Everything Better Plan

Check out for Olivia had been a little more difficult than she had anticipated, but since her room had been booked indefinitely the manager wasn't too inconvenienced, especially after Olivia's hefty tip. All had been resolved by the time Alex pulled up outside, in fact Olivia had waited a good 3 minutes in the brisk cold before his arrival.

Alex hopped out quickly, taking some of her luggage and loading it into the trunk whilst Olivia made her way into the passenger seat, rubbing her trembling hand together to try and revive any warmth from them. Noticing this, Alex cranked up the heating in the vehicle as he slipped beside her into the driving seat. "It is chilly out today," he chuckled lightly, making a little small talk. Olivia responded by exhaling through her nose in place of a laugh, the whole while keeping her head down; focused on her hands. "You okay?" Alex attempted, taking glances at her. He noticed she looked a little sad, and she was acting a little off too; distant.

"Uhh, yeah," she forced out, looking up to give him her best fake smile. Alex practically majored in fake smiles and could spot one a mile off, he wondered if she was having doubts about this living arrangement. Had he pressured her too much? Was she uncomfortable? He didn't really know what to think but he decided not to push it further.

"Did you have a hard time checking out?" Alex continued, part of him interested whilst the rest of him simply just wanted to make conversation.

"A little, I just tipped them well and it was fine," Olivia responded, her head still down, almost disconnected from the conversation physically.

Alex tried a couple more time to try and get a conversation flowing but decided to just let them pending silence consume them; or just him – Olivia didn't seem to mind. Once they'd pulled up outside of Alex's apartment Olivia instantly made her way to the trunk to collect some bags and make her way to the elevator. Alex furrowed his brow as he watched her walk away, he collected the last bag she had left and followed her; catching her just as the elevator arrived.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alex questioned again, following behind as she entered the elevator, waiting as he pressed the number for his floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured, still not meeting his gaze, "just really tired," she looked over at him now – not meeting his eyes – and quickly looked away again, like she was trying to suggest the idea of her looking at him without actually doing it. Alex nodded, figuring maybe she just was tired and that he should probably just leave her to it.

Once in the apartment Olivia shifted awkwardly in the hallway; not sure where to put herself. Technically she lived here kind of, but she felt incredibly uncomfortable acting like this was her house. "Make yourself at home," Alex assured, sensing her awkwardness, "I'm gonna put your bags away and de-clutter your room, so just put whatever you want on," he said, gesturing towards the TV as he took the bags from her grasp; she resisted.

"No, no, that's okay, I can do that," she pulled the bags back from him a little, finally lifting her eyes to look at him as he crouched ever-so-slightly to grasp the bags from her low height.

"No, I might as well, I need to clear the floor and stuff," he continued, having now successfully taken the bags from her.

"Can you, uh, can you not clear the floor... please?" Olivia stuttered, playing with her hands. Her energy was so off; she was nervous and seemingly unhappy and Alex wasn't sure what to make of it. He tilted his head a little in question to what she'd just asked of him. "Or at least leave some of the paintings," she continued, fidgeting with her fingers.

Alex looked at her as she looked down and couldn't help but smirk a little. She looked adorable as she nervously played with the hem of her shirt, "Yeah, sure," he responded nonchalantly, turning and making his way up the stairs, a smile on his face, "Go watch TV," he half-yelled without turning around as he made his way upstairs.

Alex's POV
After clearing out some space in the drawers for Olivia, as well as putting fresh towels in the guest bathroom, and moving some paintings into my room – making sure to leave a few stood against the wall, including the portrait of her – I made my way downstairs; the sound of some cooking show coming from the living room, mixed with Olivia's sweet laugh.

I decided I should probably give her some time alone to chill, make herself at home and also she'd seemed a little off since I'd picked her up and I figured she was a little anxious about living with me for a little while. So, I had made plans earlier with the guys to go over to Jack's bar and have a couple drinks, just to give Olivia some space.

"Hey," I greeted as I stepped into the front room. She was sat on the couch with the remote in her hand and her legs tucked up beside her, laughing at whatever pain Alton Brown was inflicting on a contestant of the show she was watching. Her head snapped up at the sound of my voice and she immediately put her feet back on the floor and sat up straight, "Relax, make yourself at home," I chuckled, acknowledging her movement and she awkwardly smiled before pulling her legs back up beside her in a bad attempt at looking comfortable. "I'm gonna head out with the guys for a few hours, give you some time to chill out," I began, grabbing my keys from the table, "Don't worry I won't be long, we'll order pizza when I get back," I flashed a grin as I pulled on my jacket.

