chapter four

It's been a week, and yet, as I stare at the computer scene, listening to the interview with Oliver, I can't bring myself to write it. I can't find the words that I'm trying to say, I don't know how to bring his words to life.

"I'm going to head to bed Dee!" my mom shouts up at me, and I hear her show turn off, smiling as I turn my music up slightly higher. I have been sitting looking at the same google doc for the past hour, and the only thing that I've been able to write is, "Oliver Tate, captain of the football team."

Super creative, I know.

There's a knock at my window, and I sigh, but draw back the curtains. Oliver Tate crouches on the other side of the glass, holding something square in his hands that I can't identify.

"What're you doing?" I ask him, and he gives me a smile.

"Movie night, remember?" he says, and I frown. I distinctly remember walking away from him after his friend who bullied me all throughout freshman year walked up to us.

"Oliver, I really don't want to do this right now," I tell him, and I move to close my curtains. He holds his hand up to my window to stop me, and I can't look him in the eyes.

"Come on Addy," he whispers, pleading slightly. It's hard to imagine the great Oliver Tate pleading for something, but when I look up at him, I know that he has something he wants to say to me. And as much as I want to resist him, looking in his eyes, hearing him whisper my childhood name softly makes my heart melt into a puddle.

"Okay," I reply quietly, trying to push away my hurt from his previous action. Considering he probably doesn't know the extent of Fox's bullying, and I can't really hold him accountable for his friends actions, I figure that I've been mad at him for long enough.

I slide my window upon quietly, and with his help, crawl out my window, closing it behind me. "You better pick a good movie," I mutter quietly, but by the way he laughs, I know he's heard me.

"I picked your favorite," he tells me, and I cock my head to the side, trying to remember what movie that might even be. He hops across the space between our roofs, and as I stand on the edge of mine, a sick feeling erupts in my stomach. "Take my hand, it's going to be okay." I look up at him, and his outstretched hand. I take his hand, and step over the gap in between our houses.

"You made that look easy," I tell him, his hand still in mine. Our eyes meet, and I can't help but notice how his eyes flick down to my lips.

"You did just fine," he replies, and his eyes meet mine again. But whatever moment we're having ends, and he drops my hand slowly. "We should get going." I nod my head, and follow him up to his window, and into his room. And I'm sure that if I were any other girl, I would be flustered at being in the room of the boy that I was in love with. But, I've seen his room a thousand times before, and although I am slightly flustered at the closeness of the two of us, being here with him feels normal.

"So, what movie are we going to watch?" I ask him as he leads me through his room and to the basement, where their movie projector remains. I know the pathway well, and although a lot of things have changed, the Tate household has not.

"Forrest Gump," he tells me, and I smile. I don't think I've seen Forrest Gump since the eighth grade. I wouldn't be surprised if the last time that I watched it was with him. It was a nice balance between our two tastes, as he liked the action, and I loved the characters. "Addy?" I look over at him, and suddenly we're in their basement, standing in front of the couches by the projector.

"What?" I ask him, and he gives me a sheepish smile.

"I was wondering if you wanted me to go and make some popcorn," he says, and I blush, embarrassed.

"That would be great," I tell him, and he goes up the stairs, leaving me alone in his basement. I take a seat on his couch and scroll through my phone, snapping Lorene and Penelope back, and reading some texts from Dorothy on her latest boy drama.

"Ollie-" a young girl's voice says, and then stops. I look up from my phone, and there stands Bonnie Tate, all grown up and nothing like I remember. "You're not Oliver."

"Adeana," I reply, and she gives me a curious look. If I remember correctly, she must be a freshman in high school, and I'm surprised that I haven't seen her around.

"You're talking with Ollie again?" she asks me, and I nod my head. It's hard to piece together my memories of the younger girl that used to chase me and Oliver around and the girl that's standing in front of me now.

"Sorta," I reply, and she frowns, crossing her arms in front of her chest. But then a smile breaks her frown, and she rushes over to my side.

"This is perfect, because I'm having boy problems, and you are just the person to help!" she exclaims, and I smile.

