December 23rd 2018
Olivia carried the bags of shopping into her family home to be met with her mothers greying hair and a cheery smile.
"Hello my beautiful girl, we've missed you so much!" Jean said kissing the top of her daughters head and taking the bags of shopping into the kitchen.
Michael brought his daughter into a warm hug and kissed her on the cheek, taking the time to shake Ben's hand. This had been the first time they had met after their relationship starting in June.
Olivia found Ben very insufferable on the surface, but once you got deep down, and that was very deep down. He was actually an okay guy, he came from Surrey and carried an air of importance around at all times. But he was there for her when the whole Harry problem happened and even though she didn't tell him who it was he was still very kind and caring to her about the situation.
They had gotten to talking when one day, only a few weeks after she had returned home he had come over to her and Sarah's flat as he was finished work for the day and wanted to have a chat. When he entered the flat he knew instantly that something wasn't right with Olivia and she was hiding something, when he eventually got her to talk she told him that she had been struggling for years with a boy from home and he told her to simply move on.
"If he doesn't want to be with you he's absolutely mad" he stated.
They sat on the couch in the small flat and watched movies for the remainder of the day. He even took her calls while she was in the kitchen but they were only scam calls.
Back in Guernsey in her mother's kitchen, Olivia unpacked the shopping with Ben.
"That Harry looks a right state doesn't he" Ben sneered pulling a face
"Looked okay to me, he's always working crazy times for videos, probably doesn't get a lot of sleep" Olivia answered back
"Or because he's snorting mountains every night" Ben rolled his eyes
"He doesn't have a drug problem" Olivia defended
"He always makes jokes about it," he said
"Yes. Jokes, just because someone does something once or twice doesn't mean they have an addiction. You literally spend so much money on coke on a night out, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" she spat
"Oh miss high and mighty cause I dissed her hometown friends. He didn't look too pleased to see you, why are you even defending him" Ben rolled his eyes
"Because that's just it Ben. We've been friends for years and I don't want you badmouthing him" she growled putting away jars in the top cupboard
"If he's putting himself out on a public platform he should prepare to be judged" Ben jeered
"Well I'm not listening to it so drop it," Olivia said slamming the fridge over and heading into the living room.
Olivia said her goodnights to her parents and wandered up to her room, making sure everything was tidied away before Ben came up. It seemed strange to her, him being in her childhood bedroom, even Harry hadn't stayed in here, she moved a few things around and put some stuff in Jamie's old room which was now turned into an office with a treadmill in it before taking off her makeup and putting on her pyjamas.
She was midway through a film when Ben waltzed into the room
"Your dad can talk," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice
"Well it's his first time meeting you, he just wants to make sure you're good for me"
"You're 22 I don't think you need your dads blessing on who you go out with do you" he scoffed.
He walked around the room, picking up dusty books and old games, trying to analyse every little part of Olivia's room to get a hint of who she was before university. Stuffed behind her dresser was a badly wrapped parcel covered in dust with a tag attached for Olivia.
"What's this?" Ben quizzed
"No clue. Give it here" Olivia examined the parcel and blew some dust off it "Looks like it's been down there for ages, must be from Jess or something" Olivia lied. She knew whose handwriting it was and when this was given to her, it was the present Harry had left on her bed last year before he left.
"Go on, open it then" Ben urged
"It'll be like socks or something, I doubt it'll be anything exciting"
Ben rolled his eyes and took the parcel from Olivia before she could stop him, ripping off the paper to reveal a worn old Chelsea shirt and a small bracelet with a card.
Ben read it out:
Liv,
This will never make up for all the stupid shit I've done over the years but I need you to know that I'm willing to try. Not with anyone else, with you. I dunno what I'd do without you Liv. You've done more for me than anyone I know and if there's anyone I want to be my girlfriend it's you. Please give me another chance, even though I seriously don't deserve it.
Yours always, Haz x
Olivia sat upright in the bed shaking, Ben placed his tongue in his cheek and put the card down, now picking up the bracelet from the pile and looking at the small heart charm with an 'H' in it.
"Cute" he seethed
"Ben it's from last year. I didn't know that's what was in it I swear, I didn't even look when he gave me it" Olivia protested
"So it was Harry then? the boy I helped you get over. It was Harry?" Ben argued
"Y-yeah, yeah it was and I know this looks bad because I didn't tell you but I told you it was complicated and it is and I just wanted to leave it all behind" Olivia sighed
"That's why you stuck up for him today. I knew it, my god I knew it" he laughed mockingly
"No that's not the only reason. God, you're such a prick sometimes, you know it doesn't cost any money to be nice?" she fumed
"Why are you defending him he fucked you over!" Ben yelled
"Because I still care about him!" Olivia shouted
Her parents were now awake and standing at her door
"Liv. Everything okay?" Jean asked
"Fine" Olivia mumbled grabbing the parcel from her bed, a hoodie from the hooks on the back of her door and slipping on a pair of shoes.
"Where the fuck are you going? You can't just run away when you're arguing with someone. God no wonder that Harry fucked you over. You're so weak" he sneered
"Don't talk to my daughter like that" Michael raged, Jean pulling him back from the room
Olivia turned around and slapped him "Get out of my house. Get off this island, and fuck off back home you wanker. And by the way, just because you know what a charcuterie board is, doesn't make you any better than anyone. Dickhead"
Olivia grabbed her things without a moment to spare and ran down the stairs, running out into the lashing rain and jumping into her car. Her hair was drenched and her pink pyjama bottoms were now almost see-through but she placed the Chelsea top she had wore many a time before gently on the passenger seat and sped off in the direction of Harry's flat.
By the time she arrived the rain and gotten heavier and her hair and hoodie were now dripping wet. Luckily a man was just heading into the apartment building and she managed to get in without the need of pressing the buzzer. She frantically pressed the button to the lift and pressed the number of Harry's floor.
Her heart was racing, adrenaline coursing through her body when she arrived on Harry's floor. Olivia took a deep breath before banging on the door loudly, she could hear the faint sound of music and the shuffle of footsteps behind the door. Harry creaked the door open and looked outside. Clocking eyes with Liv and looking startled, his eyes were red and he was biting his lip. His face dropped.
"Liv? What are you doing here?"
Olivia held up the football top and felt her throat go dry "I didn't open your present last year and Ben found it, we got in a big fight but that doesn't matter because I'm so sorry Harry. I'm so sorry I didn't know" she managed to croak out
Harry cleared his throat but before he could speak Olivia heard a voice come from inside the flat
"Harry do you want this one?" the girl's voice called
Oliva pushed open the door to reveal Rachel, dressed in a skimpy dress holding a half filled glass. Harry shut his eyes and clenched his fists.
"This looks so much worse than it is I swear to god" he protested
Olivia swallowed hard, now suddenly feeling very aware of how cold she was as the water seeped through her pyjamas. Rachel looked up at her and dropped the note before beginning to plead.
"No please Liv I swear, nothing happened like, yeah we kissed but nothing else" she babbled, talking a million miles an hour.
"You kissed?" Olivia laughed "You kissed one of my best friends ?"
Harry had his head in his hands "I'm sorry. I freaked out, I saw you with that guy and you moved on so quick Liv, not even 2 weeks after Christmas he was answering your phone. It fucked me up, knowing I meant absolutely nothing to you, and I was waiting for you to open your present and message me. I waited a year Liv, why can you be happy and I can't do one thing"
"Because it's one of my best friends Harry you fucking idiot! and I wasn't with Ben then. We started seeing each other in June, he just came over to the flat that day and guess what Harry. I'm not happy, I am absolutely miserable" Olivia shouted, the tears now freely falling from her eyes. "It's fine, enjoy whatever this is and call me in the morning when you're sober"
"Olivia please I don't want to leave like this again" Harry called as Olivia shut the door behind her.
When she got into her car she stayed there for a moment, staring at the soggy football top on the dashboard and just closed her eyes to take a minute to process everything that had happened tonight. As she was about to pull away she saw Rachels slender figure appear from the building and hop into a taxi. She stuck her middle finger up to her as she drove and made sure to drive further to the side to splash her with a puddle on the road.
Afraid Ben would still be in her house if her dad hadn't killed him already she pulled up to Jamie's house and rang the bell twice before his sleepy-eyed girlfriend Lauren came to the door.
"Hi Livvy, oh god you look freezing, come in I'll get you new jammies yeah? JAMIE. LIVS HERE" she called upstairs.
As Olivia retold the events of the night, leaving out the part about the drinking, Jamie grew angrier and angrier.
"I'll kill them. I'll kill the pair of them, little bastards" Jamie growled
"Settle down Rocky, Ben will be gone tomorrow hopefully or at least in a hotel and I'll deal with Harry when he wakes up" she sighed
Lauren rubbed Olivias back gently and gave her a comforting smile "Spare rooms yours love, just make sure to text Jean please, god bless her the woman is a worrier"
After getting comfortable in the spare bedroom and texting her parents she lay staring at the ceiling and slapped her hands to her face in frustration. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.