The next morning, Ollie woke up sweating.

    After a moment of blinking and squirming, she realized it was because she was sharing her bed and her blankets with a man.

    Throughout the night, Buck had slowly shifted down further on her bed, his head now completely off of her pillow and laying on her mattress. She could feel his breath brush against her back everytime he exhaled, his arm swung around her hip and hand coiled beneath her waist.

    With a sigh, she placed her hand on his elbow, dragging her nails up and down his forearm. A smile pulled at her lips when his fingers twitched, a soft inhale coming from behind her as he woke up.

    "Morning." Buck's low voice rumbled into her back, floating straight into the pit of her stomach. His arm tightened around her waist just as she turned around to face him, a cheesy smile already brightening up his face.

    In the morning glow coming through her window, he looked almost angelic. Surprisingly, and to her disbelief, he was still in his hoodie from the night before, although it had twisted in his sleep, the hood hanging out on the side of his neck. His hair was laying flat against one side of his head, sticking up on the other, giving him the boys-next-door look that made her want to scream and kick her out of his bed in pure cuteness aggression.

    "Hello." Ollie murmured back, pulling her blanket up over her chin. Everything she wanted to say seemed to build itself up in her throat, blocking itself from coming out in a word jumble, so she settled with pressing her lips together and admiring him in his Sleeping Beauty state instead.

    His smile only got larger at her response, probably basking in the idea that she hadn't yet jabbed a foot into his side and kicked him out of her bed. "How'd you sleep?"

    She groaned softly, rolling over onto her back and stretching out her arms, careful to not punch him in the face. "Warm. I think you absorb all of the fires that we put out." An exhale huffed out of her nose as she looked over at him.

    A laugh rumbled out of his chest in response, hands reaching out to grab the blanket and yank it off of her. "Fine, I'll take this for myself, then."

    An involuntary squeal left her lips at the cool air rushing to her legs, clawing at the blanket as he held it away from her before ultimately giving up. "Fine. I need to get up, anyway." She reached out to flick him on the forehead before rolling out of bed, stretching and making her way towards her bathroom.

    The two fell into a comfortable silence before, surprise, Buck broke it again. "Hey, does this mean I don't have to sleep in the living room anymore?"

    She snorted, grabbing her toothbrush. "Does a bear meow?"

    "Hey!" He whined, the sound of his feet hitting the ground and shuffling following the complaint. Slowly but surely, his large body took up the rest of the space in her small bathroom, his hands holding onto the doorframe as he leaned towards her. "Why not?"

    Her body turned to face his, brows raising in challenge. "I like my bed. I like my space. You are too warm. Couch, it is, Buckaroo." To make her point, she placed her toothbrush in her mouth, brushing her teeth and turning away from him.

   Buck groaned like a child, slipping behind her and leaning his back against the door as he watched her in the mirror. "But the couch is so uncomfortable."

   Leaning down, she spat into the sink before regaining eye contact with his reflection. "And that's how I know you're a liar. Because you have told me multiple times that my couch feels like sitting on a cloud."

    A sound equal to a whine followed it, his arms wrapping around her middle and pulling her back flush to his chest despite the soft grunt of disapproval huffing out of her. With his face hidden in her neck, he mumbled softly. "You're rude."

    "Move out." Ollie cheerily responded, scratching her nails against his scalp for a moment before gently pushing him away, putting her toothbrush away. Turning to face him, she leaned against her bathroom counter. "I need to go to Maddie's today to help her get ready for her date with Chim. Can you drop me off and pick me up after?"

    He stared at her for a second, no doubt mentally teasing her for the way she fluttered her lashes up at him, before nodding. "Can do. For now, breakfast? Sandwiches from down the street?"

    "Yes, please." She grinned up at him, unable to wipe it off as he placed a quick kiss on her cheekbone before quickly leaving her room. With a dreamy sigh that made her want to bash her own head in, she placed her hands on her bathroom counter, staring at herself in the mirror and wondering just how she got to where she was.

    Only a couple of moments after Ollie had finished slathering on deodorant and brushing out her hair, her bedroom door slammed open so hard she swore it shook the floor. She turned to the doorway of her bathroom just as Ellis bursted through it, eyes wide and crazed.

    Her roommate's finger pointed at her before at her wide-open bedroom door. "Why did Evan Buckley just leave your room in the same clothes he was lounging in last night?"

    Deflection was obviously Ollie's first go, a snort leaving her nose.  "The fact that you can remember what he was wearing last night is concerning. Do you have a crush on him? I can put in a good word."

    Ellis' face reddened, her head shaking vigorously. "No. Stop it."

    A moment of tense silence stretched between them before Ollie finally relented, sighing. "He slept in my bed."

    "He slept in your bed?"

    "He slept in my bed."

    Another bout of silence. And then a scream.

    "Oh, my god, Ollie! You did it!" Ellis squealed, jumping forward and wrapping her hands around the other girl's biceps. "I need to know absolutely everything. How was it? How's he? Stop me when I get close." She put her two index fingers together, slowly starting to pull them apart.

