MONTGOMERY WOKE UP in the butt crack of dawn, long before any of them could wake up and start with their day. He had a little trouble sleeping laying there in the familiar bed of the guest room and the fact that Olivia's room was just opposite the room he was in didn't really give much help with his situation.
He got up from the bed and made it, fumbling with the comforters to get it to look like how the state it was in before he laid in it last night. He splashed cold water in his face and stared at his reflection in the mirror, gargling with the Listerine mouthwash on the sink before putting on his sweatshirt and entering Grayson's nursery room. The boy was still sound asleep, his weakly-balled up fist on either side of his aggravated frown face, his lips moving as if how he would suck on a the rim of a milk bottle.
Montgomery smiled down on the kid, bending down to run his hand lightly on his hair. It's comical to think that someone so troubled and screwed up like Montgomery could make someone so innocent and beautiful. His blood runs down the little boy's veins, his features much more identical than Olivia's other than his smile. He bends down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, the boy squirming under his touch and letting out a small whimper in his sleep.
He moves on to Olivia's room next, having a full ten-minute contemplation before he could quietly swing the door open. He reluctantly peeks inside, checking if the coast was clear before entering all the way in the room. His eyes skirts around the bedroom unconsciously, noticing how it looked just the same since he last saw it. Olivia was asleep deeply under the soft purple comforter, buried with pillows and wild and untamed sweep of hair. She looked beautiful in her sleep and Montgomery had to take a second to admire the way she looked in her state of unawareness. He never knew how one person could look so beautiful like her. He steps closer to her bed, careful not to tip something over or trip unto something that could wake her up. He bends over and placed a delicate kiss on her temple, his nostrils welcomed with her scent.
He left the room before he could do anything more than just a kiss on her forehead, finding it hard to fight the urge of scooping her up from the bed and trapping her in his arms to hold her. He puts on his shoes and trudged down the stairs in tip toes, heading for the front door. And yet, when he stepped outside and on the porch, he had to bite down a startled scream when he realized he wasn't the only one awake yet.
Two boys sat on the porch chairs with theirs heads closing in on each other and minimizing the gap between them. Alex and Noah jumped up in shock upon Montgomery's unexpected appearance and broke free from each other like one was struck in a contagious disease. Noah shot up from his seat as a reflex and mouth opening and closing, his mind trying to concoct a good enough reason as to why they were at the front porch, alone, in a time where the whole neighborhood was still asleep, with no sign of Olivia that was the sole purpose of them being connected somehow with each other.
"I—I.. We— were just—" Noah stuttered, his voice turning up several of decibel than his usual voice.
"We were just hanging out." Alex smoothly lied, leaning back nonchalantly as if his heart didn't' almost jump out of his chest just a moment ago. "What were you doing here anyway?"
"Olivia made me crash the night over after the party." Montgomery skeptically answered, his green eyes darting back and forth on the two boys. "I should be asking you the same thing, Alex. What are you doing here? Does Olivia know you're here? She's still out cold on her bed."
"I wasn't here for Olivia. I was here for Noah." Alex rejoined, shooting the dark haired boy a small smile as he slowly settled back down on the chair. When he saw Montgomery looked even more confused than he was before, he explained further. "Noah and I are friends too, you know. It's not just Olivia and I now."
Friends, he says. But friends don't sit that close with the other's hand placed on the other boy's lap and faces a few millimeters apart, like the state they were in earlier. Friends don't look at each other like that.
Montgomery tilted his head to the side, his eyes taking note of the purplish bags starting to form under Alex's eyes and he clucked his tongue on the roof his mouth, creating a clicking sound. "You just got here after the party. You haven't gotten any sleep yet, have you?"
Alex smirked and nodded, rubbing his eyes lazily. "Yeah. I wanted to drop by and see Noah first before I get home."
Noah, who had been watching the exchange nervously with a thin layer of sweat coating his forehead and the color on his cheeks reddening, cleared his throat awkwardly and looked as if any second now, he's about to pop a blood vessel. Montgomery and Alex turned their attention to the shuffling boy in his seat and the de la Cruz's boy's face softened. "We weren't doing anything! I swear!"
"Yeah. I know." Montgomery smiled reassuringly, nodding. "I didn't see anything."
"Alex and I.. we were just..." Noah struggled to find the right words to say and Montgomery shook his head, dismissing the issue on hand.
"It's okay. Like I said, I didn't see anything. Forget you even saw me and the other way around. No need to give me an explanation. I'll get going now. See you guys around." He looks over to Alex and shot him a smirk, adding up a wink with a silent agreement to it.
Montgomery left shortly, leaving the two boys their privacy and the chance to continue what he accidentally interrupted. His car strips out of their street and out of sight and Alex nudged Noah with a smile, taking his hand with his. "He's cool. Don't worry 'bout him, babe."
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Later that morning, Olivia woke up the last among all of everyone but even after waking up just before 12 in the afternoon, she still felt deprived of sleep. She stretched her arms above her head, feeling a surge of satisfaction as her shoulders and arms popped audibly. She was about to leave the room when her eyes caught a piece of paper folded in her desk, she frowned and advanced unto it to see what it was and as she unfolded it.
'Please don't give up on us yet.'
Those simple seven words stung her heart just a little and she could remember vividly the way his face fell when she closed him off again the night before. But the memory she flash backed to of a young Montgomery telling her about the dream he badly worked hard for was still fresh in her mind, repeatedly taunting her of the hopeful look he had on as he talked about Vanderbilt.
She folded the small paper and stashed it under the discarded textbooks on her table before frustratedly stomping out of her room and hopping to the bathroom and to the shower, not bothering to turn off the heater and not caring if the hot water scalded her skin. She needed something, anything, to keep her from starting to want things that she knew she can't have.
Once she stepped out of the shower, she went straight to her bedroom and dressed herself in a yellow sundress. As she descended down the stairs, she heard a familiar laugh and she raced to the area of the source and felt a wave of relief to see him.
Justin looked over Grayson on his lap and saw Olivia on the doorway and he grinned, beckoning her over. On his lap, Grayson giggled excitedly, still elated with Justin's ways of entertaining him. Olivia felt herself smile and sat down on the spot next to him, wanting nothing but to be closer to him. "What are you doing here?"
"Is seeing my favorite girl enough of a reason to come over or is that unacceptable?" Justin joked, licking his bottom lips habitually.
"Favorite girl? Who, Liz?" Olivia feigns confusion, pretending not to know that he was referring to her.
"Funny. I was going to say your Mom." Justin plays along and Olivia pouted. He sees the look on her face and he laughed, quickly placing a kiss on her cheek. "I'm kidding. Of course I was here to see you. And Grayson. But mostly you."
Olivia rolled her eyes playfully, failing to suppress the huge grin on her face. She fixed Grayson's spiky and messy bed hair with her hand and interrogates, "So.. have you found a place to stay near UCLA yet?"
"Yeah. I'll be living in the school's dormitory while looking for an apartment or who knows, maybe I'll just stay there for the rest of the school year." Justin explains. Then he smiled mischievously, "Who knows, maybe by the end of the year, we'll be sharing an apartment already."
"We'll see." Olivia mocked, taking Grayson and getting up from the couch. She nods her head for Justin to follow and she didn't have to ask twice to obey her. Olivia steps out on the backyard where surprisingly, Owen and Dom were running around and shooting each other with water guns. Owen — who had taken a great liking for the young man since the start — sees Justin and waves his hands up manically at him, "Hi Justin! Wanna play with us? Liz bought us new water guns to play with."
"Later, kid! Let me talk to your sister first before we play, okay?" Justin called back and Owen cocked his head in curiosity while Dom starts giggling.
Justin and Olivia mirrored a perplexed look and Owen took it to himself to answer, "Noah said you wanted to make more babies with our Livvie."
"Noah said that to you?!" Olivia sputtered in shock and Justin only laughed nervously, shaking his head.
"When did he say that?" Justin intervenes and Dom answered, "A long time ago."
"That—That's not true! I'll punch Noah later on." She makes a mental to-do list for later and frowned when she realized she haven't seen any sign of Noah in the house. "Where's he anyway?"
"I don't know. He left in a Blue Toyota just an hour ago. Car looks kinda familiar to me though."
Olivia absorbed the information, connecting all the assumptions and suspicions with Noah and a certain blonde haired boy she knew too well.
Alex owns a Blue Toyota, so it must've been Alex my brother went off with.., Olivia thought.
Soon enough, the boys grew tired of talking with the grown ups and instead, continued to play with their water guns in circle. Olivia watches them with a faraway look in her eyes and Justin wraps an arm around her, careful not to crush Grayson cradled to her chest. Justin rests his chin on her shoulder and murmured, "What are you thinking about?"
Vanderbilt. That's at least 2000 miles away. It would take about 4 hours of plane time. Her mind continued to race with different thought all at once, overlapping with the other. Grayson. Los Angeles. And you.
Instead, she kept it to herself and answered, "Nothing. I'm just tired, that's all." Then she joked, "Unable to keep your hands to yourself, I see."
Justin's laugh vibrates on her shoulder and the sensation felt comforting. "Only when it comes to you, babe."
Olivia rolled her eyes with a crescent smile, still watching her younger brothers play in the backyard. However, the thoughts were still there as if waiting for her to come pull them back in a loop for her to ponder in. Oblivious to the watchful gaze beside her, Justin muttered, "I'll wear you down, Liv. Someday, I'll wear you down and you'll be happy with me again."
— x —
AAAAH SCHOOL STARTS IN THREE DAYS OMF 😩 noah and alex r making progress hmm!
btw, i planned out all the upcoming chapters and i may have dragged it longer so baby daddy still has 10 chapters before the finale bc i hv something planned and yall would hate me 😸 lastly, can we pls appreciate this godly gif of tim in a police uniform bc damn i'll tap that