CHAPTER ELEVEN

SWEET CREATURE — HARRY STYLES
I always think about you and how we don't speak enough

NOVEMBER, 1993.
TWENTY MONTHS BEFORE.

RIDING THE HIGH of their first performance, the members of Sunset Curve decided that they didn't want to stop. They wanted more gigs. The moment they stepped off the stage, they were already talking about their second performance. This conversation of a non-existent performance lead the band to the realization that if they wanted to make it big, then they would need more songs. Thus leading Olivia to walk up the Patterson's driveway on Sunday afternoon.

The front door swung open and Luke smiled in greeting, hiding any nervousness he felt as he waited for her to show up. "Hey, trouble."

"Hi, headache," Olivia responded, tilting her head to the side. For once, Luke was wearing a shirt with sleeves on it.

"Headache?" He chuckled, mirroring her actions. 

Olivia shrugged with a teasing grin. "You're the reason for most of mine so I thought it was fitting."

"Ouch." He placed his hand over his heart before stepping aside to make room for her to pass. "Come on in."

The Patterson residence was a one level house straight out of an 80's home decor magazine. The front door opened into a long hallway, the lower half lined with wood paneling and the upper half littered with picture frames. To the left of the door was the living room. There was grey settee and its matching chairs sitting in front of a fire place whose mantel was also covered in pictures of the family. If Olivia had to describe the home in one word, it would be just that—a home.

Luke lead her through the living room and into the kitchen where a woman with long brown hair was standing over the stove. At the sound of footsteps, she turned. Her smile was the first thing Olivia noticed about the woman. It was identical to Luke's.

"Mom, this is Olivia," Luke introduced, stopping on the other side of the kitchen island.

Olivia stepped out from behind him and smiled. "Hi, Mrs. Patterson," she said, nervously playing with the notebook in her hands. "It's lovely to meet you."

Mrs. Patterson threw the tower she was holding over her shoulder and she leaned over the counter, sticking her hand out for Olivia to shake. "Hello, sweetheart. Please, call me Emily." Their hands joined and she gave Olivia the most welcoming smile she had ever seen. "You were right," she whispered obviously, turning to her son with a knowing look, "she is very pretty."

"Mom—" Luke sighed, ignoring the small giggle the two women shared over his embarrassment. He turned and nudged Olivia in the direction of the sliding doors that led out to the back of the house. "We're gonna hang out in the backyard."

"Okay," Emily nodded, "I'll be in here if you need anything."

When Olivia and Luke rounded the corner of the island, he broke away from Olivia's side and kissed his mom's cheek. "Thanks, Mom." He tried to steal a baby carrot from the chopping board beside her, but she swatted his hand with her wooden spoon and waved him away.

The pair exited the house. Luke's backyard was pretty big. There was a large pool taking up most of the space by the door, and beyond that was a grassy lawn and an old play structure complete with a slide and swing set. Luke walked over to the lounge chairs where his acoustic guitar rested and waited for Olivia to follow. She walked straight past him and headed towards the old play structure. She had always wanted one growing up, but Mikey was prone to accidents and their parents didn't want him to fall off the top of the slide and break a bone.

"So," Olivia started with a teasing smile. She climbed up the structure where it formed a little house, though it was a bit hard seeing as it was made for six year olds and not sixteen year olds, and leaned over the railing. "You think I'm pretty?"

Luke raised an eyebrow at her before grabbing his guitar and walking over. She was teasing him, but he answered seriously. "You are pretty," he stated, passing her his guitar so he could climb up the structure with her. He had no reason to lie. Olivia was pretty, probably one of the prettiest people he'd ever seen. It would be rude to say she wasn't just for the sake of saving himself from embarrassment.

Olivia expected him to deny it. She couldn't remember the last time someone other than her mom called her pretty, so when she heard the compliment, she was taken back. She couldn't tell if he was being honest or simply polite. Her gaze focused on him intently as she tried to figure it out.

Luke climbed onto the platform she was standing on and placed himself next to her. It had been years since he last climbed the play structure and it was a lot smaller than he remembered. He took the guitar from Olivia and froze when his eyes met hers. She was analyzing him, looking for a clue that would tell her he was lying. "What?" he asked with a nervous chuckle.

