just dive in [reed bishop spin-off] ✔️

ten

— t e n —

"OH MY GOD, I love what you've done with your eyes!" a tipsy angel called over the loud music. "Which one is the contact? Probably the grey one, right? What are you supposed to be, anyway?"

Oliver sipped his drink as he considered how to respond the variations of that question he'd been getting all night. He remembered how much he had loved Halloween as a kid because it was a reprieve from the curious questions and gawking stares – his mismatched eyes, something that marked him out as different from everyone else the other 364 days of the year, were just passed off as nothing more than part of his costume on Halloween. Nothing more than a coloured contact. Now that he was older and his eyes were something he'd accepted as part of himself, rather than something he needed to hide, it was a little tedious to have to put up with all the inevitable queries come Halloween about the supposed "part of his costume". He settled for going along with the angel's assumption because it was always easier.

"The grey one, yeah," Oliver replied. "And what do you think I am?"

"I don't know," the angel said, a glazed over smile tugging at her lips. "What do you want me to think you are?"

Oliver realised she'd taken his question as a flirty quip, but he had been genuinely curious. It was customary at Halloween parties to start all conversations with a guess or a question as to what the other person's costume was and by the third person inquiring what on earth his vague black outfit was supposed to be, he decided to just see what people came up with. He'd heard robber, zombie, ninja, spy, and even Voldemort. That one might have been because he'd been standing next to Reed, who was passing as Draco Malfoy for the night, or it might have just been because the werewolf who had guessed it was just incredibly drunk.

At the reminder of Reed, Oliver glanced across the darkened room where he was standing with Bailey and a few others from the swim team only to see Reed was already watching him. Oliver felt a spark of heat down his spine when, instead of immediately looking away at having been caught out, Reed just held his gaze. Oliver was thrown more off-kilter from Reed's piercing stare than any of the alcohol he'd had. He had never seen Reed drunk before, but every time Oliver had seen him over the course of the night there had been a new drink in hand. Oliver hadn't drunk that much himself, just enough to get lightly buzzed and but not enough to miss that Reed wasn't being anywhere near as careful as he usually was.

Oliver didn't know how he felt about this change. It was more than he'd ever gotten before but it was only because Reed was drunk, nothing else. He was keeping his distance until he had figured that out.

"...decided on this costume, even though it's so boring," the angel was saying, in a conversation Oliver hadn't been following. He nodded to indicate she continue speaking because he was still very aware of Reed's presence only a few feet away and was too distracted to think of anything to say. "I mean, angel? So basic, right? But it's an easy one to do and there's so much glitter you can add to the make up and most importantly, it's easy to look nice..."

Bailey, dressed as Tinkerbell in flimsy glitter wings and a floaty green dress, leant up and said something in Reed's ear. Oliver couldn't make out what he replied or even his expression, lost to the faint coloured lights left to illuminate the house, but his chest tightened when Reed tilted his face towards her. Oliver turned away and silently berated himself for even looking in the first place. He'd been wary about this party but now that he was here, he might as well try to enjoy it. That would certainly be impossible if he spent the entire evening pining after Reed.

Oliver hadn't seen Adam in a while, but he hadn't seen Clair either, so he could assume they were entertaining each other upstairs somewhere. At least he didn't have to deal with Clair – other than the odd conversation and passing comment, she hadn't really made any attempt to talk to him. Oliver was grateful. Maybe Reed's rude treatment had been effective after all.