straight back to it ⇉ central cee.

thats what i been rekindlin.

Eventually, after another good ten minutes of Shanel absolutely blowing her top over something so little, she'd gotten bored and tried a different approach to swinging Oakley to her opinion. He was still sitting with his hands clasped tightly in his lap, but she promptly pushed them up towards his chest so she could take their place as she swung her leg over his left knee with such a lack of grace. The man was surely startled and his face immediately filled with flush - it wasn't an excited one though. He'd made a weak attempt at pushing her off forgetting how ridiculously strong and heavy she was compared to him as if he had any chance of winning that battle. She'd laughed pitifully and continued with her soliciting as he tried pushing her off again, or at least moving her hands. This would surely be the brink he thought, preparing himself for the shakes and the inability to breathe he was adamant was to follow. However, he'd suddenly mustered all of the strength and energy he could in his small frame and used his little weight against her, causing the woman to slip off onto the rug. She hit the floor with an ear-piercing shriek that would most definitely have his head pounding soon enough as she unexpectedly fell before getting up, brushing herself off and huffing her way out of the living room to do the washing. Though she was supposed to have done it the day before and Oakley had asked her to do it in the morning because he wanted to get it all back in the wardrobe, leading to an argument over the most simplest of things. He was surprised he walked away from that with no marks this time, not to mention she went and made breakfast for him straight after. She'd been weird all day.

Now she was occupied with some other mundane task he was free to make his escape- not that he knew where to though. Harrison had already retreated to Manchester again so he couldn't go see him, leaving the man no choice but to pay Marvin a visit, the very man his girlfriend was plotting against only minutes ago. He was out of the front door within a few small moments of Shanel leaving to go collect the washing basket, as he only put on a pair of his Louis slides - good thing he wasn't walking anywhere. The drive to Marvin's was much shorter now he lived in a house and not that silly little apartment up in Shepherd's bush and god was he grateful for taking it upon himself to choose the location. As he was at a red light, the man pulled up Marvin's contact to send him a voice note to alert him of his visit but somehow fell into a mumble of everything that had gone wrong that day. Though it was hardly much English, just a few murmurs and huffs here and there paired with Shanel and Michaela dropping in every few seconds. Heaven knows how Marvin ever understood a word of it, but he immediately responded by asking how Michaela has even come back into the picture and why the fuck it was so urgent that he had to come over so immediately. Oakley had simply left it at that as he was about to pull into the car park of the man's apartment block. What he didn't know was that he had since texted Michaela, questioning her and what all this was about hoping she'd give him answers before he had to let Oakley fall into old habits of crying on his sofa.

"Miss me already do ya?"

Marvin had joked and tested a laugh a bit when he opened his front door to the shorter man because they'd seen each other barely days ago and he could never pass up on a good sarcastic joke. The look he got in return was certainly disapproving, just a bit sadder and less distressed than he had expected. Now he regretted the joke because it wasn't even funny, but all is well, the boy didn't seem too disturbed by it as he shuffled past him and into the living room where Tori was sitting playing with her dolls. When he entered the room he couldn't stop the smile from overtaking his face; he loved Tori like a little sister, he adored her beyond words and every time he got to see her was such a blessing. And when Marvin had entered himself only moments later he found his daughter hugging at Oakley's knees - he couldn't help his grin either.

"So what's all this about then?"

The boy was startled once again, too engrossed in the jibber-jabber conversation with Tori that he forgot he was even here to talk to her dad instead. Marvin had mumbled a quick apology and pierced his lips in awaiting enlightenment he was in dire need of. Oakley let a heavy sigh pass his lips before pulling the small girl finally into his lap for an actual hug - though it was more for his own comfort, so he would stay calm. He knew he'd end up rambling again and letting on far more than he ever intended to and he had to prepare for the fact he was probably going to distress himself too.

"Michaela is still here, Marv, in London"

The older was far from shocked, to say the least; he and Michaela had kept close tabs on each other ever since she disappeared. Over all that time they spent together helping the boy and sitting on the phone with each other for hours on end, they'd developed a sibling-like bond and it was practically impossible to have just blanked each other the way she and Oakley had. So he always knew her whereabouts and whatever else was going on in her life, and vice versa. Though he never planned on telling Oakley at all, it was probably far too unfair on him to know he was still so close with the woman who'd shattered him and left him in the ditches. The man put on a façade of surprise in hopes of him buying it, and he seemed to despite how unnatural the reaction probably looked. It quickly got skimmed over as the younger just let his jaw fall open and his heart pour out like a fountain. Sure enough, he did spill far too much, enough to actually upset Marvin but he wasn't even aware of that - too busy trying to distract himself with Tori. He told him all about the situation at the salon, the argument they had afterwards even about Shanel trying it on with him even when he was clearly not interested. That was what really pulled at his heartstrings. Not the fact his ex was quite literally plotting his death, he couldn't give a rat's ass about that, but the way she treated this man. It reminded him of when he was stuck in that horrible, horrible relationship with her himself. But Oakley had quickly jumped over all the bad things before he could even get a word in about the woman.

"Hol' on hol' on, slow down a bit boy 'ave got all the time in the world no need to rush it all out alright"

Marvin had lifted his hand to rub comfortingly at the boy's back but before he could get anywhere near him he'd already flinched miles back and moved Tori from his lap so his knees could curl up to his chest. It was honestly surreal to see him in this sort of vulnerable state again, because from the last time he'd seen him he seemed sort of fixed or healed. He flinched back then because of his mum but now he was jolting away from touches like you had the plague because of his girlfriend, and that somehow was a billion times worse. It most probably meant a lot of his progress meant absolutely fuck all and if that couldn't break your heart I don't know what would.

"Oh for fucks sake man"

The man felt guilty now, maybe he should've been there when Oakley was released from the rehab he had forced him into then just maybe he wouldn't be here, going backwards. Getting with Shanel could've all been prevented if it weren't for the fact he was just so guilt-ridden, and now it was overflowing. It seemed both men were so distracted by fear and guilt and Tori blabbering incoherent sentences that they didn't hear the click of the lock or the slamming of the front door, because now Michaela was standing in the living room with her hand clasped tightly around her mouth. She'd been standing there a lot longer than the men would've ever thought, and she'd seen enough to regret coming altogether. As soon as Marvin's text popped up on her notifications bar she was on her way out of her flat because it was unusual to get such a vague message from him like that any time, but it was even weirder considering her day today. She hadn't anticipated this though. Nor did she anticipate literally every emotion she ever felt for Oakley flooding back in the so few moments of her standing here and witnessing the flinch and the recoil. It had been eating her up all evening, after seeing him do the exact same thing in her salon - she'd never felt so guilty and regretful in her life. Despite her abrupt exit from his life last year and all the mess she probably left him with, all she wanted to do was give him a hug now. Just a small one. Though she was doubtful they'd ever get back to that.

"Oaks..."

The man's head suddenly shot up and his eyes darted to her figure behind the sofa, her voice making his stomach drop impossibly deep. He had been twiddling with the zip of his jacket in his lap trying to readjust his mind a tad, but just like everything else, all that had been thrown out the window. It was as if his brain had frozen because his head was silent and not a single thought was passing his mind now as he continued to stare at the girl in shock and awe; he hadn't a clue how to feel. His heart rate has increased so high it felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest and now he was feeling lightheaded. His face stayed blank though.

"Kayla?"