"You were." Oliver shook his head in wonder. Clearly the cupids had gotten to Alicia as well and perhaps her hickey wasn't a hickey after all and why in Merlin's name did that have to be so complicated? It would be one of the reasons Oliver liked Quidditch so much: there were clear rules. A controlled environment. You could cheat and work around the rules, sure, but there was still only a couple of possible outcomes if you did. When it came to emotions, though, the bets were all off. No rules and, no matter how much Oliver would have appreciated it, no handbook either. It was just messy.
He noticed he had been lost in thoughts for a moment, watching Alicia play with her apple. Oliver plastered his customary easy smile on his face and rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully when her words registered in his mind. "Why aren't you seeing anyone? I mean, what is wrong with the boys here?" Oliver got indignant on Alicia's behalf, quickly building up steam. "You're pretty. You know, not one of those half-starved girls that makes you want to hand them over to the hospital wing to get them force-fed. And you know Quidditch. Do you have any idea how few girls know Quidditch, much less play it?" He was gesticulating wildly at this point. "Seriously, are they blind? Some bloke should come, date you and then I can go and intimidate him."
Admittedly while Oliver failed at dating himself - at least long-term dating - he did get a certain kick out of playing big brother for his Quidditch girls. It was all in good fun (unless his girls were being distracted the evening before a match. He was known to get nasty on those occasions).
"Anyway," Oliver continued and finally took that bite off his sandwich. "I'm not seeing anyone. I reckon I don't do 'romance'. All this holding hands and spending all your time together and looking stupidly at each other?" He looked slightly sickened at the thought. "Not for me."
So why had he brought floating candles, then, a small voice in the back of his mind insisted. Oliver pushed it back determinedly and thought of Quidditch before he got himself into more trouble.