"I'm afraid it won't be as easy as it used to be…"
The scene before Katie cut through her like a hot knife. She stared momentarily, watching as the couple approached the stoop. Fred had clearly had a little too much to drink. He was stumbling a bit, but god damn did he know how to dress. He pulled the brunette he was with close, and their lips met. Katie had to do everything in her power to keep from shouting out. Her heart broke then and there, and the tears already began to spill over her eyes. She stepped out towards them, and Fred reacted protectively of the girl he was with. Katie hated her… whoever she was. The tip of his wand lit up and showed bright in her face. She held up a hand to block the light, but soon enough the wand fell to the ground.
She was shocked when she wasn't immediately enveloped in a hug, and even more shocked at his next words.
"What are you doing here?" Fred questioned after he sent the girl he was with home. Only after a small kiss on the cheek did she leave. Sickening She could tell his voice was struggling, but she knew there was anger there, too. A deep, dark anger that she'd never heard in his tone before.
"I think the better question Is who you're doing," Katie said heatedly as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Fred bent forward to pick up his wand, whispering Nox and eliminating the light that had only moments ago danced across her precious face. He noticed the tears and a pang of guilt rushed through him once more. He felt bad about ditching Emily, but… making Katie cry was never, and would never be on his agenda.
"Excuse me?" Fred said sending her a glare of his own. She was accusing him of wrong-doing after she'd been gone for 8 months? Merlin's beard this girl was absolutely off her rocker.
"You heard me. Who… who was that?" Katie said, her voice breaking as she tried to push the image of Fred kissing another woman from her mind. She couldn't. She inhaled a shaky breath before her eyes met his once more. Her eyes stung, she was sure they were red and puffy.
"It was just some girl… Angelina tried to hook me up with her. Figures you'd decide to come home on the night I finally decide to try and get over you," Fred said seriously as he ran a hand through his hair. He felt his blood boil once more as he looked at her. The nerve this girl had to show up after all this time.
"Angelina tried to set you up with… someone else?" Katie asked, feeling the most betrayed she ever had in her entire life. How could Angelina do that to her? She glanced towards the floor trying to fight off another wave of tears.
"Why not? You were gone, Kate. And when you left you took a part of me with you. Merlin, do you have any bloody idea what you did to me with that stupid owl you sent? Do you have any idea at all? I thought for sure at least you'd write back but I didn't get a single fucking owl returned," Fred said his temper flaring once more.
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about, Fred? And just because I was gone doesn't mean I bloody forgot about you!" Katie said as she moved towards him. He took a few steps back.
"I wrote you twice a month, Katie. Every owl came back empty-handed. I don't know what you were doing with yourself but you certainly weren't too concerned with how I was doing, or any of us for that matter. Do you have any idea how much Angelina and Alicia bloody cried?" Fred said as he moved around her to go sit on his stoop.
Katie turned to follow but stopped in her tracks quickly.
"I was just trying to get by without crying every day myself, Fred… And what do you mean you wrote me?" she questioned as she stepped closer to stand in front of him.
"I just bloody told you," he said glancing away from her.
"I swear Fred I never got a single one. I would have written you back. I wanted to come back so bad-" Katie began.
"Then why didn't you? Why did you leave me here to rot in the wake of what you left behind?" Fred bellowed, feeling a tear spill from one of his eyes, whether it was from sadness or anger he wasn't quite sure.
"Because I couldn't Fred…I just… I didn't know what to do. I felt so torn," Katie said as she started to cry.
"Don't… Katie please don't…" Fred said with a small sigh, still trying to avoid looking at her. He hated seeing her cry.
"I'm so sorry. You have every right in the world to be angry with me, to hate me…" she said as she sniffled, bringing her short spout of tears to an end, thank Merlin.
"Katie you… you just left. Without a word. I woke up one morning expecting you to arrive with your things, to move into the loft, and for us to start our life together. That was our plan Katie. You ripped me apart," Fred said as he finally brought his eyes to look at her and swallowed hard.
"Fred you don't think it hurt me too? It hurt like hell, but never for a second did I consider moving on. It hurt so much, to be away from you, to have no idea what was going on in your life, but I didn't consider for a second trying to move on, unlike you," Katie said bitterly, and that's when Fred looked away.
"Alright look if you're going to fixate on that stupid bloody girl this entire time we're not going to get anywhere. It was nothing. She meant nothing, Katie. And don't you dare sit there and try and make me feel bad for kissing her, or for taking her out," he said with a glare and Katie felt the breath get caught in her chest once more as the image of the two flashed before her shut eyes.
