Strategy { Oliver Wood}

Chapter Forty

While Ace choked on the chocolate that had lodged in his throat, Melanie tried to help him out by patting on his back. Luckily for the boy, the chocolate was fast melting and he was able to swallow it in a few seconds before he gasped for air.

"Note to self, do not talk to Ace while he's eating." Melanie laughed as Ace finally regulated his breathing.

"Are you alright?" she asked him keeping her hand on his back just in case.

"I'm good. I'm good...I just...you caught me off guard there."

"No kidding." She said, "Although, I wasn't expecting you to go into a full choking session here."

"Sorry." Ace said with a slight grin before looking away from her.

She smiled. "Well, judging by your reaction...I'm guessing what I said is true, isn't it?"

Ace felt his arms prick with goosebumps as he rubbed his hands together nervously.

"How did you figure it out?" he asked in return.

"Well, everyone kept hinting at it..mainly Andy but then Oliver took the time to tell me about what you did earlier."

"What I did?"

"Are you going to sit there and pretend that you didn't tell Oliver to ask me on a date?"

"Oh...he told that?"

"Yeah he told me that."

"Well, I...I..know you wanted to go on a date with him. So I figured I would push in the right direction...turns out it wasn't so right now, was it?"

"No his broomstick doesn't fly in my direction." Melanie chuckled. "But it was real sweet of you to do that, Ace."

"I just wanted you to be happy, Mel. That's all I ever want, even if it's not with me."

"And if it is?"

"Then I...wait." he turned to her, smile growing slowly across his face. " You...what are you saying? Do you like me?"

"Of course I like you, Ace. You're my best friend. You've been my best friend besides Andy since I met you back in second year and..well sometimes you pretty much know me better than anyone else. Andy included."

"Just your best friend, though?" his smile began to fade.

"Ace, the entire time I was trying to get Oliver to like me, I never realized that everything that I was trying to see in him...I already had with you....but I never really thought about dating you only because you are my best friend. I'd hate to ever lose that with you if things ever went wrong. I didn't even know you liked me until Oliver pointed out to me. The boy can be dense but he does tend to pick up on some things....why didn't you tell me?"

"For some of the same reasons Mel. We're great friends and if it didn't work out, I would be quite devastated to lose the friendship that we have. Not to mention, you were so wrapped up with Oliver that I didn't want to get in the way of that. I didn't think I stood a chance with him around."

"But-"

"And there's one more reason why I held back." Ace told her.

"What's that?"

He sighed. "It's my final year here, Melanie, remember? Once I graduate at the end of the year, I won't be coming back and you still have two more years."

"Ugh, don't remind me." she said leaning back.

"I figured you wouldn't want to date me if I was getting ready to leave."

"I see your point."

Ace hung his head, he had been relieved to get his feelings off his chest but to be met with rejection still hurt quite a bit. Even the amount of chocolate Melanie had bought wouldn't help bring him back to a happy state.

"I see your point, but I don't agree with it." Melanie said suddenly.

"What?" his eyes widened at her response.

She turned her entire body to face him crossing her legs beneath her.

"What I'm saying is...it's only February, I don't see the harm in going on a date or a few" she winked at him,"  and see where this goes. It may work out and it may not, if it doesn't I'm okay with that and I'll always be your friend, Ace, no matter what. But let's say it does work out, come graduation you will go off and pursue your career doing whatever you choose to do and I'll support you. There's this crazy thing that can help us too."

"What's that?"

"It's called visiting." she said. "You can come visit me and I'll come visit too. If it's meant to be we can make it work when the time comes. Until then you shouldn't worry about things like that. Why don't we just go on a date and see how that goes? My treat?"

"Melanie Anderson, are you asking me out on a date?" Ace said jokingly but only to cover up the completely shock he was feeling.

"I guess I am...so are you game?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I'll go on a date with you. But we'll see about it being your treat." he said.

"Oh we will." she smirked. "We will."

The two sat back on the sofa, with large smiles and slight blushes on their faces. Ace  was sure the smile was never going to leave his face as he sat there looking at the small fire in the fireplace.

"I'm gonna go grab my blanket." Melanie told him standing up. "I'm bloody freezing down here even with the fire. I'll be right back."

"Okay, but before you go..." Ace said rising to his feet as well.

"Yeah?" she spun around to see him walking towards her. She remained still as he stood before her, only inches between them. She peered up at him, watching as Ace work up the nerve to do something.

"Ac-" she was cut off by a small, simple kiss on the lips. As quickly as it started, it ended as Ace pulled away quickly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry...but I've been wanting to do that for awhile now."

A/N:  Hi Readers! I hope you guys are enjoying the story :) Not what you were expecting the outcome to be, huh?

Well, there's two things I absolute love when it comes to stories. Plot twists and cliffhangers...as you can tell.

Love you guys!

P.S If one more person tells me this isn't an Oliver Wood story, I'm going to virtually punch them in the face.