“Even the darkest parts of us
become beautifulwhen seen
through a different setof eyes.”
—Oliver Masters
“IF WE GET CAUGHT, the plan is I kidnapped you from your room and held you prisoner.” Ollie walked in circles with his hands on his hips. “Don’t stray from the plan, love.” I pressed my lips together as I watched him pacing about the dorm. Worry caught in his features as he chewed his lip. “And if they interrogate us in separate rooms, which I know they will, just remember what I said. I’m the one who lifted you out of the room and kept you here. I’ve seen it on the telly so many times, and they will separate—
Ollie paused and glanced over at me, one hand still clinging to his hip bone and the other in the air. “Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny.”
My laughter doubled as I rolled back over the mattress. “We … we will be fine!” I gasped out. Ollie only shook his head with an unconvinced grin.
Once calm, I continued, “They don’t even do a security check in the morning. The doors will open at six, and I’ll sneak back to my room before anyone notices. I’ve done it before.”
Ollie raised a brow. “Oh, yeah? When was this?”
“The night Bria almost had her way with you. I sat right there while you slept until the automatic locks opened.” I pointed to the spot beside the mattress.
Ollie dropped his arms to his sides, his voice soft. “You stayed with me all night?”
“I didn’t touch you, Ollie. I wouldn’t take advantage of you if you didn’t have a choice. No one should,” I said defensively. I couldn’t believe me, a girl, was saying that to a boy.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just … I can’t believe you did that for me.”
I lifted my shoulder in a casual shrug. Ollie’s smile beamed as he walked toward the bed, leaned over, and kissed the top of my head. “You’re incredible.”
He sat over the edge of the mattress, thoughts still circling his mind. “Perhaps you’re right … I’ll set the alarm on the mobile just in case.”
“You sound so proper for someone who just fucked their girlfriend in front of four other people.”
Ollie cocked his head back in my direction. “One, don’t ever say I fucked you … Two, it wasn’t in front of everyone. You were covered, and they haven’t got a clue and … did you call yourself my girlfriend?”
It had rolled off my tongue so quickly, I hadn’t even realized I said it. “Yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I?”
“It sounds so … downplayed, underrated for what you are to me. I don’t like it.”
“Friend a better term?”
Ollie picked up a pillow off the floor and chucked it at me. “Get out of here …”
“Partner?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Companion?”
He pulled his brows together. “You’re not a bloody dog, Mia.”
“I give up,” I said, throwing my hands up.
Ollie crawled over me and attacked my neck with his lips. “We don’t need a title. All we need is each other.”
And he was right. What we shared shouldn’t and couldn’t be defined by a single word.
Tuesday morning should have been like any other Tuesday morning, but it wasn’t. It was different, and not the bad different. With Ollie, it wasn’t just comfortable. It was a delirious state of captivation. The whole time, it was Ollie. He was the drug I kept taking during my time here, and I would gladly overdose on him.
A foreign buzzing of an alarm woke me, and I quickly shuffled around to turn it off before it woke Ollie, who slept soundlessly beside me. After finally hitting snooze, I lay back down and stared at the ceiling with his legs still intertwined with mine and an unbidden smile on my face—exhausted, sleep deprived, but smiling.
