You guys know the drill. Vote, comment, follow. Ily✨

OLIVER FLETCHER

PAST
APRIL 2019

"I really hope I've made the right choice," I sigh as I climb into Max's car, feeling my legs shake as I sit down.

Max frowns at me and twists the keys to start the engine. "You don't want to see your dad?"

"Of course I do," I shake my head towards him as I watch his left hand put the car in gear and gently pull away from the side of the road. "I've just never come out to him."

"I mean you don't have to tell him that we're together," Max shrugs as he keeps his eyes on the road. "Could say we're just friends or whatever."

"No," I say instantly. "Life is too short and I should be able to live it the way I want to."

Max's hand leans over to grip my knee, a bright smile on his lips. "Too right," he nods at me. "The only person who should care about what you do in your life is you, Oliver."

"Did you come out to your parents?" I question as I shuffle in my seat.

He nods before pursing his lips. "My dad didn't like it," he shakes his head. "My mother accepted it. We haven't really spoke about it since."

"Least they didn't disown you," I say jokily.

Max's hand moves from my knee to cup my cheek, his eyes still watching the road. "Whatever happens, I'll be there. If it means that we need to leave then we leave. Simple."

My hand reaches up to grip his wrist, gently pressing my lips to his palm. "You're the best."

"So what happened with your parents?" He questions as he pulls his hand away from my face to change gear.

"They broke up when I was younger," I nod as I look out of the window. "I don't really remember it but my mum said it was for the best. My dad moved on and now he's remarried, been raising his new wife's kids."

"Oh wow," Max says as he clutches onto the wheel to turn the corner. "Least they knew it was for the best."

"Exactly," I agree. "Thanks for taking us by the way."

"It's not far," he shakes his head. "Your dad must be minted if he's living near central London."

I snort to myself and look away. "Yeah minted because of his new wife," my voice lowers. "It's not even his money, pretty sure it's her fathers inheritance or something."

"Well let's just try to have a good time, hmm?" Max tries to grab my attention back into the car.

"We will have a good time," I confirm. "I'm just not prepared for unwanted questions and judgement."

"Then we don't have to put up with it if it comes our way," he turns his head to me slightly. "I promise."

Before I knew it we were pulling up outside my fathers house, it wasn't massive but for this location in London, you knew how much they'd be paying for it.

Max stands by my side as we ring the doorbell, patiently waiting to be welcomed into their home. After a few moments the door swings open and my father stands in front of me, a brown shirt rolled up to his elbows and a tea towel in hand.

"Hello son," he grins as he leans forward to give me a hug.

"Hi dad," I mumble into his shoulder as he pats my back. "How are you?"

"I'm good," he nods towards me as he pulls away.

"Nice to meet you," Max reaches his hand forward to my father. "I'm Max."

My dad's green eyes float to Max as he lands his hand in his, shaking it strongly. "Pleasure to meet you Max, I'm Paul."

"Thanks for having us," Max smiles back at him before they drop their hands.

"Come in," my father ushers us into the house. Max following close behind me, his eyes explore every inch of the hall before we make our way into the kitchen which was attached to their dining room.

My step-mum, Kerry, was stood at the kitchen island with a bright pink apron around her neck, a knife in her hand as she chops up a lettuce.

"Hi Kerry," I say warmly as her eyes float up to me.

Her lips stretch out into a warm smile as she walks around the island. "Hey Oli, it's so good to see you."

She wraps her arms around my body to give me a big hug, her expensive perfume wafting into my nose as she latches onto me. "You too," I mumble into her. "This is Max."

I pull away to extend my arm over to Max who was behind me. Kerry's expression softens as she approaches Max, holding her arms out to give him a hug. "Oh it's so good to meet you Max."

"You too Kerry, thanks for having us." He says politely.

Kerry pulls back with a soft smile. "Oh don't be silly," she shakes her head. "Go take a seat at the table, food will be ready any minute."

"Where are the kids?" I question as I motion my head to the table, Max nodding back at me.

She laughs. "Can't even call them kids anymore," she sighs. "They're fifteen and seventeen." She shakes her head.

"It's been a while since I last saw them," I admit as I pull out a chair and sit down, grateful Max decided to sit down beside me.

"You should come over more," she says as she grabs the salad bowl and places it onto the table. "They're out. Teenagers these days hate parents."

My dad walks into the kitchen moments later, helping Kerry place all the food down onto the table.

"This looks amazing," I comment as Kerry finally takes a seat with my father.

"Agreed," Max smiles.

"So," my fathers voice directs our attention to him. "How do you guys know each other?"

"University," Max speaks for me.

"How is uni Oli?" Kerry questions as she piles up her plate with tomatoes and lettuce.

I nod as I reach for a sip of water. "Good, stressful but good." I tell her.

