WHEN GRAYSON'S PARTY CAME TO AN END, the guests slowly trickled out of the household of the de la Cruz's until it was only Olivia, Alex and Noah who were left by the front porch. Surprisingly enough, Emilia had worked her persuasiveness to Michael resulting to having his consent in letting Olivia and Grayson to spend the night over.
Noah handed the small bag with Olivia and Grayson's clothes inside. "Alright, here you go."
Olivia took the bag and raised her eyebrows in amusement at the two boys. "You two rode together in Alex's car?"
Noah started blushing like a tomato while Alex shuffled on the balls of his feet awkwardly. Alex sputtered, obviously flustered with Olivia's inquiry. "I—It's not like that. We're not— I mean, I'm not.. well, we're..—"
Olivia raised her hands in surrender, her grin spreading even more. "I only asked if you guys rode together, not a damn explanation about what's going on between you two. I mean, if there was, then I'm completely okay with it."
Alex rolled his smile, the corners of his lips curving into a suppressed smile and he cleared his throat, nodding his head where his car was parked. "I'll start the car." He placed a peck on Olivia's cheek. "Grayson's party was great. Tell Monty i'm impressed. Have fun spending the night over!" He added, sarcasm etched on the last sentence.
When Alex was out of earshot, Olivia nudged Noah on the ribs while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Noah feigns confusion, "What?"
"I see you and Alex are getting it on, huh?" Olivia probed, smirking.
"I don't like him!" Noah denies quickly, his normal deep and full voice produced by puberty changing into a shriek.
"You can deny all you want but I'm your sister, Noah, I know you like the back of my hand. I know about the feelings you've been harboring for Alex for years now." Olivia admits, making his eyes widen in panic. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. But you need to make a move, for all I know, I think he kind of likes you too."
"Nah, he doesn't play for my team." Noah shrugged.
"I know Alex more than you, duh. Of course I sense something a little out of place when it comes to him and I know, for sure, he reciprocates your feelings too. He's just a little confused about it." Alex grumpily rings the car horn to get their attention and he yelled for Noah, telling him that it was time to go. Olivia sent Noah a knowing smile. "Go get him, tiger."
Noah chuckled, shaking his head at his sister's insistent nagging. "Whatever. Have fun with Gray and your boyfriend, by the way. I can feel something good will come out of it, you know, talk some shit out."
Olivia watched Alex's car leave before she went inside and found Monty waiting for her patiently by the living room. He felt a shoot of happiness when she sat beside him and he offered her a bottle of Heineken, biting down on his lips to hold back a smile when their fingers touched for a millisecond when she took it from his hand. She lets out a sigh of relief and leaned back, not seeming to mind that his arm was slung by the cushion by her back. She asks, "Where's Grayson?"
"She's with Mom and Dad upstairs." Montgomery answered, examining her closely. He continues, "You okay? You seem worn out."
"Yeah, today was sort of tiring with the party and all that but I'm good now. Seeing Gray so happy and meeting different kinds of people was enough to erase my exhaustion." Olivia looked up at him with delight and gratefulness. "Thank you for making that happen, by the way. Even my parents were impressed with how you good you pulled it off."
"No problem. It's my responsibility to do that all for Gray." Montgomery stood up and held his hand out to her to which she looked with confusion. "Wanna hang by the pool? We can just stay there if you don't wanna swim. You always loved staying there every night with me when you had a tiring day."
Montgomery was so sure Olivia wouldn't take his hand but much to his shock, she reluctantly clasped her hand with his and allowed him to take the lead, following after him to the back. They both sat down by the poolside, quietly looking up at the sky while drinking beer and Montgomery cracked the ice. "Do you remember when we used to hang out here whenever you and Justin break into a fight?"
Olivia chuckled lowly, nodding. "Yeah, I remember." She adds. "You already like me then although I was still with Justin."
Montgomery stuttered. "Okay s-so that might b-be true but who told you that?"
She shrugged, answering in a matter-of-factly tone. "Dawson did."
"Fucking Dawson." He muttered and Olivia laughed. "Why didn't it shake you up, when you found out I had a crush on you?"
