Slightly mature content ahead? Idk, read at your own risk lol. ALSO, DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ GILDED BUTTERFLIES OR THE KING OF METROPOLIS! IT WILL SPOIL THEM FOR YOU!!!!
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MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!
"Let's go home. Before you embarrass us even more."
"I'm not enjoying this judgement Nora. I'm just having a bit of fun. Stop being so uptight."
Oliver glared at his girlfriend who was being a huge pain in the ass. She was so controlling. It was like she was intentionally trying to ruin his fun and he couldn't take it any more. All he wanted to do was enjoy the night with friends.
"Don't ever call me uptight! I'm helping you! You have work tomorrow! You shouldn't be getting high!"
Nora had been bringing him down ever since they got to the party and complaining about every little thing he did. A bump of cocaine was normal at a college party so Oliver didn't get why she was so angry and shocked. The thing about Nora was that she was too sensible. In high school she was wild but, now, five years later, she was just too reserved and... judgemental.
Maybe she just needed some of the magic dust herself. He tried to place the bag in her hand but she threw it back at him. It hit his chest with a thud, exploding into a cloud of powder. Oliver cursed and dusted his shirt off. She was so selfish. And Oliver was sick of it.
"Fine, whatever. Do whatever the fuck you want. I'm staying and having fun. Jeez, Nora, could you just act like a normal twenty three year old? Get off your high horse."
Before she could fit in another word, Oliver marched away. He couldn't handle anymore of her nagging. It was driving him insane. It was like she thought she was better than him or something.
To think that mere hours ago he had been on the phone with her mother asking her for her blessing to marry her daughter. He was meant to propose the previous month but they had a huge argument. This time, he actually asked her mother. Frankly, he only asked her to stop himself from chickening out. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry Nora. They went perfectly together. He loved her and couldn't imagine a future without her. They had been together for five years and they were both so in love with each other. But sometimes Oliver just wished that she would let him live a little.
"Yo, Oliver. I just saw Nora storm out of here! What happened!?" Ivan guffawed into his ear.
Ivan and Oliver met in high school. Ivan was a freshman when Oliver was a senior. But they didn't actually begin to hang out until Ivan interned at Scott Corp. Although Ivan was three years his junior, they got along like wild fire. Ivan threw the wildest ragers and Oliver always made sure to make an appearance at them.
"Uh... I don't know, man. You know what girls are like! So dramatic!"
Ivan laughed. "I'm sorry, dude! Come on, let's go get wasted. It will help you forget about her."
Oliver was already pretty drunk but not double-vision-can't-stand-straight-black-out drunk. And that was always the level of drunkenness Oliver aspired to reach on his nights out.
"Let's go!"
Oliver and Ivan staggered over to the drinks table where Ivan poured them both shots. After swigging three in a row, Oliver still didn't feel light-headed enough. He needed something stronger.
"This isn't cutting it for me. Where's your dealer?" Oliver shouted into Ivan's ear, over the loud music.
Ivan grinned. "I'll bring you to him."
Ivan and Oliver approached a tall guy wearing a colourful Hawaiian shirt and shorts. He had his back against them as he chatted to people. Ivan reached out and tapped his shoulder.
"Yo, Charlie, I got a customer for you."
Charlie swung around to face them. Oliver's mouth fell open as he was greeted with the sight of Charlie Kingsley, Spencer's brother. He hadn't seen him in years! He certainly wasn't skinny and lanky anymore like he was three years before.
Charlie's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh my god! Oliver! It's been a while!" His hand reached out and clapped against his shoulder.
"Yes it has! I thought you moved to Greece with Dustin!"
Charlie's smile fell and he awkwardly shrugged. "Uh, Dustin's in jail..."
"Oh, damn, man. That... sucks."
"Yeah.... He was caught two years ago in this huge bust and got six years. But he's hoping to get out on parole in a few months."
"Oh... fingers crossed, I guess."
"Wait! You guys know each other?" Ivan asked.
Charlie nodded. "Yeah! But... wait... Oliver, are you the customer Ivan was talking about?"
Oliver nodded nervously, glancing to look at Ivan. However, Ivan had disappeared, leaving them alone. Charlie furrowed his eyebrows, looking like he was in deep thought.
"Man... I don't know. If Spencer ever finds out he'll kill me. Plus, it's different when I'm dealing to other people. I don't really care about them."
