CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

END OF THE DAY — ONE DIRECTION
If there's something I've learned from a million mistakes
You're the one that I want at the end of the day

FEBRUARY, 1995.
FIVE MONTHS BEFORE.

"GUYS, I NEED to vent," Bobby said, disrupting their rehearsal. "Can we take five?"

The other members of Sunset Curve shared a knowing look before giving Bobby a nod. They each moved around the studio, setting their instruments down before getting comfortable.

Over the past month, Bobby and Allie's relationship had deteriorated significantly—if that was even possible—and after hearing countless stories about their drama, the band knew exactly how the next fifteen minutes would go.

Bobby would explain what he and Allie fought about, say they broke up, then say they got back together.

Despite the countless retellings of the same story, they couldn't bring themselves to be annoyed by the boy's need to overshare. They could see how drained he was by this toxic cycle and as his friends, their support was something they gave freely.

Bobby's troubles also inspired Olivia and Luke to write something other than love songs. Writing about a relationship that was the opposite to theirs challenged them. After Christmas, their relationship was stronger than ever and while being in a happy and healthy relationship made for good love songs, the others were getting tired of singing them.

Other than Bobby's misfortune and Luke and Olivia's bliss, January consisted of a plethora of club performances, band practices, and Thursdays at Sonny's.

Between these gigs and the dates Luke brought her on, Olivia also found herself at the Pattersons' every week. When Sunday came around, she'd make up an excuse to spend time away from her boyfriend so she could go over to his parents' house for lunch.

Olivia thought she was being sneaky, but Luke figured out where she was going the second she tried to convince him that she was hanging out with Christa. Her smile was a dead giveaway. When she lied, her lips quirked up in a certain way that made her look like a child who was about to commit the atrocious crime of scribbling on the walls.

Luke played along and acted like he believed in her little white lies. Truthfully, he was glad that she still talked to his parents. They loved Olivia like she was their own child and having her around would definitely cheer them up in his absence.

He watched as Olivia opened her notebook to work on the song they failed to finish.

Luke often found himself staring at his girlfriend, wondering what he did right in his past life to deserve her. Because beside the piano where the sun hit her just right, he was reminded of how much of a goddess she was.

If it weren't for Bobby shoving a handful of darts in his hand, he would've stared at her until he fell to his knees.

The band listened as Bobby recited the exact words Allie had said to him. From what they gathered, Allie's friends didn't like Bobby and persuaded her to break up with him despite what she wanted.

"And then she was like 'I still love you' and I was like 'we are never getting back together...like ever'." He threw a dart and watched as it landed on the outer ring of the board. "It's tiring, man."

Reggie was sitting on the edge of his seat, living for the drama. "What happened next?"

"Oh, let me guess," Luke voiced, throwing a dart before turning to the troubled teen. "You got all sad and weepy, then called her back."

Olivia looked up from her notebook and tilted her head at Bobby. "You know, if I had a nickel for every time you and Allie broke up then got back together, I'd be sipping mimosas on a yacht somewhere."

Neither of their comments were appreciated and Bobby rolled his eyes. "Well, not everyone can date their best friend, Olivia."

"Sure you can." Luke threw another dart and nodded towards the couch. "Reggie and Alex are both single."

"Ha ha," Bobby replied sarcastically before rushing at the other guitarist. They play fought for a few moments, nearly falling over Reggie's bass. Somehow, they tumbled over to the couch where the Reggie and Alex were, but the latter kicked them to the side before they could get too close.

Olivia shook her head at the boys with a small smile on her face. She marched over to them and yanked the darts out of their hands so they wouldn't accidentally stab each other.

"Can we please focus?" She asked, walking over to the basket where they kept the extra darts. "What we have so far is good, but it's not finished. This song isn't going to write itself."

Bobby shook Luke by the shoulders and pushed him towards her. "That's your cue, Romeo. Better go before the missus gets angry."

Olivia rolled her eyes at the pair as they began to fight again and turned to the calendar beside the dart board. She had to do a double take because she almost missed the newest addition among the countless gigs they had scheduled.

