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"You were the pieces of me I shared with no one else."
- b.m.
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Luna's POV
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Four Months Later
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"This is so exciting!" I grin to myself, bouncing up and down as I wait outside the school gates. I watch as the car pulls up to the curb and the window rolls down. Oli looks over at me from the driver's seat, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and a smile on his lips.
"Hop in, Little One." He leans over and opens the passenger door for me, and I happily bound inside, shutting the door behind me.
"I can't believe you can drive! This is so cool! I'm so glad my parents said you could drive me." I grin at him, wiggling around in my seat.
He shakes his head at my antics, leaning over me to grab my seatbelt and click it into place for me. "Remember your seatbelt." Once he's sure I'm safely secured in my seat, he drives forward and back out onto the road.
"This is so awesome." I grin, turning to look at him. "You're so grown up now!"
"Unfortunately, yeah." He mutters and I roll my eyes. He acts like he's just turned sixty instead of sixteen.
"Can we drive around a bit before heading home? The drive there is so short." I pout at him, hoping he can see me out of the corner of his eyes. He always falls for my puppy eyes.
He sighs softly before giving in. "Fine. Stop giving me that look."
"Yes! What music do you have?" I lean forward and start fiddling with the radio. He doesn't stop me, keeping his eyes on the road and both his hands firmly set on the wheel. I find a station with a good song and turn the volume up, mouthing the lyrics.
We drive around like that for a while, listening to music and talking. I love the time I spend with Oli, and I don't think I could ever get enough of it.
When he eventually parks on the road outside my house, I turn to look at him. "Can you stay a bit to play a game of basketball?"
He smiles. "Did your parents not tell you? We're coming over to yours for dinner, so I'm staying, Little One."
"Yes! Are you serious?" I grin up at him with wide eyes.
"'Course I am. But that's not all. We're going out to the movies with my friends tonight." He adds, his smile growing as he watches me get more and more excited.
"No way! What movie are we going to see? The new dinosaur one?" I ask hopefully.
"That's the one." He confirms.
"Yes, yes, yes! I'm so excited!" I jump out of the car and grab my school bag before hurrying inside. Oli follows after me much slower.
Dad is in the kitchen when I walk in. "Hey, baby. How was school?"
"Good! Oli's such a good driver! He drove me all the way here!"
"I know. I helped give him lessons." He chuckles, glancing behind me when Oli walks into the room. "Her chattering wasn't too distracting?"
"Hey!" I complain.
"Nah, she was fine." Oli chuckles, ruffling my hair when he comes up behind me.
"You guys are mean." I pout, turning to face Oli, "You want to go play outside for a bit? When do we leave for the movies?"
"The movie starts at six."
"We have heaps of time then! Come on!"
—
A few hours later and I'm bouncing around beside Oli as we walk into the movie theatre. We're clearly the last ones to arrive, his three best friends already waiting for us. What I don't expect to see is the four older girls standing with them. I don't recognise them, but they all look similar. They all wear tight t-shirts with skinny jeans and have their hair really straight. They look pretty, I guess. They're a lot older than me though - they're all Oli's age.
Nev, Cory, and Cam wave us over and Oli places a hand on my shoulder. I've stopped bouncing around now, my excitement dimming a little at the sight of these girls. The boys often hang out with girls like them and they're never very nice to me. They always treat me like I'm a kid. Which I am, but I'm Oli's best friend too.
I glance up at Oli as we approach and I see that his eyes are narrowed slightly. That immediately tells me that he had no idea they were going to be here. He doesn't like girls like them, just like me. But his friends do.
"Hey, Squirt!" Cory greets me when we reach them, reaching over to ruffle my hair. I glare playfully at him, but I'm not really mad. I like all of Oli's friends. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Of course I am! Oli takes me everywhere." I tilt my head to smile up at my best friend and he gives me a little wink, not saying anything. He doesn't have to. Everyone knows I'm telling the truth.
"Hope you like dinosaurs then." Nev smiles at me.
"No, oh my gosh! They're so scary!" One of the girls squeals, giggling as her friends do the same, huddling together. I furrow my brows at their reaction. They do know that they're dead, right?
"I love dinosaurs! For my birthday last year, Oli even bought me a mechanical dinosaur toy. It roars and everything!" I tell them excitedly, shuffling closer to Oli. I press myself against his leg and turn my face into his side, taking in a deep breath. He always smells really clean and nice. It's so comforting.
"Awesome! You guys ready to go in yet? It'll start soon." Cam asks, looking around at everyone.
Oli nods, moving his hand on my shoulder to instead gently hold the back of my neck. "I'll just go buy our things, we'll meet you guys in there."
They all nod, the girls looking slightly disappointed as Oli walks me away. They always act so weird around the boys and I don't know why.
Oli walks me over to the ticket stand and buys our tickets as well as some popcorn and gummy worms, at my request. He hands the candy to me, holding the box of popcorn in one hand and my shoulder in the other as he guides me towards the theatre. We quickly find our seats that everyone else has saved for us. I end up sitting between Oli and Cory, while Oli has one of the girls sitting on his other side.
Before the movie starts, Oli places the popcorn in my lap. He lifts his arm over the back of my chair and leans closer to me, his eyes finding mine. "You alright, Little One?"
I nod excitedly, smiling up at him. "I'm good. I'm so excited!"
He smiles, his nose scrunching slightly. "Good. You're not too cold?"
I shake my head. "Nope! Just right!"
"Perfect. Tell me if you need to go to the bathroom, yeah?" He asks as the lights start to dim in the theatre. It's just the ads starting, so I'm not worried about missing anything.
"Okay." I pause, looking down at the gummy worms in my hands and holding them out to him. "You want one?"
He takes one from the packet and takes a bite of it, still not turning to look at the screen. He watches me for a second while he chews before sighing softly and leaning in a little closer. He whispers, "The girl sitting beside me is so annoying."
I giggle at his words. "Do you even know her, Oli?"
"I sit beside her in French class. She tries to flirt with me every day." He grumbles, very obviously annoyed.
"What's flirting?" I ask, furrowing my brows and tilting my head in confusion.
He chuckles softly, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, Little One."
I frown, glancing at the girl behind him. She's staring at Oli weirdly. I don't like it. I look back at him. "You want me to come sit with you?"
He thinks my words over for not even a second before nodding quickly, moving back to sit against his seat. He nods his head to the side, a quick gesture which says, 'come here'. I gladly do as he says, hopping up and taking my popcorn and gummy worms with me. I clamber into his lap and rest back against his chest with my head resting perfectly on his shoulder. He curls an arm around my torso, securing me against him while his other hand rests loosely in my lap. I smile to myself. Oli is very comfortable.
As the movie begins and the theatre goes almost completely dark, I look over at the girl beside Oli again. She's not looking at him anymore, her arms crossed and a glare fixed on the screen. I don't know what she's mad about. He's my best friend, not hers.
My eyes go back to the movie screen and stay there for a while. The movie is really good so far. I snack on the popcorn and candy sitting in my lap as I watch before I eventually get too full. We did have dinner just before we left my house, so I'm not very hungry.
Oli picks up on the fact that I've stopped eating and he carefully moves the food to the seat I was previously in, leaving my lap free. I smile to myself before getting absorbed into the movie again.
I'm only pulled away from the screen when I feel eyes on me. I glance to the side once again and find the girl glaring at me this time. She looks away when I meet her stare, rolling her eyes as she looks back at the movie. I furrow my brows. Why do these girls always act so mean to me? I get that they like Oli - I mean, who wouldn't? - but he's my best friend. He was my best friend before he was friends with anyone else. He loves me and he's not going to stop spending time with me for any of these other girls. I know my Oli. Our friendship might be a bit strange because I'm 11 and he's 16, but it's never been weird for us. He's my best friend in the whole world and nothing will ever change that.
I frown at the girl a little longer before looking up at Oli. He has his eyes settled on the screen, but as if feeling my gaze on him, he tilts his head down. His eyes meet mine and furrows his brows, silently asking if I'm okay. I give him a little smile and turn my head to burrow my face into the crook of his neck for a moment. He lets me do so, gently squeezing my side with the hand he has wrapped around me as if to assure me that he's there. He doesn't have to do that though. I know I'm safe with him.
My eyes return to the screen after a moment and they stay there for the remainder of the movie. When the film eventually ends and the lights return, I look around. Oli's friends immediately start talking about the movie, wide eyes and grins on their faces. The girls don't look too happy. I don't understand why though. They came to watch a movie that they didn't even want to see. What did they expect?
I tilt my head to look up at Oli again and I see his eyes are already on me. "Did you like the movie, Little One?" He asks, his voice a deep, low hum.
I nod, squirming a little in excitement. "Yes! It was so good! Those dinosaurs looked so real! And the t-rex was awesome!"
He chuckles at my enthusiasm, "I'm glad you liked it. You ready to go?"
I nod again. "Yeah. Can I choose the songs we play in the car again?"
"'Course you can." He says, sitting up a little straighter. I prepare myself to stand up as well, but I let out a little squeal instead when Oli swings me around to his back and stands up with me clinging to him. He's giving me a piggy back ride.
"Oli! I can walk! I'm not that tired!" I giggle but don't let go of him. I lie against his back, hooking my arms around his neck loosely as he holds my legs round him securely.
"You're saying you want me to put you down?" He questions and stoops lower as if he's going to let me down.
"No, no, no! Never mind! I want to stay here!" I quickly take back my complaints, clinging to him a little tighter. I'm not going to turn down a free ride.
He hums. "That's what I thought."
"What did you think of the movie, Luna?" Nev asks me, as we start walking down the aisle.
"It was so good! The t-rex was super scary! But in a good way, obviously! The dinosaurs looked so cool!" I exclaim with a grin.
"Right? The production was so good..." The boys continue to ramble on about the movie and I just listen happily. Oli doesn't say much unless one of them asks him a question, but they don't mind. He's never been very talkative. He just likes to listen.
We walk out into the main foyer, the boys still chatting away. The girls say goodbye before walking off together, talking in a little huddle as they walk outside. Cam turns to the rest of the boys. "They so didn't like the movie."
"They weren't here for the movie." Nev tells him, rolling his eyes.
"Casey seemed to like you, Oli." Cory mentions and I can almost feel Oli rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, well I don't like her." Oli grumbles.
"Sandra totally likes you dude." Cam tells Nev and then I zone out of the conversation as my eyelids start to droop.
Oli tilts his head a little to look at me out of the corner of his eye. "You ready to head home, Little One?"
I hum my agreement sleepily. "You staying the night?"
"Mm hmm. Your couch has my name on it, Little One." He pats my legs softly.
"The one in my room?" I ask hopefully. Even though Oli's getting too big for the little two-seater couch in my room, that's where he's always stayed for sleepovers. At first, he stayed in the spare room, but we always ended up moving into the same room at some point in the night so that I could talk to him. Knowing that he's in the same house as me but I can't talk to him is almost unbearable. So he's slept on the couch in my room ever since. He's nearing six foot now though, and it's getting a little small for him.
"Hopefully. You think I can still fit?" He chuckles softly.
"We can always swap." I murmur.
"You're not sleeping on the couch."
"But the bed is longer."
"You're younger, you need proper sleep. I can deal with the couch." He says with finality and I don't bother saying anything else.
We say goodbye to the boys before heading out to the parking lot. He stops next to the passenger door of his car, digging a hand into his pocket to grab his keys. Once it's unlocked, he gently sets me down on the ground. I shuffle into the seat and look up at him. The smile he gives me makes me smile and I rest back against the seat, letting him do my seatbelt up for me.
Before he can duck back out of the car again, I lift my hands up to his face. He pauses when I cup his cheeks, stilling where he's leaning into the car. Before he can say anything, I squish his cheeks together, causing him to make a funny face. I giggle as he rolls his eyes, lifting his hands to my own. He gently removes my hands from his face before turning his head to place a kiss to each of my palms in turn. With one more smile, he steps back away from the car and shuts the door behind him.
The drive back to my house is quiet. I had asked earlier if I could choose the music, but I'm too tired, so I just let whatever is on the radio play. Oli doesn't mind, his eyes staying focused on the road with both hands on the wheel the whole time. When we finally get home, I get out of the care on shaky legs, shutting the passenger door behind me. Oli looks down at me with narrowed eyes, shaking his head slightly before he swoops down and picks me up. The breath whooshes out of me. I settle comfortably in his arms and let him carry me up to the house.
Mom greats us at the door and I smile at her sleepily. "Hi, Mom."
She smiles, reaching up to stroke my cheek gently. "Hi, baby. Did you have a fun night?"
"I did. The movie was really good." I smile wider, remembering.
"Good. You ready for bed?"
"Mhm. Is Oli staying in my room tonight?" I ask hopefully.
Mom glances up at Oli, "It's up to him. That couch is getting a little small for him though. The spare room is made up as well, so it's up to you guys."
"Thank you, Bella." I hear Oli say, his deep voice reverberating through my chest that's pressed against his.
"G'night, Mom." I tell her and she presses a kiss to my cheek, murmuring goodnight to both of us. Oli carries me upstairs, quietly moving down the hall to my bedroom. He sets me down on the edge of my bed and I look down at him through hooded eyes when he crouches before me.
"You need to get ready for bed, Little One." He tells me gently.
I groan softly, but do as he says. I get changed into my pjs in the bathroom, using the toilet while I'm in there. When I open the bathroom door, I see Oli walking out of my room, now in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He keeps some spare clothes at my house, just in case.
He walks over to me, asking softly, "Have you brushed your teeth?"
Realising I'd forgotten, I turn back around, hearing his chuckles behind me. Oli brushes his teeth as well, using his toothbrush that he keeps here. Once I'm done, I put my toothbrush back and turn to look up at him and he smiles. Using a cloth, he gently wipes the toothpaste from my chin.
Now that we're both ready for bed, I shuffle back to my bedroom, Oli just behind me with his hands on my shoulders to guide me. I'm already half asleep by the time I fall into my bed. Oli helps me under the covers, tucking them around me once I've curled up into a ball. With my heading resting on my pillow, I look up at him, smiling. He bends down to kiss my forehead. "Night, Little One."
I hum, closing my eyes. "G'night, Oli. Love you."
I feel him press another kiss to my head before I fall asleep, "I love you too."
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~ Pink Flamingo