1.1 | daunting medleys

sixty-four | where he belonged

Black manicured nails strummed the guitar as Pierce sang the last words of Oliver's song. He was rehearsing his entire set for the evening and decided they'd sing Oliver's song last. The music room was quiet, save for the singing that had been playing. Pierce dismissed the rest of his band, and stayed quiet.

He was tweaking with the strings of his guitar before facing Oliver with a small smile. "So..."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. Pierce was nothing short of energetic, funny and mischievous for the past few days so seeing him serious was definitely surprising. "Yes?"

"Who's the girl in the song?"

He was quiet for a while, and looked down at the piano. His cheeks were pinked. "My girlfriend." He willed the colour to leave his cheeks, and lifted his eyes to Pierce's teasing gaze.

"Oh my. Is she the one that I haven't met yet?"

He shrugged. "Yes, she's really excited to meet you so I asked her to meet after school. She should be on her way now."

"I'm excited as well. I don't have that many friends and it's refreshing being around you guys." He said, and Oliver smiled at him, still unsure of what prompted his confession. "Being mushy is gross. Let's never do that again." Oliver nodded grateful and the door groaned as it opened.

Tabitha walked in, shutting the door behind her and froze when she saw Pierce. Her face had paused, in a mix of awkwardness and awe. It was silent and Oliver was trying really hard not to chuckle out loud. The musician in question waved to his girlfriend and she kept watching him in disbelief.

"You might want to breathe, princess." He interjected, and her eyes snapped to him as if just realizing that he was in the room with him. Tabitha rolled her eyes at him, and dropped her bag on the floor besides his. Oliver was still staring at her when she walked to him, placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing before sitting down beside him on the piano bench.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a really big fan." She said, composing herself, but Oliver wasn't of if Pierce knew of the death grip that she had on his wrist.

"It's nothing, I've heard a lot about you from Oliver. It's nice to finally meet you, Tabitha." She gasped lowly, and stared at him with stars in her eyes. "I'm hungry, so I'm going to head out for lunch. You guys want anything?"

They both shook their head and he gave them a two finger salute as he exited. Tabitha turned to Oliver, with wide awe lining the brown in her eyes.

"That was Pierce." Oliver nodded. "He knows my name." He nodded again. "He's so gorgeous." Oliver narrowed his eyes, and she caught it before laughing at him. "Don't worry, you're still the most gorgeous to me." His cheeks were pink again. She did many things to him, many things that made him fall deeper in love with her, like this. Her eyes were light with excitement and her chubby cheeks highlighted with the dimples that had formed.

"Are you all through?"

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, we just rounded up the last rehearsal. His band is so awesome, and so talented."

"I'm so happy for you." She said, her finger curled around his bicep. "You really deserve this." His heart fluttered, and settled in a mess that only Tabitha could elicit.

His hand cupped her face, and brushed the apple of her cheek softly with the pad of his thumb. "I don't deserve you, but thank you so much for being with me through the entire mess of the orphanage and my father. Thank you so much, princess." She was breathing slowly, and he could tell that she was blushing. Tabitha smiled at him, and leaned her forehead against his.

"Ollie?" He hummed, barely able to shift his focus from her beautiful eyes. "Shut up." Then she leaned in, paused for a second when his nose brushed hers and pressed her lips against his. His eyes fluttered shut. This was his paradise, right beside her, just where he belonged. Her hands slid up his chest and gripped his shirt when he deepened the kiss further. Her perfume swirled around him and he was falling deeper into the web that she'd spun around him, where every atom in him was undeniably enamoured by her.