Chapter 2

       Despite it being just after two in the morning, my cell phone decided to ring, waking me up from my sleep. I tiredly reached for my cell phone and unplugged it from the charger before looking to see who was calling.

       And as soon as I saw the name on my caller ID, I felt wide awake. He wouldn't call me if he didn't have anyone else to call.

       I answered the phone immediately, holding it up to my ear. "Ollie, is everything okay?"

       Ollie didn't even answer my question. Instead, he asked one of his own. "Can you come pick me up?"

       "Where are you?" I asked, getting off of my bed and heading to my closet to get some clothes so I wasn't wearing pyjamas when I went to wherever Ollie was.

       "Uh... I think it's called Fusion," Ollie said.

       I stopped what I was doing just so I would be focused more talking to Ollie. "Ollie, it's two in the morning. What on earth are you doing at the nightclub?"

       Ollie was silent for a bit before answering. "I, uh, may have had a minor setback. I came here to have a drink but the good news is I was able to stop myself."

       "You forgot your fake ID, didn't you?" I asked, knowing well enough that once someone got to the night club to have a drink, chances are they weren't going to be able to stop themselves.

       "That's besides the point," Ollie said. "The bad news is that I may have gotten some people angry here and they're constantly glaring at me. I'm kind of afraid of leaving on my own and someone left the nightclub with almost a full glass of alcohol behind. I'm very tempted to grab it."

       I sighed. "Okay, just... Stay there and try not to get into any arguments with those people that you angered. I'll be there soon."

       "Thank you," Ollie said. "And sorry for bothering you."

       "Hey, it's what I'm here for," I said.

       After we hung up, I got changed before heading out to leave my bedroom. Right as I was about to turn the doorknob, I heard my husband's voice ask, "Shaw? Where are you going?"

       I turned around to look at Holden. "The nightclub. I have to pick up Ollie."

       "Who?"

       "The kid I'm sponsoring. He ran into some trouble at Fusion and shouldn't leave on his own so I have to make sure he gets home safe. I won't be long. I hope."

       Before I left, I walked back to the bed and kissed Holden's cheek before walking outside of the bedroom, then the house.

       I got to the nightclub as fast as I could, hoping Ollie didn't get himself into my trouble. Unfortunately, when I got there, I saw a group of people surrounding the table the sixteen year old was sitting at.

       And after recognizing the one who seemed like the leader of the group, it made a lot of sense as to why they were surrounding a teenager.

       I made my way over and pulled 'the leader' away. "Just leave the kid alone, Beckett."

       Beckett at first seemed annoyed that someone pulled him away but when he saw it was me, he flashed a smile. "Shaw, it's nice to see you. Why don't we have a drink now that you're here?"

       "No way," I said. "One, I'm on the wagon. Two, I'm married. And three, I have better things to do." I gently grabbed Ollie's arm and pulled him up from his seat. "Come on, let's get you home."

       Beckett and his friends didn't even bother trying to stop us from leaving. He may be the one that led me down the dark path I was on when I was a teenager, but now he knew not to get in my way of anything.

       And let's just say he learned that the hard way.

       Once Ollie and I were outside and on our way to his house, I said, "Mind explaining why you decided to go to the nightclub at two in the morning? Your dad and boyfriend are probably worried sick."

       "Probably not because they were sleeping when I left," Ollie said. "And I told you, I had a minor setback."

       "Ollie, you know you can turn to me when you're craving a drink, right?" I asked. "That's what I'm here for. I've been where you are and I know how hard it is and I know how to stop."

       Ollie sighed. "I know. It was just a in the spur of the moment kind of thing."

       "What was it?" I asked. "The thing that set off the craving?"

       Ollie hesitated for a bit before saying, "To be honest, I don't know. Is it normal? To see weird things around this time in Spruceworth?"

       "You're going to have to expand on that," I said.

       "Well, yesterday I was helping Grant decorate the city hall," Ollie said. "And I was seeing things like shadowy figures and flickering lights and things moving when nobody is around or when there isn't any wind. And it wasn't just at the city hall. I swear, I've been seeing it in my own home."

       "Someone could be playing a prank on you," I said. 

       "The only two people who have access to my house is my dad and Grant," I said. "And they're both not the pranking type."

       "Well, there's probably a simple explanation."

       "Like me losing my mind?"

       "No. Maybe you're not getting enough sleep."

       "Harry saw it too. At the city hall. Don't tell me we both need more sleep because we hallucinated the exact same thing."

      "Then I have no idea. But just because something weird is happening, you shouldn't start drinking again. You've been sober for a while now."

       "I wouldn't say two weeks is a while."

       "I'd say it is. The point is, don't throw it all away now. Just talk to someone. Your dad, Grant, me, anyone."

       Ollie didn't say anything else as we got to his house. He was about to open the door, but his dad beat him to it, not looking very pleased with his son right now. "Where have you been?" he asked. "Grant woke up and saw that you weren't there, so we've been freaking out this whole time." August looked at me before looking back at his son. "Did you drink?"

       "No," Ollie said and August looked like he didn't believe him. "I swear, I didn't. I was about to but I didn't touch a single drop. I just... got into a small amount of trouble but Shaw helped me get home."

       August sighed and gestured for his son to come inside. Once Ollie did, August looked at me. "Thank you, Shaw," he said.

       "No problem," I said. "And I know he shouldn't be out so late but just go easy on him. Recovering isn't easy."

       "Well, Ollie is lucky I'm the understanding type," August said. "If he was living with his mom, all of this would be a whole different story. Again, thank you." He then slightly slapped Ollie upside the head. "What do you say to Shaw?"

       "Thank you, Shaw," Ollie said, rubbing the back of his head. "And so much for being the understanding type, Dad."

       "Just go back to bed," August said.

       August closed the front door so I started making my way back to my house. However, on the way there, I felt this eerie feeling in the air. I couldn't really explain it but it almost felt as if someone, or something, was following. But every time I turned around, there was nothing.

       It probably had to do with it being so early in the morning. I was woken up from my sleep so I was just imagining things. Yeah, that was it.

       I hoped.

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oof the story is about to kick off soon.

also let's appreciate the friendship ollie and shaw have pls and thank you. 

also i miss having a food stash :(

also let's appreciate this gif of grant aka the best boyfriend ever. he hypes ollie up so much that you'd think ollie paid grant to be his hype man: