CHAPTER 28

Gen awoke from her sleep, as she took her time opening her eyes. She blinked her eyes a few more times before accepting her reality that it was time to wake up, making a mental note that maybe she had had a little too much to drink the night before. She looked to Oliver next to her, fast asleep, knowing he'd be up in a little bit. He never seemed to stay asleep much longer than when she left the bed. She heard a ruffling through the cabinets outside of her room and got up, assuming it to be Adrian.

She opened the door, making sure to close it quietly, then headed out of her room and down the hall.

"Good morning, Ady. How did you-, WOAH!" she exclaimed, seeing the all too familiar head of long haired blonde hair. The woman in her kitchen stood on her tiptoes as she reached for a glass in the cabinets. She was dressed in the button down shirt that Adrian had worn the night before. "Alicia!"

"Bloody Hell!" the girl squealed, turning around to see Gen. Her eyes went wide in surprise as she accidentally dropped the mug, causing it to shatter.

"I'm so sorry," she said, in reference to the cup.

"It's fine! Don't worry about it," Gen said. With a sweep of her hand, the mug came back together and rested perfectly on the counter top, surprising Alicia once again.

"How did you-, ehm, nevermind," she started, trailing off. She knew that Gen was the one who should be asking questions.

"Did you ehm… stay the night?" Gen asked, hesitantly.

"Sort of," Alicia said, wringing her hands together.

"With-," Gen began, but quickly had her answer as a shirtless Adrian came out of the guest room.

"I heard a loud noise and- oh shit," Adrian said, stopping mid sentence as soon as he saw his friend. "Gen, hi."

"You two?!" Gen asked, shocked.

"Yeah…" Adrian blushed, trailing off. Both Adrian and Alicia looked down guiltily.

~ THE EVENTS OF LAST NIGHT ~

"Benjy, I swear! This is the last dance. Besides, I've got to give the rest of your adoring fans a turn," Alicia said, letting go of Benjy's hand. They had danced a few dances and she was ready to return to her friends - some of the other Falcons that had come to Tom's.

"So you admit it? You're an adoring fan?" he smirked.

Alicia sighed, "Williams!"

"Alright, love. But save the last one for me," he said, winking as he parted ways with her.

"No promises," she replied.

A few years ago this would've made her melt, but she had gotten her heart broken but a few too many smooth talkers like handsome as he was, she knew he'd be trouble for her. She sauntered off the dance floor, over to the bar, sitting down at the bar stool with a sigh next to her girlfriends.

"Looks like Benjy Williams fancies YOU, Spinnet," her friend Delia said, slightly jealous of her friend.

Alicia smirked and shot back at her Dutch teammate, "And why wouldn't he, Dalgaard?!" Delia and Ellen exchanged glances in response.

"Think I'll have a go at a dance with him," Ellen remarked, watching as the stud of a quidditch player made their way towards them. Alicia had to hold back rolling her eyes at the light competition. Most of the Puddlemere team had gone home - save for Benjy Williams and a couple of the reserves. Even Cress had left, who she had taken quite a liking to. The Falcons on the other hand, were hell bent on partying till the sun came up.

"Ladies, anyone on the dance floor care to join me?" Benjy asked, winking at Alicia. It was almost like he was trying to make her jealous and she didn't much care for it.

"If Spinnet won't, I certainly will," Ellen said, taking his hand.

"Looks like you have some competition," Benjy said. Alicia rolled her eyes.

"She can have you," she retorted, playfully.

"Very well then," Benjy said. Ellen left her seat with Delia following behind her as the three of them made their way to the dance floor.

Alicia looked down at her empty drink, it instantly refilling. She nodded at the bartender a thank you, taking a full sip.

"What? Williams that intolerable?" a voice asked. Alicia turned her head to see Adrian Pucey as he approached the bar.

She had thought nothing of him in school - being that he played opposite her and was on the Slytherin team, but she cursed herself for not taking a second look. He had chocolate brown hair that was slicked back and the hair on the side of his head was much shorter. He was handsome with high cheekbones. He had a much more muscular and wider build than most of the chasers she had seen in the League and only imagined that he was able to be that way now that he didn't play anymore.

"Oh, ehm, no. Well, a bit annoying, I suppose. Just not for me," Alicia shrugged. She glanced nervously. Now, having a sister in law who worked for the papers, she was hyper aware of reporters that could overhear and land her in the gossip columns.

"You're not into tall, dark, and world famous?" Adrian asked, skeptically raising ane eyebrow.

"No, no, no, that's not it!" Alicia protested, double checking to see if anyone was around, potentially listening in. "No, he's just. Well, he's a bit of a womanizer if you ask me. I'm not interested in being just another notch on a bedpost."

"You alright?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, 'course. Just making sure that what I just said won't end up in a gossip column," Alicia said, meekly. She felt pathetic that that's what she was worried about but couldn't help herself. She had seen how hard the editors worked to get a good story.

"No… I ehm, stepped out for a moment, but it's not every day you get to hang out with a bunch of the League, you know?" Adrian asked. "Well, of course. You don't know. Because you play…" Adrian turned beet red. "I'm sorry. Excuse me while I take my foot out of my mouth."

Alicia laughed, "No, it's quite alright! I know what you meant." His lack of tact was kind of charming, though she had a feeling that if he wanted to turn the real charm on, he'd be as effective as Benjy Williams.

"This seat taken?" Adrian asked, curiously.

"No," Alicia said, pulling out the stool for him. "Besides, I'd much rather your company than my boy crazy teammates."

Adrian chuckled, waving the bartender over, "Yes, I'll have a firewhiskey and ehm, whatever she wants."

"I'll have a beer actually," Alicia said. She turned to Adrian. "Last drink of the night, you know?"

Adrian nodded, "I do. So tell me about it. Playing for the Falcons…"

~END FLASHBACK~

"Well we figured if you and Wood could do it," Adrian started, only half joking.

"Yeah, we just got to talking and one thing led to another and… well, here I am," Alicia shrugged, innocently.

Gen had to practically pick her jaw off of the floor before beginning to laugh, "It's funny, really. It's just you two have given both of us so much shit about it!" She continued to laugh, the laugh growing more and more. "And I can't believe you had sex in my home!"

"Gen, YOU have sex in your home all the time," Adrian pointed out.

She continued to laugh, "Blimey, I don't think I've laughed this hard in a while…." She collected herself, pulling it together, then trying to breathe to calm herself down. She looked up at the both of them. "Good. This is good."

"I don't need your approval, Mom," Adrian teased.

Gen shrugged, playing along, "I mean, you had sex in my flat. So… you actually do." Alicia chuckled, uncomfortably. "Why don't I make us all some coffee?"

Gen made coffee as Alicia and Adrian sat around the kitchen island. She was secretly really happy that this had happened. It just felt like maybe it'd bring them all together more often. She liked Alicia and Adrian was her best friend. Now they'd have even more of an excuse to get together. It was a little weird, yes, but she would adjust. They sat around with coffee in their mugs, as Gen started on breakfast, adjusting her plan since she was now cooking for four.

"Something smells great in here," a voice said, drawing closer and closer. Gen looked up from her cutting board, placing her knife down to see a very shocked Oliver standing in the space between the living room and kitchen.

"Princess, finally decide to join us?" Alicia teased, recognizing the voice of her former quidditch captain. She'd usually dread having to hear his voice first thing in the morning barking quidditch orders and yelling at her because she was late.

"Alicia, what're you doing here?" Oliver asked in surprise.

She sat at the island on a stool, clad only in a men's shirt and no pants.

"Morning! We've got quite the story for you," Gen said. Oliver raised an eyebrow, moving around the island to kiss her girlfriend good morning.

"Is that so?" he asked, kissing her on the cheek.

"Yeah," she responded, handing him a mug full of coffee. "Take a seat, my love."