"Why is Valentine's Day circled?"

She spun around to face the boys with her hands on her hips.

Immediately, Luke and Bobby dropped their hold on each other and the four boys shared a look.

"Uh, no reason."

She studied them carefully. Half of them were avoiding eye contact with her and the other half were trying to maintain it to seem like they were telling the truth. Even after all this time, they were still shit liars.

"No, no, no," Olivia chanted, giving them pointed looks. "Guys, I told you I don't want to make a big deal about my birthday."

Reggie was the first to crack. "But Livy," he whined, "it is a big deal. You're going to be eighteen!"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, you can vote and buy lottery tickets—"

"And you're no longer jailbait," Bobby added with a pointed finger.

The others stared at him with raised brows.

"What?" He questioned, sensing their judgement. "She's hot! You've seen how many people try and flirt with her at the clubs."

"How can I forget?" Alex scoffed. "We usually end up fighting them."

"Hey, some of them are creeps," Luke justified. He walked over to where Olivia's water bottle was and took a sip.

He didn't mind if people approached his girlfriend as long as she was comfortable with it and they were respectful towards her. He knew how breathtaking she was and he couldn't blame them for acknowledging it. He was secure in his relationship with her. He wouldn't date a woman like Olivia if he knew he couldn't handle it.

But sometimes, the people who came up to her weren't respectful. Sometimes they'd say something out of line or touch her without her permission. Luke knew that Olivia was fully capable of saving herself, but more often than not, he'd step in before anything else could happen. He was protective over her and the moment she showed any sign of distress, he would be right by her side, usually accompanied by the others.

Olivia turned back to the calendar, the heart shaped outline clear as day now that she had noticed it. Inside of the poorly drawn heart, Alex's handwriting resided. "We can't do anything for my birthday anyways," she stated, walking back to the piano. "We have a gig, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Alex nodded, glancing at the others. "How could we forget?"

Reggie nodded. "Looks like you lucked out."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at them, her gaze filled with heavy suspicion. They were hiding something.

Before Olivia could start grilling them for answers, Bobby clapped his hands. "Good, now that that's settled. Back to my story."

By the time her birthday rolled around, Olivia was convinced that the boys had finally accepted that she didn't want to celebrate it. Besides waking her up with flowers and balloons, they showed no interest in her birthday.

She should've known better.

THE RED LIGHTS of the club only added to the charged atmosphere of the room as Sunset Curve finished their song. Olivia flipped her hair back with a smile, soaking in the applause. Stray strands of hair stuck to the sweat on her skin as she turned to face her boyfriend. He smirked at her before raising an eyebrow.

"Thank you," Olivia said, looking out at the crowd again. There was a hint of playfulness in her tone. "That song was called My Name is Luke, written by the sleeveless wonder, Luke Patterson."

Once she was turned away, Luke sent Bobby a look and two boys removed their guitars from their shoulders. As inconspicuously as they could, they made their way over to the side of the stage. Their attempt to sneak away without drawing any attention failed as the crowd sent them questioning looks.

Olivia saw all of the confused faces staring back at her and turned to her bandmates.

"Hey, where are you two going?"

They froze and their eyes widened as they searched their brains for an answer. "Uh, bathroom break...?"

Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head. "Together? Are you gonna hold it for each other?"

Ignoring the laughs that came from the audience, the two boys shrugged. "Maybe."

"We're in the middle of a set!" Olivia called out as they turned to leave again. When they failed to acknowledge her, she gave the crowd a small smile of defeat. "Okay, it looks like I've got to entertain you until they get back. How is everyone tonight? Enjoying the show?"

The audience cheered and the three remaining Sunset Curve members shared a grin. "That's good to hear." She surveyed the people before her and spotted a girl wearing the exact same shirt she was eyeing at the mall the other week. "You know what I love about playing a show on Valentine's Day? I get to see all of your amazing outfits, you all look so good." She paused and a thoughtful expression washed over her features. "Out of curiosity, how many of you are on a date right now?"

The noise in the room amplified as the audience answered her question.

"Huh, that's more people than I thought. And how many of you are single?"

The crowd cheered louder for that question than they did the last, causing her to nod expectantly. "Ah, there you go," she mused, taking her microphone off of its stand. She walked over to Reggie and her hand came up to pat his shoulder. "Reggie's single if any of you are into bassists. He's a catch. Great listener, super sweet, and very respectful. He loves dogs and long walks on the beach."

In her peripheral vision, she saw Bobby return to the stage.

He took his microphone off its stand. "What are you doing, Livy?"

"Just trying to find Reggie a date. It's tough work."

He shook his head at her before turning to the crowd. "For those who don't know, today is Olivia's birthday." He ignored the glare she was sending her way. "But not just any birthday, it's her eighteenth birthday! So if you wouldn't mind, would you all join us in singing happy birthday to our wonderful front-woman?"

Just as she was about to protest, Luke emerged from backstage carrying a small birthday cake with a single candle on it.

The first thought that graced Olivia's mind was, 'oh no, not again', and she was instantly brought back to the previous year when the boys made their entire high school's cafeteria sing happy birthday to her. She should've known that they wouldn't have dropped the subject of celebrating her birthday.

Alex left his spot behind the drums and made his way downstage. He took the microphone from Olivia's hand and bumped her shoulder with his.

The room erupted in song as Olivia covered her face with her hands. She tried to fight it, but a smile creeped its way onto her lips and when she dropped her hands, she saw that Luke was staring at her with the biggest grin she had ever seen.

"Happy birthday, dear Olivia! Happy birthday to you!"

"Make a wish," Alex said into the microphone.

The room silenced for a moment as she inhaled. She didn't need time to think. Under the stage lights with her favourite people, she knew exactly what she wanted her wish to be.

She wanted to keep being happy.

Gathering her hair so it was out of the way, she leaned down and blew out the candle.

As she straightened up, she felt a hand on the back of her head and she was pushed forward. Her eyes widened as the cake nearly touched her noise, but she fought back and managed to escape unfrosted.

When Olivia looked up, her gaze landed on a laughing guitarist. She pursed her lips and punched Luke's arm, only to be met by him sticking his tongue out at her.

For a moment, they were the only people in the room.

As her eyes twinkled with adoration, Luke's hand found its way back to her head. He didn't try to shove her face in her cake this time and instead, he pulled her in and kissed her forehead. "Happy birthday, baby."

She smiled up at him and if they weren't in a room filled with single people on Valentine's Day, she would've kissed him right then and there.

One of the bottle service girls working for the club came onstage and took the cake from Luke, probably with the intention to bring it to their green room.

When the crowd settled down, Olivia thanked them for the birthday wishes and introduced their next song, a smile still firmly planted on her face.

About half an hour later, their set came to a close and Olivia found herself in the backseat of Reggie's car, stuck between Luke and Alex's sweaty arms. The windows were down as they sped through the Los Angeles streets and pop songs blared through the speakers.

When Reggie parked the car, Olivia realized that they had stopped far too soon to be at their studio. She leaned over Alex so she could get a good look out the window and when she saw the house they were parked in front of, she immediately started protesting.

"Guys," she said, turning away from the house full of people and back to her friends. "A party, really?"

Luke knew what she was thinking and that a party thrown in her honour was the last thing she wanted. Her control over her stage fright may have gotten better, but her anxiety was still bad when it came to having a party where everyone's eyes were on you. At least on stage, there was a physical barrier separating her from everyone else.

"Relax, trouble," Luke assured. "It's not for you."

She gave him a flat look. "I find that hard to believe considering this is Christa's house."

"Okay, it is for you," he caved with a guilty smile.

Olivia let out a sigh. It's not that she didn't enjoy going to parties, because she did—hell, she performed at Hollywood clubs every week and that was as party crazy as you could get. The problem was that a party thrown in her honour meant that everyone's attention would be on her. She'd have to act in a certain way and there was no musical performance to use as a security blanket.

"I swear to god," she stressed, eyes moving over to each of her bandmates, "if you guys make this house full of teenagers sing happy birthday to me, I'll kill you. The club was enough."

