Pulled From The Grey | Noah Sebastian |

8: Just Pretend

Noah

It's been a few weeks since I've seen Olivia and the thought of her well-being was constantly on my mind. Sure, I've checked in on her through text here and there, but it was always the same response: she's doing okay, she's just been working longer hours and didn't have time to hang out. I wasn't buying it, but there was no use in trying to get the truth from her through texting.

The boys and I decided to jump online and play Fall Guys, which was helping me get her off my mind for a bit. This game could be frustrating at times, but it was all in good fun. We just shit talked each other and laughed when we would push each other off the edge to make it to the next level. Of course, there were times where I wouldn't time the jumps right and the floor would collapse underneath my character, resulting in me yelling obscenities and the boys laughing at me.

"Yo, you hear from Liv at all lately?" Ruffilo asks.
I sighed as the question distracted me, causing me to fall off the edge again. "Yeah, here and there. She's been busy with work I guess, picking up people's slack more so than usual."
"Damn, that sucks," he sympathizes.
I purse my lips and nod dejectedly, the thoughts of her being unwell infiltrating my thoughts again.

We begin another round of Fall Guys when my phone started to ring on the desk. Olivia's name was displayed on my screen, and my stomach churned with anxiety—she's only ever contacted me by text, never a phone call. I slide my headset off my left ear, holding my phone in place with my shoulder as I accept her call. When I heard the despair in her voice, I knocked the headset completely off my head in panic. "Liv, what's wrong?"
She was wailing, fumbling her words. The only thing I could make out was 'I need you' or 'I need someone'—I couldn't tell exactly what was being said.
"Shh, shh, Liv," I try to calm her down. "I'm on my way, okay? Leave the door unlocked so I can get in." With that being said, I hung up and put the headset back on briefly. "I gotta go, that was Liv and-and she didn't sound good."
I could hear Nick say something as I turned everything off, but I didn't want to waste any time explaining it to the guys.

When I made it to her place, there wasn't a single light on, and that right there freaked me out. Did she end up leaving before I got here? Did I take too long?

As I fumbled around to find a lightswitch, I could hear her sobbing from across the house. I tried my best to follow the sound without stumbling into anything as I still couldn't find a damn lightswitch. After bashing my shin against the coffee table, I finally reached the entryway to the kitchen where her cries were coming from. I ran my hands against the wall, sighing with a hint of relief when I was able to flip the light on.

When I saw her, I felt my heart rate triple with alarm. She was crumpled on the floor, a pool of a dark liquid around her. Her back was against the cupboards, her arms wrapped around her legs as she screamed into her knees. I got down to her level and immediately scooped her into my arms. She clung to me, embracing me tight enough to push the air out of my lungs while sobbing into my chest. "Shh, Olivia, I'm here," I tried my best to console her, running a hand down her back. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head against me, "Wine," she mumbles.
I knit my eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what wine had to do with anything. "What—oh," it clicked that she was referring to the puddle around her.
The sight of the shattered wine glass behind her calmed my nerves a tad since it confirmed that it wasn't blood around her.

I had to get to the bottom of why she was so distraught. I gently pried her from me, holding her by her shoulders as I looked at her. Her eyes were incredibly puffy, cheeks flushed with mascara running down them. "Olivia, what happened?"
"My-my," gasp. "Dad," gasp. "Dad died." Her voice cracked on the last word.
My heart shattered for her. My own eyes welled up with tears, knowing the exact pain of losing a parent. I watched her lips tremble and her eyes screw shut as she continued to break down in front of me. I pulled her back into my chest and wrapped my arms around her, hoping she could feel the sympathy I had for her. "I'm so sorry," I whisper in her hair as I ran a hand through it. "I've got you, I'm not going anywhere. Let's get you out of the kitchen and into clean clothes."
I feel her nod her head against me.