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OLIVER FLETCHER

PAST
SEPTEMBER 2018

The first week of university was hectic to say the least, I had no idea how much work would actually be piled onto us. I wasn't unprepared, I was just overwhelmed.

When it reached Friday, I was pleased we could at least enjoy the weekend. Peter knew some older years that were throwing a flat party, he invited Ruby who in turn invited me. I preferred the idea of a party over going to a bar, it somewhat calmed me because being alone at a party is normal compared to being alone at a bar.

I had one more class to get through and I was done for the week, stepping in line at the campus coffee shop. Desperate for caffeine to shock my body into concentration mode for my last class, feeling exhausted from the pressure of this week already.

Only three years to go.

"Next please," the barista calls

"Hi, urm could I just get a latte with soya milk please?"

Her eyes beam back at me as she nods. "Anything else?"

"No tha—"

"Yeah, could I get an Americano to go with that please?"

His deep voice rang in my ears, watching as he approaches the counter. Holding out his card to the barista who takes it and jams it into the card machine for him.

My eyes blink back at Max who was yet to even look at me, shocked to the core with his boldness. "Thanks Amelia," he nods to her before removing his card quickly.

Max then turns to me, his eyes glimmering with self assurance. "You're welcome," he nods to me once.

My lips parting to form some kind of sentence but no words managed to leave my mouth, standing here like an absolute idiot.

"You shouldn't have done that," I say simply, feeling my voice wobble slightly.

"It's a coffee," he shrugs before throwing his arms over his chest.

Taking a once over of his outfit, black denim jacket covering his body, white t-shirt underneath with black skinny jeans and Vans.

"And besides," he takes a step closer to me. "You're a first year, you're gonna need it."

My eyes turn to slits as I glare at him, wishing that I could respond with something witty and sassy. But deep down that wasn't me, I couldn't even verbally abuse someone let alone get into some form of fight.

Fucking hell, I needed to get a grip.

"Your soy milk latte," Amelia places my drink down onto the table. "And your Americano."

"Thanks," I say quickly before ripping the disposable cup from the counter and walking straight out of the coffee shop before I had a meltdown.

I could feel someone behind me but I forced myself not to turn around, God knows what he was going to say next. Try and spill my coffee down my shirt or something.

"Hey," his deep voice shouts from behind me.

My feet slow down but I don't completely stop. He soon catches up with me and he stands directly in front of me, my eyes avoiding his stare at all costs.

He doesn't say anything for a few moments, my eyes shamelessly begin to raise to look up at him. His body standing at least five inches over mine, a look of pure amusement on his face.

"I don't know what game you're trying to play," I let out, swallowing harshly. "But I don't want to be a part of it."

Max's eyes narrow towards me as he raises his coffee cup to his lips. "I'm not playing anything," he shakes his head towards me. "I just wanted to say hi."

My head tilts up to him, watching his pink lips pull up into a firm smile. Noticing how his dark eyes had become somewhat warmer than from last week at the bar.

"Okay..." I trail off. "Hi."

My brain scolds me for my awkwardness but Max didn't seem to mind, he smiles and glances from my eyes to my nose.

"I like your septum piercing," he comments as his eyes remain on the piece of jewellery between my nostrils.

"Thanks," I nod once, feeling a sudden rush of blood to my face and filtering out through my cheeks.

"You're friends with Peter right?"

My eyes flick between his for a moment. "I wouldn't really call him a friend."

"Well you were with him last week," Max nods towards me, pressing the coffee cup against his plump lips.

"That's because he's my RA," I state, gripping onto my cup.

Max's lips part as he extends his next slightly. "Right," he nods. "So you're in Fernlane halls?"

Oh fuck.

"Maybe," I shrug, averting my gaze. "I can't remember."

"Can't remember," he repeats like he wasn't believing my bullshit. "Well are you aware that there's a flat party off campus tonight?"

My lips hum towards him.

"Are you going?"

"Not sure yet," I lie.

"Okay well," Max takes one step away from me. "Maybe I'll see you there."

I don't respond or make a gesture, I stand and watch him turn away from me and walk in the opposite direction my class was in.

Taking a deep breath that I had no idea I was holding, noticing how my skin had become hot underneath my jacket. Max was intimidating, there was no questioning that, but I was baffled as to why he just bought me a coffee and then proceeded to ask if I was going to a party.

My brain felt scrambled, unsure what to do with this sudden attention. Especially from someone as hot as Max, shit like this doesn't happen to me.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

PRESENT
JANUARY 2021

Logan gives me the details of the bar he had booked for us, he was already stood outside when my Uber pulls up. His eyes looking up and down the street, his attention is instantly darted to me as I step out of the car.

He walks straight up to me and smiles, wrapping his arms around me and pressing a gentle kiss to my cheek. "Hi Oli," he grins before pulling back.

"Hey Logan," I smile as he drops his hands and presses one to the small of my back, guiding me into the bar.

"How are you?" He questions as we wait at the stand to be seated. "You look so handsome."

"Thanks," I nod towards him, my eyes raking down his attire. "You too."

"Hi guys," the waitress comes over to greet us. "Have you got a reservation?"

"Yes under Logan Davenport." He tells her as her eyes scan down the list.

"Follow me," she nods as she guides us into the bar.

Settling down at a table with high stools and a shiny metallic table, Logan was beaming back at me as the waitress takes our order before leaving.

