ROSES (Oli Sykes Fan Fiction) COMPLETE

SELFLESS

As we sat in the taxi back to my apartment, I felt bad about making Oli miss out on the fair - we had come home so early. I still felt embarrassed that he'd seen my mishap too, even though he was nothing but supportive and understanding about it. "I'm sorry I ruined your night." I said, feeling guilty for cutting the night so short.
"What? Don't be silly. I ate loads of amazing Chinese food and got myself a sick souvenir." he replied with a chuckle like he was trying to make me feel less shit. He really was being so kind and selfless to me that I almost wanted to cry. "I'm sure the fair isn't going anywhere anyway. We can go another time, we have other nights." he added with a shrug. I was grateful that he understood, and that my embarrassing situation didn't phase him – that it didn't completely gross him out.

Cassidy sat up from the couch as I walked into the apartment and she looked over as I held the door for Oli behind me. "You're home early." she said as her eyes looked me up and down straight away – I knew she'd notice my change in attire. "Are you wearing Oli's shirt?" she questioned. "Annndddd why does Oli look like a tourist from several decades ago?!" she asked in confused surprise as he followed me in. "Just starting a retro fashion revival." he chuckled while I stayed quiet. The way he kept trying to make things less awkward for me made me feel grateful but also embarrassed. Oli excused himself to the bathroom and Cassidy looked straight at me.
"What the fuck happened? Was dinner so bad that you came home early? And uhhhhh, why are you actually wearing his shirt!?" she questioned like she thought it was something scandalous. I just sighed. "I'm so embarrassed." I said as I dropped onto the couch next to her. "Remember how I didn't wear my Mom bra? Well I was leaking and didn't even realise until a bunch of kids made fun of me. They called me disgusting and mooed at me like I was a cow. All in front of Oli too." I explained, still feeling like shit.
"What the hell? Those little assholes!!" she said with anger.
"I'm so sorry Wills. That's bullshit." she said as she stuck out her bottom lip. "So did he give you his shirt to spare you having to wear the ugly tourist one he's got on?" she questioned.
"Yeah, he literally took his shirt off in the middle of Chinatown and pulled it over my head before he even thought about where he'd get a new one for himself from." I explained quietly so he wouldn't hear me. "He was so selfless, Cass." I added. Cass looked at me with big eyes, even she couldn't deny that it was amazing that he did that and just as we'd reached a quiet moment, Oli emerged from the bathroom. I stood up and excused myself to go and change and deal with the 'situation' happening with my body... "I'm sorry about your shirt, I'll put it in the wash and give it back to you tomorrow." I said to Oli.
"It's honestly fine, don't worry, it's just a shirt." he said reassuringly. I still felt bad as I headed to my room.

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[CASSIDY]

Oli sat on the other couch in his ridiculous, hideous shirt, and even though I was never going to forget the horrible things he'd done to Willow, I appreciated what he'd done for her tonight. "Thanks." I said, breaking the silence. Oli just looked over at me slightly confused.
"Uh, for what?" he questioned.
"Willow told me what you did... with your shirt." I explained. It looked like a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh, it was no big deal. She just looked so upset. Those kids were so rude and so out of line." he replied like it was nothing.
"Well, it's nice that you looked after her in that situation. She said she was really embarrassed." I added. He looked right at me.
"I'll always look after her." he said before looking away awkwardly like maybe he shouldn't have said that to me. I wondered what he meant by that, but I wasn't about to ask.

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"How was Ivy?" I asked as I left my bedroom and headed back to the lounge. I kind of felt like I walked into something... like there was an awkward silence and both Oli and Cassidy looked kind of lost in thought. "She was an angel, like always." Cass replied as I sat on the couch next to her. "So, I might go to my room and study for a bit." Cass stated like she wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to stop her, but I guess I felt bad that she always felt like she had to leave when Oli was there. "Why don't you watch a movie with us since it's still early?" I suggested. It was only 8:30... I didn't want her to feel confined to her room all night.
"Well, since Oli's the guest, he would get to pick the movie, and no offence, but you probably have shit taste in movies." she said to Oli without filtering her words. Holy shit. Did she just say that?! I just looked at her, then at him with wide eyes. I was about to apologise to Oli, to make it all sound like a big joke once my initial shock passed, but Oli spoke before I had a chance.
"I'll have you know, I have great taste in movies, but I'll be paying most of my attention to Ivy anyway, so I'll let you choose this time." he replied with amusement. What the heck was going on? Were they... bantering?! Cassidy laughed and said she'd join us in 10 minutes and I was honestly speechless as she went to her room. What just happened?! Were they actually getting along?!

