RP: It's What She Wants Who: Oliver and Genevieve When: Sunday, June 11 [Back-dated] just after this Where: Oliver's house What: A breakup Warnings: Emotions?
After making that promise, despite not being sure it was one she could keep, Genevieve forced herself to head upstairs to change out of her pajamas, taking a few extra minutes in the loo to make sure she didn't look completely awful, though she was just despondent enough to not put as much effort in her appearance as she might otherwise have. She wore a simple pair of shorts and t-shirt, slipping on a pair of sandals before heading out.
When she got to Oliver's, she was no more sure of herself than when she'd been texting him, torn between feeling like the worst person in the world and the worst coward. But, she'd forced herself to do the right thing, to go to him instead of having this conversation over text. "Hey," she greeted him, knowing her smile was weak but not able to infuse more into it. "It smells amazing." And that, at least, was true. Whatever it was he was working with in the prep had left a pleasant food smell in the air.
Having spent an enjoyable day readjusting to life after vacation, Oliver decided to start the evening with a new recipe he'd stumbled across in the Weekly. He needed something to distract him from the elephant in the room: a package, from Jenn, with a note READ THIS IMMEDIATELY scrawled in obviously rushed handwriting. Oliver didn't need to know whatever it contained would put him in a bad mood, and he wasn't yet ready to leave the afterglow of vacation with Gen.
When Gen reached out, asking to come over, Oliver couldn't have been more happy. He'd not made enough for two but definitely would make sure she had a larger portion when dinner came about. The knock signaled hey arrival and, almost stumbling over himself, Oliver hurried to the door.
"Hello hen!" He smiled brilliantly, and scooped her up into a hug. "Ah, cheers." Stepping back, Oliver adjusted the hem of his dark blue lounge pants and briefly considered on putting on a shirt. "How are you?"
Oh god, his enthusiasm was like a knife to the gut, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut against the emotions as she hugged him back. His lack of a shirt was distracting, to be sure, but with the churning in her stomach from the emotions combined with her hangover, it wasn't difficult to push past the physical attraction she felt toward him.
As he stepped back, she lifted a hand to run her hand through her hair, her fingers lingering at the ends to twist the strands around them in a fidgety sort of way, a small sign of her inner anxiety. "I've had better days. Are you in the middle of things in the kitchen - do you need to get back to prep?" She didn't want to mess up his process, and perhaps she was being a little cowardly by stalling jumping into the serious conversation bit. But she hadn't lied to Addi - she did actually really like Oliver, so there was nothing easy about this situation.
"Nah, for the most part it is just simmering, don't want to harass the fish too much." She'd had better days? Pulling back, Oliver looked at her curiously. "What's wrong, hen, you look loused." Draping and arm around her shoulder. "Want a bit of wine?" He'd brought back a few bottles of Australian red.
The look he gave her had confusion stirring in her. What was wrong? She'd told him it was a bad night, that she was hung over, that she and Addi were at odds. No, she hadn't told him why yet, but she'd thought she'd made it clear this wasn't a light, happy sort of visit. At the offer of wine, she grimaced faintly. "Oh, god no, the last thing I need right now is more alcohol," she admitted. "Water would be good, though."
She moved over to his sofa and slipped her sandals off before sitting, curling her legs under her, feeling exhausted and just a bit queasy. "I... told you about Addi coming over yesterday. She had... a lot of very loud opinions on things." Had he seen the interview yet, she wondered?
Settling on the couch, Oliver accio'd two glasses to the table followed by the aguamenti spell. At the very least he could help her with the looming hangover she was sure to endure.
"Ah," Oliver's smile faded. "I don't think your sister likes me much." He leaned forward to take a long drink, stalling to gather his thoughts. "Are you okay?"
After the cups filled with water, Gen leaned over to pick one up, taking a grateful sip of it. She winced faintly at his supposition about Addi not liking him, wishing she had it in her to lie to him, to spare his feelings. That wouldn't do any good in the long run, however, as Addi was bound to say something to him if she ever had an opportunity.
"She wanted to like you. She did in the beginning," she told him honestly. "...did you know there was an interview with Romilda in Witch Weekly this last week?"
Heaving a long sigh, Oliver leaned back into the couch. "No, I didn't, but I figured something was up." His blonde head inclined almost subconsciously to the packet laying on the table next to the door. Of course Romilda wouldn't have stayed quiet - not that she should - though a pang of panic flooded through him at the many angles the interview could have taken. It must not have been that bad if Jenn wasn't blowing up his phone.
"So," Oliver set the glass down and turned fully to Genevieve, looking more like her captain than a boyfriend. "What did you want to discuss?"
The tension in the room shifted, his expression and tone surprising her in an unpleasant sort of way. What did she want to discuss, indeed. That sounded so cold, as if emotions could possibly be tabled for the time being and they could talk about this rationally and then... well, then what? "You," she answered. "Me... Us. I really did have a fantastic week in Australia with you."
She glanced down at her cup, swirling the water around in it gently before looking back at him. "But... But we're back home now, and things are different here." You were in a bubble there. Addi wasn't wrong about that, either. "God, I'm awful at this," she sighed, lifting a hand to rub over her face. "I learned some things yesterday that, when paired with everything I was already sorting through... I think it's for the best if I'm on my own for a while. I'm so sorry, Oliver."
The statement shot through Oliver white hot and settling in his stomach. He felt sick, and jittery. Briefly looking away from Genevieve, needing something else to focus on, he ran a shaking hand through his hair and let it fall with a tired jerk.
"If that's what you want, hen, I'm in no position to tell you what to think or feel on this matter." Of course it hurt, and Oliver couldn't remember a time he'd actually been dumped, but he also didn't find it in him to beg or plead. It would just add to the misery Gen clearly felt.
Well, he took that extraordinarily well, and yet she still got the urge to explain more, to overshare and try to make him understand. That would probably only twist the knife, though, and so she bit her tongue. "I think and feel a bit too much on this, honestly." She wanted to reach out to him, to do something to reassure him, but held back. It would only confuse things, and she didn't want to lead him on.
"I really never meant to lead you on," she told him in a pained whisper. "You'll be all right?" She hated the thought of hurting anyone.
It wasn't as though Oliver didn't think and feel too much on this subject, he simply couldn't move past the state of shock and trying not to upset Gen. He wanted to cry, to roll up in a ball and cry until he couldn't cry anymore. But that could come later; when it wasn't a possibility to hurt the woman sitting before him.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Oliver replied with a strained voice. "If you didn't mean to lead me on then you're doing the right thing." He paused, glanced in the direction of the package, and back. "What... What did you learn?"
Gen blew out a breath at that. While she wasn't sure she believed he was entirely okay, she wasn't going to push the point, not right now. She glanced in the same direction he did, noticing the package for the first time, but she didn't think it was her place to ask about it. It just seemed he was a bit preoccupied by it.
"Oh, I... it wasn't about you? I mean, yes, I read the interview and there were some things that were a bit concerning in there, but... It's just... I was pregnant," she blurted out, her eyes going wide. Well, fuck, she really hadn't intended to tell him about that. "Last September." She winced, looking down again. "It was very short, by the time we went to the healers to confirm the home test, it was gone, and... Well, it would have been born a few weeks ago. And I found out yesterday that I wasn't the only one to remember, that was hurting over it."
She grimaced a bit and looked at him pleadingly. "Please don't tell anyone. It's one of the few things I don't think I could handle being in the tabloids."
"What things?" Because if Romilda had said things, private things, she would be in a landslide of lawsuits for slander from Puddlemere. The topic at hand died when Genevieve revealed her former pregnancy.
She would have been a mother by now? Oliver couldn't imagine the pain or guilt she felt. He wanted a family so badly and if he'd been that close only to lose the child he would be irreparably damaged.