Logan orders us two cocktails each as he glances over the menu for a millisecond. Looking across the table at him and his bright blue eyes as he jumps straight into telling me a story.

This was our fourth date, we had already jumped to going all the way but I wasn't expecting it to go much further than this. It was obvious he liked me a lot more than I liked him. But I wanted to give this another chance, he was a nice guy, he took me out on dates and showed appreciation.

But something was missing and I don't know if it was me being pessimistic and spoiling it for us before we even get into anything serious.

"Oli?" He calls out. "Are you listening?"

I take in a breath and nod, resting my elbows onto the table. "Yeah sorry," I mumble.

"Well you're going to miss the best part," he smiles towards me, adjusting the cufflinks on his shirt.

In all honesty, I just wanted our drinks to arrive, the service was incredibly slow and starving me of a good time. Logan had taken us to this bar, clearly for the gay scene but I didn't mind it. It was quirky and fun, a vibrant setting that made the experience all the better.

My eyes float over the room as Logan continues to talk, watching people as they laugh and chatter away. Focusing on a guy at the bar, his back was facing me, noticing the distressed denim jacket on his body.

He turns, two drinks in hand. My mouth falls open instantly, taking in his appearance, my eyes glued to his face.

Everything stops for a moment, the world spinning around me like a tornado of emotions.

My heart began to beat quickly, rapidly. Enough to make me think that it was about to explode, heat rising up in my body as I attempted to calm myself down.

His dark hair was ruffled on top of his head, arms bare and covered in tattoos that you couldn't miss from a mile away.

My eyes remained on his, my heart rattling in my chest so painfully that I didn't know what to do but clench my hands in my lap, my fingernails digging into my palms. Not being able to tear my eyes away from him for a second.

He doesn't see me, he moves to a closer table and sits down with two girls. His dark eyes were wide and captivating as ever, a small dangly earring from his left ear. Signature silver rings amongst his fingers.

Logan snaps his finger in front of me. "Oli?" He says loudly, causing me to turn back to him sharply. "What's wrong with you today?"

"I-I," my voice stutters, not even able to find anything to say.

Logan shakes his head at me dismissively but the waitress comes over at the perfect time, laying out drinks between us. "Thank you," I let out before reaching over to take mine and taking the biggest gulp possible.

"Sorry," I say to Logan. "Carry on, I am listening. I promise." My lips force a smile towards him even though I was panicking inside.

As he settles back onto the story, I steal a cheeky glance over to Max, almost falling off my chair when his eyes are already boring into mine.

He continues to talk but doesn't look anywhere else but me. I swallow harshly and turn back to Logan before he has another go at me for not listening, chugging down my cocktail. Feeling the burn of the liquid down my throat.

After a few moments I look back over and he's still looking at me, his eyes forward and hooded. A look that that turned my stomach to mush, butterflies racing around every inch of my body.

"Logan I am so sorry," I mumble out as I push back my chair. "I have to go."

"What?" He recoils as I grab onto my jacket, pulling out a twenty pound note and pressing it to the table.

"I'll explain later but I can't be here right now," I shake my head to him, walking towards the front doors.

"Oli!" Logan shouts but I don't look back, nor do I look over at Max.

My hand presses onto the glass door, allowing my lungs to draw in the crisp winter air. Forcing me to breath as I pull on my jacket and dig my hands into my pockets, powering down the street.

"Oliver," fuck. His fucking voice.

I don't stop.

"Oliver, please." He pleads as he runs up behind me.

"No," I roar as I turn to face him, my feet almost tripping me over in the process. His brown eyes open as he watches me for a moment, feeling my throat clench at the sight of him. "No, you don't get to do this."

"Please let me explain," his voice drops as he takes a step closer to me.

"Fuck you Max!" I scream out, passersby glancing over at us as a single tear drips from my eye. "Fuck you."

"You can't ignore me," he tells me as I take one step away from him. "You can't ignore this."

"I am not yours anymore Max."

Max lets out a tiny laugh, short of breath. "What? And that guy in there is?"

My eyes almost bulge out of my head at the pressure inside my brain. "And so what if he is?"

His expression hardens at my words, neither of us saying anything, the traffic from the road ringing in my ears. "I just want a chance to explain."

"Leave me the fuck alone," I shake my head towards him, wiping away a few more tears that escaped my eyes. "You don't get to do this to me and expect that I'm going to fall back into your arms like nothing happened."

"Oliver," he whispers out.

My head cranks to the dark sky as I let out a sigh. "Don't even call me that, I don't want to hear you say my name. Fuck." Pushing my fingers through my hair roughly.

Clenching my eyes for a moment before I turn away from him before I say something I regretted.

Max doesn't chase after me or try to stop me, in which I was relieved because I was about three seconds away from a mental breakdown. Desperate to get back to my flat before I ended up bawling on the streets in a pool of my own tears.

Stumbling in through my front door, Jamie removes himself from the sofa as he hears me choke out a strained sob that I had been holding in.

"Fuck Oli, what happened?" He rushes to my side before I collapsed onto the floor.

"He's back," I cry, the painful feeling in my chest increasing with every second.

"Who?"

"Max, he's back."

. . .

Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 are on Patreon now. Link in bio or link is www.Patreon.com/dreammcatcher

Aaaaaah guys it's starting!

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It's gonna be full of so much drama and passion that when I write it I want to cry🥺🥺🥺

See you guys on the next one, Sav x

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