MESSY
018, think of you

@olympiahartley posted a new photo

liked by: callmeturner and 2,678,954 others

olympiahartley: honey, im home!! 🏠

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username: yes she's back!!!

username: America will miss you ❤️😔

username2: and Drew's still in New York?....
    — username3: she could just be visiting???

username4: *books train to London*

florencepugh: i missed you so much squish!!! 😙
— olympiahartley: NOT THE NICKNAME ( I missed you too) xx

username5: Olympia back in her London it girl era!!!

username6: lol am I the only one who thinks she cheated on Drew with Callum?!
     — username7: Drew & Olympia have always been a private couple...rumours like that could really damage them!!

username8: New York misses you already!!

username9: Callum & Olly are back in the same city!!! FINALLY!!

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@ihartolly posted a new photo

liked by: rhyshartley and 102 others

ihartolly: taking me to all the tourist spots like I haven't lived here my whole life smh @callmeturner 😔

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rhyshartley: don't act like you don't go all giddy when he suggests them !!!
— ihartolly: stop exposing me loser!!

florencepugh: and yet you look so excited...

willpoulter: Callum taking up a side gig as a tour guide
— ihartolly: just for me 🥰

callmeturner: you called the sofa a couch the other day...you should be thanking me ☺️
— ihartolly: I do it in my own way 😙

! DREW STARKEY UNFOLLOWED IHARTOLLY ¡

•

" I MISS YOU." Chiara whines down the phone as I stand outside the door of ' Archie's' in hamstead Heath, one of my favourite brunch places in London and a Sunday tradition for me and my friends since the age of seventeen. leant against a corner of a phone box, flickering gazes up and down the street waiting for someone.

I smile as I look down, examining the slight creases in the jeans I put on today. And then toying with the hem of the crochet vest which is the singular thing covering the top half of my body. It's still summer, I seemed to forget that Italy is as warm as an English summer in the earlier months of the year that we filmed in.

I love London, I've missed it. I didn't realise exactly how much I missed it until I was back.

After shooting ended and I flew back managing to squeeze a lot into the just over the fourty eight hours I've been back for. meeting up with my friends, catching up with my family and adjusting back to life in Chelsea opposed to Manhattan.

I found some of my stuff sent over to my parents house from mine and Drew's old apartment— I knew he still lived there. He made more than enough on his own to afford the rent without me and it was a beautiful place. The one texts he sent me since our breakup was telling me that he's putting the rest of my stuff in a storage unit until I come to new York and get it myself , I tried to text back saying thank you but it was undelivered immediately.

I nod my head gently, casting a look back up the street and feeling slightly deflated that I can't see them yet, " I miss you too, when were you planning on coming to London again ?"

There's a momentary silence in the lapse of our different time zones " soon, I promise soon!" she says and I smile.

" I'm counting down the days." I joke as I hear her laugh, " I don't doubt it."

I turn my head back up the street, expecting my stomach to burrow with that same feeling slight disappointment.

But instead I clock him, only about fifty metres away as he pulls the strings of his earphones out of his ears begins ravelling them up over two of his fingers. He looks good, but then again he could be wearing anything and make it work ( I am extremely bias).

" hey- look Chi, I gotta go." I hum, " but I'll call you later alright?"

I hear a small laugh " Callum arrived I see ."

My cheeks flush as I look back up " maybe," as I hear her laughter " ok, you go! But say hello for me!"

I smile " I will do, speak later."

moving the phone from my ear as I place it back in the pocket of my jeans and fold my arms over my chest, letting a hand slip loose as I wave at him.

He does the same waving interaction as we close into one another.

" hello you." His arms wrap around me, and I smile as we hug. Whilst I wrap my arms around his torso.

" it's been forever." I hum, pulling away first but his hands slide down to still sit on my bare upper arms.

He tilts his head, smiling as he looks confused about my statement " it's been a day olls."

I shake my head " one day, one month, what year...what's the difference really?"

He licks a smile away " three hundred and sixty four days." He tells me and I huff.

Taking a delicate step forward, " can I kiss you already or you do you feel the need to correct me a little longer?"

He shakes his head, letting out a  laugh " come here then."

It's a demand I listen to. Pushing myself on the soles of my trainers  slightly as he leans down and our lips meet in the middle.

We do this a lot now. We did it a lot that night back in Sicily — on the bench, the bathroom of the party, the car ride back to the house. The kitchen, the hallway, my bedroom.

Nothing else happened, after a lot of smudged makeup and messy replacements of clothing. We said goodbye, he went back to his room and fell asleep for his afternoon flight home.

But I didn't, I couldn't. No dream would compare to the one I was living — so I stayed up, packing up my white dress in my suitcase this time. Writing a scribbled letter to meet at Archie's the Sunday after we both got back that I slid under his door on my way out to the airport

And it's Sunday, the first one that we're back in a London for and here we are.

He pulls away first; still so close that our lips still hover over one another — " fuck, I still can't believe I get to do that." he mumbled as I laugh and peck at his lips again.

I shake my head, " come on, I'm hungry." I exhale — moving my hand down to take his own.

Beginning to lead us towards the door, although I'm stopped by the fact that Callum doesn't move.

I offer a hesitant smile "what is it?"

And when concerning us, it's always the worst option that first falls into my brain — what is going to tear us apart next? And will it be enough to ruin us for good?

He exhales, not being able to register the slight panic in my eyes as he moves his fingers to brim the edge of the baseball cap he's wearing. Lifting it up, as I feel as if my jaw hits the pavement.

Letting go of his hand, as its palm sits flat over my mouth. Daring to step closer to him as I reach my other hand to his hair, his now blonde hair. His blonde hair which was brown just over twelve hours ago but now is this platinum blonde colour.

