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"Hi! Thank you for calling Pete's Pizza. What can I get for you?"

Can I order a meat lover's pizza? Extra large. Preferably deep dish."

"Oliver that wasn't funny and I'm working. I don't have time for this."

"And I'm hungry delivery boy, hurry it up."

Addison sighed and wrote down Oliver's order, "Will that be all?"

"No, I'd like to make a request. I want you to deliver it to me." Oliver's voice was low and titillating. Addison's boss walked in and gave a questioning glance at his flushed expression.

"No can do I'm working at the register and you're already coming over tonight."

"Addison I told you the first day you started, no personal calls." Addison hung up the phone and gave Eli Oliver's order.

"Sharron, it wasn't a personal call just some guy being a weirdo I swear."

"That "weirdo" made you redder than a tomato, sure you're not fond of his tactics?"

Addison gave her a dismissive look and walked to the back with Eli.

"Was it Oliver again?"

Eli Masery.

Or Eli Misery, it depended on the day.

He and Eli became friends freshman year, along with Eve. All three of them applied for jobs at Pete's in their junior year, but Eve slept with their boss's son just a week after getting the job and got fired.

Not exactly for sleeping with him but she did it in the establishments' storage closet and got caught by the guys' mom so it was doomed to happen.

So that left the two of them there and Eve working at a diner across town.

Addison shrugged at the boy's question causing a slight grin to appear on Eli's face, "Of course it was. He's the only guy that could ever get you so worked up at work."

"Shut up."

"Ok sorry. Wouldn't want you to have to think about your "enemy." 

"He called to bother me like he always does."

"Who else does he do that to? Oh yeah, no one because he likes you." Eli set Oliver's pizza in a bricked Masonry.

Addison scoffed, "Eli this isn't elementary school where your crushes pick on you because they're madly in love with you. I hate Oliver and he feels the same way about me, he just shows it differently.

"I'm telling you. For him to call this place just to hear your voice you must be all he thinks about. And one day you're gonna notice it and I'll have to say "I told you so" at you guys' wedding."

"Well...I don't like him."

"Everyone likes him."

"Of course they do. They see a hot athletic guy who occasionally thrift shops and they immediately fall to their knees. I'm not doing that, I'm staying far away from that jerk."

"You think he's hot?"

"No--Can we stop talking about this?"

"Nope."

"Fine if you want to talk about Oliver so bad let's talk about how Eve's been slobbering at the mouth over him for years." Eli's smirk vanished.

"That's not funny."

Eli's had a crush on Eve for years. Specifically, since the day they all met which was the first day of high school, making it 4 years.

"But you saying I like Oliver is?"

"I never said you liked him I said he likes you. If you're going to bring up something so sensitive at least have a good reason."

A foul smell suddenly filled the room along with a stream of smoke that arose from the Masonry. Eli sniffed and winced. This was his 9th pizza this month. "Shit."

"That's what you get."

"Grow up."

Addison gave him a sarcastic smile before returning back to the register.

...

"No visitors Addison. We mean it." Addison's mom shouted heading towards the front door.

"Yeah what she said." His father muttered. He took her hand and waved to Addison before tugging her lightly out the front door.

Their weekly date night, luckily the same night as he and Oliver's...he didn't even know what to call it, to be honest.

He fell face-first on his mattress with a loud groan. Oliver should have been there 10 minutes ago. Where the hell was he? 

His phone buzzed after about 20 minutes of waiting. Seeing the sender, his face lit up with a wide grin.

User789o0: Hey can we talk?

His grin turned into a slight frown. This can't be good.

Yeah is everything ok? Is it your dad?

User789o0 was Addison's...friend in a sense. He was his outlet, usually, he would feel horrible for using someone to rant to but that was what their "relationship" was built on. It was built on talking and making each other feel better, and it worked a lot.

It's been working for months.

Ever since his experience with bullying he had problems accepting himself. Not his sexuality but his looks, his body, even his voice. To put it bluntly, he hated everything about himself. And that caused him to distance himself away from others because he felt like that's what they want.

If he couldn't love himself how the hell could he expect anyone else to?

He never talked about it to anyone though. How could he? Eli and Eve were great but they're not the sentimental type, and his parents are too busy going on dates and cruises to spare him a lick of attention.

Who else could he talk to? Oliver?

Oliver was used for physical validation. He made him feel like his body, no matter how much he hated it, deserved some sort of attention. He made him feel like his skinny torso and thin arms were okay because God knows he's never thought that and he never would.

User789o0: Yeah we got into another argument and he was close to hitting me. I broke down right in front of him. I gave him what he wanted and now that he knows how to get a reaction out of me I'm scared things are going to get worse.

When Addison got fed up with his feelings he went to his generation's most used coping mechanism, social media. He found User789o0 in some random ranting chat room with people who lived near him. Before they met he'd talked to a lot of different people. It showed him how many people struggle in their everyday lives.

Although you should never compare your problems to others, he had a habit of doing just that. He felt like some confidence issues were nothing compared to anyone else's problems, definitely not User789o0's.

He should have never come close to laying a hand on you, just like he has no right to talk to you the way he does.

User789o0: I just need to get out of this house rn. I can't do this anymore it's too much. It's only getting worse.

Do whatever you need to do just please take some time and breath. Don't make any rash decisions.

Moments like these are when Addison notices just how much he cares for some nameless guy he met on the internet. He didn't know what he would do if this guy hurt himself or stopped replying.

It would hurt, not just because he wouldn't know if he was okay but also because he didn't know what he would do without him.

He replied a few minutes later and Addison felt like he could finally breathe.

User789o0: I'm gonna be fine. Thank you for being there it meant a lot. I'm heading to a friend's house but I'll text you when I'm back.

Addison laid flat on his back and sighed. Still no word from Oliver.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

I'm gonna be honest, in this story, Pete's pizza's Yelp reviews must not be the best because they barely get customers.

And who's fault is that? Mine because I keep forgetting the fact that it's a restaurant and not some socializing spot.

 I've typed User789o0 so many times, it's like an instinct now. 

BTW VOTING IS A NICE LITTLE FINGER WORKOUT! YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT? WELL NOW YOU DO :) TRY IT OUT ON THIS CHAPTER...please