Oliver Loves Carson | ✔️

chapter eighteen

Oliver's eyes were shut so hard it hurt. She had to--of course she had to. She just had to make him seem like a fucking criminal in front of all these people he didn't even know. They would've thought whatever about Celia--that she's reckless, irresponsible. But Oliver was black. He wouldn't be surprised if by tomorrow at school, he was labeled a convict.

And these were Carson's friends. His teammates. People that Oliver was supposed to try to win over.

Not like he'd been doing a good job at it, though.

"It was freshman year," Oliver said weakly, as if that would do anything.

The guys sipped on their beverages awkwardly and Oliver felt heat start to rush up to his face, felt his collar start to tighten. He almost hadn't felt the tug on his hand.

"Hey," Carson whispered, pulling his hand down so that he could whisper in Oliver's ear, though it wasn't like the height difference between them was a lot, anyway. "It's fine," he said, "it wasn't even your fault."

It was, though. He shouldn't have accepted that stupid dare--maybe if he hadn't, Mr. Orlov wouldn't have had to pay a few thousand dollars to repair his stupidly expensive car. Maybe if he hadn't, her family wouldn't have hated him like they do now.

Oliver cleared his throat. "I'll be right back," he said aloud, though he wasn't sure if anyone was listening.

He walked away, planning to hide in the bathroom when an arm grabbed his bicep. Oliver didn't even have to turn around--he already knew who it was. Carson.

He spun around, tried not to smile softly at the boy in front of him that wore a worried expression on his face. So beautiful.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Bathroom."

Carson bit his lip. Oliver narrowed his eyes at the movement. It had been awhile since they had last kissed.

"Are you okay?" Carson asked.

Oliver shrugged. "Yeah."

Carson licked his lips. "Olly-"

"Carson, I'm fine. I don't socialize with people easily--that's how it's always been. I'm not affected when people don't like me. Trust me." At least, he didn't use to be affected. Oliver wasn't quite sure what was happening with him lately.

His eyes began to jump around the room, until they landed on Carson's lips. He felt himself drawing in closer.

"Can I?" Carson murmured.

But Oliver didn't hear him, instead leaning in until their lips touched. They worked against each other softly--warm lips against warm lips. Oliver leaned into him further, body warmth bleeding through his uncomfortable tuxedo. The music blurred into white noise and Oliver kissed him harder, wan-

Carson drew back, panting lightly. His forehead was leaning against Oliver's. "You didn't tell me."

It took Oliver a second to clear his head, for the fuzzy feeling to go away. "What?" he breathed.

"You didn't tell me," Carson repeated, "about Kale or the car or anything."

Oliver sobered up, took a step away. "Does it matter?"

"That you have a half-brother? Sort of, yeah." Carson looked down. "What else haven't you told me?"

"I-" Oliver stopped. He looked around, feeling eyes on him. Some people were still dancing, but most of them were eying the space between Oliver and Carson, looking at him up and down curiously.

They must be thinking: what is a guy like that doing with a guy like Carson Katsaros?

Oliver knew he certainly was.

"I should go," Oliver said, and left before Carson had a chance to run after him once again.

***

Oliver ignored Kale as he entered his house, immediately storming up the stairs to his room. He opened the door, turned on the lights and launched himself into bed. He was burying his face into his pillow when the door creaked open.

"Dommy?" a voice said, small and innocent.

Oliver couldn't help but smile sadly, sitting up and wordlessly holding his arms out. Ellie walked into his embrace, wrapping her little arms tightly around his torso.

"Did something bad happen, Dommy?" she asked. Her voice was muffled by his shirt.

Oliver sighed. He was tired. "Yeah, Ellie," he responded, "something bad did." 

- - -

A/N: Hello hello hello! I've discovered that I'm really bad at updating and at author's notes so I'm just going to try to not apologize for either of those things because I'm probably annoying you guys. Sorry.

But yes, I'm back with a new update! What did you guys think? D-R-A-M-A!! It's great. For me. I'm probably ruining Oliver's life right now though. Oops.

What are your opinions, emotions, thoughts, and feelings about this chapter? What do you think will happen next? What do you want to happen? The end is in sight guys, it's coming!

Thank you for reading this update, I really appreciate it and I hoped you enjoyed!

Xoxo,
A Shadowhunter Wannabe,
herondaledevices <3