Disease

Oliver woke up early the next morning, hearing a bird chirping noisily from outside the window. He looked to his right where Afton lay, curled against the wall as far away from him as she could possibly get. He rolled his eyes momentarily before setting his feet on the floor and walking over to the bathroom door. He could never understand why she insisted on sleeping in their bed when she was so angry with him.

But, Oliver wouldn't have it. He was just as stubborn as she was and if she wanted to sleep in the bed, then he was going to as well. And if they happened to accidentally touch, she would have to deal with it because he was sick of accommodating her. He'd done everything in his power besides kick Afton out of their flat, which is something he just didn't have the heart to do.

No matter how upset Afton made Oliver, or how horribly she treated him, there was no getting past that Afton was the one girl that Oliver had ever loved as much as he loved her, and they were both certain, whether or not Afton wanted to admit it, that Oli would never put as much time and effort into loving someone else as much as he loved her. Which is why he let her walk all over him, and why he put up with her even when she was treating him like he didn't mean a thing to her.

Because, in the back of his mind, he knew that he'd done the same to her before, and she'd put up with it, she'd gone along with it, because she loved him. That's what couples did for each other, they stuck around and dealt with one another until they were okay again.

It's the same thing Afton did for Oliver when the departure of Curtis really caught up with him. No one was really that upset about it besides Oliver. Afton knew how much Oli took care of his band, how hard he worked to make sure the music he made was something that fans would appreciate. He put his all into anything that had Bring Me The Horizon to do with it. The band was a third of his life, and it meant more to him than most things.

"Fuckin' bullshit!" Oliver screamed, knocking a glass bottle off the counter and throwing his head into his hands.

Afton came barreling out of the bedroom, her jeans pulled halfway up her thighs and only a bra covering her top half, "Olleh, what the 'ell are yeh doin'?" She said bending over and picking up pieces of glass, her jeans falling towards her knees now.

"Fuckin' Curtis," Oliver snapped, "Little fuckin' priss."

She dropped the big pieces of glass in the trash can and pulled at the top of her jeans, buttoning them over her hips and tip toeing over to where Oliver was sitting. She leaned against his shoulder, the soft fabric of his shirt rubbing against her stomach.

"What 'appened, love?"

Oliver removed his hands from his face and looked up at Afton, "'e left. Just left."

"Yeh mean 'e quit?"

He shook his head, "I dunno what the fuck 'e did. One second 'es talkin' 'bout 'ow his mum don't like 'im tourin', an' I wasn't doin' meh best teh listen, an' then I 'ear Matt yellin' and 'im, and the next thing I know, 'm yellin' too, an' then 'e left."

"Oi, it'll be alrigh'. 'M sure yeh an' the boys will be able teh find someone."

Oliver shoved Afton away slightly, "Yeah, Af. 'Cause that's what I wanna spend meh time doin', tryin' teh find someone teh replace that arse."

"Well, while yeh're thinkin' 'bout how teh do that, why don't yeh clean up yeh're fuckin' mess?" She snapped, making her way past the glass shards again and into their bedroom, slamming the door hard enough to make a point.

As Oliver came out of their bathroom, changed and ready to leave, he took another glance at Afton and wondered how they'd switched places so fast. How it had gone from her taking care of him to him practically living through her.

He was quiet as he closed the door behind him and walked out the front door into the blowing wind, throwing around snow and causing it to stick to his eyelashes and melt against his face. Once he'd made it to the car, he jammed the keys in the ignition and started towards Matt's house.

Meanwhile, Afton lay awake in bed, tears tickling the corners of her eyes as she clenched her fingers tightly around the hem of the bed sheet. Her feet stuck out the end of the covers and were freezing against the morning air.

She glanced over at Oliver's phone which was vibrating against his night stand. As she reached over with a trembling hand, her heart raced as she thought of who it could be, namely SJ and what she would do if it was her.

