No One Does It Better

Oli’s P.O.V

It's 3 am, normally I would be curled inside my van, desperately trying to keep warm and catch up on sleep, but tonight was different. Josh was asleep in the small room Jona had so kindly provided, after we returned I tended to his hand and unpacked our things, he fell asleep almost instantly. Right now, I was nestled in the large living room, curled up on the couch, nursing a cup of tea; desperately trying to pry things out of my mind. Why on earth had I told Josh I liked him? It wasn’t a lie, but at the same time…this could only end one way, horribly. I was shitty at relationships; I couldn’t even handle my own problems, let alone someone else’s. I sighed in defeat, before giving up on my quest to find a motive, after several moments of silence besides the hum of the television, I heard a loud click. I looked up in time to see a half asleep Jona parading out of his room and traipsing down the staircase. His hair was sticking up in a million odd directions, his shirt and pants discarded, leaving him only in boxers; he waved tiredly before plopping down on the couch next to me.

“You okay?” I asked him quietly. He seemed to contemplate this for a few moments before grunting and shaking his head no and resting his head in his hands.

“What’s wrong, Jona?” I inquired, muting the TV and turning to face him,

“It's nothing Oli, don’t worry about it.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“No no, tell me what’s wrong.” I pestered, poking him in the shoulder, he lifted his head up and shot me a sad smile.

“I can't sleep, I can't eat, and I can't even think straight Oli. I think I'm going insane.” He threw his hands up a bit, this was a side to him I hadn’t really seen before. His eyes were tired and heavily lidded with sleep, dark bags making him appear much older then he truly was, I had never seen him at such a…loss.

“Why’s that though? There has to be a reason…” I pried, Jona could really be a tough cookie sometimes, if you wanted to know anything you really had to pressure him into telling you.

“I don’t know what you’ll say.” He admitted, twirling his thumbs around nervously, I nodded for him to go on.

“How exactly, do you feel about…him?” Jona muttered, honestly, that had taken me by surprise.

“What do you mean?” I asked innocently, trying my hardest to play the situation out in a peaceful manner.

“Well obviously you hate him days ago, now you’ve been living together, and been awfully close to him. I was just wondering where you interest lied.” He said it as if it was meant to be nonchalant but there had to be more to it. He said he wasn’t eating, sleeping, or thinking straight, something else had to be bothering him…but I decided to let it go.

“He’s actually a good friend, and he’s a lot nicer then I chalked him up to be. I enjoy his company, as much so as I do yours or any of the lads, you know I like helping people too.” He nodded, sending me a small smile before getting off the couch,

“Well I'm going to try to sleep, night Oli.” He whispered awkwardly, I bit my lip. He trudged to the staircase, quietly making his way up the stairs.

“Jona?” I called after him,

“Mhm?” he retorted, turning to face me.

“I'm here if you ever need to talk…you know that.” He smiled brightly, sending me a thumbs up.

“Same goes for you, Ol’s. Get some rest.” And with that he left for his room, leaving me on the sofa and feeling a little bit more than confused and concern. Sleep definitely wouldn’t be finding me tonight.

-*-

“I miss you too, Oli! We need to catch up soon,” I grinned, it was around 7 am, after tinkering with the idea of sleep; I knew I wouldn’t be able too though. After a few minutes of contemplating I caved in, calling up my old friend Curtis, and former band mate. He and I were still extremely close, even though it had been years since we had properly spoken. I hadn’t planned on calling him, but after rummaging through my bag I had found the crumpled piece of paper with his number strewn on it, and decided phoning him was a good idea. I twirled the cord of the home phone, giggling as some idiot on the television fell after attempting a dance move.

“Definitely, thanks for staying up with me and chatting. I hope you understand why I hadn’t been able to call.” I heard him snicker,

“Well of course! Sounds like you’ve been through hell and high water lately Oli. I'm glad things are looking up for you.” Damn I missed this kid, it wasn’t like we wanted to part ways when we did…he had a lot of health issues. He was blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and going deaf in the other…that is if he continued to play shows. The deafening ringing that the sheer loudness of a show brought was crippling for him, and his health was way more important than our band.

“So how are you feeling, Curtis?” I stretched my free arm out, suddenly feeling exhaustion begin to fall over me, on the other end of the line I could hear him yawn.

“I'm doing good actually, feeling much better nowadays.” He yawned again,

“I can tell you’re exhausted, so I will let you go…we need to catch up sometime soon. I’ll be staying with Jona, so just call this number if you want to chat.” I wiped my eyes, before pinching the bridge of my nose, trying to stay awake.

“M’kay, night Oli! See you sometime soon! Nice to hear from you!” I smiled, before telling him we would be in touch, and putting the phone down on the stand. A loud yawn escaping my lips,

“Ols?” a groggy voice called from the staircase, I turned catching eyes with Josh. His large tee shirt was hanging off his body, and his loose sweatpants were bunched up one leg, his hair was astray; slightly similar to his usual style.

“What are you doing up this early?” I asked quietly, checking the wall clock, 7:35 AM, way too early.

“I woke up and you weren’t there…so I got worried.” He admitted, twirling the bandage on his arm as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Sorry…I wasn’t tired so I phoned a friend of mine that I hadn’t spoken too in a long time. I'm exhausted now…” his lips twitched up into a smile as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He out stretched his hand,

“Come on then.” He chimed impatiently, and I felt my cheeks heat up as I awkwardly pushed myself off the couch and made my way over to him, slipping our hands together and allowing him to drag me up the stairs. As we entered our small, plain, bedroom I couldn’t help but smile.
“I'm going to change really fast…” I fidgeted in my spot, as he nodded his head and slipped under the covers.

“You can change here, I promise I won’t look…” he rolled over so he was facing away from me, and pulled the covers over his head like a child who was scared of the dark, it was…adorable, oddly enough.

“Right.” I muttered, reaching into the small chest of drawers and snatching up my sweat pants and a loose fitting tank, before quickly discarding my old clothes and slipping on the new ones. I turned to face Josh who was still facing the wall,

“Done.” I stated proudly, I heard him giggle.

“Good job Oli, and you did it all by yourself!” he sneered, clapping his hands together.

“You’re an arse.” I seethed, hopping up on the mattress and sliding myself under the covers. We laid in an uncomfortable silence for awhile, sleep was desperately trying to lure me in, but I kept my eyes glued on the ceiling.

“Oli?” Josh whispered after a little bit longer, I grunted in acknowledgement.

“I know I don’t know you very well…well I do…but I don’t…but I can tell this is all still bothering you. So…I just wanted to say…I'm here if you need to talk. And I'm sorry if any of this is my fault,” I could tell he felt guilty, for what reason I'm not sure; he really hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Joshy…thank you but you haven’t messed anything up, and none of this is your fault. I'm just…thankful that your alright, that we have a place to stay for now, and that we seem to be a lot happier than a few days ago.” I lazily poked him in the back, he turned his head around enough so he could see me. I motioned for him to turn around, he reluctantly complied,

“Come on now,” I grunted, stretching my arm, silently giving him permission to curl into my side, he blushed lightly, before scooting impossibly close to me and laying his head on my chest. I wouldn’t be surprised if his ears hurt from the loud thumping that radiated throughout my chest, I tightened my arm around him.

“Goodnight…” I whispered, closing my eyes, I felt him shift. The next thing I knew his lips were on mine, I lazily pressed back. After a few seconds he returned to his former position,

“Goodnight Oli.”

Awkwardly enough, it really had been a good night. I let my eyes seal for the night, as I slowly drifted into an abstract blended reality.