"You loved it," Reggie slyly replied, patting her knee.

Alex chuckled. "No one except for us and Christa knows that this party's actually for your birthday, everyone else just thinks it's her annual Valentine's Day party."

"Perfect." Olivia nodded, feeling the tension release from her shoulders.

Bobby grinned at her acceptance and clapped his hands together. "Alright!" he cheered. "Let's go get wasted!"

OLIVIA WAS NO stranger to alcohol. In her family, the moment somebody turned fifteen, they were allowed to have one beer at every family get together. They believed that teenagers were going to drink underage regardless of what their parents said, so they might as well drink in a safe environment. But despite her early exposure, she was still a lightweight.

It took Olivia no more than thirty minutes to reach the place between tipsy and drunk. She felt loose and her anxiousness was melted away, but she was still aware of her surroundings.

Bobby, on the other hand, was not.

When the group walked into the house, one of the first people to greet Olivia was Allie. The girl with braided hair wished her a happy birthday as discretely as she could and walked away without sending her boyfriend a second glance. Allie's cold shoulder put Bobby in a bad mood and like he said he was going to in the car, he got absolutely wasted.

Alex and Luke weren't as intoxicated as their bandmates, each of them on their second bottle of cheap beer. Alex was taking it slow to avoid embarrassing himself and Luke was trying to stay more sober than Olivia to keep an eye on her.

Reggie was the designated driver, so the only thing he was drinking was a juice box he found in the fridge.

As the night went on, the five members of Sunset Curve stuck together.

There was a certain energy in the air that existed among them. Luke and Reggie stood side by side watching as Alex and Olivia finally got Bobby to dance with them. There was no hesitation nor was there any protest. The sound of their laughter was washed away by the TLC song blasting from the speakers around them, but it could still be felt.

Olivia knew that she had gotten her wish. She was happy, so indescribably happy.

When the song ended, Bobby excused himself from the group and stumbled his way over to Allie.

Not wanting to witness the train wreck that was about to happen, Olivia snuck away and crept up the stairs in search of the bathroom.

She came to a stop in the middle of the staircase and looked up at the large wall before her.

It was filled with pictures of a happy family and she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in her chest.

This is who her father left her for. Christa, her mother, and her younger twin brothers.

She knew that her father was trying to make amends, which was probably why he allowed Christa to throw her a birthday party, but it still hurt to acknowledge that the damage had been done.

Olivia was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the presence of someone beside her.

"Hey. Happy birthday."

Olivia turned and saw none other than Jason Cummings standing on the step below her.

"You look good."

"Um, thanks," she awkwardly replied. She looked over the bannister, searching for one of her band members.

Jason failed to notice her discomfort or simply didn't care, and leaned against the railing of the stairs. "So you and Patterson, huh?"

"Yeah." Olivia nodded, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips as the boy was mentioned. Her gaze scanned the living room below for any of her friends. "We've been together since September."

Jason let out a long whistle. "Wow," he mused mockingly. "I gotta say I'm surprised."

Olivia turned, her brows furrowed defensively. "Why's that?"

"Oh, nothing." Jason shrugged. "I just thought you had standards."

Her eyes narrowed. "What, like you?"

"Well—"

"What are you doing in my house, creep?"

Jason turned around to see Christa stalking up the stairs with a glare. She stopped beside Olivia and placed a hand on her hip. Her eyebrow raised expectantly as she waited for an answer.

Jason rolled his eyes. "It was an open invite, Christa."

"Not to you."

There was a fake smile on her face and Olivia was sure that this was the first time she witnessed Christa be rude to someone other than her.

Jason wiped his nose and looked off to the side with a scoffed. "So what?" he asked, turning his head with bitterness in his voice. "You guys are friends now?"

"We're actually sisters, but you already knew that." Olivia tilted her head at him. "You should leave before Christa kicks you down the stairs."

The two girls stood tall with their shoulders back as Jason retreated down the stairs in defeat. Once he disappeared into the crowd below them, Christa turned to Olivia and brought her into a hug.

