The Writer | #4✓

Chapter 25

It was the day before I was heading back home with Maxwell. I had written my last exam yesterday, while Maxwell had written his last final two days before. He was currently in my room helping me back my stuff, complaining about the number of clothes I had, and why I had so many pens and pencils.

"I need them. I'm a writer, remember?" I laughed, watching as Maxwell rolled his eyes at me before tossing the bag of pens into my open suitcase that was in front of him. We had managed to pack most of my things already, we were just clearing out my desk and lower drawers.

"That doesn't explain the clothes," he said as I unironically tossed two of my jeans at him. "You have a lot of clothes," he added as he watched me look through my drawer in awe.

"You won't understand, you barely have clothes," I said, laughing as I turned back to my drawer. I heard him groan from behind me, only making me laugh harder.

My aunt's husband was going to come and get us tomorrow at about two in the afternoon. Toby was dropping Caleb off, before returning to the apartment they shared together. That meant he wasn't coming along on the ride in his dad's car tomorrow. Maxwell kept asking me if I was sure he wasn't a bother, and I almost lost my eyes from rolling them as I assured him he wasn't going to be. He's been a bit nervous, also because he didn't know there were four of my cousins.

"It'll be fine," I found myself saying as I noticed how quiet the room had gone. Maxwell let out a sigh, letting me know that my hunch that he had been thinking about tomorrow had been true. I turned to him, giving him an encouraging smile, He mirrored it before looking down at the half-packed suitcase in front of him. I had helped Maxwell pack the day before, taking extra care to help him sort out his interesting property. I mean, Caleb and Wyatt were both dating boys, but I'm sure they'd freak out if they saw any of Maxwell's stuff.

"I know. I'm just-"

"Nervous?" I asked, completing his question. He looked up with a small smile before nodding.

"It'll be fine. I promise, I've been promising all week," I said, watching him chuckle a bit. We turned our heads at the sound of a loud bang before looking away from the door. Since most people were done with finals the whole residence building has been noisy with chatting and parties.

"They sure are having fun, aren't they?" Maxwell chuckled, and I just smiled. My floormates were, err, a special bunch.

"Where's Oliver?" Maxwell asked, making me bite my bottom lip in thought.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "He barely stays in this room anymore," I admitted. I've always wondered what Oliver was up to, but he got defensive whenever I started poking at his business, so I just didn't ask questions or say anything when I saw him.

"He hangs out with Advik a lot," Maxwell commented, heading over to sit on a chair beside my study desk before looking around the room and then at me. "Are you sure they're not dating?" he asked, and my eye went wide.

"I don't know, why are you asking me?" I said, frowning a bit. "Plus, is Advik gay? Heck, is Oliver gay?" I asked, watching as Maxwell shrugged. I've been Oliver's roommate for more than a few months now, and I still didn't know a lot about him. He could be very chatty, but he didn't talk much about himself so I didn't really know anything personal about him apart from his the fact that he was in the process of transitioning, and that he hung out with Advik a lot.

"Well, I'm not gay and I'm dating you, so-"

"Maxwell, you know what I mean," I said, annoyed that he was deviating from my point. Yes, Maxwell also liked women. I knew that. He isn't gay, but he liked men, I was asking if any of them liked men at all.

The room went silent as Maxwell just stared at me and hummed. I held on to the fall coat in my hand, thinking hard. "Aren't you one of Advik's closest friends? If you wanted to know you could just ask," I said, and Maxwell cocked his head to the side before straightening out on the wooden seat and nodding.

"Maybe I just will."

"I'm sorry," I found myself saying when Maxwell turned to me at the sound of me chuckling. I just couldn't keep it in. He looked too cute when he put on his 'serious face.' His brown doe eyes and freckled cheeks didn't help his case at all. Neither did his red curls when they were in a mess.

"Okay then, why don't you help me finish packing then you can go ahead and do that?" I asked, and Maxwell nodded, getting up from the chair before heading over to me, and we both started to sort of the rest of my clothes before packing them away.

In the middle of our discussion, we heard a loud scream. I turned towards the door with wide eyes, and so did Maxwell.

"What's going on?" he asked as I headed to the door, opening it a bit to find Advik staring at Oliver in horror. I soon felt the weight of Maxwell's body resting against mine as he looked over my shoulder, we watched as Oliver and Advik just stared at each other, not knowing that we were observing them. Although Advik looked surprised and angry, Oliver looked embarrassed and ashamed.

Did he do something wrong?

"What the fuck man?!" Advik said, breaking the silence as he stared at Oliver, he walked over to the shorter boy, staring down at Oliver. Ollie didn't raise his head up. He just hugged himself as Advik towered over him. "Why the hell would you do that? What's wrong with you?!" Advik yelled. This time his voice was higher, more angry sounding. His shoulder-length full hair bounced with the movement, and the way he clenched his jaw made me afraid that it would pop.

"I'm sorry," Oliver finally squeaked in a shaky tone before looking up at Advik. No, his tone wasn't the only thing that was shaking, his whole build was. He looked scared, really scared. The 6'3 boy stared down at the 5'8 one. Advik was looking down at Oliver with mixed emotions like he couldn't decide what to do with him. At a point, I was worried if he was going to hit him, but I calmed down when he stepped back and let out a sigh.

"Give me some space, don't call me, don't talk to me. Nothing. Not even in volleyball practice," Advik said, stepping away from Oliver as he made a sweeping motion over the space in front of him. "I'm serious, don't reach out to me unless I reach out to you, you got that?" Advik said, and I watched as Oliver just nodded his head of dark hair. From the way he was blinking I could tell that he was fighting tears, and it made me sad and worried for him. I still didn't fully understand what was going on, but he looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

What happened?

Eventually, Advik walked away angry from the hallway, and Oliver just slid down against the cream painted wall until his bum was on the tiled floor. He buried his head in his hands to do what I guess was to sob.

I moved back a bit, and Maxwell took the hint and removed his weight from me so that I could close the door silently. We soon started hearing sobbing from the hallway, and I looked over at Maxwell awkwardly, as if asking him what I should do.

"What was that?" I asked no one in particular, heading back to the drawer I was taking clothes out from.

"I don't know..." Maxwell trailed, and soon he had joined me again.

"Maybe we should ask Oliver about it?" he asked, and I sighed, shaking my head.

"I don't think people crowding about him and asking what happened is what he wants now," I said, and Maxwell just nodded, agreeing to give Oliver his space.

If Oliver wants to talk about it, he will.

He won't talk about it. A voice said in my head, and I knew it was right. I sighed, passing another folded pair of jean trousers to Maxwell. It was the truth, but what could I do about it? Oliver was very Oliver about his private issues.