9 Chapter 9: The Thing That Never Leaves: Strong Feelings

Kyle's smile fades and he glares at the girl. 'Why is such a pretty girl looking for Oliver? Who even is she? Does Oliver know her? Why do I even care?' All these questions swirl around in his head.

"No, I don't know where he is."Kyle responds.

He might be with Carson in his dorm studying, but he doesn't want to tell her that for some reason.

"Ugh, where is that idiot!"she takes out her cellphone that looks very new and nice. Also expensive. This girl must be very rich.

She taps buttons on it and then puts it to her ear. She holds it there for a few seconds, but then she presses end call.

"I told him I would meet him today. That little brat."She sighs and shakes her head. "Are you sure you don't know where he is?"

She must be a good friend to talk about Oliver like that.

What if she's more than a friend...? No of course not. His girlfriend wouldn't talking about him like that. Right?

Kyle shakes his head. "No. Sorry."

"That's fine."she takes off her sunglasses and Kyle's mouth goes open. She looks just like...Oliver!

"Family resemblance is amazing, right?"she says, laughing at Kyle's bewildered face.

"You must be Dahlia. Oliver's sister."

"Yeah, I am. I forgot to introduce myself. Sorry."she holds out a hand and Kyle shakes it.

Kyle suddenly feels like he's growing smaller as he tries to hide his embarrassment.

'Of course she's his sister! Duh! Why did I just assume she was his girlfriend or something? And why was I jealous?'

"It's a special day today. Me and Oliver were gonna go somewhere important."she says, staring at her phone.

"O-oh. Well, now that I think about it, he might have mentioned studying with Car. I don't know where they would be though. You can check in his dorm. Don't know where that is either, though."he plays with his fingers, avoiding eye contact.

"That's fine. I know where his dorm is. Thank you so much."she smiles and puts her sunglasses back on. Her phone rings and she checks the caller I.D.

She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Ugh. Work."

She pressed the green button."Yes?"

It seems like the other person says something serious becuase her eyes widen and her face goes white.

"The dress..is..WHAT?!"

Her face looks red with anger now and she's breathing heavily.

Kyle back away cautiously. Wow she looks scary.

'She has the same wrinkle in her eyebrow as Oliver does when he gets mad.'Kyle smiles. Wait. What?

'When did I realize that?'

"That dress is for one of my most important customers, Mae. How could be so stupid?!"

"Fine. I'll head back now so you better be ready!"she clicks a button furiously.

"I have to go. Tell Oliver that I came over and to call me, ok?"she says in a calmer tone.

Kyle nods and smiles."No problem."

She nods and walks away, to the entrance.

"Wow. I never wanna mess with her."Kyle says, unlocking the door. He grabs his bag off from the floor and walk in his dorm.

He falls to the bed and let's the bag fall down to the floor again. He stares at the ceiling.

'I want to see Oliver so bad. Ughhh!'

He rolls to the side and kicks off his shoes. "Maybe I should go to the pool. Swimming always helps."

He yawns and his eyes feel heavy all of a sudden.

"I'm so tired, though. I'll just take a nap."He yawn again and lays on his bed. His eyes close and He's fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver opens the door to his room and yawns. "I studied like crazy with Carson. I'm so sleepy."

His eyes fall on the person sleeping in the room.

He walks over to a peaceful Kyle.

Oliver smiles and reaches down to touch his soft hair. "Cute."

Oliver blushes and realizes what he just said.

He shakes his head, but then his eyes fall to Kyle's soft looking lips. They look so inviting.

"Argh! Cut it out, Oliver."He covers his face with his hands and gets away from Kyle before he does some thing he'll regret.

"Oliver?"Kyle's sleepy voice mumbles.

Oliver turns back around to look at a very adorable looking Kyle rubbing his eyes.

'Isn't the time when you look the worst at when you first wake up from a nap?? Why does he look so cute then?!'

"Yeah?"Oliver responds, looking away from him.

"You're back?"

Oliver nods and walks over to his bed to lie down at.

"How did it go?"Kyle asks eagerly.

"Good. It was pretty tiring, though."Oliver says, looking up at the ceiling.

"What'd you guys do?"

"Nothing much. Just studied. And watched some movies afterwards. What about you? What did you do today?"

"Nothing. I was studying with Leah, then I came up here and..."Kyle's face changes as he remembers what happened before he fell asleep. "Right. Your sister came here to look for you. She said it was an important day. But then she got a call from work and had to leave."

Oliver sits right up, like he was pushed up by an unseen force. "I...It's...."

His voice and face fill with guilt at the sound of Kyle's words.

Kyle sits up straighter. "Oliver...are you ok?"

"We were supposed to visit our mom's grave...How could I forget?"He runs his hands through his hair and looks down at the ground. "I-I've never forgotten. How could I forget something so important?"

Oliver mumbles, confused and shocked at himself.

"Hey It's not your fault. University is getting harder by the day. Not to mention we have been having a lot of swimming practice. Your mind has a lot on it. Somethings will pass your mind."Kyle says, trying to reassure Oliver.

"But we go every year. On this day. Because today is the day she met Dad. She always loved this day. She was so happy and bright. So was our dad."Oliver says, his mind flashing back to the memories of his mother's beautiful smile. And how his father used to be before she died.

Oliver feels tears coming and a lump in his throat form. He covers his face. He can't let Kyle see him like this. No one has ever seen him like this. Only Dahlia and Carson.

Kyle slowly walks over to him. He reaches down and takes Oliver's trembling hand.

He kneels down in front of him and looks at Oliver. "Oliver...listen to me. You don't have to feel guilty for this. It means that you're happy and moving on. I don't know what it feels like to lose someone, but I know it doesn't feel good."

"At all...."Oliver adds. He looks at Kyle. He has a genuine caring smile on his face. He's never had someone be this caring. Besides his mother.

"And the pain will always be there because of the beautiful memories you shared with her. But it's ok to feel happy and make new memories. With other people."

Oliver curls his finger and interlocks them with Kyle's. He watches as Kyle blushes because of this sudden move.

"You know, for someone who's never lost someone, you seem to know your stuff."Oliver smiles, sniffing.

"W-well It's just what I think it would he like."Kyle says. His ears and cheeks turn a pinkish color. A very red pink.

This makes Oliver feel...happy. Excited.

"Well you guessed good. How'd you mange to do that?"Oliver's asks, curiously.

"I don't know. Luck, I guess."Kyle smiles, eyeing their hands that are locked together.

He blushes even more as Oliver pulls him closer. He trails his free hand down into Kyle's light green button up shirt. Kyle gasps quietly as Oliver begins to rub his chest.

"Thank you for making me feel better, Avery."Oliver says softly into Kyle's ear.