I Have Been Chosen

Oliver 20

Saturday 7th February

Oliver and Arden sat down on two opposing grey armchairs that were box-shaped to fit the futuristic setting, and like every other piece of furniture in this place, was bloody uncomfortable, but Oliver knew he would feel more awkward standing, not knowing what gesture to keep his hands.

"So," Arden began slowly, his hands clasped together, his drink barely touched. "I... I wanted to apologise for how things went."

Oliver sipped his mojito, not knowing what to say, though he reminded himself not to sip too quickly; otherwise, he wouldn't have anything to do in the awkward pauses of the conversation, and who knew how long this conversation was going to be.

"I think during the latter part of our relationship..." Arden swallowed. "I was too focused on social media, on posting pictures, that I didn't consider your own feelings on the situation. Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever asked your permission to start that whole 'grumpy boyfriend' account and profit off it."

Oliver shrugged. "You gave me the proceeds; you spent it on our dates."

"Yes, our dates, to generate more money because I took pictures." Arden rotated his glass in his hands. "All I ended up caring about was just getting more likes on the photos; I forgot that our relationship started because I genuinely liked you and... and then when the account became so big, and I noticed it wasn't making as much as it used to..." He shrugged. "It just made me start associating the death of the growth with you, blaming it on you instead realising that I just had run out of content. I treated you wrongly, Ollie, is what I'm trying to say, because I was a fucking idiot, too focused on the numbers and the internet fame, I forgot about you..."

Again, Oliver didn't know how to respond, so he instead sat there silently, waiting for Arden to continue. He then became suddenly aware of what he was wearing, the jumper that Arden had gifted him, that he wore to most social events. That protective armour now felt weak and open, vulnerable to attack. It was silly; Arden wasn't going to attack him; no, instead, it seemed he had intentions of healing, and yet Oliver didn't know if he could do any of this right now. The music in the background swirled and grew louder and yet fainter and made a disorganised noise.

Why? Why was he so afraid of this conversation? Arden was apologising to him. That's what he wanted, right? And then after that, it will be... it will be finally over. Ah... there we are. Even after over a month, Oliver hadn't fully moved on, and the relationship had ended so abruptly, but it wasn't truly the last part. And now it soon would be, it would be officially over, that extra chapter in the story finished and closed upon so something new could happen. But Oliver didn't know yet if he was ready for something new, but there was no rush. He would just be by himself for a while longer.

"Ollie?" Arden said softly, a bit too quiet for the music in the background. "Are you going to tell me what you're thinking about?"

"It's Oliver," said Oliver quietly.

"Pardon?"

"It's Oliver," he repeated. "I never liked being called Ollie."

"Oh." Arden paused. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I did."

"Oh."

There was a pause.

"I..." Oliver hesitated. "I said I knew that you weren't happy in the relationship near the end of it."

Arden raised his head.

"I didn't end things because I always hate starting a new relationship with people. It takes too long," Oliver admitted. "It takes time with any relationship, but it always seems longer for me, for someone to understand me, and I didn't want to have to go through that anymore... because it keeps on reminding me how difficult I am to people."