Who We Once Were - A Jolivia Story

Chapter 15

They'd been driving for about five minutes before her phone began ringing. After seeing who it was she quickly silenced it, then the texts came. She knew he saw it, even if it was silenced, every time he called or texted, the phone would light up in her hand. She looked at him discretely out of the corner of her eyes, she could see his lips pressed tightly together as if he was holding himself back from saying something. Good. He had no right to say anything about any of this.

"I gotta stop quickly for gas, do you mind?" He spoke, finally breaking the heavy silence between them, save for the music echoing through the empty car. She whispered a quiet, 

"No," while he turned off the main road and into the parking lot of a nearby 7-Eleven. She scrolled through her instagram feed while he filled up the tank and went into the store to pay. When the door opened and shut again, he was back in the seat next to her, with an arm outstretched. In his hand was a blueberry muffin, her favourite snack after a late shoot. 

"I know it's no Café quality delicacy, but I just figured you probably haven't really eaten today between all the shoots. Beware though, it is gas station food but I'd say it looks about edible enough." He said with a small smile and she took the muffin in her hand a little tentatively, but grateful nonetheless.

"Thank you." She said with a small smile of her own which she was trying to repress. She wasn't supposed to be happy with him these past months, especially now after the whole debacle with Ethan and yet in her heart of hearts, she was just a little bit. It was a nice gesture and even after all this, he could still bring a smile to her face in even the worst of situations. Of course it was still just a muffin, it changed nothing, but it felt like a rare moment of light in a never-ending tunnel of darkness. A rare moment of light which she desperately needed on a night like this one.

"How much do I um- owe you?" She said with her voice a little hoarse. 

"Let's just call it a late Christmas gift alright?" He said with a small awkward chuckle and Olivia nodded. They were back on the road again a few minutes later and no one had turned the music back on, she felt like the silence was suffocating her. 

"Hey look, I know it's none of my business so I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gotten involved and I promise I'll stop talking after this but there's just something I need to say." He said suddenly breaking the silence which she regretted complaining about. The silence was comfortable, the silence was safe, none of this was any of that. "The way he treated you Olivia, that wasn't okay. You don't deserve that, not from Ethan not from anyone. I just need you to know that." He said and that eye roll she forced herself to hold back earlier was making a comeback but now she didn't care to hide it.

"What do you care?" She scoffed crossing her arms over her chest and turning her body to face away from him and towards the window. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his grip on the steering wheel tighten. 

"Because," he sighed. "I care about you." He spoke in an almost factual tone. 

"Ya?" She laughed dryly as she turned to face him and paused. "Sure have a funny way of showing it huh?"

"Olivia I-" He started, taking a deep breath.

"No you know what, forget it. Like you said, we don't need to talk." She said shooting him a clearly fake smile and going back to her phone. The silence went from awkward and uncomfortable to heavy and tense after that. It remained that way until he pulled up to the curb outside her apartment complex around 15 minutes later. 

"Thank you for the ride." She said as she reached down for her purse to get her fob and her keys out of her bag. "Shit, no." She swore as she started frantically searching the area around her. "Shit, shit, shit." She continued.

"What's wrong?" He questioned as he looked around by her feet, trying to see what she was searching for. 

"My bag uh- I must've left it at the studio." She said with a deep exhale and her head in her hand. 

"I mean no big deal right? You can just grab it tomorrow?" He offered not really knowing how else he could help.

"My bag has my fob and keys and my mom is still out so I can't even get into the building let alone my apartment." She sighed as she opened the door and began to climb out of the car.

"Hey, are you kidding me?" He said gently grabbing her arm and pulling her back into the vehicle.

"What?" She questioned a little annoyed at his actions.

"You really think I'm gonna let you sit out here alone in the dark and freeze to death while you wait?" He laughed a little at the nonsense of the situation.

"I don't think you're gonna let me do anything." She shot back and he put his arms up in mock surrender like he used to when they'd joke around. "Besides I'll be fine, my mom should be here..." She trailed off as she looked down at her phone to see a text from her mom asking her to let herself in and order herself a pizza for dinner. "Shit, it's gonna be at least another hour." She said as she sighed in defeat, trying to mask her nerves at the prospect of the situation she was stuck in.

"Olivia come on, my apartment is literally 10 minutes from here. Let's just stop there, get some dinner and you can wait in the warm for your mom to pick you up." He offered a little pleadingly. It was a hellish position to be in, if she was being perfectly honest, but the prospect of warmth and a hot meal was just too good to turn down over her pride at the moment. She slammed the card door shut and nodded as she put her seatbelt back on. She didn't have to be his friend to accept his offer, this changed nothing. 

A/N - Hope you guys enjoyed!!! As always votes and comments are much appreciated :) Please let me know what you think, I love the feedback and reactions haha! Also we're not quite nearing the end of the story, but we're definitely getting there so yay!!! Thanks so much for the support ILY ALL!!!!