Don't Let Me Drown

Tom had asked me to go to Drop Dead today 'after school' to do a practice shoot. My car was running low on gas from running back and forth to Oli's and Jade’s over the last week or so, so Tom was coming to pick me up.

"I still don't like yeh living in there" he chuckled as I got into his car.

"You're like the normal brother I never had" I smiled, giving him a hug. "It's fine, Tom. It's comfy enough. And I shower at Jade’s in the morning and buy food when I need to. It's better than a park bench. And once I save enough I'll get an apartment. Promise"

"Or yeh could just move in wiff Oli and me" he said for the millionth time. I just shook my head and looked out the window while he drove.

We finally parked and he led me inside and into the room in the back with all the lights. I saw Oliver standing there, shirtless and talking to someone else. I looked over him a few times, taking in the sight of him, as we walked closer.

"Like what yeh see?" He smirked, turning towards me and Tom laughed. I hadn't realized I was staring, but who could blame me?

"So what am I supposed to do?" I asked.

"Take yeh top off" Oli said quietly with a smirk so only I could hear him. I smacked his arm and turned away from him, looking at Tom.

"Go pick somefing off that rack and yeh can change out here or in the bathroom if yeh more comfortable. Yeh gonna do some poses with Oli first to get yeh warmed up and I'll just take yeh picture." He said with a smile.

I nodded to him and walked over to the rack of clothes to my right. I started looking through them and picked out a pair of size 4 black skinny jeans and a small pink t-shirt with a blue ghost on it. I was about to walk into the bathroom when Oliver appeared next to me in search of a shirt for himself.

"Come out wiff me lata" he said, pulling a shirt off a hanger.

"Where?" I wondered. It was a Wednesday afternoon so there wasn't much to do.

"I've nevah taken yeh out on a propa date" he said and my stomach fluttered at the thought of spending more time with him.

"I'll think about it" I smirked, walking away before he could say anything else. I went into the bathroom and quickly got changed. I noticed the reflection of my stomach in the mirror as I pulled my shirt off. Still not good enough. I quickly pulled the new one on and hurried out to see Oliver wearing almost the exact same outfit.

"Should I put something else on?" I asked Tom.

"No. It's good that yeh match ‘cause it's a unisex shirt. It'll look good on the sight." He said. I nodded and walked in front of the lights by Oli.

I started getting really nervous. With all the lights pointed at us and a camera being aimed in our direction, my brain was going a mile a minute.

They should have picked the other girl to do this. You can't compete. Everyone is staring at you.

"Yeh alright?" Oli asked me.

"Yeah," I lied, "I just don't know what to do". Tom instructed me on how to stand and what faces to make. We got a lot of pictures taken and Oli kept telling me I was doing great.

A few camera snaps later and it was time to change again. I was even more nervous about standing up there alone. Thankfully it went by quickly and after two more outfit changes we had finished up.

"Yeh did great. We should have asked yeh to model a while ago" Tom smiled. I thanked him and walked towards the bathroom to change into my own clothes.

"Yeh might want to keep that on" he said with a smirk, causing me to stop walking. I had on a simple black dress with some detailing on the the top.

"Well here, then. I'll pay for it" I told him, reaching into my bag to find my wallet.

"Yeh not paying for it" I heard Oliver say. I looked up and he had returned into the room and was standing next to tom. He had on skinny jeans, a buttoned up red flannel, and a blazer.

"Lock up when yeh done?" he said to Tom, who nodded as he took the keys from Oli’s hand. “yeh ready to go?”

“yep. Where are we going?” I asked him.

“I fought yeh might be hungry so I fought we’d grab dinner and then I have a surprise for yeh” he said, taking my hand and walking me out to his car. He opened the door for me, which I thought as weird. He was always nice to me, but never this much of a gentleman. He messed with the radio a bit before he started driving. About 20 minutes later, he pulled up in front of a fancy restaurant and got out of the car.

“Oliver. We are not eating here” I said sternly.

“Why not?” He smirked, taking my hand and leading me towards the entrance.

“Because look at this place. It’s gonna be a hundred dollars for a glass of water” I frowned.

“Nope. Yeh said, I could take yeh out on a date. There were no rules specified” he said to me, before talking to the man in front of the podium. I saw Oli hnd him something and the man nodded politely, bringing us to a small table in the corner. I looked around the restaurant and saw a bunch of older men and women wearing fancy dresses and suits. A couple of them looked shocked when they saw us. We definitely didn’t fit in. I was wearing a casual dress in a fancy restaurant and Oliver was covered in tattoos with long, shaggy hair. Normally, all the eyes on us would have freaked me out, but it’s something I’ve gotten used to from being around Oli. People seemed to always be watching him, whether it’s for his appearance or because they were a fan of the band.

“I hope you know by now, that I’m paying my half” I told him seriously as we flipped through the menus. He chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s already been paid for so good luck to yeh” he smirked at me.

“how did you pay when we didn’t even order yet?” I said, as the man from the front returned to the table. He thanked him and handed something back to Oli. He took out his wallet and I could see that it was a debit card. I glared at him as he ordered a bottle of wine for the table.

“What?” he asked innocently, a cheeky grin spread across his face.

“I’m going to kill you,” I said, jokingly and his smile only widened. A waiter brought us the wine and poured it in our glasses while we told him what we wanted. I ordered a salad and Oliver shot me a look, rolling his eyes because he knew I’d pick the cheapest thing on the menu.

Oli told me about the band and what they had been working on while we ate. I liked hearing him talk about his life. He rarely talked about himself at all when other people were around.

“Why did you decide to scream instead of singing?” I asked him.

“Because I’m rubbish at it” he laughed.

“Prove it. I think you’d be good” I said honestly. He shook his head and ignored my request, going back to eating. We finished another bottle of wine and were done eating. I finished a little more than half of my salad so he wouldn’t question me, planning on getting rid of it later.

“Are yeh ready for part 2?” He smiled, standing up and taking my hand.