Would she yell or scream? Curse at her? She wasn't sure as she hit the talk button before looking at the screen and answering the phone.

"'Ello?"

"Oi, Af." Tom spoke, relieving Afton, "Where's Olleh?"

"I dunno," She said quietly, trying to keep her emotions in check, "'E just left."

"Are yeh doin' alright?"

"More or less."

"Tommeh, dear? Who are yeh talkin' teh?" Carol's voice was heard over Tom's breathing, "Oi, 'm talkin' teh Afton mum."

"Why don't yeh tell 'er teh come over 'ere?"

"Yeh wanna 'ead over?"

"I 'ave no way teh get there." She said quietly, "Olleh took the car."

"I'll come get yeh," Tom said, "If yeh want."

Afton, being in need of some kind of human contact and a bit of Carol's cooking; agreed, "Okay. I just 'ave teh get dressed."

"I'll be there in ten."

"Alrigh'."

Once Tom hung up the phone, he had no idea what he'd managed to get himself into. He almost wanted to argue with his mum for talking so loud, but then he realized it was him who'd called, not his mum, therefore he should just keep his gob shut.

So, he grabbed his car keys and walked outside to warm up his car, hoping that in some way, he'd be able to help his older brother repair his relationship. There had to be something still left in Afton that loved Oliver as much as he loved her.

As an outsider to Afton and Oliver's relationship, Tom was completely lost as to the way Afton felt about everything. He'd never really asked her how it felt to be cheated on, or how it felt to be almost cheated on once more. He'd never thought to ask how much having a disease really scared her.

It wasn't something Tom really thought about. He only knew Oliver's side of the story, which he hadn't even thought to ask about, Oliver had to tell him about it. And he knew that Oliver felt horrible about it. Tom knew that he would never do anything to deliberately hurt Afton. He screwed up, just like everyone else.

He just screwed up really bad.

As Tom pulled up on the curb outside Oliver's flat, he was surprised to see Afton already outside. She was dressed in a long sleeve t shirt and a pair of jeans, complete with what he guessed to be a pair of Oliver's shoes.

She quickly made her way to his car and tugged on the handle, sitting down in the passenger's seat. The air was quickly tense as she reached over and pulled her seat belt over her body.

A mere minute or two later, as Tom pulled out into traffic, Afton spoke quietly.

"Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"Do yeh think 'm crazy?"

Tom laughed slightly, "No Af. Why the 'ell would I think that?"

"Olleh took meh to a therapist yesterday." She said, "'E thinks that we need 'elp managing our relationship, don't yeh think that means somethin'?"

"Like what?" Tom asked, not at all liking where this conversation was headed.

"I dunno," She said, picking at a loose string on her jeans, "If someone can't take care of their own problem, don't yeh think they should just get rid of it?"

"It ain't just one of yer's problems Afton. It's a relationship and it's both of yer's."

"I ain't talkin' 'bout that Tom." She said whispered, looking up at him as he parked in the drive way to the Sykes' household, "'m talkin' 'bout meh and meh problem."

Tom looked at her sternly, and spoke as calmly as he could, "When yeh agreed teh be with Olleh, yeh became 'is problem. An' yeh know just as well as I do, just 'cause somethin's a bit off, doesn't mean 'e gives up."

Afton clicked at the button on her seat belt slowly as Tom got out of the car. She suddenly felt embarrassed and ashamed of telling Tom things like that. Her and Tom had always gotten together well, but she'd never talked to him about their relationship issues.

She was almost positive Oliver had, therefore, she didn't think there was much wrong with her mentioning it, but maybe the way she mentioned it. As she stepped out of the car, she ran a hand through her hair and sighed loudly. She wanted to ask Tom not to mention anything to Oliver, but she suddenly felt childish.

So, she followed Tom up the steps to Oli's front door and tried to keep her composure as she stepped into the house and walked awkwardly into the kitchen were Carol was, waiting on the oven.