"Happy birthday," she said before pulling away. She handed Olivia one of the drinks she was holding and urged her to drink.

Olivia downed the drink with a grimace and handed the empty solo cup back to her.

"I'm sorry about him," Christa said, turning to leave, "I'll get one of the basketball guys to throw him out."

Olivia gave her a salute as she left, then turned to walk up the remaining steps.

While Olivia was searching for the bathroom, Luke was searching for her. He found her just as she accidentally walked in on two people hooking up in Christa's room. He chuckled at her embarrassed expression and guided her to the bathroom. He remembered where it was from his childhood, and ended up guarding the door for her in case some drunk teen stumbled up to where they were.

After a while, Luke noticed that she was taking way too long. "Livy," he called, knocking on the door. "Liv, you good?"

He received no reply and was sent into a whirlpool of worry. What if she was crying? What if she was throwing up? What if she passed out?

He knocked again before pushing the door open. "Liv, why didn't you— What are you doing?" He froze in the door when he saw Olivia standing on the toilet, trying to remove the screen from the bathroom window. She nearly toppled over and he rushed to her side. "Hey, be careful."

"I want to see the stars," she pouted, popping the screen out of the window.

Luke suppressed a smile as she tried to climb out of it and gently took her by the arm. He carefully stepped onto the toilet and climbed through the window. He struggled for a moment, as this window was significantly smaller than the one in Olivia's bedroom, and when he was on the roof, he nearly lost his footing because of the wind. "You gotta be careful, baby." He stretched his hands out for her to take. "It's windy and you're drunk, you might fall off. C'mere."

He helped Olivia onto the roof and the pair sat side by side. She rested her head on his shoulder and intertwined their fingers.

"Did you have a good day?" Luke questioned. He felt her nod against him.

There was a few moments of silence as they watched partygoers stagger out of the house.

Away from all the people, the drinks, and the pounding music, Olivia could feel fatigue creep in. Club performances took a lot out of her and the party only added to how drained she felt. Her eyes closed and she shuffled closer to Luke.

"Why don't you like your birthday?" Luke asked. He knew that she never celebrated it while dating Jason, but he thought that had more to do with him than it did her. "You never want to celebrate."

"I don't like being the centre of attention."

"But you're the lead singer of the band."

"That's different." She shrugged, her eyes still shut. She could feel herself slipping away, her body succumbing to the exhaustion of the day. "When I'm on stage, I'm with you guys. We share the spotlight and we're worth all of the attention we get. On my birthday, it's just me. Not worth as much."

Luke's brows furrowed at her words. "That's not true."

Olivia didn't see herself the way Luke saw her.

Luke saw the way her hair fell in the morning before she first woke up, her chest rising and falling to her own rhythm as her cheek pressed against him. He saw the way she wrote in her journal, her brows furrowed in concentration and humming a catchy melody. He saw the way her eyes lit up at the mention of her little brother and the crinkle of her nose when she laughed. He saw the way she brought warmth to everyone she came in contact with and the way she looked at their friends with love and care.

Olivia didn't see this. There was no mirror in front of her when she was laughing, or smiling, or singing to a crowd. There was no way for her to see herself when she was truly free—when she was truly herself.

Luke couldn't understand how Olivia could view herself as unworthy because to him, she was beautiful. To him, she was worth all of the stars in the sky.

And god, how he loved her.

He loved her. He loved her. He loved her.

He was in love with her and all the little things that she comprised of. He loved her more then yesterday and less than tomorrow. He loved her like the moon loved the sun and how flowers loved springtime.

He loved her. He loved her. He loved her. And he needed to tell her.

"Hey, Olivia?"

He looked up at the stars with a fond smile before he turned to her with his eyes twinkling with adoration.

"I love you."

Olivia didn't say a word and he knew that she didn't hear him. Her breathing evened out two minutes ago and her grasp on his hand had loosened. Even if she wasn't asleep, he doubted that she'd be able to hear him anyways. It was too windy.

So he watched as people stumbled out of the dying party until it was just him, her, and the moon.

RAE SPEAKS !
this chapter said end of the day rights