" oh my god!" I say, it's soft — still smells like a fancy hairdressers shampoo and conditioner " is this the important thing you had to do after you got home?"

He nods as I laugh, continuing to ruffle my fingers through it — " do you like it?" he hums as I tilt my head.

nodding my head, " it's hot."

I watch as his lips curve into a smile and how a rose coloured tint coats the skin of his cheeks. He's adorable when he gets flustered, I've never paid attention to it but once it happened for the first time and I noticed it, I haven't been able not
to since.

He lets out this little bashful laugh, as I step forward again. Leaning up to brush my lips against his, an action he allows to happen as I hear a soft lull exit his mouth as we kiss.

And after a few seconds when I realise this is my life now, and the subsequent smile tugs on the corners of my lips I pull away and look at him,

" hungry?" I ask, and he gathers whatever mess I've seemingly made of him as he nods,

"starving." he announces.

I laugh, turning to walk towards the front door of this cafe — Callum slinging his arm around my shoulder and I lift my hand to intertwine our fingers.

It's busy today, well as busy as Archie's gets — but being patriots of this establishment for bearing on a decade comes with its benefits.

" Olly! Callum! It's been forever." Isla, one of the hostesses who we know better comes over. Me and Callum untangle ourselves from each other, me hugging the petite red-head first followed by Callum who hugs her too.

" how've you guys been?" she asks and I nod my head, " good-good." I look for Callum who bobs his head in a nod in agreement.

" we just finished up filming, we only just came home " Callum hums and I notice how Isla looks at me with a smile when Callum retakes his position of hanging his arm around the back of my neck.

" so you're back?" she says and I nod,

" for the indefinite future, but I still need to get a place of my own." I tell her as she hums, lingering in conversation for a few more seconds before she leads us up to this semi- private table in the back.

A half wall hides us from peering eyes which I can tell are watching us as we walk through the cafe. We thank Isla as we sit down, pretending to scan the menu when for the last nine years of our lives we've always gotten the same thing.

I put down the menu, propping my chin in the curled palm of my hand as I smile at the blonde who sits in front of me. He glances up from the menu with a furrowed brow,

" what?" he hums and I shrug my shoulders.

" I can't believe I'm back here." I tell him, and he begins to fold the menu over.

" and why is that?" he asks, an answer I know but don't want to say. But he can tell I have an answer to his question, the way he's waiting and slowly growing more anxious the more I let this silence between us simmer.

I shake my head " I just-" taking an inhale " I honestly didn't think we'd ever be friends again."

He looks slightly taken aback as I nod my head, "sorry I know we've moved past all of that- nonsense." I palm my hands over my face.

" no-no- it's fine." he says in this reassurance that I don't if it's for me or him, " that nonsense, it's apart of us- isn't it?"

I just nod my head as he gestures between us before grabbing my hand " it brought us here didn't it?"

Another nod of my head, a soft smile curves on my lips — letting my thumb run up and down the back of his hand which I hold.

" yeah, I suppose it did." I say lowly, noticing the change in our expressions.

He's right, that ' nonsense' is always going to be there isn't it? because without it, he'd still be miserable and I'd still be oblivious. Without those months apart I wouldn't have known how u much I needed him.

Every relationship has its highs and lows — platonic, romantic, family. And as much as I'm loving the high that we're experiencing right now, I hate that it's inevitable that there's going to be a low. But we've already skimmed rock bottom, I don't know if we could go any lower — and I don't want to know either.

" right lovebirds." Isla hums as she reappears over the half wall of our table; turning over a page of her notebook " what can I get you guys?"

And in an attempt not to be too predictable, I skim my eyes over the menu as if I haven't ordered the same things since I started coming here. Although my eyes are immediately drawn to the blueberry and lemon pancakes that have kept me coming back to Archie's for years.

A breakfast food I tried my hardest to find a replica to in New York. But no luck whatsoever in the year I lived there.

" and the blueberry and lemon pancakes for olls."is what lifts me back into the conversation, reaching Callum's eyes as he shoots me a smile from the other side of the table.

" oh sorry did you want the french toast instead?" he asks, the french toast being the only other thing I've ever ordered from here. As I shake my head.

" no, the pancakes are good." I tell him, tilting my head slightly " I'm just surprised that you remembered." I hum.

Isla takes the order that Callum's completed as he shrugs his shoulders at me " it's just one of those things, you know?"

I shake my head " one of what things?" I ask.

I notice the flustered look work back on his face " you know? things I'll look at or hear and think of you." he tells me, so casually as if it's not one of the most romantic things he's ever said to me.

I just nod my head, " and Archie's blueberry and lemon pancakes is what you think of when you think of me."

he nods " yeah, everyone time I'd come here when we weren't speaking and I saw it on the menu." he stops for a second, " I'd think of you, it was your thing wasn't it?"

I nod my head, " you're adorable." I tell him as he turns away— I watch as his tongue pushes against the side of his mouth and he turns back.

" shut up." he exhales, looking more flustered as he finds it hard to look at me and I move forward.

Arching my body over the table, noticing the slight pleasant shock that lingers in Callum's facial expression as I push our lips together. It's short but very very sweet.

" admit that you're adorable." I tell him as he looks up to my eyes " Will you kiss me again if I do?" he hums.

My head bobs in a small nod as he smirks " I guess adorable would be an accurate way of describing me." he murmurs as I smile, placing another small kiss to his lips.

Sitting back down in my seat, as I look at him and his blush tinted face and the slight glisten of my lipgloss that now sits on his lips.

And I know the low..well it's inevitable, but I'm riding the highs of this relationship as long as I can.

AUTHORS NOTE.

I live for happy them!! x
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