Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

It was amazing to me how complicated merch was, and just how easy it was to mess up.

I wasn't an idiot. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA in college and I had quite a bit of common sense. I wasn't, however, "street smart" as Ollie so kindly put it. He thought I was pretty naive, in the sense that if I were to go out into the middle of London at night alone I would probably get mugged, raped, or killed. I couldn't really argue, because the only late nights I experienced were always with friends in the middle of Boston.

Regardless, I wanted to prove him wrong. I wanted to show him I could do merch. So, we made a bet. A stupid bet probably, but a bet nonetheless.

As Ollie and I sat on the bus that night because neither of us could sleep, we were arguing over my independence. "I can do this," I argued stubbornly, stomping my foot for emphasis while we sat in the front lounge of the bus.

Ollie smiled and laughed gently. "Love, you couldn't do this alone if your life depended on it."

"Really now? Want to bet on that?"

His grin grew. He knew what I was implying. "You know I do."

"Fine," I said shortly. "Let me handle merch tomorrow. You only come and help if there are too many kids for one to handle."

"And if you fuck up?"

"Then you win," I said simply with a small shrug.

"But what will I win is the question."

I stopped short. What would the stakes be? It had to be interesting or else it wouldn't be worth it. So what would we win?

"How about this love. If I win, you give me the whole story on you and Josh. No more hiding it, no more beating around the bush. Just the whole truth. Because you and I both know there's a truth, even if you're trying to hide it."

I wanted to say no. I didn't feel like telling Ollie everything that happened. I didn't think it was his business. But at the same time, I trusted Ollie. He was a good friend and I honestly felt I could trust him. Then I realized that it didn't even matter, because I was going to win this bet.

"What if I win, though?" I asked.

"Well what would you like?"

A day off, I thought immediately. But then I realized that wasn't what I wanted. My eyes absentmindedly went to the back of the bus, where Josh, Danielle, and a few others were sitting. Danielle was cozied up next to Josh while they watched some of the others play Fifa. I noticed Josh’s arm around her shoulders while she absently drew circles on his stomach. She caught my eye then and smiled, giving me a small thumbs up as her eyes traveled over to Ollie. I just smiled back, because really? What else could I do?

I brought my gaze back to Ollie, a smirk growing on my lips. "Okay, I know what I want. But it's a little different and you may not want to do it but I'd appreciate it."

"Alright..." he said slowly, apprehensively. "Go on."

When I finished, Ollie was nodding. He wasn't flipping out or mad or at all upset by the idea. "So what do you think?"

"I think you have a deal."

***

Of course the one day I decide to take over for Ollie, everything decided to go to shit.

I was just supposed to set up and sell the merch. That was it. It wasn't a hard job. I mean, it could be a little complicated but Ollie had things set up and organized so well that it really wasn't hard. It should have been easy. But of course, nothing was ever easy.

Apparently a new shipment of merch was going to arrive that day because a box of the hoodies had been left behind and they were selling like hotcakes. We needed that extra box or else we’d probably run out way sooner than anticipated, which wouldn’t be good. Ollie hadn't informed me of this when we made our bet, and so I had no idea that this was supposed to happen. Not only that, but I had no clue how to handle it.

I wasn’t completely incompetent, but if I screwed up getting this shipment, then I was really pretty fucked. So it was my mission to not screw that up.

Once we loaded in and the stage started to get set up, I took the opportunity of the rare peace and quiet that had settled throughout the venue and started setting up the merch area, leisurely going at my own speed because I thought I had the time.

It took me a few hours, but I finally got into a rhythm of setting things up and getting things put exactly where they needed to be. When I felt like I was finished, I went to see what Danielle was up to.

I found her standing with Tom, and for once it was just the two of them and Josh was nowhere to be found. “Hey you,” I greeted her as I walked up to her side.

She smiled at me. “How did set up go?”

I shrugged. “I got it done, didn’t I? And all by myself!” I informed her proudly. I couldn’t help it, I was excited.

Her laugh echoed throughout the venue. “You’re a dork. Why didn’t Ollie help? Is he slacking off?”

“No, he just didn’t think I could get it done alone so I wanted to prove him wrong. And here we are.”

She smiled at me, a knowing smile, as if she would expect nothing less from me. For a split second, I felt a pang in my chest. This is my best friend. I thought to myself. And yet here I am, keeping so much from her. If I thought about it too long, it would make me physically sick.

I pushed the thoughts aside and brought myself back to the present. “So I feel like I haven’t gotten to talk to you much,” I said to her when Tom walked away, saying he was going to go hit up catering.

Danielle and I walked around the venue and made our way back to the merch area, where it was nice and quiet and we could sit and talk.

“I know. This tour has been insane, but you know what? I love it so much, Peyt. I love this atmosphere and I love the shows and I love shooting the shows. I love it,” she gushed. I could tell from the look on her face that she was serious, that she really did love this a lot. I guess I could understand that. Tour was fun, but it was also tiring. That was Danielle’s attitude though; she was a ball of energy and she was always busy. Touring would probably be perfect for her.