    A blush crept up Ollie's cheeks like a wildfire, her hands smacking at her fingers to get her to stop. "If you don't fucking stop! We didn't have sex, London Summer!"

    Ellis pouted, crossing her arms. "Well, that's no fun. Why not? Have you seen him?" She exaggerated, eyebrows wiggling animatedly.

    "Yes, I have. Jesus, we need to get you laid or something to get you off my back." Ollie grunted, pushing past Ellis to stroll into the kitchen. "He noticed I was avoiding him. He came into my room. We kissed. We fell asleep. That's it." She explained quickly, eyes darting to the door in hopes that the aforementioned wouldn't walk in in the middle of the conversation even though she knew the walk to the breakfast spot took a while.

    Like a puppy, Ellis trailed behind her, sliding into the stool at the kitchen island and leaning forward to soak in as much information as possible. "Okay. What does this mean for the fate of Bollie?"

    Ollie froze, collecting her thoughts before whipping around from where she was pulling a glass out of the cabinet. "Bollie?"

    "No? Oluck? Bollie? Bullie?" Ellis kept spitting out, eyebrows furrowing in thought.

    "Okay, cut that train of thought out right now." She demanded, grabbing some ice for her water. "I don't know what it means for us. That's something we'll decide, I guess. But not when I'm barely awake and before I've had breakfast. So, please, Ellis, no more. I will talk to you when stuff happens, I promise."

    Ellis stared at her for a second before their front door creaked open, causing her eyebrows to wiggle as she turned around and scampered out of the kitchen. "Hiiii, Buckley." She cooed as she scooted past him, making an 'I see you' gesture before disappearing into her bedroom.

    Confusion painted itself across Evan's face as he made his way into the kitchen, two greasy white bags clamped in his hands. Just as he set them down on the island, realization dawned on him. "She saw me, didn't she?"

    Ollie snorted, grabbing a bag. "You are not exactly as stealthy as a tiny mouse, big boy."

    "Shut up." He grumbled, shoving a breakfast sandwich in his mouth.

-

( TW // descriptions of blood, pain, stabbing & knives )

    Later that night, once the sun had started to set over the horizon, Buck dropped Ollie off at Maddie's apartment, where she walked her way in like she had lived there all of her life. "Maddiebell." She called, her voice singsong as she shut the door behind her.

    "Here." Maddie called back, her footsteps thrumming against the stairs as she slowly made her way down them. Ollie's eyes raised to watch her, letting out a low whistle at her appearance. A silky black pantsuit covered her legs and waist, a V-cut outlining her sharp collarbone, even if it was slightly covered up by the blazer she had over her shoulders. She had put on a minimal amount of make-up, but just enough to enhance the best parts of her face – darker lipstick on her lips, thick mascara on her long eyelashes.

    "Wow. Are you sure you don't want to go out with me instead?" She joked, grabbing Maddie's hand to help her down the last step and raising it to guide her into a twirl.

    Maddie laughed, shaking her head. Her mouth opened to respond before it was interrupted by the sound of her phone vibrating on the table. She raised her finger to excuse herself, grabbing her phone and pulling it up to her ear. As she spoke, she moved out of the foyer, disappearing into the living room.

    Ollie kicked at the floor as she stood with her hands in her pockets, waiting for her friend to return. Her thoughts were interrupted by the jarring sound of the buzzer, leaning over to glance into the camera. At the sight of Chimney, all dressed up with flowers, she beamed, pressing the button that unlocked the gate and opening the front door so he could step in. "Maddie, Chim's here! I'm gonna get your stuff together." She called, moving to grab Maddie's keys and her purse, making sure everything she would need was in there.

    She spun around excitedly at the sound of the door creaking open more, although the large grin on her face immediately faded as she saw the hooded figure. "Who are you? Where's Chimney?"

    "You weren't supposed to be here," was the only thing the man in front of her said before he stepped forward, a switchblade clicking as he unsheathed the blade. She attempted to step back as her brain caught up to what was happening, arms raising, but her feet didn't move fast enough.

    Before she could blink, his arm was moving forward, pain spiking through every single one of her nerve endings as the blade dug into her stomach, a cry leaving her lips. Her body froze, fight or flight not working and instead opting for freeze, hand curling over the wound on her stomach just as he ripped the blade out. He plunged it one, two, three more times before he finally backed off, her body slumping limply to the floor as soon as the hand he held on her shoulder to hold her up was gone.

    Despite the agony surging through her veins, her body screaming at her as her fingers coated with her own blood, sticky and warm, foreign to her, she kept her eyes open, watching closely. Her eyes grew half-lidded as she watched the man stomp his way into the kitchen, hearing a pained cry come from Maddie and attempting to reach out for her. She wanted to move, she wanted to fight. She couldn't lose another person, not when everything was going too well.

    But her body gave up before her mind did, only being able to crawl a few inches before she grew too weary, her eyes slowly closing as she rolled onto her back, blood soaking into her sweatshirt as it gathered beneath her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

you guys wanted an update idk :/