"I didn't really let it drive a wedge between us. If you like me then alright, that's fine and if you don't, that's fine too. It never really bothered me much before." Olivia breathed. "I only ever bothered about it when Justey and I broke up and we became really close. Then I started liking you..."
"Do you remember when I won our school on the state championships before and when someone quieted the crowd before for a moment, you didn't care and nonetheless, kept on screaming your throat raw? You kept on screaming my name, flipping off the people who tried to shush you and as a result, I did score and won because of you!" Montgomery recalled, earning a hearty laugh from her.
"My throat felt like a sandpaper from all the screaming that game night." Olivia wailed, flashing back to that one night.
Montgomery nudged her with a smirk, winking. "That's because you screamed all night for me. In the stadium, in the bed.."
Olivia slapped his arm playfully, biting down hard on her bottom lip as a fit of giggles erupt from her mouth. "You didn't have to remind me that!"
"Oh, right! Because you'll never forget about that night. I get it." Monty joked, and this time, she laughed freely. "That night was one of the wildest sex we've ever had!"
"Well, how about that time when I was down with the flu and you skipped practice because you wanted to take care of me? You kept on kissing me and I told you not to because you'd get sick too and the next day you did and Coach was so angry at you because you had skip a few days in practice." Olivia joined him on the memory lane, wearing the same nostalgic and dazed look on theirs face as they flashed back to the past. "You were such an idiot for doing that."
"If I could go back to that day, I'd still do it. Because in that case, we'd be sick together and I got to go through with what you were going through. That way, you wouldn't feel alone and have someone who feels the same thing you feel." Montgomery revealed with a sheepish smile. "That doesn't even make sense, sorry."
Montgomery may have felt like a complete nutjob after what his statement but Olivia doesn't seem bothered at all, even so, she looked like it mattered to her too. "We cuddled all day long that my Mother had to call Dawson to bring you home before my Dad came back from his business trip and beat your ass with his very own hockey stick."
"Your Dad never liked me." Montgomery concludes and he looked down, a bitter sweet smile forming on his lips. He shakes his head illogicality of it, chugging his beer for a boost on his emotions. "He's always liked Justin more than he liked me. If he even liked me, that is. He has this deep resentment towards me when it comes to you, like, I'm some sort of cockblock in your life that keeps you off from living a 'happy' life with Justin."
Olivia frowned, looking up at him with a serious expression, placing a light pat on his arm. "Well, that's my dad for you. He's always been so hard to please when it comes to boys we go out with. I think, he'll always like Justin. Don't overthink about it." She changes the topic in an attempt to lighten the mood, "On a lighter note, remember that Chinese Restaurant near Monet's or Crestmont's, i think, that gave me the stomach flu for weeks?"
Montgomery laughed lightheartedly, the girl's effortless attempt to make him feel better immediately taking its effect upon him. "Yeah, I'd never forget." He scrunched his face up in mocking disgust. "I admit, your farts at that period of time was the worst pungent smell I've ever smelled, aside from Grayson's."
Olivia clocked him hard and the boy yelped in pain, she chuckled while feigning to be offended. "How dare you, Montgomery de la Cruz!"
"And there it is! God, I missed the sound of my name on your voice." He groaned, placing a hand over his heart with his face scrunched up in a mocking hurtful expression. They burst out laughing, leaning against each other in support and somehow, the pair was hit with a sense of deja vu at the gesture. They used to spend hours and hours on end, just talking. Montgomery and Olivia eventually stopped laughing, releasing a synchronized exhale as they were silent for a moment before the boy quietly whispered. "Do you remember when I first kissed you?"
A soft smile takes over the girl, bringing the rim of the bottle to her lips. "Of course I do."
"Did you already like me then or you just kissed me back because you pretended you were kissing Justin and not me?"
Olivia faltered at Montgomery's question, sensing him upset. "Of course I kissed you because I liked you." She continues. "What makes you think that?"
"No reason, I guess." He lied, running his hand through his hair. "I mean, it's possible though. You might have still loved Justin even though you were already with me. I completely understand that part.. i was the one who got in between both of you."
"I loved you." Olivia intercepts, her light green eyes skirting across the wavering water on the pool. He watched her in astonishment. "I loved you then. You may not believe me because my relationship with Justin was totally different with ours, with him being my first love, but I loved you more than you'll ever know."
"But you'll always love him best." Montgomery smiled sadly. "And you'll always love him more."
Olivia stared at him for a long beat, knowing that he was right. She shrugged, deciding not to confirm it because she knew it would hurt him. "Maybe I did but I chose you." Olivia rebutted. "And when I chose you.. you chose to break me."
Montgomery took a sharp intake of breath and just like that, like a snap of the fingers, the light and peaceful magic spell upon the two broke and reality slapped them on the face, both of them standing on the ruins of what they used to be, what they used to have. Olivia scrambled up from the ground, taking her beer as she goes but Montgomery latches his hand on her wrist, tugging her gently back to him.
"I'm not letting you walk out on me again, Liv. I won't let you run away from me again." Montgomery determines, his voice cracking on the end. "Please, let me fix this."
Olivia faced him slowly, tears brimming on her eyes and she sniffled. She liked to cry a lot on things that genuinely mattered to her and seeing the crestfallen look in her eyes made his eyes water, hating himself for causing her much pain. "You cheated on me, Monty! With my fucking bestfriend! Yes, it may be a small thing and may not a big deal for you because 'you were under the impression of drugs' right? But it mattered to me and two years have passed and it still do. That day, I was gonna tell you that I was pregnant and I was actually hoping you'd wait for me by the lockers as promised but no! You had to accept Tina's offer of weeds when you knew I've told you to stop talking to that bitch because I don't feel comfortable of you off with her. I told you countless times to back the hell away from her but you're just so stubborn, aren't you? Tina liked you, wasn't it obvious with how she pounced on you every time you enter the room, how she secretly plots on how she'd steal you from me.
"Do you even know how—how it was so hard for me to erase the memory, the disgusting image of you and my childhood bestfriend having sex on a bathroom stall in school burned at the back of my mind? I couldn't—I couldn't forget about it." Olivia hiccuped, furiously wiping away the tears falling freely on her rose-tinted cheeks. "When I close my eyes, the vision of you and Tina replays back to my mind. When someone mentions both of your names, I get sick on my stomach and once again, it reminds me of that godforsaken memory repeatedly haunting me. Sometimes, when I'm reminded with the relationship we had, I immediately flash back to that memory again and I fucking hate it so much. And soon enough, I started blaming myself for it. Maybe it was because of me, maybe he got tired of the same old me, maybe I wasn't giving off much spark to interest him anymore, maybe he started seeing that I wasn't good enough, maybe I wasn't worth it at all." She beats her hands on his chest over and over again, her sobs matching Montgomery's. He doesn't flinch from the incoming blows, he lets her release her rage, receiving each and every single one of them.
"Why, Monty, why? Was it because of me?" She weakly whispered.
Montgomery shook his head rapidly, his lips quivering involuntarily as he grasped both of her forearms with his hands. "It wasn't you, baby, it wasn't your fault. It was all on me. I was a fucking idiot and I should've listened to you. You were perfect and I'm a fucking asshole and I just had to ruin it with my stupidity. You were more than good enough, more than the girl I could ever ask for and I'd never get tired of you. I'm so sorry for what I did and I know 'sorry' is completely useless and doesn't do any good to make up for the pain and what we've lost." He leans his foreheads against hers and he pleaded, "Please. Just give me another chance. This time, you won't regret it."
And before they knew it, their lips collided on the other and they stood there, holding unto each other as their lips molded in a synchronized pattern. They didn't know which one of them who kissed the other first and it stunned the boy and the girl but at the same time, brought a sense or a feeling of being home.
-- x --
i was supposed to update this morning and now it's like 8 pm here and it took me so long to finish this chapter bc i dedicated three hours of my time crying my ass over this taiwanese movie i watched awhile ago. yall should check it out bc it's a romcom and i dead cried while my snot is running down my nose bc i kept on crying and my period is incoming again ( pray for my awaited suffering) if yall are curious, the movie i watched was 'our times'.
anyhow, this chapter started off with nalex (noah and alex) and its middle part was a trip down to memory lane with monty and olivia and went to yelling and then that unexpected turn. props to our momma emilia dlc for making that happen. im kinda having an internal battle between justin and monty though, god i can't pick either! well, i have different versions of the story so we'll just.. see where this one goes.