Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter one!! 

It was a cold day in december, and Christmas time was coming around. But now sitting on the floor, huddled in a pile of rags was Ollie. Ollie was a poor monkey, and unlike his friends didn’t have much money. His parents had left him at a young age, which had turned him into a responsible and brave kid. 

“Hello sir? spare a dollar? I will sing for you!” Ollie suggested to the rich looking nugget on the street. The nugget turned a blind eye, and walked past hurriedly. Ollie sighed. Why does no one have respect for the poor? It’s not my fault I was born into this poverty. Ollie always hated how jealous he got, looking at families hold hands and enjoy their life- which became so much more visible during the winter holidays. He longed for love and family, but never got to experience it.

Ollie was about to get up and move somewhere else, perhaps to another street corner where he would have more luck getting the extra dollar from passerby’s. But on his way, while he was walking Ollie had accidentally bumped into someone. He turned around and froze.

It was Duncan.

Duncan was a…. scary, monkey. Duncan would always bully and mentally torment other kids in his class, with cruel jokes and pranks that only he found entertaining. Anything from beating them up or making a fool of themselves, Duncan would find a way to pick on innocent monkeys- and recently, Ollie was the victim of this bullying. He didn’t know why he was getting picked on- and had no one to run too for help. So Ollie would usually accept the bullying. But now, in front of him, in the bustling streets was Ollie’s biggest fear. Standing right in front of him. Ollie gasped. “Oh- I’m sorry! please don’t-“ His voice was cut off, and Duncan stared at him angrily.

“Watch where you’re going! And besides, don’t you have somewhere to stay? It’s almost Christmas, what are you doing on the streets, practically robbing others of their free-time and money!” His face was in a scowl, and Duncan, although only 2 inches taller than Ollie, seemed to loom over him, with negative emotions surrounding him.

Ollie shook his head. “No, I don’t. Now stop assuming about my life and leave me alone!” He said, a little scared of confrontation but believing that since they were out in the public, with lots of other people passing by, Duncan would leave him alone. “And why aren’t you at home! Do your parents not like you or something? Since you’re always judging Jimmy, Tyler and Me, why don’t you explain what you are doing here!”

Duncan froze.

”My parents are mad at me. I’m sure they will forgive me later, but…..” He trailed off. Ollie was confused- he had never seen Duncan this sad, especially at the mention of his parents. Duncan went silent after that. Ollie just stared at him, quite confused.

Ollie slipped away, and as he turned around, he could still see Duncan standing there, looking down, and looking sad. He wasn’t used to seeing anyone around him sad, especially not Duncan, his bully.

—

Ollie went to school. As usual, Duncan would always bully or harass the kid sitting next to him, until they asked for a seating change. It was almost like a contest, how fast Duncan would annoy the #### out of people. It had happened again, some poor girl got tired of Duncan pretty easily. So Duncan got moved.

Ollie wasn’t paying much attention to the whole seating change thing, and was instead studying for the math test. Ollie always did good in school, and although never telling anyone this his dream was to be an astronaut- he loved the stars. But with no one to talk to, often times he felt that his hard work would go to waste. When he looked up, he could see Duncan. Duncan as assigned to sitting next to him. 

Ollie panicked, remembering what had happened yesterday. He was curious about the situation with Duncan’s parents, but dare not interfere with Duncan’s personal life. “Uhm. Hello.” Was all Ollie could hurriedly spit out. Unlike usual, Duncan did not respond to Ollie.

There was no taunts, there was no insult.

There was silence.

Ollie looked around, spotting Jimmy and Tyler. They looked scared too, sad to see their friend (who was clearly uncomfortable) having to sit next to Duncan. Ollie sat through the lesson in social studies, until the teacher would assign them time to talk about the up-coming project. After a few minutes, the students had time to “talk and discuss” for the social studies project that was coming up. Of course, no one really talked about the project, and rather they would talk about hangouts, gossip and drama. Ollie would do that too, but now he was separated from his friends.

Duncan looked at Ollie. Just a small glance, before looking away again. Duncan’s eye bags were very visible and, his eyes were a little red. It was almost like he had cried. Ollie titled his head in confusion. Why would Duncan cry?

Had he? Had Ollie’s word’s really made someone cry?

