love came calling, twice // olly murs

13.

The poker game was a tradition that had started when the guys had been in high school. They had thought they were badasses, just like all seniors in high school did, and decided that playing poker in the Murs's bedroom every Wednesday night added to this. Friday nights were designated date nights and Saturday's for parties. So Wednesday it was.

And the tradition continued on. When they all went to separate colleges, they played online poker. The number of players present always varied, some would have too much work, some would have work and others would simply be too tired to play, but they still did. When the four years were finally over and they had earned their degrees, discovered the real world and partied so hard each of them had blacked out on at least one occasion, they moved in together and the poker games continued.

They had debated, at first, whether to continue the poker games without Tom. It seemed weird, not having him in his shirt and tie, his hair always perfect in comparison to the rest of them. He always lost, but he always enjoyed the game thoroughly and it had been he who had suggested playing online. So for a few weeks following his death, they hadn't played. Then they had decided to again, in memory of him.

Now they were just playing because it was what they did.

So that night, the four of them sat around the kitchen table, cards in hand, beers beside them and a stack of poker chips. They had invited Amelia, but she had politely shaken her head and gone upstairs to bed, even though it was only eight-thirty. Olly had watched her as she made her way out of his line of vision and thought back to their conversation that afternoon, their conversation the week before and he was reminded of a line in the book she was reading.

As her hair fell in front of her eyes and her hand ran along the banister, he shivered as the words floated in his head. "It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and they hadn't heard us call. Still did not hear us calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time."

He took a long drink of his beer, trying to rid his brain of the passages that may or may not relate to her, of the pain in her eyes and the soft smile that had graced her lips when he had offered to watch the movie with her. When things were steadier, when things stopped moving and she could breathe again, could smile freely; he would.

"So, Olly," Adam began, cigar hanging out of his mouth, much to Olly's dismay. He hated smoking. Adam inspected his hand of cards. "I saw you and Amelia in the garden this afternoon." He slapped a card on the table. "Hit me."

Jason dealt him a new card and smirked, taking a puff of his own cigar. "Yeah, I saw, too," he leaned back his chair. "You two were just like, sitting on the front lawn like teenagers for half an hour. What did you talk about?"

Olly waved a hand in the air, trying to rid the room of the smoke. Jeff crossed across the table and gave him a grateful smile. "None of your business," Olly placed a card down and picked up his beer, taking a sip. "Hit me."

"Look," Jason said, dealing the card and pulling the cigar out of his mouth. "You're the catalyst in all this."

Olly lowered the bottle and blinked. "What?"

"The catalyst," Jason explained, stacking his chips one by one. "You're the one who found out about Tom, you're the one who kept it a secret and you're the one who revealed it."

Olly bowed his head. "Wow."

"I know," Jason said, taking another puff of the cigar. "Intense stuff."

"No," Olly shook his head. "I'm just surprised that you know what that word means."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Oh, fuck off, Murs."

Jeff leaned on his palm, swishing his beer back in forth in it's bottle. "It's interesting that she'd talk to you," he said quietly. He glanced up at Olly. "Did she approach you? Or vice versa?"

"She came and talked to me," Olly said, feeling slightly exasperated. He saw Adam watching him closely out of the corner of his eye. "Look, I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like we discussed anything important."

"Oh yeah?" Adam asked, and Olly glared at him. He was supposed to be his partner in crime on this. "What did you talk about then?"

"The book she was reading, photography, nothing important." He was going to keep their late night conversation a secret. It was something he wanted just for himself.

"I thought she was going to hate you," Jeff said, examining his cards. "So it's just as shock, is all."

"Whatever, man," Olly said, drinking the last bit of his beer before tossing his cards on the table. "I fold."

Adam quirked an eyebrow. "What the hell? We've barely started playing and you're already out?"

Olly nodded. "I'm tired."

Jason snorted. "So? It's not like you can go to sleep. We're literally sitting in your make-shift bedroom."

"I'm going to go do some editing then," he said resolutely. This time, it was Jeff who protested.

"Seriously, Olly, we all know you're just trying to avoid the subject of Amelia," he said, drawing out the last word.

Laughing, Jason brought his beer to his mouth. "Something you want to share with us, Murs?"

Olly shoved his hands in his pockets. "You guys shut up. You're drunk."

"No, I think this whole thing with Amelia goes deeper than just you feeling bad," Jason all but slurred. "I think-"

"Shut the fuck up, Jase," Adam said, picking up a poker chip and throwing it at him. It smacked him in the temple and he yelped in pain. Adam looked at Olly and Olly smiled in thanks.

It made sense, really, Olly thought as he walked up the stairs two by two. Adam had been and was the only one who had known the reasons behind Olly and Tom's month long fight. Naturally, he would know that this was a sensitive subject and not one Olly wanted to share the details of just yet.

Or ever, really, but thinking about that made him half to think about it, so he was just going to leave it for now.

But as he passed his bedroom door, he felt his fingers itch to pull open the doorknob, peak in and make sure she was okay. Finding that resistance was futile, he did just that and poked his head in the door.

Amelia was cuddled under his duvet, the moonlight reflecting over her profile. Olly felt something pull at his heart and his breath caught in his throat the sight.

Closing the door, he let out a deep breath, knowing that just looking at her face made him want to reconsider his silence.

And it scared the hell out of him.

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Sort of a filler chapter, soz!

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