Bad Boys Do Cry

22: He Needs A New Toothbrush

The twins are mad at me. Same.

They keep asking where Oliver is. I keep responding blankly, wondering the same thing myself.

"Probably shopping."

"What's he shopping for?" Braden asks.

I want to say condoms, but I keep my snarky comment to myself.

"He needs a new toothbrush."

Toothbrush? That's the best I come up with? I want to role my eyes at myself for lacking creativity. The boys don't seem to notice, though, and nod in understanding. Because to them, it's normal to disappear for a toothbrush. I smile at their innocence.

Opening the door, I'm greeted by the familiar smell of Joe's diner. Joe himself is behind the register, a smile already plastered on his face.

"Hazel, boys, how are you?"

"Fine, Joe," I smile at him, "Three milkshakes, three fries, two burgers, one BLT."

"You got it, Hazel."

I lead the boys to a booth and sit in front of the both of them. They're already giggling about something that happened at school and I can't help but smile at their happy faces. Instinctively, I mess with my silver chain as I keep watching the two of them interact.

They've been happier since Oliver has become a part of their lives. They tell me more things, well, mainly because Oliver is around. They laugh more because Oliver makes them laugh more than I ever could. They're trying really hard in soccer because, as they said, they want to be strong like Oliver and get rid of all the shadow monsters.

Oliver has made their lives better and if he ever walks out of their lives, it's going to take a toll. Example 3 of why I shouldn't have gotten close to Oliver Grey. He'll make the twins' life better only to make it worse when he leaves. My one rule was to never introduce a boy to the twins that I didn't know could be there for them. I went against my own rule like for Oliver, and now look we are. Lying about toothbrushes.

The food is set in front of us and Ben and Braden start digging in like they hadn't been fed in five days. But they're growing boys so I just smile and bite into my BLT.

Once we're back home, I tuck the boys in for bed. They fell asleep almost immediately, tired after their long day. Tired as well, I walk to my bathroom and strip so I can take a shower. I look in the mirror before I jump in and stare at my scar. I squirm and wrap my arms around my waist, hugging myself.

In just a week the anniversary of my father being a class A asshole would be upon us. I wanted to be used to the feeling of everyone I care about leaving my life, but the anniversary of my dad's leaving stirred up all those emotions of loneliness I kept deep down. He didn't deserve any of my time.

Sighing, I jump into the shower and stay there for a long time. When I come out, my fingers look like raisins and the mirror is covered in a thick layer of condensation. I dry myself off and put on my pjs before checking the time. 12:30am, how long was I in the bathroom for? It's felt like ten minutes but I had put the boys to bed at 10pm.

I open the door and jump in shock at the sight of Oliver sitting on the couch looking at his phone. I grimace at the sight of him, but am also relieved to find him here.

"I thought you'd never come out."

"I didn't think you'd be here," I tell him the truth.

"I've been needing to pee for an hour," He ignores my comment.

I roll my eyes and step to the side, "All yours."

He stands up and walks right by me. His eyes on me as he stares at my neck before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

When he comes back out, he leans against the doorframe and waits for me to look up at him before speaking.

"What happened today?"

"You left with Emily."

"Who's Emily?" He furrows his eye brows and crosses his arms, "I'm talking about after school."

Oh.

"Levi drove me today."

"Levi," Oliver grunts with a grimace on his face like saying his name was the worst thing he could do to himself

He looks down, seemingly lost in thought. His arms tense up, making his muscles look larger than they already were. His hair falls over his eyes and clouds my view of his face. I frown but keep my eyes on him.

"By the way," I pull Oliver from his thoughts, "Emily is the girl you banged during chemistry."

His mouth drops but it's quickly replaced by a smirk. Uncrossing his arms, he walks up to my bed. His tall stature even more intimidating as his shadow covers me completely. Sitting cross legged on my bed made me look so small compared to him.

There's a dry chuckle that comes out of his lips, "I didn't bang anyone. Not that you would know, you never asked me. You just assumed."

I crack at his hurtful tone. His eyes were small slits and it was obvious he was actually mad at me. But I wasn't about to back down.

"Maybe if you actually talked to me instead of ignoring me."

"I don't ignore you."

It's my turn to cross my arms this time. Annoyed that he doesn't even realize what he does.

"Don't ignore me?" I scoff, "You acted like I didn't even exist and then left me to do the experiment by myself."

I was trying to keep my voice down since the twins were asleep. But it was hard since Oliver was getting on my last nerve.

"I was giving you space."

"For what?"

"For Levi."

Levi, again? I thought that he knew I was only friends with him. Wasn't he the one that always prided himself on knowing everything that goes around at that school of ours? It wasn't some secret that Levi and I had been friends since middle school.

"Levi? What's he got to do with anything?"

"I shouldn't have kissed you," Is all he says.

My heart drops as his most hurtful words yet reach my ears. My hand goes to my lips and I feel them quiver slightly as I try to keep my tears in. His shadow suddenly feeling threateningly cold.

"Why would you say that?" My voice cracks a little and I hate myself for it.

"You obviously have a thing with Levi."

I laugh at his words. My mind is going a mile a minute and the short circuiting causes me to just laugh. Laugh at the situation. Laugh at my life. Laugh at how high school drama this is.

"Yeah, because I kissed you back because I have a thing with Levi."

Oliver is just looking at me confused by this point. I just laughed in his face while he's looking like a kid who's mol won't let him eat dessert before dinner.

"Oliver, I thought you knew everything. Levi is just my friend, he has a thing for Emma anyway."

Oliver drops his gaze and walks away from me.

"You're harder to figure out than the rest of them," he grumbles.