Olivia stepped away from him and sat down. She leaned back against the wood railing and stretched her legs out in front of her. Her feet just touched the opposite side of the fort they were in. Her eyes fell to the planked floor and she shook her head dismissively. "It's nothing."

Luke gave her a look like he didn't believe her. "You are pretty," he repeated, this time with a slight tone of disbelief. "You know that, right?"

"I know I'm not ugly," she said, responding to his question without actually answering it. The truth was that Olivia never viewed herself as pretty, nor did she view herself as ugly. She thought she was average at best.

Luke sat across from her. His legs were too long to fit in the fort, so he left one bent and rested the other on the top of the slide. "Did Jason never tell you—" He cut himself off when Olivia shook her head. His jaw dropped. "Really? Olivia, you're so pretty!"

She could feel her cheeks flush. She shrugged, fiddling with the edge of her shirt. "No one's really called me that besides my mom—and yours."

"And me."

Olivia looked up at Luke, only to find him already staring at her. The corners of his lips curled slightly upwards as his head tilted to the side. His arm rested on the neck of his guitar, the long sleeves of his sweater hiding his hand. He looked cozy, like the complete opposite of the rockstar he liked to portray himself as. The sun peaked through the cracks in the railings and the empty window frames of the wooden play structure, hitting the back of Luke's head and creating a bronze halo around him. Olivia gave him a small smile.

"And you."

The pair stared at each other for a moment. There was lightness in the air despite the tension growing between them in the small fort. Luke saying that she was pretty gave Olivia butterflies that she had never felt in the two years of dating Jason, but she wasn't thinking about them. She was thinking about the ring of autumn light surrounding Luke's head and how much the idea of him wearing a halo suited him. It was just as bright and warm as he was.

Luke on the other hand was staring at Olivia with a soft gaze. The golden light hit the small wall beside her, illuminating her face in a warm glow. He could write an entire album about how pretty she looked in the moment.

Luke cleared his throat, suddenly hyperaware of how long they had been staring at each other. He nodded towards the notebook on the floor next to her. "Alright, what've you got for me, boss?"

Olivia shook herself out of her thoughts and picked her journal up. "So I've had this idea in my head since the dance, but I don't know how to put it into words that would make sense lyrically," she said, flipping through the pages.

"What's it about?"

"Us, the band," she stated, stopping on the page she was looking for. There were scribbles of the band on stage and floating phrases that littered the area around her doodles. "I don't know, there was this unstoppable feeling when we played the other night, I think it would make a pretty cool song. It's sort of like feeling invincible and living in the moment but still looking forward for the future. Does that... make sense?" She shifted nervously in her spot. Her explanation was probably overcomplicated, but she was never too good at explaining anything and Luke always seemed to catch onto what she was saying anyway.

He nodded with a thoughtful expression. "I get what you're saying," he reassured. "It's like you don't know when your time is up, so you need to live with no regrets. Now or never, kinda."

"Yeah, that's— that's a way better way of putting it... Simpler." No matter how many times they wrote together, it always amazed Olivia how quickly Luke could grasp onto the concepts and ideas she placed before him. She passed her notebook over to him. "Here, I wrote some lyrics. They're not that good but, take a look."

Luke took the cheap journal graciously. He let out a small chuckle of amusement when he spotted her poorly drawn doodles of the band. There were two things Olivia Montez wasn't good at: dancing and drawing. He shook his head and his eyes searched for the words she was talking about. "All the times we fell behind were just the keys to paradise." He looked up at her. "These are good, Liv."

"Thanks," she bashfully replied, happy that they were on the same page. "We don't have to work on it today, I just wanted to run the idea by you. We can put it on the back burner for now."

She put her hand out for the notebook, but Luke had other ideas. Without looking at her, he flipped through the pages of her book.

"Hey!" Olivia protested with furrowed brows. She leaned forward and tried to grab it from him, but he held it further out of reach. "Luke!"

"It's only fair!" He laughed, moving his guitar off his lap. "You went through my journal!"