"Tell me everything," I reply, and she begins to tell the story. From what I can gather, she's torn between her guy best friend that she's been in love with since the seventh grade, and a sophomore that's in her math class that's been flirting with her for the past month now.

"And yeah," she finishes, and I smile.

"What're you two talking about?" Oliver asks as he walks down the stairs, and Bonnie's eyes go wide.

"Don't tell him," she pleads, and I nod my head and mime zipping my lips shut.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I reply as he sits beside me, and he's so close to me that I can feel his chest on my back. The both of us are looking over at Bonnie, whose face shows her sheer terror.

"Come on Bonnie, who are these boys that you're talking about?" Oliver asks, and I rest my body up against his. Bonnie's face is red, and I can't imagine how it must feel to be her.

"Ollie, you look like you're busy, and I've got some homework to do," Bonnie says, standing quickly and practically running out of the room.

For a moment, Oliver and I stay how we were sitting, me leaning up against him, but then I move, and he stands to start the movie. As the movie begins and Tom Hanks begins to speak, he sits down beside me, putting his arm up on the couch behind me.

"There's no way that you're going to tell me what she was talking about, are you?" he asks me, and I shake my head, my eyes trained on the movie. I'm surprised that I know many of the words, and can recall them from memory.

"That would break the girl code," I tease, and when I look over at him, he's already looking at me. "But also there is no way she needs her big brother, the team captain of the football team, star quarterback, and math ace, intimidating some poor boy."

"I'm not that intimidating," he says, pouting, and I laugh, moving slightly closer to him.

"You are that intimidating," I tell him, and he frowns. "I'm not even your sister and you would intimidate all of my boyfriends, even when we weren't the closest of friends." He shakes his head, but his frown lessens, so I hope I've been able to distract him for at least a moment.

We sit in silence, watching the movie in front of us. It isn't until the part where Forrest tries to save Bubba's life and he dies, when I start crying. Oliver wraps his arms around me, and I rest my head on his chest, drying my tears on his shirt as Bubba and Forrest say their goodbyes.

"I forgot how sad this movie made you," Oliver whispers sadly, and I smile, leaning back slightly to look at him. One of his arms is still around me, and tears rim his eyes.

"At all the wrong parts too," I say tearfully, and he smiles at the words. He used to always tease me about that. I would cry when Lieutenant Dan walked up to Forrest's wedding, but then when Jenny died I was hardly affected at all. Oliver used to say that I was jealous of her, and while he was not wrong, I was mostly upset that Forrest pined after the wrong girl for so long.

"Dede, I need some help," Bonnie says as she walks in about ten minutes later, and she sits beside me, handing me her phone. "What do I say?"

I read the text she's showing me, from some boy named Chase, asking her if she wants to study for their upcoming math test together sometime. I can feel Oliver reading over my shoulder, and although I'm tempted to hide the text from him, I assume that she's fine with it, as she hasn't yelled at him yet.

"Wait, is this Chase Derrick?" Oliver asks, resting his head on my shoulder as I hand Bonnie her phone back. Bonnie's face flushes, and she looks at me.

"You should say yes," I tell her, and Oliver begins to shake his head.

"How is she going to get there?" Oliver asks, and I shrug my shoulders.

"I could drive you." Bonnie smiles, and begins to text the boy back. I look back at Oliver, who clearly wants to say something, and I shake my head subtly. He frowns, but unpauses the movie.

Bonnie settles down to watch the movie with us, and I lean back up against Oliver as we continue to watch Forrest narrate the adventures of his life. Oliver takes my hand in his, and interlaces our fingers, and my eyes start to close. As much as I love this movie, it's getting increasingly hard to focus on it, as my breath evens out and syncs with Oliver's. As I drift off, I try to remember the last time that I spent this much time with Oliver Tate.

opening gif credits to: zuleszn
sign off gif credits to: potterlulls

AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS:

Chapter four is up! I'm planning on uploading chapter five soon as well to make the word count for the next milestone of ONC!

If you guys are doing the ONC, how are your stories coming along? Are there any I should check out when I've got the time?