She smiles back at me as Max and I dig into the food. "Are you enjoying your course?" My dad questions and I hum in approval.

"Yeah, I love it." I tell him with confidence.

"What do you study Max?"

Max clears his throat and places his knife and fork down. "I study illustrations." He tells them with a firm nod.

"Oh very nice," Kerry speaks enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to draw but I'm rubbish."

"Lots and lots of practice," Max smiles back at her.

"So you two have been friends since freshers?" My father questions as his eyes lay on both of us.

I stop chewing my food and swallow, gripping onto my fork for some support. "He's not my friend, dad," I speak loudly.

Max's head whipping to me in a second, my fathers eyebrows creasing towards me with confusion.

"He's my boyfriend."

I notice how Max's lips curve up at the corners for my sudden burst of braveness.

"Oh guys," Kerry dabs her mouth with the napkin. "That's wonderful, I'm so pleased for you both."

My eyes remain on my fathers as he stares back at me, Max sensing some kind of tension between us. But after a few moments his mouth stretches out into a smile as he nods. "Good for you guys," he tells us.

Swallowing harshly as my throat becomes dry.

"How long have you guys been together then?" He questions curiously.

"About five months," Max speaks up as he cups my leg underneath the table.

"And it's going well?"

"The best." His voice cuts over mine, feeling my heart grow with uncontrollable amounts of love.

"So Max," my dad places a fork load of food into his mouth. "Tell me more about yourself."

As I listen to Max speak about his interests, university, home life. I watch my father wait and listen patiently, becoming actively interested in what he had to say.

My lungs exhale a silent breath of relief, this could have gone so many different ways and I was pleased they both could be so understanding.

PRESENT
MARCH 2021

"This place is cool," I comment as Max guides us inside an underground bar. Red and white lights stuck to the wall with pop art decorated over every inch of the room. "I've never been here before."

Max turns back to me to smile. "Thought you'd like it here." He tells me as we take a seat at the end of the bar. "I wanted to take you before, but we never got the time."

My eyes settle on him as he pulls off his jacket, his white t-shirt hanging off his body as he leans on his forearms. Scanning over his silver rings to his tattoos, noticing his arms were a lot thicker than they were a year ago.

Would it be weird to say I missed seeing his arms?

"Thanks for agreeing to come out with me," he says gently, leaning across the table.

"It's okay," I respond as my fingers flick against the menu in front of me. "But if you're expecting me to get drunk so we fool around, then you are severely mistaken."

Max's eyebrows raise at my words. "Not here to get you drunk," he shakes his head. "I'm here to make up for lost time, I just want to be with you Oliver. Is that such a bad thing?"

I draw my lips into my mouth and eventually I shake my head. "I guess not," I tell him quietly.

The waitress approaches our table. "What can I get you guys?" She beams.

"Can I get an Aperol Spritz please?" I question and she nods, jotting it down.

"I'll get a bottle of Peroni please."

"Coming up." She says before removing the menus from our table.

"So what are you doing at the moment?" I ask curiously as I pull back in the chair.

Max runs a hand through his head as he stares back at me. "Not a lot," he shakes his head. "I worked out in Australia, saved up a fair bit. Found a cheap flat in Clapham, yet to find a job."

"You should make templates for people's tattoos," I pitch in.

"You think?" Max's head shifts slightly.

"Yeah, draw up some sick tattoo ideas and post them on Instagram and then before you know it people will be coming to you with commissions." I speak far too quickly.

Max blinks back at me before smiling. "That does sound like a good plan." He agrees.

"What did you do in Australia?"

His facial expression twitches at my range of questions, almost pleased that I was carrying the conversation. Like I wanted to be here.

"I just worked in a bar, I got loads of overtime and made some friends. It really helped me after I left," his voice cracks. "You have no idea how heartbroken I felt Oliver, knowing I had left you and said nothing. I'd lay awake at night, in fear of what you'd be thinking, how you'd be feeling."

My lips frown at his words, waiting for him to carry on. "But I got a job at the bar pretty easily, it kept me busy, distracted. It helped my heartbreak, it didn't heal me but it definitely stopped me from heading into a deep depressive hole."

Max digs into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, a firm smile on his lips. "I always kept this photo with me," he says as he slides his fingers into his wallet and removes a polaroid picture.

It was from his surprise birthday party, one of his friends brought a polaroid camera and let us keep the pictures that we took. His arm was around my shoulder, both of us smiling brightly towards the camera. Drunk eyes and lazy smiles.

"I know I had my whole phone full of pictures but having this just felt special," he tells me as he cups the edge of his elbows. "It gave me hope that I was doing this for the right reason, to keep you safe."

My fingers slide the picture back over, he picks it up and admires it again for a moment. "Even that smile could make me feel better on the shittiest of days," he sighs out before peeking his eyes back at me.

