For My Lucy

Oliver was sitting on the couch, as Tom walked through the door, hours after he left. Tom looked like he just got ran over by a truck. He shut the door and took a seat on recliner which was straight across from the sofa. “’Ow’d it go?” Oliver asked him innocently, paying attention more to Tom than the television program. Right before Tom answered, Matt walked through the door.

“’Ey, Olleh. We ‘ave band practice, remember? ‘Ave to get ready for tour.” Matt Nicholls was Tom’s best friend and also the drummer for Oliver’s band. He was tall and lanky. He had dark bags under his eyes from staying up really late the night before and getting up earlier than he wanted to. He had a tattoo here and there and lovely dark brown hair that was grungy and needed a trim. Oliver searched through his schedule mentally. Band practice must have slipped his mind.

“Fuckeh, I forgot?” He asked Matt. Matt nodded his head in approval of Oliver’s answer. He sat up from his seated position. He didn’t want to have to leave his brother whenever he was just about to tell Oliver how his day went for him. He muttered a few words before he picked himself up and ran to his bedroom to grab a pair of shoes. He slid the shoes on and walked out. “Okay. ‘M ready. Tom, ‘Ll see yeh when I get home. Practice shouldn’t be too long.” Tom shot Oliver a death glare, but then nodded in acceptance that he had to go.

“All righ’. See yeh when yeh get ‘ome.”

As Matt and Oliver started their way to Matt’s house, Oliver kept quiet. He started to think about how things might’ve gone with Lucytania and Tom. He was the only one who really knew about Tom’s lust for Lucytania, and he honestly felt bad for her. He kept at a steady pace next Matt, and both stayed in silence.

“Matt, I think we need to talk to Tom. Get’m some girl help,” Oliver said to him, watching his feet as they walked. Matt stopped suddenly and stared at his band mate. His jaw dropped and hit the ground. Matt’s state of shock went unnoticed by Oliver as he kept walked.

“Wait a fucking moment here,” Matt screamed up to him. Oliver turned around and saw him at least ten feet behind him. “Yeh’re fuckin’ kidding me righ’? Get Tom girl help? He could get any girl he wanted! ‘Ell, ‘e’s got an easier time getting’ them than I do!” Oliver saw Matt’s distress. He was right. Tom could get any girl he wanted, but the one he does want.

He wasn’t sure if Tom wanted him to tell Matt the Lucytania situation, so he shut himself up and kept walking. “C’mon. We ‘ave band practice.”

“Olleh, why the fuck would Tom need girl help?” Matt was pissed. He stood there in disbelief that Tom would need help with something he was so good at.

“It’s a long story. ‘Ll tell you on the way there,” Oliver said as he continued walking. Matt speed-walked to catch up with Oliver. There were snow flurries falling from the sky, and by the time they reached the ground, they melted. They were in the middle of a suburb, walking to Matt’s house for band practice in a lovely afternoon in November.

“So what’s up with Tom? “ Matt asked. He finally calmed down from his minor freak out about two seconds before. Oliver looked over at him with the most serious face Matt had ever seen cross his face.

“Tom can’t get this one girl.” His voice was monotone and serious. This was shocking news to Matt. What made it so hard now that he couldn’t get this one girl?

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but every time ‘e’s asked ‘er to hang out with ‘im, she’d shut ‘im out. Every time ‘e’s talked to ‘er, she kept ‘er sentences short and if it was able to be answered with a ‘ead shake, she would do that. I don’t know why she won’t give ‘im a chance,” Oliver explained. He’s tried everything in his power without actually talking to the girl to help Tom in his conquest. Neither boy knew how hard it would be just to get Lucytania to agree to hang out with Tom. Matt kept quiet and in thought. He already could tell that this girl was different for Tom. Usually after being rejected two times, he would give up, but he didn’t this time. He kept asking and bugging her.

It wasn’t too long before they finally reached Matt’s house. Neither boy has spoken a word since Oliver explained Tom’s situation. Matt didn’t even really know what to say to Tom’s predicament.

“’Ey guys. Ready?” Lee said as they walked into the garage. They both shrugged their shoulders, and band practice proceeded.

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About an hour or so of band practice, they decided to leave it with what they had until tomorrow for more band practice. Oliver walked back home. He was trying to come up with ideas of how to get Lucytania to give Tom a chance, and it was harder than someone could even imagine. He reached home within minutes and saw that Tom hadn’t moved a muscle since Oliver had left home.

“’Aven’t moved an inch, ‘ave yeh?” Tom shrugged his shoulders and went back to his television viewing and glumly mood. “So, ‘ow was hangin’ out with Lucy?” Oliver asked him kindly. He wasn’t trying to push any information out of him if Tom didn’t want to share about it, but it would’ve been nice of Tom to answer.

“It was okay. We just cleaned the ‘ole day. I asked her if I could take her to dinner as a thank you for letting me come over, but she denied me,” Tom whispered all in one breath. He breathed in before continuing, “’M seriously starting to give up on ‘er, Olleh. I don’t get why she can’t let me in.”

“Give ‘er some more time. She’ll come around. We both know yeh can get ‘er!” It was starting to really piss off Oliver how hard he’s making it seem to get her. It couldn’t be that hard to get this one girl.

“Olleh, I’ve been tryin’ since September to get ‘er. ‘M not doing something right. I ‘ave to ‘ave been given her enough space, so it doesn’t seem like ‘M tryin’ to be some sort of a creep. ‘Ve tried everything, Olleh. I just don’t know anymore!” Tom nearly screamed at the top of his lungs, but controlled himself so he didn’t have to have mum walk in and have her start at him.

Oliver stayed silence. He knew exactly what Tom was going through. He did the same thing for a girl a long time ago when he was Tom’s age. She just didn’t want Oliver no matter how much he tried. He looked back in through his memory in disappointment in himself. Tom never knew about this girl. Oliver would rather not tell Tom that there might not even be a chance with Lucytania, completely throwing him out of the race like he already seems to be doing. “Well, don’t give up just yet. Give ‘er another week or so. She’ll come around,” Oliver said to him. He wanted to help his brother obtain the girl he could obtain he was young.

“I don’t know, Olleh. I mean, she did say to ask ‘er tomorrow about hanging out with ‘er or take ‘er to dinner or whateveh,” Tom said to him, crossing his arms in front of him. He was paying more attention to the television than to his own brother, who was trying to be as helpful as he could be. It was rare for Oliver to want to help Tom with anything. It wasn’t because Oliver didn’t want to be helpful or anything, but he thought that Tom would be able to handle whatever he got himself into.

“Well, then, ask ‘er tomorrow.”

Tom looked over at him. Both boys were now paying attention to each other. Tom scratched his nose swiftly before saying, “I might.” He shrugged his shoulders and went back to the programme.

The boys stayed quiet. Neither of them said anything to each other for the rest of the night until Oliver was heading off for bed himself. “’Ey. I hope yeh know tomorrow’s meh last day ‘ome. I’d like it if yeh’d be ‘ome for a little bit tomorrow, so I could at least see meh little brotheh before the band and I shoved off,” he said, standing in the doorway. “Do yeh wanna call ‘er now and see if she’d like to come over to the house for a little bit, then after I leave, yeh two can go off and do whateveh?” Oliver said to him kindly.

“Tha’d be nice of yeh, Olleh,” Tom smiled at him. He picked up the phone and dialed Lucytania’s number and hoped for an answer. Ring… Ring… Ring… It took a few seconds before the answering machine kicked on and said, “Yeh’ve reached the Bostwick house. Leave a message.”

“’Ey, Lucy. When yeh get this, call back, all righ’? ‘Ll see yeh soon. Night,” He said before hanging up the phone. “Got the answering machine.”

Oliver rolled his eyes at his brother, “So I could ‘ear. Well, when yeh find out, let meh know. G’night, Tommeh. See yeh in the mornin’.”

“G’night, Olleh.”

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The next morning came in a flash. It came faster than any morning had ever come before to Tom Sykes in his life. The sun was bright and vibrant, intensifying every color in his bedroom. Tom’s eyes shot open, but immediately squinted from the brilliant light. He rubbed his eyes and started his thought process of the day. The first thing he wanted to do before doing anything at all was take a shower. He felt disgusting, although he had just taken a shower the night before. He really didn’t feel like doing anything today.

He thought about how it was Oli’s last night home ‘til after Christmas. Tom didn’t want him to go since it wouldn’t be Christmas without him. Tom swiftly moved from his bed to the bathroom. He peeled off last night’s clothing and jumped into the shower. He flinched for a second when the cold water splashed against his back, but then slowly adapted to the warming water. He scraped off the scum he collected from rolling around in his bed the night before with his wash cloth. He quickly slicked the soap suds from his body and shut off the shower. Within minutes of his shower, he was dressed and ready for his day, although his head was still soaking wet.

“’Ey, Tom. Yeh gonna ‘ang out with meh and the guys today?” Oliver asked Tom, sneaking in from the doorway. Tom jumped a bit from not noticing his brother come in, but then returned to normal.

Oliver looked like he just rolled out of bed. His hair was everywhere, and he was still wearing the clothes he wore from the night before. Tom nodded his head, “Yeah. ‘M plannin’ on it.” Neither boy knew what the rest of the band wanted to do on their last day home before tour.

Oliver escaped back over to his own bedroom. His room was absolutely trashed beyond trashed. There were food scraps everywhere, and so many dirty clothes on the floor, you could barely see it. His room was dark, not because the walls were a dark color, but because he left the blinds down all the time. He didn’t need some creepy stalker from his past, looking in his room at nighttime.

Oliver started to undress himself from the clothes he ended up passing out from smoking too much marijuana and being tired at the same time. He could still smell the sweet scent of the grass smoked last night. He inhaled a breath of it, taking in all its sweet essence. He pulled his clothes on after he undressed himself the whole way. He didn’t bother with a shower and decided that he would get one later on that night.

SJ was lying on his bed. She was completely out from last night. He decided it wouldn’t hurt for a moment to lay with her for a moment. He crawled over to the side where her back was facing and wrapped his arms around her. She stirred for a moment, but then fell back into her sleep. Oliver pressed his face into her long, blonde, curly hair. She didn’t have it straightened because she knew she was just going over to Oliver’s for the night, and he didn’t really care if she had straight or curly hair.

“I know yer not sleepin’, SJ. Yeh can’t fool meh that much!” He whispered in her ear. He slowly stroked his fingers against the soft skin of her belly. His touch against her skin became rougher and rougher ‘til SJ kept giggling. “Aha! I found yeh out!”

“Yer such an arse, Olleh!” She said turning towards him and placing a soft kiss on his lips.

“I know, doll.”