Olivia's lips pursed and she gave him a curt nod. He had a point. "Okay, fine," she sighed, sitting back down. "Go ahead."

Luke gave her a cheeky grin and returned to the pages of her book. "Sweet Creature?" He read.

"That one's about Jason," Olivia stated. "I wrote it about a year ago."

He nodded and moved on to the next song. "Unpredictable?"

"That's about the band."

"Empty Wallets?"

"That's about the band and being broke."

Luke stopped on a page with blue ink covering the majority of it. Unlike the rest of Olivia's songs, this one looked like it had undergone many rewrites. "Story of Another Us?" The lyrics seemed to be that of a break up song, but it was dated long before she and Jason had broken up. "What's this one about?"

Olivia froze, a pained and panicked look flashing across her eyes. "Okay," she said, leaning forward. "I think you've seen enough."

Luke pouted when she took the notebook from him. "Hey, but that one was a good one."

He tried to take the book back, but Olivia shook her head at him. "Nope."

"Come on, please?"

"Luke," a chastising voice called from below them, "leave the poor girl alone."

The pair turned their heads to see Luke's mom walking towards them with a pitcher of lemonade. Emily stopped in front of the ladder and placed it on the floor between the two teens. Turning to her son, she gave him a teasing smile. "He's always been nosy, gets it from his father."

Luke gave her an offended look. "I am not nosy."

"Yes, you are," Emily and Olivia chorused. They shared a smile the moment the words left their mouths.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Olivia?" Emily asked with a hopeful twinkle in her eyes.

Her question was out of kindness, but Luke knew that his mother was up to something. "Mom," he scolded before turning to Olivia. "You don't have to, it's not—"

Olivia tore her eyes away from Luke and turned to Emily. "If it's not any trouble, I'd love to, Mrs. Patterson."

"Wonderful," she nodded, "I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

Once Emily had retreated back into the house, Luke raised his eyebrows and turned to Olivia. "You don't have to stay for dinner if you don't want to."

"Do you want me to stay?"

Luke's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "Well, yeah."

"Then I'll stay and hopefully your mom tells me some embarrassing stories about you." A slow growing grin came over her face.

He shook his head and grabbed his guitar. "That's funny," he said, jutting his chin out with a nod. "Remind me to ask your mom about that next time I'm over."

Olivia playfully rolled her eyes and opened her notebook so they could start working on their next hit song.

THE CIRCULAR DINING table that sat in the Patterson's kitchen was surrounded by the Patterson's and their guest. The table had been set by the two teens with Olivia insisting that she helped despite Emily's protests. About half an hour before dinner was finished cooking, Luke's father, Mitch, came home from work. He was a nice man and Luke definitely got his calm nature from him.

The dinner had been going well so far. The Patterson's loved Olivia. Emily and Mitch thought she was a sweet girl and they were glad that their son had made a friend like her. Olivia liked them as well, though she did find it weird to be in the presence of a married couple who actually enjoyed each other's company. It brought up some sad feelings about her own parents, but she managed to suppress them well enough to avoid questions.

"So Olivia," Mitch started from beside her, "Luke tells us you're in his band?"

Olivia looked up at Luke's father, missing the slightly annoyed expression on Luke's face. "Yes, I play piano and I sing."

"And what do your parents think about the band?"

"Dad," Luke warned with the small shake of his head, almost as if he was saying 'please don't start this again'.

Olivia could tell that Mitch was fishing for a certain answer. "My mom's never heard us play, but she thinks it's good for us," she said honestly. "It gives us something to do."

"You're mother is a baker, right?" Emily questioned from her spot on the other side of the girl. "Luke brought home biscottis the other week and they were the best I've ever had."

"She is." Olivia smiled proudly and took a sip of her water. "She has her own shop opening early next year."

"And what does your father do?" Mitch asked.

"Oh, um..." Olivia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Across the table, Luke leaned forward in his seat. Olivia never spoke about her father. "My dad was a writer at Warner Brothers."

