No Strings Attached (SUSPENDED)

Chapter 14

Oliver and I find a cute old diner a few minutes away from the hospital. It's very plain with white walls and blue windowpanes. There's a sign hanging by a chain above the front door, it reads Lucy's Lunch.

My hand is enclosed in Oliver's as we approach the diner. While the walk from the hospital was short, it was freaking freezing, so I was thankful for Oliver's hand keeping mine warm. Our hands fell apart as we walked into the building. The warmth hit me as soon as the door shut behind us. Oliver turned to me and gave a sweet smile before grabbing my hand again and leading me towards a booth. We sit in opposite sides of the booth and pick up our menus. We sit in a comfortable silence as we browse the menu. Oliver sits up and shuts his menu, having clearly decided on his meal.

"What have you decided to have?" I ask him, feeling undecisive as usual. He opens his menu again, turning it to me to point out the bacon cheeseburger he had decided on.
"Sounds good doesn't it?" He says.
"It really does, I think I'll copy you," I reply. He smiles and returns our menus back to the holder. I look around the small diner and find that it's only us and an old man with a coffee sat in here. I turn to look at Oliver and find him staring at me with the smallest of smiles on his face.

"What?" I ask, a blush rising to my cheeks. His smile becomes bigger at my blushing.
"Nothing, you just look beautiful right now," he says, his eyes soft. I blush harder and gently kick his leg under the table.
"Shut up," I reply, knowing that I'm about as red as a tomato right about now.
"I'm serious," he says. I can't stop the smile from my face as I thank him. His hand reaches out to hold mine over the table and my heart flutters. I'm so fucked.

The romantic moment is interrupted by the waitress. In one way I'm thankful as my face is still bright red with embarrassment but at the same time, I wish I could have stayed in that bubble a little longer with Oliver. We take turns ordering our food and the waitress leaves.

"Your brother seems to be feeling better," I say to Oliver. He nods in agreement.
"Yes, he seems a lot more like himself now. As much as we pretend to hate each other, he really does mean a lot to me."
"I guess that's what a sibling relationship is all about," I reply, even though I have absolutely no idea about sibling relationships being an only child. Oliver hums in agreement and looks at me as if he's debating telling me something. I give him a soft smile and he looks down at our hands.
"You know, he's a good kid, he really is. He's just been through so much shit and the only way he knows how to deal with rough times is through getting himself beat up. There's no way he was jumped, Alex, this isn't the first time something like this has happened," he admits. I nod in agreement and squeeze his hand, not wanting to pry.

Our food arrives and our conversation, thankfully, becomes lighter. We discuss the old man sat a few seats from us, deciding his name is John and his wife, Jenny, is at home watching the tv soaps, leaving him no other option but to come to Lucy's to read his paper in peace. We talk about things we've seen on the internet and spend most of the time laughing.

Once we finish our food, we leave the diner, tipping the waitress before doing so. Our hands are locked together again, and I honestly can't get enough of it. It's still ridiculously cold outside but I choose to ignore it, not wanting this time to end. We walk in peace for a few minutes, just enjoying one another's presence. Despite the cold, it's a beautiful night, the sky is clear of clouds, leaving the stars to light up the darkness. As I'm looking up at the sky, I feel a hand on the side of my cheek and Oliver turns my face to his and softly kisses me. The kiss lasts a few minutes. It's not rushed, it's slow and incredibly sweet, our lips brushing together so softly it makes my heart hurt. The kiss ends and Oliver simply holds me in his arms, my head against his chest. His heartbeat feels steady against my cheek. The world is silent for a moment.

"Alex?" Oliver whispers.
"Yes?
"You make me feel happy," he says, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I smile, my eyes filling with tears.
"You make me happy too, Oli."

* * *

I wave to Oliver as I pull off. A smile occupies my face the entire drive home. The kiss replays in my head repeatedly. Kisses like that only happen in books. Every time I think of what Oli said my heart leaps in my chest. I look at the clock on my dashboard, eleven o'clock, not too late. With that thought my heart skips a beat, and not for the same reason as a second ago. I'd hung up on my mother and didn't phone her back. I'm so dead.

My house is in darkness as I pull into the street. I breath a sigh of relief. She must be asleep. I lock my car and walk into the house, locking the door behind me and knocking on the lights because come on, who isn't scared of the dark so close to midnight?

I slip into the kitchen, having a glass of water before making my way to my bedroom. I change into my pyjamas and get into bed. My phone lights up on the nightstand so I grab it, it's a text from Oliver.

Oliver: Are you home safe?
Me: Yep, I'm safe and warm in bed 😊
Oliver: Good. I enjoyed tonight. Thank you, for everything. x
Me: So did I. Thank you! Goodnight x
Oliver: Goodnight, sweetheart. x

I place my phone back onto the nightstand, knocking my lamp off as I do so and as I close my eyes I count my lucky stars as for the first time in years, I feel truly happy, and it's all thanks to my one night stand.

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A/N: OMG! Okay, first off, I'm so sorry it's been three years since I last updated but I hope this chapter semi makes up for it. For an update on where I've been the last three years check out my profile.

I promise the next chapter will be a lot longer, I just felt that you guys deserved something to apologise for the three year hiatus.

Also, I read through this entire story and I'm very aware that sixteen year old me wasn't the best at writing so I will be going back to edit the first thirteen chapters over the next few weeks, but don't worry, the content will not be changing.

Thank you all so much for sticking around. Please let me know what you think of this chapter, after all it's dedicated to each and every one of you beautiful people. I love you all!