and yet knows all this better than him:
A hole. That would be one way to describe it. Oliver was in a hole. He knew he could trust Sonia with everything he had. He could tell her anything (as he always did). But she hadnât thrown down any ladders to him yet. No rope. Nothing. Obviously that meant she was too far out of reach, right? That she didnât have any ladders or rope to throw. (Unless she was in her own hole, expecting the same from him. No, no. That was ridiculous. Throw away that thought stat.)
But now, his hole was filling up. Buring him inside. Every little thing Leslie added was just a shovelful of dirt. She was throwing it into his hole, right on top of him until he suffocated.
He typed as she listed them off, feeling the pressure of each one as it came down.
likes arguing about fiction
convictions (marvel & star wars > dc & star trek)
This was it. She had thrown in her dirt and now he was buried. He pushed off of his desk to swivel around and face her. Everything had built up in his chest and now it was all sitting there, turned to stone. There was only one way to get it out.
â Â Les, Iâ Chill for a second, okay? I needâ Â â
Was he really doing this? Of course he could trust his sister. But with something like this? He wasnât sure. But it was all he had left. (Except picking her up and locking her out of his room â but that wouldnât be good for anyone.)
Oliver left his desk to make sure the hall was clear, closed the door, then sat across from Leslie on his bed.
â Alright. Leslie, listen. If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret? You have toSWEAR. I can trust you with that, canât I? â
When Oliver stepped away from the computer, Leslie began to fear that maybe she had pushed a little too hard; that Oliver was about to kick her out. Which, she could not allow to happen. If Oliver kicked her out, then theyâd never finish this conversation. And if they didnât finish this conversation, then Oliver would never realize that the person he was supposed to be with was Sonia. And then what? Theyâd both be alone and miserable forever. As Oliver grew up and made ultra depressing indie films about âthe futility of lifeâ and âthe lie that is true loveâ and Sonia found herself trapped in a loveless marriage with her publisher, but she couldnât divorce him because if she did than volume five of her epic fantasy series would never be published and everyone knows that volume five is going to be the best one in the series and WHY COULDNâT THEY JUST BE HAPPY???
Thankfully, her internal spiral halted the moment Oliver came to sit across from her. Oh thank god. He wasnât kicking her out.
Wait. Did he just say he was going to tell her something? A secret? Oh god. This was it, wasnât it? It was happening.
Be cool, Leslie. Be cool.
âOf course. You can tell me anything. You know that.â