Alex realised it is much harder to get over someone you never had. He kept thinking of the 'what if's'. What if she liked me back? What if it all worked out? What would we be like as a couple? Would it be like he had imagined? There were a lot of unanswered questions that haunted him.
He had been loosing his mind. It was like no girl he met could satisfy his longing for Olivia which only made him more annoyed because she was the only one who didn't want him.
Though, they were finally wrapping up the tour and heading home, it was the end of August now, and they hadn't seen Olivia for another couple of months - that still didn't stop Alex from secretly longing for her or dreaming about her most nights. He really was trying to get over her it just seemed like anything he did didn't work.
They spent less than an hour freshening up (all going home to shower and change clothes) before meeting up again to see Olivia at a bar. They were all exhausted from the long trip but they didn't want to delay seeing Olivia any longer.
Due to it being 4pm on a Monday the pub was mostly empty, except for a few old men drinking shandy's in the beer garden. Olivia was first to arrive, Lauren sitting next to her on a stool as they waited for everyone else.
Katie and Breana rushed over first hugging them tightly. Matt gave them both a side hug before standing behind Breana wrapping his hands around her from behind. Jamie and Nick gave them both hugs and finally Alex gave Lauren a hug before standing in front of Olivia with a smile. He was aware of everyone watching, especially after he had told them that there was nothing going on between them.
He wasn't sure if he should hug her or not. However, as he tried to calculate the best move - staring at her whilst he did so - she rolled her eyes pulling him down into a hug.
"Nice to see you again." She whispered to him her face against his her voice was so soft and genuine that he closed his eyes for a moment to relish in the sound after not hearing it for so long. Similar to when your favourite song comes up on shuffle in the car.
As easy as that she had him completely wrapped around her finger again. She didn't even have to try to make him completely in awe of her. Her hand running down his arm as she pulled away from the hug giving him a smile just reminded him that it was wouldn't feel the same from someone else.
"Nice to see you too." He said , realising that they had been hugging for longer than usual, and giving her a smile. "You too Lauren." He said turning to her. Lauren just laughed with a shake of her head.
"Okay we all need drinks and then you all need to catch me up!" Olivia announced to everyone and they all obeyed - ordering their drinks and sitting in a booth.
They talked about small arguments over who stole the 'good spoon' (apparently they had all decided that a particular spoon was the best and someone had taken it for themselves - Olivia suspected that it was Nick) and their nights out after concerts. Olivia gave Alex a suggestive eyebrow raise when Jamie mentioned all the girls he had been flirting with - Katie and kicked him in the leg for saying anything like it was a secret.
Lauren, who hadn't gotten the memo, looked extremely confused at the news. She felt very annoyed that her suspicions hadn't been right - she had been so sure that Alex liked Olivia but clearly she had been wrong.
Alex went slightly red as he tried to ignore Olivia as she laughed to herself. Katie and Breana thought that Olivia knowing that Alex had been with other girls would ruin any chances of them getting together - they had been aware of the fact that she already knew and didn't care in the slightest.
In fact, the news made her feel relieved. If Alex had been flirting with other girls then that meant that everyone telling her that he liked her had been wrong. They could be friends and there would be no way either of them would ruin it. She was glad that she didn't have to worry about it anymore, they could continue to act like they had always done.
Jamie rubbed his leg after being kicked. "Olivia doesn't want to know about that!" Katie scolded him.
"I just thought that it was funny." He defended holding his hands up before apologising to Olivia, she just shrugged in return to show that she didn't mind. "He only flirted with the sane ones. Some were genuinely crazy, like this one girl tried to climb on stage - though I guess it makes sense cause you'd have to be insane to find Alex hot." He said jokingly and Alex rolled his eyes but laughed with him.
Olivia covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed in shock, "God, I really don't know what these girls see in you." She teased Alex with a smirk. Obviously there was a lot to see in Alex. He was talented - something that was extremely attractive on it own - but he also was extremely good looking (somehow she thought he had looked even better since getting back).
"Very funny." He said sarcastically. He also didn't know what they saw in him. Clearly something that Olivia didn't. "Can we talk about something else. What have you been up to, Olivia?" He asked, changing the topic, not only wanting the conversation to be off him but because he had been eager to ask her all night. Wondering what she had been up to whilst he was away.
"I made a new friend, well actually I made two. So I officially have . . ." She quickly began to count on her finger whilst mumbling names to herself and Alex smiled at her adoringly, "9 friends in total! Nearly double digits." She informed them enthusiastically. They all laughed at her, especially at how proud she was.
"And who is this friend?" Jamie asked.
"She's called Arielle, I met her at an event a while back, and then her friend is called Sarah." Olivia told them all, "They're really nice, if you want I can invite them all to meet up with us later?"
They all agreed that there was no harm in some extra company. So Olivia asked Arielle if she wanted to join them all later and she quickly agreed. Katie also had invited one of her friends and so did Jamie. Eventually they began inviting anyone they could think of, turning the small meeting into a big 'welcome back' reunion.
They all decided that they liked this bar, the ending of summer casting the room in a orange hue as the sun set at 7, and none of them were in the mood to move - too caught up in talking and spending time with each other after so long apart. They stayed sat in the same booth. Not many people came in between them arriving and Arielle, Sarah (as well as other guests) arriving.
Olivia introduced Arielle and Sarah to everyone and they all gave both of them polite smiles and brief nods. "I'll get you both drinks just find a seat." She told them.
When she returned she could only find Sarah, she sat down next to her whilst handing her a drink and asking, "Where's Arielle?" Sarah thanked her for the drink and pointed to a corner.
Arielle was sat next to Alex both laughing about something. It was only them, sat in a booth alone, their legs touching as they talked.
Olivia wasn't bothered by the news that Alex had been flirting with other people, however, quite selfishly, she had decided that she liked when his attention was on her. It is one thing hearing about Alex flirting and it is another to actually see it. She tried her best to not act jealous(since she knew she had no reason to be) as she smiled and said to Sarah, "Seems like she may have forgotten about the drink."
"Yeah, I doubt that she'll be back for it." Sarah laughed.
Olivia shrugged and with a smirk said, "Just means more for me." She took, what was meant to be Arielle's, drink and drank the whole thing in one go - the liquor burning her throat as she shook her head in disgust.
Olivia had spent most of the night taking with everyone whilst avoiding Alex and Arielle.
Arielle was gorgeous with a large smile, long legs and a sense of humour to top it all off. She had no idea how it never occurred to her that Alex might be interested in those things - especially after hearing about his sudden habit of flirting with everyone.
When she did catch a glimpse of them she couldn't help but notice the way his eyes would glance down at her lips as she spoke, or the way he would say something with a teasing smirk - things she had thought were only reserved for her, which she realised was quite naive of her.
Alex hadn't been trying to make Olivia jealous. He wasn't really sure why that was something people did. In all honesty he had no interest in Arielle - of course she was pretty and he liked that she didn't take herself too seriously but he knew that she was no comparison to Olivia.
Ever since seeing her again, being in the same room, he couldn't take his eyes of Olivia. Talking to Arielle gave him a reason to distance himself, give himself time to breathe and calm down form the intoxication of being so close to her. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he was alone with her and didn't want to find out.
Seeing her again, talking to her, made him realise that his feelings for her hadn't diminished in the slightest. So, trying to keep their relationship to just fiends, he distracted himself with Arielle - just for now, whilst he gave himself time to calm down. He suspected that it was just because he hadn't seen Olivia in so long - given some time he'd be able to talk to her without his heart beating so fast.
They only started to leave once they had been practically kicked out, everyone going their separate way. Olivia began to walk home when she heard Alex shout her name, she friend around to see him walking to her.
"I'll walk with ya." He said with a smile, his hand in the pockets of his leather jacket. He felt like he was now drunk enough to talk to her, and satisfy the ache of missing her, without impulsively acting on the urge to kiss her. She nodded and they began walking to her house, him remembering the route easily. "I missed ya." He said, without the tension from last time when he said it.
"Oh really, because you spent an awful lot of time with Arielle, I was starting to think that she was the one you hadn't seen in months." She teased though her words held a truth to them - a jealousy she wasn't even aware of came seeping through her tone. She hoped that her laugh let him know that she was joking.
"Just being friendly." He shrugged, "Wouldn't want your friends thinking I was a dick." He said with an awkward laugh.
"Just as long as you don't replace me.", Olivia warned him with a small glare - though her eyes always had a smile behind them, "I guess I missed you too."
"I can tell." He teased with a smirk.
Olivia scoffed, "Oh, Really? How?" She asked whilst crossing her arms.
"'Cause you got all jealous that I spent the night talking with Ariel and not you."
"I did not!" She scoffed, he just sent her a raised eyebrow and smirk in reply. She shook her head in disbelief, "I was not, I just wanted to talk to you after not seeing you and you were in the corner all night flirting, I'm sorry for wanting to spend time with you."
"Well, what are you doing now?" He asked, he walked in front of Olivia turning so he faced her causing her stop and furrow her brows in confusion and she looked at him suspiciously.
"Going to sleep?" She answered with caution.
"And waste valuable time spent with me?" He said fake offendedly.
"It's not my fault that you were busy all night!" She argued, with a laugh of disbeliefZ
Alex laughed then shrugged, "How about we go for a walk?" He said but he didn't wait for her to answer as he began to walk down a random street.
"It's like 4am." She whined, jogging after him when she realised that he wasn't stopping.
Alex just laughed at her as she came up beside him. "Didn't realise you had a bedtime." He joked and Olivia sent him another glare.
They were walking aimlessly until they reached a small park, one that was just trees and benches surround by a black metal dense. They had laughed the whole way there, and now walked along the path slowly, the moonlight seeping through the few trees and making the grass shine a teal colour.
They had just been enjoying each other's company and their joking had come to a halt. They walked in a comfortable silence until Alex spoke up, with genuine curiosity he asked, "Why have you never had a relationship?" They question had been plaguing his mind since he found out.
Olivia shrugged as she looked down at her shoes not wanting to meet Alex's eyes that she could tell were looking down at her, "Because I think forever is a con. People believe in it but that doesn't make it real, they're lying to themselves because they don't want to think about losing someone that they love."
Alex nodded, "Surely there's got to be some exceptions, though." He inquired hopefully.
"Yeah of course. Like . . . Mickey and Minnie Mouse." She suggested with a small smile still not looking up at him, she laughed and carried on, "I'm joking. Obviously, some relationships work out but it's just extremely rare. Most people who stay together do it because it's easier then breaking up."
He hoped that maybe he could get her to change her mind, or maybe he was naive enough to believe in love. "I don't think that you give people enough credit." He told her - knowing that if they were together that he would make sure they lasted.
Olivia laughed and finally looked at him, he green eyes looking brighter then ever, "And I think that you're too much of a romantic."
"So you don't believe in forever?"
Olivia hummed, "I think I'll believe it when I see it. Someone will just have to prove me wrong." Alex wanted to be that someone.