Chapter 27
Amelia's promise to Oliver that her mother would make his life miserable proved true only a few days after they called her parents to tell them about the engagement. Camilla called and demanded to speak about wedding plans, so Amelia forced Oliver to participate in the call.
"And of course, we're going to want a big wedding in Leeds," Camilla said. "I'm thinking spring time. Your colors can be lavender and light green and we can decorate with lilacs."
"Mum," Amelia interjected. "Please stop. We haven't chosen a date and I'm not really a fan of lavender or light green. I'm not using them as my colors."
"And, Mrs. Clark, I'm not entirely o.k. with a spring wedding. I'll have training," Oliver offered.
"Oliver, your job is to show up and answer the questions with 'I do.' You have very little say in colors or planning," Camilla said.
"It's my wedding, too," Oliver countered. "And since I don't fancy getting married within a year, we'll just have to agree to table this for now."
Camilla started to protest, but Amelia cut her off and said, "Mum, we've got to get going. Oliver's got a team meeting and I'm scheduled to work today." Then, Amelia hung up before her mother could say anything further.
"Bloody hell!" Oliver exclaimed when they hung up.
"I warned you," Amelia sang. "Now, when do you have practice?"
"I'm due at the stadium in an hour for team meeting and then we have practice for a few hours after. I'll probably be late tonight at the stadium," he answered. "Why don't you apparate to Puddlemere after your shift at the shop?"
"Fine," Amelia said. She kissed Oliver chastely and left her flat for the shop where she was working. After only 3 days, she had managed to master her job fairly well. She was already able to be set to tasks without assistance from anyone else in the shop. She was restocking the shelves when one of her colleagues sauntered over to her.
"You're the new girl?" she asked.
"Clearly," she said. "You're the old girl?"
"Not entirely old, but I've been here awhile," he replied. "My name's Ella Pryce."
"Amelia Clark," she replied.
"Good to meet you, Amelia," Ella said. "When did you get out of school?"
"I graduated in June," Amelia replied. "I'm just working here until I figure out where I want to study."
"What are you hoping to get into?"
"Sports medicine," Amelia answered. She assumed that answering that she wanted to work for a quidditch team would only earn her weird looks. "Three of my brothers are football players and the fourth is at University to study medicine."
"You have 4 brothers?" Ella was shocked.
"Yeah," Amelia said. "And they're all older."
"Bloody hell! So where do your parents live?" Ella asked.
"Leeds," Amelia replied. "I grew up there and moved here to go to university, but decided to wait for a year before starting my studies." Amelia was about to continue when the bell rang that someone had entered the shop. Ella went back to the register to help the customer while Amelia continued checking the shelves. She was almost lost in thought when someone approached her. Amelia spent 20 minutes helping the customer find a particular book for her daughter before she realized that her shift was over.
As she was leaving work, Ella stopped her and said, "Some of us are going to pub for a drink tonight. Care to join?"
"I can't," Amelia said. "I'm meeting my fiancée at his flat to start looking for flats together."
"You're engaged?" Ella asked, perplexed.
"Yeah," Amelia replied. "We just got engaged a few days ago, and for now it was to calm my parents down about us moving in together, but it's what we want, and I'm fairly certain I'll stick with him for the rest of my life anyways."
"Fair enough," Ella said. "Maybe next time you'll come and bring this bloke along."
"Sure," Amelia promised. Then, she left the shop, stopped at her flat to gather some belongings and apparated to Puddlemere. She used the spare key Oliver had given her to open his door and let herself into his flat to wait. While she was waiting, she placed some of her things around and started dinner for when he got home.
And so, they developed a routine for the entire spring training season. Every week, they would spend a few nights at Amelia's flat in London and a few nights at Oliver's flat in Puddlemere. She would apparate back to London if she had to work, and he would apparate back to Puddlemere for training. Amelia wasn't entirely comfortable with the arrangement.
At the end of April, she received word from Fred and George that they had left school and were opening their own shop. She also received an offer to train with Puddlemere United as a healer, which led to a fight with Oliver about whether he had a hand in getting her the job (he did not).
"Ames, I promise, I didn't have anything to do with it," he shouted after several minutes of angry ranting. "I told you I wouldn't involve myself and I didn't. If you don't believe me, ask Mark when you meet him next week."
"I'm still not sure I believe you," she huffed.
"What you're saying, then, is that you don't trust me," he argued. "And if that's how you feel, we should both sleep alone tonight." With that, Oliver left her flat and apparated back to Puddlemere. She went to a pub in London, got drunk, and apparated to Diagon Alley, to the twins' flat.
