Her Sempiternal (Sequel to Oliver's Smile)

One Night

Dedicated to Thegirlwhocouldfly1!

I slowly walked back to my car. It was dark outside, so no one could see the tears rolling down my face. I didn't bother trying to stop them. They would just keep falling.

I had just gotten off the phone with Matty. He told me that Oli refused to listen. He didn't lknow what was wrong with him. No one did. He stayed in his house alone drinking himself to death. 

How could Oli just stop caring about me? I still cared about him. So why did he forget me...

I wished Marci was still alive... She would know what to do. She might even be able to talk to Oli for me. Or at least knock some sence into him. I wished she had never gotten sick. And I wished I didn't have to come back to the states. But I had to when this whole mess with my brother came up...

I drove home quietly, still lost in thought about Oliver and Marci. I pulled into my spot and slowly got out of the car and walked up the steps. Cassie was in the kitchen cooking.

"Hey," she called. I grumled a response and shuffled back to my room. I quietly closed the door and flopped on my bed. I was at a loss as to what to do with Oli. I tried everything. 

"Maybe... Just one more time," I whispered. I got up and pulled my phone out of my bag. Oli's smile greeted me. I smiled back. I missed that smile so much. I held my breath as I dialed his number. It rang. And rang. And rang. And...

"Hello?" a quiet voice said. My heart leapt.

"Oli?"

"What?"

"I- can we talk?"

"Why?"

"Because you're my boyfriend and I miss you," I whispered. Tears instantly started spilling onto my face.

"You left me," he said emotionlessly. I felt my heart sink.

"I had to. And I'm still your girlfriend," I said.

"Come back," he said. He sounded so distant... So empty.

"I can't Oli. You know that."

"I can't do it without you," he whispered. I heard the crack in his voice. 

"Yes you can. If you actually tried to talk to me," I said. I tried to keep the anger out of my voice.

"Why. You're not here. You're not coming back. why bother," he said. 

"Because I love you," I whispered. He was silent then.

"If you love me, why did you leave?" he asked. The line clicked off then. 

"Hello? Oli?" I called, but there was no answer. He was gone again...

I threw my phone against the wall and burried my face in my hands. It was like he didn't even care about me. Or even want to try and fix things!

"Brod? What was that noise?" Cassie's voice called though the door. I didn't answer. She craked it open and peaked inside.

"Brodie?" she called. Her eyes spotted me laying on the floor and she darted over, careful not to trip over the death trap of a mess I had on the floor.

"Brodie? What happened? What's going on?" she called. All I could do was sob.

"He hung up on me," I whispered. He cradled me to her chest.

"He did what?" she asked quietly.

"Tried to talk to him, but he doesn't care about me," I sobbed. I clung tightly to her shirt. She held me tightly as she stroked my hair, trying to calm me.

"He'll come around, Brod. i know he will. He loves you. He has to. Oh gosh, I had such a good day and I had great new for you and now all of this. I'm so sorry Brodie," she said. Now I felt worse. 

"I'm sorry. You didn'y have to come in here," I whispered, trying to stop crying, 

"You're my best friend. And I heard what ever that loud noise was. I had to come and make sure you were okay," she said. 

"What happened today?" I asked, trying to get my mind off Oli's harsh behavior.

"Well, uh, Jona finally called me today. I don't know what made him change his mind, but he wants to fix things," she said. I tried to look happy for her, but all I wanted to do was scream out in anger. Jona wanted to fix things with the person he loved, why couldn't Oli...

"That's great, Cass," I whispered.

"i know it's probably a bad time, though," she said. I nodded.

"He wants you to call him though. He also wanted to talk to you," she said. 

"Why couldn't he just call me?" I asked.

"He thinks you're mad at him for not keeping in touch," she said. 

"No," I whispered. 

"Well, maybe he can help you with Oli," she said. She got up and walked out the room and left me to my troubled thoughts. 

---------------------------

After dinner, Cassie and I sat on the couch watching TV. I was still upset about eariler. I texted Lee and told him what happened. He was really mad, but he didn't know what else to do. Oli wouldn't talk to anyone, which didn't make me feel any better.

"I'm going to bed," Cassie finally said. She got up and walked out of the room with out another word. I knew she was a little upset that I wasn't happier for her. I wanted to be, but I couldn't help feeling jealous. 

I wandered into the kitchen for a drink before I went to bed myself. The stack of mail was sitting on the counter. I walked over and flipped though it and found all of mine. then I grabbed the small carton of orange juice and headed back to my room.

I found my abndonded phone. It didn't even have a crack in it. I sat back down on my bed and dialed Jona's number. He picked up right away.

"Brodie," he said quietly.

"I'm not mad," I said, knowing that was what he was going to start talking about.

"You should be," he said.

"No. You guys have been busy or what ever," I said. I couldn't hate Jona. I know it was harder for him than even Oli when I left, because not only did I leave, but Cassie as well.

"I haven't been that busy. It's just been complicated around here," he said.

"That's what Matty said," I said.

"What all did Matty say?" he asked. I could hear the tone in his voice, like he was angry for Matty talking to me.

"That was it, that it was just complicated. Why?" 

"Things have been rough around here. All we do is fight. And Oli not being here don't help. We get harrassed all the time, asking what's going on and why aren't wer writing and touring. It's been hell here. The band is falling apart," he said. I felt my stomach tighten.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean all we do is fight and argue. None of us can agree on what to do anymore. I'm sick of it. And you try and talk to Oli and all he does is slam the door in your face and keep drinking," he said. Tears seaped back into my eyes. I had no idea it was that bad over there for the guys...

"So what are you going to do?"

"Hell if I know. But I know if things don't start changing soon, we're going to lose our label and fans and everything we've ever worked for," he said quietly.

"It'll get better, Jona. Just, keep trying. Things will work out," I said.

"How can you be so sure when all we do is fight and drink," he asked. 

"I don't know Jona. But it's all I have to hope for," I said.