f i v e

eating, Oli?" Lexie chirped, propping her elbows on the table and leaning so far forward that he couldn't look at his breakfast without seeing her huge green eyes staring up at him. "Can I have some? Is it nice?"

"It's just toast, Lex," Oliver sighed. "Mum asked if you wanted toast or cereal and you said cereal."

"But I don't want cereal! I want what you're having!"

"Just eat your Cheerios," Oliver said, shrugging at the chastising look his mum shot him. "What? She only wants the toast because I'm eating it, mum. I could swallow a lizard and she'd ask for one too."

Lexie wrinkled her nose. "Yuck! No I wouldn't. Lizards are gross."

"She wants to copy you because she looks up to you," his mum said, handing him a cup of tea. Oliver didn't mind coffee, but only milky and sweetened with lots of sugar. He'd pick tea over coffee any day. "It's sweet."

"Maybe," Oliver said grudgingly. "And annoying."

That earned him another chastising look. "You're her big brother, Oliver."

He sighed again and handed his last piece of toast over to Lexie. "Yay," she beamed, nibbling the edge before pushing her cereal towards Oliver. "Here, Oli. You can have mine."

"Thanks." He looked down at the soggy bowl of cereal and couldn't help smiling at the hopeful expression Lexie watched him with. He put a spoonful in his mouth to appease her. "Wow. So yummy."

Lexie looked proud. "I know!"

"So," his dad said, bustling around the kitchen as he got ready to leave for work. "How does it feel to be back at Woodway, Oliver? Looking forward to starting your second week?"

"It's...interesting," Oliver replied, which wasn't entirely untrue. "But it's still school, so I can't say I'll ever be looking forward to it."

Again, not entirely untrue. He certainly wasn't looking forward to the actual education part, with teachers and homework and lessons which dragged. But it was the first time he'd be seeing Adam and Reed since their fragile reconciliation at Juniper's. He used the term fragile because after he hadn't spoken to either of them over the weekend and he was wondering whether anything would be different when they saw each other at school. After all, he had blocked their numbers. They'd probably have to work their way back up to that.

A loud honk from outside the house dragged Oliver's attention away from his thoughts. "Who on earth would be blasting their horn so early in the morning?" his mum wondered with a frown, peering out of the window. "It's just...oh, isn't that your friend?"

Oliver's head snapped up. "What?"

"Adam," she mused, confirming what he suspected. "Isn't that Adam?"

Oliver jumped up to join his mum by the window and sure enough, parked outside the house in a rather messy manner with half the car on the pavement, was Adam's car. He rolled down the window when he spotted Oliver and gave another sharp honk.

"Jesus," Oliver groaned. "He's going to piss off the neighbours. I'll go tell him to shut up."

His mother gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he could bolt. "Have a good day at school!"

Oliver was already heading towards the door but Lexie beat him to it. With his half-eaten piece of toast in one hand, she jumped down from her chair and had yanked open the front door before Oliver could even think about hauling her back. Oliver groaned again, grabbing his bag off the floor and having no choice but to ditch his untouched tea to hurry after her out of the house before she could do something stupid.

"Lexie," he said sharply, grabbing her hand and pulling her to a stop just as she reached the front gate of the garden. "What is wrong with you? I've told you before, you don't leave the house alone and you definitely don't run out like that. It's dangerous."

She looked up at him with a pout. "But I wanna meet your friends."

"Fine," Oliver said. "Then you hold onto my hand and if you even think about running on the road you're in big trouble."

She nodded eagerly and clung tightly to his hand with small fingers as he pushed open the gate, towards the car. Adam had an arm propped on the open window and was already looking at Lexie with a somewhat thoughtful expression. "She's gotten bigger," he commented.

"Yes, Adam. That is how growing up works."

Adam shot him a flat look but Lexie jumped in before he could respond. "You know me?" Lexie gasped, her eyes comically wide. "I have gotten bigger, haven't I? Dr Mueller gives me a lollipop every time I get a bit bigger and I always — oh! I've seen you before!"

It took Oliver a moment to realise his little sister wasn't having some mid sentence revelation regarding Adam but the person sitting in the passenger seat, who he hadn't noticed earlier. "Hi," Brooks said, leaning forward to smile at Lexie through the window. It was impossible to miss the similarities between the two of them when they were sat together and it made Oliver wonder how different, how unlike siblings, he must have looked next to Lexie. "Nice to see you again, uh...Lexie, wasn't it?"

"Yes!" Lexie tugged Oliver's hand with an excited expression. "Oli, he remember my name!"

"Yeah, I noticed," Oliver said, amused. "That's Brooks and behind the wheel, that's Adam. He knew you when you were a baby."

"Hi, Brooks and Adam. You're both very big," she said, staring at them. Brooks smiled bashfully in response and Adam looked a little uncomfortable at the attention, which was nothing new. Children had never been his area of expertise. "I need to get big like that, Dr Mueller says, but I think I'll get there if I keep eating cupcakes and my ice cream with sprinkles -- "

"Okay," Oliver interrupted, gently steering her around to face the house in an attempt to stop rambling that he knew from experience would never end. "As much as I'm sure they'd love to hear about your ice cream, I have school and so do you. You can tell them about it another day."

"But — "

"Back inside, Lexie," he said firmly. "I'll see you after school."

She pulled a face at him but reluctantly made her way back up the path to the house. Oliver watched to make sure she actually made it inside before turning back to face Adam and Brooks. "Sorry about her," he said. "Not only is she bigger but a hell of a lot chattier. She doesn't know how to shut up."

"It's okay," Brooks said. "I didn't mind. She's very cute."

"Mhm, when she wants to be. What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Adam tapped his hands against the wheel with an expectant look. "We're going to school."

Behind him, Brooks rolled his eyes. "What he means to say is, he's offering you a lift to school. Although it's questionable you'll make it in one piece with the way Adam drives."

"Would you like to walk?" Adam demanded, to which Brooks raised his hands in silent defence. "That's what I thought. Now get in, loser."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Was that a Mean Girls reference? Did you just make a Mean Girls reference, Adam?"

"Do you want a lift or not?" Adam looked exasperated now. "Because you can walk, too. At least then I won't have to listen both of you whining in my ear about how I drive."

Oliver knew a good offer when he saw one and slid into the backseat before Adam could zoom off down the road without him for the Mean Girls comment. The tram was cramped and noisy and Oliver would take a lift off anyone to avoid having to catch it to school. Not to mention, this answered his doubts regarding whether things would be different. That Adam was willing to take the time to pick him up meant there was hope yet for their friendship but whether the same could be said for Reed was still up in the air.

Turns out, Oliver didn't need to wait much longer to find out.

"Are you picking him up?" Brooks asked, but he was watching out of the window with a wary expression rather than looking at Adam.

"What do you think?"

Brooks heaved a sigh. "Yes?"

"Then don't ask questions you know the answer to," Adam said, yanking the car to a sharp stop outside another house. "I've said it to him and I'll say it to you — I don't care about whatever issues the two of you have, not until one of you tell me what they are."

Oliver glanced out of the window out of curiosity as to who they could be talking about and recognised this street in less than a second, with its cosy houses and small gardens. Sure enough, only seconds later Reed emerged from the house which Oliver used to go round to all the time to hang out. The sight of brought back nostalgic memories of building cushion forts in the living room and sneaking as much food as they could from the barbecues Mr Bishop used to hold. There was a girl at Reed's side and it took Oliver a little longer to realise it was his younger sister, Elsie. Another vaguely familiar face from his past.

Brooks sank a little lower in his seat as the door to the backseat was yanked open. "Well," Reed said, regarding Oliver with scrutinising pale blue eyes that made his palms tingle. "This is a new development."

"We're trying the friendship thing now," Oliver said, his steady voice at odds with the sudden inexplicable pounding of his heart. He hated his body for betraying him like this, for something as simple as just seeing Reed again. "Remember?"

"I remember."

He looked as if he wanted to say more but Elsie poked her head around Reed to offer Oliver a warm smile before he had the chance. "Hi, Oliver! Nice to see you again."

"Hey," Oliver said, returning the smile. "You too, Elsie."

It might have been funny that both his best friends' siblings had seemed happier than either of them to see him if the reality of it hadn't sucked so much. That wasn't exactly how it was supposed to be with best friends but then again, Oliver had to remind himself for the hundredth time, they weren't best friends anymore. Reed and Adam might be with each other but Oliver had to earn that title back. Then Reed was sliding into the car at Adam's impatient demand that they hurry up and because the three of them were crammed in the backseat, Reed was pressed flush against Oliver in a way he was certain neither of them would have chosen if they had a choice. Not because it was unpleasant.

Not at all. Oliver wished more than anything it was unpleasant.

Oliver sussed out the strange dynamics of the car quickly enough. Elsie supplied the main conversation, happy to talk to anyone, while Adam remained mostly silent beyond offering up something on the subject every so often. Oliver remembered he wasn't a morning person and could never be bothered with making conversation until he was at least two hours into the day. Reed and Brooks were fine speaking to Elsie, but flat out ignored each other in a way that was too obvious not to notice. Or more accurately, Brooks nervously avoided joining the conversation when Reed was part of it and Reed wouldn't even glance in his direction.

He'd suspected for a while that there was some kind of tension between the two of them and having it confirmed in person only made him more curious. In the past, he would have just asked Reed straight up and dealt with whatever reaction he received. Now, that didn't seem like such a good idea. Oliver would have to repair his own relationship with Reed before inquiring about his relationship with Brooks. He didn't speak much either, too busy trying to pretend he wasn't hyperaware of how close Reed was to him and that it wasn't affecting him in anyway. He felt a conflicting sense of relief and disappointment when they reached Lexus, where Elsie and Brooks got off, meaning Reed moved away to the opposite end of the backseat.

"So," he began, speaking more to distract himself from his confusing cocktail of emotions than anything. Adam had already set off towards their school with his usual disregard of the speed limit which Oliver would come to grow accustomed to but he glanced at him in the rearview mirror at that. "What subjects do you take?"

"Why do you want to know?" Reed asked suspiciously.

"Why do you think? We're trying the friendship thing," Oliver repeated, a little exasperated. "I can't exactly do that if I don't know anything about either of you. I know Adam used to love maths, and you used to hate it, but a lot can change in five years."

The truth was, he didn't really want to ask about what they did at school or what subjects they studied. He wanted to ask how Reed's mother was doing, if Adam relationship with his parents was still as confusing as it used to be, did they still have movie nights together which ended in stupid games of truth or dare? Without him? What memories and experienced had he missed out on, had he lost? But that was too deep, too fast. Reed wouldn't even look him in the eye without a scowl until a couple of days ago. He certainly wouldn't appreciate any questions about his mother which had been a touchy subject even when they were friends.

"I still hate maths," Reed said. "For the record, nothing on this earth could make he not hate maths. I find it offensive that you think that could ever change, Oliver."

Oliver wondered whether that was the first time Reed had said his name since coming back and also why he'd noticed a small detail like that. He'd always been one for small details but when it came to Reed, every single detail was impossible to miss no matter how big or small. It had been that way when they were kids and it was still like that now.

"Makes sense." Oliver tipped his head to look at Reed. "So what subjects do you take?"

Reed returned his gaze evenly. "Guess."

Oliver recognised the gleam of a challenge in his eyes and knew this was some sort of test. It was Reed he was dealing with, after all — it would never be as simple as making his apologies and patching things up and returning to happier days as if nothing had happened. Oliver was fully aware of that and wasn't about to give up without a fight.

"I have no clue," Oliver said honestly. "If you really haven't changed as much as you claim, Reed, then the subjects you chose for A Levels mean nothing to you. All you ever cared about was being able to swim. You picked whichever three came easiest to you so you could focus entirely on what actually matters. Swimming."

Oliver knew he'd given the right answer, judging from the slight narrowing of Reed's eyes. Oliver raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response, and had to suppress a smug smile at the grudging acknowledgement in Reed's expression.

"Business, economics and chemistry," Reed replied. "You're right, I don't give a shit about any of them. But my dad wants me to go to university as a fall back if my future in swimming fails and finishing sixth form was the compromise for letting me continue taking part in competitions. So here I am. Pretending to care about my education."

"You're not pretending," Oliver said, and Reed glanced at him in surprise. "About caring, I mean. When have you ever pretended to care about something when you didn't?"

"Yeah," Reed said slowly. "I guess so."

Reed and Oliver both loved swimming, it was how they met and the foundations of their friendship had been built on it, but there was one crucial difference between them when it came to their sport — Reed saw a future dedicated entirely to swimming whereas it would never be anything more than a hobby for Oliver. Oliver loved to swim for the simple pleasure of feeling cool water rush over his skin and being detached from his thoughts during those minutes he was in the pool. Swimming alone and swimming in competitions made no difference to him because he swam for himself, and himself alone.

Reed had once told him he loved swimming because he was good, because he was fast, and everyone had praised him for it from a young age. He loved hearing the crowds cheering him on and that triumphant buzz when he reached the finish line first. For him, swimming was too much a part of his identity to be sidelined as just a hobby.

"And now it's my turn to guess," Reed said, studying him with those piercing blue eyes. It took everything in Oliver to hold eye contact, even when his pulse kicked into overdrive, because it still felt like a game between them and Oliver refused to lose. "Your favourite subject was English, so you definitely took English Literature or Language. Probably English Lit because of your weird obsession with books."

Oliver snorted. "Weird?"

"Reading is boring and I never understood why you liked it. Anyway," Reed said, waving a dismissive hand. "As I was saying. You like words and writing and shit like that, so maybe another essay subject like history. Then the last one." He paused to consider it for a moment. "Because you're always careful but indecisive, you kept your options open regarding what degree you'd do. I'm guessing you probably did a more science based subject. Chemistry?"

"Biology," Oliver corrected. "English lit, history and biology."

Reed shrugged. "Close enough."

Oliver was impressed despite himself. Reed had been scarily spot on there, not only with the subjects but with the reasoning behind why he'd chosen each one. That he could remember enough about Oliver to come to those conclusions appealed to that small part of Oliver that clung to the hope Reed did still care about him deep down, had always cared a little even while hating him.He couldn't decide whether he should encourage or dismiss that hope. It was proof that Oliver could reach out to Reed after all or it was fuel for his already misplaced feelings. He turned his attention to Adam before Reed could read any of his thoughts on his face.

"And you, Adam?" he asked. "I can't think of what you'd take besides maths."

"Maths, further maths and economics." Adam gave the wheel a sharp jerk as they turned into the car park and Oliver realised they'd arrived at Woodway. "As fun as that discussion was, we're here. We can continue bonding later."

Adam was being sarcastic but Oliver had no regrets about the conversation. Not necessarily because he now knew what they were both studying — the choices weren't particularly surprising or unusual — but because of what he'd learnt, about Reed. He remembered that Oliver liked English, that he liked reading, that he always struggled making decisions and that deciding what he wanted to do at uni was no exception. That had to mean something, right? Or was he just second-guessing everything again? He glanced at Reed as the three of them made their way across the car park to the school building. His heart sped up when he saw Reed was already watching him.

He looked away almost immediately but not before Oliver saw the slight reddening of his cheeks and his irritated expression at having been caught out. That was enough for Oliver.

"Is this a permanent thing?" Oliver wondered. "Car journeys to school?"

Adam slipped his keys into his pocket. "If you want. I pick up Reed most days anyway and your house is on the way. It most likely would have been like this if you hadn't gone to London," he added. "It makes sense."

Oliver thought about that last night at his house before he left, the disastrous sleepover where everything fell apart, and wasn't so sure if things would have ended up like this after all. Then again, maybe they would have. Oliver had no idea and he also wasn't about to say no to the only thing saving him from daily bus commutes.