Love Collector Ch. 4

When you had a small studio apartment, the temptation to throw yourself onto the bed after coming home from work and not get up for the rest of the night was enormous. It was the best seat in the house by far, though its only competition was some cushions on the floor arranged around the coffee table. Oliver failed to resist. He lay face down against his mattress while enjoying the sparse comfort it gave him.

It was a long day, and he needed the rest.

Oliver was in dire danger of nodding off, and in that sleepy state, his thoughts were drifting back to how tiring his daily life was getting. Though he wasn't the sort who craved adventure, there were times he wished life was more like one of his favorite games so that at least it wouldn't all be so damn monotonous.

In a dating sim or a visual novel, things likely would've spiraled out of control by now. Maybe would've had a chance encounter with a mysterious girl, or perhaps he would've developed some kind of extraordinary power that made him different from everybody else? It was fun to think about, but neither of those seemed like they would happen anytime soon. The most exciting thing in Oliver's life was the recent developments with Mia earlier that day, which is why he was still thinking about her an hour later.

He was proud that he actually worked up the courage to offer her a ride home, even if she turned him down. It was probably for the best that she did. Oliver thought sharing a car with her might've been awkward, but the longer he kept thinking about their last interaction, the stranger it seemed in retrospect.

What did she actually want from him back there?

Was it really just to tell him to take better care of himself, or was there something more to it?

Furthermore, what was that crinkling sound coming from her pocket?

Oliver didn't know the answer to any of these questions, but knowing something was amiss definitely bothered him. One thing he knew for sure, though, was that he was a lot more certain about wanting to try to get a little closer to her.

He'd start by asking Mia about whatever pins she wore tomorrow. Hopefully, they wouldn't be from a series as embarrassing to discuss as Big Yikes! Literal Blood Cousins, but he was determined to say something even if they were. Oliver wasn't content living his life as a passive loser and was ready to make an effort.

Besides, Mia was in the same boat as him.

He didn't know her circumstances, but she also worked a dead-end job full-time. She probably didn't have any better prospects than him, anyway...

Wait, no.

Bad.

Oliver grumbled and swatted the side of his head with his hand, trying to combat his pessimistic self-image by smacking his stupid thoughts out of his skull before they festered. It was easier said than done, but he'd come a long way from the stupid ass kid he used to be.

What he needed was a distraction, and much as he wanted to stay in bed, Oliver wouldn't find one there that didn't involve napping or taking off his pants. He figured he would make dinner instead and try not to dwell on the whole Mia situation for the rest of the night, so he got up and was about to head to his crappy little corner kitchen before his phone started ringing.

Oliver didn't even need to check who it was. He just pressed the button and answered, "Hey, Mom."

"Hey, kid! How're you doing? Wait, no. Scratch that. Better question: how come you aren't out enjoying the holiday with a cute girl, huh? There's no good excuse for you to be answering a call from your mom on Valentine's Day."

"I could be on a date right this second, as far as you know."

"God, I hope you aren't. She'd never wanna see you again."

Oliver laughed and then owned up to it. "Luckily, I'm not actually on a date. Shocking, I know."

"Ah, don't sweat it. You know I'm just messing with you. I wanted to call and check in to make sure everything is going well. I know you used to really hate Valentine's Day back when-"

"I'm fine," he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Seriously. In fact, I... um... I actually almost asked a girl at work out today."

There was silence on the other end of the line, long enough for Oliver to think to himself, Why the fuck did I just say that?

"...Seriously?"

"Yeah, she's... great, it's just that I froze up when I tried to seal the deal. Talking with girls is still a little-"

"Honey, that's amazing! It doesn't matter if you didn't pull it off. The fact that you even tried shows so much progress! What's she like, huh? Oh, man. Wait till your father hears about this!"

Oliver's face met his palm. It wasn't his intention to openly lie to his mother, but he had a habit of making sure she didn't worry about him more than she should. He'd already given her more than enough stress for one lifetime, and Oliver hated the idea of worrying her even further.

Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. Oliver was pretty sure he liked Mia now, and he did make some significant strides regarding his condition today. It wouldn't be a lie if he ultimately asked her out somewhere down the line, right?