"Oy! George!" she shouted. "Let me in!"
"What are you doing?" George asked looking out his window.
"I'm standing in the street and shouting," she answered. "Let me in."
In less than a minute, George was standing at the door to the shop, letting her in. "Alright, Clark, what has got you in a state?" he asked, showing her into his flat upstairs.
"Nothing," she answered.
"Where is Ollie-kins? Aren't you missing out on valuable snog time?" he teased.
She burst into tears and George immediately regretted teasing her about Oliver. "What happened?" he said, voice softening.
"We had a fight," she replied. "He said we should sleep alone tonight and apparated home to Puddlemere."
"Here," he said, shoving a glass into her hand. "Drink this."
"What is it?" She hesitated before drinking anything Fred or George gave to her after an unfortunate incident where she vomited all over her potions assignment.
"It's water," he promised. "Drink it and prevent a nasty hangover tomorrow." He dragged her into the sitting room and plopped them onto the sofa. "Now, tell Uncle Georgie what has you in such a state. What was the fight about?"
"I got a job offer from Puddlemere," she replied. "And then I accused him of getting me the job."
George looked down and noticed her engagement ring. "When did that happen?" he asked, pointing to her ring.
"February," she answered. "We haven't set a date yet, but he bugged me for months to move in with him, then I left the St. Mungo's program after the holidays and everything just spiraled out of control. It's moving so fast."
"Have you told him how you feel?" George asked.
"He doesn't want to hear it," she said. "Whenever I try, he changes the subject and…" She paused when they heard Fred coming home.
"Where was he?" she asked, finally noticing that George had been alone.
"He was out with a friend," George answered. "But we're not talking about Fred. How does Oliver change subject on you?"
"Usually, he snogs me, or shags me, or both," she slurred. "He doesn't listen when I say I'm not even sure I want to be a healer and he doesn't do anything to even try to help me figure out what I want to do with my life. He just says, 'when we're married, you won't have to work.' That's not what I want to hear." George produced a handkerchief for her to dry her eyes, since she was crying nearly uncontrollably.
"It'll be alright, Ames," George promised. "Just give it a day and talk to him tomorrow." He looked over and noticed that Amelia had fallen asleep, so he pulled a blanket over her and left her on the sofa.
In Puddlemere, Oliver went out to the pub with one of his teammates. "What's got you in a state, Wood?" Aidan asked.
"Nothing," Oliver said, trying to dodge the question.
"Try again, or it'll be extra laps tomorrow at training," Aidan warned. "What's got you in a state? You never come out to pub with us. Where's that bird you were seeing?"
"She's in London," Oliver said. "We had a fight and need a night to cool off."
"What was your fight about?"
"She thinks I pulled strings to get her into the healer training program with the team," Oliver admitted. "I didn't, but she doesn't seem to believe me."
"Why would she think you pulled strings?" Aidan asked.
"No clue, mate. She just said that she didn't believe me when I told her I didn't pull strings," Oliver replied. "It's really irritating since I've never lied to her."
"Has she ever lied to you?"
"It's hard to tell," Oliver admitted. "She says everything is fine, but she completely overreacted to this entire situation, which makes me think that everything is not fine. The really fucked up thing is that I don't care if she doesn't work with Puddlemere as a trainer. Now, I'm going home before one of those lasses over there does something I'll regret." With that, Oliver left Aidan at the bar and went home alone.
Amelia woke the next morning with a terrible bout of nausea. She scrambled through Fred and George's flat to find the bathroom and got sick. She was comforted when George held her hair back and handed her some water. "I told you to drink some last night," he teased.
"Shut up, George," Amelia ordered. "What time is it?"
"Half past ten," he replied.
Amelia threw up again and groaned heavily. George asked, "What is it?"
"Oliver and I were supposed to meet a realtor half an hour ago," she admitted. "He's probably wondering where the fuck I am."
"Where were you supposed to meet the realtor?"
"In Puddlemere," she answered.
"You're not fit to apparate that far," George warned. "I'll just go and let Wood know that you're sick and that you should reschedule your meeting."
George went to leave his flat and was surprised to find Oliver in the shop. "Hiya, Wood," he said. "Can I help you find something? Perhaps you're missing a bird?"
"Where is she, George?" Oliver asked, looking terribly worried.
"She's upstairs, mate," George answered. Oliver sped through the shop and up the stairs. In his haste, he did not hear George add, "Probably getting sick again."
When Oliver entered the flat, he heard Amelia getting sick in the loo and went to her, pulling her hair back. "George," she groaned, "I thought you were going to find Oliver."
