Emmerdale : Bleeding Love (Ross Barton/OFC fanfic)

That Time When... Home Farm Was Raided

Chrissie looked up as a yawning Ollie came inside the kitchen that Sunday morning. "Oh, here's the little minx. Finally putting in an appearance," she said with a half smile. "Good morning."

"Who's a minx?" asked Robert. He was at the table, a mug of coffee and a half eaten bowl of granola in front of him; as he checked his phone for emails and messages.

"That would be me, apparently," Ollie replied. She pulled out the chair next to Lawrence and dropped into it.

"What time did you get home last night?" Chrissie asked, one eyebrow cocked.

Ollie sighed and sent her a half-lidded look. "It wasn't late," she said reaching for a slice of wholemeal toast. "I didn't realise I was on a curfew."

"You're not. So where did you get to?"

"Just out."

"Out where?"

"What is this, the Spanish inquisition?" Ollie began smearing butter onto the warm toast. "Besides, you know where I was. I was with Ross."

Robert laughed through a mouthful of cereal, almost choking in the process. "What, you and Ross Barton, again? He must think all his birthdays have come at once."

Ollie ignored Robert and answered her sister's question. "We had a drink, went back to his, ordered food and watched football." It was becoming a regular thing between them and one she was beginning to enjoy. She was already looking forward to their next evening together. "Would you like to know whether we used forks or chopsticks?" she added.

"Football?" snickered Robert. "Is that what the kids are calling it now?"

Chrissie slid her fiance a disapproving glance. "Robert," she said, a gentle warning tone in her voice. She wished he'd try harder to get along with her sister, but it seemed he enjoyed winding her up so much more. Especially when he knew all too well how sensitive Ollie was about her private life.

Robert just snickered and went back to his cereal and emails. But Ollie, being Ollie, wasn't letting it go.

"What's so amusing about watching football with a friend?" she asked him. "I'm dying to know."

"Because the 'friend' - and I use that term lightly - is Ross Barton, local - "

"Thug," Ollie cut Robert off. "Yeah, got it. My sister already cleared that one up."

Hearing the venom in her tone Robert glanced at her and she showered him with a dark look. He just smirked which only managed to rile her up even more. He was about to reply with a comeback guaranteed to set her off completely, when Lawrence intervened.

"Now, children, there'll be no fighting at the breakfast table. Please. If you don't mind," he said from behind his newspaper. He had been quietly reading, letting all the morning chit-chat go over his head; but he sensed a disagreement brewing between his stepdaughter and future son-in-law. Like Chrissie, he wished they would try to get along more.

"You and Ross Barton...Ollie, what are you doing?" Chrissie wanted to know.

"Spending time with someone who's great company and fun to be around," Ollie replied as she poured herself a coffee.

"Oh, please." Chrissie rolled her eyes. "You know he isn't good for you. He makes Mark look like a saint."

"Can we not bring Mark into this? And who says Ross isn't good for me?" Ollie said. "You don't know him the way I do. He isn't all sarcasm and attitude. He's misunderstood, that's all."

"It isn't your job to fix him," mused Chrissie.

"I never said it was," Ollie argued. "Chrissie, I'm well aware of your feelings, and I'm more than aware how the pitchfork mob view him. It seems like the entire village has it in for him. The way he's treated is completely unfair."