Alex's POV
It had been around an hour since Olivia had abandoned me on her bed, naked and alone. I had heard her retreat into my own bedroom and shut the door behind her, but I hadn't heard a word of the conversation, so I assumed that was probably her aim – to speak quietly to whoever it was on the other end and avoid me overhearing. I figured that due to the urgency with which she left the room, whoever was on the other end was fairly important. I highly doubted she would've ran out on me like that if it was just Samuel, or even if it was Derek; considering I had seen her decline plenty of his calls already since the other night.

I spent a while just laid on her bed, scrolling through my phone, on Twitter and Facebook and whatever else; I wasn't usually an avid user of social media, but it was a good pastime for situations like this, where you have nothing else to do. After another 10 minutes I came to the conclusion that Olivia wouldn't be returning any time soon, and so I got up out of her bed. I looked around, realising I had nothing to wear, but I didn't want to disturb Olivia's private conversation. I found a pair of silk pyjama bottoms which looked baggy enough that I wouldn't split them, however they came to an abrupt stop at my mid-calf due to our height difference. I grabbed the biggest shirt I could find – since Olivia loved wearing baggy shirts to bed – and threw it on; laughing as I caught a glimpse of how ridiculous I looked in her mirror.

Making my way down stairs, I kept my ears open, listening for any noise coming from my bedroom; I could hear her speaking in a hushed voice, but I didn't catch any coherent sentences, which I was kind of relieved about; she was going through a lot and if she wanted to share with me, she would – I wasn't going to force her to tell me anything.

I cooked myself some dinner; chicken pasta – of course, fixing Olivia a plate too, but she still hadn't re-emerged by the time I had finished, so I just left her plate out for her to reheat whenever she wanted to. I blew out most of the candles, but left a few to dimly light up the living room as I snuggled up on the couch and watched some reruns of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

My loud laughter masked the quiet sound of Olivia's feet padding down the stairs, so I was a little startled when she seemingly sneaked up on me and crawled into my lap without a word; wearing one of my baggy, flannel shirts and a pair of my joggers. She rested her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my neck, instinctively my arms snaked around her waist as I held her to me. Clearly, something had happened, but I wasn't going to press her for information, I just held her for a while as we laughed at the television show.

"Are you wearing my pyjamas?" she asked softly after a while, her voice sounded coarse, like she had been crying, but I just assumed she was tired or something.

"Damn right," I replied confidently and she giggled as I placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Alex..." she breathed, her head still on my shoulder and her eyes still attached to the TV. I turned to face her, despite her not looking back at me. "I care about you... a lot..." she trailed off, sounding very nervous.

I smiled wide and squeezed her a little tighter, "I care about you a lot, too," I responded, a lot more nonchalantly than her. The way she had said it felt a little deeper, a little more meaningful – not to say that I didn't mean it, because I absolutely did, but it's hard to match someone's intensity when you're not exactly sure what they're thinking about.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep on me and I was soon carrying her up to bed and kissing her cheek goodnight. I tossed and turned for a while in my own bed, staring at the ceiling; I didn't know why but I was a little scared about whatever Olivia's phone call had been about. For all I knew, it may not even be relevant to me, it could've been work... or her mother... or who knows? But, as of right now, it was none of my business, however I still couldn't help but worry.

At around 4 AM, in my half-asleep state, I heard my door creak open. Daylight was slowly beginning to creep in through the curtains and I saw a very sleepy looking Olivia clamour into bed with me, her hands and feet freezing cold as she intertwined her limbs with mine, a weak yawn escaping her lips. I didn't say anything, I just pulled her to me; it was so strange how we had kissed and cuddled, and even slept together before, but moments like this still got my heart racing.

Her face was pressed into the side of my own, her heavy breaths tickling at my neck as she lulled into a steady, deep sleep. She was quite an affectionate person usually, however today she seemed a little more in need of my presence – which I was more than happy to provide. I squeezed her gently as she continued to dream, but I was still worried about her.