While still not liking Duncan, Ollie always had a strong amount of empathy for others. He was suddenly sad at the thought that anyone would cry because of what he said. Ollie swallowed and nervously tapped Duncan’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday- are you angry?” Duncan stared at him blankly, not used to Ollie saying sorry. “It’s not your fault- my parents are still mad at me.” He sighed and put his head down on the table. Ollie felt sad now, Duncan didn’t even yell at him today. Something was really wrong with Duncan.

—

The next day, at recess Tyler and Jimmy asked Ollie about what had happened. “Why did you talk to Duncan? You know he hates your guts- all of our guts, actually.” Ollie shrugged. “Two days ago, on the street corner i was begging for money, and Duncan was there- he was yelling at me at first. But then I think I said something that made him sad.”

Jimmy sighed. “Just be careful- he’s gonna forget all about this and then bully you again- Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.” And despite Jimmy’s small lecture, Ollie still believed that Duncan needed help with whatever was going on at home, with his family.

”Okay.” Was all he could muster out.

—

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Ollie sat down in his chair. Looking at the clock, it was 8:02. School started at 8:00, but Ollie had to walk a long way to school- everyone knew this, so his teachers forgave him for being late. (Especially the english teacher, she was very nice) He looked around, and that day didn’t see Duncan next to him- nor did he see Duncan yesterday on the streets.

Ollie looked around and passed a note to Jimmy and Tyler, sneaking his message to them by asking others to pass it along. Even though they sat quite far apart, Ollie made it clear to everyone in his class his message was quite important. 

Duncan isn’t here today, I wonder why… (Ollie)

Why do you need to wonder! You should celebrate he’s gone. (Jimmy) YEAH! (Tyler)

OK (Ollie)

After that, they didn't send back any more notes. Ollie could still hear them talking and whispering, and Ollie felt a little left out- Jimmy and Tyler where friends much longer then Ollie was with them. They went way back, to when they were much younger. It was a duo in a trio- no they didn’t treat him unfair, but there where times when they would talk about things that they did in the past, and Ollie would just stand there, not being able to relate.

Ollie didn’t really have any interesting stories about his childhood- he was too poor to do any fun activities. He never pointed this feeling of being left out to them, because he wasn’t sure what they would think of him, and growing up on the streets sure taught him one thing: don’t draw too much attention to yourself. 

In fact, the only reason why he came to this school was because of Max and Jimmy- after Max didn’t give money to the poor monkey, Jimmy came up to him and asked to be friends. Eventually, Ollie shared that although wanting to go to school, he was too poor and got kicked out from another school, for being too “disruptive” and getting in trouble. Max and Jimmy and their family was very kind- but Ollie wanted a real family- not just friends.

Sure Martha was the sweetest woman he had met, sure Jeff would always encourage Ollie, and sure Hope was kind enough to sneak Ollie the few extra dollars, but he had always longed for comfort, someone he could go too- someone that was his family.

His life would be much more easier if he had that in his life.

And again, Ollie could make logical decisions by himself- but no one really understood his thoughts or goals. Jimmy and Duncan would laugh about gossip and do stupid things- but Ollie, had one thing about him that set him apart from the rest of his classmates. He was much more mature and, always believed in doing what was right, even if it seemed impossible to achieve such things. He was very determined to follow his goals and not let any slip up lower the possibility of not achieving his dreams. So while the rest of his classmates would follow trends and have irrational behavior, Ollie believed in doing the right things.

Ollie closed his eyes and rested on the school tables, with the sound of the English teacher’s words drowned out by his own thoughts. There was something about “Winter Break soon!” and, “The rest of the week will mostly be free time!” which was certainly fine for the poor monkey.

A few minutes later, Duncan walked into class. He looked tired, and his fur was very messy. He plopped down onto his desk and groaned. “#### you school!” He whispered, but Ollie heard. He woke up and looked around, flinching a little when he saw Duncan beside him. “Duncan? Why were you so late- it’s 8:30!” Ollie asked, trying not to anger him. Duncan sighed.

”My Dad’s really, really angry at me. My mom tried to calm him down and…” Duncan seemed to pause, a sad look on his face as he explained again, “He got really, really mad and my mom’s hurt. I don’t even want to go to school.”

Ollie gasped. “Oh gosh.. I really didn’t know that! I mean, I hope your mom feels better- I don’t really remember my mom, but she would always sing to me before she died. It would always make me feel better- do you want me to sing to you?” Ollie suggested, smiling at his own idea.

”No.” Duncan said, closing his eyes more.

