to find a prompt in some book and write a story. I spent the whole time thinkin' of 'ow I was gonna get 'er teh go somewhere with meh, I 'ad nothin' written on meh paper. So I ended up writin' meh number on the paper." He paused and looked over at me. I nodded, telling him to continue, "An' so I 'ad meh phone by meh all night, pretty sure she wasn't gonna give meh a call. But, around eight or nine tha' night, meh phone starts ringin'.

I freaked out cause I thought it was mum or Tom, and I was scared somethin' bad 'appened and that's why they were callin' meh so late. But when I looked at the number, I didn' recognize it."

He stopped again and a grin came to his face, "It was Sam. She told meh she wanted teh hang out. So, I went an' picked 'er up an' she came over teh Lynn's. She'd only been there a few minutes when we got in a lil' argument. I ended up takin' 'er home an-"

I interrupted, "What'd yeh get in a figh' about?"

"Oh, somethin stupid. She told meh she came over cause she felt bad er somethin' an' I got my underwear in a wad, thinkin' she was only 'anging out with meh as a pity thing. So then, tha' Monday, I was lookin' all over the place for 'er so I could apologize for bein' such a twat. But I couldn't find 'er anywhere." He laid back down against his pillow and looked up at the ceiling, "I finally found 'er at lunch an' she was all beat up.

I 'ad teh bribe 'er with smoke." He laughed, "That's 'ow yeh get Sam teh talk teh yeh. Give 'er a cigarette and she'll sing if yeh ask 'er too. Anyways, she ended up tellin' meh 'er foster mum beat the shit out of 'er. I was the only person she ever told. Then, a couple nights later, I finally got 'er teh agree teh go out teh dinner with meh."

He paused and I listened as he shifted around in his bed, trying to get warm.

"She tried findin' some vegetarian place. An' it was a pizza place. But it was the cheapest thing she coulda found," He laughed, "We 'ardly ate anything. We just spent the whole time bullshittin'. She was so 'appy that nigh'. She was smilin' and laughin' at every little thing I said. I don' think I'd ever seen 'er in such a good mood. It was amazin'.

So, I didn' see 'er for a few days after that. She wasn't at school and I was too afraid teh stop by 'er house, cause I didn't wan' her foster mum freakin' out on 'er." He stopped abruptly, sucking in a deep breath, "I wish I would've done somethin' though. Tha' fuckin' hag ended up stabbin' Sam and she was in the 'ospital."

"Whoa," I said, "Wait. She was in the fuckin' 'ospital?"

"Yeah, an' I went and visited 'er. I was the only one she let in, she didn't want teh talk teh anyone else. Once she was out, she told meh abou' why she got beat. She'd hit the foster mum's real kid a few years ago."

"Heavy shit." I whistled.

"Yeah, an' so a lil while after tha', we started becomin' real close, almost like a couple. An' then I found out I was comin' back an' I fuckin' lost it. I realized I was in love with Sammeh an' I couldn't leave 'er. But I didn't 'ave much choice. I 'ad teh leave. So, I told her 'ow much she meant to meh without mentionin' I was leavin' and then I left her," His voice cracked slightly, "I fuckin' left 'er Matt."

"Why didn't yeh tell 'er?"

"I dunno," He sighed, "I was scared of hurtin' 'er. Yeh don't understand Matt, she was so different from every other lass. She made meh feel bad, she made meh feel good, without sleepin' with meh, and she made me happeh. I loved Sam."

"Loved? Or love?" I said softly.

He was quiet for a long time and then I heard him whisper harshly, "Love, I love 'er," He was quiet again, but then spoke up, "But it doesn't matter anymore Matt. She's gone. I'm 'ere, she's all the way in the States and everyone wants meh teh forget about 'er. I can't live in the past."

I didn't reply to Oli's nonsense. I just let him roll over and fall back asleep. I thought about everything Oli had just said and I realized he'd never said that about any girl before. Not once, which meant these things he was saying, these feelings he was talking about, they were real. He really was scared.

I couldn't do anything to help Oli right now, but I'm pretty sure it couldn't take me too long to find the address to Lynn's place and then figure out how to get a hold of Sam.

The only problem would be finding enough money to get Sam all the way to Sheffield, and then convincing her to actually come this time.

I pondered the thought and tried to think of a good reason to drag Sam here. She was no doubt still upset with Oli for leaving her, and it would be difficult getting her to show up to the house. I had to start my plan soon, because I had to buy myself enough time to make sure Sam would come see Oli. I had to make sure that I wouldn’t be wasting my money, buying Sam a ticket this time.

Oli’s birthday. Sam had to come for Oli’s birthday.

I had until November 20th to find 1,500 bucks and convince a girl who finally agreed to hang out with Oli after a week of his desperate begging when most girls just fall at their knees for him; to come all the way to Sheffield, after he completely shattered her heart.

Hey Matt, good fuckin’ luck. I sighed to myself and got comfortable, ready to finally sleep.