hey, so...here's chappy 4...sorry if there are any left over formatting mistakes. i tried to fix them all, but sometimes when you're rushed, you miss a few. so yea...enjoy and thanks for reading! my life is going to start picking up really quickly here, but i've got a little bit of a buffer (about a chapter and a half) so i should keep updating semi-regularly for a little while. it also helps that one of my friends who reads this story goes to my school, so she'll hopefully keep me on task. hint hint

dedicated to chryssi -- amazing person, wonderful friend and one of the few people in this world, besides me, who can stomach all of the odd food combos listed in this story.

Chapter 4: Confide...cause I'll be on your side

The cloud of soot billowed before him, and as he stepped out of the fireplace, dusting off his robes, he noticed something that was quite unnerving. There, sitting in the corner was Katie and she was laughing. That was not the unnerving thing. The unnerving thing was that sitting across from her was a man. Oliver could tell, even from this distance, that the man was not part of the team, nor was it one of the twins.
And, to top it all off, she was laughing in a way that made Oliver's heart lurch. The last time she had laughed that laugh with him, she had been drunk and had just crawled into his bed. This could only mean one thing: Katherine Bell, his Katherine Bell, was on a date.

"Well, so what if she is?" he muttered to himself and sat down at a table on the opposite side of the room.

"There hasn't been anything in between you two since that night. And she was drunk that night, so it doesn't count." Oliver looked over his shoulder at them and Katie smiled at the man again.

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Katie couldn't believe her luck. Cameron Thompson had sent an owl to her house last night asking if she could meet for lunch the next day. The Cameron Thompson. Heir to the Firebolt fortune, and number five on the 'Most Eligible Bachelors Under Thirty' list. And here she was, sitting across from this gorgeous man who couldn't keep his eyes off her. Well, she thought, that could be because all that's behind me is a plain, old wall, and he's too nice to sit here staring over his shoulder. She shook that last thought away.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked, shaken out of her reverie by his waiting look.

"I said, how did you start Quidditch, and what made you play chaser?" he asked again, smiling a little.

"What is this, an interview?" she joked, trying to supress a giggle.

Cameron looked playfully shocked, and said, "Am I that easy to read?"

"You do hide it well, but the words scrolling across your forehead make it slightly obvious," Katie dead-panned.

Cameron laughed heartily at that. "No, this is not an interview. I just want to know how a pretty girl like you got into Quidditch, and why she sticks with it. You could be a model if you wanted to, you know," he said, grinning suggestively at her.

Oh, he did not just say that. I think I'm going to gag. Katie thought, and smiled awkwardly. Cameron picked up on the change in atmosphere, "What? Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head quickly and gave him an award-winning grin, "Nope, everything is okay. Peachy in fact. Yep. Peachy-keen!"

"Don't lie to me and spare my feelings. I'm a big boy, I can take it." Cameron said demandingly.

"Well, it's just that…the model thing, that was kind of cheesy. Like, I wanted to gag really bad." Katie bit her lip.

Cameron's face showed a peeved expression. "I'm sorry.

I just thought that's what you would want to hear. You play such a male dominated sport—"

"Not true. It's pretty much split fifty-fifty," Katie interjected.

"That I thought maybe you would appreciate being treated like an actual female. I see I was wrong. So tell me, are you one of those women that likes to wear the pants in the relationship or is that just how you're coming off right now?" He steam-rolled right over her and then smirked.

Katie's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?" was all she could say.

"Did you not hear me?"

"Oh, no, I heard you, I just don't think I comprehended what you just said. Are you bi-polar by any chance? Because that mood-swing that you just had was worse than the ones that my pregnant sister gets. So, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll leave you with the check and go see how she's doing. Have fun, I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu!" Katie slammed her napkin on the table and stalked out of the pub.