The instinct to hold Gen overwhelmed Oliver; he leaned forward, ready to scoop her into a tight hug, at the very least to give her a moment shielded from the real world, but he paused and instead picked up the glass off water.
"Of course I won't tell." Why would he? Did Genevieve think so little of Oliver that he would blab a secret this massive? He put the glass back down, having not intended to pick it up in the first place. "What- how is Cooper handling this?" The former Beater was tied into this situation, no reason to pretend otherwise.
It was something she rather thought he'd do better to read for himself, but she wasn't going to just ignore the question. "Just... she met your family, Oliver. You were talking about a future with her." And it was very easy to believe those things were true with what she knew of Oliver so far. But this wasn't about blaming Oliver - she didn't want this to turn into that. "Nothing that we weren't already aware we were going to have to deal with, but she did come across extremely sympathetic as the victim in this situation." So many people disapproved of her and Oliver already, and it wasn't difficult to imagine that number would increase with that interview.
When he leaned forward, she nearly did the same, but then he diverted to the water, and she sighed, bringing her own glass to her lips again. "Thank you," she murmured. She hadn't really been worried that he would tell, but with something this serious, she'd needed to ask him anyway.
"Cooper is... distraught. Having a family is what he wants most in the world." She could tell him that much, but she wasn't going to go into details of how Coop was handling it. She also wasn't sure telling Oliver that she'd gone to see Coop last night would do any good.
"Aye she did," The touch of Scottish slipped out with a sigh. "but I never planned a future with her. Not directly." It was important he impress upon Gen just how serious this sentiment was, especially if Romilda played up the normal girl casually tossed aside by her famous lover. "I knew she was scared of commitment. She never said it directly, but it was obvious. Once she pressed me to define what we were I told her I wanted something serious: commitment, family, the whole thing. I asked her if she could do that and she said she could. But," again Oliver leaned forward to pick up the glass of water. "She ghosted me not too long after meeting my family." He shrugged. "I guess it all was too much. I'm six years older than her. Doesn't seem like much, but I suppose it is."
Of course Cooper would be distraught. Oliver would be were the roles reversed. He nodded in understanding, but didn't comment, instead spelling more water for the both of them.
It was easy to believe Oliver. Addi hadn't been wrong about a lot of what she'd said, but her little sister also didn't really understand the complexities in the type of relationships at play here. Adelaide, while being a romantic sap for other people, had never been in a truly serious, monogamous relationship herself. Things weren't so black and white, and Gen knew that.
"Six years isn't much at all in the grand scheme of things. I doubt her age had much to do with it." She paused, not sure it would help anything to ask what she wanted to know just then. "You told me in France that you were supposed to be figuring out if you loved her. Obviously you knew you didn't, or you wouldn't have come to see me. But... when did you realize things weren't going to work out with her?"
When he didn't seem to be about to comment on Cooper's feelings on the matter, then she wasn't going to talk more about it either. Honestly, she didn't really want to talk about Cooper with him - wasn't there some rule about that, anyway?
"Myself six years ago wasn't ready for the level of commitment I am at now." Because Melinda had been during that time of his life. "But they say women mature faster than men." It was probably true, given the himself and other men as an example.
Oliver surveyed Gen silently, taking in every little detail of her face - that face he delighted in planting kisses at every opportune moment - and smiled sadly. "I knew it at the after party after the final match. If I loved Romilda, if I could love her, I wouldn't have felt so strongly for you." It might have seemed a sappy, ridiculous answer, but it was the truth. "When did you know this wasn't what you wanted? With me, I mean." Might as well get all the questions out, else Oliver would obsess over all the details. He had no intentions of really interacting with Genevieve after she left.
She might not have been ready for a serious commitment six years ago, but she also hadn't been closed off to the idea even then. Gen had just always had the mentality of being open to finding love but that she would have fun in the meantime. Life was more interesting that way.