Ollie’s ears drooped down in sadness. I guess I forgot he’s not my friend. I should’ve listened to Jimmy and Tyler, why would I think someone like Duncan be friends with me? me? But just as Ollie was getting lost in his thoughts, Duncan spoke again. “Sorry if I hurt your feelings- I’m just mad.”

Ollie smiled and him. “Yeah, I forgive you.” “But don’t think we are friends or anything- I just feel a little bad!” Duncan added, sitting up straighter.

Ollie smiled a little.

Maybe this “bully” can’t change. Maybe everyone can change for the better! I’ll prove Jimmy and Tyler right.

—

The next day, Duncan arrived at the usual time. Ollie waved at him. “Hello!” He said, although nervous to say anything he still believed that Duncan wouldn’t bully him, not after their conversation from yesterday. Duncan glared at him. Ollie froze, wondering if Duncan would shoot him an insult or taunt.

But he didn’t say anything. All Duncan did was pick at his dark-gray sweater and look away from Ollie, clearly annoyed. Ollie felt a little disappointed that Duncan’s nicer personality didn’t stick around longer- he was probally going back to his usual self- taunting, mean, and above everything- having such a big ego. That day’s school assignment was very easy- after all, it was the last day before the winter holiday break started. 

Many others enjoyed winter break as a time to relax and get with their family to enjoy the winter spirit- but Ollie hated not going to school. Because in school, there was free food and shelter and education- but during breaks, Ollie would have to wander the streets in order to afford scraps of food. It was even worse during the summer- and since he was only 13, he couldn’t get a part-time summer job. 

Now focused at the assignment, Ollie stared at the title of the worksheet. “What Christmas means to me! Writing assignment” Ollie titled his head at the subject. What Christmas means to me… I don’t really know? I guess it means Christmas trees and the winter.

He jotted it down on his almost-blank paper (aside from silly scribbles of himself near the bottom) and paused. Something didn’t feel right. He knew there was more to Christmas than just winter- but what? He could not find out what- so when they had to turn in the fun assignment, and the school day eventually came to an end, that was all Ollie could think about.

What did it really mean? 

He would always see families, singing and lighting up Christmas trees. He would see people holding hands and movies and books about Christmas get popular. But he had no one to celebrate with.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 :3

Ollie wandered the streets, in the cold. It was "winter break" and he just wanted to go back home. Jimmy and Tyler both said that he couldn't stay over at their houses- so now he was all alone. With a small amount of snow littering the streets and pattering onto his hair, Ollie looked around and saw Duncan. "What- What are you doing here?"

Ollie let out a yelp of fear, seeing Duncan walk toward Ollie. Duncan slowly blinked and sighed, not saying anything but standing near Ollie and then sitting down, leaning on a random building.

"My dad kicked me out." Was all he said, before resting his head on his arms and closing his eyes. Ollie let out a gasp, "Well, is your mom okay at least?" He had some concern for Duncan, not used to him being so? What was the word... Sad? Emotional? Duncan shook his head. He didn't say anything, so Ollie spoke again, this time his voice was much more quiet and soft.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk- I know a place we can stay at, do you wanna go?" Ollie said, trying to cheer up the sad looking monkey who's eyes where staring at the floor. After a while, he finally spoke. "Yeah." And stood up, brushing off some snow from his pants.

Ollie nodded and stepped forward, before grabbing Duncan's hand and walking a little faster now, as the snow seemed to pour down on them.

Duncan looked away a little, not used to someone holding his hand. He didn't want to feel "weak" or "soft" but when he was with Ollie, somehow it felt different. They kept walking until they came across a bunch of trees- it was like a forest.

The tall pine trees that where covered in snow loomed over them, and the smell of snow and pine needles hit them instantly as they went deeper into the forest. “where are you going Ollie?” Duncan asked, a hint of confusion in his voice as he watched Ollie walks around. “It should be here somewhere…” 

Duncan was about to ask “What’s there?” But before he could speak, he was greeted with a giant treehouse. “Was-Was this built by you?” Duncan gasped and stuttered a little, the giant treehouse looked magnificent. Ollie nodded. “I found this place a long time ago- and have slowly been building it. I really like this place- especially since there’s a small pond near it.” 

Duncan turned and saw a shimmering pond, that was slightly cloudy with a blue-green water and some plants beside it. “I must say- this is pretty cool..” Duncan was very surprised by how well built the treehouse looked- it was prefect. He had always taken Ollie as some weak idiot who couldn’t do anything if his life depended on it. But now, in front of him was a absolute work of art.

