Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

20: Oliver

heads up, they bang in this chapter

~

Oliver is looking at Josh's face, relaxed and peaceful with sleep.

He knows how heavily the situation has been weighing on Josh's shoulders, until he seems slumped over with guilt and internal conflict. Watching all of that stress leave Josh's body as he sleeps is making Oliver's heart feel warm somehow.

Oli knows how afraid Josh is that he is a bad person for killing that man, but the very guilt that Josh feels is the fact that proves him not to be a bad person. He puts an arm over Josh as though to shield him from all of it, to protect him from everything that the world is throwing at the both of them.

"You know it's creepy to watch people sleep, right?" Josh's voice jolts Oliver out of his semi-romantic reverie.

"It's not my fault you're so pretty." Oliver replies immediately, not entirely sure that he wants to share the true reason for his watching Josh so intently.

Josh blinks sleepily and blushes, "Is it morning?" He asks, plainly changing the subject.

Oliver glances at the clock, seeing that it is morning. He has been awake for a few hours, just looking at his boyfriend with an admiration that might be considered creepy.

"It's morning." He replies, running his fingers gently through Josh's hair. "But you can get more sleep if you want. I'll wake you in a couple of hours."

Josh smiles, his eyelids fluttering shut. "Okay." He murmurs, then appears to fall asleep.

Oliver watches the stress melt away from his boyfriend's posture and expression again as he goes back to sleep. It's amazing, really, to see the difference between Josh's waking intensity and sleeping calm.

Gently, Oli slides out of bed with care not to wake Josh. He grabs the cell phone from the bedside table and walks into the living room, calling Elissa.

"Hello?"

"Elissa, it's Oliver."

"Oh, hey. How're you and Josh doing?" Elissa sounds calm, like the events of the previous day were just another regular occurrence, nothing out of the ordinary.

"I'm okay, I'm doing a lot better." Oliver replies honestly, "I'm worried about Josh."

"He held himself together like everything was fine until he fell apart, didn't he?" Elissa's tone is knowing, and Oli realizes that she has an emotional intelligence that she doesn't always let show.

"He thought I was going to leave him because I saw him kill that man." Oliver's eyes well up with tears that he blinks back furiously, even though Elissa can't see him. "He thought I didn't love him."

Elissa sighs dramatically, "He's so insecure, bless him. Tell me that you didn't hurt him, or I might have to hurt you." That threat is definitely real, but Oliver doesn't mind seeing as he has no intention of ever causing Josh any pain.

"I confessed my love to him."

"Oh good." Elissa's zippo can be heard opening and lighting, followed by the sound of her inhaling and exhaling smoke. "Jordan and I are at another one of his safehouses, but we seriously need to put together a plan to deal with all this shit before someone else gets hurt. Or before I murder Jordan for his sloppy living habits."

Oliver sighs, "I know. But how the hell are we supposed to do that? Do you even know who we stole that ugly statue from?"

"Turns out it's more than just an ugly statue." Elissa explains, "It's a type of container, there's something much more valuable hidden inside."