𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔, 𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒎. ¹

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺. 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

when olivia sees her brother again, he's sitting outside with a slushie and a cigarette. one of those things should definitely not be on school property.

"what are you doing out here?" she sat down on the small brick wall, the edge of the grass touching her jeans.

"i hated school when i went there, i don't know what im doing here." he took a long drag from his cigarette.

she shrugged, "you didn't have to come." it was true. ezra could have gone, he was already at the school or she could have just said her dad was dead and her mum lived to far away.

"i know."

wes was quiet for a second before he started slurping on his rainbow coloured drink, his tongue stained red and green at the same time. "want some?"

she nodded and instead of passing the slushie, he passed the cigarette. she took a long drag, it came from her lips as she breathed out softly. she looked so peaceful.

"im going back this weekend." she told him, flicking the ash off the tip for the cigarette. he shrugged, not surprised by her words.

"might as well move back." he teased but she didn't seem amused.

olivia scoffed, shaking her head. "not funny."

"it kind of is," wes smirked, taking the cigarette back from her. "you’re always running back there anyway. what’s in pittsburgh that’s so damn important?"

she didn’t answer right away. instead, she took the slushie from his other hand, sipping at the straw. the cold stung her teeth, but she barely reacted.

"you know," she finally said.

"yeah, okay." wes exhaled a stream of smoke, watching her carefully. "does aria know?"

olivia tensed, her grip tightening slightly around the plastic cup. "why would she need to?"

"because she’s your girlfriend?" wes raised an eyebrow. "or, at least, she was the last time i checked."

"she’s not my keeper."

"no, but she’s the only person who actually gives a shit about you."

olivia looked away, staring at the dark stretch of asphalt beyond the school parking lot. the distant hum of traffic filled the silence between them.

"you think she’s gonna wait around forever?" wes asked after a moment, flicking the cigarette ash onto the pavement.

olivia stayed quiet. she didn’t want to think about that. about what would happen if aria got tired of waiting, if she finally decided olivia wasn’t worth the effort.

"whatever," she muttered, standing up. "i should go back inside."

wes didn’t stop her. he just watched as she walked away, the slushie still in her hand, her shoulders set in that way that told him she was pretending not to care.

on the way back, she bumps into ezra who seemed a little strange. "brian wants to see me." he told her but she barely looked at him.

"oh, man. you got here a little too late, we just stopped caring about sex offenders but see you on the list i guess." she patted her brother's shoulder as she walked away. done with her day.