𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 | 𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊

𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

A/N: I'm going to start putting dates! All chapters so far are on the 11th of June, I made up a bday for Oliver: June 15th where he turns 21 (Darla is 19 and her bday is 28th July). Oliver and Farleigh will be friends in this! Now, enjoy :)

Warning: Only a few lines of solo smut.

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Day: Monday the 11th June 2007.

Felix was worried when Darla hadn't arrived; she was always on time to dinner. He hadn't seen her since she left the lake. But when he saw her enter the room, his worry was replaced with rage.

Oliver had his arm slung casually over her shoulder and she was holding his finger, while laughing gently. Felix angrily gripped the utensils that he had in his hand, and he swore the fork would've snapped when Oliver looked at him and smirked. Oliver ruffled Darla's hair and she stuck her tongue out at him as they made their way to their seats.

Elspeth and James were conversing with Farleigh and Darla, meanwhile, Felix was giving Oliver a stare so angry, if looks could kill, he'd be dead. Venetia was quiet as she watched the tension between the two men. Well, one man. Oliver knew Felix was glaring at him but his posture was relaxed and he was listening to the conversation.

The food was finally brought out and everyone was served individual meals. Everyone dug in but when Oliver glanced over at Darla, she was shuffling her food about the plate. She never seemed to have much of an appetite. The table was in silence throughout the majority of dinner. All that could be heard was the sound of forks scraping against the porcelain plates.

"Darling Darla," Elspeth started, "what's it like to be home?" She smiled. The scraping of forks stopped and heads turned to Darla. Oliver noticed how she dipped her head while receiving the sudden attention.

"It's actually quite lovely," she laughed slightly, "I really did miss everyone," she looked up to smile at everyone individually. She fidgeted with her fingers, and her fingers twisted her earring, and her leg bounced slightly under the table cloth. Oliver wanted nothing more than to whisk her away to a more comfortable environment.

"Did you meet anyone on your travels?" Elspeth asked with a suggestive tone, wiggling her eyebrows at Darla who giggled, covering her mouth as she did.

"No, no, nobody took an interest in me," she sighed. Oliver could sense the sad undertones of that sentence but nobody seemed to question it.

"And what about you, Oliver?" Elspeth turned to him, a glint in her eye. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he corrected his posture in his seat.

"What about me?"

"What's it like for you, here at Saltburn?" She questioned. He could tell from the way she spoke cautiously that what she really meant by that was "what's it like to live surrounded by people who have more money than you." He shrugged as he spoke.

"Not too bad, better than home," he spoke. Darla looked over at him and squinted, wondering what he meant by that. Everyone then continued to eat, the sound of scraping becoming prominent once again.