1.1 | daunting medleys

sixty-five | nervous

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The concert was well underway. Pierce had been serenading the crowd. Although Oliver vaguely knew who he was, and had heard most of his songs, he didn't expect the effect he had over the crowd. The room was packed, and there was a board beside the band, that had the GoFundMe account of the orphanage. Tabitha, Oliver, Axel, Talia, Toby and Ariana were at the front too. Everyone except Talia and Toby called it perks of knowing the songwriter.

Everyone was swaying softly to his low voice, the dark lights made the atmosphere even more romantic. Tabitha was in front of Oliver, his hand over her shoulder as her back was pressed against his chest. She had been quiet, watching the entire performance with starry eyes, her hand squeezing his whenever Pierce would blow everyone a kiss or when he winked at Oliver and he rolled his eyes.

There was a small break where his band decided to play slow music, the interval before they played his song, and the girl it was about was before him. The song wasn't anything that was considered explicit, but he poured out his heart, and frustrations about how inadequate he'd felt. Tabitha turned around, her big brown eyes on his. Oliver's cheeks reddened, and he looked away, clearing his throat as Axel and the others approached them.

Tabitha chattered on with Ariana, her hands covered in Oliver's jewelery, his rings on her fingers and half the bracelets he wore on her wrists.

Axel came to stand beside him, his shoulders bumping into Oliver's. "You seem nervous." Tabitha's hands moved to the necklace that was resting on her collarbone, almost reflexively. Oliver could tell she was blushing as her eyes found his amused grey's, before turning back to Ariana.

"I am." He replied.

Talia had come from the other side of the gym, to drag Tabitha away from the hall, her hands glinting in the light, as Ariana following behind them. "What are you concerned about?"

Oliver shrugged. "Everything. Mostly Tabitha. Do you think she's going to think I'm pathetic because I wrote a song about her before we even started dating?"

Axel put a hand on his shoulder. "I mean, probably not. You're a writer, and you write based on inspiration, and it just so happens that she's your inspiration. Tabitha is smart, and she loves you despite you being so weird," He rolled his eyes, laughing a little as Oliver narrowed his greys. "She hadn't judged you for anything that you've been through or done. So she won't judge you for the song."

"Thank you." He answered quietly. Axel nodded, and walked off to Ariana when the girls had walked in. Tabitha's hand found his, holding it up to her mouth as she kissed it softly.

When he, through the furious blush that covered his face and the way his heart raced, looked at her with a raised brow, she shrugged. "It's a kiss for good luck. Your song's next and I hope everyone sees how talented you are." If he was being completely honest with himself, Oliver would've kissed her multiple times, mostly because he liked kissing her, and also because she was the best thing that had even happened to him, and telling him that he loved her at that moment was too early.

"Thank you princess." She said nothing, looking over his shoulder. Her pretty eyes hardened and when he turned to look at whatever or whoever it was, he could feel his eyes harden as well. Men in black suits and way too many John Cena looking buzz cuts filled the entrance and a familiar figure walked in, accompanied by a redhead and two boys behind her. His sperm donor looked terrible, and his wife and his two children looked even worse. The older man's brown eyes found his and brightened when he saw Oliver's tense body. His bodyguards cleared a path, directly to stand beside Oliver at the very front below the makeshift stage.

Oliver took Tabitha's hand and walked opposite from them to a corner where it was dark and not much people were. "Why are we here?" Tabitha asked, her eyes flitting over his face for any signs of discomfort, but he didn't find any. Seeing the man who abandoned him was like seeing a stranger, he didn't know him, nor did he want to know him. He would be fine.