6. Oliver
Oliver
“ O liver, your friends are here sweetie”
I glance up, spotting Jane standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip as she looks at me in concern.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair, before getting up and wrapping her in a big hug. “Don’t give me that look, I’m okay,” I murmur into her hair.
She lets out a little sniff, pulling away just enough to grasp both my shoulders with her small hands. When she gives me a pointed look, one eyebrow slightly raised, I know she isn’t buying my bullshit.
Jane was the elderly beta woman who owned Jane’s Diner.
When I was a kid my mom would bring me here to eat every day.
Jane would always make sure to add extra food to my plate, and eventually, she stopped charging Mom for my meal.
Mom loved me, but she loved her drugs more.
She was unable to overcome her addiction, and when I turned twelve, it ultimately cost her life.
Dad gave no fucks about me or what happened to me.
If it weren’t for the meal the school provided each day and Jane trying to be sneaky, I would have had no way of feeding myself.
Every afternoon, as I walked past the diner, she’d step outside with a takeout box in hand, like she just happened to have extra.
“The cook made too much again,” she’d say with a smile like we both didn’t know she had extra made just for me.
After about a month of this, I stopped pretending and just accepted her kindness.
I started having my meals in the diner instead of taking them home.
Some days, we would chat about her past adventures; others, she would leave me to enjoy my meal in peace.
It was nice having someone care for me, to care about me.
About a year later, when I turned fourteen, she handed me an apron and told me that if I was going to keep hanging around, I might as well earn a little cash while I was at it.
I worked a couple of shifts during the week and double shifts over the weekend.
She continued to provide me with meals, but she fed everyone who worked there, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.
Eventually, I saved enough money to buy my first guitar, which she allowed me to keep in her office.
If my dad found out I owned it, he would punish me for spending money on it before selling it for his next fix.
He knew I worked here and assumed I was giving him all the money I earned.
Unfortunately, I had to hand over a significant portion of it, but he wasn’t aware of how much I earned monthly, thanks to Jane providing me with two pay slips each month.
She was the closest thing to a parental figure I had, and I loved her to bits. Seeing her worried about me made me feel guilty and the need to ease some of those concerns.
It’s been almost a month since that night at Ferality, I’ve been practicing with the guys over the weekends, and it has been a dream come true.
I fit into their little group with such ease, like I was always meant to be there.
In a couple of months, when I graduate, I will be signing with their band.
They’ve visited the diner a few times, and Jane adores them.
Jack is, of course, her favorite. His sweet tooth is impressive, and Jane loves all the compliments she receives from him on her baking.
She even started trying new pie recipes when she knew he would be around, and there hasn’t been a batch he hasn’t devoured.
I'm pretty sure if it weren’t for the drums and his inability to sit still for more than two minutes, he would have a weight problem.
“What pie did you bake, Jack, this time?” I ask Jane, trying to distract her from worrying about me.
She huffs, knowing exactly what I’m up to, but thankfully lets me off the hook. “Nothing too special, a coconut cream pie with kiwi mixed in. He seems to be enjoying it.”
“Jack enjoys anything you bake him,” I smirk down at her, and she slaps me lightly on the chest, blushing slightly. “I will be right out, okay? I just need to make one more call.”
“Five minutes Oliver, or I’m sending Hale back here to grab you.” She glances at her watch before walking out the door.
“Yes ma’am!” I call out before rushing back to the desk and grabbing my phone. I type in the number I now know by heart and wait as it rings.
“Kid, I said I would call you,” Nash says, yawning. “I was up until four this morning; I would have appreciated a couple more hours of sleep, you know?”
I roll my eyes at him, even if he can’t see me. “I couldn’t wait, sorry but also not sorry.”
“I miss old Oliver, you’ve changed.”
“Nash,” I growled into the phone’s mic.
“Yeah yeah, one second,” I hear him whispering to someone, then a door opening and slamming shut. “Sorry, I had company over and had to ask them to leave. See what I do for you? I could have gotten a morning blow-”
“NASH!” I bark out, done with his stalling .