”Well, What are you waiting for! Let’s go!” Ollie said, beckoning for Duncan to follow. They slowly climbed the ladder that led up to the treehouse, and when they where in, Duncan spoke again.

”If you are homeless- then why don’t you go here everyday?” Duncan asked, genuinely curious as to why Ollie didn’t take advantage of having this shelter in the forest. Ollie paused, “I guess it’s because it’s so far away from school and- I need extra money really, really badly or else I can’t eat. So i go here only during breaks or if there’s bad weather.” He explained, and then stood up.

“I have two blankets in here. You’re really, really covered in snow.. You should brush it off, here.” Ollie handed Duncan a blanket and smiled. They were silent for a long time, until Duncan spoke. “Why be nice to me? After every time I bullied you and your friends- and you forgave me?”

Ollie smiled. “I know people can change. I know that, if you apologize to my friends, I’m sure they will forgive you. It may take a while to convince them, but no one’s truly bad.” Duncan suddenly felt bad for all the times he was angry toward Ollie, Tyler and Jimmy- but some part of him was still screaming “Don’t be weak!” and “Don’t apologize!”. 

Duncan shook those thoughts away and just smiled. “Thank you.”

Duncan woke up the next day, and Ollie was sleeping next to him. Duncan looked around and saw that he had two blankets on him, and Ollie had none. He felt a little bad so he put the blankets on the sleepy monkey. Duncan stepped outside for a minute and looked around. Duncan sighed a little and looked around. It was very cold, and there was snow all over the grass and the pond looked almost-frozen. He shivered a little before speaking.

“Man.. What happened yesterday was crazy…. I really acted- odd? I was so nice and kind Ollie. But maybe that’s not a bad thing, I need to stop listening to my family. And..  maybe I can apologize to Tyler and Jimmy. Maybe I can make everything right- I know that Ollie would be happy if i did that. I like it when he’s happy.” Duncan’s voice trailed off at the end, he found it quite embarrassing to enjoy another’s company.

Suddenly, his phoned started to explode with messages and missed calls. Duncan grabbed his phone from his back pocket and looked to see his father sending many messages to him. Duncan rolled his eyes and muttered, “not him… i don’t want to respond..” , but despite his words he still read the texts his father had sent him.

He opened up the texts and it read:

Where are you!

You better come back home soon, it’s very late.

WHERE ARE YOU??? DUNCANYOU USELESS PEICE OF #### !!!

i’m sorry

Inwas rtih my friend

Ill get home soon

He typed back a quick response, feeling happy he could call Ollie his friend, but sad he had to go.

Duncan put the phone down and let out a loud sigh. He turned around and thought of Ollie, who was probally still sleeping. Duncan felt super, super guilty for having to leave his friend alone- he didn’t want Ollie to think they weren’t friends anymore- but he had to go, his father would be much more mad if he didn’t go back home.

“Sorry Ollie.” He mumbled, before sheepishly running off into the woods. He needed to get back home.

—

And then Ollie awoke, the blanket on his back as he rolled over to see that Duncan was not next to him. “Duncan? Where are you?” He was still in a sleepy trance, but it only took a few seconds for him to notice that Duncan was in fact, not sitting next to him, or near the pond bellow the treehouse.

”Oh man.. I guess he left. I hope he isn’t mad at me. I really thought we were friends.” Ollie got up and grabbed a blank piece of paper and a crayon, before sitting down and going to write a note. It read:

”Duncan, if ur reading this could you meet up here at midnight?” 

Ollie placed the paper on the outside of the treehouse, with a bit of tape attached to it. “I hope he sees, incase I’m not here when he comes back to the treehouse.. if he does, that is.”

low-key the shortest chapter i hope it’s ok..

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

(This part is Duncan’s POV. I hope you enjoy this :> )

Duncan had now arrived back home, and he saw his father the moment he entered the house. He was sitting on the couch, looking half drunk. Duncan brushed the snow off his head and pants and looked around sheepishly.

Before he could sneak into his tiny room, his father spoke loudly.

“WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING, LEAVING THE HOUSE? YOU ####### IDIT? YOU DON’t EVEN HAVE ANY FRIENDS, WHO WOULD WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU? TELL THE TRUTH, WHERRE WERE YOU REALLY?” his voice was very angry and sounded almost un-comprehensible.

Duncan flinched at the last part, knowing that his father was right. (until yesterday, he was friends with Ollie now.. and hopefully Tyler and Jimmy if they forgave him?) “okay?” was what he whispered under his breath before sneaking upstairs to his room.

He pulled out his phone the moment he was inside his room, and desperately wanted to talk to Ollie. Maybe I can text Tyler or Jimmy? I think they know where Ollie’s treehouse is?? Maybe i can get them to talk to me! But they had already blocked him on every social media, because of how much bullying and taunting he used to do. 

“####!!! ####!!! I HATE THIS!! WHY DOES EVERYONE NOT LIKE ME?? WHY CAN’t THEY FORGIVE ME??” Duncan knew why they didn’t like him- but he still felt bad, terrible actually. 

Duncan flopped onto his bed and sighed. 

What if Ollie thinks I left him on purpose? What if he thinks I’m playing some sort of complex prank on him? What if they never forgive me for being a bully? 

Being so lost in thought Duncan didn’t even realize he was crying- the first time he cried in a really, really long time. He used to cry a lot when he was younger, but his father always told him that “Crying is for weak people, no one will think great of you if you cry.” But Duncan didn’t care about his father anymore. 

He cared about Ollie. He wanted Ollie to think, to know he wanted to change.

Could he though?

(Switches to Jimmys POV!)

Jimmy rolled around in his bed, on his phone. “Man.. I wish I could hang out with Ollie AND Tyler for the holidays… But I don’t even know where Ollie goes! Maybe one-day I will ask him to hang out during the weekends, we only hang out after school!”. Jimmy sounded slightly annoyed. 

It’s still strange that Ollie chose to talk to Duncan- to be nice to him. He’s our bully, and never apologizes for prancing others. No one laughs at his jokes, other than him! He shouldn’t get into Duncan’s personal life- there is no reason to know. After all, does a bully really deserve forgiveness for everything they’ve done? Even after they taunt others? Even if they have a reason to be rude, is it worth it?
I guess not? 

Jimmy had a very firm opinion when it came to Duncan and forgiveness.

“I’ll go text Tyler, I have nothing better to do.” Jimmy said, and then grabbed his phone, which was still charging. He typed in his password and opened it up to see that Tyler already sent him a message. It was a long message. “Man. This is gonna take forever to read!” Jimmy mumbled while scrolling to the top to see what his Nugget friend had sent him.

—

Heyyy Jimmy. Do yk about Ollie?

Apparently, he and Duncan are friends now. Don’t ask how I know this,

I’m in this crazy group chat with drama.

Oh and Apparently Angus has seen them hanging out together.?
like ew..

I low-key don’t like it! Duncan had been mean..

ljke way to maney times. Normally I would go up to Ollie and b e like

”HEY!!!1! don’t be friends with Duncsn!!”

but now?? it’s winter break so

I CNA SAY NANYTHING!!1
after winter break we gotta tell him

both of them

Duncan is going to be a bad influence for Ollie.

I mean, there’s no reason i can think of why Duncan

woild be friends with Ollie. He’s provslly pulling som 

complex prank on our friend.

I’m actually worried :(

—

Jimmy paused. “I guess I am worried too, but there’s not really anything we can do to communicate with him, atleast not until Winter break… But we could text Duncan…” Jimmy’s eyes lit up as he realized he could un-block Duncan and tell him to stay away from Ollie. Would Duncan get mad at him? Most likely. Was it worth a shot? Most likely.

Jimmy quickly wrote back a response to Tyler, but didn't give out what his plan was.

__

I have an idea.

__

That was all Jimmy wrote before slamming his finger on the "unblock" button. "It's worth a shot. I mean, I respect Ollie but I don't want him to be hurt by Duncan. He's always been a little too gullible and kind to everyone. Even to random strangers, or 

sad-looking cats in the rain (to be fair, Ollie was a sad-looking monkey in the rain) but being nice to Duncan? That was definitely a surprise." 

Duncan. why do you keep hanging out with Ollie?

YOU UNBLOCKED ME??

Yes. BUT WHY???didn't you bully the #### out of him and us too

I'm sorry for that! But i've changed now, I swear. We are friends because he forgave me!
... Maybe you could forgive me too?

Not in a million years. Maybe if I actually see you change

... I doubt that will happen.

Just because Ollie's nice isn't a reason to think your mistakes can be fixed.

:(

i sorry for short chapter

I PROMISE. next one will have like 2k words

note: i’m not trying to make tyler and jimmy be evil

they just don’t understand WHY ollie forgave duncsn and they have different points of views 😭😭 don’t jump me