Page 94 of Butterfly

Guilt twisted in Ollie’s gut. Rory hadn’t had much time off, but he still spent time with him. He still attended the art classes when he could, though last time, he got a scowl from the teacher for falling asleep halfway through. He even took Ollie to the tattoo parlour and waited outside at his request. He itched to know what Ollie had got done, but Ollie kept it a secret.

“I’ll be good for taking you out tomorrow, though,” Rory directed at Ollie.

“Take you out?” Captain asked.

“I’m teaching Ollie to drive.”

Sebastian shook his head. “I said I would.”

“You’re not the best driver,” Rory muttered.

“Excuse me?” Sebastian said, affronted.

“You need glasses,” Ollie interjected. “Rory’s words, not mine.”

Sebastian widened his eyes. “Is that so?”

Rory winced, then opened his mouth to reply, but Captain got there first.

“I can teach you, Ollie.” He smiled. “How far has Rory got?”

“He’s taught me how to turn the engine on, turn the heating up, and adjust the seating so it’s almost horizontal, then he took a nap.”

Both Captain and Sebastian glared at a red-faced Rory.

“I’ll teach you,” Captain said firmly. He pointed at Rory. “With him barely able to keep his eyes open—”

“Hey!” Rory squawked.

Captain turned his finger on Sebastian. “And him clearly needing glasses—”

“The rent’s going up,” Sebastian said, squinting.

“I’m the safest person to do it.”

“Weren’t you arrested for drunk driving?” Rory murmured.

Captain hesitated. “Shit.”

Rory hummed. “I imagine you’re still banned, and you’ll have to do a few courses before they’ll let you drive again.”

Captain leaned back into the sofa. “Ollie, you’re screwed. It doesn’t matter if you pick Rory or Sebastian. Neither of them will see the ten-tonne truck coming towards you.”

Sebastian clacked his tongue. “The rent just got higher.”

They both laughed.

Ollie cleared his voice. “I’m saving up.”

“No.” Rory shook his head. “Don’t waste your money on that when I can teach you.”

“Like Sebastian said, you’ve been running yourself ragged.” Ollie bit his lip. “And let’s not pretend that’s not in part to do with me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about,” Ollie whispered. “You don’t have to run yourself into the ground to make sure you’re there for me. I know you are. You’ve let me stay. That’s already a debt I can’t repay—”

“It’s not a debt when we offer it to you freely,” Rory said. “We mean it when we say you can stay as long as you want to. We like having you here.”

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