Hearing that it was only after the party that he realized Romilda wasn't right for him was supremely disappointing. Because that meant that she had had an impact on his feelings, which didn't really instill confidence in him. That word, strongly, brought Gen up short, confusing her just a bit. Had he really felt so strongly for her so soon? She knew she couldn't say the same. She'd been wildly attracted to him, but they hadn't really known anything about each other yet. "Oh, umm..." She hesitated, not having a clear answer right away, and brought her hand up to rub the back of her neck. "When did I know, or when did I admit it to myself?" Because they absolutely were two different times.
"Both, I suppose." Because both see equally important to the situation.
Gen couldn't help wincing at that, knowing that neither answer was going to be easy to hear. "I admitted it to myself last night. I..." She cut herself off. He didn't need the details - she didn't want to hurt him with the details. "But I'm certain a part of me realized it when he showed up in France." She closed her eyes then, feeling horribly guilty.
Cooper. Of course. Oliver also closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Somehow knowing their time together in Australia was occupied with doubt and longing for another. Selfishly, the vicious thought Genevieve should be an actress considering how well she played the part of being interested in him.
"Why did you even bother, then?" Oliver blurted harshly, and winced when the words reached his ears. "I... Sorry, hen." He whispered, lowering his gaze. "This is hard for me, too." Because deep down, Oliver was an inherently selfish person, and knowing Gen was in Australia while not fully with him hurt more than this break up. "You should go, hen. Dinnae think there is much left to discuss."
That seemed more than a little unfair. She'd told him that first day in Australia about Coop showing up, that she'd been in love with him, that her emotions were churned up. She hadn't been able to move forward with their week together with that weighing on her. "Because I was determined to move forward with my life, not go back," she answered with only a small bite to her tone. And she had tried; she'd put Coop out of her mind and thrown herself into this thing with Oliver. But they'd been in a bubble, and there was no denying that had been burst last night.
"Alright, then." What could she say? She wasn't going to argue that there was more to discuss. Anything else that she would say about it would probably only hurt more, and despite how things turned out this weekend, she'd never wanted to hurt him. But he was hardly innocent in how things had unfolded since that first conversation at the photo shoot. That also wasn't something she was going to talk about. There was no point. She stood up and set the cup on the table again, slipping her sandals back on.
"I really am sorry," she told him again, pulling her wand so she could apparate home.
"Well, I only go forward, not backward, so this is for the best." Because he had to convince himself it was for the best. If he didn't, Oliver would fall apart in front of Gen and he simply couldn't give her the satisfaction, even if she wasn't intending to be malicious. She'd been so convincing she wasn't going back to Cooper. So convincing she was interested in Oliver..but it had been an act. Perhaps it was karmatic payback for what Oliver had done to Romilda; he'd gotten too swept up in the moment and the possibility of the future he so desperately wanted.
"Alright," Oliver echoed hollowly, face unreadable as he stood and collected both glasses, they'd disappear in a few hours, but tidying up seemed like the best way to keep himself preoccupied. A shrug was the initial response to Gen's apology and Oliver bit back the urge to sarcastically apologize to her for wasting their time in Australia. "It's fine. It's what you want." Apparently it was what everyone wanted.
That stung a bit, but it didn't feel worth it to argue about it. She hadn't figured out what to do about Coop yet, but once she'd admitted that she was still in love with him, the moment she'd called him mon coeur, she'd known that she couldn't continue on with Oliver. No matter what happened with Coop, it hadn't felt right to stay with Oliver once she'd acknowledged her feelings for Coop weren't just residual or faint echoes of what had been.
"What I want is to be happy, for the people I care about to be happy. You may not believe it, but I do actually care about you." It just wasn't enough right now. And really, their journey to this moment had been fraught with conflict and missteps. She sighed then, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I know that doesn't actually help anything. I'll just... be going now." And with that, she apparated away, back to her own too-quiet, too-empty home.