Oliver's point of view
"Katie, wait!"
Hadn't I done enough running for one day? Hell, I'd played in a full quidditch match less than two hours ago.
Katie wasn't listening, she was walking intently. It took me only a moment to realize she was heading toward Chris's flat as we passed the hospital and the park. "Katie," I said again. "Are you sure you don't want to stop and think things through?"
"I've never been more sure about anything, Oliver." She didn't break her stride and I couldn't decide if I should feel terrified or inspired by the cool, collected look in her eyes.
We were approaching Chris's flat and I started to feel nervous. I knew Katie had her mind made up on confronting Chris, but I had no idea what was to come after that.
"Katie," I said, reaching for her arm. "Are you sure?"
She turned to face me and I felt relieved as her gaze softened at me. "Yes," she said firmly. Before I could say anything else, she'd ascended the steps to Chris's flat with me in tow. She knocked rapidly on the door and, despite how winded I was, I held my breath.
The door swung open and a laughing Chris appeared. His face fell as he saw Katie and me.
"Katie, what-?"
It was like someone had unleashed a banshee. Katie was suddenly inside Chris's apartment, screaming at him. I reached for her waist and pulled her away from him, as she was practically in Chris's face, pointing a finger at him.
"How dare you!" she shouted at Chris, wriggling in my arms. In the background, I could see Olivia hovering near a doorframe. I noticed she was wearing some sort of negligee. "You put all that effort into making me feel bad for what I did when you were with her the whole time?!" Katie glared at Olivia, who had inched closer to the hallway, as if she were ready to make a run for it. "And you bugged our flat?!" She threw the tiny black device at Chris and I watched as it bounced off his chest and rolled across the floor.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here," Chris said. "With him." He glared at me, his eyes shifting to my hands, which were on Katie's waist. "You aren't innocent in this, Katie."
Katie's jaw was clenched and I subconsciously squeezed her hip. "What I did was wrong, Chris," she said, her tone dropping to a serious, almost threatening hush. "But I wasn't the one having an affair and I wasn't the one spying on you."
"It was a good thing I did," Chris said, his eyes narrowing at us. "Otherwise I wouldn't have found out about you two lovebirds."
"This entire time," Katie continued. "You constantly accused Oliver and me when you were with her this entire time. I sat and listened to you attack Oliver time after time when you were the one cheating all along."
"Don't act like you never did anything wrong," Chris spat. "Sleeping in his bed. Going to all his matches. All your stupid pictures together in the paper. And I stayed with you because I thought I could change you. I should've known better. I should've known you wouldn't change your whoreish ways."
"Watch your mouth," I snapped.
"And you," Chris said, glaring daggers at me. "You spent day in and day out pretending to be the nice guy, the harmless and innocent friend. I know what you've been on about. I've known you've wanted her from the start." He shook his head at me. "I just didn't think you actually had it in you to do anything about it. Thought you were too big of a coward."
I made a move toward Chris and he recoiled, but Katie's hand gripped my bicep tightly. "Oliver, no!" she said. "You can't. You'll get kicked off the team."
She was right. I stopped and unclenched my fist.
"You can have her," Chris continued. "I just wish I'd realized what a waste she was sooner."
"Fuck you, Chris." Something else bounced off Chris's chest and I realized Katie had thrown her ring at him. The ring rattled on the floor until it came to rest, its diamond gleaming in the light for a moment. Katie's hand returned to its grip on my arm and I realized she was breathing heavily. "You're the biggest waste of time I've ever met. I should've seen what was in front of me all along. I had everything I wanted and instead, I wasted my time with you."
Katie tugged on my arm and practically pulled me toward the door. I was waiting for Chris to say something, as if I were begging him to give me a reason to smash his face in. Instead, we left in silence, leaving Chris and Olivia to continue their lives. My biggest concern was how Katie and I would continues ours.