His sigh tells me I won't like what he says next.
“Listen, Oliver, the owner was here last night, but there's nothing to share. He dismissed it as someone wanting to sign with his company or looking for a job at Ferality. When I pointed out that no one knew he owned the club, he got angry and avoided me all night. He knows more but isn't going to tell me; I’m sorry, Kid.”
I sit back in the office chair, his words sinking in.
Liam Jones, knowing who Savvy was, was my last chance of finding her.
Calling schools had been a bust; most refused to give any information about students, regardless of the flimsy excuses I provided.
Nash and a couple of club employees he trusted had been keeping an eye out for her at Ferality, but she never went back.
I knew there was a possibility this wouldn’t work out, that I might never find her, but fuck me, I really wanted to.
I thought not seeing her would make me come to my senses, make me realize everything I thought about that night had been my imagination.
But the longer it takes me to find her, the harder it’s becoming to move forward.
A piece of my heart is missing, and it’s shaped like Savvy.
“You still there?” Nash’s voice comes from my phone and I realize I’ve been gripping it so hard my knuckles started going white. I switch over to the speaker before I end up breaking it in half.
“What do I do now?” I ask, my voice sounding hollow.
“Kid, I think you need to move on,” I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but he cuts me off.
“Sign with the guys, get away from that rat hole of a town, and start a new life. Make good music and get your photo plastered on every magazine cover and bulletin board across the country. Fuck, write a song for her, tell her how you feel. If it’s meant to be, she’ll find you.
She might have just not been ready yet. ”
“I feel so broken without her, Nash,” I admit to him.
“Yeah Kid, I get it, but you’re not alone.
You have the baker lady, who Jack can’t stop yapping about by the way, and you have the band.
Those guys love you, and if you let them, they’ll look after you.
Let them.” I hear something crashing through Nash’s mic before he swears under his breath.
“I have to go; the chick wasn’t too happy about me asking her to leave.
If she breaks anything valuable, I’m sending you the bill. ”
“He’s right, you know?” Grayson had somehow managed to sneak into the room without me noticing him.
“Right about what? Moving on?”
“That too,” he adjusts his glasses, which I’ve come to realize is a sign of his nervousness.
Grayson and I are the most similar of the three of us.
“It’s been me, Jack, and Grayson against the world for so long, and I never thought we would connect with anyone else.
The idea of finding an Omega one day scared the living shit out of me.
” He lets out a small chuckle. “But seeing you face your fears on stage and getting to know you this past month makes it feel like you've always belonged with us. We do care, and we will help you through everything that comes your way, Oliver, if you let us.”
“I would have never gone through with it if Savvy hadn’t been there, Gray.”
“Probably not,” He agrees, and I love the fact he doesn’t shy away from the truth. “I will forever owe Savvy a huge debt for having my brother's back, and I really do hope we find her one day so I can pay it in full.”
Him knowing how special Savvy is, without even meeting her, does me in. Tears I’ve been holding back the last month, fuck maybe my entire life, starts streaming down my face and I let Grayson wrap his arms around me, giving me the comfort I so badly need.
I feel a set of hands wrap around me from behind, and a strong, steady hand lands on my shoulder. Jack and Hale have joined us in the tiny office, and they are lending me their strength through my breakdown.
We stay like that for what feels like hours, but eventually, I pull away and give each of them a thankful smile.
“I’ve been so alone my entire life, so it’s hard for me to believe any of this is real.
Jane has been there for me, but I always had to leave her bubble of safety and return to my dad's house. Being around her almost made life harder because I knew what I was missing out on.” I take a deep breath, nervous to say what comes next.
“Savvy believed in me from the moment she met me; she was there for me when I needed her most. Without her, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to continue performing, I would have run out of Ferality, and I would have continued living on autopilot, putting up with my dad's bullshit and living for the few hours a day I spent with Jane. I would never have gotten to know you three and feel like part of a real family. I don’t think I can ever stop looking for her; my heart knows she is mine, but the same goes for you.
You’re my future too, if you’ll have me. ”