key
olly
ash
winnie
alayna
•••
To say that Olly was nervous would be a severe understatement.
He had been nervous to ask Ash to this wedding in the first place. He had been nervous about how he would introduce his "date" (he refused to call this a date) to his mom. He had been nervous about making a fool of himself all week. He had been nervous to tell Winnie about how he felt because he knew that she would tease him for it. He had been nervous to meet Winnie's girlfriend.
This feeling, however, was far worse than being nervous.
He hadn't even been this jumpy during finals, which is saying something; he had been fairly certain he would fail all of his tests and have to take his senior year again.
His grades turned out to be decent, so maybe that was a good sign for how the wedding ceremony would go.
Hopefully.
"Winnie, you really don't have to do this," Olly reasoned as Winnie fiddled around to put the rest of her jewelry on. "I can just ask for his address, and—"
"Olly." She looked bewildered. "It's fine. I'm not making you and your date walk to your own mother's wedding."
Olly felt his face heat up at the sound of the word "date", and he knew he needed to get that under control as soon as possible. He could see Winnie smirking as she turned away.
Yeah, definitely something to fix before the wedding.
"How close does he live to Alayna, anyways?" He huffed. "And why is no one allowed to tell me where he lives?"
"He lives fairly close," she said with a teasing lilt in her voice. "You'll see. It's a surprise."
"That sounds super shady and I'm so not okay with it. You're making me more nervous than I already was." Olly bit his lip nervously.
"You're going to be fine." Winnie turned back to him and set her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sure he's just as nervous to meet you as you are to meet him." God, Olly thought, no one should have to go through the stress I'm under right now. "I swear everything is going to turn out amazing. Just focus on the positives. You finally get to see this guy! In real life!" She grinned. "In all of his adorable glory!"
Olly could feel himself blushing again, but she was right. Ash had been sending plenty of adorable selfies since their first batch had been sent, and Olly was confident that he was going to be even more adorable in real life than he was in his photos.
If he hadn't been catfishing him this entire time.
Keep it together.
"Yeah, and he's got a cute personality, too." Olly raised an eyebrow. "So hands off."
She smirked and squeezed his shoulders. "Oh, I never said I wanted to see his adorable face."
Olly rolled his eyes and shook Winnie's hands off of him. "Aren't you reay to go yet? I'm gonna pace a hole into this floor if we don't leave soon."
"Give me a minute," she growled. "Some of us take longer than ten minutes to get ready."
Olly huffed impatiently and continued his nervous pacing as Winnie added a few finishing touches to her makeup. She finally, finally grabbed her car keys and led him outside to the car. Olly couldn't stop his leg from bouncing as she drove.
"Olly," she said after a few minutes, "if you don't stop fidgeting, I'm turning this car around."
"I can't help it," he snapped. "What if I'm not as cool as he thought I would be? What if—"
"We are not going into 'what if' territory," Winnie interrupted, moving her eyes away from the road for a moment to look at him. "That's only going to destroy you. Just focus on how excited you are to meet this guy."
Olly huffed and turned to look out the window. "You're an awful therapist."
"Gee, thanks."
They sat in silence for the remainder of the ride, Olly staring out the window and trying to control his racing heart. The 'what if's were impossible to avoid. What if Olly didn't add up to everything Ash thought he would? What if Ash really had catfished him? What if the two of them couldn't hold up a conversation for the life of them?
•••
(08:43) Are you on your way?
(08:44) we're picking up my roommate's gf now, and then we'll be there :)
•••
Olly swallowed his fear as Winnie pulled into the parking lot of what must have been Alayna's apartment building. He had bigger fish to fry at the moment. How was he going to give Alayna the "Best Friend Speech ™" if he couldn't control his own beating heart? The message that Alayna would be as good as dead if she broke Winnie's heart wouldn't be as intimidating if he stammered.
He pulled himself together as well as he could as Winnie led him into the building and to the elevator.
They made their way to Alayna's room, and Olly straightened his back when Winnie knocked on the door. He was prepared now. He would make an intimidating-but-still-nice impression and pull Alayna aside later to give her The Talk ™.
Alayna opened the door, revealing herself and the biggest dog Olly had seen in a while. The German Shepherd tried to lunge our to greet its visitors, but Alayna pushed it back. "Stop it, dude," she muttered, nudging him away from the door. When he had finally given her the space to open the door, her face broke into a smile at the sight of Winnie standing there. They greeted each other with a quick kiss, and my stomach twisted nervously again. Olly kept his composure, though, as Alayna turned to him.
"And you must be Olly," she said with a smug smile. "I've heard so much about you."
"Same goes for you." He smiled. "Nice to finally meet you."
"You, too." She smiled again, and he couldn't help but think that Winnie had been right all of those times she had gushed about Alayna; she definitely had a perfect smile. It was kind of unfair.
"You two can come in if you want," she offered. "I have, like, one or two more things to take take of, and then I'll be ready."
So, despite the fact that Olly was literally itching to meet Ash at this point, he followed Alayna and Winnie into the apartment, watching her huge dog as it trailed behind them excitedly.
"So," Alayna said as she sat down on the sofa, looking into the little mirror that was sitting on the coffee table. "Olly, your mom is the bride, right?"
Olly watched as she began touching up her makeup. He couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. That's her."
"Well, congratulations! This must be a huge day for you guys!"
"It has definitely been in the making for a while now." Olly chuckled. "But I think it'll be worth it in the end."
"Oh, I agree." Alayna smiled. "I've been looking forward to this since Winnie invited me. I cant even begin to fathom how you guys have been feeling."
"I think it's been a lot for all of them," Winnie said fondly, "but it'll definitely be worth the effort."
After a slight lull in the conversation, Winnie and Alayna began chatting together, and Olly began to zone out. How long did it take for one girl to touch up her makeup? Somewhere, Ash was waiting to be picked up—
"Olly, are you ready?" Winnie asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Thank God.
"Definitely." He stood up a little straighter. "Are you gonna tell me where Ash lives yet?"
"Oh!" Alayna looked up and smiled. There was something different about this one. It was wider, more excited than anything. "On that note, give me just a second." She turned and disappeared into what must have been her bedroom. Olly sighed impatiently and gave Winnie a pleading look.
"Just wait a minute," she teased, and that left Olly feeling even more frustrated because now was not the time for waiting.
"Okay!" Alayna exclaimed from the hallway, her voice echoed by someone protesting quietly. When Olly looked over at her, she was tugging a boy behind her, dragging him by the sleeve of the tux he was wearing. It was a very nice suit.
And then Olly looked up at his face, and his heart nearly stopped.
"Olly," Winnie said proudly, "meet Ash."
Any of the words that Olly had been ready to say before had died in his throat, leaving a sweet taste on his tongue. His throat suddenly felt way too dry.
He knew he was gaping like a fish, but he couldn't help it. This was Ash. This was his Ash. He was standing right there. Right in front of Olly.
And he had been Winnie's girlfriend's roommate all this time. By the look on Winnie and Alayna's faces, they had already known it, too.
"Okay, boys," Winnie said, cutting through the thick silence. "You have ten minutes max for introductions. If you aren't out of the apartment and in my car in at least ten minutes, you're getting left behind."
"Just come out when you're ready," Alayna said, laughing a little bit. With that, Winnie led her out of the apartment, leaving Olly alone with Ash and the dog. Oakley. This must have been Oakley.
Oh, God. Ash was standing right there.
They just stood in silence for a couple more seconds, staring at each other as if they couldn't quite believe it. To be fair, Olly couldn't believe it. He was sure Ash couldn't, either. Their roommates had been so close all along, and they hadn't even known it.
They could have met so much sooner.
Olly finally found his voice, so he blurted out the first ting hat came to his head. "You're real."
Wow. That was smooth.
"So are you," Ash said breathlessly, and sweet Jesus, Olly could have collapsed right then and there. He probably would have if he hadn't been waiting to talk to this guy for weeks now.
He was even more adorable in real life than he was in his pictures, which was so unfair on so many different levels. The way his hair fell into his face wasn't necessarily messy. It just made Olly want to reach out and brush it out of his eyes. His eyes were bright and innocent, still wide with shock, and his glasses accentuated the way his long eyelashes curled up over his eyes.
"I can't believe this is happening this way," Ash breathed, and Olly almost passed out. Oh, God. He had a British accent. How had he not known that he had a British accent?! Especially one that went with a voice that was sweet and smooth and amazing? Nope. He was going to die. Right here, right now, right in front of Ash. Rest in peace.
And what Olly meant to reply with was yeah, I know, but the words got jumbled in his mouth, and his brain short-circuited just long enough for him to blurt, "You're British."
Wow. Very nice observation, Olly. Surely he didn't know he was British before.
Ash laughed nervously. "Yeah. Uh. Is that weird?"
"Oh my god, no." Olly gave a forced laugh. He was going to die. He was going to melt right into the floor. "Sorry. I just wasn't expecting it, you know? It's really cool."
"Thanks." He gave Olly a tentative smile, and Olly's heart fluttered.
They stood there a moment longer, perfectly content to soak each other up. Olly would literally never get over those eyelashes. Never. They were amazing.
"This is so weird." Ash gave him a crooked smile. "Like, I knew you were real, but at the same time, this is too crazy for me to comprehend."
"I know." Olly sounded breathless. He was. Because Ash was right. This was insane. He was a tangible, real person with emotions, someone he could reach out and touch if he so wished. Suddenly, the week he spent without getting to see Ash in the flesh was starting to feel more like years of it. Years of waiting. Surely that had been what it was to wait for such a beautiful person.
"Should we go?" Olly asked, nodding his head toward the door. "I mean, are you ready?" He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Winnie wasn't kidding. She really will leave us behind if we aren't there in ten."
Ash smiled. "Wait, there's no way she would actually let you miss your own mom's wedding."
"Oh, she'd definitely make me walk." Olly laughed and shook his head. "You haven't met Winnie."
And Olly hadn't gotten to give The Talk ™ to Alayna before she left.
Dammit.
Of course, that didn't really matter as much to him now hat Ash was standing right in front of him, flashing him a shy smile, speaking in a gentle, teasing voice. "Well, we better get going before she leaves us in the dust."
"Yeah," Olly replied weakly, his heart jumping into his throat. He followed Ash out of the apartment, his hands feeling unusually clammy. Was it just his imagination, or was Ash walking super close to him? Olly would barely even have to move his hand to thread his fingers through Ash's. Was that an intentional choice? Was he trying to drop hints for Olly? Or did he just happen to be walking closer than what was probably totally necessary?
Olly was sure it was the latter.
As the two of them climbed into the back of Winnie's car, Olly tried to remind himself that there was no reason to be nervous. Most of his troubles had been obliterated when he came face-to-face with Ash. Still, his hands were shaking and his gaze darted around nervously, and he couldn't pinpoint the reason why.
It was probably the fact that Ash was literally so pretty that it was intimidating. That was the only logical explanation.
This was going to be a long night.