Hello Sheffield

I woke up at two in the afternoon to someone pounding on my front door.

While not the most pleasant way to be awoken, I was thankful. Tom got up four times since we’d said goodbye to the guys to throw up. I’d only had to once, and my chest seemed to swell with pride at that idea as I trudged down the stairs to the door.

Kate was standing in the doorway, looking somewhat aggravated. She had a cigarette hanging out of her stained red lips and she too, seemed to be fighting a horrible, pulsating.

“About bleedin’ time! I almost fucking died out here,” she said. It seemed louder than it actually was and I shook my head, stepping aside so she could enter.

“Shut the fuck up. I feel like I’m dying here, okay?” She gave me a knowing glance.

“Ah, yeh’re in the same boat as me then.”

She’d definitely been partying. Her hair was a mess and her outfit was askew. I didn’t even want to ask her how she managed to get here. I went back to the stairs.

“Do what you want, I’m going back to bed. There’ll be three of us when you come up but we should all fit,” I said, climbing the stairs. She was immediately at my side, coming up with me.

“Who’s in there?” she asked excitedly, “Did yeh, well, you know?” I rolled my eyes.

“It’s just Tom.”

“Just Tom? I’m flattered,” he said sarcastically, as we entered the room.

Instead of answering I pushed him over and got in the middle. Kate pulled off her shoes and her tight jeans before getting in next to me. Like I’d predicted it was tight, but it was cozy.

When we woke up two and a half hours later, we were all spooning each other. We all laughed and lay in bed talking for a while. It was comfortable.

“So, what’re we doing tonight?” Kate asked, looking over at me and Tom with a smirk. I grinned.

“Embrace?” Tom suggested. Kate and I glanced at each other and nodded. I loved that club, seriously. My stomach gave a lurch at the idea of drinking again, but I was still excited to get dressed up and go. It was enough to get me out of bed.

I didn’t feel woozy at all, and went immediately into the bathroom. I stepped into the shower and tried to drown myself in the hot water. As I dried my hair, Kate showered. Tom, apparently, was making ‘breakfast’.

I changed into jeans and a t-shirt and sat down to put on my eye makeup before I went downstairs. As it turned out, ‘breakfast’ was chips and salsa and a suggestion to go to the same restaurant we went to when I met him. I shrugged and agreed as he trudged up to take a shower.

I was delighted to find that there was absolutely no cat urine on any of my floors, and congratulated my kitten by giving him extra food. I put away the dishes we’d left out last night and found that the boys had cleaned up pretty much everything else, which was a pleasant surprise.

“Tom says we’re goin’ to some restaurant?” Kate asked as she entered the kitchen. She picked up Zeus and sat at the table, gently patting his back. I shrugged and leaned back against the counter.

“I guess so. I’m starving anyway and I feel kind of weird.”

Tom walked in, wearing the jeans he’d worn last night and an old concert shirt of mine. I’d bought an oversized one and it fit him big, just like it did on me. Tom was slender in any case and I was sure he’d fit in my pants too, if not a little tightly. His hair was still wet but he didn’t seem to care as he was on the phone.

“Alrigh’ yeah. I’ll put her on the phone,” he paused, “Well, yeh could have called her phone in the first place yeh know. Yeah, well, it’s bloody nice talking to yeh as well.” He handed me the phone with an aggravated air.

“It’s Oli.”

I took the phone from an aggravated Tom and looked at it quizzically. He could have called me on my Blackberry. I brought the phone up to my ear and answered.

“Hey Oli. What’s up?” I asked.

“Liv, it’s nice to hear yer voice,” he said, I blushed and looked at the floor, “I’ve been tryna get in touch with yeh for a few hours now actually.”

“Yeah, why didn’t you just call my phone?” I asked, leaning against the counter as Tom and Kate watched me.

“Well, at first, I was but see, for some odd reason, Lee pulled yer Blackberry out of his pocket.” My heart sank and I rolled my eyes, sighing. I couldn’t go a whole month without my Blackberry. Hell, I couldn’t go a fucking week without it, especially not living alone.

“Well, where are you guys now?”

“Well, we’ve been in Bristol all day. It’s a three hour drive from home.”

“Fuck,” I hissed. I glanced at Kate and Tom and then down at Zeus. “Oli, does your mum happen to like cats?”

*

After Tom called his mother to ask her about Zeus, I went upstairs to pack an overnight bag for myself and Kate. I got some of Zeus’ things together and we drove over to Carol’s house. I begged him not to piss on her floors while Tom laughed at me.

She packed us chips and sandwiches while Tom changed into his own clothes. “Really now, it’s no problem at all. Oli will surely be happeh to see yeh,” she assured when I thanked her for the hundredth time.

That was how we came to be on the road, windows down and music blaring, on the way to Bristol.

“How far are we now?” Kate asked, popping her head up front from the backseat. She’d been asking every 20 minutes for the whole ride. At first, Tom complained to her and tried to stop it but he was beginning to answer her in a resigned voice.

“About an hour and a half still Kate,” he answered glumly, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. I snorted and changed the song. Blink-182 found its way through the speakers and I leaned back in the passenger seat and looked over at Tom.

Admittedly, Tom was very good-looking. He was sweet, funny, and easy to talk to. These thoughts, of course, I kept quiet. Usually.

“I’m friends with such pretty people now, y’know? All my friends in the US are ugly compared to you guys,” I said suddenly. Tom had an amused look on his face and Kate shoved her head between the seats again.

“Yes well, before yeh get all cocky Tom, I’d like to point out that I am 50% of the hotness quota, Oli is 49%, and yeh’re only 1%. I’m sorreh,” she said, patting his shoulder gently. I snorted.

“Oi, fuck off. I’ll kill yeh and make it look like an accident. Bloody arsehole,” he muttered. Kate and I started laughing as he grumbled under his breath at us.