"I never would have done that to you…" Katie said barely above a whisper staring at the ground.
"You don't get it, do you? When you left, I became a shell of myself, Katie. I was like a bloody fucking girl about it. I didn't want to see anyone, I didn't want to hang out, I didn't want to do anything. You broke me, Katie, and I didn't want to be fixed. And after months of trying, 8 months to be exact, George finally convinced me to go out, and try and have fun. He said it's finally time to move on, and for the first time I agreed with him. I couldn't keep beating myself up anymore. I couldn't keep longing for someone who wasn't coming back. So I have a really nice night with this girl Emily, and finally I think things are going to go well for me. Oh yeah, and then you decide to show up," Fred said with a sigh as Katie came to sit down next to him.
"I… I'm sorry Fred. I'll just… go back. I didn't mean to ruin everything… I thought…I thought you might be happy to see me," Katie said as she started to cry, and Fred threw up his hands in exasperation.
"Just stop it, okay? Stop it. Stop making yourself the victim in this little meeting, Katie. You're the one who left," Fred said as he looked her in the eye.
"It hurt me too Fred!" Katie screamed at him, all of her anger and hurt finally being released.
"And I never got any of those letters you're talking about. My parents must have taken them, hid them, burned them because I swear to you I never read a single one. How could you think for even a second that I wouldn't answer you?" Katie said as she swallowed hard.
At this question Fred was at a loss for words. He knew her so well. He even knew her well enough to know that she'd come back eventually, despite everyone else giving up. But somehow he couldn't look past not getting those letters back. How could he think she wouldn't right back? He inhaled a shaky breath before looking at Katie in the eye. He saw the hurt and knew that he was the cause. Her eyes were red and puffy, and Fred instinctively wrapped his arms around her shoulder, holding her close. She laid her head in his shoulder as her tears flowed freely. They could do this back and forth forever if they wanted to, and they both knew it. Eventually one of them would have to be the bigger person, and Fred knew it would have to be him.
"I didn't want to leave you," she said shakily and one of his hands found her hair. He ran his fingers through it gently. He missed absolutely everything about her while she was gone, and having her back in his arms turned him into a different person, the one he'd lost so long ago. He felt alive again, and there was a warmth in his heart he hadn't even realized had gone missing until it came back.
"I know, Katie… And I didn't want to see anyone else. Why do you think it took me this long? But… you hurt me, and that fact isn't going to change," Fred said as he released her from his grasp so he could get a better look at her. She sat up and looked at him and nodded slowly. His eyes were focused solely on hers.
"I can't just forgive you. I can't forget about that kind of hurt. I know you didn't mean it, but you can't just come back after all this time and expect things to stay the same. My world revolved around you, Katie, and it couldn't be that way anymore because you were gone," Fred said with a sigh and Katie gripped his hand in hers.
"Fred… I know this isn't easy, but you can't tell me that you didn't miss me being in your arms every day like I missed being in your arms," Katie said with a pleading kind of tone to her voice.
Fred stayed silent for a moment, staring at the ground as if contemplating her words. She was right, and she always would be. She was the woman who'd knocked him off his feet, and there was no changing that. Eventually he lifted his head and their eyes met once more. Those blue eyes of hers, the ones he could never get enough of. He felt a small smile reach his lips finally as he let out a small, somewhat shallow laugh.
"Katie… I've waited so long for you to come home. I've spent hours thinking of nothing and no one but you, and wishing so badly that you would just come home. The minute I recognized your face I felt sick with relief. An overwhelming happiness rushed through me at the realization that you were really home, really here in front of my eyes. I want you back… but I need you to tell me that you're not just going to run off again. I need to know you won't regret this decision and want to leave like you did the first time… Because if I get you I'm never going to let you go again," he said honestly.
"I promise Fred... I'm never going anywhere on you again," she said as tears spilled from her face once more with a small, embarrassed sort of laugh. She wrapped her arms around him as he embraced her, too. Finally he felt like his small broken world was back together again.
"Good," he said as he placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"Well… except if I get the job I came back here for…" Katie said hesitantly.
Fred didn't say another word. He stomped up the stairs before slamming the door behind him. Whether or not Katie followed her choice, and right now Fred couldn't give a damn whether she did or not.
Katie winced at the slam of the door. Why did it have to be like this? Why couldn't it have ended up with hugs and kisses instead of crying and slamming doors? She inhaled before rising and following him up the stairs. Their flat was nothing like she expected, but she found the couch easily enough and got herself settled, unsure of the wrath that morning would bring.