"Hey Willow... Are you OK?" he asked me as we were left alone. I was a little surprised.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied. 
"OK good. I just don't want you to worry about what happened tonight. I had a great time, dinner was amazing and besides, it probably worked out better anyway because now we can take Ivy with us to the fair and I can win her a giant, oversized teddy bear." he said with a smile. God, he made my heart swell sometimes and the way he was trying to comfort me made me feel a lot better about everything that happened. 
"Thanks Oli." I replied. 
"Now. Where is that little angel of ours? I can bring her out here for cuddles during the movie, right?" he asked. I just laughed at him, he was obsessed with her.
"Yeah, of course you can." I replied.

As promised, Cassidy got to decide on the movie, and as predicted, Oli was more interested in Ivy anyway. The movie was some silly comedy about a "games night" gone wrong and while it was really stupid, at least I laughed and it was entertaining enough that I didn't fall asleep. Once the movie had ended, Cassidy said she was going to retreat to her room, so we said goodnight. I was due to feed Ivy too, so I did. I breast fed her without a single care in the world about Oli watching, I guess I was comfortable enough around him now to not even think about it and I knew he wasn't weird about it. Ivy just looked up at me as she fed and I smiled at her precious little face, it amazed me how much she looked like Oli but I could see myself in her too. 

"You know... I know this wouldn't be how you wanted to become a Mom... I know your pregnancy was difficult and you went through so much shit, and I know I'm not who you would have chosen to be sharing this with, but... we really did create the most beautiful little human, didn't we?" he asked with a tiny smile. His words were so sweet and heartfelt and they made me smile. "Yeah we did." I said as I looked at him, then back to Ivy as she sucked away. I felt so much love for my little girl and I was over the moon that Oli felt it too. It was more than I ever could have asked for.

I handed her over to Oli for burping, since he seemed to have such a strange obsession with that task, and she actually vomited on him for the first time ever. I was quietly squealing and saying 'oh no' and I tried to move the cloth so it didn't get on his clothes but Oli was just laughing like a total lunatic. He was so weird to think it was funny that she threw up on him! "See now, I knew this shirt was hideous - it's so bad that it made Ivy vomit." he chuckled in so much amusement. Lord, he was such a weirdo, but something about how carefree and un-phased he was by it was adorable. He brought Ivy to her bed and I let him put her into her little night-time jumpsuit while I sorted out my things for bed. "Goodnight little pumpkin. I love you." he said quietly as he leaned into the cot and kissed her head. The way he told her he loved her triggered something in me; I'd never heard those words from his lips, but I just smiled. The way he was with her was so special.

I let out a huge yawn and that set Oli off too, yawning straight after just as loudly. We both kind of laughed, this really was the life of new parents. "I should probably head back to my hotel so we can both get some rest." he kind of chuckled. I was really tired and he must have also still been pretty sleepy after only one night of adjustment to a new time zone. For the first time since all of this began, the thought of inviting him to stay crossed my mind, but I didn't want to make him sleep on the couch and I wasn't about to invite him into my bed, so I let it slip by. It wasn't that I didn't trust him anymore, but being in a bed with him could trigger memories and emotions that I really didn't want to face.

He booked an uber and I took him down to the street and his car pulled up just after we arrived on the ground floor. In the past, this moment of goodbye had felt awkward, but this time it didn't. We both went in for a hug without a second thought or hesitation. I don't know if that was because he had been so thoughtful and selfless toward me earlier, but I wasn't afraid to get close to him.  "I'll call you in the morning." he said as he let me go and I just nodded. I liked Oli being around now, he was showing me sides of himself that I couldn't help but like. Knowing he was there for Ivy took so much weight off my shoulders too... like I could breathe and take a second to stop worrying about her since I knew he would protect her. I loved that he loved her as much as I did. 

He waved from the window as the car drove away and I headed back upstairs desperately looking forward to snuggling into my bed and hopefully getting a few hours of solid sleep.