"Yeah, okay," she smiled timidly, "have fun," she seemed a little unenthusiastic when she spoke, so I just flashed another smile and left.

---
"So, how's the new living arrangement?" Rian asked in a mocking tone as he approached the table, setting down three beers and taking a seat beside me, shooting me a smirk.

"Honestly," I paused and sighed, reaching for my beer, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" he questioned, froth from his beverage lingering on his upper lip.

"I don't know, I think she's regretting it," I shrugged, taking a sip of my own beverage.

"Already? Before walking in the bathroom after you?" he probed, mock-surprise in his tone.

"Ha-ha," I dead-panned, "She seemed into it this morning," I paused for a second, taking another sip, "Plus, she has her own bathroom," I added, causing him to laugh, "You think I'd invite her over if I didn't have two bathrooms?" I joked.

"So, what's happened?" Rian asked, sounding a little concerned. He did, after-all, know about Alex's feelings.

"No idea," I shrugged.

"Do you fuckers never leave?" Jack bounced over, immediately cutting off our serious conversation, "Let me get you boys some shots on the house!" he exclaimed, dancing away before we could protest. Thank Lord we'd all gotten a cab here.

Jack made quick work of bringing us a round of tequila shots and a couple of lime slices. Zack had now re-emerged from the bathroom and was sat across from me. "So, what's the hot goss?" Jack questioned in a mocking, girly tone. This typically was where we would come if one of us wanted to vent, and I had organised this. Maybe it was my subconscious telling me I had to talk about the situation I was in.

"Fuck off," I chuckled in response and Jack grinned, flipping his little dish cloth over his shoulder and making his way back to the bar. Technically Jack's job didn't consist of bar tending, but he would always put in extra shifts to do so because he loved handling the customers and knowing they were well taken care of.

After a couple of beers and a few more shots Honest Alex was ready to make an appearance. I was by no-means drunk, but it only took a couple drops of alcohol to get me spilling my guts. Zack was completely sober, not even a little tipsy, whilst Rian-The-Lightweight was slurring the occasional word. Jack had now joined us, he'd officially clocked out and was making up for lost time, downing the remaining shots which we were "too pussy" to take.

"Do you think inviting Liv to stay at my place is stupid?" I finally let it out, I'd been holding it in the past beer and a half.

"What?" Jack blurted out, looking shocked as he averted his gaze from the glass he was holding up to his mouth. I was honestly shocked he'd stopped drinking at all to respond.

Zack matched his expression, "You did what?!" Rian wheezed a drunken laugh beside me as the other two discovered what only he had known up until this point. "Why would you do that?"

"Because she'd be spending Christmas in a hotel otherwise," I retorted defensively.

"So? That's not your problem," Zack counteracted, his forehead wrinkling in confusion and possibly annoyance.

"Dude, that's cool though," Jack replied, nodding his head at me, "You're a good man," he praised, downing another shot and instantly filling his mouth with a slice of lime. I cringed at the sight.

"Yeah, but he only did it 'cause he likes her," Rian giggled beside me, he was slumped back and his eyes were nearing closed.

"Cool, thanks for that," I shot him a glare which he most likely couldn't see whilst the other two guys exclaimed questions simultaneously upon hearing this.

"Oh yeah, and he painted her naked," Rian announced in a 'what the fuck, right?' tone. The other two boys continued their overlapping questioning which I was struggling to understand.

"That was an accident!" I exclaimed, facing Rian who's eyes were now totally closed but had a huge, proud smile on his face.

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to start from the top," Jack demanded, reaching out and grabbing my shoulder; his attention now totally distracted from the booze – which was a great feat.

"Okay," I sighed deeply, "So yano that painting thing I went to?" I quizzed, my question aimed at Jack.

"Yes, the class thing where you all paint a naked lady and-" he cut himself off and let out a huge gasp. Zack had been watching Jack intently as he spoke and whipped his head back to me as they both came to the same realisation. It was like watching 8th graders figuring out their friend had just had their first kiss or something lame. "Bro..." Jack breathed, struggling to calm himself, "I am so jealous," he let out, completely serious.