I had been falling in and out of sleep all night, and so when Olivia began stirring at around 10 AM I was already awake and watching her in her peaceful state. She was so incredibly beautiful, it was astonishing that she was even laid with me; I felt like I must've put some spell on her forcing her to like me – that was the only logical explanation. "Good morning," I whispered, burying my face in her hair as she placed a soft kiss on my bare shoulder.

"Good morning," she grumbled back, tilting her face up to flash me a lazy smile. It was just insane that she could wake up looking so gorgeous, so effortlessly. She leaned up and planted a gentle kiss on my lips; I pressed mine against hers hard, pulling her onto me so she was laid flat against me, giggling into my lips.

"I have to go to school, gorgeous," I muttered into her mouth after a couple more minutes of soft smooches. She looked up at me, tilting her head in confusion and I chuckled, "I'm a teacher, remember?" I raised my eyebrows and she blushed a little, placing another kiss on my mouth. "I just need to collect some timetables and whatnot," I explained as she rested her chin on my chest, looking up at me with her piercing blue eyes.

"School starts soon, right?" she questioned, clearly just trying to make conversation.

"Yep, a week on Monday," I told her, pulling a face which made her laugh. It was currently Saturday the 30th of December, meaning tomorrow was New Year's Eve and then the 1st of January would mark a week until I was back at work. I did love my job, but with us teachers getting so many holidays, sometimes you just get used to lounging about and doing nothing – in a way, I was excited to actually be doing something, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't miss being lazy all day.

"Sounds fun," she smiled up at me, raising her eyebrows sarcastically, but her eyes were still clouded with whatever underlying feelings she was having.

Olivia's POV
Alex had to attend some meetings at work and so I decided to stop by Samuel's hotel room. Once I got there, I knocked on the door loudly; I was greeted by some guy I'd never seen before with his clothes haphazardly thrown on his body; his buttons all askew, his hair a mess, his jeans hanging off his hips. He gave me an awkward, apologetic smile before darting around me and towards the elevator.

My eyes followed him suspiciously as I pushed my way through the now open door. Samuel was sat on his bed in a robe watching the news; he looked a little rough. "Hey..." the end of the word turning up like it was a question. I looked at the door through which the random guy had just departed and then back to Samuel, as he eyed me sceptically.

"Oh..." he breathed, finally catching on to what my eyes were asking, "that was Steven," he explained, like I should know who Steven was. "Did you know they have some really nice gay bars downtown?" he asked, but it was more of a statement. It was seemingly off-topic, whilst still answered the questions I had about where this man had came from.

"Anyway..." I trailed off, shaking my head at my best friend as he flipped through channels casually.

"Oh, yeah," he remembered, looking up at me and sitting up straight, "you said you had to talk."

"Yeah..." I chewed my lower lip, I was nervous, but not specifically about telling Samuel, "my dad called me last night..."

"Right?" Samuel pushed, not sensing the severity of my tone.

"He knows about me and Derek," I explained, my brow heavy as I frowned.

"Isn't that a good thing?" he raised an eyebrow at me questioningly.

"Derek's running the new branch my dad's opening in New York," I reminded him, deadpan.

"Oh shit!" Samuel exclaimed, suddenly understanding why I was so upset, "What did he say? Is he firing him?"

I looked at him like he was crazy, "What? Why would he fire him?"

"Uh... because he cheated on his daughter?" Samuel suggested sarcastically, like it was obvious, and maybe it was, but that didn't matter to my father.

"Well... no, he's not firing him and... I'm also not dumping him, apparently," I pulled him a mirthless smile.

"What?" he crinkled his brow, not grasping what I meant.

"Next week..." I paused, trying to talk slowly so Samuel could take in all of the details, "my father's opening the branch in New York, okay?" I checked he was caught up and he nodded, watching me intently as I spoke. "...and Derek will be there, obviously... and a lot of my father's friends, potential clients, just general snobby people will be there... and my father wants Derek and I to pretend we are still happily engaged..." I felt my voice crack a little as I finished speaking; saying it out loud felt so strange. I couldn't think of anything I'd want to do less.

"Wait... why? What?" he grabbed one of my hands and rubbed it with his thumb.

"To keep up appearances and avoid 'damaging his reputation'" I spoke in a mocking tone, using air quotations to show I was reciting what my father had said over the phone.

"Don't you have a say in any of this?" Samuel looked deeply concerned, but it was useless.

"No... I have to be there and if I'm there not wearing my engagement ring and avoiding Derek, people will talk and it'll most likely ruin the night," I sighed heavily and looked down. I felt so weak having no control over the situation, it was so unfair.

"Well... did you tell your father about Alex?" he asked, I could tell he felt awful for me.

"Yeah and he said Alex could come, he could bring someone if he likes, – he also said you could come, by the way – but I obviously can't hug him or kiss him or really be close with him at all... and I'm gonna have to tell him all about this fake-engagement thing, which he will definitely hate," I rolled my eyes, feeling hopeless.

"Well..." Samuel trailed off, looking for ways to reassure me, "You know I'll definitely be there and I bet Alex will understand, he's lovely," he smiled sincerely at me before pulling me into a hug. "Okay, now let's go to McDonalds, I'm starving," he grumbled into my ear as he squeezed me close to him, causing me to laugh.

Alex's POV
Being in school during the holidays was always so eerie; empty hallways and creaking floorboards, if the lights were off it would be a great place to host one of those Halloween nights. I had dropped Olivia off at Samuel's hotel on my way over and she told me not to worry about picking her up or anything, which was good because I had absolutely no idea when I'd be done.

I sat through a couple of meetings with the rest of the Art department, we spoke over the modules we would go through this upcoming term and the head of our department informed us about some new after school art club kids would be able to attend for extra credit, and how we would take turns during the year staying late and hosting it – of course, I was first up.

After sitting through what felt like endless meetings, I finally had a chance to go up to my usual room and sort it out; mainly my desk, which I remembered I had left in an absolute state. For the next half hour I sat at my desk and placed orders for supplies we would need for the classroom.

"Hey, Lex," I heard a familiar voice at my door. I turned to look up and was taken aback to be met with Lisa. I furrowed my brow, my eyes wide with confusion, but I was also slightly creeped out – I had totally forgotten that Lisa was a supply teacher herself, and had instantly jumped to the conclusion she was stalking me. She giggled at my response and sauntered over to my desk, leaning over with both palms on the hard wood.

"W-what are you doing here?" By this time I had gathered that she was most likely here for a job, but I still stuttered, slightly scared after the way we had left things.

"Well... I'm filling in for Mrs. Klein for the first few weeks of semester; she's on maternity leave," she informed me, her smile way too smug. Mrs. Klein was a drama teacher here at Dulaney, and so her room was just across the hall from mine.

"Oh... that's cool," I breathed, returning my attention back to my laptop, but inside I was not happy. This was going to be the most awkward couple of weeks.

"Yeah, anyway, see ya 'round, hall buddy," she grinned, winking at me before she left. Hall buddy?I thought to myself. I had no idea why she was trying to act sweet and nice to me, when the last time I had seen her was with her middle finger thrust in my face. I just shook my head and continued with my work, trying to pretend it had never happened.

After spending the majority of the day at work, I decided to head over to Jack's bar to unwind a little and discuss this strange Lisa scenario with him. I sat at the bar and explained everything that had unfolded in the past 24 hours; Olivia on the phone, how worried I was and the Lisa thing. Jack was wiping down the bar with a dishcloth, the place was surprisingly empty for a Saturday; just me and a couple of others sat at tables.

"So, you're gonna have to see her everyday?" Jack questioned, an uncomfortable, sympathetic look on his face.

