3 comments/ 9874 views/ 16 favorites Love is Stupid and Great Ch. 01 By: 3raser So this is my newest story. I know I've been sporadic in my submissions, but you know how life can be sometimes. I will return to The Punchline, but I think I may rewrite the whole thing, as, reading over it, I felt it was very rushed and, while decent, was definitely not my best work. And I'm a writer for fuck's sake, so I should be rewriting shit cause I'm my biggest critic. So, I've decided to wade my way back into the realm of romantic erotica and have started with the first chapter of Love is Stupid and Great. Which it is. And I'm planning on the next chapter being posted up within a day or two of this one. Will finish this story, I promise. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading. ~Sam. ***** Coming up on his fourteenth straight hour of work, Oliver finally finished working on his newest game. Well, he had to test it and do some cleanup, but the actual bulk of the work on his part was done. Now he had to move into a different stage, but considering it's about 10:00 PM and he still Trying to make it into the video game business while also trying to get a degree doesn't leave a whole lot of free time, so on Friday nights like these, he's usually staying home. And he's fine with that. Oliver Overton's never really been the super social or partying type. He's just an average, nerdy guy who spends way too much time getting angry over things he shouldn't. Really. It's gotten to a point where his best friend, Mark, has been suggesting anger management classes because he rarely ever seems happy unless he's doing video game-related things. And he did consider it, but he kindly told his friend to fuck off and then went back to doing video game-related things. But tonight, he too tired to work anymore or to play games. But he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep yet. Because, you know, fuck him I guess. So, he pulled himself out of his office, slammed the door to it, drifted to the kitchen, made himself a piece of raisin bread slathered with a heavy coating of Irish butter accompanied by a tall glass of milk, sat down in his living room, and put on some shitty late night talk show. Well, it wasn't shitty, really. He was just annoyed at having to work so late. But, he didn't feel so held down and claustrophobic after a long day at work in his own place, as his apartment was actually quite nice. It had a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, an office, and an extra room he mainly used for storage. He had been considering making it something cool, but he's kinda lazy, so fuck it. As the host made some kind of crappy joke about some sports company being fucked in the ass by unions, Oliver's thoughts went back to highschool. He used to play basketball for a little. Hated it. But he did meet a few of his friends through the team, so it was worth it to him. And then, as he chomped down on raisin bread, his thoughts went to highschool in general. About how much of a lanky asshole he used to be. Like, he always thought he was a nice enough guy, but looking back on it, the amount of shit he used to think about people while smoldering by himself in Physics is shocking. He still, to this day, is kind of a quiet, shy guy around most people, but back then it was a pretty big problem. He couldn't even talk to girls without getting the feeling of bile in the back of his throat. There was only one girl he could ever talk to, but she didn't even really feel like a girl to him. Now he's better at it, but he still has enough trouble that he hasn't had a girlfriend since he's gotten into college. Oliver's not a bad looking guy either. He has short dark brown hair, piercing green eyes, and kind of pale skin. He was in shape, he wasn't buff or anything, but he did have a pair of abs in the very least. Along with a nice smile... deep down he knew that if he really put in the effort, he could have found a long-term girlfriend by now. But he knew that most of those kinds of things end in heartbreak, anger, and in a worst-case scenario, depression. So, best to stay away from that sort of shit. And hell, he has more important things to deal with. Like the fact he hasn't slept in twenty-seven hours or had one decent meal other than his current slice of raisin bread and a handful of pistachios with a glass of coke earlier today. He really probably should make dinner. Really. He will. He might. We'll see. Or sleep. Sleeping sounds a lot better. He can eat all he wants in his sleep. Hell, he could ride a ferris wheel made of pizza if he thought hard enough before he fell asleep. That sounds pretty good right now. Riding the waves of pizza love before falling into a deep slumber. Good shit- Ding Dong! "Motherfucker," Oliver swore as he stood up to go to bed. The young man put down his glass of milk and began his way to the front door of his apartment. He knew who it was. This fucking door-to-door salesman fucker who always showed up late at night, despite him telling that guy to go eat a dick and calling the company to tell them to never come back to his house. He thought his name was Max or something douchey like that. Yeah. Max. Oliver swung open the door, "Damn it, dickhead, I told you-" But it wasn't Max the Douchey Dickhead. No, it was a short girl with neck-length, blondish-brown hair. And she was standing there, looking kind of nervous. So he stood there, looking kind of regretful. "Do I-" -know you? Yeah. He remembered her. A girl he once was really good friends with from the time he was about seven until the time he left for college, "Oh." "Yeah. It's me. April. I'm sort of surprised you remember me," The girl said, chuckling a little bit. Oliver shrugged and moved to the wall, "Would you like to come in?" April nodded and walked into his place, "That'd be nice." Oliver shut the door and stayed there for a moment, thinking over this. He walked over to the living room where she was looking around and made sure to stay a decent distance away from her, kind of surprised by her presence. "Uh so... Let's start off with the most obvious question, which is why are you here?" April turned to him and set her two bags down on the couch, "I uh... well, that's sort of a long story." Oliver mulled over this slowly, "Well... I got all night, so do you want to talk about it?" April gave a thin smile and nodded, and after he gestured towards the couch, she took a seat. "Do you have anything to drink? I haven't really drunken anything for a while." "Yeah. Water? Juice? Soda? Beer? Or... I guess you can't have it yet, huh-" Oliver asked as he made his way to the kitchen. "Beer." Oliver shrugged, too tired to argue with her about it, "Fair 'nuff." Hell, Oliver wasn't old enough to drink it yet. He was only twenty. But his friends were and they came over enough that they thought it necessary to keep a supply there. So he always had it on hand, and since no official from the university or his family ever came by, it never really was that much of a problem to deal with. So he grabbed a beer from the fridge, popped it open, sat on the couch next to her and her bags, and handed her a drink. She was rubbing her eyes when he did, but when her head turned up to take a sip, he took a good long look at her. And he realized she looked as tired, if not more than he did. Sunken eyes, pale face, and a crinkled brow. She might even be sick. Hopefully not. Oliver can't really afford to get sick himself. Because of that, when she offered him a sip, he declined immediately. But, he doubted it, as her eyes also seemed sort of red. "This is a nice couch. Really soft," April murmured. Oliver smirked at it, patting the cushions a little bit, "Yeah. Can you believe this thing was going to be thrown away? Snatched this thing up soon as I saw it." "Heh. Just like you, Ollie," April took another snip. Ollie. A little pet name he hadn't heard since he visited his family last. All his friends here called him 'Double O' or just 'Double' since his name was, in fact, Oliver Overton. He felt a weird stirring at the name. It didn't really make him feel uncomfortable, but it didn't feel that natural to him now. But when it came from her, he didn't complain. "So. I gotta assume dropping in on me at 10:00 PM after not having spoken in two years means something big went down." April raised an eyebrow at him, "So I can't just visit my oldest friend if I want to?" Oliver held up his hands in defense, "Don't get me wrong, it's not that it isn't good to see you, but... not to be rude, you look like hell and you're giving off an air of 'shit sucks, man'." April set down the drink on the coffee table and rubbed her eyes again. Then she leaned back on the couch, letting off a big sigh, "Yeah. Shit does suck. And something did go down. And... well, I just kinda need a place to stay for a little while. If that's cool." "What?" "I just... I had a falling out with my roommate. And he kicked me out. I don't really want to get into how and why or whatever. But... I was just looking around at some places I could go to while I figured out what to do, then I saw online that you lived a couple blocks away." Oliver furrowed his brow, "You live around here?" "We go to the same college, Ollie," April pulled off a weak smile. Now, suddenly, Oliver felt like the worst friend in the world. When he left his hometown, he didn't talk to anyone but his family on occasion. He even remembered that he promised to keep in touch with April. And now she has been going to the same university for, most likely, the past year and he hadn't even known about it. Jesus. "Fuck, April... sorry," Oliver scratched the back of his head a little, "I just... Fuck, man." "It's okay, Ollie. I get it. But um... is it okay if I crash here for a little bit? Just until I can get one of my friends to take me in?" "Yeah. Yeah that's fine. The bedroom's right over there," Oliver pointed, "You seem like you need to sleep for a while." "I'm good with the couch-" Oliver shook his head immediately, "Nope. Bed. Please don't push the issue or I'll change my mind." April took a deep breath and let it out, feeling the stress leave her body, "You look tired." "I'm good, really," Oliver said that as much to convince her as to convince himself, "I just had a really long ass day." April gave him a stern look and gave him a once over. He's always been a good liar, but he's always been able to see through his lies. Ever since they were eight years old and he lied about taking her stuffed hulk doll away from her. But he did his best to change his body language to 'virile and energetic' without being obvious about it. "You should go sleep, Springy," Oliver felt a little good when a grin appeared on her face at his old pet name for her. "I wanna talk to you, Ollie. We haven't talked at all for two years. I don't want to just walk in here and crash on your bed, I'd like to catch up." "Don't be stubborn about it, even if I told you what's happened for the past two years, you wouldn't remember any of it. Rather sleep then when you wake up, we can talk about what's happened for a while," Oliver gave her a pat on the knee and stood up. "Are you going to sleep too?" April grabbed her bags and got to her feet. "Yeah." "Oh. I feel bad now," April nervously laughed. Oliver gave her a look over as well. April hadn't changed a whole lot since he'd seen her last. Still the short girl with blondish-brown hair he knew. Hell, her usual choice of kind of tight clothing still persisted. But she did seem... older. And maybe it's just because of how tired she was and what's happened to her recently, but she was never really this soft-spoken. She was always loud and cheerful to a point of being obnoxious, but everyone grew to love that about her. But now she just seemed beaten down by life. And he knew the feeling. "Go sleep, April. We'll talk in the morning. We'll share stories and shit under the blanket with the laptop like we used to," Oliver gave her the best smile he possibly could and April reciprocated. April nodded at him, "That sounds fun, Ollie. It really does. Thanks, by the way. You've always been there for me when I've needed you, you know. I'll see you tomorrow morning." April opened the door to his bedroom and quietly closed it. But during so, Oliver's heart skipped a beat. The young man plopped himself down on the couch, his gaze turning up to his ceiling. He didn't want to see her. He didn't want her here. And it's not because he didn't like her or anything... quite the opposite, really. Oliver has always been in love with April. And he thinks she might know it. Oliver and April met when they were kids on the playground. Oliver's never been that manly, even when he was a kid. He was the biggest crybaby at the neighborhood playground. If anyone ever did anything that somehow inconvenienced him, he started sobbing his little eyes out. His parents always thought it was the cutest thing in the world, but it was an emotional hell for him up until he was nine. And even then, he still cried about most things that made him sad up until he was about twelve. And one day, when he was seven, a girl kicked his Gameboy out of his hand. Obviously, tears were shed. But instead of the kids either laughing at him or running away, this girl, by the name of April Eastham, started telling him how much of a baby he was. So, naturally, they became friends after that. He wasn't exactly sure how A led to B, but he was pretty sure she said something like 'I'll take you under my wing' or the kid version