just dive in [reed bishop spin-off] ✔️

twenty-three

— t w e n t y - t h r e e —

"PASS THE SUGAR," CLAIR said.

There was an awkward and uncertain pause in which everyone glanced at the sugar, which sat right by Adam's elbow. No one passed the sugar. Oliver sat furthest away from the sugar and couldn't have passed it even if he wanted to, which he absolutely did want to do. He would have done anything to end this awkward silence. Reed could have reached the sugar if he stretched over Adam and didn't look like he had any intentions of putting himself out of his way to grant Clair's request. Mr and Mrs Montgomery, thankfully, were browsing the breakfast buffet selection of the restaurant they were eating at and didn't have to suffer through this.

Although Oliver suspected Adam would have wordlessly handed over the sugar without incident if his parents were here. He hadn't told them that he had broken up with Clair and it didn't seem as if he had any intentions to do so anytime soon, forget in the last three days of this holiday. Clair made it no secret that she was less than pleased with Adam regardless of whether his parents were there but maybe they just thought they were caught up in a big argument. Maybe they hadn't noticed at all; Oliver couldn't tell with Adam's parents.

"Hey," Clair snapped, "pass the  sugar."

"Ever heard of manners?" Adam said. "Try for a please."

"Please go fuck yourself," Clair said, in a voice that could cut glass. "And pass me the fucking sugar while you're at it."

"God," Reed muttered into his orange juice. "I thought I was bad with my attitude. You two could give me a run for my money."

They both glared at him and Oliver shot him an exasperated look for hardly helping the situation. Reed ignored them both in favour of rolling his eyes at Oliver, nudging his foot under the table. Oliver nudged it back and then they were caught in a silent but intense game of footsy. Since that eventful night in the hot tub, the dynamic of their friendship had certainly shifted in a way that Oliver could only hope was permanent. During the days when the others went off to ski, Clair and Adam on slopes as far away from each other as possible, Oliver and Reed made sure to make a lot more use of the empty chalet. Their bedroom was off-limits at night, when they shared it with Adam, but they more than made up for it during all their free hours in the day.

Reed hadn't dismissed any of it as a mistake, and didn't seem to regret anything so far, but that didn't mean they had ever talked about the implications of whatever this meant. Whether it meant anything more than fooling around in secret and sneaking around to hook up. Oliver was willing to just live in the moment, to steal all the kisses he could from Reed. It was more than he ever dreamt he would be allowed to have.

At the table, Clair and Adam had broken out into a heated argument over the sugar. They were loud enough to attract attention from nearby tables and Oliver couldn't stand it for a second longer. He snatched the sugar dispenser from the empty table behind him and set it in front of Clair.

"There," he said, unable to keep the edge of exasperation from his voice. "Enjoy it, please."

Clair didn't bother with a thank you as she aggressively shook sugar out over her pancakes and now Adam was glaring at Oliver. Things had been good between Oliver and Reed, great even, but Oliver couldn't say the same for anyone else. Gone were the days of Clair flirting with Oliver on the sly, or even making any attempt at conversation with Reed, as rare as it had been. She hated all three of them, she hated that she was still stuck on holiday with them, and made no attempt to pretend otherwise. Adam wanted nothing to do with Clair and had barely spoken more than three words to Oliver. He didn't seem to have any problem with Reed, though, which only confirmed Oliver's certainty that Adam thought he had encouraged Clair's behaviour, or ever flirted back with her.