Oli's POV:
"Mummy!" I yelled from the stairs, "Help me, I'm dying!"
I'd made the smart decision to slide down the stairs on my stomach this morning, finding myself stuck half-way down the carpeted steps, unable to shuffle down the rest of the way. I had a strip of carpet burn on my stomach and was in dire need of a rescue. Ash had woken up early this morning to go for a run; I had groggily declined his inconsiderate offer, pouting at him in my sleepy state. How rude, waking me up early during the summer break to make me physically exert myself! There was only one type of physical activity I wanted to do with Ashton, and it didn't involve running.
"Mum! Help!" I yelled louder, flailing my arms about desperately. My mum had arrived home in the small hours of the morning, clambering about in her drunken state, crashing and banging through the kitchen, speaking loudly to her date. I assume she had a good time last night...
My mother finally appeared at the bottom of the stairs, hands on hips disapprovingly; "How old are you?"
She didn't look amused in the slightest. I was laughing hysterically, waving my arms at her, rolling on my tummy like a turtle stuck on its back. She huffed, grabbing my hands and pulling me down the rest of the stairs. I cried out dramatically as the carpet scorched my stomach again. She released my hands and I laid in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, groaning. I saw a hint of a smile on my mum's face, despite her stoic facade.
"What's going on over here?" I heard a stranger's voice say. A brunette head peered over the banister, his arms wrapping around my mum's waist. Harry was decidedly hot, with lightly tanned skin, rippling muscles, and mysterious coffee-coloured eyes. Damn, if my mum wouldn't go there, I sure would. I mean... Don't tell Ashton!
"My son's being an idiot." My mum explained.
"Am not!" I pouted, then broke into a satisfied beam when Harry laughed. I liked this guy. I stood up and reached a hand out for him to shake, "I'm Oli. Are you staying much longer?"
"Actually, Harry was just leaving." My mum answered for him abruptly before he could reach to shake my hand, and she pushed her date towards the front door.
"I was? Rachel, you've just made breakfast..." She ignored him, barely giving him chance to pull on his shoes before pushing him over the threshold of our front door, shutting it in his bewildered face. I gaped at my mum, as lost for words as Harry had been.
"Wha-? He..." I paused, swallowing heavily, "He was nice." I forced a smile, certain I would never grow used to my mother's eccentric ways.
"We didn't hit it off." She answered quickly. I knew she was lying; they had seemed to get on well enough last night, and I'd heard them joking and flirting together in the kitchen this morning. I sighed, shaking my head. Maybe she still wasn't ready to start dating again. After all, it had only been four years. I groaned and mentally rolled my eyes.
There was a knock on the door and both my mum and I tensed. Harry sure had some balls. A fire blazed in my mum's eyes as she turned on her heel and stormed to the front door, flinging it open, ready to shout in his face.
"I told you to-! Oh. Sorry, Ashton. Come in." Disappointment replaced the fury in her eyes; secretly she had hoped Harry would fight for her. My mum huffed loudly then turned to stomp up the stairs to her bedroom, presumably to change out of her pajamas, slamming the door with a force that made the walls shake. Ashton arched an eyebrow, confused, but knew better than to question my mother's strange behaviour.
I took Ashton's hand, pulling his sexy, sweaty body against mine, reaching onto my tiptoes to press my lips against his - he was only two inches taller than me, but I liked to milk it a little. I would definitely be bottom. His cheeks were flushed with red from his run and he seemed out of breath, like he'd been sprinting. Ashton had told me he was going to go for a run most mornings during the six weeks we had off school, and I could tell he was glad I didn't want to join him, as much as he pretended otherwise. I would only slow him down, I guess. I'd never been one for sports that didn't involve balls.
"Darling, shower with me." He whispered into my ear.
I shook my head, nibbling on his sweet neck, "Emilio will be here soon." I reasoned, running my hands through his sticky hair. An unfamiliar scent wafted up my nose, and I breathed in to try and figure out what it was. "New cologne?" I asked, intrigued.
His body stiffened in my arms, then relaxed before he answered. "No, I've had it a while. I just haven't worn it recently; it's been sitting in my drawer." I had emptied my dresser when Ashton first moved in, so he would have somewhere to keep his clothes and other possessions. Ash had been back to his house a few days ago to collect the remaining items he'd left there when he was kicked out. I pitied him; he had no family to turn to anymore. At least I still have my mum, despite the coldness my father's death had engraved in her heart. She still loved me, in her own way, and accepted me for who I was. Though I hadn't yet told her Ashton and I were an item again.
Squeezing me tighter, Ashton pressed his lips to mine, his hand grazing my groin area. Such a tease.
"Go! Emilio will be here soon. I'm the only one allowed to see you so hot and sweaty." We both laughed and Ashton pulled away from me to go upstairs. I daringly slapped his ass when he went past. Ash yelped, paused, turned around to face me, then pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss, entwining his fingers with my thick hair. My head spun in the euphoria. Butterflies danced in my stomach. I swooned beneath his velvet-soft fingers. It was magical. When he finally pulled away, Ashton took the stairs two at a time, blowing me a kiss when he reached the top.