of that, despite being a year younger than him. From then on, they were hanging out pretty much every day. They did everything from drawing to exploring outside. April was always a tomboy when she was a kid and she was always yelling. When she learned how to swear, she had the dirtiest mouth Oliver had ever seen. She never wore skirts, dresses, or blouses. Just t-shirts, jeans/shorts, and sneakers. It was pretty charming, really. And they always had a great family life too. From the time they met to the time they left, both of their families loved them to pieces and would give their lives for them. Because of their friendship, they basically all became great friends with each other and consistently spent the holidays together every year. Somewhere along the way, Oliver fell in love with her even as a child. And he realized it when he was eleven, when she dressed up for a formal dinner during Christmas Eve, and saw how beautiful she actually was and how much he felt for her. And that just stuck ever since. Oliver's idyllic life did not last forever, sadly. The day before his birthday, Oliver got the news that his older sister, Marie, was leaving for Harvard and he threw a fit, begging for his sister not to go. When he couldn't get anywhere with that argument, he ran away to go to the playground where he could rest and think. His sister went after him... but she didn't return. She was ambushed by a mugger and was shot in the head. The man who was caught, named Joe, was quoted in prison for saying that she wasn't attractive enough to have any fun with and she had nothing he wanted, so he put her out of her misery. Oliver returned during the night to find the police at his house. At that time... Oliver changed as a person. The entire Overton family changed. His older brother, David, was the rock of the family at the time. He tried to keep everyone in high spirits, but failed miserably. Even Oliver noticed that David would look at pictures of Marie and cry when he thought no one was around or no one could hear him. His mother, Anne, went through a depression, to a point where she could no longer take care of her children. And his father took a turn for the worse, becoming an extremely bitter and angry alcoholic that had to raise his kids full time and work his job as a teacher. Oliver's father began to beat David and him on a near daily basis while his mother was most likely sleeping or trying not to pay attention. At one point he started beating her too. It became increasingly violent and then one day, he just stopped. And the next... Oliver and David found a letter from Dad and all of his stuff was gone. To this day, that letter has not been opened by anyone other than his mother. David really stepped up then as a brother and began to take care of both Anne and Oliver. And their mother began to recover, seeing the two brothers trying to make it work in a world that seemed hell-bent on making their life worse. The three became a strong family that depended on each other and ended up being better and more loving people for it. However, Oliver didn't come out of the ordeal the same. As was mentioned, he became an extremely introverted child and became very angry. Angry at the world, himself, his family, and everything else he could think of. To this day, that anger has persisted. And he became overweight, as eating is an easy thing to do when you're faced with hardship. It was during this time he found video games as a source of solace and fun when there was nothing else in the world for him to care about. He ended up deciding to devote his life to making video games because of this very fact. As for April, she tried coming around to help comfort Oliver after his sister's death, so did the whole Eastham family. But after being turned away a couple times, they stopped coming altogether. The families didn't spend any holidays together or even see each other pretty much at all during this two year period of recovery. This was another sore point for Oliver, who felt abandoned by his best friend. But when Oliver got into highschool, he began seeing April again. But April had changed herself. She became much more girly and popular. She was this extremely beautiful girl who had more friends than anyone could count. When Oliver tried to approach her, she acted like she didn't know him, because everyone in the school knew him as the depressed, creepy kid that just wrote in his notebook in the corner of every classroom. But despite having been left by her during his time of need and being admonished as a person, Oliver still loved April and was so pissed that he did, because he knew she didn't deserve it. Oliver's family was closer than ever now, but he had no friends whatsoever. He basically went from school to home every single day. Meanwhile, April stole glances of him when she could to make sure he was okay, but only found him alone and sad. Eventually, Oliver noticed there was a contest being held in his school that gave a grand prize and promise of publication to anyone who made the best all-around game. So he began to actually work with sprites to try and make his own game during his sophomore year. Every single day in his notebook, he was writing something down about the game he wanted to make. He seemed more content as a person and when he got home, he was all smiles. His brother also had a big passion for video games and was looking to become a concept artist and/or a voice actor. So they worked together eventually to make a game. And then, Oliver went up in front of his class and a board of faculty to present his game... but he had talent making video games, he had no talent in presentations. To make a long story short, he screwed up the presentation. He was fumbling around with papers, he was fidgety, and his voice caught in his throat too many times not to notice. All in all, after he became an introvert, he became very shy in front of people and girls too. April watched as he presented and she realized how his sister's death really affected him as a person. She remembered feeling abandoned by him, but she felt terrible just brushing him off when he tried to talk to her. During summer break, April came over to talk with their mother, who was working as a successful businesswoman after recovering from her depression and was back to her cheery, loving self. They caught up and she found out about how terrible their lives had been for the last few years. She stayed over for dinner a few nights to try and catch Oliver to talk with him, but he would always stay up in his room when she came over. Love is Stupid and Great Ch. 01 One night, April decided to just go up and talk to him. And she found him asleep with various papers for his next game stacked up next to him and a picture of