&&&&

"I cannot believe that just happened to me!" Katie screeched, taking another spoonful of ice cream out of the tub. The troops had been called in, and they had provided the necessary provisions of a good long rant. Angelina lay sprawled on the couch, and was currently devouring a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries. Every once in awhile, Alicia, who was curled into a ball on Katie's coffee table, would have a berry fly over to her. Katie's older sister, the aforementioned pregnant one, was relaxing in an overstuffed arm-chair, and holding the tub of ice cream.

"I mean, I've been on bad dates, but never ones quite like that!" Katie continued, as Amelia came back from the kitchen carrying a bowl of popcorn and a bag of chocolate chips. She set the bowl on the table and poured the chocolate in.

"Oh, that is so gross!" Angelina said, nibbling the chocolate off another berry.

"Try it before you insult it!" Amelia sing-songed, taking a handful of the mixture and settling down on the rug.

"Guys, horrible bi-polar date to analyze here!" Katie stopped in mid pace and stared at the four women in her living room.

"Oh, shut up! Look, you're date was horrible, but you stuffed him with the check and now you're getting to eat ice cream, chocolate and popcorn with your four best friends." Katie's sister Kelsey pointed her spoon at her younger sibling and continued. "Now, we've heard about your date; we've talked about how he was very odd; we've discussed how cute his eyes were; we've even discussed what food you got, but you haven't told us about that night you were drunk at Hogwarts. I want to hear about that."

Katie rounded on Alicia and Angelina, both of whom had their mouths full. "How many other people did you tell?" her voice was squeaky with a mixture of infuriation and shock.

"We thought she should know!" Alicia tried to say, but failed because of the large combination of popcorn, chocolate and strawberry in her mouth.

Angelina gagged, swallowed her mouth-full and then looked at her surrogate sister. "Do you have strawberry, chocolate and popcorn in your mouth?"

Alicia nodded. "My respect for you just plummeted," Angelina said with disdain.

Alicia shrugged and Amelia attempted the same combo. "Oh, not you too!" Katie wailed, sinking to the floor.

Amelia mused for a minute than smiled. "Wow, that is surprisingly good. It's right up there with onion rings and milkshakes!"

"And Sour Patch Kids on bread!" Kelsey added, trying the combination as well.

Katie looked to Angelina for support, but was sad to see her ex-teammate tentatively trying the trio of comfort foods. "I'm going to regret this, but pass me a strawberry and some popcorn," she muttered after a bit. The women laughed as Angelina chucked one of the bright red berries at Katie.

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The next day, Katie woke to an owl pecking furiously at her window. She rubbed at her eyes and blearily surveyed the room from her spot on the floor. Kelsey in all her curvy, mom-to-be-glory was stretched out in the over-stuffed recliner under a blanket, and clearly dreaming of something happy, since her lips held a slight smile. The 'A Team' as they had taken to calling themselves, was slouched together on the couch, sharing one blanket. Angelina was slumped against the arm of the couch, with Amelia hugging her as a child would a teddy bear, and Alicia's head was resting on the small, blonde, beater's shoulder. The owl's pecking had begun to be accompanied by small hoots of irritation and Katie scrambled up to the window and let the bird in.

The owl hooted in annoyance and held out its leg. Katie took the note from the leg and gave it a treat from a bowl on the coffee table. "Happy?" she asked huffily, and the bird hooted in response than took off.

Katie untied the note and scanned it, then muttered a swear word. She glanced at her four best friends and decided not to wake them, but she knew she needed to talk to someone. Thinking for a bit, she realized who that someone was. She scrawled a note and the apparated with a small pop, which caused none of the sleeping females to awake.

&&&&

Oliver's apartment was still as messy as it had been when Katie had left a few days before. This did not surprise her. She ventured across the small living room and banged on the door across from what she knew to be Oliver's bathroom. A few moments later, he opened the door and glared balefully at her. She noticed he was only wearing boxers and his hair was mussed from sleep. She had a split second to recognize that she liked this look before she squashed the thought.

"Why are you in my house?" he growled.