"He found me," Oliver answered. "I came here looking for you when you weren't at your flat or at your job. What the hell did you do?"
"I got really drunk," she admitted. "Can you please not look at me like I'm a petulant 5 year old?"
"Come on," he said. "Let's get you home. We need to have a serious conversation."
"Yes to the conversation, but it should be on neutral territory," she suggested. "I don't want to do it at my flat or at your flat."
"Then, where do you propose we go? Fred and George have a shop to run, and I don't want to have this conversation in public," he argued.
"We can stay here," she said. "You said it yourself. Fred and George are running the shop. They won't mind and if they come back, we can leave."
Oliver considered the offer for a moment and finally sighed, then nodded. He took her to the sitting room and plopped them onto the sofa. "What is going on with you?" he asked.
"I don't know, Ol," she said. She looked over and saw him roll his eyes. "I know it's not what you want to hear." Her stomach rumbled, loudly.
"When did you last eat?"
"Yesterday," she replied. "I don't want anything, though."
"You need to eat, Ames," he insisted. "Let me buy you breakfast." He looked at his watch and added, "I mean, let me buy you lunch."
"I don't want anything," she repeated. She was hungry, but afraid to eat at the same time.
"Then let me make you toast." Amelia didn't have the opportunity to protest before Oliver strode into the kitchen and found the bread. He returned with some toast and a glass of water.
"You look like hell," he said. "What did you do last night?"
"You don't get to ask that," she said. "You left. When things got too…real or emotional, or whatever, you bolted."
"What did you want me to do, Ames? Wait around to hear you yell at me for things you imagined I did?" he shouted. "For fuck's sake, Amelia, I… Why would I stay to hear that?"
"Please don't shout," she begged, rubbing her temples.
"It's not my fault you drank yourself silly and wandered around London for Merlin knows how long," he mumbled.
"What was that?" she demanded.
"I said, it's not my fault you drank yourself silly," he repeated, angrily. "What were you thinking? You could have been hurt or kidnapped or who knows what else."
"You sound a lot like my mother, Oliver," she snarled.
They sat in a steely silence for a long while. She finally got up and went to leave. "Where are you going? We're not done yet," Oliver snapped.
"We haven't said anything for 5 minutes," she replied. "I'm leaving." She went to leave but Oliver stopped her.
"Wait!" he called. "Please, just talk to me Amelia. You haven't talked to me in weeks and don't think I don't know you've been getting out of bed to stare out the window. What has you freaking out? Is it moving in or getting engaged?"
"I don't know, maybe that's a part of it, but it's bigger, Ol," she replied, tears streaming down her face. "Since you were 9 you've known what you wanted to do and where you fit in."
"What does this have to do with anything?"
"Let me finish," she ordered. "You've known all your life who you are and what you want. I knew. I knew as a child I wanted to play football and I dealt with all the other girls laughing at me because I could light a cat on fire with a look or because I hung around with boys all the time.
"Then, I got the Hogwarts letter and the setting cats on fire thing was explained, but my whole world was turned upside down. It made more sense that I could do things that I couldn't explain, and I found a new identity, but when I got there, I lost who I was a little more each year.
"And then I met you and my world got flipped upside down again. In a day, I went from the girl no one knew to someone everyone knew and it scared me." He made a motion, but she stood and started pacing, holding a hand up to stop him. "It was wonderful, don't get me wrong. It IS wonderful and I love you more than anything, but Oliver, I don't know who I am anymore.
"I went to St. Mungo's because I thought I wanted to be a healer, but I'm not sure and I feel like my life is like a train jumping the tracks. I don't know what to do." She sat back on the sofa and sobbed. Oliver put his arm around her and pulled her into a large hug.
"What do you need?" he asked when she finally settled a little.
"I need time," she replied. "I need to figure out what I want. Until I do, I don't think we can live together."
"O.k. Are we still together?" he asked.
She giggled and said, "We are if you want to be."
"I do," he promised. He kissed her tenderly and only stopped when he heard someone clearing his throat from the other side of the room.
"Sorry to break up the party, but our Mum is on her way over," Fred said. "And George and I have a strict rule against sex in our sitting room."
"Fair enough," Oliver said.
Once in the street, Amelia turned to Oliver and said, "Where should we go now?"
"Perhaps we should take you home to shower and change," Oliver suggested. "You sort of look frightening." He chuckled and she slugged his arm.
"Thanks, Oliver. You really know how to convince a lady to want to get with you," she teased, but grabbed his hand and apparated with him to the alley behind her flat.