𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 [MONTGOMERY DE LA CRUZ AU]

TWENTY FIVE ૐ THE MORNING AFTER

OLIVIA WOKE UP TO THE SMELL OF BACONS and a strong whiff of brewed coffee. She slowly sat up and her groggy eyes roamed over the bed she was lying at, the familiarity of the room she easily recognized and the scent of the comforter that she used to love. She frowned at the dozens of pillows surrounding either side of her body, barricading he from the edges of the bed. Montgomery knew how Olivia had a habit of moving around so much when she sleeps and ends up all over the bed, taking too much space and sometimes, falling off the bed. He decided to put pillows around her to keep her from falling off the bed because he knew how she hated waking up in that kind of state.

"Monty?" Olivia called out, her voice croak and raspy from the sleep she had. She was greeted with no answer and she wandered around his room, her green eyes meandering across the desk and the hastily half-closed drawers, a few cable wires of his phone charger peeking out and a few others of his things. Surprisingly, his desk was much cleaner and organized than they used to; she was used to see discarded textbooks with homeworks he never got to finish, or even started for that matter, crumpled papers and unwrapped gum wrappers littering the table, a box of cigarettes or even a lighter he always had stashed at the farthest section of the table, small dust particles of ashes from the cigarettes he sometimes smoke inside his room. Olivia sat down on the chair, inhaling the unfamiliar aroma of cinnamon replacing the mixed scent of strong body cologne, smoke and a mint bubblegum. A small smile takes over her lips when her eyes roved on the polaroid photographs Montgomery had stacked up by the wall; one of him with his friends, one of him with his family grinning widely at the camera, one of him and Dawson. Olivia found herself staring at the last two photographs, her heart leaping for a millisecond as her fingers traced reminiscingly on the picture.

The photo was taken during the Winter Formal party at Liberty High and thus, the two teenagers were dressed up fancy for the school event. Olivia's gray velvet gown pools by her feet, the soft fabric fitting her nicely, accentuating the curves of her body. Montgomery's dressed up with an extravagant-looking black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. Their lips were locked in a kiss; open-mouthed, and sure and so much full of sincerity and love and although it has been two years since the photo was captured, Olivia could still remember the feeling she had at that moment. Next to it was a recently-captured photograph of him with Grayson on his lap, the toddler's mouth agape in a happy mid-shriek, both of the insanely similar features of the two boys in the picture scrunched up in pure happiness. Underneath it was his hasty and yet careful scribbled handwriting that says, 'One of the best things that ever happened to me'