Hello Sheffield

Getting out of bed the next morning was a motherfucker.

Oli had been all over me last night; his possessive, overprotective side coming out. I didn’t really mind it. He sat with me while I called the insurance company, lay his head on my lap while we watched a movie, and smothered me while we slept. It was truly adorable.

I could barely stand to untangle myself from his arms to get ready for work. I did though, taking a quick shower and getting dressed. My life had such a routine and I was starting to get used to that. Oskar pranced around my feet in the kitchen as I searched the pantry for food.

“I’m gonna step on you and you’re gonna get hurt pup,” I scolded him, nudging his little body with my foot. I sighed and closed the pantry, deciding just to take an apple. I hadn’t eaten properly since I came home to find my house destroyed.

The whole thing disgusted me.

I got in my car and leaned my head back against the seat. I was really tired lately. The morning was quiet and my phone’s vibrating broke that. I sighed when I saw my mom was calling. I started up the car before picking up.

“Hi Mom,” I said, trying to sound cheerful.

“Hello Olivia, how are you?” she asked briskly. Her personality was charming.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Wonderful. I’ve been meaning to ask you when you’re going to come home for a visit.”

My mother loved to get right to the point during our phone calls. I usually didn’t mind, seeing as it got me off the phone faster. I sped down the road, chewing my lip.

“Well, I’m not too sure. I have work until August rolls around,” I said. She sighed.

“It would be nice to see you though so I’ll look at flights in August then?” she asked. That definitely wouldn’t work. Everyone would be coming home from Warped in August, how could I leave?

“You can look, but don’t buy a ticket okay? Just send me the link to the flight, alright?”

“Yes, yes alright. I’ll talk to you later.”

I groaned and dropped my phone into the passenger seat. Nothing good was on the radio this early and I was left to deal with my thoughts in silence. Now I had to worry about my mother hounding me for visits back home.

I pulled into the driveway of Mia’s house and took a deep breath. Now I had to entertain a toddler for 8 hours. I didn’t completely mind but after the day I had yesterday, I could have used some rest. I forced myself out of the car and up to the door and to ring the bell.

Christie answered the door, looking more stressed than I felt. Her usually perfect hair seemed frazzled and her eyes were tired. A cigarette hung at her chapped lips, which was something I’d never seen before. She didn’t smile or let me in.

Instead, she stepped outside.

“Liv, I’m kind of in an awkward place here and I need to talk to you about something,” she said, shutting the front door gently. I stepped back to make room for her and then knit my eyebrows together in confusion.

“Sure, what is it?” I asked, nervousness shooting through my veins.

“Well, Daniel told me that you and him were friends before you started working here. That’s true right?”

I nearly rolled my eyes. I should have known he would have said something. Even more I should have known he would have said something to Christie.

“Yeah, we hung out a little bit,” I answered, gulping harshly.

“He told me that you two had a falling out or something yesterday and I mean, he told me that you were yelling at him and that you slapped him. Is that true?” she persisted, taking a long drag from her cigarette.

“That is true yes but he was obviously fighting with me as we-”

“You slapped him in my kitchen in front of Mia?”

“No! No, of course not. Well, yes, it was in the kitchen but Mia was in the other room.”

“Listen Liv, this really sucks. I’ve had a talk with Josh about this and it seems that really the only thing I can do here is let you go. I mean, you’re honestly the best nanny we’ve had and all but Daniel’s family is close with Josh’s family and Mia can’t be exposed to this.”

My heart sank and tears welled up behind my eyes. She wasn’t really saying this. A car passed by and I watched it before looking at her sympathetic eyes. I shook my head and then took another step back.

“Please, please let me explain. The circumstances…”

“The circumstances are regrettable and I’m sorry Liv, but you’re fired,” she said gently. She squeezed my arm gently with her lips in a sympathetic line before stepping into the house and leaving me on the porch. I choked back a sob and rushed down the stairs to my car.

Daniel was right; he would ruin my life.

I couldn’t help the tears once I was alone in my car. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Oli’s number. It was early still, so it took a few times before he finally answered. When I heard his sleepy voice, I cried out.

“Oli!” I cried, breaking down as he repeatedly asked me what was wrong. I rested my head on the steering wheel and listened to him getting out of bed and rummaging for clothes.

“Olivia, what’s wrong baby? Yeh have to stop cryin’ and tell me,” he coaxed. I breathed in shallow breaths and tried to choke it out.