Suddenly, we were walking at a brisk pace again. Katie still looked angry and her vice grip was starting to hurt my arm.
"Katie."
"Not now, Ol."
At least she was back to calling me "Ol." I followed her in silence as we passed the hospital and park again. When we reached our flat, Katie made a beeline to her bedroom.
I didn't know what to do, so I lingered in the hallway outside her door. She didn't seem mad at me anymore, but I didn't want to assume I had the green light to follow her. I knew she'd need time to get over Chris and I didn't want it to seem like I was pushing her. Then I heard her crying.
"Katie," I said, moving across the room toward her. She was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. "It'll be all right." I draped my arms around her and exhaled in relief when I felt her rest her head against me.
"How did this happen, Ol?"
"He's a git," I said. "An absolute git."
"But I let this happen."
"No you didn't, Katie. It's not your fault. You made some mistakes but he's the one who's been wrong from the start."
"They were together the whole time," she said as I noticed my shirt growing damp from her tears. "All along, he was accusing you and me when he was with her. What if I'd married him, Ol? What if I'd never found out?"
"I think we should be grateful you did, Kate."
"I'm sorry for dragging you into all this," she said quietly. "That wasn't fair. And I'm sorry for the shitty things I said to you. I hope you know I didn't mean them. You really are the most important person in my life."
"It's OK, Kate. Really."
"Thank you for looking out for me."
"You know you don't need to thank me for that."
"Yes, I do." She tilted her head to look up at me. "You don't have to put up with all my nonsense, but you do. Even when I drag you into it unfairly."
"I put up with it because you'd go mental if you didn't have someone to keep you in check," I pointed out. She grinned.
"What about you?" she said, starting to laugh. "Did you see Chris's face? He really thought you were about to kill him."
"I was about to kill him."
"And Olivia, cowering in the corner," Katie giggled. I felt relieved. It seemed like it had been years since I'd heard her laugh.
"Do you think Chris will give her your ring?"
"Of course he will, he's too cheap to buy her one of her own." Katie's grin took on a mischievous glimmer and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Kate, what did you do?"
I could tell she was holding back a laughing fit. "I put a spell on the ring," she said. "So that it'll bite down on anyone who puts it on. She won't be able to take it off and it'll be quite painful." She fell back in a fit of giggles.
"Kate, you did not!"
"Did so!"
I shook my head but didn't feel much sympathy for Olivia and Chris. "You're awful," I laughed.
"I know it was mean," she admitted. "But I couldn't help myself."
"The devil works hard, but Katie Bell works harder."
Katie grinned at me and it seemed that her tears had stopped. I laid back, turning to face her and she cuddled up next to me. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.
"We're out of macaroni, I can't make you any right now."
"That's not what I was going to ask, but can you pick some up on your way home tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"I was going to ask, why didn't you go out with Angelina's friend?"
What?!
"What?"
"Angelina told me she tried to set you up with some woman who works at the café across from the twins' store," Katie said. "She said you only went out with the girl a few times."
"I don't know, Kate. I just wasn't into her."
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
"Why don't you ever bring anyone back here? Women, I mean."
"I don't know."
"Ol."
"I really don't know, Kate."
"Ol. Please? Please just tell me how you feel."
I swallowed. I knew this conversation was coming, but I hadn't prepared for it just yet. I scanned my thoughts rapidly for a proper starting point, but before I could say anything, Katie sat up slightly, leaning on an elbow as she faced me.
"Ol, I really want to see where this goes," she said. I prayed she couldn't hear my heartbeat, which had to be faster and louder than a stampede of Hippogriffs. "I really want to know what it's like, you and me. I'm sorry I didn't pay any mind to it before. It always made sense to everyone but me, but I swear I've caught on now. And I know I just ended things with Chris, but I think we all knew that the end had been approaching for quite some time. I just should've done it sooner. I don't know if I'm ready to jump into things with you yet, but I need you to know that I want to if you'll just give me some time. And I'm sorry for wasting so much time, and I'm sorry for rambling now. I just need to know where your head's at."