I glanced down at the slight bulge in my pants and decided I'd have to do something about that. Looks like I'll be showering with Ashton after all...
***
An hour later, Ashton and I were both dry and fully-clothed. The chime of the doorbell signaled Emilio was here, and I excitedly leaped from my bed to answer it. By the time I got to the door, he was already inside, greeting my mother. Emilio was tall - maybe 6'1" - with caramel skin to match his caramel hair and sticky toffee eyes. Emilio's parents were Italian, which gave him a soft hint of an Italian accent that merged beautifully with his English accent. He wasn't well-built like Ashton, but he wasn't skinny either. He was cute in a non-conventional way, with stylish black glasses and his trademark grey beanie, which he wore with one of his many band t-shirts and black skinny jeans. I had always found Leo to have an alluring body. He was always sweet and well-spoken, trying his hardest to please everyone. Unfortunately, he was also undeniably straight. He'd had more girlfriends than I'd had showers.
Even so, the love I had for my best friend was unreal and unmatched by anything else.
"Hey Leo," I greeted, pulling him in for a hug, "We have company." I warned, smirking, dragging him towards the stairs up to my bedroom before he could ask any questions. Leo raised his eyebrow, inquisitively. I was always jealous that he could do that. No matter how hard I tried, I could never raise my eyebrow. Damn thing.
"Okay," I began, once I'd opened my bedroom door and ushered Emilio inside, "Ashton, this is my best friend Emilio. Emilio, this is my boyfriend Ashton. Now be friends." I commanded, grinning widely between the two of them.
"Boyfr-... You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, Oli." He sounded almost disappointed. I frowned when I realized he was right; in all the commotion of the past few weeks, I hadn't spoken to Leo at all. I was such a terrible friend!
I apologized profusely for the next twenty minutes, with Emilio insisting that he forgave me, laughing at me as I hung off his legs, burying my face in them. However, much to my delight, both boys seemed to get on rather well, although both were noticeably jealous of the other. I had met Emilio at my new college when I moved house, which is why he'd never met Ash before.
I had invited Emilio to stay the night, which hadn't pleased Ashton in the slightest. Man, these testosterone-driven boys would be the death of me.
"I'm going to stay at a friend's house tonight if he's staying." Ash whispered to me when Leo had left the room to use the bathroom.
"Aw, come on Ash, he isn't that- A friend? Which friend?" He'd never mentioned having a friend who lived nearby before. He'd never mentioned any friends at all, come to think of it. Hopefully, I'll get to meet them at some point.
"Someone from school." He said, standing up from the bed, "Video game?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Okay, you choose." I waited until his back was turned and he was distracted, then I pounced on his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and legs around his waist, shouting victoriously as I claimed my prey. I grabbed his earlobe between my teeth and tugged on it until he threw me backwards off his back and onto my bed. Ash growled seductively, pretending he was an angry lion. It seems the predator has become the prey.
He straddled me on the bed and his hands went straight to the sides of my stomach, right below my ribs. He started to tickle me and I gasped, choking on my laughter. I became a hysterical mess beneath him, writhing, laughing, screaming, flailing my arms about, begging his to stop.
"Make me."
Those two words were all the permission I needed.
I flipped us over so I was the one straddling him, deciding to make him suffer for a bit. I licked my lips whilst staring at his. I hovered above him, lightly brushing my lips against his until I felt his become anxious and his hard on pressed against the inside of my thigh. I could no longer resist. We kissed roughly, hands roaming each other's bodies, lust consuming us as my hands fumbled with the buckle of Ash's belt, completely losing myself in the moment. I started grinding on him, pleased with the moans that escaped his lips. I rubbed harder and faster against his groin area causing louder, deeper moans. I moved my hand to the waistline of his jeans and I was just about to slip my hand inside his boxers when I heard someone clear their throat awkwardly in the doorway.
I whipped my head toward my wide-open bedroom door, rapidly jerking my hand away from the place it had been hovering. I screamed, almost jumping out of my skin, my cheeks burning the brightest crimson.
"Am I interrupting?" Emilio asked coolly, looked amused, arms crossed as he stood watching us from the doorway. Shit, how long had he been watching? I threw myself off of Ashton and onto the carpeted floor, burying my face in it, absolutely mortified. Ashton sat up and cleared his throat, not nearly as embarrassed or ashamed as I was. I risked a glance upwards to see a smirking Emilio, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. It must be weird to see your best friend so intimate with a person. Not to mention, plain wrong.
"Pervert..." I retorted childishly, unable to think of anything smarter to say. Emilio laughed at me, striding over to ruffle my hair like you would a dog.
"Next time, I'd like to be in on the action." Leo joked, winking at Ash. God help him if that boy tried to steal my man.
The silence that fell over the room was tense and awkward, the reality of the situation finally settling on Ash.
"Shit, sorry man. We got caught in the moment," Ash said, pulling a shaking hand through his hair, "I'm going to go to my friend's. I'll message you later, Oli. Nice to meet you, Emilio."
Ash stood up and buckled his belt, ignoring my protests, grabbing his backpack and phone, then ran down the stairs and left, the door slamming loudly behind him.
"Oli? Is he alright?" My mum called up the stairs.
"He's fine, Mum. Just running late to meet a friend." I lied, knowing she wouldn't press any further on the matter.
I shut the bedroom door and leaned against it, sighing dramatically. I felt like an even worse friend than I had when Leo arrived. I already had Kara refusing to talk to me, I couldn't deal with losing Emilio as well. Since the night I'd told Kara to leave, she had been ignoring my calls, texts, voice mails, online messages, notes from my carrier pigeon. Maybe not that last one but I was certain that, if I did have a carrier pigeon, she would ignore that as well.
I'd knocked on her door the other night and her mother had told me Kara was out with a group of friends. It was a lie; I could hear Kara singing to herself in the shower. I hope she'll forgive me for getting back with Ash. He had changed into an entirely new person from the mean, unpredictable bully he was back then. I knew he'd never dream of hurting me, not now that we had become so close again. This time we had no homophobic parents to keep us apart. I smiled to myself at the thought, aware that I'd completely zoned out.
"Oli?" Leo prodded, trying to free me from the grasps of delusion, "You're not going to want to hear this but-"
"Then don't tell me." I interrupted, "As I've learned from what happened with Kara, some things are best left unsaid. I'm happy with him, Leo." I used the nickname I'd given him when we first became friends almost two years ago, before I'd found out that everyone else knew him as Emi. Only Kara and I called him Leo.
"You're 17, Oli. You're old enough to understand that, no matter how much you trust someone, the relationship might not be right..." He trailed off when he saw the hurt in my eyes.
"I don't want to fight with you, Leo. Please don't argue with me." My bottom lip trembled, my eyes held tightly with Emilio's. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes, and Emilio reached to wipe them away, taking a step closer to me. His hand stayed where it was, cupping my cheek, and his eyes drifted to my lips. My heart froze in my chest as I watched his lips move closer, his fingers tilting my chin upwards. Is he going to-? This can't be happening. Emilio is straight. He can't kiss me, he's straight and I have a boyf-
Emilio's soft lips pressed against mine and all rational thoughts fled from my body. I instinctively responded to his kiss, which was slow and meaningful. I lost myself in it's beauty. It was so different to Ash's kisses, which were always filled with lust and eagerness. This kiss I was sharing with Emilio was flooded with heart and desire.
I returned to my senses and pulled away from Emilio, caught in a daze. I have a boyfriend. This is wrong - it's more than wrong, it's cheating. But it felt so right to be wrapped in the arms of my best friend.
No.
I mentally slapped myself for being so easily swept up in the moment. I wasn't a cheater! Oli Ricardo Keaton was not, by any definition, a cheater. Emilio realized his mistake and tilted his eyes downward to avoid mine. I couldn't be angry at him, but I wasn't happy with him either.
"Leo..." I whispered, eyes squeezed shut.
I weighed up my options slowly, settling on the simplest - yet most guilt-inducing - option.
"I can pretend this didn't happen if you promise not to breathe a word to Ashton." My voice was shaking, and I was fighting back tears. My heart hurt for Ashton and how I'd just betrayed his trust. How could I be around him knowing what I'd done to him? I hated myself for it. After all we've been through together. My body was shaking and I could sense a panic attack was about to surface. I tried to steady my breathing but failed miserably. I stumbled to the nearest wall and slumped to the floor, holding my head between my knees, panting. I couldn't stop the violent shakes; I felt like I was having a seizure.
His voice was barely audible above the pounding in my skull but I think I heard Emilio say, "I'm sorry, Oli. I'll go."
I didn't have enough fight left in me to ask him to stay. And, at this point, it probably would have made things worse.
"Text me." was all he said before leaving the room, gently closing the door behind him.
I collapsed in on myself, the guilt and shame eating my insides already. My steady stream of tears erupted into an uncontrollable fit of sob. I curled up in a ball on the floor, rocking myself roughly, wishing the floor would swallow me whole. I had made a fatal mistake which could cost me my relationship with Ashton. But I couldn't shake the gnawing feeling that I had wanted to kiss Emilio. And, what's worse, I had enjoyed it. It had felt almost right.
"Leo, what have you done to me?"
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A/N: Uh-oh!! Is Oli going to tell Ash about the kiss, or will he try and hide it? What effect will the kiss have on Oli and Emilio's friendship? What was up with Rachel's reaction to Harry?!
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Until next time..