Oliver sighed. "I just need to let loose. Work and Nora and this stupid music are all making me so damn stressed. It's a once off thing."
"You still with Nora?"
"Five years and counting."
Charlie thought for a moment. "Fine. Just this once. Let's go upstairs though because you're right. This music does suck."
Oliver grinned and led him upstairs. The spiral staircase really messed with his head. He fell down a few times but Charlie kept helping him up. Eventually they reached a room. It was lifeless enough to be a guest bedroom. Charlie unbuckled his leather YSL fanny pack and took out a plastic bag from it. Oliver approached him, almost salivating from the selection in front of him.
"Take this," Charlie instructed, handing him a small pill.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
Oliver shrugged. "Are you not going to take some?"
Charlie thought for a moment. "Hm. I never do but I guess I can make an exception this time." He took out another pill of ecstasy. "Okay, three... two...-"
"One,"Oliver said as he popped the pill into his mouth.
Charlie grinned and copied him before gulping it down with whatever was in his red solo cup. "I never use my supply but I guess there's a first for everything...."
Oliver collapsed onto the bed and let out a long sigh. Charlie sat on the floor, leaning back against the bed. He pulled out some sort of e-cigarette and took a deep puff from it.
"Why are you selling?" Oliver asked, after a few minutes of silence. He continued to stare aimlessly up at the ceiling.
"Because Dustin didn't want to lose his clients..."
"But... it's a pretty huge favour to ask. You're risking your life and future."
Charlie scoffed. "What future? I'm bound to be a fuck-up for the rest of my life."
Oliver frowned and sat up before sliding down to the floor to spot beside Charlie. "That's not true... I just think that you spent so long believing you're no good that you spoke it into existence. But it's not too late..."
Charlie shrugged. "I enjoy it."
"That's not true."
"Okay, maybe it's not. But I'm doing this for love. And when Dustin gets out, he won't have to worry about restarting..."
"That's fucked up."
Charlie scoffed and began to get up to leave but Oliver grabbed his arm.
"Wait! I'm sorry. I won't pry again, I promise."
Charlie sighed and sat back down. After a few seconds, his eyes darted to his arm where Oliver's fingers were still holding on to him. Oliver noticed this and quickly let go, muttering a quick apology.
"What about you, man? How are you?" Charlie asked.
"Good..."
"Nah, for real though. How are you?"
Oliver shrugged. "I'm stressed. My father keeps giving me jobs way beyond my capabilities and I can't say no because it's my dad we're talking about. You know what he's like.... He means well, I know that, but he can be so ruthless sometimes. And then there's everything happening with Nora..."
"What's happening with Nora?"
"I'm going to propose to her..."
Charlie released a whoosh of breath. "Wow.... Congratulations I guess."
"But we keep having fights. We keep arguing and she never lets me enjoy myself. She freaked out over me taking ecstasy and stormed out of the party."
Charlie thought for a moment, releasing a large cloud of vapour into the air. "She just cares about you. You should be grateful."
Oliver grimaced. "Let's stop talking about our problems. We clearly don't agree on how to go about with them."
Charlie chuckled. "Agreed... My heart is pounding. I think this pill is kicking in..."
Oliver nodded. "Same."
"Is Nora the only person you've ever loved?"
Oliver thought back to his first love, who just so happened to be Charlie's late sister. Ellie Kingsley. She was like a dream. Their fling was very short-lived but, despite that, Ellie was the first girl he loved.
Then came Madeline Lockhart, who was now the bane of his existence. What they had was toxically twisted and yet he still loved her. However, she did a lot of messed up things after they broke up that made Oliver realise how screwed up she was. He really did not believe she was a good person and he could never forgive her after what she did to Nora.
Then of course there was Nora. Despite the rocky start to their relationship, they were still going strong (ish) five years later. And he really couldn't imagine a life without her. He really loved her.
"Yes. Yes she is..." He decided not to mention Charlie's late sister to him. And Madeline? Well she was just embarrassing to reflect on. "Have you ever loved someone?"
"Just Dustin..."
Oliver could feel his skin become sweatier. His hair clung to his forehead and his hand was fidgeting less subtly than it had been moments ago. The pill was really kicking in.
"Uh... cool...."
Oliver spent the next few minutes of silence absorbing his surroundings. Everything was becoming more and more hazy.
"Charlie, this pill is really strong..."