his sister on his chest that he was looking at. She left that night, knowing that Oliver was a sad, but driven person now. When they went back to school, April would frequently come up to him and talk, and it wasn't for a few months did he finally actually start talking back. Oliver found that April, while a lot different, was still the girl he once knew and felt very torn by it. But their newfound friendship persisted to their junior year and they actually hung out quite a bit together. Meanwhile working on his next game to one day get published. So he finally gave in and asked her to go to homecoming with him. She accepted. And, happy as can be, did everything possible to prepare for the event. He spent a lot of his own money to make this night special, but when he showed up to her house, all dressed up... he found her leaving with one of the football players. He was heartbroken and felt abandoned once again. When he confronted her about it a day later, she said she thought he was joking. Once again, he fell back into his lonely patterns. He became more and more angry at things, big and small. He even snapped several times in class at students that pissed him off. This prompted one of these student's tough jock boyfriends to kick his ass after school. But the jock eventually left, because Oliver would just sneer at the constant punches being thrown at him. During his senior year, he was labeled 'The Human Torch' for getting angry so much. People avoided him, but he would frequently find himself in fights because of that, coming home from school every other day with a bloody nose or a black eye. He would be picked on and bullied most days by the jocks that found him annoying. But he was getting a lot more unwanted attention now. After losing all the weight he gained originally and becoming more violent, people either found him somewhat attractive or were afraid of pissing him off, since that would just cause an ordeal. He was the problem child. April left school one day to find Oliver crying behind the school, and immediately remembered the crybaby she knew when she was a kid. She tried to comfort him, but he ran off, not wanting to be seen like that. But April started coming around again and they started talking. It wasn't until April sat him down did he actually start talking about what had been going on in his life since his sister's death. She tried to get back into his life after that, but he pushed her out once more. However, his streak of fighting and rage stopped and he wasn't as much of a problem anymore. Then, a couple days before their graduation, it was April's birthday. And there was almost no one around, as her family was 'busy' and her friends weren't really her friends, honestly. But after someone knocking on her door, she found it was Oliver, who was surprised that there wasn't a big party going on. The two talked and he found out quite a bit about her. When his sister died and they stopped hanging out, April felt abandoned by Oliver herself and she looked to go find other friends to replace him. But her loud, tomboyish personality wasn't winning a lot of hearts, so she started trying to act like other girls, and immediately she saw results. She became the most popular girl in school while Oliver retreated more into himself. Her family was always pretty well off, but they were now pretty rich, and would constantly go on vacations and spend their money on lavish things that they didn't really need. She became a typical glamor girl and enjoyed the attention she was getting from classmates, but didn't get it from her parents. She found on days that she needed family and friends most, she didn't, because all the attention she was getting was this fake façade they were keeping up. After she finished talking, she bursted out crying, and she let him hold her. He promised her then that he would be there for her and that he would keep in touch with her even when he went off to college. He didn't. And now they were here on a dreary Friday night, not having spoken in two years, but it was all because Oliver really loved her from the bottom of his heart and he knew that he couldn't just be a friend with her. He'd fuck it up and they'd both get hurt. She needed a best friend then and he couldn't be that. So rather than explaining that to her or not and ending up hurting her, he stayed away. But somewhere during all of that reminiscing, Oliver fell asleep. As he was too tired to think through how he was going to explain himself to her. And how they were going to move forward, now that she was living in his apartment. To Be Continued... Love is Stupid and Great Ch. 02 That next morning, Oliver woke up pretty early, as he only slept about three hours. The couch definitely wasn't ergonomic and he had a good idea why that married couple tried to throw it out in the first place. He laid in bed for probably an hour or so before he got up. But after a quick breakfast of mini wheat's and some tea, he went to check his email. And... well... "Motherfucker! Goddamn it!" Yeah. Oliver had checked his email, hoping to hear back from some of the people he had lined up to help him in some fashion. And he got some news from Mark that the voice actor they had to play the main character has bailed on the project. And they can't do anything about it, as the contract they had him sign stated that even if he didn't work, the money they paid him upfront is still legally his. In other words, their douchey employee ripped them off. He fucking hated lying, cheating bastards like that. Oliver was running his hands through his hair, "Fuck him, man. That was four hundred and fifty dollars out of my own goddamn wallet right there. If I ever see that fucker around this campus I swear to God-" "Uh. Hey?" Oliver turned his head back to look at April who was standing in the doorway. And his heart rate picked up for a few moments. Her hair was ruffled around, her low-collared t-shirt revealing quite a bit of cleavage, and her pajama pants clung to her skin. With her little smirk, he thought she looked so tired and sexy without even really trying to. She definitely didn't make this short stay at his house easy on him, he could at least say that much. So he spun around and sat forward. "Hey." April leaned against the doorframe and cocked one of her eyebrows, "So... I take it something's got under your skin." Oliver used his head to gesture to his computer, "Work." "School stuff, huh?" As Oliver got up, April began walking to the living room as he followed close behind. "Nah. Game stuff," He said as he went into the kitchen. "Oh, I didn't know you still did that kind of stuff. Sort of thought you stopped after highschool or something," April sat down on one of the chairs at the kitchen counter. "Why? Because it's childish?" Before April could retort, he chuckled, "It's fine. No, no I didn't stop. This is something I sort of live for, you know. This is most of what I do every single day." "Oh. So you're majoring in game design?" Oliver gave her a short nod then followed with, "So, uh, do you want some breakfast? I could make some eggs." "That'd be nice. You don't have to though." He didn't even respond, he just grabbed the eggs out of the fridge along with some PAM and a frying pan to get started. April observed him closely for a little bit, trying to figure out what exactly was different about him, because there sure as hell was something. But she couldn't put her finger on it. "So... do you want to talk now?" April asked. "No, let's wait until after you've eaten. I assume you've got plenty to talk about, huh?" Oliver broke open the eggs over the heated pan and watched it sizzle for a moment. He took a deep breath in; the nice warm air of his apartment calmed him down, as he kept tensing up every time he looked her way. "Okay." April sat in silence and watched him cook for her. She kept trying to pinpoint this 'something' about him. He definitely did look older, his face was growing a beard at this point and she didn't remember him ever having one. He looked more tired, but she could imagine that college life plus working with games must have brought him down some. But it wasn't any of that, exactly. Maybe he seemed a lot less volatile. She didn't know at this point. "I don't know what to talk about," She admitted. "Me neither," Oliver watched the water droplets form upon the glass cover over the pan. "How are you, I guess? As a person?" April tapped her fingers on the counter. But Oliver didn't answer. To be honest, he didn't really know the answer to that question. He didn't know what to tell her, he just was. "Eggs are ready," He murmured, putting the eggs onto a white plate and, along with a glass of juice, handed her the food he made for her, "Let's go sit on the couch." "Thank you." Oliver just let her eat for a little bit and tried to think about how to start this conversation. He really was never good with talking to women, especially about sentimental shit. Well, assumedly. He knows she got kicked out of her apartment, so it's gotta be over something bad. You don't just walk over to your roommate one day, shake her hand, and tell her to get the fuck out and everything's peachy. And why is she standing for it? Like, doesn't she have a legal right to her place as well? He didn't notice as he was deep in thought, but she had already finished her eggs by the time he had finished his thought. But when he did come to, he noticed her fidgeting with her hands, and cleared his throat. "So. Um. What happened?" April sat there for a few seconds and then took a deep breath, "Well... as I said it's a long story." "And as I said, I got time." April smiled weakly, "Yeah. You did. Okay well... phew..." Oliver watched on as she turned herself toward him, "When you left... I didn't really have anyone to be with. I was very lonely... I... so I met this guy. His name's Lee Robertson. He was really nice to me, cause I'd always come by the music store he worked at." "The one on 11th?" Oliver interrupted. "Yeah, that one. I came by a lot, so much so that it became obvious that I just wanted to see him. And he was pretty into me as well. So eventually he pulled out these tickets to a concert in town and... well, obviously you can guess we started going out." Oliver felt a sharp pain in his chest at that. He tried not to react at all and he was sure he did a good job of playing it off, nodding slowly at what she said. He didn't want to hear about this kind of stuff. It hurt him to know that April was happy with someone else. That someone else got to hold her at night, caress, and touch her in ways he had only dreamed of doing. He remembered feeling like this all the time in highschool whenever he heard that April was going out with this guy named Jack, who frequently picked on him and tried to pick fights. And he knew what the pain was. It's simple. He was just being jealous. "And uh... he was great. Jack never really gave a shit, so, it was nice that someone checked on me regularly, who did things because he liked me, and who genuinely just cared about me. There are not a lot of people who have been sincere with me like that before. I was head-over-heels for him, you know?" April began to play with her pajama pants with one hand as she continued, "Lee was a musician. He was super talented as well. He knew how to play the piano, the electric guitar, and to sing. He would write songs for me whenever something big happened or whenever he felt like it. At least once a week, I got a mini-concert where he played a song or two that he was working on for me." Oliver nearly frowned, but stopped himself. When did this story take a turn for a worse? Cause it has to, right? Oliver's seen this story enough times from his friends before: they meet someone, that someone is awesome, that someone gets comfortable with them, that someone stops trying, and then that someone becomes emotionally abusive. It seems to be a formula with most relationships nowadays. So at this point he was bracing himself to watch her cry, as he had done too many times, and to comfort her through this. "I ended up getting into the same college as you when I graduated. Lee and I were pretty serious at that point, so he decided he'd come with me, as there was an opening at a local music store around here. You know it? It's called 'The Bomb'," Oliver nodded and she went on, "Yeah. So we were pretty excited. But my family wasn't. They thought I was going too fast with this guy I met a year ago. I was pretty angry then. Like, how dare they say that, right? They weren't around for pretty much all of my teenage life in highschool, so where do they get off trying to tell me what I should do in my adult life, you know?" Oliver stayed silent. He honestly didn't know how to respond to that. The only time he's ever had a real argument with his mom was over his philosophy on fighting, which was pretty simple - "If those jackasses mess with me, I'm going to hit them in the mouth." Obviously, he was messed with quite often, so his mother despised the idea that he was going to come home every day with a new wound or scar to show off. But regardless, when he told his family he was going to college to become a game designer, they were all in support for him. Hell, his brother already worked in the business as a voice actor, so it ran in the family. "So I uh... I told them to fuck off and I ran away with Lee to college," April admitted, pinching the loose cloth at her knees. "Wh-what?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't really like... running away, I guess. I was just going to college, I would've done that regardless if he came with me or not. But he did. I haven't really... spoken to them since then. Daddy on occasion but like, yeah." "Jesus, April," Oliver rubbed his forehead, "You could've told me about this, you know? And then I could've-" "Could've what, Oliver?" He stopped talking immediately as the slight, but sudden raise in her voice, "Could've fixed what had been broken for years? I don't think so. You're not Superman. And how could I have told you, Ollie? You cut yourself off from everyone when you left town. I texted you so, so many times to try and get ahold of you after that and you just didn't respond. By the time I got here and I saw you 'round campus, what difference would it have made for me to come talk to you? You would've just... I don't know what you would have done. Probably nothing." Oliver wouldn't meet her eyes. She was exactly right. But he sure as hell didn't want to admit it. April began playing with her hair, "Should I go? I made things awkward, didn't I?" "Just... keep going, all right?" "I..." April swallowed, "Okay." And with another deep breath, "So, like, we came here. We got a small apartment that was just big enough for the both of us and we just started... living life you know. He worked on his music and I went to classes. I tried being the most supporting girlfriend I could be." Oliver just stayed silent, he definitely wasn't happy about any of this conversation, but she continued with, "But I think I said Lee's talented right? He is. He's really good and someone noticed. I forget his name, but it was something but it was something super Jewish. Greenberg or Rosenberg or something. Definitely a berg in there. But anyway, that doesn't matter, point is, he came home one day beaming, saying he'd gotten a record deal and he was taking me out to dinner." "That's good," Oliver muttered to her. April shrugged in reply, "Yeah. We moved out after staying in the old apartment for like three months and got into a bigger place. Lee was able to even get his dog from back home to come live with us then. Before, we were living on ramen, takeout, and tap water, but now we were able to make dinners for ourselves, to order in, to go out. He could buy me things and did a lot. It was cool. Like, I felt that we made a good decision for once. Lee's best friend, Dan, would come over all the time too cause he lived like across the street from the new place. And then I was introduced to some of his friends. Felt like we were actually living our own lives rather than the one's our parents planned out for us." "Lee was working a lot then. He was trying to get an album out. Whenever I got home from classes, he was working until he went to sleep for most days out of the week. And whenever we did spend time together, his mind was in another place. In his music. I was getting sort of sad, but Lee's friends were usually hanging around, so I hung out with them while waiting for him to get off work. We were managing. I knew he was working so hard on his album for me, he wanted us to live a high life. But... ya know. Still wasn't fun not seeing him." "I can imagine," Oliver whispered under his breath. He knew the feeling well. His mother worked most of the time when his father left, so he was never really able to hang out with her except on weekends. But still, she did it for him and his brother. "But then one day he takes me out for a really fancy dinner out of the blue. And I'm really excited and all that and guess what? He proposes. He says he's done with most of his work, so we're going to spend a bunch more time together. And like... obviously, I accept." And then Oliver's heart beat so hard it thought it would burst. Ap-April is... his April was engaged to another guy? They were... going to get married and... Jesus Christ. But that train of thought didn't last long, as he realized that if she was kicked out, it must've meant that they broke up right? Right? Please, God, he must be right. But even then... that's not good. If they broke up, she must be fuckin' heartbroken now and all he's thinking about is what he wants. Agh. And immediately, he feels terrible about himself and about thinking that. "But... nothing changed. He said something like they were doubling the length of the album or something like that. He even took a few trips by himself to San Diego, where the recording studio is. I kept trying to reach out for him, but he was so determined to finish that damn album that he always just shrugged me off. And there I was, wearing a diamond ring that meant nothing since he wasn't there, feeling lonelier than I ever have in my entire life. I had no friends, no family, and my fiancée was barely around. The only people I could say were close were Lee's friends." "So I hung out with them. Mostly with Dan. Dan was similar to me. In college and not really sure what he wanted to do with his life. He works at a Nordstrom's around here. We found we had a lot in common and had the same sense of humor." Oliver didn't like where this story was going. "So, like, eight months after we got here, I get a call and Lee says he was going to stay a week in San Diego. I become furious and I blow up at him about how he never spends time with me, how I'm always second in his mind, and how I've sacrificed so much to be with him, but yet, he gives nothing back. I don't even remember what he said back, I think he apologized. But I just hung up and cried. Dan came by. And then he... he like... he was just so sweet and caring... and soft... and-" Oh my fucking God. Oliver's eyes widened noticeably, but she was in her own little world as she spoke, so she didn't notice. His heart began to beat at about a thousand beats per second. He felt suddenly hot and kind of sick to his stomach. April... April wouldn't do that. She's the funny little tomboy that would make fun of him for crying. She... she wouldn't possibly think of being unfaithful to her fiancée? No. No that-that... Oh God. What the hell did she do? "So for that week we just... we cared for each other. I was so lonely then and he was there. Dan was so gentle with me. So kind and caring. He said all these nice things to me and I just let myself get lost in him. And when it came to the end of that week, I didn't want him to go." Stop. Stop talking about it. "Then Lee came home and he immediately changed. He started making more time for me, he made sure that every other night was a date night in some way for us. He began doing the mini concerts and all that shit again. He was being such a good guy to me. He even started planning the wedding with me but... but-" Please don't say it. "Every time I tried to bring it up to Dan, to tell him it was over... he just... he knew me. We always ended up... together. He told me he loved me and he was ready to be with me whenever I left him. He was willing to just be there even if I did marry Lee. I... I couldn't-" Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. "But I wouldn't leave Lee. He was trying so hard for me and that's all I wanted. I kept telling Dan I didn't want to be with him anymore. But he wouldn't listen. Then one night, a month or two after I broke it off, when Lee was out working, he comes by and... he starts pushing all those buttons that get me... that get me the way I was with him. And we're going at it again and just... and then Lee was there. And then Dan was getting punched and ran out the door." No... no no no. "Lee wasn't even angry. From the beginning of our relationship, he never once yelled or swore at me even if we had a fight. After beating up and chasing off Dan he just looked broken. He told me to get my stuff packed and to get out. So I got out and when I went by Dan's place he told me to fuck off. So I stayed with one of Lee's other friends for... I guess it's been a month now, but then he heard about what happened and told me to get out and then I realized I don't have family and I don't have any friends and I didn't want to be lonely again-and I-and I-and I..." April broke down and began crying, throwing herself into Oliver. She gripped his shirt in both hands as she let out heart wrenching sobs over and over again as tears stained the tired grey of Oliver's clothing. His hands were in the air, stuck there from the surprise of her sudden breakdown. But even after being shocked to the core buy her actions, even after feeling this dark resentment to her for what she did... she was still his April. And she needed a hug. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." So he wrapped his arms around her and allowed her to weep in his embrace. He didn't know how to feel. He just felt confused in general. A little annoyed, a little depressed, a little sympathetic, and a little heartbroken. All of that mixed into one weird, swirling emotion of shit. Oliver didn't say a word for the next half hour as she let out every emotion she'd been holding in for the last two days. He just made sure she knew that she was there by holding her. In any other situation, this would've been a dream come true, but now... it just felt hollow. "God... every time we meet up, one of us ends up crying, huh?" April sputters out, wiping her face of tears. Oliver nodded as a reply, allowing her to sit up and try to straighten herself out. Staying with her a little bit, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Ah, shit, I have to go to classes now." "Oh," April said. Oliver sat back, sighed, and then got up to go get ready, "I'll be back later. I'll bring home something to eat. But if you get hungry, the kitchen's free reign." "Okay." "Cool, well, uh... I'll see you later, April," Oliver went to get his jacket on, came back, grabbed his keys, and was about to walk out the door. "Ollie?" He turned back at the sound of his pet name, "Yeah?" "Do you think I'm a bad person?" The million-dollar question. How was Oliver supposed to answer that? Yes, a little. She probably ruined Lee's life. People can commit suicide over things like this. But he knew she didn't do it maliciously. She's not like that. He has to believe she's not like that or there was no point to the decade plus long friendship they've had. He has to. But the best way to answer this sort of question is to be honest. So that's what he'll do. "April, I don't think you're a bad person. Not completely. I think you are a lonely, hurt woman who's made a lot of big mistakes. But you're also kindhearted, loving, and a beautiful young lady. And you're my friend. So I'm here for you, even if I maybe shouldn't be." Oliver left the house with that. He walked right out of the apartment, not letting her reply to his declaration. He just needed to focus on class at this point, because if he lets his thoughts wander to all of the things that April has been doing these past few years, he might go insane. Love is Stupid and Great Ch. 02 ~~~~~~~~~~ Oliver was walking out of Five Guys with a big bag of food for both him and April to eat later this evening. He was reading some stuff on reddit on his phone while walking down the sidewalk. But he wasn't walking back to his place, because earlier he did stumble upon something after doing a quick Google search for Lee Robertson on his phone while waiting for one of his classes to start. Lee Robertson's album 'Hometown Couple' had released today and he's doing a signing in their city at the music store he used to work at 'The Bomb'. And... well, he's heading there right now. It wasn't very far from Five Guys or his place at all, actually. Maybe a five to ten minute walk at best. Made him wonder how he missed April since she's been here the last year. Maybe Oliver just doesn't pay attention to stuff outside of his little bubble anymore. Maybe that's kind of sad. Whatever. He arrived at the music store to see a line stemming from two blocks down to the front door to get a copy of his first record free. He was definitely impressed at the turnout. They must've done a good job advertising the album. Oliver's not really into alternative electronic music, but most of the market definitely is, so he'd be surprised if a lot of people weren't interested in that sort of thing. But he knew that he wasn't getting there anytime soon, so he took a seat on a bench, took out his phone, and waited for people to come in and get out. Needless to say, that took a fucking long while. So long that his phone was nearly dead by the time the line had dissipated and the sun was down. At that point, Oliver rushed the door before it was closed for the night and grabbed it before it closed, seeing the musician himself along with his agent and a few security guards chatting away. "Uh...!" Oliver interjected his voice into the room, prompting everyone there to look his way, but he froze solid. He didn't really know what to do. He didn't plan this far ahead. Lee stepped out in front of their little group, "Uh, did you want an album signed? Cause we ran ou-" "No," Oliver interrupted, "I um... I'm a friend of April's." Oliver could literally feel the atmosphere in the room begin to weigh a bit heavier and darken a little. Lee looked at him, puzzled, and turned back to his security for a few moments, then walked outside to Oliver. Oliver took a good look at him. He was a very attractive, bearded Asian-American man. He was extremely fit and he had fashionable clothing on. Sort of looked like a model, to be honest, but he probably was prettied up for the signing a bit, so that made enough sense. "Hey. Do you want to get a coffee? It's on me." Lee asked, pointing his thumb to a diner behind him. Oliver accepted the offer and the two made their way down to the diner, an awkward silence between them. Or maybe Oliver was the one who felt awkward in this situation. It was probably the latter. The two were sat down by a waitress who took their order without leaving much time for them to think about it. Lee got a straight up black coffee while Oliver asked for coffee with plenty of milk and sugar. He never could stand the bitterness of plain ol' coffee. But when she left, there was a definite awkward silence between the two, felt on both sides. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Lee eventually piped up. "Oh. Uh. Right. Well um..." And then Oliver explained everything to him. April staying with one of his friends, April showing up at his doorstep last night, how she told him everything, what their relationship was, and finally... "I just... I guess I just wanted to know..." Oliver tried to think up the words he wanted to express his feeling. "What? Am I doing okay? Have I forgiven her? What's happened with Dan and me? Blah blah blah?" Lee asked. "...Yeah." Lee chuckled a little, "I don't know exactly. To all of them. I'll give you a basic, quick rundown cause it's getting a bit late. It's been about a month and a bit since it happened and I've recovered. Obviously, it still hurts to talk or think about, but at least I'm not moping around my house anymore. It'll take some more time to get back on the horse again, but I'm okay as a person. Dan and I haven't spoken. And if I've forgiven her...? I guess that one I can say is a pretty big no. I put everything I had left into her and she basically ran it down the damn toilet." "...Oh." "Was that not satisfactory?" Lee smirked at Oliver, "Yeah, I guess not. These sort of things tend to be more spicy and exciting when you hear about them. But when you get it straight from the horse's mouth, it's usually quite dull." "I understand that a hell of a lot better than you'd think," Oliver replied, "As a guy who works in an industry that's pretty fuckin' hard to break into nowadays, people expect it's always this artistic, uphill battle, but it's really just a lot of work day in and day out." "Amen to that, brother," Lee kept his smile going as he finished his coffee, "But listen, I gotta get going. It's late and I need to shower and sleep. But you said you worked in the video game business a lot of times, right? Here's my card. Keep in touch. I've always wanted to make music for a game, so, if you need something like that, give me a call. I'm a hot commodity now." Lee stood up and wiped his mouth with his napkin, "And Oliver? Take care of her, okay? She's a good girl, just... very confused." Lee walked off, leaving Oliver to think. That all felt very... quick. Concise. Maybe that's how Lee was as a person. He didn't really get any of the feelings he had resolved, but he at least was able to meet the guy who was at the center of all of this. And he got a cup of free coffee, so, there's that. Oliver eventually decided to go home for the night, thinking it'd be best to not tell April about where he's been for the last several hours. And as he opened the door back to his place and she sprung up from the couch, he gave her a little smirk and held up the bag of food he'd been keeping and was still surprisingly warm. "Food's here. Could you get plates?" The two assembled their dinners, which just consisted of burgers and fries, on plates, pouring glasses of coke to accompany the measly meal. They set it all up on the coffee table, switching the channel to an episode of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' to lighten the mood, which was still quite tense from this morning. This whole day had been tense for Oliver. So his strategy was to come out of the gate, attempting to start an intellectual conversation. "Did you know that Charlie's the goddamn best in this show? Of course you did, it's-" "Hey Ollie?" "...Yeah?" April pat his arm lightly, "Thanks for... this morning. It meant a lot to me, you know. You didn't judge me, you didn't yell at me... you just listened. I needed that. What you said before you left... I'm not sure if I believe that you really think that or not, but the fact you even thought of it made me pretty happy. Thanks again." Oliver smiled back, "Of course I mean it, April. I've never lied to you in my life, there's really no point in starting now." April didn't say anything for a little while, but softly replied, "Thanks so much Ollie. For everything." And then she laid her head down on his shoulder while they watched The Gang Gets Racist episode. He nearly froze up at the sudden contact, but relaxed, knowing it was just April and there was nothing to worry about. Even if she had changed... a lot. She was still her. And as much as he probably shouldn't... he still loved her. The two watched a few more episodes before Oliver began to nod off slightly, "Uh... April?" "Mmm?" He pushed her off of his shoulder, "It's time for bed. Well, it's time for you to get off my bed. I'm going to sleep." Oliver thought he saw the shadow of a pout spread across her face, but if it happened, it was too fast for him to notice. "Okay, Ollie," She stood up and stretched out, "You wanna come into your room and tell me about your day under the blankets with the laptop like we used to? You said we would today." Oliver laughed a bit, "Maybe tomorrow, April. A tempting offer, but I'm dog tired. So you can sleep tight, Springy." "Fair enough. But I'm holding you on that offer. We need to make up for not spending time together for a long ass time. I'll see you in the morning, Ollie," And then she leaned down and pecked him on the cheek. "Whuh...?" Oliver touched his fingertips to where her lips just were. April began walking to the room, "Just another thank you for today. Don't think too much of it." And as the door clicked behind her, indicating she was going to bed for the night, Oliver just sat there, his fingertips gently moving over the surface of where she kissed. He leaned back in his chair, thinking about how his heart belonged to a girl who had cheated on her fiancée less than two months ago with his best friend and who had bullied him through highschool, despite being his best friend when he was a kid. And even after hearing her story today and having his feelings split into two, her touch still made butterflies fly around in his stomach. It made him want to laugh a little. He was never a simple guy, he could admit that much. "Jesus... love's just fuckin' stupid..." but as he got himself situated for the night, pulling a spare blanket over himself and laying his head down on a couch pillow, he smiled, "But it's so fuckin' great too." To Be Continued...