Olivia had practically blacked out for the majority of the album - her head lightheaded with an overwhelming amount of emotions. She knew that some songs were about her but she hadn't been expecting the whole album to be about her (or she guesses more about Alex's feelings towards her).
It was a lot of information and news to process and she already was struggling to think.
She could feel Alex watching her from the other table, trying to gauge her reaction but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. It didn't help that she had Liam seething next to her, tensing his hand against hers every time there was something in one of the songs that he didn't like.
It was all too much and she was finding it harder to breathe.
Thankfully, the album was finished and as soon as it had, the lights coming back on and people beginning to clap - she slipped out. Not even telling Liam that she was going as she rushed outside. She didn't want to gain attention by leaving earlier or ruin the mood by storming off, so she patiently waited until she could leave without anyone noticing.
The cold air was refreshing and she instantly felt a lot better - after hearing the album and having Alex's and Liams eyes on her she found it get increasingly hot and the large room seemed to get smaller.
She took a deep breath and sighed, allowing herself to close her eyes as she felt her heart rate slow down. It was just a lot to process all at once and she couldn't quite put her thoughts into one clear conclusion.
Alex had been worried about her since he saw as she briskly left after the final song - he was feeling extremely guilty and felt bad for inviting her, knowing what the songs were about. He saw that Liam only watched her leave, as he sat in confusion, and Alex was about to chase after her when Miles came over.
Miles put a hand on his shoulder as he suggested, "Maybe it'd be best if you stay here? I'll go and check on her."
Alex's face dropped, "Why can't I go?" He desperately wanted to go and see if she was okay and, if she wasn't, then he wanted to be the one to make her feel better. He also wanted to apologise if he was the one who had upset her (which he had a sinking feeling he was).
He didn't want her to be angry at him and he definitely didn't want her to be upset because of him.
"Because, no offence, but you're the reason she's probably upset." Miles explained and Alex felt his heart drop - his intention hadn't been to hurt her.
"Which is exactly why I should go and apologise." Alex replied.
"I think that seeing you might just overwhelm her right now, I promise I'll make sure she's okay and I'll let her know that you didn't mean to upset her."
Alex sighed, "Okay, fine. Just let me know how she is." He agreed in defeat.
"Course."
She heard the door open and saw Miles peek out with a smile before jointing her. "Want a cigarette?" Miles offered as he put one between his lips. She smiled because she could tell what he was doing - he was getting her to talk so she would take her mind off the whole situation.
Olivia shook her, "I quit ages ago, not that I smoked that much in the first place." She told him. Miles nodded and lit his own, breathing the smoke into the night as it got taken away by the wind.
"Alex was going to come but I thought that you might prefer it if he didn't." He mentioned and he was right. She wasn't sure what she would say if it was Alex - or Liam for the matter. She needed to relax not panic. So she gratefully nodded.
"Is Liam mad at me for leaving?" She asked him quietly.
"Just confused I think." He shrugged.
She wished that he said that he looked worried - she wanted him to be worried. It was depressing to her that her own boyfriend didn't even bother to check on her but Alex and Miles had and yet she can't help but feel like it was all her fault.
She forced Liam to come when she knew he didn't want to - she even knew that he didn't like that the songs were about her but ignored it. She couldn't get mad at him for leaving. It feels like she had ruined yet another relationship and it seemed to always be her that was the issue - maybe she was right to assume that relationships weren't for her.
She didn't take his feelings into account so why should he care about hers?
She feels pathetic and sighs in annoyance as she begins to cry. She tried to do so quietly and to stop the tears (she was just being dramatic and feeling a lot of things at once) and didn't want Miles to notice. However, he did and suddenly he dropped his cigarette on to the floor, putting it out with the heel of his boot.
"Hey, it's okay." Miles said bringing her into a hug.
"I know. I don't even know why I'm crying, I just think that I'm tired and it's been a long day." She told him quietly.
"Want me to tell Liam to come and take you home?" He offered and she nodded giving him a thankful smile. She didn't want to see Liam but she did want to go home. Miles nodded, "Stay here and I'll be back." He said patting her shoulder before leaving in a jog.
Miles tried but he couldn't find Liam anywhere, he had left the table and Miles couldn't see him as he scanned the room. Alex must've seen his desperation and came over with a worried look.
"Is Olivia okay?" He quickly asked.
"Have you seen Liam?" Miles asked still looking around and not focusing on Alex as much as he was on trying to find Liam.
Alex ignored him, concerned about Olivia, "Is she okay?" He repeated.
Miles sighed and finally looked at Alex (clearly looking for Liam was an aimless task), "Shes fine, she just wants to go home and I can't fucking find that wanker anywhere."
"I'm pretty sure he left once Olivia didn't come back." Alex said. Miles groaned and rubbed his eyes.
"Right then I'll just get her a taxi or something." Miles thought out loud.
"Let me drive her home." Alex practically begged. Miles could see the desperate in his face and the urgency in his voice.
Miles groaned, "She's gonna bloody kill me.", he muttered. He knew that Olivia didn't want to see Alex but he thought that it might be good if they had the opportunity to talk about it. He also wanted to give Alex the opportunity to comfort her especially since Liam was no where to be found. Alex took that as a yes and immediately rushed off.
"Oh, did you see Miles in there?" Olivia mumbled, she hadn't bothered to get rid of her tears (too tired to put the effort in) but upon seeing Alex she wiped her cheeks in embarrassment. Alex's face softened at the sight of her. He couldn't handle it when her voice broke when she spoke, on the verge of crying - seeing her cry made him want to.
"Yeah, yeah he um -" he stuttered, having so much to say and not sure how to do it. He wanted to apologise, he wanted to tell her he hated seeing her upset and he wanted to hug her. Instead he said, "I think that Liam left already."
Olivia nodded, looking down at her feet as she whispered, "Don't blame him."
"He's a dickhead for leaving.", Alex told her with a scoff.
"No he's not." She argued softly.
Alex couldn't believe that she was defending him. It made him upset that she wasn't angry at him - she should've been. "Yes he is, I can't believe that he just left you here." He maintained.
Olivia rose an eyebrow as she turned her head to look at him, "Alex, he just had to sit through an hour of songs about me and pretend that he was fine with it and then I just left him there. I would've left too."
He suddenly felt extremely guilty. The whole time he hadn't thought about how the songs might've effected Liam and Olivia's relationship - to be honest he didn't care (a part of him wanted to sabotage it) until he saw how much it upset her. He should've considered the consequences as he apologised, "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have invited you."
Olivia shrugged. Alex stood there not sure what to do as she stood against the wall with her arms crossed. He wanted to hug her but wasn't sure she'd appreciate it. It was quiet as he stood watching her, unsure how to approach the situation, as she said, "You said you wrote all the songs before we became friends again?"
Alex rubbed the back of his neck, knowing what she was referring to as he explained in a jumble of awkward words, "Oh Erm yeah. That was - It was a last minute sort of addition."
"You know he's actually a really nice guy." Olivia told him quietly. Alex just stared at her not sure how to respond - he couldn't agree but knew better than to disagree, scared that it would cause an argument.
"I think I take him for granted a lot of the time. It must take a lot of effort to put up with me and I don't give him enough credit for it." She murmured more the herself then to Alex.
"He should be happy to have you, if anything he takes you for granted. He shouldn't treat it as a chore to love you - if he doesn't know how lucky he is then he's a fucking idiot." He told her. He was angry that Liam made her feel like she was the problem.
Olivia laughed, finding the humour in what Alex said but the laughter quickly turned into tears.
She felt it was ironic for her to get upset over the fact that he didn't care for her when she knew she hadn't been taking the relationship seriously. She felt like she only had herself to blame. She knew that Liam didn't like Alex but she didn't care - she essentially chose Alex over him and then got surprised when he no longer put up with it.
When she started to cry again Alex didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her, softly rubbing her back as his other hand held her head against his shoulder as she sobbed against him.
"C'mon let's get you home okay?" He whispered and he felt her nod against him.
Alex led her to the car, his arm wrapped around her as she quietly cried. He looked at her sympathetically as she sniffed and wiped her cheeks.
She could see the lights on inside and knew that Liam was there so she sighed, turning to Alex who had already been looking at her. "Thanks for driving me home." She said and he shrugged it off.
She had been so focused on the fact her and Liam were fighting - or at least she assumed they were - that she hadn't even began to think about her thoughts on the album and the fact Alex practically poured his heart out. She knew that they should probably address it so it doesn't end up like last time when they hadn't. So before she leaves the car she asks him, "Can I call you tomorrow?"
"Yeah of course.", Alex immediately nods and Olivia smiles before leaving.