Charlie suddenly jumped up to grab a pillow from the bed before sitting back down and plopping it onto his lap. He looked panicky, eyeing the door very carefully.
"What was that?" Oliver asked.
"What was what?"
"Why did you jump up like that? Why did you grab the pillow?"
"Uh... no reason."
Oliver turned to face him and raised his eyebrow. He smiled curiously at him. "You're acting really sketchy. What's wrong?"
Charlie winced nervously. "Don't laugh."
Oliver crossed his heart with his fingers.
"Um... so... these pills affect people in very different ways. This is the first time this has happened to me but... well... they seem to have.... uh...."
"Spit it out!"
Charlie sighed. "I got a....boner," He said, whispering the last part.
"What?"
"A boner."
"Raise your voice, I can't hear you!"
"I GOT A HARD ON, OLIVER!"
Oliver clamped his mouth shut, taking a few seconds to process. Then, he proceeded to burst into a fit of laughter.
"WHAT?! HAHAHAHA-"
"It's not funny-"
Oliver wiped the tears from his eyes as he continued to laugh. "The look on your face! This is hilarious. I wish I could capture this moment."
"Shut up!" Charlie said, beginning to get irked.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, I'll stop!" Oliver said, still laughing.
Charlie's clutch tightened on the pillow over his lap before turning to look straight at the wall.
Oliver could hear the music downstairs. The song was familiar. "What is this song?"
"Redbone. Childish Gambino."
"Cool..."
"My heart is beating like crazy..."
"Same," Oliver said.
A loud bang from outside made both of them jump. Charlie's pillow flipped onto the floor. As if in slow motion, Oliver and Charlie turned to slowly look at each other before both of them scrambled to grab the pillow. Oliver laughed as his fingers curled around it. He yanked it away and held it over his head. The look on Charlie's face was priceless. Charlie yelped and reached over to grab it from him.
"Give it back!"
Oliver snickered and held it behind his back as Charlie struggled to grab it from him. Without realising what he was doing, and without regard to the connotations, Charlie tackled him. However, as he fell on top of him, he realised exactly what it looked like. Oliver's laugh slowed down.
Oliver cleared his throat. "Uh..."
Charlie's face hovered over his, trying to catch his breath. Oliver's grip on the pillow loosened. Charlie's eyes darted to Oliver's lips and Oliver couldn't understand why his arms were suddenly too weak to push him off. He bit his lips and stared into Charlie's eyes, waiting for him to do something. Anything.
As Charlie leaned closer to him, Oliver finally achieved the level of light-headedness he had been striving for all night. Charlie's lips brushed over his. Then, suddenly, Charlie backed off.
"Charlie?"
Charlie sat straight up again and an anxious laugh escaped from his lips.
"Uh..yeah?"
Oliver nervously copied him, letting himself laugh but on the inside his brain cogs were malfunctioning and his heart was pounding.
"W-what was that?"
"J-Just spur of the moment shit. Don't worry about it. I'm not trying to convert you or anything."
"Convert me?" Oliver relaxed slightly.
"Into a raging queer."
"Oh."
"Yeah..."
"It wasn't bad..."
"Huh?" Charlie nearly got whiplash from how quick he turned to Oliver.
"The kiss. Not bad."
"Oh."
Oliver's hand inched towards Charlie's. Charlie didn't bother hide the surprise on his face. Oliver surprised himself with his next move. Suddenly, his lips were back on Charlie's, an action of his own doing. Charlie took a few seconds to get over the initial shock and eventually kissed him back. His hands knotted in his hair as they continued to make out. By the time they pulled apart, Oliver's lips were numb and swollen and Charlie looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Uh..."
"These pills. It's the pills. They really mess with your...libido." Charlie explained, still trying to catch his breath.
Oliver had given up on trying to organise his thoughts because there was nothing but chaos there.
"Uh... yeah."
It was probably the drugs. It was definitely the drugs. It had to be the drugs.
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HEY GUYS!
Welcome to THE FINAL BOOK IN THE SERIES! I really hope it fulfils your expectations! If you haven't read any of the first three books first, please please please read them before carrying on with this book!
I can't describe how happy I am to finally be finished with this series. These books are literally my babies and I love them with all my heart. Not to toot my own horn but I'm proud of myself for getting to this point. And I definitely couldn't have gotten here if it wasn't for you loyal readers. So thank you. Thank you a million times over.
I love y'all. Have a wonderful day.
Love,
-hexed
xxx