Hello Sheffield

Goshen, New York.
Population: My mother.

If I was being honest, all I’d felt since we left the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton after Bring Me The Horizon’s set was dread.

I drove the hour and a half from Scranton, Pennsylvania to my hometown. I didn’t need a map or a GPS; I’d made the drive a thousand times and then some with my friends while I was in high school.

As the car sped closer and closer to the town, my sense of dread increased as did Oli’s soothing words of reassuring. It wouldn’t be hard for a stranger to sense the tension in the car. Oliver could see my knuckles whitening on the steering wheel.

“We’re here,” I said in a steely voice. It was one of the first things I’d said since we’d gone over the New York state line. The drive to my hometown was only half an hour from there.

“It’s pretty,” he commented. It was pretty. The trees were lush and green, the sidewalks taken care of; the center of town’s horse fountain was surrounded by colorful flowers and watched over by the huge Presbyterian Church.

It was beautiful here. I’d walked through the small, graceful town every summer since I was 12. I’d looked up at the colorful buildings from the 19th century hundreds of times and bought food from the local café and restaurants thousands. However, the place still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Yeah, it is,” I agreed hesitantly. He curled his fingers over my hand which was clamped on the steering wheel. He peeled my fingers off of the wheel and kissed my fingers lightly before lacing ours together.

I glanced over at him and smiled, my nerves settling slightly. It was odd to see him with my too fancy town as a backdrop. This was a town full of gossip, rumors, and stoners that thought this was the city.

“There’s no need to be nervous love. We can always leave if yeh want to and we can walk around here if yeh need a breather,” he gestured with his hand to the town square. I smiled gratefully and nodded.

At least he wasn’t being overly optimistic.

It wasn’t long before I was pulling into the familiar neighborhood; a mix of well-kept, middle class houses. After taking an immediate left and stopping at number 3 to pull into the driveway behind my mother’s Lexus, my nerves shot to an all time high and were then replaced with full out dread.

I let out a small sigh and then shut off the car. Oli got out smoothly and waited for me to open the trunk before pulling out the small duffle bag I’d brought. Both of our clothes were in there. He took my hand as we walked up to the house.

The house looked the same as ever. The lawn in front of the white house was manicured perfectly, the small bushes and garden under the black shutters well arranged. We stepped onto the porch (my mother had put out the nice chairs, I noticed) and before we could knock, the red door was opening.

“Hi Dad,” I breathed out in relief. My dad’s face crinkled into a big smile and I felt myself relaxing. He pushed open the screen and wrapped me in a hug. He smelled nice, like a weekend up at our vacation house in Windham. “It’s good to see you.”

“Oh, you sound like a Brit now, don’t you?” he said, pulling me out to arms length so he could give me a once over. I was wearing dark skinny jeans, flip flops, and a denim button down. My hair was up high in a bun. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Dad, this is Oli,” I reached out for my boyfriend, touching his arm and running my hand down to hold his. “Oli, this is my dad.”

Oli reached out his hand and shook my father’s with vigor. I smiled slightly as I saw my dad nod as he took in Oli. I knew my dad would like him. He was never one to believe in tattoos (which Oli certainly had a lot of) but he also was never one to judge a book by its cover (or its Internet articles).

“It’s nice to meet yeh sir,” he said. My dad rolled his eyes.

“I’m Steven, you should call me that. My wife is probably going to insist on Mrs. Marshall though, she’s certainly been stressing about it all day,” he mumbled, shaking his head.

“Steven,” my mother’s stern voice came from inside the house, “It’s rude to leave guests on the porch.”

“I’m not a guest Mom,” I said as she appeared in the doorway, “I’m your kid.”

“Olivia, it’s so nice to see you,” she didn’t bother with a hug and turned her attention to Oli. “This must be Oliver.”

Walking around public places with Oli usually garnered unwanted attention. Not always from dedicated fans either. We usually got more than our fair share of disapproving glances from the towns’ elderly.

The look my mother gave him though, was enough to give him pause. Her frosty gaze made him lean back. She was appraising him coldly and calculating in her mind. I took the time to look her over.

She was dressed in white slacks and a beige cardigan buttoned fully. Pearls were strung around her neck and her hair being in a bun similar to mine made me itch to pull my hair down. I wanted to roll my eyes at her striking formality. At least my dad had gotten the picture in a nice pair of jeans and normal green t-shirt.

“It’s a pleasure to meet yeh Mrs. Marshall,” Oli finally said, reaching out to shake her hand. This seemed to please her for now, though none of us missed her disdainful glance at Oli’s tattooed hand in her plain one.

“You too, surely. Now let’s come inside, get all settled. Your sister will be here soon,” she said, leading us all inside. It was as it always was. Stairs leading up and down stairs, the kitchen and living room at the top, and the bedrooms down the hall to the left.

“Yeh have a lovely home,” Oli said to no one in particular. My mother smiled warmly (for an ice queen, that is) at him.

“Thank you, that is so nice. Isn’t he a nice boy Steven?”

“Yes quite, Maryann.”

We stood awkwardly between the kitchen and the hallway. It was genuinely odd to be back in this house, even if I’d only been out of it for about seven months. I wasn’t sure whether to behave like an adult or a child.

“I’m showing Oli my old room, okay? When’s Lily getting here?”

“Oh, probably an hour; she hit some traffic from Connecticut because she left late. Her and Jack only just got back from Martha’s Vineyard late last night,” my mother said. I rolled my eyes.

“Well that’s simply splendid! I’ll give Oli the grand tour while we wait for Her Highness then. Is she bringing the King or…?” I asked sarcastically. It was my mother’s turn to roll her eyes.

“No, Jack had business to tend to in Boston so he had to stay behind.”

I frowned and clicked my tongue. “A shame.” I smiled tightly and then turned down the hallway, dragging Oli with me. My old bedroom was at the end of the hall and I sighed in relief when I opened the door.

The walls were still green and the layout was exactly as I’d left it. Black bookshelves, my bed, and my desk were all bare. I’d brought most of my belongings with me to Sheffield. Oli dropped the bag and flopped onto the bed.

“That didn’t go so bad,” he said optimistically. His facial expression clued me in to his sarcasm. I giggled and shrugged, opening the closet doors to see my mom’s new storage facility.

“She’s infuriating, to say the least,” I said, slamming the closet door shut. “She thinks she’s Martha Stewart or something, only without the cookies and false pretense of being loving.”

“Hm, well, your dad seems cool,” he offered, sitting up and cocking his head to the left. His legs dangled off the edge of the bed and I stepped between them. His hands ran up and down my sides while I let my arms rest on his shoulders.

“Wait till you meet my sister, that’s gonna be fun.”

It wouldn’t be fun at all. In fact, I was mildly sure that she would be the one to show open hostility toward my boyfriend. Lily wasn’t exactly a clone of my mother; she had a mind of her own. That mind, however, wasn’t necessarily an open one.

She had a passion for politics and a compulsion for organization. She liked routines, patterns, and math for Christ’s sake. Needless to say, the complete and utter chaos and complete lack of order that was Oliver Sykes would stress her to the maximum.

I loved my sister but with our personalities being completely opposite, there had never really been a bond between us.

“Nah, my dad’s cool. Maybe not as cool as Ian but, he’s cool,” I said, pulling on the ends of his hair absentmindedly. He hummed contently.

“I didn’t know I’d meet your sister. Is she, uh, like your mum?”

“If you’re asking if she’s gonna be rude and obnoxious, then no, she’s nothing like my mom.” I wasn’t lying. Lily wouldn’t like Oliver but she’d know he was perfect for me and so she’d be respectful, to a degree. “She might make some comments.”

“I can handle it for yeh love,” he said sweetly and I smiled, leaning down and pressing a small kiss to his lips. He smiled up at me when I pulled away and then leaned back on the bed, pulling me down with him. “So, this is where all the magic happened then?”

“I guess you could say that,” I responded, chuckling, “Though I didn’t have much of a social life until I popped over to a different continent. My seventeen year old self wasn’t really a social butterfly.”

Most of my personal belongings were gone. The only things that remained of my former life was the furniture and the wall color.

“If you want, I can show you the one place in the world that I’ve always loved, at least, around here,” I offered. He nodded eagerly and I bounced off the bed, taking his hands and pulling him up with me.

“Mom! Dad!” I yelled as we walked down the hallway, “I’m gonna go show Oli the park, be back soon!”

There were different noises of approval which made me feel young again. It was a gorgeous day outside and I wrapped my fingers in Oli’s, leading him strongly toward the park that was just a short walk from my house.

I’d spent countless summers there; smoking with friends and sitting silently alone. It was one of those few places that felt like home to me. It was one of the only places I missed.

The playground was full of children and their parents but I steered us away from them and into the small woods. If you followed the path through and went through the soccer and baseball fields, there was a large Weeping Willow with a small bench underneath.

“Wow, this is gorgeous,” Oli breathed when he saw it. A slight breeze ran through the fronds of the tree as if on cue. I smiled at it and then pushed him toward it. He looked slightly confused.

“I wanna see my favorite person in the world in my favorite place in the world,” I explained. He grinned widely and then turned to walk underneath the tree. My heart beat painfully because he looked so beautiful in the moment.

“Come here Liv,” he called to me. I walked over and sat on the bench. I’d spent so many days here, doing so many different things. Oli sat next to me and we sat quietly for a few minutes. “I need to talk to yeh about somethin’.”

“Yeah?” I turned my attention to him fully. His tone was light and heavy simultaneously and my heart went into overdrive. He looked serious and Oliver rarely ever looked serious.

“Well, I just need to say somethin’ really,” he swallowed and played with my fingers, “It’s important. Um, I just feel like we’ve been such great friends for so long and then we started datin’ and that was one of the best days of my life.”

“It was the best day I’ve had in years,” I agreed, smiling. I loved when Oli was sweet.

“I just, yeh’re so important to me Liv and yeh really have changed my life, for the better and I love yeh. I love yeh so much I can’t not say it any longer.”

I lost my breath for a second. I couldn’t have contained the huge, shit-eating grin that came next. I lunged at my boyfriend, kissing him as enthusiastically and passionately as I could muster. He chuckled as I pulled away.

“I love you too Oliver, more than I could ever imagine.”

“That is exactly what I wanted to hear,” he said quietly into my ear. I could feel the smile on his face as he gently kissed my neck. I sighed contently as the wind ruffled our hair. He pulled me into his lap and I rested my head on his shoulder, pressing small kisses to his neck every once in a while.

“I could stay here forever,” he said. I hummed in agreement.

If only we could have.