Her vulnerability caught me off guard. I hadn't expected her to be that forthcoming, even to me, and especially so soon. Even though they weren't the exact words I wanted to hear (I was moreso hoping for "Marry me, Ol. Let me bear your children and we'll live happily ever after."), I appreciated her raw honesty. So I decided I may as well return the favor.
"Kate," I said, sorting through my words carefully. "I didn't go out with Angelina's friend because we didn't have much of a connection. Also, I'm going to kill Angelina." Katie smiled and I continued. "I don't bring women back here because I've always cared what you think, and because I've never had much interest in getting to know them beyond a night or two. That probably sounds bad, but I know they're only interested in me because I'm famous anyway."
"Ol, you're pretty hot, and you're a nice guy," Katie said. "They might genuinely like you, you know."
"I've just never really bothered with it," I said bracing myself for my own vulnerability. "They aren't you." Katie's eyes scanned mine for a moment and I could tell she was desperate for more explanation. "I don't want those women because they don't know me the way you do, Kate. Despite all my success, the money, the media attention and the fans, you've always kept me in check. You make sure I stay true within myself. You never seem to care about my fame, you just care about me." She smiled and I could feel her slip her hand into mine.
"I'd never forgive myself if I let you become some rich and famous git," she said. "You'd be an absolute nightmare, more than you are now."
"I'm glad I have you, Kate," I said quietly. "No matter the context, whether you're my friend or more. I'm just grateful to have you around." Katie smiled and cuddled up closer to me again.
"Ol?"
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
She elbowed me in the side. "You know what."
I sighed and gently played with her hair, desperate to find the right words. "I don't know, Kate," I finally admitted. "I just figured it's better to have you here as my best friend than not at all. I figured telling you might put an end to all that."
She nodded against me and reached to squeeze my hand. "I understand," she said. "I just wish you'd told me."
"Kate, that's not an easy thing to do," I pointed out. "You've been my best friend for 18 years and I've wanted you since I was 15. I couldn't just blurt it out and hope for the best."
"But maybe then we wouldn't have wasted all this time."
I gave her a skeptical glance. "Kate, you wouldn't have bothered with me. You were having way too much fun."
She elbowed me again. "I was not a wh-"
"I'm not calling you a whore. I'm just saying you dated a lot of blokes who aren't quite like me."
"Not everyone can be the great Oliver Wood."
"That's not what I mean. You've dated a lot of assholes, Kate."
She turned to lie flat on her back and peered at the ceiling. "I can't fight you there," she sighed, then turned to look at me. "You're a bit of an asshole too, though."
"I am not!" I protested as she grinned at me.
"You really should've treated Angelina's friend better! You should've given her a chance."
"I didn't like her like that. She was a nice lady and all, but…"
"But what?"
"She didn't have a rack like yours."
A pillow came thumping downward onto my head. "Oliver!"
"I was only joking!"
"You're terrible."
"I was joking! She just wasn't a very interesting lady. We didn't have much to talk about. It's quite a stark contrast from you, since you never shut up."
The pillow smashed into my face again and I grabbed it, yanking it from Katie's grasp. I gave her a threatening smirk and she screeched, covering her face with her arms. "I'll be nice, I swear!" she shouted.
"No, you won't."
She shrugged and smirked up at me. "You're right, I won't. But you have to be nice now, if I'm going to be your girlfriend soon."
Girlfriend? Merlin. It felt surreal to process that concept.
"What are we, 10?" I said. "And what makes you assume I want you to be my girlfriend?"
She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into a kiss. When I obliged, she released me and grinned. "Your face says it all, Ol."
(Author's note: I was going to end it here, but it doesn't feel right to quit without offering a glimpse into the lives of these two as a couple. So don't worry, there's a little more to come.)