"Was?" Mitch questioned with a frown. "I'm so sorry, I didn't—"

"Oh, no, no, he's alive," Olivia reassured quickly with an awkward chuckle. "It's just, uh, my parents got divorced last year and we haven't really spoken since..." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mitch said, giving the girl a sad smile.

Olivia didn't know how to respond, but thankfully Emily picked up on this and asked her another question.

"So what are you thinking of doing after school?"

Luke gave his mom a look. He knew where this conversation was headed. "Mom, this is supposed to be a dinner, not an interrogation."

Olivia glanced over at him in confusion. She didn't know why he was so quick to shoot down the question, his parents were just trying to make conversation.

"If the band doesn't work out, I'd love to become a music teacher," she confessed. "Our music teacher, Miss Taylor, has done a lot for us and I'd love to do the same for someone else one day."

Pleased with her answer, Emily gave Luke a look, giving the impression that this wasn't the first time they had this conversation. "See, Luke? It's okay to have back up plans."

"Mom," Luke groaned.

"All I'm saying is that you should have a back up if your band doesn't work out," Emily said, trying her best to tiptoe around her son's temper.

"We are going to work out," Luke pressed, stabbing his fork into his dinner.

Mitch glanced over at their guest and saw that Olivia's eyes flickered between his wife and son in curiosity. He turned to Luke with a sigh, "What your mother is trying to say is that we want you to have options."

Olivia was feeling very awkward. There was a suffocating tension in the air and she didn't know if she should stay quiet or come to her bands defense. She didn't want to come across as disrespectful, as it wasn't really her place to insert herself into a conversation that was obviously an ongoing family debate, but she could see that Luke was growing frustrated.

"And once the band blows up, I will have options," Luke nodded. "I'll have the option to play Madison Square Garden or the Staples Center."

"It's very hard to make it in the music industry," Emily pointed out.

"I know it's hard," Luke interrupted, "but that doesn't mean it's impossible!"

"Luke, I love how passionate you are, but you need to be realistic. You need to focus on school, getting a real job—"

Luke scoffed in disbelief and stabbed his food again. He couldn't understand why his parents couldn't just trust him and be supportive.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek as his stormy gaze landed on her. She offered him a small smile, hoping that it was enough to comfort him for the time being.

His shoulders sagged and he tore his stare away from the girl across from him. "Can we not talk about this anymore?" He asked his parents, not wanting to fight in the presence of Olivia. "Please?"

Both of his parents nodded and the table fell into an awkward silence.

Olivia had no idea that Luke's parents weren't on board with the whole band thing, especially since he was so adamant about it. But she could see where they were coming from. Emily was right when she said making it in the music industry was difficult. It could take years before they finally get their big break and being a struggling musician didn't pay the bills. But at the very least, she expected them to have some faith in their son's talent.

When dinner was finished, the heavy tension that blanketed the four had yet to dissipate. Olivia tried to help Emily clear the table, but the older woman waved her off and assured her that she was fine. Not wanting to overstep, she nodded and left the woman alone. Luke offered to walk her home five minutes later.

Olivia said her goodbyes and thanked the Pattersons for dinner, promising that she'd bring baked goods the next time she visited. Emily gave her a warm smile, thankful that the young girl hadn't taken offence to anything said about the band or Luke's goals.

Luke grabbed his plaid jacket from its place beside the door and waited for her to join him. When she was done talking to his parents, he lead her down the driveway and in the direction of her house.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Luke looked down at her. "Sorry you had to sit through that."

Olivia met his gaze and saw that he was nervously scratching the back of his neck. "It's alright, don't worry about it," she reassured. Her hands fiddled with the hem of her shirt as they passed Jason's house. "Have they always been opposed to the band?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they regret ever buying me my guitar," he said, a small frown coming over his lips. "They don't take the band seriously and I just— I wish they trusted me. The band is going to be big, I can feel it. I just wish they believed me."

"I believe you." Olivia bumped his arm with her elbow and gave him a small smile. "I don't think I've ever believed in anything more."

Luke bumped her back and shook his head, the corners of his lips turning up. "Thanks, trouble."

"No problem, headache."

RAE SPEAKS !
Olivia watching Luke and his parents argue while trying to look like they're not arguing because they have a guest: