Oli shuffled to the front door of his apartment, fresh out of the shower and quite frankly not wanting to be bothered. But he guessed if someone actually bothered to come up it was important. He'd thought to put something on other than the towel that hung on his hips but he'd rather have whoever it was at the door out of his hair as soon as possible, after all this was the only day he wouldn't be spending on projects for work.

He opened the door a scowl already resting on his face but it quickly faded when he realized who it was. It was obvious that the boy standing behind the door wasn't himself, Oli just couldn't pin point it. Something was gravely off and it wasn't just the fact that Alex was actually standing in front of him somewhere other than a public setting.

Without actually registering what was happening Oli felt arms wrapping around his waist, being pulled in tight by the younger man who was beginning to shake.

"Lex...are you crying?" Oli finally asked after a few moment of just holding the other boy without even moving to shut the door. Which was awkward given that at least two of his neighbors had walked past the open door.

"I-I..."Alex pulled away and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry...I should have given you a chance when you came back...and I'm so stupid-"

"Hey, cut it out. What's gotten you so upset?"

"Jack was talking about breaking up...I just...I don't know..." Alex sighed and turned away from the tattooed man across from him. "I shouldn't have come here...I know you don't need to deal with me like this."

"No, it's alright. You needed someone, it makes sense actually...but maybe I can put some clothes on first?"

"Yeah, of course." Alex mumbled obviously just realizing that Oli hadn't been dressed, and seeing the teacher blush was more than adorable in Oli's eyes. But now definitely wasn't the time for that. Alex was hurting and the immense crush that Oli had on the younger man wasn't his main focus. No, his main focus was getting Alex calm and to stop crying.

A few minutes later and Oli was walking out of his bedroom and into the living room where Alex was sitting on the couch. He smiled at the younger and sat down next to him.

"Okay, what's wrong?" The British man asked.

"I don't really know...we were happy all weekend and then Jack brought up how off things have been with us this week, not necessarily off we just haven't been as all over each other and attentive I guess..." Alex sighed and turned away from Oli. "But he could've been right...he and I could be wrong for each other, everything we've been doing could be wrong." He rambled on not fully making sense to Oli but he pieced it together as best he could.

"Lex, you two are happy together. You love him..." Oli sighed almost wanting to just tell the younger that they were wrong simply to have him to himself. But of course that in fact would be wrong and completely against what he believed in. If Alex truly wanted him he would have come back when he was thinking clearly and he definitely wouldn't be crying over Jack. "You can't let one little conversation tear you guys apart."

"I can't go back right now either though...I know he doesn't want to see me...and I don't want to see him either."

"Why not?" Oli asked quite sure that he was bluffing. There was no way he didn't want to go and make things right with Jack.

"I still feel hurt which is dumb...but I'm not ready to say sorry...I'm not ready to see him right now either."

"Then don't yet. Just make sure you do before it's too late."

Alex simply nodded and looked down at his hands. "Is it all right if I stay here?"

"Of course. You know I'll always be here when you need me."

"Always?"

"Of course. I know I can't have you but I love you. No matter what I'll always be here."

"I..." Alex paused and shook his head. "Why can't I just love you back? Cause I really wish I did. We could be so happy together...we were so happy together. What happened to us?"

Oli simply smiled and pulled the younger man into his chest. "We were happy, that was the happiest I've ever been. But you know what, we drifted. We loved each other so much that it ended up being too much. And that's okay, you're okay, I'm okay, we're okay. So don't go trying to figure out why we didn't work past high school."

"But we could have...I could have moved with you and we could have gotten married by now, maybe even adopted a baby. We could have worked so well...but now I'm sitting here hurt and confused crying into my ex boyfriends chest. It shouldn't be like this."

"Lex, you're right it shouldn't be like this. But it is. And aside from now I haven't seen you unhappy with the way things are. Don't go questioning it now, okay?"

"I guess." Alex sighed, obviously having tired himself out with crying. "Do you think we could take a nap?"

"Whatever you want."

"Thanks Oli."

The elder of the two simply nodded and pressed a kiss to Alex's hair. Maybe it did hurt to hold Alex while he was upset over someone else, but he'd do it. He'd do anything for Alex, no thought behind it. Which in retrospect was quite unhealthy, but who said love had to be healthy? It wasn't as though these situations came with a book of guidelines, no matter how one might hope.

-

By five o'clock Oli was waking up in his bed, Alex pressed against his chest, his shirt damp probably from the latter's tears. Even though Alex swore up and down that he was fine and just needed more space it was painfully obvious to Oli that that was not the case. Because if he weren't still hurting he wouldn't be crying and he most definitely would not be in Oli's bed pressed up against him.

Oli sighed and got out of bed leaving Alex where he was, his thoughts a jumbled mess. The British man strolled into the living room, having paused at the door just watching Alex sleep. But he only let that last for a few moments. Even if he felt like this was how things should be, it just wasn't. Their lives were in completely different places and there just wasn't much Oli could do about that.

He plopped himself down on the couch, his thoughts consuming him entirely, not sure of what to do. He couldn't just laze around the rest of the night simply because Alex was there, he'd just go insane. And of course he'd finished the portfolios for work earlier that weekend. Other than calling Josh there just wasn't much else to do. And he'd rather not talk to him right now when all he could do was think about the boy sleeping in his bed.

So he opted on warily sauntering back into his bedroom and pulling Alex back into his chest. He may have loved Alex and this was hurting him more than he'd ever let on, but there was no way he'd try to take advantage of Alex just to end his own pain. In the long run it'd only make Alex hate him. So he just savored the moment of what would more than likely be the very last time he'd hold Alex in his arms like this.

And in an odd way he was okay with that. Maybe he loved Alex more than anything else, but he at least knew that he deserved someone who loved him back just the same.

Notes

This chapter was not my best.
Anyways are we all done with the seeing Oli as a threat thing yet?? I want you guys to think past that, mmmmkay.