Heart and Desire (boyxboy)

Chapter Nine

Emilio's POV:

It had been three days since I've seen him smile. Three days since his mother kicked him out. Three days since he'd last seen Ash. Three fucking days.

Oli gently rocked back and forth on the park swing, resting his head on the thick metal chain. His eyes were faraway and vacant, their once-sparkling blue now dull and murky. Ash and Oli used to come to this park together all the time; I sensed he was feeling nostalgic. I wasn't happy that he'd brought us here, especially since Ash had been ignoring his calls for the last few days, but Oli had insisted. I thought it better I come with him than he go alone.

"Oli?" I tried to bring him back to reality but he didn't acknowledge me. I moved from my perch on the rail to straddle him on the swing. His eyes rose to meet mine and a smile touched his lips. I grinned mischievously, trying to take his mind off everything that had happened recently. He was really hurting. I stroked his hair away from his eyes and he smiled. A genuine smile. My own smile widened and I couldn't help but childishly giggle. I'd missed that smile; I hated seeing my best friend unhappy.

"Emilio, can I ask you something?" Oli spoke for the first time in hours. I nodded eagerly, "Do you- Do you think that... Actually, never mind. It's stupid." He forced a smile, shrugging off the thought.

"What is it, Oli?" I pressed, desperate to know what was bothering him. He sighed and shook his head.

"I don't think Ash wants to be with me anymore, Leo," He sighed, exasperated, tears threatening to swell from his eyes. "I don't know what I've done wrong. We're growing apart, I feel like he's not interested anymore."

The sadness in his voice tugged on my heartstrings. I felt so sorry for him. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly before pulling away to look him dead in the eye.

"Oli, I won't pretend to know anything about Ash, but I know his type. He's hurt you before, he's likely to do it again. You want to trust him, I understand that, but you need to be careful. How do you know he's not already cheating on you? How much can you really trust him after the way he hurt you?" I knew it hurt Oli to hear this, but I couldn't let Ash destroy him. I had suspicions that Ash was cheating on him, but I had no proof so I couldn't just blindly accuse him.

Oli took in a deep breath, absorbing my words, but didn't exhale for a while. Anger flashed in his eyes, his jaw clenched, he opened his mouth. Then slowly closed it again. He slipped into thought, his face relaxing as he pondered whatever idea he'd had.

After a few seconds, Oli smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me to him with a deep need for human contact. His smile faltered slightly and he squirmed underneath me, growing anxious. A determined look settled on his face - my God, he was so adorable - and he put his cold palm to my cheek. I rested my head into it and we stayed like that, grinning at each other for the longest time.

"Thank you, Leo. You're such a great friend," Oli said weakly, innocently, emotion brimming from his words. Only, there was one word which made me frown. Friend. I wished he thought of me as more than that.

"Dude, you're crushing my dick!" Oli suddenly yelled, writhing and squirming beneath me, snapping me out of my daze. He started choking on his laughter.
"But you wuv me!" I cried, wriggling my butt harder into his crotch.
"Rape!" Oli shouted loudly, giggling madly, rattling on the chains of the swing, causing the seat to rock wildly.

With a shocked gasp, Oli unbalanced himself and tumbled backwards, taking me with him. We both screamed on the way down and Oli hit his head on the ground sharply. I landed on top of him, our legs tangled together, and we both broke into a hysterical fit of laughter. I buried my head in his chest to muffle my snorts, then I rolled off of Oli, onto the floor beside him. I stared up at the cloudy sky, trying to slow my breathing. Oli nestled his head in the crook of my neck to muffle his own laughter and rolled over until he was on top of me. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he continued to laugh. He took a deep breath.