Did It Hurt? (bxb)

XI

"Olivia?" 

Oliver's eyes widened. This wasn't right. Fear rooted in his stomach. Everything was wrong. So very wrong. "Mom, Olivia isn't my girlfriend." He shot Olivia a look of disgust. Olivia frowned. His Mom gave him a look of confusion like she didn't know how to process what he had said. It was like a game of detective. Who was telling the truth? Who was the culprit? Whose side are you on? Oliver glanced at his mother with the a pleading look, silently begging her to make Olivia leave, but she didn't budge. The three of them sat there in silence for a few beats, trying to decipher lies from truth. Then, Olivia piped up.

"Ollie! How could you say that? Sure, we've had a rocky path, but you did say yes when I asked." Oliver froze. Hold up. Her cover story is she asked me? There was no way his mother was stupid enough to believe something like that. Suddenly, his eyes widened. This looked bad. If Olivia's cover was that he had said yes when she asked, it made it look like he had chosen to disobey her. Sure, he had, but not with Olivia. Never with her. Part of Oliver hoped that his mom would realize how much hated Olivia, but he knew it was hopeless. She was never around. She just met the girl today. To her, anything could be possible. 

"We are not together!" Oliver screamed. He turned to his Mother. "Mom, this is all a big misunderstanding. Olivia's always liked me. She must've heard through the grapevine that you'd returned from your business trip and took her chance. She's just jealous because-" Oliver stopped. He couldn't mention Angel. She would ask questions, and that would be bad. For him, and for Angel."You have to believe me." The last words came out quieter. 

His Mom creased her eyebrows. "So, she isn't your girlfriend?"

"No. Oliver replied with finality. He watched his mom, a carefully look on his face. It was like waiting for a grenade to explode. 

Finally, she sighed. "Well, come on inside. It's cold tonight." Oliver regarded his mother with a look before heading inside the house, ignoring Olivia, who was smiling at him. The aroma of meat flooded from the kitchen. He felt sick. Walking down the hallway towards his room, he noticed that Simon's door was shut tightly. 

"Simon?" Oliver knocked on his brother's door. "Dude, it's me. Can I come in?"

The door opened and Simon stood there. His hair was messy and his clothes were dirty. There were dark circles underneath his eyes. "Hey." Simon's voice was deep with exhaustion. 

Oliver's eyes widened. "Dude, what happened to you?"

His brother shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with an exhausted sigh. "I think you better come in here," He backed away and opened the door further, gesturing for him to come inside. Oliver did, though hesitantly, and sat down on the end of Simon's bed. Simon shut the door behind him, and sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" Oliver asked. His eyebrows creased together. The more he looked closer at his brother, the more he realized how disheveled and... scared he looked. "Is it Mom?" he whispered. 

Simon ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "I think I'm going crazy." He swallowed. "I keep having these dreams... In these dreams, I'm a little kid. I learned how to hunt and what it meant to be a wolf..." He started breathing heavily.

"Woah, woah," Oliver murmured, sliding closer to him. "Slow down. Take a deep breath and continue."

So he did so. "I keep having these reoccurring dreams.. I'm a wolf cub. I'm part of a wolf pack. They teach me how to be a wolf. My Dad... was the leader- no, they called him the King." Simon looked ready to faint. He gripped Oliver's sleeve, making Oliver jump and stare at him with wide eyes. "I'm telling you, Oliver," Simon swallowed. "It felt so real. It didn't feel like a dream at all. It felt like-"