Nick had some time off as of late, and he had been taking time to get to know some people better, such as Ronan and Ollie. His texts with Ronan weren’t frequent, and largely relegated to setting up practices, just in case. With Ollie, he’d taken more time to establish a friendship, thought it was largely about current events or people they both knew — neither of them had gotten into their pasts too much.
On this particular night, Nick was headed over to Ronan and Ollie’s, bringing his guitar, in case Ronan were present, and he had time to practice. Not that they knew if Bethany would be able to have her Grand Masquerade any longer or not, but still. As it happened, though, Ronan was not home. Ollie had opened the door, looking a little morose.
“Did something happen?” he asked first thing, noting Ollie’s demeanor.
Ollie shook his head. “No. Just…” he sighed and opened the door wider, stepping aside, so Nick could come in. “You can come in if you want, but I don’t know that I’ll be good company.”
Nick stepped inside, and watched as Ollie closed the door. “What’s going on, man? Talk to me.”
Ollie led him through the house, and sat down at the kitchen table, where a book lay open on its surface. Nick carefully set his guitar down in the living room as they went, pulling out a chair across from Ollie and taking a closer look at the book once he’d sat. It was a thick, spiral-bound sketchbook, presently open to a colorful sketch of a man’s back, covered with tattoos. Pointing to each was an arrow with a label. Ollie’s name, a small heart next to it, was set as the label for Thalia and Melpomene, the comedy and tragedy masks for drama.
On the other side of the notebook was the same man, front-facing. Nick self-verified by checking the drawn tattoos, and noting the tattoo sleeves were the same. In fact, he’d evidently been staring so long, Ollie had to literally slap him out of the zone.
“Toreador stare.” Ollie stated.
“Sorry.” Nick said, rubbing his cheek. He glanced again at the sketchbook. “These are really good.”
“I know they are.” Ollie said, finally closing the book.
“Are they yours?” he asked.
“Mine? No. Liam drew them.” Ollie said, getting up to put the book away.
“Is that why you’re so down?” Nick asked. “You missing Liam?”
“I’m not just down. I’m also angry.” he stated
“Do you want to talk about it?” Nick offered.
Ollie shrugged, then thought about it a moment. “What the hell. I saw Vince when I was out and about today. He was with Quinn. It kind of set me off, and I had to come back here.” he explained.
“Why did it bother you so much?” Nick asked.
“That asshole gets to be happy.” he said simply. “He took my Liam from me, and now that Liam’s gone, it’s like he never cared. He doesn’t seem to miss him at all. But he gets to be happy. Good for him. But what about me? I don’t get my happily ever after.”
Nick was quiet for a bit, letting Ollie collect himself before he spoke. “Do you hate Vince?”
“I don’t know. He made Liam happy, I try to remember that.” Ollie said.
“Tell me about him?” Nick asked. Ollie thought for a moment and gestured for Nick to follow. As they walked through the house to Ollie’s room, he began to speak about Liam. It was less so about the man he’d been, and more so about how they’d tried to reconnect recently, after having split for several years on an angry note, something Nick felt he could relate to, at least a little.
Ollie was sitting on the edge of his bed, as was Nick. He’d just finished up telling him about when Liam had chosen to leave, and now had his eyes closed, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Though it was clearly unnecessary, he was taking short, deep, steadying breaths. After a few moments, he pulled his hand away, and opened his eyes.
“Sorry.” he said.
“It’s alright. Do what you need to do. I’m here to be supportive.” Nick said with a bit of a smile.
“I appreciate that. I haven’t been this bad since I learned he died.” Ollie stated.
They spent a large remainder of the night just talking, about anything that to mind. This seemed to immensely help Ollie, and by the time Nick needed to head back to the house, he was doing much better.
“I know this is probably weird, but…you want to get a bite sometime? I’d say coffee, but…well…” Ollie hissed, baring fangs for a moment as he did so.
“Sure.” Nick said with a smile. “We’ll figure something out. Just let me know when.”
“Thanks, man.” Ollie said, holding his arms open for a hug.
Nick stepped in, hugging the other man back. “‘Night Ollie.”
“‘Night Nick.” Ollie said, closing the door after he watched Nick head for his truck. People weren’t kidding when they said that man has a great ass Ollie thought as he closed the door.