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OLIVER FLETCHER

PAST
APRIL 2019

Painting felt like the most beautiful thing in the world, being able to press a brush to a blank canvas and create what your heart desires is extraordinary. Impressed with the way in which my mind works, sometimes I even surprise myself with the detail I go into with every new painting.

It was like I couldn't stop, I never wanted to stop. I always want to explore new challenges and discover new techniques to make my work better. Desperately wanting to improve in every way I can, my biggest dream would be to have my art displayed in an exhibition or gallery.

So that's why I practice everyday, so I can make my biggest dream a possibility. Sharing art is a gift, allowing others to see something they've never seen before, experience before. Tell a story with a thousand meanings and share something personal to me, with strangers.

"Oliver," Max's voice snaps me out of my trance as I pull my brush away from the white canvas.

My head whips around to his body as he stands beside me. "Sorry." I tell him. "I was miles away."

Max's lips curve up into a smile. "I could tell," he nods as he folds his arms over his chest, watching as his eyes rake over my art work. "It's looking good."

"Thanks," I smile before placing down my brush and wiping my hands against each other. "What you doing?"

"Came to find you," he comments as I look up at him again. His arm extends to my cheek and he brushes his thumb against my skin. "You got a little white paint."

"Oh," I shake my head as he continues to wipe my skin.

"All better." He tells me before leaning forward to steal a kiss from my lips. "Yeah I was just wondering if you were up to anything tonight."

"Well of course not, it's our night." I say with a slight frown, hoping that he hadn't made plans to do something without me.

"Great," his voice becomes louder. "Because we're going to a concert."

"A concert?" I repeat.

Max hums towards me. "Yep, it's in a couple hours in Camden. Are you up for it?"

"Yeah," I say with a wide grin. "That sounds amazing, I'm super tired but I'd love to go."

"I'm pleased," he nods towards me before taking one step closer, his fingers gingerly plucking out the collar of my long checked shirt.

"Who are we seeing?" I question curiously.

Max's smile stretches as his dark eyes look down to me. "Well remember when we said we'd take each other's music tastes into account," he says slowly and I nod. "It's a band that I'm really fond of, they're super cool."

"Who?"

"Blue Opal."

"Never heard of them."

A small laugh passes Max's lips as he looks down to the floor for a second. "Thought as much."

"I don't care what music it is." I shake my head. "I haven't been to a concert in the longest time, it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it."

Max's hands reach forward to press to my cheeks, bringing our faces together. "Thanks for being open minded," he mumbles against my lips before pecking me gently.

"I just wanna be where you are and if it makes you happy going, then I wanna go," I clarify as I nudge my head against him. "And besides, I might find my new favourite band."

"Now that would be a great outcome," Max beams back at me, making my stomach do a thousand flips.

Trying to stabalise myself from just looking at his face, his whole persona making me weak at the knees and better yet, I get him to myself the whole night.

. . .

"Thanks for buying the tickets," I turn around to shout into Max's ear, the music was booming through the venue and shaking the floors.

Max shakes his head at me. "Pleasure was mine." He tells me with a soft smirk. "What do you think?"

His head notions to the stage as Blue Opal perform, my eyes light up as I watch the shades of the stage lights shine across his face. The shadows catching his jawline and cheekbones at a perfect angle, making him look so unbelievably gorgeous amongst the vibrant colours.

"They're good," I nod back, almost forgetting to reply. Too distracted by his face.

Max nods and I turn to face the stage again, not expecting his hands to wrap around my body, pressing my ass into his crotch as we gently move to the music.

His lips press to my temple as he holds me tightly, our bodies swaying in synchronisation. Hearing Max mumble the words to the song from behind me, his hold never relaxing.

As I stare back at the stage, the bright lights and a flock of concert goers on the floor, my eyes gravitate to a couple of people to the left of us. Catching eyes with one of them as they turn to us and laugh, one points a finger at us before snorting unattractively.

My heart burns with an uncomfortable feeling, suddenly getting an emotion of apprehensiveness washing over me. I wriggle out of Max's hold and feel his arms drop to my side as he steps closer and holds onto my shoulders.

"What's up?" He murmurs into my ear.

I shake my head but Max picks up on it straight away, pulling me back into him and resting his chin on top of my head.

My heart rate increases as I look to the left again, their eyes all glued on us as we dance gently to the music. Listening to them laugh and snicker to themselves, my cheeks spreading with heat, the back of my neck raising in goosebumps.

"Max..." I trail off under my breath. "They're looking."

"Hmmm?" His head flicks instantly, trying to find who I was talking about.

My fists tighten as Max looks in their direction, all three of them now looking at him instead of me.

Max releases my body and moves round the side of me, lacing his fingers through mine. "You got a fucking problem?" He shouts out at them.

Suddenly their eyes widen, not expecting either of us to confront them. "I suggest you all turn the fuck around." His voice grounds out angrily.

Max's arms settle around me once again watching as they all move along, and I finally take a breath that I had no idea I was holding. "You have nothing to worry about when I'm with you." His lips graze my ear as he speaks.

I squeeze onto his hands and breathe out a sigh of relief. "I know," I say honestly. "I know."

He kisses the back of my head as I finally relax back into his arms and focus on the show ahead, nothing was going to ruin this night. This was our quality time alone and I didn't want to miss a second of it.

PRESENT
MARCH 2021

My eyes stare up at my ceiling, glassed over with zero emotion. Ever since I met up with Max for that coffee, I've felt numb, to the core. I didn't know what to think or how to take the situation, I just wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing and my past emotions were not forcing me to act a certain way.

The bed vibrates as I look beside my head, my phone sat against the pillow. I sigh and roll over to take it between my hands, looking at the bright screen as I squint my eyes.

Max: 3 new messages

Hating that my heart plummeted into my ass at the sight of his name, feeling my hands shake as I attempt to open the message.

Max

Hey, it's been a couple weeks since we last spoke and I just wanted to know how you were

I miss you and I want to see you

Badly

My lips part to force out a shaky breath, just seeing those words made me want to melt into a puddle on the floor. Resting my head down onto my arm as I admire the messages. I would be a liar if I said I didn't want to see him again, of course I do. But it needed to be taken slow, trust needed to be built. Leaving Max waiting was a perfect opportunity for him to prove that he really does want this.

He's already proved that. Not once bothered me after I last saw him, a message a couple weeks later is exactly what I needed. Space and time at first, but checking in to see if I was okay.

My fingers press to the screen as I roll onto my back, holding my phone above my face.

Oliver

I'm okay

I'm headed to an art studio near my flat

If you wanted to pop by

Three dots instantly appear as soon as I send my last message.

Max

Yeah, I'd love to

Which one and what time?

Oliver

It's a private studio, it's called Ink Vision

Maybe in like an hour?

Max

I'll be there

I'm looking forward to seeing you Oliver

My heart aches painfully, wanting to message back that I felt the same but I stop myself.

Throwing myself out of bed and into the shower, scrubbing every inch of my body and brushing my teeth erratically. Throwing on a pair of baggy jeans and a loose grey shacket, clothes that I wasn't bothered about getting messy.

Packing all of my supplies and heating out of my flat, down onto the street and across the road.

The studio was quiet and I was relieved, when you have to share the space with others it can restrict your creativity from the unlimited amount of distractions.

Drawing my half finished painting out from my art folder and placing it onto a small easel, facing the wall with the most amount of light emitting from the dusty windows. Even though it was slowly creeping up into spring, I definitely needed light to make me feel somewhat better,

I push away the chair from behind me and mix up some paint on a plate next to the sink, the studio door creaking open from behind me. Turning my head into the direction instantly, my eyes meeting Max as he looks around cautiously. His gaze settling on mine after a few moments, his shoulders relaxing when he realised he was in the right place.

