Chasing Oliver
~By Pixie~
Chapter Seven: Caught.
I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm till you discover how deep
I wasn't jumping - for me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all
You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it
~Stuck in a Moment: U2~
What the hell? Oliver thought, still stationary on the floor. He got up quickly, and dashed off after Caoilin. This had gone far enough. Oliver Wood wanted answers. Running down the hallway, he managed to catch up to the short girl just outside of the Great Hall.
"Caoilin," he called. She stopped, and turned around on her heel.
"I thought, I'd gotten rid of you," Caoilin said steadily in a cold tone.
"No you haven't. I'm still here and I want answers," Oliver replied, reaching out to grab her by the arm. He steered her off in the direction of the quidditch pitch. "No more stepping on my feet, no more ignoring me, we're going to work this out once and for all."
"Are we now?" Caoilin said sarcastically amused.
"Yes," Oliver insisted. "Sit," he said, indicating a patch of grass on the edge of the pitch. Caoilin narrowed her eyes at him, but sat. He did sort of have a point. This did need to be resolved.
"Alright," Oliver said after he sat down opposite her "where shall we start?"
Caoilin raised an eyebrow lazily "Well if I had my wand on me I could have made some whipped cream and duct tape, but I wasn't aware that you'd be that eager."
"Shut it Caoilin, if you're going to be sarcastic like that this will be hopeless,"
"Fine fine, I'll behave," Caoilin conceded, happy enough that she'd caused a faint redness to appear on Oliver's cheeks. "Alright, I don't like your arrogant attitude."
"I'm not arrogant,"
"Yes, yes you are, to me you are. What's the big deal anyway, I just replaced someone on your team,"
"I'm not arrogant," Oliver insisted "honestly, no one's ever called me arrogant before."
"Well guess what Wonder Boy, I just did,"
"Well I think you're arrogant as well. You don't just go and kiss someone like that randomly,"
"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it, even if you don't give a damn about my interests you can't have hated it," Caoilin smirked.
"That's not the point," Oliver said hopelessly "the point is, you don't just do that sort of stuff,"
"Well you're obviously getting your information from the wrong sources because I believe I just proved your theory wrong before,"
"So you're meaning to tell me that you'd just go up to a random guy and kiss him?" Oliver demanded "What about Flint?"
Caoilin blushed "No probably not,"
"Then why me?"
Caoilin looked at his almost desperate face, confused beyond comprehension. She saw the stark hopeless desire to learn the truth in his eyes and felt almost ashamed. Now, she realized that she had screwed up more than she thought she had.
"Don't know," she mumbled under her breath, looking at the lush grass.
"What was that?"
She bit her lip. Just say it Caoilin, she thought to herself you're no shrinking violet. Just say it. "Because I wanted to." She said, her voice hardly no more than a whisper, but Oliver heard the words loud and clear, ringing with her Irish accent.
"You just 'wanted to'? Why?"
"How am I supposed to know? You don't just plan things like this," Caoilin said angrily.
"So now there's a 'this'?"
"No," Caoilin balked. Stupid slip of words, she admonished herself.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Completely?"
"Oliver, don't push it!" Caoilin half yelled at him, her temper breaking into shards.
"Alright, alright," Oliver said defensively "but what if there was something? What would you do about that?"
"Nothing, because there will never be something. I don't do relationships. Never have, never will," Caoilin said in a matter of fact way "and who'd want to go out with someone who can play quidditch better than him?"
Oliver shrugged "Perhaps you should look into that,"
"Perhaps, you should stay out of my life,"
"What is with you? Why so angry all the time?"
Caoilin narrowed her eyes. No further would this conversation go. She stood up suddenly and glared down at him.
"I don't know. Do you know how that feels? When all you once knew disappears and you're left with nothing? When you keep making stupid decisions without thought because you're just too confused to begin with?" Caoilin said with a dash of venom "But how could you know, the captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team?"
Oliver stood up, slowly as Caoilin glared at him. "Maybe, Caoilin MacBrádaigh, you should start trying to let other people help you,"
"Help me," She laughed coldly "How could anyone help me,"
"By learning what's going on inside your head, by trying to be there for you,"
"What if I don't want anyone to know what's going on in my head? I'm fine the way I am thank you very much,"
"You're going to lead a lonely life," Oliver said with a sense of fleeting wisdom beyond his years and very much out of character.
"Lonely is good. Lonely means I don't have to worry. You can all just forget about me now, I'm not playing for Gryffindor, just pretend I never came here," She tried to walk away but Oliver caught her arm.
"Don't you want a friend?"
"What for? To leave me like everyone else has?"
"I wouldn't leave you," Oliver declared, unthinkingly.
"Everyone does in the end," Caoilin replied with a note of finality in her melancholy tone. "Good bye Oliver Wood." And she stalked off, back to the Gryffindor Tower without a single look back. She walked unseeingly, as if blind or in a trance.
~#~#~#~#~*0*~#~#~#~#~
End of Chapter Seven.
A/N: Hi guys. Yes, this is going to be an annoyingly long and drawn out authors note, unfortunately…although it may be shorter if I get a move on. Alright, for starters I'm sorry this is out a day late.
Thanks to all the reviewers for the last chapter, and I'm sorry I've stumbled along a bit of arrogance of my own. As of now I won't be asking you guys to review. But of course you are most welcome to do so if you so wish to. Although I am only posting the chapters for this story if there are reviews because it is rather pointless if no one is reading it.
Thank you again and I am glad to have had your support for this chapter. I know it's a tad shorter than the others, and with a damned lot of conversation if you don't mind me saying so, but it was nessicary so that the problem could be resolved as well as it can be right now.
~ Pixie.