I rolled my eyes, "I didn't hire her or something and plus it's not like I hadn't seen it all before but-" I stopped, knowing instantly I had said something I shouldn't have. My eyes widened in shock at myself and the two boys before me followed suit. A moment of just silence and us staring at each other before...

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Jack yelled, backhanding my shoulder. He had attracted some looks of confusion from other tables, but most people realised oh it's just Jack, nevermind and continued with their conversations.

"Shut up!" I spat back, looking around self-consciously.

"You guys have slept together?!" Zack now finally spoke, "Dude, she has a fiancé, what is wrong with you?!" he furrowed his brows in a judgemental look.

"Wait, what?!" Rian bolted up out of his coma beside me, his eyes still half closed.

"Wait, what?" I repeated, shaking my head, "No, no, we slept together in high school!" I corrected, although the judgement on their faces didn't dissipate, in fact they all looked more mad.

We had been best friends for years, all through high school, and Olivia had fit perfectly into our little group, but she'd always been gorgeous and so before we had really gotten to know her we made a pact that none of us could make a move. But, Olivia and I just had this unexplainable connection and the sexual tension between us was always so apparent – except to these three idiots. I knew none of them were mad about the pact, but about the fact that I had never told them this, ever. Even after four years of not seeing her.

What they didn't know was that I had loved Olivia way harder than I had originally planned. We were never boyfriend and girlfriend, but for a good year we would meet privately and spend time alone – we became insanely close. Honestly, I was shocked none of the guys ever figured it out. She left for LA during my second year at college and it really fucked me up. Even though we had never been official and we'd never said it to each other, I really was in love with her and I'd never felt that for anyone before or ever since. That second year was incredibly hard, we had decided it was best that we didn't try to pursue a long distance relationship and in the end, just like she had with the other guys, we lost contact.

I probably should have confided in the guys, maybe they could've pulled me out of the hole I was in at that point, but instead we grew apart. I was at college in Baltimore, whilst Zack was studying in Virginia; Rian at culinary school New York and Jack doing whatever-the-fuck at home. We were all super busy at that time and I had no intention of sharing how I felt regardless, but I was incredibly thankful that once we'd all (bar one) graduated we rekindled our friendships.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us," Jack muttered, genuine hurt in his eyes. He always played the tough, emotionless one but he was just a softy beneath that facade.

"Look," I sighed, fiddling with my hands, "I know I should've told you guys, but when she left I was truly heartbroken," a self-sympathising smile, "and I just kept it to myself, I'm sorry." There was a small pause as the guys processed the information, I took a couple sips of my beer as I waited for the first one to explode with more questions.

"So you've invited her to live with you in attempts to win her back?" Zack raised a suspicious eyebrow and I shook my head instantly.

"No, no, no, this isn't about that, I'm over that," I insisted.

"Yeah, whatever, the other night you had a panic attack over the thought of kissing her," Rian chuckled. Once again he was slumped back with his eyes closed but for whatever reason the cogs in his brain would not stop turning.

"Dude, you are on fire!" I exclaimed sarcastically, clearly agitated by his constant outbursts. He grinned in response, not picking up on my tone.

"Bro..." Jack sighed, his tone a mixture of concerned and critical. Zack was massaging his forehead; my stupidity evidently giving him a headache.

"Listen, everything is fine, I don't have feelings for her anymore," I assured, unconvincingly, "I was just caught up in having saw her breasts," I laughed it off, trying to play it cool, but my palms were pooling with sweat.

"By the way," Jack interjected, "how were they?" he questioned, completely serious. I stared at him with an expressionless face until he rolled his eyes and shrugged me off, "Fine, whatever, break the pact and don't even describe them to us, that's cool," he huffed in a mocking tone, leaning back in his seat and rolling his eyes like a teenager.

"I'm gonna get going," I laughed, grabbing my jacket and getting to my feet, "I told Liv we'd order take-out," I explained.

"Ah, yes, the-woman-who's-engagement-you're-trying-to-destroy awaits you," Zack joked, the group laughing whilst I shot him daggers.

"I am not trying to break up her engagement, thank you," I began, twirling my house keys on my finger, "It's completely platonic, there are no feelings there," I rambled as I began to walk away, "And I don't wanna hear another word about this ever again!" I quickly exclaimed with my back to the group, sensing one of them would make a joke as I walked away.

"Homewrecker!" I heard drunk Rian exclaim just as I stepped foot out of the bar and I couldn't help but chuckle as I hailed down a cab.

Notes