Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

25: Oliver

Josh is sleeping, his mouth ajar as he snores lightly, his delicate eyelashes resting gently on his cheeks. He looks very cute, very pretty, and very peaceful.

Oliver can't help but smile as he looks at him, watching his bare chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. He wishes he could sleep too, but his worries are keeping him awake despite his best efforts to drift off. He never sleeps well when he is anxious, and his concern for Josh's wellbeing is making that even more difficult for him.

Oli has been in hazardous, life-or-death situations before. It's not new to him. What is new is that he has Josh to care for, which gives him far more to lose than he has ever had in the past.

He feels helpless, like he should be able to shelter Josh from all of this, but he can't. He strokes Josh's hair gently, smiling despite the aching worry in his chest. His boyfriend is just so lovely and beautiful, he can't help but smile. Fickle, he decides, he must be fickle, but he doesn't mind. He gets to be with Josh, and that's what matters the most to him.

Joshua's eyelids flutter open, and he blinks sleepily. "Whatcha staring at?" He mumbles.

"You." Oliver whispers.

Josh blushes, "Did you even get any sleep?" He asks, rubbing his eyes cutely.

Oli genuinely considers lying to reassure Josh, but thinks the better of it and shakes his head, "Thinking too much to get some rest." He admits.

Josh shifts so that his head is resting on Oliver's chest, putting an arm around his torso. "I'm sorry. We're really in a mess now, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are." Oli agrees, "But we'll figure it out. We'll be okay." He wishes that he could believe his own words, but he honestly isn't convinced that he can get out of this one. His instinct is still to reassure Josh, though, even if it doesn't sound convincing in the slightest.

"Liar." Josh mumbles, snuggling into Oliver's side. "But it's sweet that you're trying to make me feel better."

Before Oli can begin to reply, the phone starts to ring. He groans, rolling over and answering it. "What?" He demands grumpily, sleep-deprived and anxious beyond the point of politeness.

"Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." It's Elissa, sounding as unruffled as always. "I have a plan to save our asses, if you're interested."

A wave of relief washes over Oliver at the very idea of a plan being formed that will allow them all to stay alive. "Hold on, let me put you on speaker." He does so, so that Josh can hear too, "You were saying that you have a plan?" He could swear that he can hear Elissa grinning smugly through the phone.

"We're gonna set a trap."

"Home Alone, Saw, Scooby-Doo, or the Parent Trap?" Josh speaks up, his voice still heavy with sleep.

"Joshua, I love you, but you watch way too many movies." Elissa replies, "But if you must know, I'm thinking Home Alone."

"And how are we supposed to Home Alone our way out of this one?" Oli asks, trying not to let his skepticism leak into his voice. He has to keep an open mind, especially since he has no alternative plan to offer up.

"Glad you asked." Elissa says cheerily, "I hope you're ready to sacrifice your apartment, because you have no say in the matter."

"Why can't we use your place?" Oliver knows he sounds whiny, but he hates having to move, and it sounds like he will have to do so.

"Yours is best situated for my plan." Elissa explains, "Now listen up."

As she explains her plan, step by step, Oli begins to think that she is some kind of evil genius, mildly disturbed by the way her mind works, but impressed at her meticulous planning nonetheless.

When they hang up the phone, Oliver can't help but remark, "Your sister scares me."

Josh laughs, sitting up in bed and stretching with a yawn, "Trust me, you do not wanna get on her bad side."

"She'd go Home Alone on my ass."

"Her and I used to watch those movies together and plan how we would do it ourselves one day. I guess that worked out for us."

"Remind me to never get on either of your bad sides."

Josh leans down and presses a quick kiss to Oliver's lips, "I'm sure Elissa will make sure that you're reminded." He teases, taking Oli's hand and pulling him to his feet. "Let's get ready, we have a long day ahead of us."

They get dressed, eat a light breakfast, and then arm up in preparation for the day ahead. Once all that has been accomplished, they make their way to Oliver's apartment. Sneaking in the back door to avoid detection proves to be a simple enough task for them- they are thieves, after all.

"Are we going with classic Home Alone traps, or something a little more deadly?" Oliver queries, closing and locking the door firmly behind him.

Josh giggles, "Those traps were deadly, they just tried to make them kid-friendly by letting the people survive."

"Somehow I don't think we have the resources for an igloo full of fireworks." Oliver observes, "And I don't think the 'merry christmas ya filthy animal' line is going to get us anywhere."

"Let's just wait for Elissa." Josh suggests, "She's probably got a notebook full of deadly trap designs."

"This is sounding more like Saw than Home Alone." Oli points out, "Elissa is more like Jigsaw than she is like Kevin McCallister."

"I dare you to say that to her face."

"No fucking way, I have some sense of self-preservation, thank you very much. She scares me."

"Good." Elissa's voice causes Oliver to very nearly jump out of his skin. "I try to have that effect on people."

"Holy fuck!" Oli blurts out, whirling around to face her, "How the hell'd you get in here?"

"Window." Josh and Elissa say at the exact same time.

"You guys fucking scare me." Oliver mumbles, making his way over to the window and locking it up tightly so that it can no longer be an entry point. "How the fuck did you get up to the window anyway?" He knows there's no fire escape, because he would never leave his window unlocked if there was one.

"Climbed up the drain pipe." Elissa states simply, "Wasn't all that difficult if you're someone who goes rock climbing."

Oliver is definitely not someone who goes rock climbing, but he can very much imagine that Elissa goes regularly, probably so she can commit murder or something like that. Oli doesn't really want to think about it, if he's being honest, mainly because he could easily end up next on Elissa's hitlist, and in no way would he be able to survive a confrontation with her.

"Do you want to let us in on your plans for traps?" Josh interjects, "Or are we gonna stand around thinking about how Elissa could kill either of us with her bare hands if she wanted to?"

Oli laughs, and the ice is broken. Much as Josh predicted, Elissa pulls out a notebook full of detailed designs for booby traps, and they all get to work.

Oliver is nervous, terrified that this isn't going to work, but the way he cares about Josh is making him hold it together. This is going to work, for no other reason than because it has to. He has to survive this mess. For Josh.

~

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack

after my prolonged hiatus I have returned!

elissa's character is loosely based off of my sister, terrifying and deadly in a lovable way

remember to check out my new one shot book! https://www.wattpad.com/story/267611195-gay-one-shots-mxm-and-wxw

idk if any of you are still here, still reading my updates, but i sure hope so!

i could drown myself in someone like you, and remember to create and destroy as you see fit

-Samira