My whole body felt numb and then I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline running through my veins at his words. Feeling every inch of me crumble into a pile of mush, stomach churning and heart racing.

"Sorry," he dismisses himself and folds the picture back into his wallet. "That was soppy."

I was too in awe to even respond, the waitress comes over to place down our drinks which seemed like perfect timing to me. Thanking her before taking a large sip of my spritz and feeling the bitterness sink down my throat.

Max changes the subject and we finish a couple more drinks, avoiding the topic of both our heartbreaks. We've spoken about it enough and I think we were both desperate to talk about something else that didn't make me want to sob in the corner.

I excuse myself to go to the toilet and freshen up, giving myself a second to breathe. Max felt so overwhelming, being back with him again was like a shock of electricity.

As I work my way back through the bar, spotting our table at the end. Max's head looks up at me and smiles, a man walking towards me as he smirks between us. His expression made me feel comfortable, trying to create as much space between us as we walked past each other.

He leans in closer to grab my hip, evident he was trying to grab my ass instead. "Batty boy," he mumbles in my ear causing me to jump back in shock, purely horrified.

The guy smirks back at me but before I could even respond Max pulls back his arm and throws him towards the wall. "Have you got something to say?!" He roars at him.

My eyes blink back at him and the situation. "Because if you do, I suggest you say it to my fucking face." Max's eyes dilate with frustration, his fists tightening on his collar.

The man's face turns to a look of pure shock, Max's expressions not looking inviting.

"Max," I say before he did something that he would regret, or end him in the police station.

I sure didn't forget how protective Max can be, someone looks at us the wrong way then he is straight down their throats.

Eventually he drops the guy from the wall and he scurries away, too afraid of Max's threatening actions.

Once he rushes out of the bar Max turns to me instantly. "Are you okay?" He questions, his eyes roaming my body.

"I'm fine," I shake it off. "Just a little startled."

"We should go," he nods.

"Okay let me pa—"

"I've already paid, let's go."

Max grabs my hand and leads me out of the bar without another word.

"Thanks for doing that," I say as we step out into the street.

"I would never let anyone touch you or talk to you like that," he shakes his head, eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"I know," I tell him as I pull my hand away from his gently.

Max walks me back to my apartment, talking about all sorts to calm him down from what happened a few minutes ago.

As we approach my block of flats Max walks me up to my door, reaching my hand into my pocket to pull out my keys.

Turning my back to the door and watching Max as he looks down to the floor. "Thanks for tonight," I tell him as I fumble with my keys. "I had a good time."

"Me too," he nods as his dark eyes find mine. "I love spending time with you."

My lips curve up into a smile. "Night Max."

"Night Oliver," he tells me but neither of us move.

My eyes glance from his eyes to his nose to his lips and then back up to his eyes again. Max's eyebrow creases and my heart rate increases, feeling so much tension between us. The good kind of tension.

I take the tiniest step forward, releasing my hands with the keys and letting them hang by my side before I push up onto my toes. Our faces merely inches apart, Max's eyes flick between mine, his delicious lips parting as he studies me.

Without wasting another second I press my lips to his, Max catches the back of my neck with ease, widening the kiss gently. His lips slowly devour mine as he clutches my face between his warm palms.

I hum in satisfaction as I grip onto his arms through his black jacket, Max walks forward two small steps before my back hits the door with a thud.

His tongue slips inside my mouth as he tilts his head, our lips vibrating as he suppresses a soft moan. My stomach twists in knots and I wanted to scream, I have dreamt of this moment for months.

To feel his touch on me again, like sparks. Like magic. It was real, he was real and he was here kissing me against my apartment door.

For a moment we gently pull away, our lips still grazing. Our eyes open and we look up at each other, our chests panting softly. Max holds me in place, not letting me go for one second.

His eyes flick from my eyes to my lips and he smiles before kissing me again. It was sweet and innocent, spreading my body full of pleasure.

We both pull away for a breath and Max's hands relax, our bodies still pressed up against one another.

My lips tingling from the most thrilling kiss of my life.

"Goodnight Oliver," he repeats again before stealing one last peck from my lips.

I quickly bite down on my bottom lip as I watch him pull away, attempting to find the right key to jam into the door. "Goodnight." I nod once as I push my way into my flat.

Every inch of my body quivering from the sensations that were running through my veins.

. . .

Read up to chapter 23 on Patreon
www.patreon.com/dreammcatcher
Link is also in bio!

Hello my loves, what did you think of this chapter???

Can we all cheer for  Oliver's dad, we love supportive parents on Wattpad (we get to see more of their relationship later in the book)

Also they kissed🥺🥺🥺 my babies

What are we thinking of the story so far?

Hope everyone is good!

See you guys on the next one, love Sav x

Insta: SavRose.x
Patreon: dreammcatcher
Tik Tok: savanna.rose.x