"I need a place to stay," she said hurriedly. At his worried expression, she shook her head. "No, I mean, I'm okay, but my landlord has decided to sell and has given me four days to move out and I can't go live at Angie's because she's got Fred there and ew. Licia's is completely out of the question because it's Alicia and you know that we'd kill each other in the span of two days because she's anal and I'm not and plus with my schedule, I'd push her over the edge. And –"

"Katie," Oliver interrupted, walking back into his room and throwing a shirt on – much to Katie's subconscious dismay, "you are anal, but continue, I can tell this is going to be entertaining." He pushed past her and settled on the couch in the living room.

She followed and continued on with her explanation.

"I am not! And Amelia is living with Justin and they're completely cramped." She paced in front of him and gestured a lot with her hands, which tipped Oliver off to the fact that she was desperate, even if she didn't say it. "They're apartment is smaller than yours is and they have twice as many people living there. George is out too since it'd be awkward because he's dating my best friend. Kelsey has the new baby coming and I need all the sleep I can get when I'm not practicing. Anyone else on the team I don't know well enough and the only other person I can think of right now would be my mother and—"

"I don't want you to kill yourself," Oliver interrupted her for a second time that morning. He knew then and there that he would let her stay, but he couldn't afford to just let her off this easy. "You haven't thought this through though," he continued.

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"On my couch."

"What?"

"We'd replace yours with mine. There's no way I'm sleeping on that thing. It's gross. What, did you steal it from the common room before you left?" she paused as he tried to look innocent. "Oh, Merlin, you did! Oliver, obsessed is an understatement when it comes to you."

His expression turned pensive and he ran a hand through his hair. "Katie, look, if I had room, I'd definitely let you stay, but there's just no room. And before you tell me that Justin and Amelia manage, that's different. They're in love. We're not."

Katie sat on the small table in front of the couch and grabbed his hands. "Please, Ollie," she begged.

"You're crazy," was his only response as he got up and dragged himself through the doorway into the kitchen.

She could hear him putting the kettle on and she sighed. She followed him in and sat on the floor again. "There are chairs, you know," he remarked as he took tea-leaves out of a tin and spooned them into a filter.

"I like the floor. My other choice would be your counter, but that's dirty," she replied.

"So's my floor." He got another mug and pinch of leaves out for her and turned to face her. Crossing his ankles and arms, he leaned against the counter. She inspected the floor and then leapt off it as she realized that the brown colors were not just artistic swirls but dirt and other things she's rather not know about. He laughed as she glared at him and took a seat on a chair this time.

"Look, Oliver, I know we haven't been on the bestest of best terms since well, forever. I mean, we've always been friends but with differences and those differences are what bonded us and I just really need a place to crash long enough until I can find another house. I'd cook!" Her captain stared at her with a mild amount of disgust on his face. "Jeez, if I knew I was that repulsive, I wouldn't've come!" she muttered and got up to go.

"It's not that. You're fine. It's your cooking I have an issue with!"

She turned to face him, and she noticed that when he leaned against the counter like that, he was quite sexy. Shut up! She thought to herself and stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine, I won't cook, but I'll clean! C'mon, I'm good at cleaning! You know I am!"

She gave him an award-winning smile and he shook his head defeatedly.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" he asked.

"Maybe a little," she replied and rushed over to him.

"Thanks, Ollie, I owe you big time!" She gave him a quick hug and a friendly kiss on the cheek and than apparated home again. Oliver placed a hand lightly on his cheek where she had kissed him and then realized he had forgotten to shave in the past two days. He exhaled the breath he didn't realize he had been holding and walked to the bathroom, leaving the kettle to heat.

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hey, hope the formatting wasnt too horrible. it was written on a mac, then my friend edited it on her pc, then we emailed it back to my mac, and then i had to email it to my dad's pc to post it on here...basically, its been through a lot this little chapter. anyway, be nitpicky and anal as always, and review...makes me update sooner!