"Hey..." It was half-past four when I'd went over Oliver's house a few days later. He'd been suspended for two weeks due to the fight with Ceaser and I'd been the one responsible for getting his work to him due to the fact that everyone thought we were more or less a thing.

And honestly, I hadn't blamed them but things were getting weird. I missed having Oliver around and I missed having lunch with him, the space beside me feeling a bit empty but that wasn't what bothered me. What bothered me was the fact that we were dangling between this stage of not-dating despite how many times we'd kissed and he told me he loved me.

I didn't want the big old confession in front of everyone or a big ask but I wanted to know what we were. I wanted to be able to consider him my boyfriend and not have to look over at him for reassurance. We'd been through a lot, I made mistakes and maybe that was the reason we weren't official but I chose not to dwell on it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I'd inquired, the door being swung open mid-knock and my eyes centered on his put together appearance and unfocused look. I'd scanned the boy in front of me, bottom lip pulled into his mouth and hair done perfectly, sinful eyes glancing down at me every so often and I had to stop myself from admiring him. Oliver seemed distracted as he stepped back into the house and I followed without question. I watched him throw a Nike hoodie over his head and stuff his phone in his pocket.

There was an urgency to everything he did even as he spoke.

"I just, uh, I have plans today."

Plans. Maybe it wouldn't have sounded so suspicious if he wasn't so fidgety. "Plans?"

Shuffling over, his mind was distracted as he placed a small kiss on my forehead as if it were second nature and I couldn't help but smile at the feeling of his warm lips on me, "Yeah..."

"You okay?" I'd wondered aloud, gripping his shoulders to keep him in front of me. He bit his lip anxiously, running a hand over his jaw as he tried not to let his nerves get the best of him. Running my hands up his shoulders and to the sides of his neck, I gently brushed my thumb over his bottom lip. He pecked my thumb, warmth racing through me and I swear, my heart skipped a beat.

"It's nothing."

He'd tried to brush it off which I would've let go of his eyes weren't holding mine for so long, almost as if he wanted me to pester him. Oliver didn't like keeping things held from me as he felt like it were the reason I wasn't reciprocation his feelings as quickly as he'd developed them which honestly, wasn't all that wrong. I liked this new open version of Oliver, as if he trusted me to tell me everything and nowadays, he'd never missed a chance to give me new information about himself.

So sensing that, I'd took his hand in mine and urged him with a soft smile, attempting to tone done my normally blunt and brutal approach and he responded accordingly, "It's something."

He smiled and I knew that I was doing something right. There was no relationship without sacrifice and where he'd opened himself up, I tried to be less abrasive than I normally was. Oliver shrugged, "I just... I have a visit with my parole officer."

"I thought that was Wednesdays..." I remembered asking him about it during one of our 3 am calls and he'd simply insisted to brush it off, claiming that he could handle it himself and didn't need me there and quickly changing the subject. I knew it made him uncomfortable and decided not to push it but now, knowing that it was more frequent than once a week, I had to find out more.

"I asked her for a meeting to discuss things."

Shaking my head, I'd jumped to conclusions, a trust that I wasn't very proud of to this day. Things were getting back to normal, they couldn't place him back into juvie or jail or whatever... "But your suspension is almost up, you're fine. The case is closed."

He smiled gently, slipping his hand from mine and bringing it to my chin as he tilted it up so he could place a chaste kiss on my lips. despite it being so quick, I couldn't stop the affect Oliver always had on me, my lips felt warm, my heartbeat was louder in my ears, and a goofy grin had made its way home on my lips. "It is but I violated my parole, Em. I fought Finnigan and I'm trying my best not to get sent back to juvie."

That surely snapped me back into place, "You were provoked... They dropped the charges."

"I was arrested," he pointed out, twining his fingers with mine as he led me to his room and grabbed a pullover hoodie from his bed and gestured for me to take my jacket off and lift my arms, pulling it down my body before I could retaliate. He'd muttered something about me 'not wearing enough layers' as I'd shrugged my coat back on whilst he grabbed his own, "I could've killed him, there are some repercussions for that."

"He started it."

Kissing my forehead again -he seemed to be kissing me a lot that day but I didn't mind- he twined his fingers back through mine and we'd made way to exit the house and down the steps before he'd unlocked his Jeep, "I went too far."

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"Who's this?" The lady behind the desk had asked. She looked to be in her mid-forties, lines permanent etched into her face from what seemed to be smiling. Her eyes were soft and friendly and I could see a peak of black hair from underneath her headdress. I really, she was really nice as she'd gestured for Oliver to sit, him leading me over to the hard, mahogany chairs that sat pretty in front of her desk.

I tried not to complain about the uncomfortable feeling as Oliver leaned back, picking a lollipop out of her cherry red bowl on her desk. I'd surveyed the office, giving her a kind smile in between scanning her family portraits. She seemed to be very deep into her religion which I admired and I'd noticed that her -teenage- daughter in the pictures had been wearing around the same headdress.

The woman in front of me had reciprocated my smile when I'd looked back up, catching each of their eyes on me and I thanked the lord yet again that I wasn't light enough for my cheeks to stain. Oliver smiled over at me, almost fondly as he squeezed my hand in his, capturing both of our attention, "My girlfriend, Emerson." Girlfriend. So that's what we were and I chose not to contradict it. It didn't fully hit me that Oliver was that serious about us but it felt good.

Focusing back on the woman, I nodded as if to confirm it to not only her but myself.

"Hello, miss." I'd shyly replied, the feeling of intruding bearing down on me; I'd already surveyed her family pictures, it felt just a bit rude of me. I felt like I was overstepping.

"Oh, please, call me Aaima, I'm not like those stuffy men at the front desk, I swear." I'd thought back to the way in here, how they all seemed to glare down on Oliver as if they were so much better than him. I'd squeezed his hand tighter, Aaima smiling when he'd brought it up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on my knuckles.

I could get used to this.

"Yeah, so, I don't really know how this works out, Aaima." He called out, scratching the back of his neck once again and I understood how comfortable he was with her. I liked that he had such a nice person to confide in and she was willing to guide him along, unlike in the movies where the person supposed to help was just in it for the money and didn't give a damn if you ruined your life.

Aaima seemed to care and that was proven as she shifted through his file, nodding with a bright smile up at him and she shrugged, "Oliver, I don't see anything you've been charged with. I do have to change up your counseling but..."

"No more juvie?" His eyes were wide, brighter than they were before and quite frankly, I loved seeming him life that. The green seemed to be engulfing the gray and it were as if his happiness were trying to pushed his closed lip smile into a full-on grin as he opted to bite his lip. I liked seeing this side of Oliver, less angry or guarded and I think that moment was the first time I'd ever been so sure of us.

She smiled back, amused at his enthusiasm and I felt a small chuckle escaping from me, "No. Since the charges have been dropped, I didn't file it under any violations. You were only detained for a couple hours, right?"

He nodded.

"And the only reason you were arrested was the fact that you refused to stop, right?"

"Yes."

She must've seen the way he sat up in his chair and chuckled as if the next question were absurd, "No weapons?"

He laughed and I think I fell in love with the sound even more than the first time I'd heard it. "I'm not stupid, Aaima."

"There's no difference between this one and a typical school fight, no charges were placed, no warrant for your arrest. Nothing at all that can get you back in the system." Closing his file, she folded her hands together on top of it and I felt a weight being shifted off my shoulders; I could only imagine how Oliver felt as he collapsed in his seat, euphoric smile on his face.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," she nodded, pointing an index finger at him before raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, "you're making quite the appeal and you seem to be getting better: Babysitting for Mary and Robert Levitt on most Fridays, volunteering to meet with me more often, not failing anything. I suggest you work harder in school though, don't want to fall completely behind due to your suspension and... I'd like to see you graduate."

I could see how much he wanted to change when he'd nodded, "I want to." We were gonna be okay.

⌄⌃⌄⌃⌄⌃⌄

"What's got you so happy?" Was a justified question when Oliver had pulled me with him into his house after grinning the whole ride there, even stopping to pick us up some hot chocolate. He'd told me he loved me a total of 13 times the whole ride, never stopping despite the fact that I hadn't said it back. He was so happy and it was truly infectious. So when we'd gotten into the house, I understood why the question was asked; I just didn't know who asked it.

"I met with Aaima today." Taking off his coat, he'd grabbed mine as well and if was as if he'd forgotten that his mother had no idea who I was.

His mother, though... I could see where Oliver got his looks from. Her only black hair was cut short, resting just on her shoulders in soft waves that seemed completely natural. Her face was fresh, clean as you could tell from the few bags under her eyes and acne scars that were blended in with freckles dotting her nose and across her cheeks.

The main attraction, however was her eyes. A stormy gray, similar to Oliver's and I wondered if Elliot got his father's eyes. Oliver's mother smiled at her son, gap in between her two front teeth and lips a little chapped from the cold weather. Her eyes still hadn't assessed me as she sat still, sipping from a coffee cup, a stark white comforter draped itself over her pale body.

She was really pretty.

"Oh?" Her voice was soft, sort of like how the Remmer's always seemed to be: soft in tone although not timid.

"No charges," Oliver smiled, placing our coats in the hall closet.

"Really?"By then they were both smiling, tears in her eyes and words coming out a bit choked up as pride shown on her face. Oliver was going to be okay.

"Yeah. I'm getting more therapy but I think I'm doing better."

Wiping at her eyes, she gave him a watery smile, lips shaking as she stood and placed her coffee on the table before standing and pulling her son into a tight hug. The sobs in her throat came up at that moment, manicured nails curling his shirt into fists as she cried tears of absolute joy. She buried her head in his chest as he rested his on top of her head, "That's so great, Oli."

"Yeah," pulling away slightly, he wiped her tears for her and I could see the love; I could visibly see how proud she was and their family bond was honestly, beautiful. I could feel my heart swell with happiness as Oliver uttered out a 'thank you, mom,' in a silent whisper and I swear, I almost cried.

Wiping one last tear, she backed up slightly, Oliver catching my eyes before his went wide as if he were just remembering that I were there. Blushing slightly, he wiped at his eyes hastily before gesturing towards me and his mom spun around "oh, mom, this is Emerson."

"Hi." Waving, I once again felt like an intruder but this time, I wasn't uncomfortable due to the smile on my boyfriend's face.

"You're the girl my son has been spending so much time with?" She queried, red eyes gazing at me as she sniffled. His mom seemed very emotional unlike him and his brother which was honestly, very refreshing. I don't think I'd be able to handle her being as cold as they were at first meeting.

"Yeah."

Stepping away from him, she wiped at her face and rushed towards me, pulling me into a tight hug. I felt the air leaving me as she reached just a few inches below me, "It's nice to finally meet you. You're so pretty, sweetheart."

"Thank you." I was surprised, not knowing how to react when she pulled away, smiling brightly at me.

"Oli, do you mind giving Eli his insulin? I want to talk to Emerson for a little bit."

"Yeah, sure, ma," he agreed warily, leaning over and kissing her cheek and then mine.

"So, how long have you two been dating?" She'd interrogated once Oliver had left the room, his mother, who I still didn't know the name of, sat back down on the couch as I sat beside her. She'd pulled her coffee back to her lips and offered me some of her blanket as I struggled to answer that.

"Oh." How long had Oliver and I been unofficially a thing? "Well..." I wasn't quite sure. Was I suppose to ignore our break in between or start over and say we'd been a thing for only a few weeks considering the break?

Oliver, thankfully, found it right at that time to yell through the house, "Mom, where's the disinfectant?"

"Bathroom cabinet!" She replied before turning back to where I was sweating buckets on the couch and she must've noticed my hesitation, "Are you not interested in him?"

I quickly dismissed that idea, I really liked Oliver, I really really liked Oliver, "He's really the best, we just haven't made anything clear yet..."

"Oh," she laughed, shrugging me off with a wave of her fingers, I'd noticed she didn't have a wedding ring but chose to keep that comment to myself, "Oliver's like that. He doesn't like to really talk about his emotions as much as he likes to express himself. He's not really that sure of himself."

"I really like him," I couldn't help but gush, thinking over the beautiful boy in the opposite room and I wondered why I couldn't just be in love with him already? He was great.

"I can tell he likes you too." And with a sincere smile, she nodded, looking me in the eyes although it wasn't awkward. "Thank you for making him happy."

"I told you to leave me alone!" Elliot's yell had interrupted the moment, a door slamming shut and the woman in front of me flinching. Her eyes widened as she looked to the hallway that led back to where the boys were.

Oliver's voice was pleading, on the verge of being irritated as he yelled back and I'd caught sight of his mother rubbing her temples as if she had a headache, "I've apologized so many times, Eli, just let me do it!"

"I want mom to do it!" Elliot whined, voice echoing yet again through the house and at that moment, he reminded me so much of Jackson. Mentally, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, stop being such a fucking-"

That set off their mother and I remembered how much she hates cursing, "Oliver Remmer, I swear to God!"

It was quiet as I heard a soft snicker and an even softer, "Sorry."

The silence didn't last long as I heard banging, "Oliver, stop-" and then something had shattered.

"Excuse me while I go yell at my kids." And her smile was so friendly that I almost had a heart attack when she disappeared, screaming loud enough to wake the dead, "Elliot Jamison Remmer, open that goddamn door before I shove it up your ass!"

Yeah, I saw where Oliver got his personality from.