Oliver held back a sigh.

So much for trying not to think about Mia for a while.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Oliver... I didn't mean to go off like that. I'm just really happy for you. This is probably hard for you to talk about, so you can tell me about her some other time, okay?"

"I'd appreciate that," he smiled softly in relief. "I'm still figuring out my feelings, and I'm not ready to get into details. It's a pretty recent development on my end."

"Just don't make it any more complicated than it has to be. Treat it like one of your games! The good ones, I mean. Not the-"

"Mom!" Oliver snapped, rapidly approaching his breaking point of embarrassment. It was bad enough that she knew about his hobby, let alone the games he played when he was at his worst.

"Wow, I am really fucking up the whole 'supportive mom' thing tonight, aren't I?"

"That feels like a loaded question."

"Heh, might as well be. All right, anyway... I get the feeling you're running out of patience, so I'll let you go after I run through the basics. Work going okay? Got enough money? Are you eating well?"

Oliver eyed the pantry containing the inexpensive instant ramen he planned on having for dinner and little more, this time telling his mother a series of intentional lies. "Yup, yup, yup. Everything's going okay, and you don't have to worry about me."

"I'm always gonna worry about you, Oliver. You can't escape that."

"Sorry..."

"I'm just saying that all you gotta do if you're struggling with any bills or need something to eat is let me know, and we'll make sure you're taken care of."

Oliver was on autopilot, not because he didn't appreciate what his mother was saying, but because he'd heard them a hundred times since he moved out about a year ago. His situation wasn't that bad. He'd never missed a bill, always paid his rent on time, and when he needed help with food...

Okay, maybe he was a little shy about visiting for dinner. Oliver couldn't deny that he still carried tremendous guilt over what he put his parents through, even now, three years after the worst of it. It wasn't something he could easily move past- but he deeply loved his parents for being as amazing as they were.

As they'd always been.

"Thanks, mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetie. Keep me updated if anything happens with that girl of yours!"

"Will do," Oliver said, mainly just to placate his mother and not because he intended to tell her the second anything happened with Mia, assuming something happened at all.

Finally, he was free to make his unremarkable dinner and play Purest Love in peace for the rest of the night. He kind of regretted turning his mom down once the ramen was ready, though. His paycheck wasn't until Friday, and he couldn't afford anything nice for dinner before then.

Oliver watched a couple episodes of the newest season of Big Yikes! after he ate. He was interested in seeing how they adapted the Mystery of the Stolen Virginity arc of the manga, if for no other reason than to see how badly it got censored to air on Japanese television. To his surprise, the answer was 'not very'. It was getting crazy how much anime studios could get away with in this day and age, and he was willing to bet the uncensored Blu-rays would be something to behold.

It certainly helped his enjoyment that watching it might give him something to talk to Mia about, but it was also nice to chill out and do something that wasn't a videogame for a while. Oliver tended to get tunnel vision and focus on a single activity more often than not, abandoning one hobby temporarily for another until something called his attention back sooner or later.

After Oliver got tired of watching, he took a shower and got ready for the main event of his own personal Valentine's Day.

It wasn't usually Oliver's style to take edibles on the daily.

They helped a lot with his depression, sure, and you had to be careful not to build up a tolerance, but the main reason he didn't like to was that it made him feel even more like a loser than he already was by the time he sobered up. That said, today was mentally and emotionally draining. He didn't think anyone would judge him if he rewarded himself for getting through it, so he cracked open a new bottle of gummies from a brand he'd never tried.

Third Eye Highs, they called themselves.

The art on the bottle featured a trippy, psychedelic visual of a vaporwave-styled Buddhist monk opening their titular third eye along with a single word repeated over and over again in the background- 'Awaken'. Pretty lame stuff, but then again, just about all these CBD companies were lame across the board. The important thing was that the store he got it from had good reviews online, so Oliver picked up a bottle of their most popular flavor, Psionic Strawberry.

He popped in a 20mg gummy.

It tasted better than many other brands he'd tried, but nobody bought these things for the taste. Once it hit about a half-hour later, he was ready to continue his playthrough of Purest Love.