Intermission - A friend’s worries.

Thomas seriously hoped Oliver didn’t think he was escaping and throwing all the work on him. He could hardly blame him if he did after leaving so suddenly, but that conversation just bothered him too much. The whole situation did, really, and if there was something he could do about it, then dammit, he would.

Thomas checked his phone again. She had replied.

-Grace: We’re in the old music room.

He quickly made his way there, knocked on the door to announce his presence and went in. Grace, Sarah and Mila were there, like he had asked.

“What’s going on?” Grace asked, sitting on one of the many chairs. “Why the sudden need to talk?”

“Planning another party already?” Sarah asked, sitting on a desk.

“Not yet,” Thomas chuckled. “But maybe soon. No, this is about Oliver.”

The three girls shared a glance. “What about him?” Mila asked.

“Look, I know I shouldn’t be meddling, but... Sorry, I can’t help it. I’m worried about him.”

“Oh? Worried in what way?” Sarah asked, dangerously narrowing her eyes.

“Alright, calm down, you,” he sighed. “It’s not like I think you’re doing anything bad. But Oliver is…”

“Kind of a nerd and a nervous mess. Yeah, we noticed,” Sarah said.

Thomas groaned. “If you know that, then you can imagine that he’s not having an easy time with what you three are doing, right?”

Grace pursed her lips and asked, “How much did he tell you?”

“Not a lot, as you may imagine, but enough. Honestly, even I have a hard time understanding what you’re doing. If you’re just fooling around, then…” Thomas sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Look, some guys are not used to sudden attention. Just one girl being nice to us feels special. Now imagine how he feels having three girls around and going so far with him. He has no idea what’s going on or why you’d ask him out.”

“Are you sure you’re not just jealous your weak little friend is getting so much attention?” Grace asked, with her usual teasing, cold tone.

“A little,” Thomas admitted with a chuckle, but easily brushed it off. “But I’m being serious here. It’s not like I want you to stop hanging out with him. It’s obviously doing him some good. I just want you to be aware of the effect you’re having on him.”

“We are serious, too,” Mila said, looking at Thomas directly. “And we’re aware. Somewhat, at least. Oliver can’t express himself very well with words, but he’s trying. I… We like him, okay? And we don’t mind sharing him.”

Thomas' eyes widened, and he blinked at the revelation. He thought Oliver was a cool guy, but… Wow. Maybe Thomas had gotten worried over nothing, and it was Oliver who had these girls wrapped around his finger, even if he didn’t know it.

“That’s how it is,” Sarah shrugged. “We’re not fooling around, Thomas. So don’t go putting weird ideas in Oliver’s head.”

“But then why not just tell him?” Thomas asked. “You asked him out, right? But he thinks you don’t mean anything by it.”

“You think he’ll believe us? We’ll just confuse him more,” Grace told him. “It all happened too suddenly, even for us. Better to show him we’re getting serious than spout trash.”

“I… suppose that’s true.” Thomas let out a soft groan. Having three girls suddenly confessing to a guy, any guy, would only make him believe it was all a joke. Do that to someone with as low self-esteem as Oliver and it’s even worse.

“Hey Thomas, if you don’t mind me asking,” Grace started. “Why do you care about him so much? You haven’t known each other for long, right?”

“Hm? Well, yeah. We met around the end of last semester, but we didn’t see each other during the summer break. Really, I’ve only known him for a little over two months.”

“Then why?” Sarah asked as well. “We’ve known him for less, but we have pretty good reasons for being interested.”

“I’ll refrain from asking,” Thomas laughed. It didn’t take much imagination, anyway. “Hmm, if I had to say something, then I’d have two main reasons. One is that he reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. I was socially awkward, too, but his case is a lot worse than mine. The second would be that he made a serious impression. As anxious a mess as he is, it doesn’t stop him from being a reliable guy. I think that’s admirable.”

“You said something like that at the party, right?” Mila said. “That you’d met when he was substituting for your team’s manager.”

Thomas nodded, and a nostalgic smile came to his face. “We had a game in another town. We were running late, you see. We left the hotel in a hurry to show up on time. We got the whole team in the van and left for the stadium. Halfway there I noticed I’d mixed up my backpack with my shoes and all my gear with that of a teammate’s. Mine was still back at the hotel. My heart nearly stopped right there. See, without my gear I wouldn’t be able to play and one of the substitutes would have to take my spot. Then Oliver just tells the coach to stop the van, gets out, tells us to go to the stadium and runs all the way back to the hotel to get my backpack. Dude was almost dead when he arrived at the stadium, face red, out of breath and sweating all over. He wasn’t as fit as he is now, not in the slightest.”

“Wait. He RAN from the hotel all the way to the stadium?” Sarah asked, jaw hanging. “Why didn’t he take a cab or something?”

Thomas chuckled. “He forgot his own wallet in the van.”

“Couldn’t he just say he’d pay after he arrived?”

“You think he could do that?”

“Oh. Right.”

Oliver was the reason Thomas got to play in that match. Oliver was the reason the entire team wasn’t late for his mistake. He had barely spoken a word that entire trip, but at that moment, he didn’t hesitate to do something. He didn’t look it, but Oliver had more balls than even he believed.

“See?” Mila said, looking at her friends with a smug grin. “Told you I wasn’t the only one with a story like that.”

Grace smiled and laughed softly. “That’s good to know. Thank you for telling us.”

“Anyway. Looks like we’re clear then,” Thomas said. “Sorry to come at you like that, but I’m partly responsible for this situation.”

“Hey, we should be thanking you, actually,” Grace said. “Thanks for lending us a room back then.”

“…” Thomas opened his mouth to speak. However, he swallowed what he wanted to ask. Maybe another time, if the opportunity arose. “Sure, so problem. Don’t make a habit out of it, though.”

“We’ll try.”

“…Oliver may be hard to understand, and sometimes even frustrating. But he’s trying. Be patient with him, okay?”

Thomas waved goodbye and left the room, deciding to go back to the storage room to help Oliver finish what was originally his task. But as he walked, he couldn’t keep something out of his mind.

…

Oliver was having sex with those three, and they very clearly liked it enough to share. Thomas was happy for his friend, no doubt about that, but it still made him a little jealous.

If only his own sex life was half as satisfying.

Author's Note: I wrote this in a comment first but I'll write it here, too, just so people don't miss it.

I wrote in the intro that this branch will AVOID NTR (cucking) and swinging because I knew Thomas being here would raise red flags for people. Thomas' character is here to be Oliver's best friend, and not in the "he's my best friend but we're terrible to one another" kind of way that some types of stories seem to love.

I feel like I have to make this clear so people can read without fear of Thomas stealing Oliver's girls or something. I have plans to write sex scenes for him in the future, but not with girls that are or will be involved with Oliver.

Nothing against any of your personal tastes, but I personally dislike NTR stories, doubly so when it looks like we're being promised a story without it.