The Education of Oliver Wood

Where Do We Belong?

Emmie continued to glance at Marcus, who was now seated on her sofa while she paced. She was chewing on her thumbnail, trying to decide where to even start. With everything that had just happened, she had completely forgotten that they were supposed to go out that night.

For his part, Marcus seemed to be patiently waiting for her to start. Merlin, how did she handle this? It was bad enough that he had walked in on her and Oliver, even if nothing had been going on.

"So, ye ken that I went to see Alex today," she said, still pacing.

"Yes," Marcus said.

"Well... I ran into Oliver a couple days ago and invited him to come with me," Emmie continued. Marcus couldn't help but frown slightly. "Before ye get angry with me, it was a bit of a rash thing - I didnae expect him to say yes, really - but I thought that it would help. There was somethin' about Ryan that he didnae ken that only Alex could tell him."

She stopped pacing and turned to face him, noting the slightly dazed look on his face. She hadn't realized how fast she was speaking.

"Ehm... I think I follow," he said. Emmie took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"So... Alex told him and it upset him... Before ye ask, it's Alex's story and I'm no about to blurt it out, but... it was big," Emmie said carefully. Marcus nodded his understanding. "Oliver stormed out. And then I realized that he very well could go on a binge, so I followed him home, since it would have been all my fault and I couldnae have that on my conscience. We got into a bit of an argument, so I left..."

Chewing on her lower lip, Emmie looked away, knowing that she should probably tell him everything. That she told Oliver she still loved him. Marcus was her boyfriend, after all. But what did it matter? She and Oliver were over. Weren't they?

Emmie was starting to give herself a headache.

"So... he came here to apologize?" Marcus asked. Emmie looked back at him and nodded.

"It... it was like... the floodgates opened. Everythin' came out," she said.

Somehow managing to keep an even tone, Emmie worked her way through everything that she and Oliver had spoken about before Marcus arrived, though she kept a few details to herself. She felt a bit guilty about it, though she told herself that it was between her and Oliver. And that it wasn't important as she had chosen Marcus.

When she was done, she stood still, holding her breath as Marcus stared at his hands for a few moments. The longer he sat there silent, the worse she felt. Merlin, this was mad. There was no way Marcus would consider staying with her after all this.

Of course, that would be the moment where she wondered if she even wanted him to. She quickly shook her head, focusing back on Marcus.

"I swear, I'm not goin' back to him," she said, her voice quivering slightly. Marcus finally looked up at her.

"Emmie... do you still love him?" he asked softly. Emmie's mouth dropped open, but she couldn't speak. "I mean, it's obvious. Why you took him to see your brother. Why you went to his place afterwards. You still care about him."

Emmie moved to sit next to him, taking his hands in hers.

"It doesnae matter," she said quickly. "I choose to be with ye. Ye're my present and hopefully future. Oliver is my past."

"I'm not so sure that that's true," Marcus said slowly. "At the very least, he's an unresolved part of your past... meaning he's fairly set in your present." Emmie shook her head.

"I'm done with him," she said, but even as the words left her lips, she knew it wasn't true. Frowning, she looked away from Marcus, hugging herself after she let go of his hand. "I'm not done with him, am I?"