"Yeah..." I breathed, taking a sip from my Corona, "I don't really mind being around her, but she was just acting so weird."

"Oh?" he muttered, questioning me further as he tidied the bar up a little.

"Yeah... like I think she was flirting with me..." I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, questioning myself.

Jack raised his own eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

"I don't know, man," I shrugged it off, taking another swig from my bottle.

"Anyway..." he trailed off after a small silence, "you bringing Olive to the show tomorrow night?" he looked giddy at the very thought. Every year on New Year's Eve we go down to the beach and they always set up this makeshift stage on the dock, and a bunch of people perform, including us – in fact, this would be our third year in a row.

"Yeah," I nodded, blushing a little as I looked down. It was always a great night, and everyone always had so much fun. We'd watch all of the performances; set up a little camp-fire on the beach; have a few drinks and then eventually watch the fireworks as the ball dropped. I was incredibly excited to invite Olivia out with us, I knew she'd absolutely love it. Jack noticed my pink cheeks and began pushing me lightly, trying to tease me like the child he was.

"Okay, I'm kicking you out," Jack confirmed once I'd finished my beer, "one beer maximum if you don't wanna crash your car into a tree," he said sarcastically, physically pushing me towards the door whilst laughing.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," I laughed, giving him a quick hug before getting into my car and driving home.

"Uh... Alex?" I heard Olivia call out as soon as I closed the door behind me. I peeked into the front room where she was sat covered in blankets watching television. "I wanna speak to you..." she began and I quickly took this as my opportunity.

"Oh, yeah, me too," I responded, plopping down beside her on the sofa, beaming at her, "I wanted to ask you..." she looked a little confused, but it had completely escaped my mind that I had interrupted her, "if you wanna come to this thing down at the beach tomorrow night..." She tilted her head, still confused. "It's this thing we do for New Years," I explained, a huge, excited grin on my face, "Samuel can come," I added, anticipating her excitement to follow, but she still looked a little taken back. My face crinkled a little, "you don't have to..." I breathed.

"No, uh," she stuttered, shaking her head as she looked down and then back up at me, "No, that sounds really fun..." she flashed me a fake smile, but her front wasn't the most convincing.

"What's wrong?" I furrowed my brow at her, chewing the inside of my cheek.

"Uh... I need to talk to you..." she looked highly uncomfortable and I began to panic, she must've seen this in my eyes because she reached over to touch my knee, smiling, "don't worry, you haven't done anything," she assured me and I sighed deeply.

"Then what?" I pondered, still concerned.

She gulped hard and looked away, pulling her hands into her lap and playing with them, "It was my father on the phone last night..." she explained, but I was still lost, "...and he knows, about Derek, about you, about everything..." she looked up now, her eyes filling with tears.

I was confused, because what she had described didn't sound too bad, but I still leaned forward and pulled her into my chest at the sight of her watering eyes, "hey, hey, shhh," I soothed her, stroking her hair.

She pulled away, looking guilty, "Don't do that, you're gonna hate me in a minute," she laughed awkwardly, wiping at her tears whilst I tilted my head; lost. "I told you about that New York opening... well, that's next week," she kept speaking as though I should've pieced all of this information together by now, but I was still confused. "...And my father is very concerned about his image..." she raised her eyebrows, trying to hint towards the main point but I just shook my head in misunderstanding. She sighed, clearly failing her mission of telling me, without actually telling me. "He wants me to pretend I'm still with Derek," she finally said, avoiding eye contact.

I didn't know what to think, I just put my head in my hands. Just when I thought we were moving forwards, we were pushed ten steps backwards. I hated having no control over these situations, I was just on the sidelines, whilst Derek was still so heavily involved with her life. She moved towards me and pulled one of my hands from my face to grasp it in hers tenderly. "So what does that mean?" I questioned, turning to face her but pulling my hand away.

Biting her lip, she gulped again, clearly incredibly nervous. "I... well... I have to go to this event," I nodded, understanding thus far, "... and Derek does too, of course..." she breathed heavily, her eyes pooling with more tears, "...and... I don't know... my dad doesn't want people to talk, yano? Like if I have my ring off..." I looked down at her hand instinctively; I hadn't noticed until now that she hadn't been wearing it recently – that was the tiniest relief, "He's just worried that the gossip may affect him and his clientele..." she explained. She looked worried sick and I felt awful that she had felt so nervous to tell me.

I swallowed my pride and threw my arm around her waist, pulling her into my lap in a tight embrace. I was hurt, yes, but she hadn't done anything wrong and I could tell she wasn't exactly joyous regarding the situation either. "Do you... not have a say?" I asked meekly. I knew her father – not well, but enough – he was a hard man and once he had his mind set on something, it was his way or no way. She shook her head, which was pressed into my neck and I just continued to stroke her hair.

After a while of us just sitting there, the white noise of the television the only sound, she pulled away and kissed me hard, which I quickly reciprocated. "I really..." she began once she'd pulled away, she seemed to be searching for the right word nervously, before settling on "...like you," with a small smile. I returned it and pecked her lips again. Part of me wished she had maybe said something a little different, but that was great too.

"So..." I trailed off after a couple of minutes had passed, she looked up to meet my eyes, "what are like... the terms and conditions?"

She laughed at my odd choice of wording, "Excuse me?"

"Like... do you have to hold his hand..." I grimaced at the thought, "...or like... kiss?" my voice raised a few octaves as I said the last word, my palms sweating at the thought.

Giggling, she began playing with my hair, framing my face with her hands, a loving look in her eyes, "Well..." she sighed, still smiling, but I could tell she didn't really want to speak about it, "I'm not sure... I guess, it just has to look believable enough... I mean... we could probably link arms instead? ... and settle for kisses on the cheek?" she suggested, her eyebrows raised, hoping for my approval. "But he'll be incredibly busy, anyway, so I can't imagine I'll have to spend every minute with him," she laughed nervously.

I shook my head, laughing a little at how strange this situation was, but I leaned up to peck her lips, regardless. It may be a messy scenario, but she was worth all of it. "Alright... I suppose..." I agreed, sarcastically rolling my eyes.

"My dad said you could come, by the way," she informed, playing with my hair some more, "and bring somebody with you."

I nodded, considering it; it sounded like the least fun thing you could ever attended, but there would be a complete sleaze there probably relishing in the fact he still had my Olivia for one more night – even if it was just for show. "Okay, sure..." I agreed, pecking her lips again. I honestly couldn't believe how well I had handled this; I was calm and collected, despite the fact that I was seething inside. I wanted to be mad, but I knew that wouldn't change anything, it would just stress Olivia further and I didn't want to stress her out, I wanted to be there for her and support her through tough times like this.

We talked for a little longer about how we'd be getting there and what day it was; luckily it was the Wednesday, meaning I had plenty of time to get back to Baltimore and prepare for the first day back at school. I thought about telling Olivia about working with Lisa, but I decided against it; she had so much else to worry about, there was no point putting this minor thing on her for no reason.

I was happy to finally know what was going on in her head, and I was happy she didn't have to deal with it alone anymore, but I still felt useless. I had absolutely no power in this situation at all; clearly, she wanted to be with me, but I would have to sit back and watch her play happy families with some jackass who had absolutely no idea how to treat women, and in no way deserved to even be within a 10 mile radius of Olivia. I knew it would infuriate me, but I had to go, for Olivia, for her safety; something about Derek just unsettled me. Despite how annoying this situation was, all in all, I really couldn't complain – I had her, and that was all I wanted, and if I had to endure a few bumps like this just for us to be together and to eventually come out stronger, then it was totally worth it.

Notes

olivia's outfit
if you enjoy these alex x oc stories, i just started a new one if you want to go check it out and leave a rating, if you want to, just to let me know if i should continue it, thank u :)