The Great 2016 Cotillion Challenge - Marcus Flint/Katie Bell
Word Count: 980
Old Enemies, New Friends
Katie felt Marcus's arm drape over her waist, the bed shifting as he moved closer to her and nuzzled into her neck. "Morning, love. Did you even sleep?"
Despite the thoughts still racing through her mind, Katie couldn't help but smile. Marcus always seemed to know when something was bothering her. She didn't even have to say a word; he always seemed to pick up on it just by watching her. He must have noticed that she'd spent most of the night tossing and turning.
Katie moved so that she was laying on her back, enabling her to look up at him. "Not really. I'm too nervous about tonight."
Marcus sighed before leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I've told you, there's no need to be nervous. Wood didn't intimidate me in school, I'll certainly not be hurt if he still hates me."
Katie bit her lip. "It may not matter to you, but it matters to me. Oliver is an old friend, I don't want him to feel like he can't be friends with me just because I'm engaged to you. He had plenty of reservations when I started dating you." Katie remembered that conversation very well. Oliver had been more than a little upset and had started warning her about the dangers of Marcus Flint. But Oliver hadn't seen Marcus the way Katie did. She saw the side of him that not many people had the chance to see. He was different than he had been in school; the bully was gone, replaced by a man who could be kind and loving when he wanted to be.
"I'll just have to change his mind." Marcus smiled down at her. "Don't worry about a thing. You already have Angelina and Alicia on your side. I'm sure they can easily convince Fred and George. Harry should be no problem either, he's always seemed like the forgiving type."
"I'm not sure it's going to be so easy." Katie didn't understand Marcus sometimes. He always shrugged everything off. He never seemed to stress about anything. "You need to keep in mind - " Marcus interrupted her with a kiss that nearly made her forget what they were talking about in the first place.
"Let me worry about winning them over." Marcus smiled seductively. "I think what you need right now is a distraction."
As Marcus kissed her again, Katie could think of several ways he could distract her.
Marcus could tell that Katie was still nervous as they entered The Leaky Cauldron hand in hand that evening. Her hazel eyes went wide with fear as she spotted her old teammates. Marcus squeezed her hand reassuringly and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Remember, let me worry about what they think of me. You're here to have fun and catch up with them." This didn't seem to help, but she moved forward anyway.
Oliver was the first to spot them. As soon as his gaze landed on them, Katie stopped in her tracks and went rigid with fear. Marcus tried to reassure her again. "Katie, I need you to trust me. I'm going to promise you right now that this isn't going to be as bad as you think."
Katie took a deep breath, nodded, and moved forward once more. Right on cue, just as they reached the group seated at the table in the middle of the room, Oliver rose from his seat and approached them. "Flint. It's good to see you again." Oliver greeted Marcus as an old friend, the usual malice in his voice when speaking to Marcus absent. Oliver held out his hand and Marcus shook it.
Katie let go of Marcus's other hand and stared at them both in shock. She opened her mouth several times to speak, but closed it again each time as though words failed her. Marcus was rather pleased with himself for surprising her so thoroughly. "I told you to trust me, love." He took her hand and gently pulled her to him, placing his hands in the small of her back to keep her close.
Katie still looked bewildered. "What - how - " She shook her head in disbelief.
"I convinced Oliver to meet with me a couple of weeks ago so we could talk." Marcus was proud of himself for pulling that off. He hadn't exactly lied to her when he'd said he was going out with a friend that night. He hadn't said he was meeting one of his friends, after all. He and Oliver had met here and talked for hours. Things had been tense at first, but the two had eventually agreed to move past their old rivalry, Marcus's apologetic behavior enough to convince Oliver that he'd changed over the years.
"I have to admit, Bell, he's not as bad as I thought. I think being with you has softened him." Oliver's words meant a lot to Marcus. They had parted on good terms after their last meeting, but Marcus hadn't expected Oliver to speak so highly of him so quickly. "If you're happy with him and he's treating you properly, then I'm alright with him."
Oliver's words served to make the rest of the night perfect for Katie. The others warmed up to Marcus, following their former captain's example and leaving the past behind them. Katie didn't stop smiling the entire time they were there and for Marcus, that was proof enough that he'd done the right thing in trying to make amends with Oliver and the others. Her happiness mattered more to him than anything and he would stop at nothing to keep that smile on her face.