“They fired me! Christie just fired me because Daniel said I hit him and yelled at him in front of Mia. She was in the other room Oli, she was! I’m not lying oh my God!”

Misery washed over me completely then. I loved that job. I loved that little girl. I loved getting up in the morning to go watch cartoons and make her breakfast. I started up my car.

“That fucking prick! I swear to fucking god I will bash his fucking thick skull into a concrete wall. Goddammit! Olivia, listen to me, come straight home and stay here alright?”

“Oliver, what are you doing?” I asked, hyper aware that calling him probably hadn’t been the smartest idea. I wiped away my tears and tried to figure out what to say to calm him down.

“I’m goin’ to kill that fuckin’ arse!” he growled impatiently, “Come the fuck home and stay the fuck home, yeh understand?”

“But Oli this isn’t—”

“Do yeh fuckin’ understand me?!” he roared and I shrank in my seat. I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me.

“Yes,” I said in a quiet voice and I heard him hang up. Immediately I was dialing Matty. I understood what Oli said. He told me to go home and not interfere. He never told me I couldn’t call anyone else to interfere.

As rockstars are generally used to sleeping until well past noon, Matt Nicholls didn’t pick up his phone. I cursed and looked up at the house. Christie was watching me from the window with a concerned look on her face. I glared at her and then started up the car and backed out of the driveway.

Speeding down the road at a dangerous pace, I found Jona’s number in my phone and called him. The longer it rang, the more frustrated I got and I found myself cursing into the phone. When I called the second time, he picked up.

“Jona! It’s Liv. Listen, I dunno if Oli told you about the fight I had with Daniel yesterday at my work but I just found out that I’m fired because of it and then I called Oli all upset and I honestly, truly believe that if he finds Daniel right now that he will kill him. Please, please help me!”

“Well, good mornin’ to yeh too Liv. I’ll go lookin’ for him. Any idea where he might be?” he asked.

I listed a few places Oli might look.

“Alright, do me a quick favor and keep callin’ some of the guys to come help me? If he’s as angry as yeh say I might need some help.”

“Sure thing Jona. Thanks so much, you’re an angel.”

I was pulling into Oli’s driveway before I got in touch with any of the guys. Vegan was the first to pick up and as he was with Lee, it made for easy communication. I sat on the couch in the living room, stroking Zeus, as I called Matty and Becca compulsively.

I was panicking. I was so scared that Oliver was going to do something beyond horrible. Sure, I believed Daniel deserved everything he got but I didn’t want Oli to get hurt or in trouble. I threw my phone on the couch and then followed it, burying my face in the cushion.

It was an hour and a half before the door opened. That hour and a half was filled with lip-biting, nail-chewing, feeling-eating panic. I cried, I yelled, I hit my head on random objects; it was stunning, really.

Oli stumbled in with bloody knuckles and a huge red mark on his face. Jona was behind him, rolling his eyes. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed my face and kissed me hard on the mouth.

“What did you do?” I asked sadly, holding his hand in mine.

“He fuckin’ drove around like a maniac, found the creep at the car dealership, walked in there like he owned the place, and very nearly punched his fuckin’ lights out, he did. The kid only got one hit in before I pulled him away. Oli screamed his fuckin’ lungs out at the kid too, damn,” Jona said, looking in the fridge for a beer.

I rubbed my forehead stressfully and then pulled Oliver by his hand toward the bathroom. Jona followed us with his beer bottle, chugging half of it as he walked. I sat Oli down on the toilet and looked for peroxide to wash out the small cuts on his knuckles. Jona leaned on the bathroom’s door frame to watch.

I knelt down in front of my boyfriend and started dabbing his small wounds with peroxide-soaked cotton balls. He hissed slightly when it bubbled. Jona left, muttering something about needing more sleep. I pulled Oliver back to the kitchen so I could put ice on his face.

“Honestly Oli, you don’t need to beat up every person that does something bad to me,” I said, somewhat frustrated that he’d gotten hurt. I wrapped some frozen vegetables in a paper towel and turned to him.

“Yes I do,” he said quietly. I rolled my eyes and brushed the red area of his cheek gently. I placed the vegetables on his face gently, holding it there.

“I don’t need you to be protective of me Oliver. I can handle myself.”

“When my girl, the only person that I care about more than the world itself, calls me cryin’ about some asshole that not only helped destroy her house but got her fired from her job, it’s my fuckin’ job to make him wish he was never born,” he said stubbornly.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach. I rested my head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around my waist, reaching his other hand up to hold the vegetables to his face. I sighed contently and wrapped my arms around his thin waist.