“No but really, no matter the percentage, everyone in England is beautiful. It’s fuckin’ weird.”

They laughed and I sat back, content that we were going to see the guys. While I didn’t really miss them (yet) I’d be happier with a proper goodbye to all of them, instead of the early morning, half alive one I gave them this morning.

Driving with Tom and Kate was fun. We ate the food that Carol packed for us and sang along to our favorite songs and talked about stupid ideas on sex and drugs. It was funny, really, how hilarious our conversations were. We got to the venue an hour into the show. Tom called Oli, who said he was coming out to get us.

“You know what?” I said suddenly, standing straight from leaning against the building. Kate shrugged and Tom asked, “What?”

“This is my first ever Bring Me The Horizon show. I’ve only just realized.”

Tom snorted and Kate rolled her eyes. I was a sentimental person at best. I shoved my hands in my pockets and bounced on the balls of my feet, willing Oli to come faster. It wasn’t exactly warm outside.

“Hey guys,” Oli said from my left. I squealed and wrapped my arms around his neck. He chuckled and hugged me tightly as Kate and Tom sniggered in the background. I never noticed, but I was pathetically dependant on people.

Instead of being let go, Oli hoisted me over his shoulder. I was somewhat shocked, but at the same time, I was learning to let things go and just roll with it. Kate laughed and slapped my ass. I pointed a stern finger at her from my odd position.

“No touchy.”

Of course, that invited everyone present to touch my ass and I just shrugged. I hung limply over Oli, his bony shoulder digging into my stomach. I slapped his butt.

“Now really, I enjoy hanging upside down and staring at your butthole but honestly. The blood is rushing to my head.”

“Then we’d better be off. I’m late to my own set, how rude of me,” he said arrogantly. I could see the smirk on his face even without physically looking at it. He started walking in the direction he came from and led us through a gate and then into a door.

I heard heavy instruments playing and from my angle, lots of feet walking around. People laughed as he walked by. Kate and Tom were still behind us when I started realizing what was happening here.

“Oli, put me down,” I warned, tapping the back of his leg. He laughed.

“Are yeh ready to go on Liv?” he asked. I started banging on his leg with my fist. He just laughed and walked out on stage. I kicked my legs and flailed a little bit. The crowd went crazy when they saw him and, inevitably, me.

I gulped when I saw all the faces and flashes. Matty raised a drumstick in hello and I waved weakly. There was laughter from the crowd. Oli strutted towards the microphone and growled into it, “I want to see a fucking pit!”

I was sure from there, that exactly what he had asked for happened, as it got loud and a song I recognized started playing. Oli put me down, finally, and I glared at him. He smirked at me and left a kiss on my cheek. I glanced out at the crowd, who all looked very interested in this.

Instead of leaving, like a normal person, I decided that this would be a beyond interesting and incredibly fun time to mess around with my dear Oliver. As he glared out over the crowd, I grabbed him by the neck and pulled his face down to mine. Right before my lips touched his, I winked.

Kissing Oli was something I could get used to. He had intensely soft lips, which didn’t really surprise me, seeing as I took to watching them when he spoke to me. His hand found my waist but I pulled away. I saluted him, and dove into the crowd.

Crowd surfing was exhilarating, violating, and painful all at the same time. As Oli started screaming out the beginning lines of ‘It Never Ends,’ I found my way out of the crowd. Tom was waiting for me near the back, grinning and shaking his head.

“Yeh fuckin’ kiss him like that! Look, he’s still blushin’ like a little girl,” he yelled when we finally made it side stage. Kate just rolled her eyes and looked down at her phone, a small smile tugging on the corner of her mouth.

“I can’t believe yeh were crowd surfin’. It looked like a right good time,” Kate said, putting her phone away and looking up, grinning broadly now. I laughed and pushed her toward the stage.

“Do it bro, for real. It’s great.”

She backed up and shook her head at me. I laughed and rolled my eyes. Tom slung his arms around each of our shoulders and sighed happily. I leaned into him and smiled, watching as my friends ran around stage, head banging and cursing at the crowd.

It seemed shorter than it actually was, I’m sure. The fans in the crowd seemed to think so too. I grinned as each band member hugged me. Oli was the last off the stage and with a determined look on his face, he marched up to me and gripped my face in his hands.

His eyes seemed to scan my face, analyzing every detail. I felt like time was slowing and as if I was melting under his gaze. He lowered his lips down to mine just as my eyes slid shut. My hands ran up his body and I ran my fingers through his damp hair.

I didn’t care about anything but this kiss. I didn’t care that I thought I heard people talking and yelling in the background. I didn’t care that Oliver was somewhat sweaty. I just didn’t care.

His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush against him and my heart just flew out of my chest. If this was what heaven was like, I’d work my hardest to get there. I was kissing Oliver and that was all that mattered.

When he pulled away, I was dizzy. The room was spinning when I slid my eyes open and blinked at him. I grinned stupidly at him and then looked over at Kate who was clapping like an idiot. I rolled my eyes and leaned up on my toes to peck his lips one last time.

He smiled at me and I was almost as stunned as the first time I met him. I giggled and hugged him tightly. “I’ve been waiting for that one Olivia,” he whispered. I just held onto him even tighter. When he let go, Kate smacked my back and then hugged me.

The guys were all grumbling and laughing and hitting Oli playfully. I rolled my eyes and talked to Kate about how great the kiss was. Mostly I was sneaking looks over at Oli and smiling to myself.

Hey Lee!” I called. He looked over, confused. “Thanks for drunkenly stealing my Blackberry!”

On the inside, I was smothered by feelings of happiness. Ones that would be squashed as soon as their bus pulled out of the parking lot and Tom, Kate, and I found a room and stayed behind.