A/N: PhoenixReborn29! You're my soulmate, I swear! Harry Potter and Linkin Park! Thank you all for the lovely, lovely reviews. I wasn't sure if anyone would still read my story after such a long gap between the last two chapters – but you did! – so thanks a whole lot anyway. This chapter is dedicated to all those wonderful people who actually stayed up the entire night reading all seventeen chapters. *hands you a cup of coffee* i o u a name, HI, what's your LPU username? And two warnings: there is quite a bit of profanity in the beginning of the chapter, as you will soon come to read for yourself. Oh, and I dis the Rugrats later on in the chapter, so don't flame me if you like the Rugrats; no offense to them is meant. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Katie's POV
Chapter Eighteen: Life Has Gone To The Frogs
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Oliver roared, lunging for Mike, who suddenly looked positively puny compared to the former. Mike only had time to remove his lips from mine and give a nervous sort of profane squeak before Oliver's hands made contact with his throat, and the two fell grappling to the ground.
I cried out as my head struck a nearby medicine cabinet; I had been flung aside by Mike like a rag doll in his panic and should rightly have been utterly pissed at him – whatever happened to fucking chivalry, for Merlin's sake – but all I could think about at that moment was the pain I was in. I could hear Oliver and Mike screaming at each other, the pharmacist screaming at them, a little girl screaming at the blood that was apparently dripping from some sort of hole in my head…it all seemed to blur together into a big screaming hellhole.
"Get the fuck off me!" Mike hollered, slamming a fist into Oliver's stomach and then into his groin. Oliver cried out, releasing Mike, who immediately pounced on the other taller and better-built young man and started pounding on him as hard as he could. All this time I could only cry and wish I had the strength to pull Mike off Oliver, but my head was spinning and I just kept screaming at them to stop, because it was the only thing I could do…
The pharmacist had already called the police but Oliver and Mike still wouldn't stop wrestling with each other, grabbing at anything they could – as I had another flash of black I heard Mike scream as Oliver slammed him into a wall and the little girl began bawling her head off, her mother trying her very best to console her daughter. Sirens were already beginning to sound in the distance, and now only one thought was keeping me going:
Don't let Oliver get arrested. Stop lying here like a baby; get him out of here before he's fucking arrested!
"Oliver," I managed to gasp, scrambling to my feet and ignoring the sudden wave of nausea I felt; I stumbled over to the two and immediately grabbed hold of his raised right arm, pulling, "Get out of here!"
He ignored me; merely wrenched his hand out of my grasp and let another punch fly. Mike crashed into a shelf; he immediately jumped back up again for more.
"Oliver! I mean it, get the fuck out of here!" I screamed again, this time grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him round to face me. Nothing prepared me for what he did right then: he slapped me.
I reeled back in shock, letting go of him; even Mike knew better than to attack Oliver while his back was turned. I could still feel the sting of his hand on my cheek, and I knew it would leave a bruise. Tears were blurring my already distorted vision of him as he just continue to glare at me.
"Oliver…"
"NO! Shut the fuck up, Katie! Why are you fucking doing this to me?! When all I've given you is my love, my patience, my time, my heart…and everyone told me to give it up because they said you would never feel the same way about me, but I DIDN'T! Do you even know why? Do you even know why?? Because I had faith in you! And I could see oh-so-fucking-clearly that you felt the same, but you were just so fucking intent on disillusioning yourself, on hurting yourself that you never said or did anything! And your friends could see it too, they gave so much to you, did so fucking much for you and you just pushed them aside! But all through this I kept loving you, and I never stopped because I knew you did too – and now I come here all the way for you, on Christmas, and I see you – I see you –"
He broke off here, letting out a choked sob and I realized that he was almost as close to tears as I was.
"Oliver," I said, moving towards him and placing a hand on his shaking arm before he could get started again, "I swear Mike and I never did anything, it was nothing, it was –"
"DON'T TOUCH ME, KATIE!" he screamed, flinging my hand off him.
I stared at him, he stared at me, Mike and the rest of the pharmacy stared at us – if this were any other time and I was any other person in any other place I would have remarked that this was beginning to look very much like a staring buffet.
As my first tear finally rolled down my bruised cheek, he said, shaking, "Life isn't one of your romance novels, Katie."
And he turned and left.
Left the pharmacy, with Aisle 6 totally and completely trashed.
Left the onlookers, gaping in disbelief at bloody teenagers and their love lives these days.
Left Mike, who had slumped down onto the floor, cradling his sore head.
Left me, standing all alone, and worst of all – knowing that everything he had said was right.
All my parents had to do was look at me and I cringed. They were disappointed in me. I could tell.
I HATE when my parents get disappointed.
At least Karé wasn't looking at me. In fact, he was looking everywhere but at me.
Believe me, considering how my parents were looking at me at that moment, this was still considered an improvement.
"Katie," my mom began.
I sighed and looked down at the familiar teal carpet of my living room, bracing myself inwardly for the attack.
"Katie, we just want you to know that we don't blame you at all."
I blinked and looked up. Well, that was certainly something new.
"But we DO want you to know that we are still very disappointed in you."
Ah, shit, back to the carpet again. I knew it was too good to be true.
"Katie, you're a young woman now. Men are going to be fighting over you for the rest of your life."
I wish.
"You can't honestly expect to survive in life if there is a repeat performance of this morning's occurrence every time that happens, now can you?"
Well, I could charge onlookers the next time – Muggles seem to make a fortune off that wrestling thing that they've got going on so I don't see why – okay, okay. Maybe not such a good idea.
"Look. We don't know what exactly happened back at the pharmacy. All we know is that they called us there to pick you up because it was very plain to see that you were not in any condition to walk back home by yourself. So honestly, Katie, we can't do much scolding because – frankly, because we don't have a clue what happened, other than the fact that Oliver and Michael were arguing over you –"
"- and also that we now owe the pharmacy eighty quid – ow!" my dad yelped as my mom elbowed him.
"You know," Karé suddenly spoke up; the three of us turned to look at him in surprise, we had almost forgotten he was still sitting there, "the both of you aren't doing much good. Might I suggest you two leave me alone to give her some brotherly advice? You know us young people – we tend to relate to each other."
"Oh, and what are we?" dad said, insulted, rising to the occasion, "Old fuddy duddies?"
Mom turned to him, deadpanned.
"Dear, you do realize you just used the phrase 'fuddy duddy'."
Dad paused to reflect on this, then said, "Oh, dear," and left the room. My mom followed suit.
I closed my eyes and finally allowed myself to collapse onto the floor, sinking into the warm carpet, which was all I had wanted to do ever since I had walked in. I could feel Karé coming and lying down next to me; I sighed, wondering what kind of utter nonsense he was going to say and already wondering how much of a chance I had of getting myself out of this.
There was silence, a sigh, and finally, "You screwed up bad, sis."
"Ugh, don't think I don't know that!" I exclaimed, frustrated, and sat up because I just didn't feel like being next to him any more. "And if all you're planning on doing is preaching about the one hundred and one things that I've done wrong, then you're not much better than mom and dad, are you?"
Karé lifted an eyelid to look at me, then closed it again.
"Merlin's beard, you're impossible," I groaned and got up, fully intending to get some alone time in my bedroom.
"Merlin? What, that old guy? Isn't he dead??" Karé mumbled. "I'm trying to help you here, and all you can talk about is some dead wizard and his beard?"
I rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn't see me, and snorted for good measure. "Help me, my ass. Brothers."
I stalked off for the stairs and heard him say extra loudly, "Witches."
As I thumped my way up the stairs, the idea of being able to relax and think in my bedroom – alone – seemed to grow even more and more perfect with every step I took. The second I stepped within the walls of my castle, my fortress, I slammed the door shut and locked it, immediately jumping onto my bed and lay there. I had barely closed my eyes for five seconds when I heard a knock on the door.
"Leave the fortress!" I yelled. "Immediately! Or I will be forced to send my troops out and sit on you!"
The knocking continued; I rolled over onto my stomach, still determined to not open my eyes. Merlin, I had to sort this out. I didn't give a damn about Mike, really – other than the fact that the next time I saw him I would beat him up for stealing my first kiss from me in the most unromantic way possible – the real dilemma was Oliver. A knock was heard again, this time accompanied by a soft voice – "Katie? Katie, are you there? Katie?" Knock, knock, knock. I groaned. Oh, Merlin, not Aderyn, not now… "Go away, honey, I'm not here!" I called, not even caring that I wasn't making any sense.
There was a pause, then came Aderyn's voice again: "But then where are you?"
"I'm in the kitchen!"
Another pause, and then I heard Aderyn's footsteps going down the staircase. Thank Merlin, I thought she would never leave. Now, back to Oliver…
What had I done??
No matter how hard I strained my memory now, I couldn't remember half of what he had said to me a mere hour ago. Something about me disillusioning myself, about Lene and Angie… The one thing that stood out clearly in my mind, separated from the abstract blur that was everything else, was his last sentence to me: "Life isn't one of your romance novels."
Is that what I've been looking for?
Without even realizing it, have I been looking for that fairytale, that perfect romance that just seems to crop up effortlessly in every single romance novel I read?
I don't even know myself.
But life really isn't one of my romance novels, is it? Have I just been so jaded this entire time that I just never saw that? Have I been hurting all the people around me who love me so dearly all this time and never realized it? Have I –
"Kaaaaaatie?"
Aderyn.
Oh, what the hell.
I slowly made myself get up from my comfortable position on the bed, walked over to the door and opened it, to reveal a very confused-looking little girl standing there.
"Katie," she began, biting her lip, "I – I went to the kitchen to look for you but you weren' there, so I came back to the person who wasn' you but told me that you were in the kitchen anyways, an' – an' – you're here after all, but you shouldn' be because the person said you weren' –" she broke off, looking confused.
I immediately felt guilty for doing whatever it was I had done to her; I pulled her into the room, closing the door after her. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I'm just having a really bad day…"
Together we sank onto my bed; she immediately nestled her head on my lap and stared up at me with her hazel-brown eyes.
"What's wrong, Katie?"
I sighed, twisting a lock of her wavy hair around my finger. "Nothing important, honey."
Aderyn bit her lip, then asked, "But then why are you so sad?"
"What makes you think I'm sad, Renie?"
"I can tell. I'm five now, you know," she proclaimed proudly, holding up five fingers.
I smiled despite myself. "Yes you are," I replied, and kissed her forehead. She grinned at me and I felt all my sadness and anger melt away. "Well, it's about a boy –"
"Eeeew. Cooties," Aderyn said, wrinkling her nose.
"This boy doesn't have cooties, Rene. His name is Oliver, and –"
"Oliver? I know Oliver! He came to our house just now! He's haaandsome," she said, giving me a silly grin and closing her eyes dreamily.
I looked at her in surprise. "Here? He came here? When?"
"I said! Weren't you listening to me?" she crossed her arms grumpily. "Just now. He was looking for you an' I told him you had just run out with a frien' and he said okay! I like his voice…" she cooed, closing her eyes again, undoubtedly to daydream about her new crush.
I had to bite my tongue to resist the urge to cuss in front my younger sister right then, but it was very, very hard. Of course! The bird! That bird Mike had seen hadn't been a bird at all – it must have been Oliver arriving on his broomstick! Curses, curses, curses, a million and one curses on your family, Michael Bennington…
"What's wrong, Katie?" Aderyn asked. She tugged on my hair when she didn't get a reply from me. When I still didn't reply, she gave an extremely hard tug, eliciting a loud, "OW!" from me. Seemingly satisfied, she got up from my lap and arranged herself into a cross-legged sitting position opposite me. "What about Oliver?"
"Well, honey, it's like this –"
And I proceeded to explain everything to her, devoid of certain occurrences, of course, even though I knew she probably wouldn't understand half of what I was saying. It just felt so good to finally get everything out there to someone who wouldn't judge me, who wouldn't tell me I was wrong. At the end of it all, I leant back against my bedpost, feeling exhausted but oddly light, as if a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders.
Which is when my five-year-old sister grabbed my beloved stuffed frog – the one I had had with me ever since I was her age – and bonked me over the head. Hard.
"Hey, what was that for?!"
Aderyn shook her head vigorously.
"Katie, you're stupid!"
Huh?
A five-year-old little girl is telling me that I have a mental deficiency?
COME ON!!!
Before I could say anything, though, Aderyn interrupted me, which was probably a good thing seeing as my next sentence would have contained the words "cartoons", "violent" and "banned". And then I would never have heard the end of it for dissing the almighty Rugrats. Why Muggles even watch a show with such crappy animation about a bunch of BABIES still continues to amaze me.
"If you know you like him and he knows you like him and everyone knows you like him then why don't you just tell him you like him? He's not gon' come back here and say hello to me until you tell him somethin' so you should 'cause you're smart and smart older sisters don't do stupid things like not tell Oliver that they like him even if they think they don't like you likin' him and him likin' you but him not thinkin' you like him 'cause you aren't doing anything!"
…
She's trying to speak to me, I know it!
When I didn't reply after a few minutes-long silence that mostly consisted of my muddled brain trying to sort out what she had just said to me, she bonked me over the head with Mr Froggie again. I grabbed my frog from her, irritated. "Stop doing that!"
"I will when you stop being stupid!" Grab, bonk.
"Stop bonking me with Mr Froggie; he's very delicate!" Grab.
"I will when you stop being stupid!" Bonk yet again.
"Look, Renie," I said, at my wit's end, grabbing Mr Froggie back from her – poor Mr Froggie! – "I know I've made a few mistakes, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. I –"
"Yes you are."
And she grabbed Mr Froggie, ran to the bathroom and held the stuffed toy over the toilet bowl.
Okay, that's it, I am going to SUE THE RUGRATS FOR TURNING MY ONCE-ANGELIC SISTER INTO A FROG-EATING MONSTER!
"Honey," I said slowly, getting off the bed slowly, and walking towards her slowly. The key here was not to make any sudden movements – could you tell?
"Honey, give my froggie back."
Aderyn shook her head obstinately and declared, "No."
Oh, tough girl, huh? Huh? Huh?
"Aderyn, please give Mr Froggie back?"
She shook her head again. "Not until you promise me that you're gonna tell Oliver that you like him and you think he's really really handsome."
"I'm not f– honey, I'm not doing that…"
Mr Froggie moved an inch closer towards the seemingly innocent hole that would become a swirling vortex of doom with a simple tug of Aderyn's little hand.
"Please please please give me Mr Froggie," I begged. Oh Merlin, my five-year-old sister is bossing me around – I lead a sad life indeed.
"Not until you say the magic words…" she sang.
"I've already said please, so will you please – aha there it is again –"
"Nuh-uh." She shook her head again. "Not 'please'."
I took a wild guess.
"Rugrats?"
"I don't watch the Rugrats! What do you think I am, a kid?!"
Um, yeah?
Aderyn rolled her eyes – are little kids allowed to roll their eyes?! – and said, "You have to say 'I promise'."
"I promise to what?" I asked, baffled.
"You promise to tell Oliver that you like him and that you think he's really really handsome! On second thought, make that good-looking. You think he's really really good-looking," she replied gleefully.
"But I don't!"
"Now you do." When she didn't receive a reply from me she said loudly, "Say it, or Mr Froggie goes down the hole."
You know, she was really enjoying this too much.
I mumbled a few unintelligible words; Mr Froggie became that much nearer to his untimely demise; and I quickly caved in.
"Okay, okay, fine! Merlin, now give me back my frog!"
I grabbed Mr Froggie from her and this time she didn't put up any resistance, simply gave me an innocent grin and left my bedroom with what I suspected was an extra bounce in her step.
I looked down at Mr Froggie, who continued stared up at me blankly with his glass eyes.
I thought about what I had just promised Aderyn.
Curse you, Tommy Pickles.
A/N: Awww, poor Mr Froggie. He shall never live the psychological trauma down. Credit for "She's trying to speak to me, I know it!" goes to Finding Nemo; "Say it, or Mr Froggie goes down the hole," goes solely to The Great One, otherwise known as Mike Shinoda. And the star of the second half of the chapter – Mr Froggie, not Aderyn – belongs, of course, to Joe Hahn, forever and always, even if Mike DID kill Froggie in the end. ::sniff:: And let us have a moment of silence for Mr Froggie. … And now that THAT'S done, I'm off. The review button is your friend! =)
