Amidst The Reverie (boyxboy)

Chapter 20 : Suspicions

"Mateo's cheating on me!" Olivia exclaimed as she flopped her whole body in her bed. It was Sunday and Olivia had texted Eli to come over. He contemplated whether or not he'd tell Olivia about Luke but he decided to not say anything, he's not sure about Luke. Not sure how he felt after their date last night. He's not sure about anything right now, actually. 

Eli took a second to reply. He tried to understand what Olivia just said. 

"What?" He mumbled sitting opposite her, in the pink fluffy chair, that reminded Eli of a dog's fur.

"I'm not sure... but he's been very quiet lately." Eli looked at Olivia with an incredulous stare. He wanted to defend Mateo, to tell her that Mateo wouldn't do that. He just wouldn't. But then again, he didn't really know Mateo. And so he kept quiet and bit his tongue to make sure that he'd stay silent.

"I asked him to hang out for 3 days now and he always say that he was busy." Olivia sighs as she swiped through her phone. From where Eli is sitting, he couldn't really see what she was looking at but Eli could only guess that it was her and Mateo's conversations.

Endless I love you's and good nights.

"Well... Maybe he is busy." Eli said, he walked towards Olivia's bed and flop his body onto the mattress too. For a second his body relaxes because of the soft and silky comforter.

Olivia puts her phone down and they both stared at the white-painted ceiling that was illuminated by pink led lights. Silence engulfs them as Olivia considered what Eli said.

Eventually, she shook her head. 

Eli looked at her, then. And that's when he saw. Actually saw how tired she was.

Her hair isn't as well-kept as it usually was, the twinkle in her eyes not as shiny and her mouth that was almost always smiling is pressed into a thin line.

He brought his finger into the side of her face and poked her cheeks. Just like what he always do when she's upset. Upset about her parents, upset with her boyfriends, upset with her arch-nemesis since 9th grade, Lila.

She almost immediately smiled at the contact and Eli smiled back. He missed this. Eli feels like ever since he came back from his coma, Olivia's always looking after him. And he doesn't want to be ungrateful but it is nice to be the one looking after Olivia for once. To make her happy too.

After all, she is the only friend he has. But more than that, Olivia is family.

She snuggled up to him, her blonde locks scraping into his face and it fucking itches but Eli didn't say anything. Just let her take comfort in him, as he took comfort in her.

"We should catch him." Olivia perched up suddenly, almost knocking her head into Eli's. She said it so fast that Eli almost didn't catch what she just said.

He scrunched his forehead as he lay frozen in the bed. But Olivia's already putting on her high-heeled shoes. And so, Eli heaved up a sigh and begrudgingly sit up.

"What do you mean catch him?" He asked, because surely Olivia's not suggesting what Eli thinks she's suggesting, right?

"I mean we follow him and see if he'll meet up with some bimbo." She said nonchalantly, as if she didn't suggested something so crazy and stalker-y.

Eli gaped at her like a fish, mouth opening and closing, trying to think of things to say to stop her from this madness. He could see the carnage up ahead, if he doesn't stop Olivia then the two might as well break up. 

"Liv, Are you crazy? You can't just follow him." He exclaimed, taking a hold of Olivia's wrist and stopping her from going towards the door. "This is crazy. Let's just watch 'Clueless' and forget about him for now." Eli begged, pulling Olivia once again into the bed.

But Olivia shook her head and paced around the room. "No. How can I know if he's cheating on me if I don't follow him?" She bit her nails and Eli gave her a look and she immediately stopped. It was a habit that Olivia has picked whenever she's stressed. She gave Eli the difficult job of stopping her when she starts doing it.  

Eli stayed sitting, his eyes following his best friend as she walked back and forth in her huge bedroom. Eli needs to sort this before it becomes a big problem. He can't just let Olivia ruin her relationship with Mateo, they're meant for each other. They make each other happy. 

And if part of Eli, a very small teeny tiny part, is somehow glad and hopeful that they'll break up, then Eli swallowed and repressed it so far into his unconscious mind. So far that Freud himself couldn't get it.  He buried it deep within him, locked the thought and made sure that he wouldn't let himself thought of that ever again.

"You need to trust him." Eli forced himself to say. The words almost getting caught in his throat, like it didn't want to escape him.

Olivia looked at him, her eyes sunken and wet with unfallen tears.

"He said that he would study all day long today, he said that he'll just be at home. But look..." Olivia shoved her phone into Eli's face.

He saw a blinking red dot moving in a map. Eli looked at his friend, furious and a little bit scared. "Liv. What did you do?" he asked. Hoping, begging, praying that she would deny it. Say that she's just kidding, that this is all a joke. 

Because what the actual fuck?

"I downloaded a tracker on his phone." Olivia said so confidently and Eli, for a second, had an out of body experience. His jaw dropped and he just couldn't believe what Olivia just did, his best friend.

"Why would you do that?" Eli almost yelled, but kept his voice leveled because he doesn't want to upset Olivia anymore than she is. If she gets mad at him too, then Eli doesn't know how to stop her from going completely crazy.

"Because he's lying to me!" She yelled, then the tears started rolling down her cheeks and Eli could feel his heart break from the sight. He swallowed the anger rising in him, stood up, and hugged Olivia.

As soon as he holds her, her cries turn into full-on sobbing and Eli doesn't really know what to do. And so he just held her as she cried her heart out.

"Oh Livvie." He murmured against her hair. 

Eli can't help but find the irony in comforting Olivia because of a guy that also makes him cry every single night. The same guy that he, for the life of him, couldn't just forget.

"You need to help me, I just need to see it for myself." She said, in between chokes and sobs. Eli didn't say anything.

"I'm going there with or without you." she said finally and wiped the tears in her eyes.

Eli really doesn't want to go. He really didn't. But as he looked at her, face marred by smudged mascara, tear-stained cheeks and a broken heart, he just couldn't say no. 

This is definitely going to be a shit show