Still in a foul mood after his text conversation with Theo, Olly switched on his desk lamp and collapsed into the chair. With a deep sigh, he reached into the cluttered drawer. Pushing aside several miscellaneous wires and forgotten items of stationary, Olly pulled out a dusty chestnut-coloured leather diary. Post-it Notes peeked out of the edges, their usually bright hues tinted by age and dirt. Olly sat back in his chair and observed the journal as he swept off the layers of dust. He hadn't opened it in a week. It wasn't like he had forgotten about it, that was an impossibility, he just couldn't bear to remind himself what it meant. Olly flicked through the pages until he reached one without any markings and he leant down for his rucksack, picking out a few sheets of paper amid the mess. Grabbing a near-empty glue stick, Olly neatly folded the pages; he didn't need to check what was written on them, he could recall their contents from memory. A few greyscale mugshots, Olly didn't want to pay the college to print in colour. Excerpts from various articles with language Olly could just about understand. The papers weren't as in depth or as detailed as the rest of the book but they were enough. Olly's research skills weren't as good as Reuban's but that wasn't the point, Olly just needed to keep it going for him. Olly often wondered if there was any point anymore, it had been years since it had really mattered. You promised him Olly reminded himself while he gently closed the book and slipped it back into the drawer. 

        Just as he slid the drawer shut, Olly heard a quiet knock on his bedroom door. Without waiting for an invitation the visitor entered Olly's room and closed the door behind them. "Mum told me that you were busy doing homework but that was just too far-fetched to be true so here I am." Rosie said as she launched herself onto Olly's unmade mattress. Olly swung himself around in his chair to look at his sister and balanced his feet on the wooden bed frame. "You have little faith in me." He responded with a defensive lift of his chin. 

Rosie snorted as she scratched her head, "No, mum just has too much faith in you." 

Olly shrugged in agreement, there was no argument about that. He picked up a crumpled shirt and chucked it at her, "What do you want from me, anyway? Has Erin got sick of you for today?" He questioned as Rosie's face deformed with disgust at his shirt. She shoved it away.

"I'll have you know that Erin is always sick of me, she's just so used to it by now that she's grown immune. I'm here because I love and want to spend time with you and quite frankly I'm offended that you aren't happy to be graced by my presence, egg!" Rosie gave Olly a pouty face which he responded with a raise of his brows. There was a bang down the hall and a pair of heavy-footed shoes stomped towards his open door. Louie stood cross-armed at Olly's door, being more petulant than usual, blond eyebrows furrowed. "Mam told me to tell you two to shut up, her and dad are trying to watch Benidorm."

"Oh, Jesus Christ, we weren't even being that loud!" Snapped Rosie, locked in a furious glare-off with their younger brother. Louie threw his arms into the air as he spun around on his heels to storm off.

"Don't shoot the messenger, fuck-face!" He yelled behind his shoulder.

"Language, you little shit!"

Another loud clang signified the ending to the pair's battle and Olly and Rosie glanced at each other before bursting into laughter. Rosie clambered off the bed and made her way to the door; she gave a loose wave as she yawned a farewell, "See you tomorrow, egg."

"Bye, you bitch." Olly replied, still chuckling. Once his sister was gone Olly switched off his lamp and fell onto his bed, where he would remain on his phone for the next four hours.