IN HER SHADOW (Oli Sykes Fan Fiction) COMPLETE

11. A Friend In Need.

The following day, right around 5pm, my phone buzzed so I paused my movie to check who it was from. It was Oli. I wasn't expecting to hear from him, but of course I checked the message.

"Hey Hails, could you do me a favour? Could you see if my power bank is in your sister's room? I gave it to her to borrow and I think it's still there. It's black and green, about the size of a deck of cards." the message read.
"Sure." I replied. Hannah's door was open and she wasn't in there, but I checked the hallway before entering her room in case my mum was about. Sure enough, I found the power bank he had described on the bedside table, on the side he used to sleep on, so I unplugged it and took it back to my room with me before sending him a photo of it.
"That's the one. Thanks, you're the best. Could you maybe put it in your letterbox and I'll come past and grab it?" he asked. That seemed silly since I was going to work soon and his place wasn't too far out of the way.
"I have to go to work soon... do you want me to drop it off to you on my way?" I offered.
"You don't have to do that. What time are you working? I'll come pick it up and grab some dinner while I'm there." he replied.
"OK. I'm working 7-11pm." I sent.
"Cool, I'll swing by at 7. Thanks again." he replied.

I hadn't seen Oli in weeks, since before he went off on tour and before my sister had ruined their relationship. I wondered if he'd be OK with me or if I'd remind him of Hannah... maybe he wouldn't want to be near me or something. I hated the thought of that. 

Oli arrived at the store just as I was about to start work. I'd already put on my dodgy green Subway hat to match my uniform, but I had a couple of minutes before I clocked on so was sitting at an empty table. "Hey Oli." I said as he wandered over and I stood up to greet him. I went in for a hug seeing it was the first time I'd seen him since Hannah betrayed him. He looked normal, not like he'd been crying or hadn't slept in days. I'm sure he felt absolutely horrible though.
"Hey Hails." he said as he squeezed me quickly.
"How are you doing?" I asked cautiously.
"I'm alright." he replied, not really seeming like he wanted to talk about what happened. I went to my locker to retrieve his power bank and he stuffed it into his pocket once I'd returned it to him. We talked a little bit, mainly he asked about my work before my manager called me from behind the counter. I suppose he didn't want to talk about himself.
"It's seven, Hailie. You can socialise after your shift." he stated. I got the hint, but he didn't need to be such a dick about it when I was always on time and there were no customers in store anyway. Oli just chuckled as I rolled my eyes.
"Well, I guess I'll have to talk to you another time." I said, wrapping up the conversation.
"Don't worry, I should get food anyway. Pretty sure he can't get pissed off with you for talking to a paying customer." he chuckled. That was very true.
"Have you been eating properly?" I asked, wondering how he was truly coping.
"Honestly, no, so a sandwich will do me good." he admitted. Poor Oli. I went around the bench and put on a pair of disposable gloves then looked over the counter waiting for Oli to tell me what he wanted. He chose his bread and then moved on through his sandwich selections, all of which were vegetables and salad items.
"Eww." I stated after he said 'olives'.
"What the fuck is wrong with olives?" he questioned.
"Nothing." I chuckled. He just frowned at me.
"Do you judge all of your customers choices?" he asked with a smirk.
"Nah, just yours." I giggled. My manager was standing by the door watching on, and Oli and I were definitely aware of it, trying not to laugh. I cut his sandwich in half then wrapped it tightly and brought it to the register so he could pay. I gave him some free cookies and crisps too since my manager had left. I knew he liked chocolate-chip cookies because I'd seen them in the bus and he always ate potato chips when we were backstage. We all did.
"What's this for?" he asked as I slid it across the counter.
"So you don't famish." I said playfully with a smile. He just laughed.
"Thanks Hails. I guess I'll see you around." Oli said as he took his dinner and left. I watched him leave then wiped the bench as I waited for the next customer and my manager popped up out of nowhere, yet again.
"Was that your boyfriend?" he asked. God, he was so annoying.
"No, just a friend." I replied. As if anyone as amazing as Oli would ever be my boyfriend.

When I got home from work, I found a message from Oli telling me that the sandwich was great and that he'd eaten all six of the free cookies too. I laughed to myself and replied saying I was glad and also apologising for my manager being a dickhead.
"Haha, don't worry about it. I think he was just jealous, lol." Oli replied.
"Jealous? Of what?" I asked.
"Well he was giving me the filthiest look... I think he might have a crush on you." he sent.
"EWW." I responded. Oli replied with lots of laughing emojis and I laughed to myself. It was funny that he was signifying laughter, because my sister was moping around like the world was ending – even though it was her that caused their relationship to end.
"So other than not eating right, how are you doing? You don't have to talk about it, but I'm here if you want to." I asked as I changed out of my uniform and threw myself onto my bed.
"I don't want to burden you. You must already hear enough about it there." he replied. God, always so considerate. The truth was, I had avoided Hannah and my mum for the past three days. I refused to listen to anything she had to say.
"I'm just in my room eating a non-olive sandwich for dinner. I'm happy to listen." I told him. He didn't reply for a while, but then the three little dots came up, telling me he was typing.
"I guess I just don't really know why she did it. I don't know what I did wrong." he sent. I felt so bad for him and really angry that he was blaming himself. What my sister had done was unforgivable and well, I thought she was an idiot. Oli idolised her, he was so in love with her and treated her like gold. I honestly couldn't understand why she would ever want to be with anyone else. 
"I don't know why either. You know she never tells me anything, but you shouldn't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong. You've always been so kind and nice and treated her so good. You're the type of guy every girl wants. I hate what she did because you don't deserve to be hurt. I'm honestly so angry with her. Nothing she can say will ever justify what she did." I sent.
"Thanks Hails. It just feels like I'm responsible, you know?" he replied.
"But you're not! It's HER fault, meanwhile she's moping around whinging about how broken she is and posting about heartbreak on Instagram... like WTF? She's such an attention seeker. I honestly want to smash her phone, lol." I told him.
"You and me both. I've been feeling a bit like maybe fame was the only reason she was with me to be honest..." he admitted. I felt so bad for him.
"I don't think so... I'm pissed off at her, but I think she did love you." I replied.
"Why would she cheat on me then? You don't do that to someone you love." he sent. I really didn't know but I felt bad for him. I could feel the pain in his words without even hearing his voice.
"I don't know... I don't understand it, but I really don't think she was using you. As much as I don't agree with a lot of her life, I don't think she is THAT wicked. That's just my opinion though, I'm nothing like her so I don't really know how her mind works." I responded.
"You're definitely not." he replied.
"I'm unpopular and as invisible as fuck, lol." I typed as I chuckled.
"No you're not." he replied.
"OK, Mr 'I have two million followers on Instagram'..." I typed back. He sent back a tonne of laughing emojis. 

We chatted on messenger for about another twenty minutes about all kinds of random things, but the conversation always came back to Hannah. I was used to it though, I was used to my life always being about her and her being the centre of attention. "Hey, it's nearly midnight so I better go, but thanks for the chat..." he said as we were wrapping it up. "It's nice to talk to someone who has a level head. All the guys do is call your sister a bitch and tell me how much better off I am without her, but it's hard when I love her. I'd never take her back, but I can't just turn it off like a tap, you know?" he said. I could only imagine how much Oli's friends hated my sister... I didn't blame them. I hated her too. I also hated that Oli still loved her. I guess it doesn't just go away immediately but she didn't deserve him, not for another second in any way at all.
"I'm always here for you and happy to chat or listen, anything you need." I replied.
"Thanks Hailie. Take care." he replied.