Drop Dead.

Oliver didn’t come back to the apartment for a while and I was elated. I was happiest when he wasn’t around.

Lies, my mind scolded. You’re happiest when you’re kissing him. I cut my thoughts off at that point. I had forced my heart into believing that I was happiest when I was nowhere near Oliver and I was dead-set on keeping it that way. Melanie still knew nothing, but time was running out before my word vomit came out and I had a new ex-best friend for a roommate. However, I had an idea to wait until Oliver was there as well, so that I wasn’t the only one taking the fall.

That scenario continued to play in my head. Melanie would shun me for a good month or so, she’d break up with Oliver, therefore dismissing any reason for him and me to see each other, and after Mel emerged from her slump, we’d be closer than ever with nothing but a silly story to laugh about.

I had my chance when Oliver came to pick Melanie up for a date. He was dressed up – well, as dressed up as Oliver Sykes could be – and waiting by the front door for her. I was in the living room watching Ellen DeGeneres. Melanie came out of her bedroom in a nice pair of white slacks and a dressy blue top and black boots.

“Wait, Mel!” I called before she and Oliver could walk out the front door. They both turned their heads to look at me. I got up off the couch and strode over to them, stopping just before Melanie. She looked beautiful tonight, her hair slightly curled and her makeup perfect. Her slender hand was clasped tightly in Oliver’s and they were both staring at me, but in two different ways.

Melanie’s gaze was curious, her eyes slightly narrowed and her eyebrows raised. Oliver, however, was pleading with his eyes, begging me not to tell her.

This was my chance and my head yearned to take it. But one look in Oliver’s eyes forbid me from doing so and I sighed. I ran a hand through my hair and looked back at Mel.

“Yeh look beautiful. Have fun tonight, yeah?” I chose instead. Melanie smiled and let go of Oliver’s hand to hug me tightly.

“Thank yeh, Char. David’ll be back soon, yeah? We should double.” She grinned at me as she pulled away and when normally I’d be beaming at the mention of David, now I just felt guilty as hell. But I plastered the smile on and nodded as enthusiastically as I could.

I glanced once more back at Oliver and he looked utterly relieved. I glared but hid it when Melanie looked back at me. She took his hand again and then they were gone, and I was left alone.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed loudly, allowing my fist to make contact with the wall. Damn Oliver and his manipulating gaze. Damn my inability to keep my eyes off him. If I hadn’t looked at him...

There was plenty of time to reprimand myself for failing to tell Melanie the honest-to-God truth, but clearly it would have to wait until a time when Oliver wasn’t around – otherwise I’d never come out with it. The way his eyes seemed to suddenly grow larger and more pitiful, like Puss in Boots from Shrek, made words escape me. He had that way about him that shocked me to silence, made it almost painful for me to force words out of my mouth. But this was something that had to be done. Hell, it should have been done the first time it happened, at David’s parents’ house in the bathroom.

I spent the rest of the evening going over, in my head, exactly what I would say to Melanie once I got the chance. Each time though, Oliver’s face reared its ugly head and I couldn’t continue. Finally, around eleven, I gave up and figured I’d sleep on it.

But I couldn’t sleep either. I spent hours tossing and turning and when I looked over at the clock, it read 1:13 in the morning. Groaning, I stuffed my face in the pillow and threw a punch into the mattress. Damn you, Oliver Sykes.