“Yeh mean everythin’ to me Liv, and it’s my job to protect yeh and make sure no one ever hurts yeh,” he whispered. I turned my head and kissed his neck gently. His hand tightened on my waist and I smirked, pressing gentle kisses along his neck and throat.

“I’m gonna go to sleep and pretend none of this happened for a little while okay babe?” I said, pulling away from him. He groaned and then nodded. Before I left the kitchen, I turned back. “Oli, thanks for this, you know?”

“For what?” he asked, his eyebrows knit together and his hair falling in his face perfectly.

“For being the best boyfriend in the history of anyone’s boyfriend ever,” I said, grinning.

“Yeh’re lame,” he said, rolling his eyes. I shrugged.

“You think it’s sexy,” I countered.

“Damn right I do.”

I rolled my eyes and went to the bedroom, stripping down and throwing on one of Oli’s shirts over my head. I crawled into the unmade bed on Oli’s side and hugged his pillows tightly.

I knew Daniel deserved the beating Oli gave him and part of me was happy he got it but the other half was unsettled that Daniel even needed to get hit in the first place. It hurt that he would turn on me like that.

On the other hand, it got Oli to spout his feelings about me and that made me feel great. I loved hearing Oli tell me that he liked me and generally just being adorable. It was weird seeing him go from full of rage to caring in just moments but I could hardly complain.

What seriously and totally worried me though, was the fact that I no longer had a job. Not only was that job easy and flexible, but it paid pretty well. Now I honestly had to figure out what to do.

Even worse than that I had no excuse to tell my mom I couldn’t visit.
Which made me think…

“Oli!” I screamed, sitting up in bed and nearly having a heart attack. He was at the door in an instant and I stood up on the bed motioning for him to come closer. He watched me carefully as he walked in the room. I stood precariously at the edge of the bed. “Okay so, I was thinking about how my mom called me this morning and asked me to visit and that the excuse was that I had work right?”

“Okay,” he said, still unsure where I was going with this.

“Well, then I was moping about how I don’t have a job and that I need one and all this shit when I thought about it! I can come on Warped now!”

Watching his face light up with understanding was probably the cutest thing I’d ever seen. He grabbed me around my waist and put me on the floor so he could wrap his arms around me and kiss my face. I giggled as his lips touched every inch of my face.

“I’m so fuckin’ excited, yeh have no idea. I honestly didn’t know what I was gonna do without yeh for two months.”

I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him. It was amazing to be able to call him my boyfriend and even more amazing to kiss him whenever I wanted.

“C’mere, I’m gonna make yeh some food. Yeh want some food babe?” he asked. I shrugged and let him lead me to the kitchen. I sat down at the counter and watched as he looked through the cabinets and refrigerator. I laughed as he struggled to put ingredients together.

“Do yeh want salad? I can make a mean salad,” he assured me, “I’ll make yeh a salad.”

True to his word, he made me a salad. I watched him slice cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and onions before placing them in the lettuce he watched. He claimed that his mom had given him a special dressing which was basically just oil, lemon juice, and garlic salt. I didn’t tell him that my mom used that too.

“Thank you baby,” I said sweetly as he placed it in front of me. I leaned up and kissed his lips gently. He sat with me while I ate, picking cucumbers off my plate and telling me dumb jokes in an attempt to make me laugh.

“You know, you’re not as bad ass as everyone thinks you are,” I stated breezily. He raised an eyebrow. I smiled innocently.

“Come again?”

“You heard me. You’re not all intimidating and scary like everyone cracks you up to be.”

He watched me intently before smirking. He let out a low growl from the back of his throat and reached his arms out to grab me. I yelped and jumped from the stool, running around the room.

He chased me around the living room and down the hall. I ran into the bedroom and he tackled me lightly onto the bed, hovering over me with an eyebrow raised. I laughed and hit his chest playfully. Oskar ran in, yapping and jumping on and off the bed.

“Yeh were sayin’?” he asked.

“That you aren’t scary at all?” I repeated innocently and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeh’re lucky yeh’re beautiful or I’d show yeh my scary side.”

I leaned up and kissed him before crawling out from under him. He watched as I spread myself out on the bed and smirked at him.

“I know one side of you that you can show me,” I said.

He shooed the dog out and shut the door.