Don't Let Me Drown

Sometime later, our group had all left the pub and went to a neighboring park full of people. It must have been some kind of English holiday, I saw a bunch of little kids running around with sparklers. Some of the boys with us were setting up a bonfire.

"Oli had to go take care of something, he'll be back soon" Tom said, sitting down next to me.

"Okay", I nodded, "so are you and Jenna a thiiiiiiing?" I teased.

"I don't know" he blushed.

"I'm really happy for you, Tom," I said honestly, "be as good to her as you were to me." He gave me solemn nod and looked at the ground.

"Are yeh sure yeh okay?" He asked, "I swear there's less of yeh every time I see yeh"

"Yeah, I'm doing alright" I answered, avoiding eye contact and instead focused on the figure coming towards us. When they came into view, I could see that it was Jenna.

"Hey, tom, can I borrow Ivy for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure" he waved to me and moved to sit with Jordan and his fiancée.

"What's up?" I wondered.

"I know this is kind of weird since we just met, but is there anything going on between you and tom?" She paused to catch my expression, which was mostly just confusion, "I won't say anything to Oli if there is, I just don't want to chase a train I can't catch"

"Um, no, there's nothing going on. Where did you get that?" I said, with a small chuckle.

"I overheard him talking to one of the guys and it just sounded like maybe there was something there"

"No," I told her, "we've never dated if that's what you mean. Oliver got into some trouble a few months back and he kind of just helped me deal with everything. We're just good friends."

"Okay" she smiled with a nod, "sorry if that was a weird thing to ask"

"No, it's okay. He's a really good guy and he seems to like you a lot"

"Thanks" she smiled. Shortly after, Tom came and sat with us. I was beginning to get really tired and was thinking of calling an uber home, when I felt someone tap me on the back.

"Come take a walk wiff me?" It was Oliver, looking a little nervous.

"Something wrong?" I asked, following him down the path.

He shook his head, "no, love, noffings wrong. I just wanted to ask yeh somefing"

"Okay, what?"

"I have to go on a trip for a while and I was wondering if yeh would join me"

"Where?"

"It's a surprise"

"Mm, not so sure I trust you" I laughed.

"Just come, please?"

"Okay" I sighed after a few seconds. He smiled and we started making our way back to the group.

"We leave tomorrow night. Can yeh be packed by then?"

"Yes sir" I joked, "now go have fun with your friends, you've had a tough week"

He smiled and kissed my cheek, "yes ma'am" before jogging over to Vegan and Matt. I sat back over with the girls who had popped open a bottle of wine while we were gone.

"Sooooo what happened?" Ally asked nudging me.

"Nothing bad. He just invited me on a work trip with him"

"A work trip? I haven't heard anything about that" Jordan's fiancée, Emma chimed in. I shrugged my shoulders, not really sure what to say, and the conversation switched over to the Fish wedding, only 6 months away.

We talked and laughed over a few glasses of wine for what seemed like hours until the fireworks started and everyone met up with their significant others.

"Arr yeh haven fun, luv?" A very drunk Oliver asked me. I couldn't help but laugh. His accent was so thick when I first met him, I had trouble understanding him. I've gotten used to it now, but when he got drunk it was just as difficult as back then.

"I am. And you are too, I see" I laughed and he pulled me close to him.

"More fin with yeh" he slurred, not so subtly thrusting his hips at me.

I laughed and shook my head, hoping no one else saw. I was fine kissing and hugging in public, but things like that generally weren't my style anymore. He was very different. He never cared who was watching. Whether it was affectionate or inappropriate, he was always himself. It's one of the things I liked about him.

We sat down on the grass and watched the fireworks shoot up into the sky. "Did yeh see Tommys new bird?" He asked, pointing to the two of them lying next to each other a little ways away from us.

"Yeah, she seems to really like him"

"I'm glad he's got someone" he said with a nod. I turned my head and kissed his arm that was wrapped securely around my shoulders.

"What a big softie you are" I joked.

"Am not" he pouted.

"Yes you are" I laughed. The fireworks ended and proving my point, he started kissing all over my face.

"The two of yeh are sickening" Tom laughed as he walked over with Jenna. "Are yeh ready to go?"

"Yes, please. I'm tired" I said, finally escaping Oli's grip of death and standing up.

---------------------------------------

Before I knew it, we were walking down the aisle of the small plane searching for our seats. "Have yeh ever been on a plane before?" He asked me after we found them.

"No, I swam to England" I answered sarcastically.

"Right, sorry. I didn't sleep much last night" he said with a chuckle.

"Miss me too much?" I joked, poking his side.

"I always miss yeh. I finally get yeh to myself for a week"

"I thought this was a work trip?" I asked. He smirked and turned to look out the window as we started to move, without answering. "Oliver".

"If I told yeh I was taking yeh on holiday, would yeh have come?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at me. I crossed my arms, he already knew the answer to that. Maybe I would have, but I’d have paid for myself.

Our plane landed in Maine, at around 2:30 pm. We dragged out suitcases behind us outside to pick up the rental car he'd ordered. He typed an address into the gps on the dashboard and started the hour long drive.

When we pulled up, my jaw dropped. I was expecting a hotel room, but instead it was a beach house. A quiet little cottage on the shoreline. It was perfect, but it was too much.

"Oliver, no."

"No what?"

"I thought we were going to a hotel. This is too expensive" I told him as we stepped out of the car.

"I fought yeh'd like it" he trailed off, looking up at the front door.

"I do like it, I love it, but-"

"Let me do nice fings for yeh, dammit," he laughed, "don't worry about the money"

I sighed with a small smile, choosing to pick my battles and drop this one. We brought our bags inside, dropping them at the door, and I decided to go look around. The house was spacious but not too spacious. We had a decent sized kitchen, dining room, living room, and bathroom on the first floor along with a deck outside that had stairs leading you to the sand.

Back inside on the second floor, I found a bedroom, a bathroom, and the master suite where Oliver was. He was spread out across the queen sized bed with his eyes closed. I took a running start and leapt onto the bed next to him. He must not have heard me because of the horrified look on his face, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeh fink yeh funny?" He smirked, sitting up. "Yeh lucky I love yeh" he laughed before pulling me onto him and in for a kiss.

"Jet lagged?" I asked once we broke apart.

"A little bit"

"Get some rest, Oliver"

"I don't want to rest" he said, giving me that look.

"We just got here" I laughed and sat up. He rolled his eyes as I took his hand, pulling him up as well.

“where are we going?” he grumbled.

“You said you didn’t want to rest so let’s go explore”

“I can explore plenty from right here” he said, hooking his thumbs through my belt loops. Because you’re big enough.

“Come on” I said quietly, forcing a smile and pulling him out of the room.

“I didn’t mean it like that” he sighed, furrowing his eyebrows while he studied the side of my face.

“I know.”

“I don’t fink yeh do.” He said and stopped once we reached the bottom of the staircase. “I meant it to be cheeky, not to dig at yeh”.

“Its fine, Oli. Let’s go.” I told him. He sighed, giving up, and followed me out onto the deck and down the stars to the shore.