"Hey," he tells me as he takes a few confident strides to meet me at the table.

"Hi," I smile at him as he settles in front of me.

We stare back at each other for a moment, Max's hands twitching inside of his jacket pocket. Feeling my heart lurch forward at the presence of him, almost desperate to feel his body against mine, in the most innocent of ways.

Max watches my facial expressions for a second as I shuffle somewhat closer, he pulls his hands out from his pockets and wraps them around my body gently. Feeling myself fold into him as I rest my head down onto his chest, my arms winding around his back.

I silently inhale his scent, he smelt fresh and sharp at the same time. Just how I remembered him.

His hand gentle flicks over the material of my jacket as he holds me close for a few moments, noticing how his heart beats just as aggressively as mine. The floor feeling wobbly from underneath me, just being this close to him was sending me.

Eventually I pull away from his hold and look down to the ground, my cheeks heating up from sharing a sweet hug. I needed to get a grip.

"Is this what you're working on?" Max asks as he stands close to my easel, my painting sitting on the lined wood.

I hum, my head nodding at the same time. "Yeah, just needed to convince myself to finish it."

"Is it for uni?"

My eyes turn to him instantly and I attempt to swallow the lump in my throat. "No," I shake my head.

"You'll be graduating this year won't you?" His eyebrows raise for a moment, watching his hands shove their way back into his pockets.

"I actually deferred my final year," I admit.

Max's eyes widen as he stares at me for a couple moments. "What?"

"I wasn't in a good place, and it showed in my art. I was written off from the doctor as well, so the department let me sit my final year this September." I tell him with a firm nod, letting the wooden paint brush twiddle between my fingers.

His lips open to shut again, raking his hand through his hair as he shakes his head. "Because of me... you deferred it because of me."

I clear my throat. "It was because of a lot of things, but it was what was best for me. If anything, I'm excited to start in September." I say lightheartedly.

Max's expression turns to a look of guilt, I could tell because I'd seen that face a million times. His mouth curves into a small frown, eyes hung low and shoulders even lower.

"I'm sorry," his voice comes out soft, full of sincerity.

"It's okay," I shake my head. "Besides the pressure was way too much anyway, a year out was everything I needed even if I didn't know it."

Max moves to my side and looks at my work again. "So you're just messing around with painting?" He questions towards the canvas.

"Kinda," my shoulders shuffle. "I decided to create an Etsy page and start selling personal commission pieces, just to get by you know."

"Really?" Max's voice becomes louder, his smile was infectious. Making my legs turn to jelly with just one look.

"Yeah," I nod back. "It's been keeping me busy, to say the least."

"Wow," he leans back slightly and folds his arms across his chest. "You're talented enough Oliver, I'm not surprised people want you to paint things for them. This is amazing."

"Thank you," I say quietly, feeling my face raise in goosebumps.

Max takes one step closer to me and lightly nudges my arm with his elbow. "You should be proud," he grins down at me. "Starting an Etsy page must be hard."

"I am proud," I clarify as I push up the sleeves on my shirt. "But I'm glad I made that decision, it gives other people joy at least."

"You should paint one for me," he tells me as he tightens his arms over his chest. "I'll pay."

"What of?"

"Of you."

My lips remain slightly parted as I blink back at him. "I don't think I could paint my own face."

"I don't think there is anything you can't do Oliver." His words strike me in a way that I've never felt before.

I shuffle between my feet at his bluntness, nothing ever changes with Max. What you see is what you get. "I guess I could give it a go." My voice struggles to speak so I end up clearing my throat.

Max smiles back at me. "I look forward to it."

. . .

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

I will make you all fall in love with Max (if you haven't already) I promiseeeeee

I'm so excited to get deeper into this story, in my eyes Oliver and Max are so good for each other but getting back to that in the present is going to be rather interesting!

Hope everyone is good!

See you on the next one, love Sav x

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