Page 110 of Butterfly

The woman peering up at him nodded, shoving the festive pyjamas into her bag. “As it happens, they are.”

“They’re nice.” Ollie smiled. He reached up to scratch his head, only to make the hat on his head jingle.

“Have a good Christmas.” Ollie smiled before starting on the next lot of items.

Sister.

She was younger than Teddy; Ollie knew that much, and it was clear Teddy had adored her.

If he was going to take the blame for anyone, he’d take it for her.

Ollie bit his lip. Teddy had panicked at the idea of Ollie asking Rory for help.

Whoever he was covering for, whether it was his sister or not, he didn’t want them to be found out. He wanted to keep protecting them for the rest of his life.

“Excuse me!”

Ollie jumped in his seat. He blinked at the debit card being waved in his face.

“Sorry,” he said, passing over the reader.

The customer held their card to the device.

“Have a good Christmas,” Ollie called after them.

He didn’t get a response.

Ollie sighed, starting on the next conveyor belt full of shopping.

It was a long eight hours.

He started to drift off during the taxi ride back to Rory and Sebastian’s place. Sebastian’s car was on the driveway, but Rory’s car wasn’t. Ollie couldn’t complain about his long hours, not when he’d seen Rory, part zombie from lack of sleep, stumbling around the day before. Even on his off days, he had paperwork to do and often got called in to cover sickness or holidays. Ollie had heard him and Sebastian arguing about Rory’s workload.

Rory had replied it was nearing Christmas and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Love the hat.” Sebastian smirked when Ollie stepped into the kitchen.

Ollie groaned, snatching it off his head. “I forgot I was wearing it.”

“How can you forget when it makes a sound every step you take?”

Ollie looked past Sebastian to the pot on the stove. He pointed to it. “And that is?”

“Stew.”

“It has an interesting aroma.”

“I was hoping to have a nutritious dish ready for Rory when he got back, but it’s inedible.”

“Surely it’s not that bad?”

Sebastian lifted the lid.

“The hell?” Ollie squawked, covering his nose.

Sebastian lowered the lid.

The front door slammed. Rory appeared in the doorway but had to lean against the frame to stay on his feet. He gave them both a tired smile.

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