HeartLESS (Fransykes)

15. Yeah, you know I'm not heartless

CW: A bit of leftover discussion from the AA meeting, discussions of sobriety and recovery. Lots of talking about feelings and realisation of said feelings with a lot of cute fluff!

Josh's POV

I can't stop smiling and though I wish I could just stay here in this moment with Oli forever, we have to leave. Alex comes up to us joined by the guy he was chatting to in the kitchen. I find out that his name is Patrick and he's Oli's sponsor. I shake his hand politely before Alex gets my attention.

"This belongs to you." Alex says proudly as he presses a small coin into my hand. It's embossed with the sobriety poem on one side, and the other says two weeks.

I gasp as I realise what it is and tears prick at my eyes as I raise my head to the three proud smiles around me.

"Congratulations, Joshua!" Patrick says, giving me a quick, slightly awkward hug. "Two weeks is such an incredible milestone!"

My smile grows wider as I feel Oli's arm slide around my waist and I lean into him, clutching the coin into my palm and sliding it into my pocket.

"It really is," Alex grins back at me. "Why don't the four of us go out for a celebratory coffee?"

I feel Oli nod emphatically next to me and I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than spending more time with him, so I also agree and the four of us make our way out of the building.

The fresh air hits my chest and fills me with a sense of relief and freedom, and for the first time in two weeks, I actually feel like I might be on the right path. I flick my eyes across the community centre car park and see Chris leaning against his car, so I slip out of Oli's hold and incline my head to Chris. He sends me a smile back and I jog over to Chris to update him on the situation.

"Hey man, how did it go?" Chris greets me warmly before his eyes flicker up to where I've just come from, his eyes widening as he notices Oli standing with Alex and Patrick. "Oh! That's... unexpected?!"

I let out a soft chuckle and I feel my face heating up slightly, dipping my head towards the ground and scratching at the back of my neck.

"Yeah, you could say that!" I reply, but the smile on my face tells Chris all he needs to know.

"Well you can tell me all about it later," Chris smiles back and gives me a tight hug. "Go and catch up with him."

I nod gratefully as Chris releases me and give him a quick wave before heading back to the others. Behind me, I hear the car door close and the engine start before he pulls away and the four of us head off down towards a coffee shop. We chat randomly on the way and to my surprise, we arrive outside the same place Oli took me for breakfast the last time I saw him properly - I can hardly count the time he came to see us play at the Academy since everything went so wrong.

I shake the unwanted memory from my head and Oli tilts his head at me.

"You alright, love?" He asks me, his voice laced with concern.

My face lights up at the nickname and the unwanted thought dissipates completely.

"Yeah, I'm good." I grin and he returns my smile as we walk into Harriet's once again.

Hattie's face lights up as she raises her head to the sound of the bell above the door. Patrick and Alex walk in first, followed by Oli who links his hand with mine as I close the door behind me.

"You two find us a table," Oli turns to Patrick and Alex, inclining his head towards the area we sat in last time. "We'll grab the coffees and bring them through."