“You should really look into a touring job or something, Dan,” I told her honestly. “I mean, this is so you it’s not even funny.”

She just blushed and waved the thought away. “Yeah, maybe.”

We talked for a little while longer until we were interrupted by Ollie. I hadn’t realized how long Danielle and I had been talking until Ollie showed up and informed me that doors would be opening soon so I should probably prepare myself. He left, as per the rules of the bet, and when Danielle and I were alone again she was just smiling at me.

“What?”

“You and Ollie have gotten pretty close these past few days,” she commented, trying to be nonchalant. Too bad I knew her better than that.

I rolled my eyes. “We’re friends. Ollie’s a good guy, and he’s nice to hang out with.”

She just smirked and nodded, but said nothing more.

She left shortly after to go see what she needed to help Tom with, and I prepared myself for doors to open.

***

Merch wasn’t as bad as you would have thought. Sure, it was busy as all get out at points, but it slowed down a lot when the show started, with only a few kids here or there trying to get their stuff before a crowd formed.

Of course, when the show ended the crowd was so thick that I could hardly think straight.

It was okay for a little while. I had to keep yelling at the kids to stay in a single file line and not crowd around me, but when they started to get the gist of things it was okay. Busy, but manageable.

Ollie came to check on me about halfway through, just as someone was asking for a medium sized Stay With Me hoodie. I started to tell the girl that we had run out of the hoodies earlier in the night and she got this extremely sad look on her face. I turned to Ollie, who looked worried. “We ran out? Where’s the extra shipment?”

Extra shipment? What is he talking about? It was like he was speaking a foreign language.

“Oh bollocks,” he muttered under his breath. He turned to me quickly, a look of panic taking over his face. “You never got that shipment they were sending us? The one that got left behind in some bloody place so they were sending it out to us because we needed it?”

The look of I’m sure pure panic that spread over my face gave Ollie his answer.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed. It wasn’t in anger at me necessarily, but maybe more at himself? At least, that was what I was hoping. “I completely forgot to tell you about the shipment! Fuck!” he yelled again.

Now I was just confused, but I didn’t have time to question Ollie. There were over a hundred kids in front of us, demanding their merch, and we had to get this done.

Just as we were handing over the last t-shirt to some blonde girl who was extremely nice and even tipped us, Josh appeared. Luckily the place had pretty much cleared out, so there was no huge rush for everyone to come see him.

“So how’d it go tonight? Overall?” Ollie asked me.

I faked glared at him. “It would have gone better if you hadn’t conveniently forgotten to inform me of a shipment that was coming in.”

Ollie chuckled. “It’ll be fine, love. We’ll just get the shipment at the next date. So a few kids went without a hoodie tonight? Oh well.” He winked then to let me know it really was okay.

I was breathing another sigh of relief, just as I felt Josh’s eyes bearing into me.

“Why didn’t you get the shipment?” he spat. It was directed at me.

“Because I didn’t know about it,” I fired back. He wasn’t going to yell at me for this. It was an honest mistake.

“Was just a mistake, mate,” Ollie added for me. It was nice that he was trying to defend me, but I needed to fight this battle on my own. Josh would not win this one.

“You can’t go makin’ mistakes when it comes to things like merch, Peyton,” he ground out between his teeth. “This is our money you’re dealin’ with.”

Oh fuck off! I wanted to yell at him. But that wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere. Although, this fight wasn’t getting us anywhere either.

“Be more careful next time,” Josh spat as a parting remark before turning on his heel to leave.

“Fucker,” I muttered under my breath. I crossed my arms tightly in front of my chest as I fell into the chair behind me. Ollie sat next to me and we were quiet for a little while.

“So, I think you won the bet love.”

I laughed lightly. The tears I felt burning at the backs of my eyes made the tears go away luckily, but my throat still burned at the thought of almost crying. “I think you’re right.”

I caught Danielle and Josh then, standing at the other side of the venue. Danielle was showing Josh some pictures on her camera, so he was extra close to her. It made me want to punch him. Or cry. Either would work.

“So you’ll really do this for me?” I asked him then, not taking my gaze off of Josh and Danielle.

“Of course love,” he answered. “Although I think you’ll have to tell me why you want to make Josh jealous. Not to pressure you or anything, but I’m just really curious now.”

I sighed. I turned to Ollie then. “You really want to know?”

He nodded.

I turned back to face Josh, and when I did, what I saw made my stomach turn in the most violent way that I honest to god thought I was going to throw up. I gasped involuntarily, and Ollie heard. He followed my gaze and saw what I saw.

Josh and Danielle.

Kissing.

It was nothing serious, just a quick peck. But I caught it. Every second of it. And it made me angry. And it made my stomach turn. And it made me want to cry.

Instead of doing any of that though, I turned to Ollie, leaned in, and let my breath ghost over his lips while I said, “The plan starts now.”

And then I kissed him.